Hello,I thought at her, feeling ridiculous.
She didn’t respond in words. Just a wave of contentment, of belonging. Of finally being whole.
Walking was harder than it looked. I stumbled immediately, coordination all wrong, limbs moving in patterns I didn’t understand. Four legs were significantly more complicated than two.
“Easy.” Caelan, somewhere behind me. “Take it slow. You’re bigger than you were. Give yourself time to adjust.”
Second attempt. One paw in front of the other. I bumped into the wall. Clipped the doorframe with my shoulder. I was too wide, too tall, too everything.
My tail, I realized distantly, was wagging. Without my permission. Traitor.
There was a mirror in my hallway, a full-length one I’d bought at a thrift store. I made my way toward it, weaving drunkenly, and the wolf inside me urged me forward with eager curiosity.
And then I saw myself.
The wolf in the mirror was white.
Pure, brilliant white, so bright I almost seemed to glow. My fur was full and lustrous, my build elegant but powerful, and my eyes burned molten gold in the shadowed hallway.
I was beautiful.
The wolf preened.Of course we are.
Great. My inner wolf was vain. I made a sound, the wolf equivalent of a gasp, and the reflection mimicked me, ears pricking forward in surprise.
“You’re...” Caelan’s voice was hoarse, rough with emotion I couldn’t identify. “You’re the most exquisite thing I’ve ever seen, Riley.”
I looked up at him. He was standing a few feet away, staring at me with an expression of pure awe. His emotions washed over me: wonder, reverence, overwhelming love.
But underneath it all: confusion. Because this shouldn’t be possible. He knew it shouldn’t be possible.
And now the panic was setting in.
How did I go back? How did I become human again? I didn’t know how to reverse this. I didn’t even know how I did it in the first place. There was no manual for this. No “So You’ve Accidentally Become a Werewolf” guidebook I could consult.
A distressed whine escaped me, nothing like my voice should sound, and Caelan was there immediately, kneeling in front of me.
“Hey. Hey, it’s okay. I’ve got you.” His hand came up to rest on the side of my face, fingers sinking into my fur. “You can shift back. Same process in reverse. Find your human self in your mind. Reach for her. Let her take over.”
I tried. It took longer this time, minutes of concentration, of fumbling through my own consciousness, searching for the part that was still human.
But finally, finally, the tingling began. The change reversed itself, and I shifted back.
When it was over, I was naked on the floor of my hallway, shaking, staring up at Caelan with huge eyes.
“What did you do to me?” I whispered.
“I didn’t do this.” He sounded firm, but there was an edge of uncertainty underneath. “The claiming doesn’t... it can’t... you have to be born a wolf, Riley. You can’t be made one.”
“Then explain THIS.” I gestured at myself, naked, trembling, having just turned into a literal wolf. “Because I’ve been human my whole life. HUMAN. And then you bit me and now I’m...”
“This wasn’t the claiming.” But even as he said it, doubt crossed his face. “It couldn’t be.”
“You don’t know that!”
“No one has ever...”
“Maybe no one has ever been claimed by an alpha heir before!” My voice was rising, hysteria creeping in. “Maybe your special royal bite has special royal side effects! Maybe your werewolfvenom or saliva orwhateverhas extra potency because you’re literally next to the throne!”
