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Kage couldn't begin to guess how long he had been adrift.

There were only scattered images he could remember, bits and pieces like scattered photographs. The storm, the rapids, the rain pouring down. Clinging for dear life to the edges of the boat, unable to steer away. Soaking, freezing water and icy air that stabbed at his lungs. He was almost grateful for having run aground on the banks, where he could only fall to the ground upon the rocks and catch his breath.

Grateful, that is, until he saw the scragged trees and swirling mist that lay before him. There was no telling how far this wilderness went on, or where he might ever see another face again. This was dangerous land, and there were stories of what foul things lived within it. It was fear that drove him away from the river, and fear that compelled him further into the trees, in hopes that he might find his way out again.

Kage was cold, dripping river water onto the mossy rocks and undergrowth. Steam rose from his clothes and met with the fog that blanketed the lands. There was an unnatural silence all around, with neither bird nor buzzing insect to greet his coming. The smell that filled his nose was of wet soil and rot, cold with the onset of winter. His toes stung within his boots from the damp cold with every slow, uneasy step he took.

He had begun to despair of ever finding his way out again, when he caught sight of a flickering light deeper in the woods.

Salvation! Life! Kage made eagerly for the light and came within sight of a cabin. A chimney smoked welcomingly, and the door seemed to beckon for him to come closer. He made for it at once and rapped his hands upon it, calling for help, begging shelter from the dampness.

It was an unexpected face that met him at the door, an herbal scent of spice and medicine wafting from within. Not the rugged face of a mountaineer or hunter, but of a woman. He saw smiling eyes on a sweet face, fair unblemished skin of sun-kissed brown, a slender body clad in a black robe far too thin for the ravages of winter. With a thin finger and a wordless beckoning, she bade him welcome inside.

There was little chance to think upon the strangeness of it. The scent of her home was filling his nostrils, filling his brain with a comforting warmth. Even thoughts of what spirits and magic called these woods home brought only fleeting worry that dissipated like smoke from a pipe. The cold pushed him inside, and her welcoming smile pulled him inside. Not even when the door closed behind him, as if by an invisible hand, did fear cross his mind. In that moment he felt incapable of fear.

“Come by the fire," she spoke to him, her voice as tender and low as a kitten's purr. “Come and warm yourself from the cold."

He eagerly obliged, taking his place by the hearth to let the heat wash over him and melt the bitter chill away. When she came offering him a cup of steaming liquid, he thought nothing of it as he took the cup gratefully and sipped the sweet, hot drink within.

It had a taste like honey and pine. It spread its warmth into his belly and stretched out into his aching limbs. A little breath of life that sent the blood flowing again.

Kage had taken his third sip when he heard music. He caught the sight of a wooden flute in the woman's hands, brought up to her lips as she blew a mellow tune. She stood at the corner, a smirk playing at the corner of her mouth as she continued to play.

The heat blossoming in his belly from the drink and emanating from the hearth seemed to swim upwards into a mist that filled his skull. He found himself inhaling deeply of the botanic aroma that hung about the cabin as time grew slower, ponderous and heavy like molasses. He took in the soothing comfort until there was no resistance, no concern, no care. The walls had broken down, the waters were crashing upon the dike, and he was content to let it happen.

The woman stood before him now. The flute was no longer in her hands, and yet her melody continued to play within the cabin.

“Comfortable?" she asked, a teasing edge in her voice. “Feeling good now?"

There wasn't much Kage could do but nod dumbly.

Her hand reached up to his cheek for a caress, the other hand running along his curled tresses. “You're just a lost little pup, aren't you? Can't find your way home?"

Again Kage nodded. The touch of her hand sent his skin prickling.

Mischief shone in her eyes. “Yes," she murmured. “Just a lost little pup."

What Kage had dismissed as mere imagination grew stronger. The prickling along his skin was stronger now, like needles pushing their way out of his skin. A sudden sense of sickness overtook him, and when he stood from his seat as though to leave he simply stumbled forwards, back onto his hands and knees, heaving for breath.

The very floor beneath him seemed to change. Kage shakily lifted his head upwards to watch the world before him transmuting into a dimmer, subdued version of itself. Where once there had been vibrant color, there were now only subdued hues, greys and browns and blues.

Yet he was not growing blinder to the world and the things within it. What he lost for sight, he could smell and hear all the more clearly for it. To his ears, the crackling of the fire and the scampering of a mouse's footsteps were as loud as a shouting voice. The scent of herbal medicine was just one smell among many, mingling with the wilder scents of the woods just outside.

His eyes turned downwards to see his nails turning blacker and sharper. The harsh prickling that now spread all over his skin brought with it the growth of thick tawny hair all over. Bone and muscle writhed within him, stretched and reshaped as though by an invisible hand, slowly forming into the shape of something less than human.

Kage could feel himself melting away, and his own clothes growing looser around him until they encumbered his very limbs. The question in his throat came out as a guttural, belly-deep growl. He struggled to extricate himself, and when he had finally freed himself from the confining cloth, he could only stumble back on all fours, human no more.

His skin had stopped prickling, the uncanny sense of his own flesh and bone reshaping had gone. In its place was unease at the unfamiliarity of it, the sheer strangeness of being in a body not his own, to have paws for feet and a heavy pelt upon his back.

The woman looked down to him. There was a wickedness to her smile as she crouched down to run her fingers along the top of his mane.

“An animal," she cooed. “A mere animal."

She turned in place, lifting her hands to her robe to let it fall to the ground. She paid no heed to the cold, bare skinned from head to foot, the silhouette of her figure sharp against the light from the nearby windows.

An animal.

These words were not spoken, but they were understood all the same. She sunk down to the ground on all fours, her figure shifting before Kage's very eyes. What stood before him now was a she-wolf, sleek and strong, staring into his face with deep amber eyes.

A mere animal, driven by instinct.

There was a new smell in the air. The she-wolf padded closer on silent paws, just past where Kage stood, her heavy tail flagging upwards and sweeping the air. Kage could only turn his head, drawing in the air through his sensitive nose at the salty, wild notes that followed her like a trail.

You smell it, don't you?

The sensation awakening within him was at once familiar to him. He had felt it often enough. Yet there was something different to the lust that grew within him. No longer mere attraction, no longer a simple need to bond and feel the touch of another. This was something more feral, more brutal. It was the drive - no, the need - to claim and breed. It was only when he felt his tail thump against the chair that he realized it was wagging.

And yet, he hesitated. He was no animal. Kage couldn't simply give in to such a base desire, not like this. It was an affront to nature, to his very humanity.

He didn't want this.

Yes, you do.

The she-wolf's words rang out to him as if she knew what was on your mind.

You want this. You want to give in.

Kage turned in place to look to the she-wolf that now stood looking over her shoulder, tail swaying, wafting the scent of her closer, driving him mad with need. The part of him that remained human strained and pleaded not to surrender. The part of him that he had become had already made its choice, and he could feel himself swelling and growing hard, feeling it swing between his legs and throb with need.

Come and claim me.

The sound he made was anything but human. It was with a harsh snarl that he lunged forwards onto the she-wolf, feeling the roughness of her coat beneath him and the warmth of her sleek frame. She smelled of the forest, of salt, of female desire, and he drank in the scent eagerly as he growled into her fur.

She shifted beneath him, backing into his embrace as if to welcome him and dare him to go on. Kage could already feel her wet warmth teasing at his tip and the winking of her lips around him. Her tail swept against the underside of his belly and tickled him.

Give in.

That was all the permission he needed. He simply plunged into her. His hips kept pushing, deeper and deeper into the hot warmth she offered to him. Wherever he felt resistance, he simply pushed harder and deeper, feeling her squirm beneath him. She let out a harsh snarl, only to end with a soft yelp when he closed his jaws around the back of her neck.

Go on. You need this.

With every harsh, pumping thrust he made in and out of her, he felt his humanity shed away like melting drops of water from ice. Memories of the life he led before no longer felt like his own, as if they came from a different reality altogether. In time, even the name Kage meant nothing to him.

There was no restraint, no guilt, no tenderness. There was only the need to claim the bitch beneath him, show her his strength, to fill her belly with his young.

What an animal you are.

There was a smugness to the thought, a mocking tone like a child's. Perhaps before it would have incited rage. Now, it felt like a mere statement of fact. He cared nothing for the substance, only the instinct.

_A hideous, foul creature. _

Whether it was some vestigial remnant of whatever human element would have taken umbrage at those words, or simply the flexing squeezes she made around him, his only response was to push harder and ignore the whimpers she made.

An animal. Slaking your lust with a beast_._

He was close now. His pumping grew more frantic and more shallow. He could feel a new swelling now, at the very base of him, slapping against the she-wolf with brutal force.

Seal your fate. Finish it. Breed your bitch.

He held back no longer. With one final push, he felt something give way as he buried himself inside and the she-wolf let out a pained yelp. He gave her no heed, tightening the grip of his jaws at the back of her head, holding her head down as he released his seed into her in thick, heavy bursts.

The she-wolf let out a whine as she felt him tug at her with the knotted mass that now locked them together. He answered with a harsher growl of his own, keeping her head down, making her submit until he was finished with her.

Her breath came in pants. She wriggled her hips beneath him and let out a plaintive sound like a dog denied a meal. And yet he knew that beneath the exhaustion and submission, there was a satisfaction at what had been done.

Now, she said, now you are truly a beast.

She was shifting again beneath and around him. He looked down to see fur recede and skin reemerge into the form that had greeted him at the door. A delicate hand reached back for him, grasping his base, ignoring his harsh snarl as she pulled him free with a pop.

He pedaled backwards away from the rising figure, looking upwards as she rose upwards. Trails of seed trickled down her thighs as she looked down to him with a grin.

“A beast," she repeated. These words were spoken aloud. “Because that is what you really are inside, isn't it?" She bent downwards to grasp the robe that had fallen to the floor. “A beast who can't hold back. An animal." The woman slipped on the robe, her eyes still looking down to him. “I wonder how much of you is left in there. But then again, I wonder if there was much in there to begin with."

His eyes followed her figure as she slowly stepped towards the door on bare feet. She grasped the handle and opened it, letting the chilly winter wind rushing inside the cabin.

“Go on," she said. “The woods are your home now."

He could smell the wilderness outside. He could hear the life within it, a life that until now had been silent for him. It now called loudly to him, beckoning as readily as she had beckoned him into the cabin.

Without sparing a thought for her, and without another moment wasted, he got to his paws and sprang out the door.

His eyes stung briefly in the light as it glared off the rocks. The air was cold, and yet he felt a sense of belonging like none he could recall. He didn't look back at the cabin behind him, not even when he heard the door swing closed. There was nothing left for him in there.

In his bones, he knew that she was right. This was his home now, and his life. No more pretense, no more pretending. The honest, brutal reality of nature called for him and bid him welcome. Here, he was truly himself. Here, he was free.

His nose caught the scent of something further off, deeper in the woods. He listened, and heard the sound of feet smaller than his own as it leapt amidst the rocks. He felt the hollowness in his belly and a new rising urge to stalk, to hunt.

He made swiftly for the shadowy trees to search for it. The woods were his home now. He would claim them, just as surely as he had claimed the woman in the cabin.