All Chapters of Her Moon, His Haven : Chapter 1 - Chapter 7

KATHARINA“You’re an abomination!”“You should never have been born into this world!”“Let’s burn her at the stake!”“A curse like her would only bring calamity upon us!”Different voices—distorted and warped—filled my mind as I slept, their tones dripping with disgust, contempt, fear, and morbid jealousy.I saw myself as a child standing before the crowd in confusion, unable to understand the hatred in their eyes, or why they wanted me dead when I’d done nothing wrong.—Present.In my deathly still, dark bedroom, my golden eyes snapped open. They were clear, alert and untouched by sleep.I sat up slowly, a momentary daze clouding my gaze before clearing up.Perhaps it was because today marked my nine hundred and ninety-ninth birthday—coupled with the fact that I hadn’t fed in ages, leaving my physical vessel frail—that I dreamed of such an ancient, dusty memory.Speaking of which… how old had I been back then?Less than ten.Abandoned. Parentless.With no one to protect or explain t

KATHARINAI crouched before the pitiful little creature, my lips curved in a smile that never reached my eyes.“What a distressing situation you’ve found yourself in, little thing,” I murmured. “But do tell me… how did you manage to slip past the poisonous miasma outside, and my enchantments on top of that?”My tone was gentle. Soft.Deceptively so.As I spoke, I sent out a subtle probe of magic, sweeping through its tiny body—searching for shifter energy, hidden spells, anything unusual.Nothing.Just an ordinary wild pup, or so it wanted me to believe.The thought flashed through my mind, sharpening my wariness rather than easing it.Not only had it bypassed my barriers, its blood also carried an unmistakable lure—one potent enough to stir my dormant hunger.I’d drunk animal blood before which u found far less repulsive than the human blood my vampiric half clearly preferred.Yet never—not once—had the scent of their blood stirred such a response in me.Two peculiarities appearing o

KATHARINAAfter leading the pup inside, I stopped paying attention to it entirely, even as it trotted behind me.Instead, I walked toward my potion room, opened the door, and stepped in. As I reached back to close it, I caught the pup trying to slip its tiny body forward.What a cunning little thing.Immediately, I stretched out my leg to block it.My lips curled in an enigmatic smile as I looked down.“You want to enter?” I asked, meeting its bewildered eyes.Its expression practically said: You brought me in already. Why are you stopping me now?Ignoring its confusion, my smile deepened, then I lowered myself slightly, meeting its gaze on purpose.“Too bad. This room is off-limits. You may wait outside… or leave if you lack the patience. Do as you wish.”Then without another word, I ruthlessly shut the door in its face.Remembering that dazed, dopey look it had given me, a soft chuckle involuntarily slipped out.The sound startled me, and my expression froze. But a moment later, it

KATHARINAI watched as the inky black liquid in the cauldron hissed, sputtered, then collapsed into a fine layer of powder.Another failure.A shadow flickered across my face—sharp as a blade—and for a heartbeat, a monstrous fire surged in my chest, an urge to reduce everything around me to ash.How much longer would it take?Another hundred years? A thousand? Ten thousand?I simply couldn’t understand what I was doing wrong. Every attempt ended the same way, leaving me with nothing but a trail of failures.I had gathered rare plants, deadly poisons, sacred herbs, healing roots—tested them separately, fused them together, and re-fused them tirelessly in countless orders.And still, nothing.Absolutely no progress toward curing immortality.It felt as though I was circling endlessly around the same point, trapped in an invisible loop I couldn’t break.Was the universe mocking me? Warning me not to fight fate? Not to attempt the impossible?The thought made me seethe and sneer.Out of n