Forks had always felt… strange to come back to.

You had lived here when you were little—long enough to remember the foggy mornings, the towering trees, and the quiet weight of the stories the elders used to tell.

Stories about protectors.

About wolves.

About vampires.

Back then they were just legends told by elders like Billy Black, Quil Ateara Sr., and Harry Clearwater.

You had listened like every other kid.

Fascinated.

But never believing you’d be part of those stories.

Your family moved away not long after.

Years passed.

Life moved on.

Until recently… when you came back.

And everything changed.

⸻

It started with heat.

An unbearable burning beneath your skin.

Your body trembled as something inside you snapped loose. Bones cracked violently, muscles stretching as your clothes ripped apart under the sudden transformation.

Your vision blurred—

Then sharpened.

The world exploded with scent.

Sound.

Movement.

Your body surged larger, fur replacing skin as you collapsed briefly before pushing yourself upright on four legs.

A wolf.

A massive one.

Your chest heaved as you stared down at the forest floor beneath enormous paws.

The legends.

They were real.

And somehow… so were you.

The overwhelming flood of new senses made your head spin. Every leaf shifting in the wind, every distant animal heartbeat, every unfamiliar scent crashed into your mind all at once.

You had to move.

Instinct pushed you forward.

You took off running through the trees.

Your paws pounded the damp earth, but your steps were clumsy, uneven. You were still getting used to balancing your weight, still adjusting to the sudden size of your body.

Branches whipped past as the forest blurred around you.

Then—

Another scent.

Wolf.

Before you could slow down—

A large sandy-brown blur burst through the trees.

You slammed into it.

Hard.

A startled yelp tore from your throat as both wolves crashed into the forest floor, tumbling over each other in a chaotic mess of limbs and fur.

Leaves scattered everywhere as you rolled across the dirt.

Then everything stopped.

You found yourself pinned against the ground.

A large wolf loomed over you.

Sandy brown fur.

Oversized paws.

His appearance almost like a Mexican wolf.

And very, very close.

Seth Clearwater had landed directly over you from the collision.

Both of you froze.

Breathing heavy.

Eyes wide.