Twilight Beast.

Point

hick, filled with the rancid stench of death. I was surrounded by the hollow gaze of those who had been here befo

alked about everything and nothing at the same time. The sunlight would filter through the trees, casting warm shadows across our work. The scent of the earth would fill

they had taken someone. I was

ape. My body ached, but the worst was still to come. They started with their fists, blows raining down on my back and sides. Each punch sent waves of pain through me, but it was nothing

y wounds, pooling beneath me as I swayed in and out of consciousness. I wanted it to stop.

bye,

firelight. The same hands that had once guided me with tenderness now held a blade, poised to

he final blow, a screa

hing s

t into the clearing, tearing through the villagers with ferocity. Its massive claws ripped into flesh, its roar

ying to pull the others to safety. He turned fro

y strength, I pushed myself up, my limbs trembling, every movement agony. The silver-eyed beast kept the villagers at bay, its s

ht sky. There, more beasts waited, their eyes gleaming in the darkness. I recognized o

d, and silver. They circled me, thei

ve out, and I collapsed to the ground, sinking into the earth.

would wak

dy felt heavy, weighed down by pain. My head throbbed, and I tried to move, but eve

king up," some

ood near me, watching closely. One had silver eyes, the other red. My mind w

woman said softly, her

arely a rasp. "Where... where am I?" I finally manag

k," she answered.

d, Rose," the red-eyed one

me, her face calm but serious. "I sav

My heart sank as memories flooded in. My family. They wanted to kill me. My voice broke as I whis

," Rose said gently. "

thing familiar in his gaze. "I kno

people tortured me with sil

cutting him off before he could s

sense of it all.

shifters," Rose

my mind. "How can you be out durin

htly. "Is it the same Mar

know why they did that," I muttered, my voice barel

lagers are called Vorant. They're not human. They're human eaters.

elling me the people I've lived with, th

e confirmed. "And the

tear slid down my cheek. How could this be? The people I

started to say, my mind trying to cling to the st

t the truth is, they killed us-werewolf shifters. And

isbelief still cli

y eat humans and werewolf shifters to extend their lives. Th

. my whole life... the family that raised me

uietly. "They rai

n't get enough air. Eighteen years of my life-every smile, every touch, every

rring. I felt like I was going to faint, the weig

softening with something like pity. Finally, s

fell freely now, but they brought no relief. All I could do was sit there, suffocating