Lena didn't sleep that night.
Every time she closed her eyes, she saw the amber glow of the creature's stare—not wild, not cruel, but desperate. When dawn finally crept into Ashmoor, it brought no comfort. The fog still clung to the village, thinner now, like a watchful ghost refusing to leave.
Downstairs, Grandma Mae sat at the kitchen table, her hands wrapped around a chipped mug of tea. She hadn't changed clothes. That alone told Lena how serious things were.
"You've known," Lena said, breaking the silence. It wasn't a question.
Grandma Mae nodded slowly. "I hoped you wouldn't have to learn this way."
Lena sat across from her. "You said the werewolf is someone. Who?"
Grandma Mae stared into her tea as if the answer lived at the bottom. "In Ashmoor, the curse doesn't choose strangers. It follows blood."
Lena's stomach tightened. "Blood… like family?"
"Yes."
The word fell heavy between them.
Grandma Mae rose and crossed the room, pulling a narrow wooden box from beneath the floorboard. The hinges groaned as she opened it, revealing old papers, yellowed letters, and a small silver pendant shaped like a crescent moon, etched with strange symbols.
"This belonged to your mother," she said softly.
Lena's breath caught. Her mother had died when she was small, claimed by a fever the village doctor never fully explained. No one liked to speak of it.
"She was born under the same moon you were," Grandma Mae continued. "And she saw the creature too."
Lena shook her head. "Are you saying—"
"I'm saying the werewolf you saw last night is your uncle, Elias."
The name struck like lightning. Elias Gray had vanished years ago, presumed dead after a hunting accident in Blackthorn Forest. Lena had been told he was reckless, that the forest had swallowed him whole.
"He's alive," Lena whispered.
"Alive, but not free."
Grandma Mae slid one of the letters across the table. Lena unfolded it carefully. The handwriting was rushed, uneven.
The change is getting worse. I can feel it clawing inside me. If I lose myself completely, promise me you'll protect her. Don't let the forest claim another Gray.
Lena's hands trembled. "You knew this could happen to me."
Grandma Mae met her gaze, eyes shining. "That's why I taught you to listen to the woods. Why I warned you about the full moon."
Outside, raised voices drifted through the window. Lena stood and peered out.
A crowd had gathered near the square. At the center stood Sheriff Alden, his rifle slung over his shoulder. Beside him was a bloodstained cart.
"They found something," Lena said.
They reached the square just as the sheriff spoke.
"A sheep was killed near the forest," he announced. "This ends tonight. We hunt the beast."
A murmur of fear and excitement rippled through the crowd.
"No," Lena said under her breath.
The hunters prepared quickly—torches, ropes, silver-tipped blades passed from hand to hand. Lena's chest tightened. They weren't just hunting a monster.
They were hunting her family.
As the crowd moved toward the forest, Lena felt a sudden pull in her chest, sharp and aching. The pendant in her pocket grew warm. She gasped, clutching it as images flooded her mind—trees bending, a man kneeling in pain, blood staining the moonlight.
"He's close," Lena whispered.
Grandma Mae grabbed her arm. "Lena, listen to me. The curse awakens fully on the next full moon. That night decides everything."
"Decides what?"
"Whether Elias dies as a monster… or is saved as a man."
The fog thickened as the hunters entered Blackthorn Forest. Somewhere deep within, a howl answered their approach—angrier now, edged with despair.
Lena tightened her grip on the pendant.
She had a choice to make.
And whatever she chose would change Ashmoor forever.