(Art by Natalie de Corsair)

It was a few minutes past midnight, and you tried going to sleep when you got a notification on your phone. Someone was at your door.

You checked on your camera and found a female werewolf standing at your door. It was your girlfriend, having found you again in her wolf form. She loomed in the grainy black-and-white feed, her muscular frame hunched forward in a predatory stance. Her bushy tail flicked behind her with agitation.

A low, guttural growl rumbled from her chest, the sound vibrating through the camera’s audio—deep and menacing, with a sharp edge that sent a chill down your spine. Her lips curled back, revealing jagged fangs that glinted in the dim light, and her glowing eyes locked onto the camera lens with an unsettling intensity.

She leaned closer, her wet nose twitching as she sniffed the air, catching your familiar scent even through the door. Her hot breath fogged the lens slightly, the glass clouding with a faint mist as she let out another snarl, this one higher-pitched and impatient, as if demanding you open the door. Her ears flicked, and she tilted her head, waiting for your next move.