Kian’s POV
Sleep was useless.
Every time I closed my eyes, images from the Blood Moon returned; crimson light, claws and a cry that tore through the forest. Then silence. I jolted awake again, heart hammering. The sheets were damp. Shadowfang snarled inside me, restless and unhinged.
“Calm down,” I hissed. He didn’t.
He hadn’t been the same since that night. Neither had I. Something wild lived in my veins now, burning and hungry.
I dragged myself to the basin and splashed cold water on my face. My reflection looked foreign; eyes too bright and skin too pale. The mark of the Blood Moon still burned faintly at my throat.
Maybe it was the curse. Maybe the moon had twisted it deeper. But deep inside, I knew the truth…that night, I bit someone.
And ever since, the forest hadn’t stopped
