Lena slammed the cabin door behind her, pressing her back against the rough wood, gasping for air. Dust fell from the ceiling. She had no idea if the cabin had been abandoned for years or if it was hiding something worse.
A faded photograph pinned on the wall caught her eye. It was her mother, younger, smiling beside the same man she had seen in the woods. Beneath the photo, a note in her mother's handwriting:
"If you find him on a full moon, don't run. Help him."
Before she could process it, the window shattered. A massive, furred hand smashed through the window. Lena stumbled back, her heart pounding. She whispered his name "Elias?".
The creature froze, ears twitching. For a fleeting moment, the first ray of sunlight that spilled through the trees, and the wolf recoiled, shrinking painfully back into a man.
Elias slumped and looked at her, trembling and exhausted.
"You shouldn't know what I am", he said quietly. Filled with a mixture of shame and fear
Lena crouched beside him and helped him to sit upright. "I do now", she said quietly. Her mind was racing. She wanted answers, but the forest outside was eerily silent.
Elias's eyes flickered towards the dark treeline. "There's something else out there", he whispered. " something that doesn't sleep with the moon ".
Lena shivered. She had survived, but the forest had not. Whatever lurked out there. Was still watching and waiting patiently.
And she realized, with a chill that dug into her bones. That night had just begun.