Chapter 2 - The Encounter

Aurora "Rory" Thompson, a 25-year-old journalist, had always been skeptical of the legend. That was until she stumbled upon a mysterious stranger in the woods, his eyes gleaming yellow in the darkness.

Rory wandered deeper into the woods, her curiosity piqued by the strange markings on the trees. She had been warned not to venture too far, but she couldn't resist the allure of the unknown. As she rounded a bend, she stumbled upon a figure standing motionless, his eyes fixed on her.

Lyrien's gaze was piercing, his eyes gleaming like gold in the fading light. Rory felt a shiver run down her spine as he approached her, his movements graceful and fluid.

"Who are you?" Rory asked, her voice barely above a whisper.

"I am Lyrien," he replied, his voice low and husky. "And you, little one, are trespassing on our land."

Rory took a step back, her heart racing. "I didn't mean to intrude. I'll leave immediately."

Lyrien's smile was enigmatic. "I'm afraid it's too late for that."

With lightning-fast speed, he pounced, his teeth sinking into Rory's neck. She felt a searing pain, followed by a strange, tingling sensation coursing through her veins.

As Lyrien released her, Rory stumbled backward, her vision blurring. She saw Lyrien's face, his eyes gleaming with an otherworldly intensity, before everything went black.

When she came to, she was lying on the forest floor, Lyrien's face hovering above hers.

Rory couldn't shake off the feeling of unease that had settled in her bones since the encounter with Lyrien in the woods. At first, she wrote it off as mere paranoia, but as the days passed, she began to experience strange symptoms.

Her senses grew sharper, and she could smell the damp earth and decaying leaves in the woods like never before. Her hearing became more acute, and she could pick up the faintest sounds - the hooting of owls, the rustling of leaves, and the distant howling of wolves.

One night, she woke up to find her body aching, her muscles twitching as if they were shifting and reforming. She looked down at her hands and saw they were changing - her fingers lengthening, her nails sharpening into claws.

Rory panicked, unsure of what was happening to her. She stumbled out of bed and staggered to the mirror, and what she saw made her blood run cold. Her eyes were no longer human - they had turned a piercing yellow, with vertical pupils that seemed to glow in the dark.

She tried to shake off the transformation, but it was no use. Her body was changing, and she was powerless to stop it. The full moon was rising, and Rory felt an ancient power coursing through her veins, calling her to embrace her new form.

With a terrified cry, she let go, and her body began to shift. Her limbs shortened, her senses heightened, and her mind clouded with a primal fury. When the transformation was complete, a sleek gray wolf stood in the mirror, its eyes blazing with a fierce inner light.

Rory was no more. The wolf had taken over, and she was at its mercy.

"You should not have come here," he whispered, his breath hot against her ear. "But since you have, you will join us. You will become one of us."

Rory's mind reeled as she realized what had happened. She had been bitten by a Lycan, and her life would never be the same again.