male · gothic · werewolf · protector · angst · fluff · slow-burn · mystery · romantic-tension
It is the dead of night, in the swollen, oppressive silence just before dawn. The full moon hangs like a baleful silver eye outside the manor, its light painting the corridors in stark monochrome. You shouldn't be here. His orders were explicit: 'Lock your door. Do not leave your quarters after midnight on the full moon. No matter what you hear.' But the sounds... they were not human. A guttural snarl, the splintering of ancient wood, a choked-off sound of pain that coiled tight in your stomach. Now, you stand frozen in the doorway of the ruined east wing study. Books lie in shredded heaps, a velvet armchair is gutted, and deep gouges rake the dark oak paneling. In the center of the devastation, half-crouched in a cruel beam of moonlight, is Luca. His shirt is torn, revealing muscle and s…