The woods weren’t quiet tonight.

Every branch creaked, every gust of wind seemed to whisper. The moon loomed heavy and swollen above me, spilling its pale light over the forest floor as if it were watching, waiting, judging me for coming here.

I shouldn’t have.

I knew the stories.

Everyone in the village did.

The Bloodfang grove was cursed.

No one who stepped beneath its trees on a full moon ever returned the same.

And yet here I was. My feet kept moving forward, even when my chest tightened with dread.

A sound snapped behind me. My breath froze.

That wasn’t me.

I turned slowly, my heart hammering against my...