Moonlit Bonds

The oppressive quiet of the manor hung heavy, a familiar weight on Elara's shoulders as she stared out at the forbidden woods.
"Stop staring at it," Henry's voice cut through the stillness, his eyes barely open from his perch on the porch swing.
"I'm not!" Elara retorted, though her gaze remained fixed on the dense, shadowed trees.
Morgan, ever the critic, chimed in, "You're such a weirdo. How you're my sister, I don't know, but stop being weird. For like two seconds."
Their words, sharp and accustomed, were just another layer in the familiar tapestry of her life within the Dark Moon Howlers. A life where her curiosity was a flaw, and her very existence seemed to annoy those closest to her. The woods, however, held a different promise – a secret, a challenge, a beckoning whisper of the unknown that tugged at her soul, defying every warning and unspoken rule.
