The clearing was silent save for the Alpha's ragged breaths and the pounding of Aiden's own heart. His clawed hands pinned the beast, blood dripping down his arms, soaking the dirt beneath them. The villagers stood at the treeline, their torches casting long shadows that flickered across his twisted, half-changed form.
All he needed was one bite. One moment of surrender.
The hunger was screaming. Do it. Tear. Devour. Become more.
His teeth hovered inches from the wolf's throat. The hot metallic tang of its blood filled his senses, intoxicating. The Alpha's pulse throbbed beneath his lips, a drumbeat urging him to claim his prize.
But Miriam's cry still echoed in his ears.
"Aiden! Don't lose yourself!"
Her voice was a tether in the storm, the faint chain pulling him back from the abyss. His body trembled violently, torn between instinct and will. His claws pressed harder into the wolf's flesh, and its whimpering growl vibrated beneath him.
For a moment, the hunger almost won. His fangs grazed fur and skin.
But then—
Mother's laughter. The smell of stew by the hearth. The children of the village calling his name.
Images flooded his mind. Memories that weren't strong enough to banish the hunger, but enough to give him something to cling to. He wasn't just a beast. Not yet.
With a guttural roar that shook the trees, Aiden ripped himself back. He staggered away from the Alpha, chest heaving, claws gouging deep trenches into the earth as he forced himself to stop. His body screamed in protest, the hunger thrashing like a caged animal inside him.
The Alpha rolled weakly to its paws, bloodied but alive. Its single uninjured eye fixed on Aiden with something strange—neither hatred nor fear. Something closer to… recognition.
Predator acknowledging predator.
---
The villagers erupted in shouts.
"He—he spared it?"
"Why? He had it!"
"No, look at him—look at those claws! He's no boy anymore!"
Elder Harren's voice cut through the noise, hard as steel.
"Do not be fooled. That thing is not Aiden. It is the curse. And tonight you all saw it with your own eyes."
Murmurs of fear spread like wildfire, villagers clutching torches tighter, stepping back as if even the distance wasn't enough.
But Miriam stepped forward, staff in hand, her eyes locked on Aiden. "No. He's still fighting. Can't you see it? If he was only a beast, we'd all be dead already!"
The clash of voices hung heavy in the air, splitting the village into doubt and fear.
---
Meanwhile, Aiden's body betrayed him. His claws slowly retracted, his eyes dimming from golden fire back to human shade, but the ache in his veins remained. His mouth watered, every muscle screaming to go back, to finish what he started.
He dropped to his knees, clutching his chest. His breath came in harsh rasps, sweat pouring down his brow.
The hunger whispered. Fool. You could have been stronger. You could have risen.
He pressed his forehead to the dirt, gritting his teeth so hard they cracked. "Shut up," he hissed under his breath.
But the hunger never shut up.
---
The Alpha limped back, its massive frame sagging. The pack shifted uneasily but did not advance. Slowly, the Alpha lifted its head and loosed a low, guttural growl—not at Aiden, but at its own pack.
The message was clear.
This fight was over.
The wolves retreated, fading into the shadows of the Blackwood, leaving only the stench of blood and the silence of aftermath.
And Aiden, still trembling, half-man and half-monster, kneeling in the dirt as the village stared at him with eyes that no longer saw him as one of their own.
---
Later, back in the village, the council gathered. Torches lined the central square, their flames restless in the night wind. The villagers formed a wide circle, leaving Aiden in the center like an accused criminal.
Elder Harren's voice rang out.
"You all saw what he truly is. His body twisted, his eyes glowed with the curse, and he nearly devoured a Rank 5 Alpha Direwolf before your very eyes. Tell me—what man among us could do such things?"
Whispers followed. Some fearful. Some awed.
"But he spared it," one hunter muttered.
"Does a beast spare?" Harren snapped back. "Or is it merely biding time until hunger wins again?"
Aiden clenched his fists, forcing his head high despite the exhaustion crushing him. "I fought it. You all saw—I fought it back."
Harren's eyes narrowed. "For now."
Miriam stepped into the circle, staff glowing faintly with protective light. "If he were only a monster, none of us would be standing here. He saved us all tonight. Don't twist that truth."
The crowd wavered. Fear against gratitude. Doubt against memory.
---
As the voices clashed, Aiden's own thoughts churned.
The Alpha's blood still burned in his nostrils. His muscles still ached with unspent hunger. The villagers' fear cut deeper than any claw.
He had chosen restraint. But what if next time, he failed?
Would he become exactly what Harren feared?
His hands shook at the thought. He clenched them tighter, forcing the tremors still.
"I will control it," he muttered under his breath. "I have to."
But as the hunger chuckled deep inside, Aiden wasn't sure if the words were promise… or lie.
---
That night, as the village finally dispersed in uneasy silence, Aiden sat alone at the edge of the forest. His body still burned, the phantom taste of blood lingering. He stared at his hands—the faint remnants of claws fading back to skin.
He had survived. He had spared. But the line between man and monster was thinner than ever.
And the forest whispered with more threats, stronger predators waiting in the dark.
The battle with the Alpha was not the end.
It was only the beginning.
---