Rain poured over the woods and the stones, hitting the leaves, mudding the earth and making thousands tiny rivers run across the ground. Lorelei sat curled up in a corner of her cave, trying to be as close to the dug up fire pit without burning herself. She remembered to praise herself for thinking ahead and dragging some dry twigs and logs inside before the rains began. Had she not, she'd probably be trembling the whole night, and most likely would have gotten sick. Last time that happened, she ended up starving for days, being unable to actually go out there and hunt.

Rocking lightly in her spot, soft hums flowed from her lungs, producing a very familiar and beloved melody. Rain was cold, inconvenient, and whenever it lasted, she had a very hard time catching and gathering food. But it made noise, brought mist, concealed anything that wished to hide. And that meant she could sing.

"Merrily we sailed along

Though the waves were plenty strong

Down the twisting river Rhine

Following a song…"

A woman alone in the woods, far from any village, could attract unwanted attention. If it were only a human, or a forest animal, she'd manage. She had survived over five years out there not because she lacked strength. But there were… other things; scary things she didn't want conflicts with. She didn't lack caution, either.

"Legend's faded storyline

Tried to warn us all

Oh they called her Lorelei

Careful or you'll fall…"

Clearing her throat, a tiny smile danced on her pale lips. It felt good to speak words again, and she used the rainy days for that purpose, afraid she might forget her own language otherwise, if such a thing was even possible. Clearer, louder, her voice sang:

"And the winds would cry

And many men would die

And all the waves would bow down

To the Lorelei…"

Sighing deeply, Lorelei hugged her knees closer to herself, recalling how her father used to sing her to sleep with the song of the river nymph he named her after. Last time she could recall seeing him was…

"Eight years ago." She said to herself, voice low and crackling, as her throat still remained unused to forming words.

Biting her lip, she had to note she didn't care for singing anymore, as bad memories had started to cloud the good ones. Shaking her head in attempt to chase them away, she lied down on her side, curling up and holding tightly onto her old blanket. She could sleep. Rain would stop by the time she wakes. Or at least she hoped it would.

...….

Crouching in bushes, Lorelei's eyes were intently set on the young deer not far away. The spring and nearby river were her common hunting grounds, since all she had to do was conceal herself and wait, and the wildlife would come to her.

Truth be told, she wasn't nearly fast enough to chase the animals for long distance – at least not in her current shape – while in the other one… She couldn't say she trusted herself to actually hunt down an animal and bring it home. Once she caught a rabbit like that, but ended up shredding the poor thing to pieces so tiny she couldn't even make soup of them.

Time was ticking, however. The moon would be full in less than a week, and she was beginning to feel its impact already. Her brown hair greased quickly, skin itched, mood got progressively worse and her patience all but spent.

Moving into a different position so she could sprint over to the animal, Lorelei froze in spot, same as the said deer. A twig snapped. That was it, her hours spent on nothing, she knew already. The moment she moved towards the spring, the deer ran off, ineffably faster than her even when she was on her best days. And she wasn't.

An aggravated growl erupted from her throat, and before she knew it, she was throwing her old axe at the nearest tree. Tempted to tear at her own clothes, she was held back only by knowing that was all she had to cover herself. Taking a deep breath, she covered her eyes with her hand, hoping to calm down. So, fish it is, again. She thought, going over to retrieve her axe, and unwillingly made her way down south towards the river.

Although she had taught herself to fish with bare hands years ago, it was just as hard to pull off as always. The fish slipped from her hands, tickled her calves where it touched them underwater, all the while, her limbs felt as if they'd freeze and detach from her body any moment now. The current made her lose balance every now and then, causing her to just barely keep herself standing. The last thing she wanted was to get soaked in icy water with no change of clothes.

Having somehow managed to catch a few, Lorelei made her way back to her cave. She dreamt of fire and hot meal, even if it wasn't meat like she planned. She had learned long ago not to be picky about these things.

A bit over an hour later, she had eaten, was dry and warm once more. Pleased, she took her blanket and decided to treat herself with a nap. She had a couple more good days ahead before it happens.

...…

It could have been the thuds or the way her body hit the ground, but she was harshly awakened. Clad in cold sweat, breathing heavily, anxious to get out of her own skin – quite literally – her form contorted against the cold cave floor. Was it the time?

Managing to get on her hands and knees, Lorelei crawled to the exit, to look at the night sky. And sure enough, the glowing bright tip of the full Moon loomed behind the mountains in the distance. As much as it pained her, forced her to transform, and all other misfortunes that came with it, her eyes couldn't get enough of the sight. Its white glitter, its perfect round shape, its relentless summons – the Moon ruled her, and she loved it.

While her wits were still about her, she managed to help herself stand up against the wall. Her clothes, she needed to remove them or they'd get ruined. They were barely more than rags already, transforming in them would mean going naked from there on.

At last, having gotten undressed, she stepped out into its light, inhaling a shaky breath while her body continued to tremble. The more it climbed in the sky, the harsher her contortions got. A particularly sharp one sent her back to her hands and knees, to claw at the mud, to scream at the earth for cursing her.

Screams turned to low hisses, which turned to growls that sounded progressively less human. Her very bones relocated and changed, skin bursting to let the dark fur come out, claws pierced her fingertips as they rapidly grew. Please… She begged her body to push through, and complete the transformation.

Come on… She pleaded with the Moon to hurry up and rise in its entirety.

At last…

After the pain came the anger. By default, it seemed, that's how it always was. The need to hunt, kill, squeeze the red life out of something filled her completely. Nothing else mattered, nothing else existed! It was only her claws, her canines and whatever sad creature came into her path first.

For tonight, it was just her and the Moon. Her true form was agile, painless, perfect, as it carried her through the woods in unbelievable speed. It felt good, if she'd be honest. It felt natural. This was who she was.

...….

Dragging herself up the hill was the cherry on top. Funny that she thought of that analogy, given how she had neither cherries nor cake in years. In her current state, she'd enjoy eating something sweet. Alas, the sweetest food the woods offered was chestnuts, and it wasn't even their time. There were beehives to be found here and there… but she knew better than to try pulling that one again.

It wasn't always the case that she ran that far after transforming, but it had happened a few times before. Her mountain stood tall above a dozen forested hills, and she had managed to go all the way down there. Thankfully, the mountain could be spotted from any location, so she didn't worry about getting lost.

Both hills and the mountain were far from any villages she could name, which made her feel at ease. In her state, coming upon a herd of someone's livestock would mean slaughter and possible retribution. She didn't wish to cause anything that'd make people roam her woods in search for the culprit.

Sighing in exasperation, Lorelei went over to the nearest tree and sat at its roots for some much needed rest. Clearly, it wasn't just the steepness of the land, nor the chill in the air that exhausted her so much; not even the fact that she's been walking for so long the night caught up with her once more.

Post-transformation, a couple days were always like that. Her body lacked in its usual energy and strength, her mind got tired from even the simplest tasks. All she wanted was to sleep. To herself, she quietly mumbled her song, and shut her eyes. She'd just rest them, unwind, then go on. She wouldn't actually allow herself to doze off. The forest floor wasn't about to make that any harder, anyway, as the dry leaves and the roots prickled at her exposed skin.

Allowing her body to relax further, she was just beginning to feel weightless, blissfully absent, when she suddenly stiffened. Clink… clink… clink… The distant noise could be heard in precise, rhythmical repetition, echoing through the forest, coming from nowhere and everywhere. Yes, that definitely sounded like hammer hitting metal. And hammer meant people.

Quickly standing, Lorelei gathered what little strength she could to climb the tree. It was great, old and it didn't shed all of its leaves just yet. It was the best cover she could hope for out here. Had she not mindlessly gone so far away, she could have just pushed some larger stones against the entrance to her cave and be safe. However, this wasn't the time to reprimand and curse herself. Nothing ever came from that.

Taking a moment to scan her surroundings, the only probable location of whoever produced the noise could be an old castle on the west side of the forest. To her knowledge, it had been abandoned ever since she came to these parts. Given its shabby state, no one lived there for far longer than that, but that was about to change, apparently.

Her lips produced an irritated sound, while she took in the buildings many towers and balconies. From now on, she'd need to take extra precautions every time she left her cave, and especially during transformations – which was no easy task. She could make sure to be careful on every front, and still have no way to predict what she might do in her wolf form.

Observing the castle, a particular tower attracted her attention. Its small balcony stood very tall, and there was a person. A man. He was so minuscule from her distance, chance was she wouldn't have even been able to spot him had the Moon not just been full the night prior. Her senses of sight and smell were still quite sharp.

She wouldn't pay him much heed otherwise, but he stood still, facing her direction for a few minutes now. Confused, Lorelei wondered what in the world could be so interesting about a bunch of hills, which was all his view probably held. Watching him a while longer, she frowned, unable to shake off the bad feeling his odd behavior gave her. He acted almost as though he could see her, which shouldn't be possible.

With absolute horror, she watched one black sleeved arm slowly rise up, and a gloved hand leisurely waving in salute.

"Oh, no…"

Not vampires.

...…

For weeks – nothing. Lorelei had made sure to move as little as possible, and had gathered food, water and firewood ahead of time for each week. So, yes, she didn't spend much time out there in the woods, but even then, she should have been able to notice if they were hunting her. She had been living this life for half a decade, so she'd know if she was being hunted.

Yet, there was absolutely nothing unusual. If ever she dared to go down to the edge of her mountain, she'd still hear their construction noise in the far distance, but that was all. No hounds, no horses, no vampires on her tail.

The Moon was nearly full, once again. And she dreaded it more than ever. If she should lose control and roam too far from home again, it could be very, very bad. Her own father sent her away just to keep her out of their sight, and if he feared them, Lorelei knew better than to act brave.

She never did understand all the animosity, and her father refused to tell. It's not like she knew any werewolves she could ask. All she knew was that the conflict went back several millennia in history, and neither side was about to give in to the other. Her father even decided not to send her to her own kind for that very reason.

The more she thought of it, the more she blamed him for his bias. If he wished her well, he should have found the pack she came from and given her to them. She wouldn't be living like a bear out here had he done that.

Yet, he cared for her enough not to end her life immediately, despite learning she was indeed a werewolf. In worst case scenario, she assumed she could just bring up his name. He's one of their noble order. Even the lord of the old castle should know him. She hoped he'd care.

...…

"Tama?" Dimitri called, standing right behind him while he dined.

"Mhm?"

"We searched."

Sipping on his spiced wine, he swallowed and waited a few moments, tempted to roll his eyes at the man's rigidness.

"And?" He urged, as usual, whenever he wanted to get something out of Dimitri.

"No sign of werewolf packs. Are you sure the girl was a beast?"

"Yes. She was naked in the woods. What else would she be? A lunatic?"

"A witch?" Dimitri suggested as-a-matter-of-factly.

"A witch wouldn't have been able to see me from that far away. I'm telling you, she looked at me."

"So what do you want to do?"

"Nothing." He sighed. "If it's just her, she should be harmless. Leave her be."

His right hand man said nothing, meaning he chose to respectfully remain silent. He also didn't leave even though their conversation was over, signaling his disagreement.

"You don't approve."

"No."

Chuckling, Tama looked over his shoulder to face his friend. He's dealt with this attitude for hundreds of years now and it was still as irritating as ever.

"Elaborate!" He gestured impatiently, not failing to notice the small smirk dancing on Dimitri's lips.

"She's a beast. We kill beasts."

"She's sticking to the wilderness, where she belongs. I doubt she'd dare get closer to this place. I see no reason for savagery."

"Their very existence is savagery."

"True." He shrugged, delicately wiping the corners of his mouth with a handkerchief. "But she gave us no trouble. Yet."

"The full Moon is a week away. It'll make you swallow your words."

"So be it."

...…

He knew there was a very strong case to his friend's words, and was suspecting they'd come true sooner rather than later. He's seen his fair share of beasts in the past, they were quite unpredictable. Only… he wasn't truly expecting they'd have her bound and locked up days after his talk with Dimitri.

Saying she was rabid would be an understatement. Bloody trail of animal remains were left behind her, pieces of rabbit, fox, even bear were scattered through the hills. Once she had gotten dangerously close to their territory, and they went after her, three grown vampires barely managed to restrain her. One of them had gotten off with a very bad gash to his face.

They had managed, however. The real challenge was keeping Dimitri from putting the poor thing to the blade. His history with her kind was very, very unpleasant; which was the case with more or less any vampire, but Tama liked to think of himself as an open minded individual.

"So what do you want with her, hm?"

Hearing actual distress in his voice was refreshing. It might not have been too neighborly of Tama to think so, but that's how he felt, having been dealing with the man's sapless, backhanded comments all this time.

"I want to speak to her." Shrugging, he faced Dimitri. "I mean, if she can actually speak."

His rightful doubt was proven but a moment later when the werewolf sprinted at the cage bars, causing him to blink in surprise. No doubt, she would like to shred him to pieces if only he'd let her.

"Why? Are you maybe—"

"I'm curious." He interjected before the topic could escalate.

"Bloody beast roams the woods. What's so curious about that?"

"Mind your tone, my friend." Gently, he laid his hand on the man's shoulder. "First, she's away from a pack, which is strange enough in itself. Second, she's away from any settlement. That means she's consciously avoiding humans, choosing to live the harsh life out here instead of hiding and claiming their livestock. Doesn't that sound unusual?"

"So, she'd rather avoid being stuffed by their arrows. Very unique." Dimitri shook his head. "I don't like this."

"Luckily, you're not in charge." Tama offered a wide grin. Snapping his fingers, he watched a servant rush over to stand before him. "Leave some clothes by the cage. Our guest should transform by dawn." Turning to look at his catch once more, he spoke to himself, "This is still a lady we're talking about." And he was still a knight.