Meanwhile back inside the forest a certain abandoned would pup was growling
"Fuck."
The tiny wolf pup small, scruffy, clearly miserable growled under his breath as he stomped through the bushes on trembling paws.
"Fuck, fuck, fuck… what the hell just happened to me?!"
He shook himself hard, but nothing changed. Still small. Still fluffy. Still stuck like this.
He tried shifting again.
Nothing.
Not even a spark of energy.
"This is not normal," he snarled in his little pup voice, which only made him angrier. "Why the hell can't I shift back?!"
Panic crawled up his spine.
If something could force him, Rowan, a full-grown warrior, , into a cub form… then something was seriously wrong. What the hell had just happened anyway?
He turned and sprinted through the forest, heading straight to the wolf clan.
If there was anyone that could help him that would be Aldric.
Aldric would know what to do.
He had to.
.....
The guards at the border spotted him first.
A small pup bursting out of the trees at full speed wasn't normal. At all.
Murmurs rose.
"A pup?"
"Whose litter is that?"
"Where's its mother?"
He bared his small teeth at all of them.
"Don't stare at me like that, idiots!" he barked though to the guards, it probably sounded like angry yips.
He stomped past them, fur bristling as they exchanged amused looks.
Someone bent slightly and whispered, "Cute thing."
The pup glared with the fury of a grown wolf.
"Call me cute again and I will—"
His tiny voice cracked.
"…fuck you all."
A chuckle rippled behind him.
Humiliating.
He stormed through Aldric's territory, ignoring the curious, entertained stares until he reached the tall stone doors leading to Aldric's private chamber.
He pushed the door open with his small head, marched in, and froze when the tall, dark-haired Wolf King looked up from the map he was studying.
Aldric's cold golden eyes swept over the pup.
Then—
A smirk formed.
"Well," Aldric drawled, voice deep and amused. "What exactly are you supposed to be?"
Rowan nearly exploded.
"Don't laugh! Something's wrong with me!"
Aldric raised a brow. "You can talk in that form? Interesting."
"Of course I can talk!" the pup snapped. "But I can't shift back, and it's pissing me off, Aldric!"
Aldric leaned back, watching him like he was the funniest thing he'd seen in months.
"Shift," Aldric ordered calmly.
The command rolled like cold thunder.
Rowan felt the Alpha pressure slam onto his spine and before he could protest, his body jerked with heat. His bones cracked, fur melted away, and in moments, a fully-grown man collapsed on the floor, panting.
Rowan, now naked and annoyed, shot Aldric a glare.
"Couldn't you warn me first? That hurt like hell."
Aldric simply smirked. "You're welcome."
He stood, brushing dirt off himself.
"Fuck...I thought I wouldn't get to be in my charming form again"
Aldric ignored the complaint. "Explain. Properly. What the hell happened to you?"
Rowan rubbed his face, groaning. "Alright, fine. Soo my beast was acting up again. You know how he gets. I didn't want to hurt anyone here, so I went deep into the Wild Forest to let him out."
Aldric nodded once, urging him to continue.
"No one ever goes into that place, at least I thought so" Rowan said, hands gesturing wildly. "For fucks sake It's a wild forest. Dangerous. Abandoned. Who in their right mind goes there?"
Aldric stared at him with that same amused, mocking expression that made Rowan want to smash his face.
"Go on."
"So," Rowan swallowed, "after I shifted, there was suddenly this shout. Like there was another person there. A girl. A human girl. And you know when my beast takes over, I can't stop anything—"
Aldric cut in with a cold, sharp tone.
"So you chased her."
"Yeah…" Rowan exhaled, defeated. "I didn't mean to. You know how it is when the beast takes over."
Aldric let out a hum that sounded too entertained. "Interesting. So..... how did chasing someone turn you into a pup?"
"I don't know," Rowan snapped. "All I know is I was going after her, she tripped, fell, got injured, blood everywhere and then suddenly, my beast just… calmed down."
Aldric's eyes sharpened. "Calmed?"
"Completely calm. Like a damn house pet."
Rowan covered his face. "And then… fuck, I can't believe I did this… I… licked her wounds. To soothe her pain."
Aldric blinked. "You?"
Rylan snapped. "Yes me!! I would never do that normally! You know I wouldn't, But I did! And right after, everything twisted and suddenly I was stuck as a pup!"
He braced himself for mocking.
But Aldric was no longer amused.
His expression had darkened deep, thoughtful, dangerous.
"So," Aldric said quietly, "a random girl calmed the beast even you can't calm."
Rylan nodded slowly. "Seems like it…"
"And you don't understand why?"
"No clue. Do you?"
Aldric stood up, his expression hard.
"I don't know yet," he murmured. "But I hope it's not what I'm thinking."
A chill ran up Rowan's spine.
"Aldric… what exactly are you thinking?"
Aldric didn't answer the question. Instead, he asked one of his own.
"This girl. Do you know who she is?"
"No. You know I don't socialize. I barely know people in our own clan."
Aldric shot him a glare.
Rylan corrected himself fast. "O-Okay! But I remember her face.
"Can you recognize her?"
Rowan puffed out his chest. "Yes. I'm a wolf. I remember scents. Faces. Everything. If I ever see her again I'll be able to recognise her."
"Good."
Rowan frowned. "You still haven't told me what you're thinking."
Aldric finally turned, his golden eyes glowing in a way that made Rowan's stomach twist.
"Don't you have work to do?"
Rowan jumped. "I do! I do!"
He hurried out, muttering under his breath, "No need to be scary, you wicked beast king."
But just as Rowan reached the door—
Aldric's voice stopped him.
Low. Cold. Dangerous.
"Rowan."
Rowan turned slowly.
Aldric's eyes were sharp, deadly calm. Before he spoke
"Find her,"