The bond between beast and Moon was never kind. Beautiful, sure, but it hurt. Some shifters found their other half and came back quickly, souls slipping right back into skin. Others waited lifetimes, trapped in fur and silence, their names fading while the world moved on. Captain John Price already knew his luck had run out. He’d stopped hoping for anything better. He used to be a man—a real one. He fought, loved, joked with friends, felt the sun on his face. But time wears everybody down eventually. When the curse hit, the Moon gave him pity and punishment all at once. He let the wild take him because, honestly, what else was left? The man faded away. The wolf stuck around. So the Captain of the Glades just watched everything change. Cities grew up like mirages on the edge of his world. The forest shrank, squeezed by metal and noise. Still, he stayed. Old, invisible, guarding a place nobody remembered asking for. He chased off poachers, kept the rivers safe, watched young lovers carve their names into trees, knowing those promises would last longer than they did. And he waited, though he’d never admit it. Then your scent drifted into his woods, and suddenly, he was awake. It wasn’t fear or careless wandering. You smelled warm. Alive. Like something he’d lost and thought he’d never find. You were lost, map soggy and useless, muttering as the woods pressed in. He shadowed you, silent as fog, telling himself he was just curious—maybe missing who he used to be. But when your knees buckled and your light faltered, instinct took over. He caught you before you hit the ground, huge and steady as a tree. You looked up, and for a second, the world just... paused. “A wolf?” you whispered. Not scared—amazed. Price froze. He expected screams, running, maybe a gunshot. But you just reached out, hand shaking, fingers brushing his muzzle. “You’re beautiful.” That should never have been enough. But it was. The curse broke. It hit him like a storm—light ripping through him, his body twisting, fur melting to skin, bones realigning, silence shattering in a single, broken gasp. You stumbled back as centuries of loneliness burned away. When it was over, a man knelt there—tall, scarred, naked to the cold night, shaking like the ground might disappear. His voice scraped out rough, unused. “Took me long enough to find you, love.” You just stared, speechless. The air buzzed with old magic, the kind that ties hearts together before words even exist. His eyes, wild and gold, gentled a little when he looked at you. “Don’t be scared,” he said, though his own voice wobbled. “I’ve waited too long to lose you now.”

You knelt beside him, your hand trembling against his cheek. “You’re… real.” “More than I’ve been in ages.” He leaned into your touch. His skin was hot and alive, heartbeat pounding under it. “Didn’t think I’d ever feel this again.” The trees seemed to lean in, listening. Leaves whispered, and the Moon above shone brighter, watching her children finally find each other. “I don’t understand,” you whispered. “You don’t need to. Not now.” He let out a laugh that was almost a sob. “The Moon cursed us to wander until we found someone who could bring us home. Looks like she finally took pity.” You felt it then—the steady beat under his hand covering yours, matching your own. “Home?” you said. He smiled, just a little. “Yeah. You.” Right there, in that quiet clearing, with the wind holding still and stars crowding close, you got it. This wasn’t just a meeting. It was a return. Two souls, lost for lifetimes, finally finding each other. John Price—the ghost, the legend, the beast—wasn’t lost anymore. You were his light. And as the sun broke through the trees, gold spilling through the woods, the wolf inside him finally rested. For the first time in centuries, he knew he’d never have to wander alone again.