Werewolves.
Terrible creatures. Lose control at the full moon, they have no way to protect the ones they love... from themselves
Werewolves are terrible creatures, who hate themselves just as much as everybody else.
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"The night's still young, we'll dance until the sun rises!"
A beautiful, mystical night in Phoenix Drop it had been. A celebration was in the mist, one that would surely last for hours. Cheers to their happiness, a proud and strong Kingdom that would continue to thrive under Lord Aphmau.
A dance in the town square with mesmerizing music played by flutes and lutes in the background. The whole Kingdom got together to celebrate for one long night, for how far they've come.
"Come on, is that all you've got?" Out of the many pairs strung together under the moonlight, blocked by the clouds, were Vylad and Cora. They had only permanently resided in Phoenix Drop for a few months now, but it was their home.
Vylad chuckled, one hand on her waist and the other holding up her hand, fingers intertwined as they twirled around. He spun her around, and she leaned back into his chest, looking up at him. They both softly laughed as they danced to the music, ignoring all of their surroundings, too focused on each other to even care. Nothing could ruin this night, it was perfect.
Of course, something had to go wrong. While unable to tear his eyes away from her beautiful black eyes, it must've simply been the lighting ─ but he swore that when the moonlight shined down on Cora, her eyes changed colour. From an unmistakable black, to a bright amber, and that ─ couldn't be right.
Unable to just ignore it, his bright smile turned upside down. Cora's joyful expression also darkened, but before he could reassure her, cop it up to his imagination, she pulled away from him. "C-Cora?"
She stepped back and he couldn't mistake the agonizing look of... Of pure fear on her face. He turned around to see if something dark and menacing stood behind him, or if anyone else was in danger. Yet to his confusion, everything seemed fine, nothing had changed, people were still dancing and laughing.
"Hey, what's wrong?" He asked, turning around, only to notice that his beloved no longer stood before him. His heart skipped a beat and his eyes widened, and felt the desperation to call out to her, but the words were clogged up in his throat. As panic surged through his body, questioning what could have possibly happened in the split second he took his eyes off her, he swore he could see her figure running in the distance; towards the forest.
Of course, he immediately chased after her. He ran as fast as he could and yet, somehow, she lurked just out of his reach. "Cora! Where are you going?!" He called out to her. They were far away from the town square where all the residents were. He followed her out of Phoenix Drop without looking back, and into the dark brooding forest, the only source of light being the moon. Which, just moments ago he saw as something beautiful, illuminating the town square and providing light for them to dance to.
However, now as he looked up at it; it didn't look as peaceful as before. In fact, somehow, provided a dark and eery atmosphere, and a worsening sense of dread. "What's happening," he whispered as he lowered his head, and kicked up the pace. "Cora! For Pete's sake─where did you go off to?!"
There wasn't really a logical explanation for this, not anymore, after he's come this far. She ran all the way out here on her own, there was no one with her from what he could see, dragging her along. Though, why would anyone just decide to run away from their partner and disappear into the forest, at night? Were his dance moves that bad?
Before he could call out again, a confusing sight in the distance caught him off guard. His breath hitching, he tripped over some roots or something and his body slammed against the cold hard ground. Groaning, he pushed himself back up, but the moment he lifted his head, he froze.
A wolf ─ no, werewolf, stood before him. When was the last time he faced a werewolf, while they're under the power of the full moon, unable to control their animalistic instincts?
Wait.
The werewolf had fluffy reddish brown fur and patches of white, just... Just like─
"Cora?"
He stared into the beast's large eyes that were fixated on him, they were hollow despite him searching for something more. There's no way that his assumptions could be correct. Sure, Logan is also a werewolf, who he knew for a fact had learned how to control himself on full moons. Cora, on the other hand...
Had he really been so oblivious to not have noticed? Surely, there had to be another instance when they were together during a full moon, no? Thinking back to it, probably not... Only this one night.
The beast stepped closer, and his muscles tensed. His mind and heart racing, his thoughts were shouting at him to either get up and fight, or get up and run, but he could do neither. His senses overwhelmed by an array of emotions, mainly fear, he became paralyzed and there seemed to be nothing he could do about it.
Hearing the beast growl and snap, he drifted away from his thoughts and slowly lifted his head to look up at the beast. Who stood so close any normal person would have a heart attack on the spot. Yet, somehow he didn't even faint, and his body had stopped trembling. Slowly, he rose to his feet.
The beast gave a warning growl, lowering its head it stepped back. When he followed by stepping closer, it appeared almost confused, its growling stopped and its ears perked up. Vylad let out a deep sigh of relief, running a hand through his hair as a smile tugged the corner of his mouth. "You're kidding... it actually is you."
When he mumbled those words, horror spread across both of their faces.
"Hold on ━ since when were you a werewolf?! Why didn't you say anything?!"
"You just had to follow after me!" It was a bit of a surprise when he could still hear her voice. After all, the last werewolf he came face to face to ( which isn't Logan ) was too busy trying to rip his face off rather than engage in a conversation.
"Uh, yeah! You literally said nothing and suddenly ran into the forest! Am I supposed to think you're not in some kind of danger and just, what, wait for you to come back?" God, it had been ages since the last time they had an argument, or even close to one. They had known each other for how long, now? And yet he was only finding out now, because the Kingdom chose to celebrate on a full moon.
She growled and snapped at him, despite him knowing that she could very well argue back with words. Sighing, he pinched the bridge of his neck and was this close to dragging her all the way back to Phoenix Drop by her fur. "Why didn't you just tell me? Were you bitten?"
She stopped with the intimidating glare and snarling, and her ears fell flat on her head. She laid down, and avoided making eye contact. He didn't even try to get an answer out of her, instead, he sat down beside her on the cold ground, knees folded. "At least you seem to have full control, which makes me think you were born a werewolf. If you were bitten, then I am going to hate myself so much for not being by your side."
She lifted her head and looked at him, and no words needed to be said. He rested his hand on her head and smiled. He took off his coat and laid it on her, but she tried to stand up. "Hey, I've had this for ages and I've only worn it once, do you really think I'll care if it gets a bit of wolf hair?" She laid back down, and he did the same, leaning against her and stared up at the glimpses at the starry night sky he could see through the trees.
He could faintly hear the music echoing from Phoenix Drop, how far away were they? There hadn't been any bandits attacking in a long time, and as far as he knew, there weren't any big predators lurking around here. His head rested on her stomach, he rolled his head and saw that her eyes were closed. He softly chuckled, planting a kiss on her snout before laying back down. Slowly, he closed his eyes.
"You should have known I wouldn't mind. You're not a monster, Cora, you're the one love of my life, never forget that."