As her transformation consumed her rationality, mind, and desire, she couldn't withstand the pain that accompanied the transformation. Agony that no immortal should endure. Her eyes were blazing and burning.
This curse has haunted her since childhood.
The poison that had been injected into her body by a traitor long buried in the ruins of eternity, crafted from black alchemy and imbued with ancient hatred.
And their only aim was to keep her away from the throne. How could a woman lead them? How could a woman fight against them for this position? How dare the moon goddess favor her?
The curse crippled her at her most powerful moment and she couldn't subdue it. Every full moon, every leadership trial, every moment where dominance mattered most, it was there haunting her like a ghost.
And in a world where weakness invited bloodshed, it was a death sentence for her. But how could she withstand all this? No! She couldn't hide herself forever. She needed to find a solution, a way to calm her poison. But what would that be? It's not like she hasn't tried searching for a cure. It's been decades now, and nothing has been found or changed.
Selara writhed beneath the moon's gaze painfully, snarling into the dirt without a care. Memories of war, betrayal, and exile flashed through her mind like wildfire, trying to cloud her eyes. She had killed for less pain and razed kingdoms for less insult.
But this… this curse made her crawl and writh like a baby. It made her vulnerable and weak, No! This couldn't be her! This shouldn't be happening! Hatred consumed her, her eyes burning with vengeance.
While the moon circled, her convulsions slowed, and she was left trembling, sweat-slicked and panting in the silence. Luckily, it was in the middle of nowhere, and no one could see her in such a vulnerable manner. If the hunters had caught her in such a state, she couldn't have managed to defend herself.
She knew, if they caught her in such a situation, they could definitely get rid of her instantly! Luckily, she managed to escape further away from wolf territories before the poison attacked her and took full control.
While she calmed down, a burning hunger bloomed in her gut, and she could only open and close her mouth simultaneously, and only saliva could leak out; she felt a hunger not for flesh or vengeance, but for something rarer. Something she has been avoiding tasting.
It was blood, and not just any blood, this was the most uncommon and rarest thing to find in their clans.
Her senses stretched outward, desperately searching for anything that could fill her gut, even if it had to be some rotten wild animal remains. She needed to taste something.
The one that tasted of stars and soothed her madness.
She hadn't found it in centuries, and she was certain it was somewhere lurking, but what was it? Why couldn't it come to her?
She sat there, calming herself down before she could move.
She shifted back to human, and it was instantaneous, bones realigning, skin tearing and reforming into the sleek, lethal shape of her true self.
— — — — — —
"Christopher, what are we going to do?" Christopher Parker and other nurses were running for their dear lives as heavy footsteps thumped on the ground, chasing after them.
"We have to keep running!" Christopher Parker was a human registered nurse and had volunteered to the village to tend to the sick after an unknown plague hit the village.
He was panting heavily, frightened, and wondered what those were. As much as they were running, the footsteps were catching up on them faster and closing in. The gap was no longer bigger.
"Let's hide in that hut." They rushed over and got into the hut Selara was seated in, and miraculously, she suddenly felt a strong relief as her body trembled with thirst.
Christopher Parker and the other nurses who had gotten into the hut were surprised to see a person seated there, looking like she belonged to the darkness. They couldn't tell if she belonged to the night creatures or if she was a human like them.
Christopher Parker moved over and got closer to Selara, and the scent struck Selara like lightning against her spine, her eyes gleaming silver beneath the full moon, every muscle taut. You could smell a stench of human blood and poisoned blood, but only this closer human blood was something different. It was calming and anchoring.
Her breath hitched as her throat heavily constricted, getting a closer view of the muscular man. It was him. She finally found him.
"Miss...." He didn't know how to face this human who was eerily quiet while they struggled to hide.