Chapter 1

Legends of old had been passed throughout the Kingdom of Shaldan. That the great kings of the past, the Alpha of the East had lost his mind and ruined the Kingdom. The Queen, the Luna named Galathea had been murdered by her own mate.

Songs about the legend had been made.

"Don't go to the forest. Don't go to the east. Don't go near the forest, or you'll face the beast. Beware of the forest, beware of the beast. Once you see its fangs, you'll never know peace."

The villagers knew the song by heart and they knew the reason, though the monsters were only talked about in whispers. In a lullaby. The Eastern Forest was dangerous for it had been neglected, forgotten. The forest was dark. Even the lights from the moon, the stars and thousands of fireflies were not enough to illuminate the sky.

Everyone knew that. For how could they forget. A stone had been carved for the purpose of everyone's protection.

Sometimes the village young boys and girls dared each other to step to the edge of the meadow, just to see, but none of them actually went beyond the protective bushes at the edge.

"Phil, wait for me!" Accashia screamed. “Don’t leave me!”

Phil looked back at her as he ran faster then speeds up. “Why would I, you slowpoke!”

Accashia had always felt that her family neglected her. Shunned her. Sometimes her older siblings would even chase her through the meadow for fun. It was easier to catch her, which meant it was easier to beat her up and tie her to the big oak tree.

She wasn’t the youngest of the siblings but she was the weakest. Always the one who got sick and always the one who trips and falls. Tomorrow, she will turn Eighteen years old. But rather than celebrating her birthday, her siblings had other plans for her.

Phil ran until he was closer to Jill so he could whisper, “You got the rope?”

Jill being the youngest felt like she had no choice but to fold, “Ye-yeah.” She stammered nervously. She never liked bullying her sister. She loved Accashia. But she doesn’t like being the apple of the eye of her older siblings. “I got it.”

Phil smirked. “Good.”

Reluctantly, Jill tossed the rope to her older brother and once Accashia spotted the familiar thick red string, she turned to run away.

“Come back here!” Phil screamed after hearing Accashia’s feet scurrying away from them — running fast to save herself from another cold night being trapped in the middle of the dark eerie forest.

“No!” Accashia ran from the three of them this time, and they were working their way to trap her in the middle, to make sure the poor thing was cornered. “No! Please, Phillip, John — no!”

The three boys corralled her, and in a snap of a finger John was able to catch her by holding onto her sleeve tightly. No plan of letting go. Accashia couldn’t turn and escape. They didn’t even give her time to get her shoes on when it slid off her feet from running.

Accashia’s feet were cracked and bleeding from the rocks and thistles; thorns from unforgiving bushes pricked her feet, arms and legs, scratching her skin.

“It hurts!” Panic spread and her heart raced. Adrenaline raced through her lithe body, and she had nowhere to go and hide. She tried to escape by pushing against her brother’s face, writhing as she screamed.

Throughout the process, Luther and John stumble as Accashia tries to free herself.

“Stop fighting!” Luther, the eldest hissed as he dragged Accashia up by pulling on her shirt. “Now get up.”

Tears streamed down Accashia’s face. Not this again. “Why would I?!”

Accashia felt a hard thud against the back of her head. It was John. “Quiet down!”

When the coast was clear and no one else could see, the four mischievous youngsters patiently waited for sunset. And as planned, they leave her behind tied up and crying at the big oak tree in the middle of the forest.

“See yah!” Luther teased as he waved his hand goodbye. “We’ll pick you up tomorrow morning all right.”

John turned as well as Phil. Saying in unison, “Don’t scream, don’t make a sound. The beast rise at sundown. Keep quiet, or else you’ll be easily found.”

Accashia wailed and tried to break free. But when the moon shows up and the stars shine, she knows that she’s going to spend tonight alone as she cries in the middle of the forest silently.

“Why don’t they just kill me.” The poor thing whispered to herself.

Accashia bit her lip to stop herself from crying aloud. As tears rolled down her eyes, she felt sleepy as time passed by. The hand of the goddess of rest placed her hand on top of Accashia’s head. And as she fell into a deep slumber, the sound of crickets sniffed along with her.

========

The shadows appeared again, and they appeared as he was sleeping. He remembered Luntian shaking him until he woke up. "Run!" She hissed through a whisper. "I will distract them."

With all his might, he did his best to escape. ‘Die,die,die!’ The shadows muttered as they chased him. When the coast was clear, Calleb could only wish that the tall forest in front of him would be able to make him invisible.

Hoping to survive, the young man jumped and leaped high until he crossed the two meter high wall. His bare feet landed on the ground and he hit dirt, a wide swath of dirt.

It rendered him frozen, he stared wide-eyed at the thick wall of trees a hundred feet in front of him.

This is the first time he saw trees like this. Leaves and grass like this. Even the scent, it was different as if the border — the wall - he jumped from was hiding something.

“The shadows…” He whispered to himself before turning around to check if he’s alone. “They’re gone.”

Calleb spun around, ready to jump back to the meadow where he belonged. But then a sharp pain shot through his neck and side. The young man growled and cried. He was off balance and lost footing and everything twisted and blurred.

His back scraped against the ground. He fought, really panicked now, trying to dig his heels into the ground.

It was no use.

The wall only brought him trouble. He felt something warm and wet dripping down his back and legs. “Thorns.” He said to himself. “Perfect.”

And just when he thought he could transform peacefully. Things were never really in his favor. And now, he heard someone’s muffled scream.

Calleb could not understand but he feels the tone of her voice. Anguish. Pain and a cry for help. She sounds...

"Just like me."

He was about to drag himself there to save the girl, but then his bones began to snap and the transformation under the full moon was already beginning. “Damn it!” His head went light. And when his hand traveled to the back of his neck, all he touched was fur. "Not now..."

=========

A rough tongue on her face woke her from her sleep. The tongue continued to lick down her neck and to her bare chest.

“Huh…” Accashia looked everywhere and noticed she was no longer tied up. But more important than that, she was almost naked, only a tattered shirt was covering her up. The girl tried to crawl away and push the thing that’s making her stay or at least cover herself but something heavy was keeping her still.

“Wha—what.” She looked around but it was still dark. The rough tongue gave her chest another lick, making her moan. “Sto–stop.” Accashia whimpered. She shivered and sighed as the tongue kept on licking. Kept on moving, until it went down to her stomach, to her thighs and to her legs.

‘A bear. It must be a bear.’ She whispered to herself. ‘And now, I’m going to die.’

Accashia kept her eyes shut, not wanting to see what kind of animal picked up her scent from the tree and decided that she’d make a delicious meal.

What confused her though is why the animal is only licking on the spot where there’s blood. And the fact that as it licks her wounds, the pain goes away. The wounds she got from the thorn doesn’t hurt as much.

Yet, shouldn’t the beast just simply feast on her to end her suffering?

Something bumped against her chest and she heard something bounce between her legs. Fruits. Lots of it. Apples and berries. Dazed and confused, and thinking that the beast only wanted to fatten her up before being eaten, Accashia pushed the fruits away.

As she did, it was the first time she heard the beast growl. She wanted to turn to see the creature, wanted to look. But something inside her warned her not to. However she felt fur brush against her skin.

Soft. Long. And when the moon gave enough light to illumninate her surroundings, Accashia saw a tail and it was color white.