I am 15 chapters ahead on my patreón, check it out if you are interested.
https://www.patréon.com/emperordragon
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Chapter Fourteen: Born to Run Wild
I burst from the clearing like a shadow loosed from the ground, muscles surging with a strength that felt both alien and ancient. The trees opened up around me, and the forest welcomed me—not as an intruder or a visitor, but as something it recognized. As if I belonged there. As if I always had.
The sharp scent of pine filled my nose, every needle underpaw cushioning my stride. The cool night air sliced past my fur, fast and unforgiving, but it didn't sting. It thrilled. It awakened something deep inside—something primal and wordless. Every breath, every beat of my heart, was sharper than before, clearer. The world pulsed around me, alive in ways I had never understood as a human.
I didn't think. I didn't need to.
Instinct ruled now. Pure and unfiltered.
The wolf had taken over, and for the first time since this whole journey began, I wasn't afraid of what that meant.
Because I was the wolf.
I wasn't a boy pretending, or a creature fighting for control. I wasn't caught in between. I was the speed, the power, the hunger and grace. I was the wilderness and the night, and every part of me knew what to do.
My paws pounded the earth in a rhythm older than language, faster than thought—drums echoing through the woods, calling something unseen to attention. My body hugged the terrain like it was an extension of myself: leaping fallen branches, weaving between trunks with a precision no training could have taught me. It was as if I'd been doing this for lifetimes. As if running through this forest was written into my DNA.
The wind didn't just rush past me—it sang to me. It howled my name, or maybe the wolf's name, and it sounded like freedom.
Overhead, the full moon cast silver over everything, lighting my path as though it had been placed in the sky for me and me alone. It didn't just illuminate—I felt seen, as though the moon itself bore witness to what I was becoming.
I wasn't just a wolf. I was a pup, still new to this life, but already something ancient stirred beneath the surface. Power. Purpose. A knowing.
It didn't feel like I was learning.
It felt like I was remembering.
Maybe I'd done this before, in another life. Maybe some part of me had always belonged here, running wild beneath the moon. Maybe this was who I was always meant to be.
Eventually, my body began to slow—not from fear, not from uncertainty, but from some quiet internal signal that said enough. My tongue lolled out, dry and panting. I lowered my head to a nearby stream I hadn't even realized I'd found. The water was icy and clean, biting cold in the best possible way. It shocked me awake even as I drank, like lightning striking down my throat.
A rustle in the brush. Heavy steps, deliberate. Threatening.
I froze, ears perked, muscles coiled.
A wild boar emerged from the undergrowth, grunting low, its small eyes locked on me with instant fury. Tusked and thick with rage, it didn't hesitate. It charged, snarling, foam flecking its lips.
I didn't think—I moved.
I leapt to the side, twisted midair, my body fluid and fast. Time seemed to slow as I turned, instincts guiding me more surely than thought ever could. My jaws opened wide, aiming with deadly certainty.
My teeth sank into its throat with brutal finality. Blood flooded my mouth, hot and metallic. The boar's momentum faltered, and it collapsed beneath me, twitching once before going still.
The hunt ended as swiftly as it began.
There was no hesitation. No guilt. No second-guessing.
The wolf didn't mourn.
I feasted, ripping warm meat from bone, letting instinct drive me. The taste should have disgusted me—should have made me recoil in horror.
It was survival. It was nature.
Afterward, belly full and body humming with life, I ran again—not with the reckless, chaotic speed from before, but with something steadier. A calm kind of certainty. The forest didn't rush me now. It made room for me. Guided me.
My nose picked up the familiar scent of home. I followed it like a compass, winding back through thick underbrush and narrow paths, every step bringing me closer to the cabin.
I didn't even slow down when I reached the porch. Just launched myself forward and landed softly through the open doorway, my claws clicking briefly on the hardwood floor.
Inside, Richard and Emily were already back in the cabin setting the table, like it was any other night.
Before I could even stop myself, the shift began.
Claws melted into fingers. Fur receded, sliding away like mist. My spine straightened, my limbs realigned. In seconds, I stood there—not as the wolf, but as myself.
Naked. Breathless. Human.
Richard's eyes widened, eyebrows raised nearly to his hairline. "Well, that's new."
Emily turned, her expression unreadable. She cocked one eyebrow, voice dry. "Didn't expect you back so soon. Thought you'd be frolicking in the woods until sunrise." Her gaze sharpened, studying me. "Can you shift at will?"
I nodded. Focused. Changed again.
Fur bloomed over my skin. My snout returned. Paws. Ears. Tail.
Then, again, back to human.
Emily stared at me for a long, quiet moment. Something unreadable passed through her expression—something like awe, but not quite.
"I told you to meet your inner wolf," she said slowly, "but you didn't just meet it. You bonded. Completely. On your first shift."
She folded her arms across her chest, head tilted.
"That's never happened before."
My stomach tightened. "Is… that bad?"
She shook her head quickly, her tone serious. "No. Not bad. Just... incredibly rare. Most werewolves spend their entire lives struggling to control the shift. They fight the wolf. Wrestle with it. You didn't. Bonding completely with the wolf—it means you'll never lose control during a full moon. Not unless you choose to."
Richard let out a low, impressed whistle. "Well, damn. Kid's special."
I didn't feel pride. Not really. What settled in my chest was heavier, quieter.
Responsibility, maybe.
The wolf was still there—beneath my skin, beneath the surface of my breath. Not growling, not clawing.
And for the first time, I didn't fear it.
Because it wasn't just some wild thing inside me anymore.