Chapter 1 : Moonlight Beneath the Snow

POV 1 – Willow

New York, 2024

My phone buzzed on the table. One message from Leon.

[Will, please stay with me tonight. I can’t go back to Vermont. It’s just... too lonely with no one around.]

Leon. My best friend since freshman year. Just a regular human with a heart as deep as the ocean and a laugh that could melt winter. But tonight…

My eyes shifted to the calendar. December 24th. Christmas arrived the same way it always did—sparkling, loud, fake smiles everywhere, and the same songs playing way too often on TV. I looked out the window of my tiny house, watching the snowfall like little secrets too shy to touch the ground.

But more importantly… the full moon. My heart thudded a little faster.

My body had been restless since earlier this afternoon. My breathing came heavy at times, my skin itched beneath the surface, and there was that ancient pull in my blood—something primal that surfaced once a month. The urge to shift.

I walked over to the bookshelf and pulled a hidden lever at its side. A small door creaked open, revealing a staircase that led down to the basement. My refuge. The place where I kept my truth locked away.

Half of my life is a lie. And Leon… belongs to the part of the world that can never know the truth.

But this time, he was asking for something hard to refuse. I didn’t want him to be sad on Christmas Eve—especially not after telling me he skipped going home this year because he was chasing a girl he liked… and she dumped him just days into the relationship.

I stared at the screen for a long moment, then typed back:

Okay. But just for a little while.

After hitting send, I caught my reflection in the window. My blue eyes looked brighter than usual. Almost glowing. The first sign… always starts with the eyes.

“This is insane,” I muttered. “This could be really dangerous.”

Still, I reached for my coat.

If I can hold it back long enough...If the instinct doesn’t take over... Maybe I can give Leon a Christmas that doesn’t feel so lonely.

Surrounded by glittering Christmas lights reminiscent of leftovers from childhood dreams, we sat on a bench close to Washington square sipping hot chocolate from a street cart. Though the air was frigid, Leon spoke as though the cold never really touched him.

“I swear, Will,” he murmured, throwing his head back to gaze up at the massive Chrismast tree. “This semester has been cursed. My professor loses his mind if I’m even a minute late, and my ex—don’t even get me started.”

I gave a faint smile, sipping my hot chocolate. Sweet and warm, but nowhere near enough to calm the storm brewing inside me.

“Let me guess,” I said. “She dumped you over text?”

Leon turned to me and pulled a dramatic face. “Over voice note. Four seconds long. What kind of guy gets dumped over a voice note that short? That’s not even enough time to say goodbye properly.”

I almost laughed, but bit my lip instead. “That’s just cruel.”

“She literally said ‘I think we need space’ and then blocked me on everything. Space? What are we, NASA?”

This time I let out a small laugh. Even though something inside me was shifting… wild and untamed. The full moon hadn’t fully risen yet, but my body already felt heavy. Like it was remembering what it was made for—hunting, not sitting on a park bench listening to human drama.

“I just... I wanted a normal Christmas, you know? Not alone. Not in this cold-ass city. Not feeling like no one would even notice if I vanish.”

Silence fell—colder than the snow around us. I looked at him. Leon, the guy who made jokes about TikTok trends, who teased me about my coffee addiction. Now he stared blankly at the tree lights like they couldn’t touch him either.

I wanted to reach for his hand. But I knew—if I touched anyone tonight, I might lose control.

I looked up at the sky. The moonlight broke through the clouds, brushing my skin like some ancient summons that had waited centuries to find me. My eyes pulsed, my pulse sped up, my breath fogged in the winter air.

“Leon,” I whispered.

“Hm?”

I stood. Too quickly. He blinked in surprise. “Thanks for tonight. But I have to go. There’s... something I can’t put off.”

“Wait, what? Are you okay?”

I forced a smile. “I’m just... not feeling well.”

Leon stood too, trying to move closer. I stepped back. “Don’t,” I warned. “I mean it.”

He raised his hands, backing off, but the confusion and worry on his face didn’t fade.

I turned around—and ran. My feet shot forward like bullets, cutting through the night that suddenly felt way too bright.

My footsteps echoed through the hollow streets of New York, but inside me... another voice had started to call.

Your time’s almost up, Willow.

My feet pounded the pavement, no rhythm, no aim—just raw instinct cutting through the cold streets. Streetlights blurred into yellow streaks as my vision started to shake. Everything felt distant, like the world was pulling away from me.

My bones began to throb. My skin itches, burned—from the inside out.

Oh Moon Goddess… not here. Not now.

I turned down a narrow alley between an old building and a boarded-up vinyl shop. But there was no space. Nowhere dark enough to hide the thing clawing its way out of me.

It felt like I was being bitten from the inside. Every finger joint cracked, twisted, my nails growing sharp, unnatural. My body trembled as joints popped, muscles tore, my breath catching in my throat like a scream that didn’t know how to escape.

I fell to my knees. My hands scraped against wet concrete.

“Shit… shit… I’m not gonna make it—”

The wind blew my hair as the moon broke through fully—silver and round, staring down like a cruel eye in the sky.

My spine arched—crack.

“Ahhh—!”

I bit into my sleeve, trying to muffle the sound ripping from my chest. My flesh boiled, changing. This wasn’t ordinary pain. This was bloodline agony. A cursed birthright. A ritual I had to fulfill every month—no matter how badly I wanted to stay human.

My heart pounded wildly. My eyes began to glow—a soft, eerie blue. The mark of Moonveil. My legacy... burning in the dark.

But before the shift fully claimed me—A hand came out of the shadows—cold, strong, grabbing my arm.

“Who—?”