Chapter 1
Thunder crashed like war drums as Ava gripped the steering wheel, wipers frantically fighting the torrential rain. She should have been back in town three hours ago, but now she was trapped in this godforsaken wilderness.
The engine suddenly died.
"No, no, no!" Ava slammed the dashboard, heart hammering. Her phone showed no signal, darkness pressing in from all sides. In the distance, she could barely make out the silhouette of a dilapidated cabin.
No choice. She grabbed her medical bag and plunged into the storm.
Rain sliced her face like razor blades, each step feeling like walking on ice shards. By the time she reached the cabin's porch, Ava was soaked to the bone, teeth chattering uncontrollably.
Just as she reached for the door handle, a low, agonized groan echoed from outside.
Ava froze. That sound... it wasn't human.
Another dragging noise followed, as if something massive was struggling just beyond the door. Her medical instincts overpowered her fear, and she yanked the door open.
"Jesus Christ..."
A tall man lay collapsed on the porch, blood everywhere. Moonlight broke through the clouds, illuminating his deathly pale face. But what shocked Ava most were the wounds covering his body—silver-rimmed bullet holes and crescent-shaped burns that seemed to glow with unnatural malevolence.
"Sir! Can you hear me?" Ava knelt beside him, trembling as she checked his pulse. Weak, but still beating.
The man slowly opened his eyes—amber orbs that radiated wild authority even through obvious agony.
"Don't... don't touch me..." His voice was hoarse as shattered glass. "Dangerous..."
"You're badly injured. I'm a veterinarian—let me help!" Ava began examining the wounds, but what she saw made her gasp in horror.
These injuries... nothing like ordinary gunshot wounds. The silver-rimmed holes were surrounded by blackening, rotting flesh, while the crescent burns looked like they'd been branded by some supernatural force.
"This is impossible..." Ava reached for antiseptic, but when the liquid touched his wounds, they began smoking!
The man released an inhuman howl, body convulsing violently. His temperature was impossibly high, and he started rambling: "Moonlight... need moonlight..."
Ava was at a complete loss. Her medical training told her these wounds defied all logic, but she couldn't watch him die. As she prepared another attempt, her finger accidentally caught on a medical blade.
Several drops of blood fell onto his most severe wound.
A miracle happened.
The blackened, rotting flesh around the wound began sloughing away as new tissue slowly regenerated!
"What the hell...?" Ava stared at her own hand in disbelief.
Just then, moonlight burst through the clouds, streaming through the broken window into the cabin. Ava felt warmth surge through her palms, and looking down, she saw her hands glowing with soft, silvery light!
"My hands... what's happening to me?" Ava stared at her luminous palms in terror, but the warmth felt so natural, as if it had always existed within her.
Instinctively, she placed her glowing hands over the man's wounds. The silver-white light flowed like water, and wherever it touched, injuries healed at a visible rate.
The man's agonized expression gradually calmed, his breathing steadying.
Suddenly, his eyes snapped open.
Those amber orbs now blazed with golden fire, locking onto Ava with predatory alertness. He sat up with impossible speed, his overwhelming presence instantly filling the entire cabin.
"You're not ordinary..." His voice rumbled like thunder, carrying undeniable authority. "You bear the blessing of the Moon Goddess."
Ava instinctively backed away, but those golden eyes seemed to see straight through to her soul. "I... I don't know what you're talking about. I just wanted to save you..."
The man slowly rose to his feet. Even after his injuries, he radiated awe-inspiring power. "My name is Lucas." He studied Ava, complex emotions flickering in his gaze. "I'm a werewolf."
Ava's world shattered in that moment. Werewolf? Creatures that existed only in legends? But looking at Lucas's rapidly healing wounds, she knew this was no hallucination.
"You... you really are..."
"I won't hurt you." Lucas's voice softened slightly. "You saved my life. I owe you a blood debt."
Howls echoed from the distant mountains, growing closer and clearer.
Lucas's expression instantly turned grave, golden eyes flashing with dangerous light. "Damn it... they've found me!"
"Who found you?" Ava felt unprecedented terror.
"My enemies." Lucas turned to Ava, urgency burning in his eyes. "You have to come with me, now! Or you'll die!"
Another howl rang out, much closer this time.
Ava looked at this mysterious man, then at her still-glowing hands. Logic told her to run, but something deep inside whispered—follow him.
She asked, "Will you protect me?"
Lucas extended his hand, golden eyes blazing with unwavering determination: "I swear it with my life."
The howls now echoed through the valley, dark shapes visible moving through the moonlit forest.
Ava took a deep breath and grasped Lucas's hand.
"Then let's go."