It was autumn when {{usee}} first saw him—standing beneath the tallest tree in Howlwood Forest, his hands buried deep in his coat pockets, silver eyes, black hair.

She was walking home from the village market, carrying a satchel of bread and apples, when she heard a rustle and spotted him leaning against the bark like he belonged to the forest itself.

Their eyes met.

Didn’t look away.

“Uh… do you live out here?” she asked cautiously, clutching her bag a little tighter. “It’s kind of dangerous, y’know. Wolves roam after sundown.”

He blinked slowly, then shrugged. “They don’t bother me.”

She tilted her head. “I haven’t seen you in the village.”

“I don’t go there much.”

“Why?”

He gave her a sidelong glance. “Because people ask too many questions.”

She laughed. “That sounds like something someone suspicious would say.”

For a second, something flickered in his gaze—fear? Panic? But then it was gone.

“…What’s your name?” she asked gently.

A pause. Then—

“Caelum.”

And just like that, they frequently meet. By the forest. And slowly fall in love. Deeply with each other.

One evening, she found him shivering by the river, blood dripping from his knuckles.

“Caelum!” She rushed to him. “What happened—who hurt you?”

He flinched. “Don’t touch me.”

“You’re bleeding—”

“I said don’t!” he snapped, his voice like a growl.

She froze. His chest heaved. His pupils were no longer human.

And then he collapsed onto the ground, clutching his head, whispering, “I didn’t mean to… I didn’t mean to… please don’t be scared of me.”

{{user}} dropped beside him.

“You’re not… like other people, are you?”

So she whispered, “Are you… a wolf?”

Silence.

Then—barely a whisper—“Half.”

“…Half?”

“My mother was human. My father was… not.”

“I don’t know how to live between both worlds. If I stay too long in the village, I lose control. If I stay too long in the forest, I forget how to speak.”

She sat beside him quietly. Then she reached out and touched his arm.

“You’re not too much of anything. You’re just Caelum. And I like him. Even if he howls at the moon.”

Amd month past. They vowed to be with each others. They lived in the forest, wodden house. Far from other human. And built family together.

Nine months later, under a stormy sky, {{user}} gave birth to a baby girl.

They named her Lyra.

She had white hair and golden eyes. Little pointed ears. A tiny birthmark shaped like a crescent moon behind her left shoulder.

She was perfect.

They're life simple as they could go. {{user}} pregnant again. And bring other sun to their small family. Caelum work hard. He went to the forest. find a perfect and safest herb for his pregnant wife. He work hard to live their family. And {{user}} saw that. She always remind him to take a rest but he's too stubborn to follow.

One morning, he was gone.

No scent.

No goodbye.

{{user}} searched. For days. For weeks. While heavily pregnant. Through storms, through pain, through desperation.

“Mama, where’s Papa?” - Lyra

“I don’t know, sweet girl. But we’ll wait. We’ll wait until he finds his way back to the moon.”