Updated Mar 10, 2026 • ~8 min read
The day of the full moon.
Sera wakes to silence.
Heavy. Oppressive.
Like the manor itself is holding its breath.
She gets dressed. Goes to breakfast.
Marcus looks like he hasn’t slept.
“Where is Lord Corvus?” she asks.
“Preparing. He’s been in the tower since dawn.”
“Can I see him? Before tonight?”
“Absolutely not. He’s already experiencing early symptoms. Enhanced senses. Aggression. Pain. It’s not safe.”
“I just want to say—”
“No, my lady. Please. He gave strict orders. No one enters the east wing today. Especially not you.”
Sera wants to argue.
But she sees the fear in Marcus’s eyes.
Real fear.
“Fine. But if anything goes wrong—”
“If anything goes wrong, you stay in your room. Lock the door. Wait for dawn.”
Marcus leaves before she can respond.
The day drags.
Sera tries to read. Can’t focus.
Tries to write. Can’t find words.
Just sits by the window, watching the sun crawl across the sky.
Dreading sunset.
Around three in the afternoon, she hears roaring from the east tower.
Not howling. Roaring.
Human voice mixed with something animal.
Damien.
He’s already transforming.
Hours too early.
Sera runs to her door.
Marcus is in the hallway, locking all the west wing doors.
“What’s happening? It’s not even sunset—”
“The curse is worsening. Transformations starting earlier. Lasting longer. This is what I warned you about.”
More roaring. Sounds of destruction.
Something being thrown against walls.
“He’s in pain,” Sera says.
“He’s always in pain during transformations. There’s nothing we can do.”
“We could—”
“No.” Marcus’s voice is firm. “We lock the doors. We wait. We survive. That’s all.”
He finishes locking the west wing doors.
Then looks at Sera.
“Go to your room. Lock it from the inside. Don’t come out until morning. Do you understand?”
“Yes.”
“Good. God willing, we’ll all see tomorrow.”
He walks away.
Leaving Sera alone in the hallway.
The roaring continues.
Fading. Then surging again.
Damien fighting the transformation.
Losing.
Sera returns to her room.
Locks the door like Marcus instructed.
And waits.
Sunset comes.
The manor goes silent.
Eerily silent.
No roaring. No sounds of struggle.
Just… nothing.
Sera sits by her door. Listening.
Candles lit. Fire burning.
Waiting for something to happen.
An hour passes.
Two.
Still nothing.
Maybe the locks are holding.
Maybe Damien has control this time.
Maybe—
CRASH.
Something massive hits a door.
East wing. Far away.
But loud enough to shake the walls.
Then: running.
Heavy footsteps. Not human.
Moving through the manor.
Sera’s heart pounds.
The beast is loose.
She hears Marcus shouting.
“Get back! Back to the tower!”
Another crash.
Marcus screaming in pain.
Then silence.
Sera presses against her door.
Listening.
Footsteps approaching.
Slow. Deliberate.
Like something hunting.
She holds her breath.
The footsteps pass her room.
Keep going.
Then stop.
Something sniffs at her door.
Sera freezes.
A low growl.
Deep. Inhuman.
The beast.
Right outside her door.
She doesn’t move. Doesn’t breathe.
Praying the lock holds.
Praying it doesn’t realize she’s here.
Another sniff.
Then: scratching.
Claws against wood.
Testing.
Sera backs away from the door.
Grabs a fire poker. The only weapon she has.
The scratching intensifies.
The door shudders.
Then—footsteps.
Running away.
The beast moving on.
Searching for something else.
Sera exhales shakily.
That was too close.
She needs to check on Marcus.
Needs to make sure he’s alive.
She knows she promised to stay in her room.
But she can’t just hide while someone might be dying.
She unlocks her door.
Opens it carefully.
The hallway is empty.
Destroyed. Furniture overturned. Claw marks on the walls.
But empty.
She moves quietly toward where she heard Marcus screaming.
Finds him near the staircase.
Unconscious. Bleeding from a gash on his arm.
But alive.
“Marcus,” she whispers, kneeling beside him. “Can you hear me?”
He groans. Eyes flutter open.
“My lady… you shouldn’t… be out here…”
“You’re hurt. I need to get you to safety.”
“No… too dangerous… beast is still—”
A roar.
Close.
Too close.
Sera looks up.
And sees it.
At the end of the hallway.
The beast.
Damien.
Except it’s not Damien anymore.
Seven feet tall. Covered in dark fur. Muscles rippling. Claws like knives.
Face twisted into something half-human, half-animal.
Eyes glowing in the darkness.
Fixed on her.
Sera can’t move.
Can’t breathe.
The beast takes a step forward.
Growls.
Marcus whispers: “Run.”
But Sera can’t.
She’s frozen.
Staring at the thing her husband has become.
The beast charges.
Sera drops the fire poker.
Doesn’t run. Doesn’t scream.
Just stands there.
The beast stops inches from her.
Towering over her.
Breathing heavy. Hot breath on her face.
It could kill her easily.
One swipe. One bite.
But it doesn’t.
Just stares at her with those glowing eyes.
Confused.
Like it recognizes something.
“Damien,” Sera whispers. “It’s me. Sera.”
The beast snarls.
No recognition. Just animal instinct.
But it doesn’t attack.
Sera slowly raises her hand.
Like approaching a wild animal.
“I know you’re in there. I know you’re fighting this.”
The beast’s head tilts.
Studying her.
“It’s okay. I’m not afraid.” A lie. She’s terrified. “You won’t hurt me. I know you won’t.”
The beast makes a sound.
Almost like… whimpering?
It backs away slightly.
Then looks at Marcus.
At the blood.
Realization seems to flicker in those inhuman eyes.
I did that.
The beast roars.
But this time it sounds like anguish.
Not aggression.
It turns and runs.
Back toward the east tower.
Away from Sera. Away from Marcus.
Away from the damage it’s caused.
Sera collapses.
Shaking.
She was face to face with the beast.
And it didn’t kill her.
It could have. Should have.
But it didn’t.
Marcus regains consciousness fully.
“My lady… are you hurt?”
“No. You?”
“I’ll survive. Just need stitches.” He looks around. “Where’s the beast?”
“Gone. Back to the tower, I think.”
“You saw it?”
“Yes.”
“And it didn’t—”
“No. It didn’t attack. Just… looked at me. Then left.”
Marcus stares at her.
“That’s impossible. The beast doesn’t recognize anyone. Doesn’t hesitate.”
“Well, it hesitated with me.”
Marcus struggles to sit up.
“We need to barricade. Before it comes back.”
“I don’t think it will. I think it’s hiding now. Ashamed.”
“The beast doesn’t feel shame—”
“Damien does. And I think Damien is still in there. Somewhere.”
Marcus shakes his head.
“You’re reading too much into it. The beast got distracted. That’s all.”
But Sera knows what she saw.
The confusion in those eyes. The whimpering. The retreat.
Damien is still fighting.
Even in beast form.
They barricade the west wing doors.
Sera helps Marcus to his room. Bandages his arm.
“You should have stayed in your room,” he says.
“You would have bled out.”
“Better me than you.”
“Nobody’s dying tonight.”
Marcus gives her a weak smile.
“You’re braver than Lilith. Or more foolish. I haven’t decided.”
“Both, probably.”
They hear distant sounds from the east tower.
Roaring. But muted now. Like Damien has locked himself in.
Protecting them from himself.
“He hates this,” Sera says quietly. “The loss of control. The violence.”
“He’s hated it for ten years. But there’s no cure. No way to stop it.”
“Except true love.”
“Which almost killed Lilith.”
“But it didn’t. She survived.”
“Because she ran before the curse could complete the test.”
Sera looks toward the east wing.
“What if someone didn’t run? What if someone stayed? Faced the beast and didn’t flinch?”
“Then they’d die. That’s what the curse wants. To punish anyone who tries to break it.”
“Or maybe the curse wants someone strong enough to withstand it. Someone who won’t give up.”
Marcus studies her.
“You’re thinking about trying. Aren’t you?”
“I’m thinking about a lot of things.”
“Don’t. Please. I’ve already lost one mistress to this curse. I can’t lose another.”
“You won’t lose me.”
“That’s what Lilith said.”
Dawn comes.
The roaring stops.
Silence returns.
Sera hasn’t slept all night.
She waits until full sunrise.
Then goes to the door separating west from east wings.
Still locked.
But she can hear breathing on the other side.
“Damien?” she calls softly. “Are you yourself?”
A pause.
Then: “Yes.”
His voice is wrecked. Raw.
“Can I see you?”
“No. Go away, Sera.”
“You didn’t hurt me. Last night. You could have, but you didn’t.”
“I hurt Marcus.”
“By accident. And he’s fine.”
“This time. Next month I might kill him. Might kill you.”
“You won’t.”
“You can’t know that!”
Sera presses her hand against the door.
“I saw you, Damien. The real you. Even in beast form. You were still fighting. Still trying to protect us.”
“I’m a monster.”
“You’re a man cursed to transform. There’s a difference.”
“There’s no difference. Not anymore.”
Silence.
Then Sera speaks.
“Take off the mask. Let me see your face. Please.”
“No.”
“Why not? I’ve already seen the beast. How much worse can the man be?”
A bitter laugh.
“You’d be surprised.”
“Try me.”
Long pause.
Then: “Go to the library. Tonight. Midnight. I’ll meet you there.”
“Without the mask?”
“Without the mask.”
“Promise?”
“I promise. Now go. I need to sleep.”
Sera steps back from the door.
Tonight.
Midnight.
She’ll finally see the face of the man she married.
And maybe—just maybe—start to understand what she’s really fighting for.
Reader Reactions