Lila’s POV
I held the little wolf, reluctant to let go. "Sorry, Zoe, I can’t rember anything right now. All I want to do is cuddle you."
I scratched the softest patch of fur under her chin, and she stuck out her tongue, a little clumsily, to lick my palm. The sensation was ticklish and wet, carrying a strange intimacy. We tumbled into a heap, our laughter filling the room and chasing away all the gloom and distance between us.
’This feels so natural, so familiar,’ I thought, ’as if this is how it was always supposed to be between us.’
After we’d been playing for a while, the little wolf seed to get tired. She lay across my lap with her tongue lolling out, panting heavily, her glistening eyes still fixed on without blinking.
I gently stroked her soft back, my heart filled with warmth and contentnt. But then, I rembered what Zoe had said earlier, and my smile slowly faded.
Then, the brown fur on her body began to recede as her form stretched out, changing back into Zoe in her casual clothes.
She sat on the edge of the bed, sheepishly straightening her ssy hair and clothes, her cheeks still faintly flushed. She looked at , her eyes holding a mix of anticipation and nervousness.
Hugging my knees, I shook my head in confusion. "I’m so sorry, Zoe. Even though I found your wolf form really endearing and comforting to hold, and it felt like we were so close... I... I really have no mory of you being a wolf."
Zoe didn’t seem surprised. She sighed softly, a flicker of understanding in her eyes, as if she had expected this all along.
"That’s normal," she explained. "I’ve never actually shown you my wolf form before, so of course you wouldn’t rember it."
I was surprised. "Why not? Aren’t we best friends?"
Zoe gave a wry smile, her expression complicated. "Because... so lines can’t be crossed so easily. Our identity as Werewolves is our secret, and our bottom line. Besides, you back then..." She paused, as if choosing her words carefully. "Your situation back then was... rather unique."
She looked at , her gaze deepening as if she were peering into my very soul.
"But," she said softly, "there is one person’s wolf form that you haven’t just seen—you’re intimately familiar with it."
My heart gave a violent thud.
I looked at Zoe, a strange sense of foreboding welling up inside .
"Who?" I heard my own voice co out dry and raspy.
Zoe looked right in the eye and said, word by word, "Lila. Your husband—Jasper."
The room fell silent in an instant.
The sun was still bright, dust motes still floated in the air, but in that mont, my heart began to pound uncontrollably. His na, like a stone dropped into a calm lake, sent a thousand ripples through .
I rembered the way that man in the garden had looked at , I rembered the agreent, and I rembered the dark red scar on his arm.
I rembered him.
"Jasper?" I repeated the na in a murmur, my heart hamring against my ribs. "His... his wolf form, is it different from yours?"
Zoe nodded, an indescribable look in her eyes. "Very different. His... is that of a true king."
She stood up, walked to the window, and pulled back the curtains, letting more sunlight stream in.
"Lila, do you want to see?" she asked, turning back to look at . "Or rather... are you ready?"
I looked at her, that strange sense of familiarity and anticipation growing stronger. I wanted to know what the other side of the man who made my heart flutter truly looked like.
I took a deep breath and nodded. My voice was quiet, but it held a trace of undeniable resolve. "I want to see."
Zoe looked at , as if confirming my resolve. Then, she nodded and turned to leave the room.
"Okay, just wait a mont," her voice drifted in from outside the door. "He’ll be here right away."
I sat on the bed, my heart beating even faster.
Sunlight spilled over , warm and pleasant, but my palms were slick with a fine layer of cold sweat. I stared at the door and waited.
Waiting for the man, and... his true form.
————
He was an impossibly massive wolf.
His fra was far larger than the little wolf Zoe had transford into, his shoulders reaching nearly to my abdon. His limbs were strong and powerful, the lines of every muscle radiating a sense of explosive power. He was covered from head to tail in long, silver-gray fur. Under the bright sunlight, every strand of hair shimred with a cold, tallic luster, yet also possessed a wild suppleness.
But what I couldn’t tear my gaze from were his eyes.
They were vertical pupils, as brilliant as molten gold. The golden irises spread out from the pupils like two burning, golden flas—profound and cold, yet containing a fervor suppressed to its very limit. That gaze shot across the few ters of distance to land precisely on , carrying an undeniable authority and a sense of familiarity that made my heart shudder.
Ti seed to stand still in that mont.
The dust motes that had been floating in the room seed to stop their dance. I stared at those golden eyes, my mind a complete blank, but my heart was pounding furiously in my chest, as if it wanted to break free from its cage.
Then, a strange sensation welled up from the depths of my soul.
It wasn’t fear, nor was it curiosity. It was... a resonance.
My blood felt as if it were boiling. A hot current pumped from my heart to my limbs. My fingertips began to grow hot, and my nails seed to be faintly lengthening, hardening. What terrified most was that, from deep in my throat, I uncontrollably let out a low, deep whimper. It wasn’t a human sound, but a beast’s low growl, filled with submission and longing.
’My body, my instincts, recognized him at first sight. And now, they were trying to answer his call.’
"Ngh..."
I clutched my head in agony. The bestial transformation was becoming more pronounced; my consciousness began to blur, and the world before seed to be tinted a faint gold. I felt myself losing control, turning into sothing... inhuman.
Just then, the giant, silver-gray wolf moved.
He crossed the distance between us with blinding speed, arriving at my bedside in an instant.
His massive front paws landed on the edge of the bed, his body nearly enveloping in its shadow. Those golden vertical pupils stared intently at , and in them flashed a hint of anxiety and... ’Fear?’
’He seed to be afraid of sothing.’
Then, I felt a powerful, soothing warmth emanate from his golden eyes and wrap gently around . The warmth was like a giant, invisible hand, pressing down on the frenzy that was about to spiral out of control within .
Imdiately after, the air began to twist violently.
A brilliant light flared, so bright I had to squint. Within the light, the massive Silver Wolf rapidly shrank and changed shape. The silver fur receded, the powerful muscles elongating and rearranging.
The mont the light faded, I instinctively opened my eyes wide.
And then, in a flash, my face was burning bright red.
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