Riven sat cross-legged on his bed, deep in thought. His tail flicked restlessly behind him, ears twitching in frustration.
All the shifters he knew could turn into full wolves. A grand, majestic transformation—a display of power and grace.
And yet he, the one with actual visible wolf traits, could not.
This was unacceptable.
The world was unfair, and Riven was going to do sothing about it.
He cracked his knuckles. Ti for so serious effort.
Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath.
Alright, Riven, focus.
He pictured a wolf in his mind—a mighty, fearso beast with sleek fur and piercing eyes. A creature of pure strength and agility.
You are that wolf.
You are powerful.
You are—
"Rrgh!" Riven grunted dramatically, willing himself to shift. He clenched his fists, furrowed his brows, and concentrated so hard that a vein nearly popped in his forehead.
...Nothing happened.
He cracked one eye open. Still had hands.
Still had legs.
Still had an unreasonably attractive face.
He scowled. What the hell?!
Maybe he was doing it wrong.
He took another deep breath, stretching his arms. Okay. Reset. Try again.
He let his muscles relax, then, with sudden force, jerked his entire body forward as if that would magically trigger the transformation.
"HYAAH—"
Thump.
He launched himself straight off the bed.
Face-first into the floor.
For a mont, he just lay there, arms splayed out like a starfish, contemplating his life choices.
The floor was cold. His dignity was gone.
"...Ow."
Still, Riven wasn’t a quitter.
He pushed himself up and glared at his reflection in the mirror.
His tail swished behind him like it was mocking him. A reminder that his body was already halfway there.
The original Riven could transform! He saw his mories! But he just did not know how to trigger it! It was a feeling they said! He felt wolf-y but the wolf was not feeling him!
"I literally have wolf ears and a tail—why can’t I do this?!" he grumbled, tugging at his own fluffy ears.
He was more wolf than most of them! His stupid tail moved on its own whenever he got emotional, and his ears were way too expressive for his own good.
And yet... no wolf form.
This was a scam.
He squinted at himself. Maybe he needed a new approach.
He tried growling.
"GRRR."
He tried baring his fangs.
"GRAAAHH!"
He even tried doing a little spin, as if that might help the process.
Nothing.
Riven huffed, crossing his arms.
"If anyone walked in right now, I would have to kill them," he muttered to himself.
Desperate, he got on all fours and attempted to ’think’ like a wolf.
He tried to embrace the primal instincts.
He imagined hunting, running through the woods, feeling the wind in his fur.
He felt sothing stir within him.
Oh.
Ohhh, was this it?
He focused harder, gripping the floor, his body tingling with anticipation.
Was he finally—?!
...
Nope.
His tail just wagged.
Riven scread internally.
"This is so BULLSHIT!" he shouted, flopping onto the floor dramatically. "HOW is it that the most human-looking wolves can shift, but the one with actual ears and a tail CANNOT?!"
Was he defective?!
Did he get scamd at birth?!
He groaned, rolling onto his back, arms spread out in pure defeat.
"...Maybe I should just embrace it," he mumbled. "Maybe I was ant to be this way. Half and half. The best of both worlds. A superior being."
A smirk crept onto his face.
Yes.
Maybe this wasn’t a curse.
Maybe it was a sign of his greatness.
"..."
Then again.
Being able to turn into a cool giant wolf would still be pretty aweso.
Riven flopped onto his bed with a dramatic sigh, arms spread out as if he had just been through the most exhausting battle of his life.
And honestly? He kind of had.
Not a physical battle, no—though, if you counted launching himself off the bed earlier in a failed transformation attempt, that was debatable—but a ntal and emotional one.
He was tired.
He seed to be dropped in the middle of an intense day, his brother confronting him, the alpha coming for selection... Ah... Such a busy day.
On one hand, he was being dragged off by Ronan, the Alpha, to be his council mber, even though everyone thought he was a useless half-breed.
On the other hand...
Julius.
His terrifying, dangerously obsessed, shaless stepbrother.
Riven groaned and covered his face with his pillow. What the hell was wrong with that guy?!
At this point, Riven could not tell if he wanted to be bullied by him normally or in bed. No, he refused to have his virginity taken in two lives by a scummy step-brother!
Julius looked at him like he was a piece of at he was about to devour.
He was always there.
Lurking.
Watching.
Cornering him against walls for no reason except to make Riven uncomfortable.
Riven lifted the pillow off his face and stared at the ceiling.
"You’d think confessing would make soone less aggressive, right?" he muttered.
But no.
Julius had doubled down.
Ever since admitting his so-called feelings, he had stopped pretending to be a bully and instead started acting like so obsessive wolf stalker.
He even stole his first kiss! How dare he?! He was saving it... Well not really, he was looking forward to kissing many hot guys.
Riven shuddered.
"Maybe going with Ronan isn’t such a bad idea after all," he whispered.
Riven sat on his bed, staring at the ceiling, his thoughts a ss of frustration, uncertainty, and—admittedly—a touch of excitent.
He had no idea what his next move should be. Going with Ronan ant stepping into sothing unfamiliar, plus the fact that he was Ronan’s mate... That was bound to cause so trouble.
Staying ant dealing with Julius and his never-ending cycle of tornt. But at least that was sothing he understood.
Before he could dwell on it further, there was a knock at the door. A firm, deliberate sound that sent a ripple of unease down his spine. He already knew who it was.
Julius.
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