Beauty like hers will one day break the world."
The priestess stood in the firelight like a statue carved from smoke. Her blind eyes didn't blink. Her voice didn't shake.
Queen Elira of Vael and her husband, King Maeron, stood at opposite ends of the throne room—stone-faced, yet pale beneath their crowns.
She will be beloved," the priestess whispered. "But not loved."
"Worshipped but feared."
"And when the stars align, her presence will call the cursed back from the dark."
She turned her head slightly toward the crib at the center of the hall.
"Hide her. Muzzle her. Veil her. It won't change what's written."
"When she meets the beast beneath the moon…"
"The world will bleed or bloom."
The fire roared. And the vision ended.
🌙 Years later — A child in the woods
Vivi ran barefoot, the hem of her nightdress soaked with dew. No one knew she'd slipped past the guards. No one ever noticed when she vanished.
Except the forest.
The air was thick with pine and silence. It called her. Drew her.
She stopped when she saw him.
A boy no older than her. Wild hair. Eyes silver in the dark. Kneeling beside a stream, his hands bloody. Not from hunting.
From clawing at himself.
"Stop," she said, softly.
His head snapped up. His eyes glowed.
He didn't answer. Just changed, right in front of her.
Bones cracked. Limbs bent. Fur split skin.
She didn't scream.
She watched mesmerized.
Where a boy had knelt, a great black wolf now stood. Huge. Trembling. Frightened.
It looked at her and ran.
🌒 Present Day – Vivi's Chamber
She woke with a gasp, heart pounding.
The same memory. The same boy. But now she knew the truth.
It was him.
Haken.
He didn't remember.
But she did.
And the moon was almost full.