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Chapter 25

Author: NG Writes
last update Last Updated: 2025-02-18 20:03:43

The Silver Claw (Viktor Age; 35)

The trapper’s blood steamed in the cold, pooling around my boots like molten copper. I crouched over his corpse, fingers buried in his ribcage, prying loose the liver. The forest reeked of iron and pine sap.

A twig snapped.

I froze, knife slick in my grip. A girl stood at the tree line, her breath fogging the air. Sixteen, maybe. Skinny. Eyes sunken, like she hadn’t slept in weeks. Her parka was patched with wolf fur, her boots caked in mud. Blood Moon colors.

“I know what you are,” she said, voice trembling. Not from fear—from hunger.

I tossed the liver into the snow. It landed with a wet thud. “Then you know what happens to pups who wander too far.”

She didn’t flinch. “They say you turn people into monsters.”

I wiped the blade on my sleeve. “They say a lot of things.”

“I want you to make me one.”

I laughed. The sound startled a raven from the trees. “You don’t want what I am.”

She stepped closer. The trapper’s blood soaked into her
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