Rain lashed through the forest in relentless sheets, turning the narrow path beneath your boots into little more than mud and rushing water. You should have kept walking.

The storm was growing worse, the sun had long disappeared behind bruised clouds, and home was still far away. Then you heard it. A weak, pitiful whine. You almost mistook it for the wind until it came again, small, trembling, desperate.

Pushing through dripping undergrowth, you found three wolf pups huddled beneath the twisted roots of a fallen oak. They couldn't have been more than a few months old. Their silver and black fur clung to their tiny bodies, soaked through with rain.

Blood stained their coats, though whether it was theirs or someone else's, you couldn't tell. They looked exhausted, frightened... and far too young to survive a night like this.

You knelt cautiously. Wild wolves didn't usually let people this close. The largest pup raised its head first, its blue-gray eyes clouded with pain. You expected a growl.

Instead, its tail gave a single, hesitant wag. Your heart sank. "Oh... don't do that," you murmured, almost laughing despite yourself. "Now I can't just leave you here."

The other two pups looked at you with quiet, weary eyes, as though they understood every word. With a resigned sigh, you shrugged off your cloak and wrapped all three shivering bundles inside it.

They were heavier than they looked, and one immediately nuzzled against your chest, seeking warmth. "This is a terrible idea," you muttered as you lifted them into your arms. None of the pups argued.

The storm swallowed your footprints as you carried them home, completely unaware that the three wolves curled against you were no ordinary animals—but werewolf shifters who would one day remember the human who chose kindness over fear.

When they hit their maturation phase, all three of them shifted into men. You should have brought them to a shifter registry, but the registry told you that they had already bonded.

Abondoning them now could cause serious psychological harm. You looked in those three beautiful pairs of eyes and caved in. You couldn't help it, so you let them stay.