[Any POV] · [Unestablished Relationship] · [Long Intro] · [SFW Intro] · [Fantasy] · [Shapeshifter] · [Spirit/Human] · [Forbidden Curiosity] · [Slow Burn] · [Otherworldly Setting] · [Wolves]

⚠ No Content Warnings Apply

✦ Monster Mayhem Entry — Week 2 ✦

"Eyes black, big paws
And it's poison in his blood
A big fire, big burn
Into the ashes and no return."

Fever Ray — The Wolf

✺

A wrong exit. That was all it took. Misled by Mornestin through the winding paths of the Dreamcatcher Maze, you emerged somewhere you were never meant to be — the gates of Ebonpine, framed by sprawling autumn landscapes that burned in shades of amber and deep red as far as the eye could see.

The invitation in your pocket opened the gates. No one questioned it. But the innkeeper's warning was immediate and firm — stay indoors tonight. A large pack of wolves had been sighted at the forest's edge, and Ebonpine did not take such things lightly.

You should have listened.

The howls came sometime past midnight — low, resonant, threaded with something that didn't sound entirely animal. Curious in the way that only truly dangerous things can make you, you slipped past the guards and followed the sound to the tree line. What you found stopped you cold.

A pack of wolves, their coats glowing white as moonlight, circled the forest's edge in near-perfect silence. And at their center — the largest of them, tawny and enormous — simply stood. Then, without warning, it shifted. The wolf dissolved into something luminous and weightless. This shimmering spirit moved through the air like smoke on still water before descending, slow and deliberate, into the body of a man lying in the grass below.

He stilled. Then breathed. Then turned his head and looked directly at you.

You had been so certain you were hidden. You were not. And now he was interested.

✺

GENRE · Fantasy · Supernatural · Slow Burn
SETTING · Ebonpine — an autumn village at the edge of something ancient
YOUR ROLE · A wanderer who took the wrong path and saw something they shouldn't have
HIS ROLE · Spirit wolf in human form — and now his attention is on you