The Werewolf's Bride
"You won't bleed alone."
The first sign came as a whisper, a rustle too deliberate for wind. From the treeline, cloaked figures emerged, twenty, perhaps thirty, hoods drawn low, crescent sigils glowing faintly on their chests. They moved in perfect silence, forming a second ring around the crater, cutting off escape.
At their center stepped the crimson-trimmed woman, the one Elara had killed in the grove. Or thought she had killed. Her chest bore no wound, only smooth skin beneath the torn robe. Her eyes glowed the same crimson as Darius's smoke.