Wolves didn’t belong in the Midlands.
That was exactly what made Silver excited to be there.
Rain dripped from the dark canopy of trees overhead, pattering against leaves and soaking the forest floor into a sea of mud. Mist hung between the towering pines like pale ghosts drifting through the trees. Every breath carried the scent of wet earth and moss.
Silver padded through the undergrowth alongside the others, her long black hair plastered against her shoulders from the rain. Her amber eyes scanned the unfamiliar forest eagerly.
Beyond the Southern Forest lay a world she had spent her entire life hearing about.
A dangerous world.
A forbidden world.
And now she was finally seeing it for herself.
“I don’t like how quiet it is here,” Veric muttered as he glanced between the trees. His ears twitched nervously. “I swear I can feel bears watching us. It’s like they hide behind the silence.”
“We’re just passing through,” Victor replied in a low voice. The older wolf hybrid led the group through the forest. “Keep moving. We reach the shores, we find answers, and we go home.”
“Don’t worry,” Silver said with a grin. “I’ll protect everyone.”
Veric looked at the smallest member of their group and laughed.
“That’s adorable.”
Silver rolled her eyes.
People always underestimated her.
She might have been smaller than most wolf hybrids, but she was born a Silverhowl. Her bloodline was known throughout the Southern Forest for producing the fastest and strongest wolves of their generation. Silverhowls often served as mercenaries, soldiers, or royalty guards.
If Veric wanted proof, she could easily throw him into a tree.
The only reason she didn’t was because Victor would complain.
Again.
Ahead of them padded the Wolf Princess in her full wolf form. Her snowy white coat glowed against the dark forest around them. She moved silently through the rain, her massive paws leaving deep prints in the mud.
Silver’s smile faded slightly.
The princess should have been walking beside them in hybrid form.
Instead, she had been trapped as a wolf for months.
The curse has started, unsure who else has been affected.
Others might have been afflicted by the strange curse spreading across the island too.
Which was why they were here.
Searching for answers.
Searching for a myth.
“So let me get this straight,” Veric said. “We’re sneaking through bear territory because some ancient scroll told us to?”
Silver shrugged, “pretty much.”
“And what exactly are we looking for?” Veric asked.
Silver scratched behind one ear.
“A wise octopus?” Veric groaned.
Victor shot them both an annoyed look.
Silver continued, “the scroll said, ‘Find the answer hidden deep.’ Then there was something about water surrounding us.”
She shrugged again.”You know I don’t read aquatic texts very well. Grandma Seena practically forced me to learn them.”
At the mention of Seena, Victor’s expression softened.
“I wish she were still here.”
Silver’s smile faded.
She missed her grandmother too.
Even when the old wolf spent most of her time telling her what not to do.
Especially then.
Veric glanced between them.
“Be honest. Were you secretly in love with her or something?”
Victor nearly choked.
“What?”
“I’m just asking.” Veric teased.
“She was like a mother to all of us!” Victor’s voice echoed through the trees.
“She taught us our history. She taught us about the extinct races. She preserved knowledge that would’ve been lost forever!” His growl deepened. “She was a treasure!” Victor said sternly.
Veric raised both hands. “Okay, okay.”
Victor stepped closer.
“A simple no would’ve worked.” Veric teased further.
Silver sighed.
They were about five seconds away from fighting.
Then something yanked her attention away.
The Wolf Princess had stopped moving.
The great white wolf stood motionless in the rain.
Her nose hovered inches above the ground.
Sniffing.
Silver’s ears perked.
“Guys.”
Neither male listened.
“Guys!”
Still arguing.
Silver pointed.
“GUYS!”
Victor and Veric turned.
The princess was circling slowly now.
Her posture had changed.
Her fur stood on end.
Veric immediately went silent.
“She’s found something.”
Victor’s expression hardened.
The rain had ruined most scents.
But not hers.
The princess suddenly lifted her head.
Her eyes locked onto the forest ahead.
A low growl escaped her throat.
Then two massive shapes emerged from the trees.
Bear hybrids.
Huge.
Even from a distance they towered over most wolves.
Victor immediately stepped forward.
“Get the princess and run.”
Silver blinked.
“What?”
“Now!”
The command left no room for debate.
Silver grabbed the princess by the metal chains they all used to hold the princess and sprinted.
Behind her came the roar of bears.
Then the answering howl of wolves.
The forest exploded into violence.
Silver ran.
Mud splashed beneath her feet.
Rain stung her face.
Branches whipped past her as she raced through the trees.
Then.
A THUD.
The ground shook.
Silver stumbled.
Another thunderous impact followed.
THUD.
Birds exploded from the treetops.
The forest went silent.
Every animal.
Every insect.
Everything.
Silent.
Silver slowly turned.
Something enormous was standing up beyond the trees.
“No no no no no…”
The stories were real.
A freaking troll.
The creature rose higher than the surrounding pines.
Its skin resembled cracked stone covered in moss and roots. Around its neck hung a gruesome necklace made from skulls and animal heads bleached white with age.
Every movement shattered trees.
Every step shook the earth.
Silver’s childhood nightmares had come to life.
The princess bolted.
Silver tried to follow.
A crashing tree smashed into the ground between them.
The earth erupted.
Branches scattered.
And suddenly the princess was gone.
“Princess!”
Silver cried
The troll noticed her and turned toward her.
Its massive yellow eyes locked onto her.
Silver froze.
Behind her came the roar of water.
A waterfall.
The troll raised one arm.
Silver looked at the monster.
Then at the waterfall.
Then back at the monster.
“Water it is.”
The troll’s massive club came down.
Silver jumped.
For a heartbeat she hung in the air.
Then gravity claimed her.
Cold wind screamed past her ears.
The waterfall swallowed her whole.
Everything became water.
Darkness.
Noise.
Then nothing.
Silver floated through the river like a fallen leaf.
Her body drifted with the current.
Unconscious.
Lost.
Eventually pain dragged her back to reality.
Silver erupted from the water coughing.
She grabbed a thick tree root protruding from the riverbank.
Her lungs burned.
Her muscles screamed.
But she was alive.
Somehow.
After several minutes she managed to drag herself onto the shore.
Silver lay flat on her back staring up at the gray sky.
Then she laughed.
A slightly hysterical laugh.
“Good thing Grandma Seena is dead.”
She sat up.
“She would’ve killed me.”
The mission was ruined.
The princess was gone.
Her pack was gone.
And Silver had absolutely no idea where she was.
She squeezed water from her tail and slowly stood.
The forest surrounding her looked unfamiliar.
Darker.
Older.
Wrong.
“Where am I?”
The words vanished into the rain.
For the first time in her life, Silver felt truly alone.
Her grandmother had spent years warning her about the world beyond the Southern Forest.
Bears.
Trolls.
Ancient monsters.
Silver had secretly assumed most of those stories were exaggerations.
She no longer believed that.
Keeping low, she moved through the forest on all fours.
Hours passed.
She searched.
And searched.
And searched.
No wolves.
No princess.
Nothing.
Then her foot caught on something.
Silver looked down.
A massive paw print.
Fresh.
Bear.
“…Fu—”
She didn’t finish the word.
She ran.
Silver could outrun almost anything when fully transformed.
But she was exhausted.
Far from home.
Far from her pack.
Far from the lands that strengthened her connection to her wolf side.
For perhaps the first time in her life, Silver felt weak.
And weakness attracted predators.
A large hand suddenly grabbed her arm.
She stared up.
And froze.
A bear hybrid man.
Broad shoulders.
Tan fur.
Strong features.
Golden eyes.
For a brief, embarrassing moment, Silver forgot she had been captured.
He was handsome.
Very handsome. She thought.
Far different than any creature she’d ever met.
Silver had always imagined what meeting a bear might be like.
In her imagination they usually fell in love with her immediately.
Reality appeared less cooperative.
The bear slung her over one shoulder like a sack of grain.
“Hey!”
Silver pounded against his back.
“What do you think you’re doing?”
The bear ignored her.
She kicked harder.
“Put me down!”
Finally he spoke.
“Your group ordered a princess evacuation.”
Silver froze.
“You heard that?”
“Yes.”
“Oh.”
The bear continued walking.
Silver sighed.
“Sorry to disappoint you.”
“What?”
“I’m not the princess.”
The bear glanced at her.
“I’m her guard.”
His eyebrow lifted slightly.
“You don’t look like much of a guard.”
Silver gasped.
The audacity.
Before she could respond, the bear tossed her onto the ground.
She landed hard.
Any romantic fantasies she had developed immediately died.
The bear stepped toward her.
His expression hardened.
“Our chieftain disappeared.”
Silver blinked.
“What?”
“The same day wolves entered our territory.”
His voice deepened.
“You broke the treaty.”
Silver’s stomach dropped.
“We didn’t take your chief.”
The bear grabbed her throat.
“Enough lies.”
Silver clawed at his hand.
Struggling to breathe.
“The curse…” she managed. “Haven’t you heard…”
The bear hesitated.
“The elders know…”
His grip loosened.
For a moment he simply stared at her.
Then he released her.
Silver collapsed coughing.
The bear stood silently.
Lost in thought.
Finally he extended a hand.
“Come.”
Silver ignored it.
The bear sighed.
“Gilda will decide your fate.”
“Who’s Gilda?”
“The chieftain’s wife.”
A chill ran down Silver’s spine.
The bear looked toward the distant forest.
“Save your breath for her.”
Silver rubbed her bruised throat.
If she had any breath left to save.
As the bear led her deeper into enemy territory, Silver glanced back toward the wilderness she had emerged from.
Toward the river.
Toward the waterfall.
Toward home.
For years she had dreamed of seeing the world beyond the Southern Forest.
Now she finally had.
And so far, it was trying very hard to kill her.
[Episode one is available on YouTube]
