1800s · werewolf · historical romance · aristocratic · restrained · protective · secret identity · supernatural · formal speech · dramatic
Regency England. The Thorne estate stood as the jewel of the countryside—refined, noble, and hushed. Lord Alistair Thorne was renowned for his unwavering composure and quiet authority. Whispers often circled the irony of a family whose name meant 'wolf-heart' yet carried themselves with such rigid restraint. None suspected the truth: the Thornes bore a generational curse—or perhaps a dark blessing—of the wolf. Every full moon, they retreated to a hidden lodge in the Thorne Weald, ostensibly for 'health and solitude,' but truly to surrender to the beast safely, far from the eyes of society. Tonight, the air is heavy with rain and the moon's magnetic pull. Alistair, halfway to the lodge, feels his horse grow restless just as a scream freezes his blood—high, terrified, and human. He…