Leilani.
Ladies and gentlemen, I beat him. Hands down. Without even trying so hard to win, which was strange because usually, I have heard of cases where people trip and fall during their first runs.
There are people who even tend to find moving quite uncomfortable during their first shift, so it was surprising that it came so naturally to me.
I do not know how long we spent running through these quiet grounds, but by the time I finally came to, I basked in the way the cold wind fluffed my furs as I ran through the overgrown shrubs.
I also couldn’t help but marvel at how exhilarating it felt. How peaceful it was to not hear anything else around me besides the sound of my raging heartbeat and the sound of my very large paws hitting the moist floor.
The cloud above thickened with each passing moment, showering us with cold drizzles that seeped into my fur but couldn’t do so much damage as to get it wet. But this was the part where I cared less about my surroundings, and more about this warmth coursing through my entire body like a freaking fire storm.
My heart swelled in my chest, and the noise at the back of my skull slowly came to a stop, leaving me with a mind as clear as crystal and a breath so heavy, I could barely breathe through my nostrils— now snout.
A few minutes later after I had gotten to our stopping point, I came to a stuttering stop and spun around, my eyes gleaming with excitement when I saw Zevran a few meters away running after me.
His wolf was a large one— hades, I could swear that it was even larger than mine. It was dark furred with strips of white and moved stealthily through the overgrown grasses.
When he arrived by my side, he stopped as well to rub the side of his body against mine, such that heat surged from the point where our bodies had come in contact, before he walked away, forward to a small water fountain.
"Where is this place?" I asked him through the mind link, and at first, he didn’t respond, only to turn to me and gesture with his head as if asking me to follow.
I quietly did as told, only to come to a sudden halt when I caught a glimpse of my reflection in the water fountain.
My breath caught and I immediately turned to look at him as I asked; "Is that me?"
For a couple of seconds, only silence settled between us. And then slowly... very slowly, he walked over to bump his shoulders with mine. The action sent another wave of electricity zapping through us, but after managing to calm my traitorous heart, I watched him quietly as he looked into the water himself, his eyes swirling with emotions I couldn’t quite name as he drawled in my head;
"Yes,"
"But how?... What is this?" I couldn’t help but ask, hating the way fear made its way up my spine. It made a sudden chill creep on me, and hell, if I was in my human form, then I would’ve had goosebumps spreading across my skin.
"What am I?"
"You are a hybrid, Leilani, you keep forgetting that fact." He answered softly, slowly. "And while you do not look like most werewolves I’ve seen, your form isn’t even bad."
’Isn’t even bad.’ He’d said, but was that supposed to make me feel better?
Was that supposed to change the fact that I looked like a literal beast like this?
That I looked half wolf and half Lycan in this form with my extra long snout, long fangs that protruded from the corners of my mouth, and eyes that shone so brightly, it rivalled the moon above.
"Your fur is the most beautiful I’ve ever seen in my entire life, even more beautiful than mine that I always took pride in..." he continued, snapping me out of my reverie, and it wasn’t until then that I forced myself to look into the water again, to take a glance at our reflections.
Goddess, I was way bigger than him!
I sighed, changing the topic. "I am way larger than you and I didn’t even realize that until now..."
"And I know," he replied, sounding breathless. "But I love it that way.
Something about his responses warmed my heart. He made it sound as though I was beautiful either way and that was more calming than the run through the woods. However, I was just about to comment on that when he suddenly walked away from the water, and then the next thing I heard were the sounds of breaking bones, and then—
He was back in his human form, looking extremely tired, but completely naked.
I glanced away.
"You should try to shift now," his voice carried through the wind. "You should learn how to shift and return to your normal form without . Don’t worry, Lani, I am here to help."
My breath caught again at the choice of his words, and thank the goddess that wolves or whatever I was could not blush because I would’ve been as red as a beetroot right now.
I lowered my massive head and walked past him, ignoring his soothing voice as he called out to me.
"Leilani? Leilani, can you hear me?"
Focus girl, don’t be such an idiot!
"I can see and I’ll follow after you." I tried stubbornly.
I watched him scratch the back of his neck before turning around, away from me. And at first, I thought that he was indeed about to walk away until his voice came again. He said;
"I’ll give you some privacy. I promise. I just need to see your face while I continue with the rest of this conversation."
His words made me frown mentally but deciding not to push this any further, I decided to shift back to my human form... and girlllll, it was painful as hell.
The sounds of my breaking bones filled my ear as I threw my head back, letting out the loudest howl I’ve ever heard in my life.
And by the time I finally succeeded in turning, I laid on the cold floor, panting raggedly, with my hair sticking to my face at very weird angles.
When I looked up and found Zevran looking down at me in total admiration, I turned away and hid my face between my hands, my chest rising and falling as I tried to catch my breath.
"That was a lot, right?" He asked softly, his voice sounding like a caress across my exposed flesh.
"Yes."
"It was exhilarating right?" He asked and I almost rolled my eyes— almost.
I hissed; "Yes."
"Did you find any part of it painful?"
"All of it was painful." I answered truthfully, and to my utmost shock, he merely shrugged.
"Good, now I want you to do all of that one more time." He commanded, and almost like a reflex, my nostrils flared.
"NO."

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