I sit down, snappily curling my tail around my paws. I'm shaking a little, but I force myself to still. I'm not panicking, not even a little bit.

I watch as the human's skin splits and fur uncoils from underneath, and as his bones snap and reform. I watch as his screams slowly melt away and are replaced by growling roars, and as blood oozes from his split skin and soaks his fur.

I grimace at the sight, turning my eyes away as his clothing rips and shreds.

Soon, a panting red-brown wolf lays before me, whimpering and twitching. I tilt my head, frowning. "Did I look like that?" I ask myself curiously as I scan the sodden-looking wolf in front of me.

His ears prick, eyes open. He gazed at me with fearful eyes, backing away.

I hum, clearly I made some sort of noise if he heard me. I wonder...

"It's okay, I'm not here to hurt you," I say, standing slowly. "Can you stand?" I ask, walking a few paces backward.

The now-wolf gapes at me, as though he couldn't believe his eyes "Wh-what?" He rasps, his voice a low growl, not unlike my own.

"Can you stand?" I repeat slowly, looking behind me to check for hunters and guards.

"Uhh..." I hear a thud and a muffled yelp. I turn, the wolf was sprawled on the ground, looking at his paws with a kind of detached horror.

I walk up to the wolf, placing a paw on his back. He looks up at me, eyes wide. "Come now, it's not that hard once you've managed to do it once," I say, taking hold of his scruff and pulling him to his feet.

He stands there shakily, tail between his legs. I push his paws further apart with one of my own. "Like that," I instruct. I walk a few paces forward, stopping when I realize he wasn't following me. I turn to him. "You coming, Red?" I ask, indicating behind me with a jerk of my head.

He nods absently, shakily walking up to me. I lead the way through the forest, occasionally slowing to let the new guy catch up.

Soon, we emerge onto the river bank. The river reflects moonlight off its black surface, rushing by us with a dull roar.

I crouch beside the river, lapping up mouthfuls of cold water. I look up as the wolf copies me, drinking greedily from the river.

I hum, backing up a few paces and flopping down on my side. I watch as the wolf pulls away from the water, looking over to me. "Thank you..." he rasps. "Uhh..." he trails off, looking at me imploringly.

"Darra," I say, curling my tail around my side. "And you are...?"

"Flare," the other replies, looking around. "Flare Angorr,"

I smile, looking out over the water. "Last names don't mean much out here, Flare," I tell him, gazing solemnly across the river.

"O-out here?" He asks.

I look back to him, considering. He wasn't speaking English, nor was I. As far as I could tell, it was some kind of magical language that I had so far been unable to find another who could understand. Mission accomplished, I suppose.

"In the wilderness," I reply, standing.

Flare shakes his head. "W-why can I understand you?"

I smile. It seems like he's gotten over some of his shock. "Because you're like me," I state simply, walking past him.

"Like you?" He asks with alarm, rushing to keep up with me.

"A wolf," I say, looking back to him. "I would have thought you'd have gotten there by now on your own, it's terribly obvious," I say, frowning at him.

He looks to me, then ahead, a frown gracing his muzzle. "How?" he asks, still tripping over his own feet. "I-I'm not supposed to be a wolf, I'm human!" He says confidently.

I shake my head sadly. "I'm afraid I must correct you, Flare. You were human. Past-tence. Now, you're a wolf," I say slowly.

Flare's ears are pinned to his skull, seemingly subconsciously. "B-but... I can't be! This has to be a dream!" He looks to me frantically, stopping in his tracks. I stop as well, looking at him with pity. "This is a dream, right? This is a dream!" He says with desperation.

"I'm afraid not," I say slowly, frowning at him.

He seems to deflate, looking distraught.

"Come on then. We don't want to be out in the open once daylight comes," I urge, continuing on my path.

Flare follows after me, looking downtrodden.

Once we reach the meadow, I trot up to my den and slip inside. I curl up along the wall and watch as Flare clumsily follows me in.

The other looks around, then plops down along the opposite wall, looking rather uncomfortable in his own skin.

I watch him a few moments more before I close my eyes and drift off.

###

I'm awoken the next morning by a shuffling noise. I crack open my eyes and see a reddish-brown wolf shifting in its sleep.

It takes me a moment before I remember why this other wolf was here. That was Flare, he used to be human. Had been, untiknlast night. I sigh, standing and stretching.

I slip out of my den and set off for the morning.

After an hour or so of hunting, I walk back to my meadow with three rabbits held between my jowls.

I trot up to and into my den, dropping the animals in the centre of the chamber.

I look over to Flare, who was still asleep. I huff, walking up to him and poking him in the side with my paw. "Wake up, Red" I command, prodding him again.

Flare groans, rolling over to face away from me. I roll my eyes, tossing a rabbit in his direction. "Breakfast," I inform him, taking a rabbit of my own.

He sits up and sniffs at the rabbit, seeming hesitant.

"It won't bite you," I say through a mouth full of rabbit meat. I chew and swallow, continuing. "Just remove the pelt first. The last thing you want is a mouthful of fur,"

As Flare slowly begins to eat his rabbit, I begin to contemplate why he was here at all.

"Why did you come back after so long?" I ask, frowning.

"Come back?" Flare asks around the pelt he was striping from the rabbit.

I nod. "You were in this forest about a fortnight ago. I distinctly remember being tackled,"

Flare drops the pelt in shock. "That was you?" He asks, sounding appalled.

"Yes, that was me," I reply, pulling more meat from my rabbit. "We tussled for a moment, I bit you, you let go, I ran," I pause, looking back over at him. "Sound about right?"

The other wolf nods numbly, blinking. "Yeah, yeah... Er, sorry, about that..." he says sheepishly.

I shrug. "No hard feelings. It's not like you seriously injured me" I say as I pick at my food. "So, why'd you come back?"

Flare seems to think on that as he nibbles on his rabbit. "I've been sick, these last few weeks. I came back to the forest in search of some healing herbs. Didn't find any," he replied, eating more confidently.

I hum. "Alright..." I continue on my rabbit. "You may want to think about digging out a den, so you can have your own space"

He looks back to me, frowning. "Right," he paused for a good long while, seeming to be thinking rather hard. "Any suggestions?" He asks just as I finish picking the bones of my rabbit clean.

I shrug. "There are some rather nice bushes in the meadow, or just somewhere in the ground,"

He nods slowly. "Okay," he says, standing and stretching clumsily. "Can we go to the river first? I... well, I don't know the way..."

I smile. "Of course," I say, standing, slipping up the tunnel. "Follow me!" I call.