Her father had asked her to go buy vegetables at the market, but in the way, she decided to give a look to the other parts of the old village, she hasnt been out for a walk in a long, long time.

She decided to go to the town's small library, maybe some reading would clear her mind, its been a while since she grabbed a book, but as she walked towards it, she felt those big, rough hands on her shoulders, and she recognized who it was instantly.

With a sigh, she turned around and looked up to see her big brother.

— Alistair..

— lil sisteeer! — he said chuckling — why the long face dummy? Did a boy reject you? — he laughed again.

— for the gods, shut up Al, im just going to the library, and you interrupted my precious silence — she said before starting to walk again, quicker this time.

— ah yes, i forgot you were a nerd! come on though, im not that bad — another laugh, it was getting in her nerves already

She walked into the library and closed the door in Alistair's face before he could enter.

— damn, you okay there? You look frustrated. — said the librarian sitting behind the reception desk, a girl not much older than her.

— i AM frustrated... — she said walking up to her — ... Are you new here, or i just havent touched a book for too long?

The girl let out a small giggle before replying

— pretty sure im not really «new» in here... Any book you'd like?

«Besides books about wolves...»

— not really, im just gonna go to... Take a look... — she said already walking away into the library

— alright, have fun... — the girl looked down at her book for a moment and then looked up again — oh and by the way, my name's Maud

Alice turned around and smiled softly

— im Alice, Alice Dubois — they looked at each other for a moment before turning away — alright now ill go uh... Read books — Alice said, walking away.

Why did that moment feel so weird to her?

She strolled around the library looking for something remotely similar to a book about werewolves, without luck, she ended up grabbing a book about insects, those little creatures had always interested her in a way she didnt understand, for her they were just fascinating.

After a while, she looked up to see Maud sitting a few feet away from her, looking at her.

— you like those things? — she said softly

— yeah i guess you could say i... Like them... — her cheeks turned slightly pink in embarrassment.

Maud just giggled and stood up

— i know something that will be interesting for you, follow me — then she turned around and started walking towards a small door locked with chains.

Alice followed her slowly, and with confusion, she asked

— what are you going to show me? — in a small, soft whisper

Maud stopped walking right infront of the chained door and turned to Alice

— its a different section of the library full of books about weird stuff, i got in there once, there are Bestiares, moon cycle predictions, a weird book with «spells» that was written by a lady from this very village... — she explained in a mysterious tone — and i guess, youll find some stuff about weird insects too — she said giggling, before opening the padlock and taking off the chains — have fun — and then she walked back to the reception.

«... Well that was... Interesting» Alice thought, staring at Maud for a second before looking away and stepping into the new, secret section of the library.

She knew exactly what she needed to find; Werewolves.

As she looked to the weird section names in the shelves full of books, she finally saw what she was looking for.

«LYCANTHROPY» written in a bold, elegant looking font.

She grabs one of the books quickly, sitting down next to thw shelve and opening it, looking at the section notes, she finds an interesting one.

«The Hunters and the Wolves»

When she looked through the pages, she found a text, a story.

The origin on the curse, the origin of The Wolves.

She quickly began to read.

«my name is Allan Ravenwood, im writing this book to protect my future descendants from the beasts that hide in the dark, i am the starter of the Order of The Hunt, and we will protect our people from the monsters.»

«Ravenwood?» That last name isnt one she knew from her village.

«as the years pass our relationship with the Wolves has evolved into violence, and we cant keep surviving, we have to attack»

Alice stopped reading for a moment, «relationship...?» she thought, and then kept going.

«tonight is the night we will attack and banish the werewolves out of our lands, we will hunt them to avange the years of silent torment their company has given us, the centuries of fake peace, tonight, we will be the wolves and them our prey-»

Alice closed the book.

Her breathing had gotten quicker and rough the more she kept reading, was the wolves actually the problem? They didnt start this war, it was the hunters...

She opened the book again in the index, and at the end, one more small note caught her attention.

«Bloodlines»

Slowly, she opened the page and started to read.

«Werewolf related Bloodlines»

She took a deep breath before reading more.

«Thorne: Hunted»

«Hartgrave: Hunted»

«Clairvaux: Unknown»

She had expected to see Clairvaux in this list, but, the name right under it made her blood run cold...

«Dubois: Hunted»

She dropped the book with a cold gasp, and in that exact moment, screams started to be heard outside, she ran to the door and walked out.

The library was burning down.

Maud grabbed her arm and ran to the exit, without a word, Alice followed her, once they were outside, they saw it, the village was being attacked.

Not by werewolves, by men, men from a distant clan she didnt recognize.

Maud let go of her and ran towards a house, she probably wanted to go with her family, Alice ran to her own house and bursted through the door, her father was preparing his crossbow before turning around and noticing her.

— Alice! — he walked up to her and put his hands on her shoulders — you have to run, grab your crossbow, ill send Alistair to look for you once its safe but you have to run. — he walked to the table and grabbed her crossbow, tossing it to her — GO!

Alice noded and walked out in the exact moment one of the invaders threw a torch to her home, it catching the flames almost instantly.

— DAD! — she screamed, but she couldnt stay here, she had to run.

So she turned around and ran, ran as fast as she could until she reached the river.

She crossed it, swimming with all her strenght and dropped her crossbow in the way, but she couldnt stop.

Once she was in the other side, wet and cold as the snowflakes started to fall on her hat and her shoulders, she kept running, while her tears mixed with the water in her face and froze into thin ice as they reached her cheeks.