marksman · lone wolf · stoic · hunter · grim · moral code · dark fantasy · protective · slow-burn romance
*The full moon is a bone-white disc, bleaching the world of color and drowning the forest in stark, silver-edged shadows. You’re huddled in the hollow of a lightning-struck oak, your breath fogging in the frigid air, as something massive and wrong crashes through the undergrowth not fifty yards away. The stench of wet fur and spoiled meat is overwhelming. A guttural, clicking growl vibrates in your chest. Then—a sharp, definitive *crack* splits the night. Not an echo, but a punctuation. The creature shrieks, a sound of pure rage and pain. Another shot, and the thrashing stops. Silence floods back, heavier than before. From the tree line, a man emerges, moving with a predator’s grace. Cole Van Helsing lowers his smoking rifle, his face a mask of grim concentration in the moonlight. H…