In 19th-century Macedonia, Maria – a “Wolf-Eateress” (Macedonian: Волкојатка, romanized: Volkojatka), or witch, with a horrible burned appearance – enters the home of a newborn baby girl. The child’s terrified mother Elica says that if Maria spares the girl’s life, she will give her up once the girl is 16. Maria agrees, but robs the girl of her voice before leaving. Elica hides her daughter, Nevena, in a cave, and raises her there with no knowledge of the outside world.
On Nevena’s 16th birthday Maria arrives in the form of an eagle; Elica chases the bird out of sight, where Maria kills her and takes her form before taking Nevena out of the cave. A witch can use a spell, only once in their entire lifetime, to make someone else a witch; Maria does so by killing a donkey, scratching Nevena’s chest and spitting the donkey’s blood onto her before burning her wound with fire. Now a witch, Nevena gains deadly retractable black talons on her fingers and palm. Maria then pulls Elica’s guts from a hole in her chest, causing her to resume her previous, burned form.
Maria tries to teach Nevena to catch, kill, and eat animals, whose blood witches consume for power, and warns Nevena that humans will hurt her; but the younger witch refuses to feed, preferring to play with the creatures, which angers an abusive and disappointed Maria, who eventually abandons her to fend for herself. Nevena spies on Maria assuming the form of a wolf by putting its entrails into a cavity in her chest, understanding how to shapeshift as a witch. Now on her own, Nevena comes across a village, and accidentally kills a young mother, Bosilka, before using her entrails to take Bosilka’s appearance and assume her life. While Nevena’s muteness and clueless attitude causes the other villagers to think Bosilka has gone mad, she slowly learns how to live as a human: how to cook and wash, how to communicate non-verbally, and the differences in how men and women treat her. All the while, Maria watches from afar. One night, Bosilka’s abusive husband tries to have sex with her. The unfamiliarity of the process, along with the rough nature of her husband, causes her to panic and kill him. She removes Bosilka’s entrails from her chest cavity, reverts to her old self and flees.
