Her smell

17

The sunlight was warm, hitting his soft, black fur. In slow movements, Noah opened his eyes, squinting to the strong light. He immediately looked to the side to check is Cassy was still here, but not much to his surprise, she wasn't.

He was already awake when she left—though stopped himself from getting up and scare her.

It was soon time for Noah to turn into human again.

He got up on all four and let out a loud yawn which scared the birds and a crowd of them flew away from the trees nearby. He ignored it and thought of a new plan for today.

His original plan was to go get Cassy and hangout with her somewhere close to the forest but that wasn't possible now.

So he decided to go visit old friends he had met after being cursed.

A pack of wolves that were cursed as well and never cured, took him in. He was part of the pack the second he sat paws on the grass in the Everstone forest. Noah has appeared right in front of the pack leader and they were all too familiar with the entrance of the newcomer.

Unlike him, they could control the curse and it's transformation. They didn't have to worry about turning into a werewolf or not.

Noah envied them for that.

If it was the same for him maybe there could be a bigger chance for him to stay close to Cassy without causing trouble every time.

A smile was placed on his lips in disbelief. He had given up on trying to control it. But there was now a reason to fight for it again.

Cassy was the reason now. And he's do anything to stay by her side.

——

This forest wasn't like any other. It was magical. A long time ago the forest was ruled by witches and wizards that made mostly poisons. They learned new magic tricks that for some were impossible to achieve. Each and everyone had the same goal.

To always be better than another.

It never stopped and those that gave up were burned to death. The forest did not want weaklings that would ruin their reputation. A few managed to escape but no one knew where they disappeared. No one ever seeker out to find them and let the cowards flee.

Centuries had now passed and the forest was now currently ruled by the wolf pack Noah belonged to. They decided to take over when nobody was here.

But after that night Cassy had gotten hurt and Lily appeared, questions started to run through Noah's mind.

Were the witches back?

What is Lily's background? And is she a witch?

He thought going to the pack might help him find answers.

Noah took a deep breath and started running to the direction that led the the others. They were far away in another hidden place of the forest.

Once he finally reached it, there was the leader of the pack resting at the top of the cliff that they had made their land.

A howl was heard from his left, a big wolf jumped on top of Noah before he got to turn and see who it was. They got off of him and when Noah got a look at them it turned out to be Noah's best friend, Max.

Max has always been the hyper one in the pack, always trying to have fun and go haunt every so often. The rest used to tag along at the beginning but played less when they grew older—since they had responsibilities to prioritize.

"Hey buddy! What brings you back here?" Max communicated with Noah in what would only sound like barks for humans.

"Nothing much, just miss my friends" he said back and suddenly felt a pat on his back. He turned his head and saw Angelo, the intelligent friend but also the most annoying one.

He often teased Noah in his wolf form, treating him like a tamed dog.

"My pet actually found his way back! How smart!" He said and once again patted Noah's back.

It was enough now and Noah was not having it anymore. He stood in an attack position ready to fight. Angelo was thrilled and threw him a smirk before turning into a wolf in front of Noah.

"Come at me, little one. See if you can hit me like a man this time" he growled with pride. Noah always lost the fights against Angelo, who was an experienced wolf of the pack, bonus with his natural intelligence.

Noah growled louder and ran towards Angelo in speed, throwing himself on top of him.

"Ha, Gotcha!" Noah, who thought he had the lead was suddenly knocked back by the elder wolf. He whined in pain but tried running again. The sun was at the top and a human body bumped into The big, scary wolf.

He turned human again and started bursting out laughing to the sight of a confused Noah on the ground.

"Hey! That's not fair!" He yelled at the sun that had stood at the right point for Noah to finally turn human again. He stood up and was quickly led clothes from Max who tried to hold in his laughter.

Noah frowned and said thanks before getting dressed.

They all turned into their human form to not be noticed at daylight, grabbed clothes from a bag they had hid underground and made themselves melt in like a bunch of high school students who were only messing around in the forest.

"So what's the plan for today?" Max asked and stood beside Noah with his hands resting on his hips.

"We're gonna search for answers"