Every muscle in his body burned and ached. They seemed to strain and stretch against his very bones as his physical form betrayed him. It wasn’t supposed to turn out like this. He wasn’t supposed to answer the Call. She was supposed to help him. So why was he now feeling his transformation come on in the pale moonlight?

Earlier that day Maximilian had been what his mind still saw himself as, The heir apparent of the Baron who controlled not only the castle and the villages that supported it, but the dense forests that surrounded their little barony. All his life he had known wealth, society, never needing to care about where his next meal would come from or where he would sleep. As far as he was concerned, Every house in every village in the valley swore fealty to him so there was nothing he could not take.

Not even the white doe he spotted while riding in the forest. It was his twentieth birthday, He was to be engaged soon, and married before the last harvest. Maximilian and his retainers were out hunting game to bring back for the feast when they spotted the white deer. The seasoned hunters that lead the party knew it was not to be hurt. “The white ones belong to the witch.” They had said. “Best to look elsewhere m’lord.”

“Cowards.” The nobleman said, turning his horse and giving pursuit. He crashed his horse through the woods, leaving behind the sounds of the hounds and the other hunters. Before he had realized it, he was alone in a glade, save for the white deer.

He notched an arrow to his bow, taking aim and preparing to fire, even as the woodland creature simply stood and stared at him. “Stupid beast. I’ll make a lovely set of gloves from your fur.” He said through a wicked grin as he released his arrow. And then, the world went black.

He could no longer see. Or feel. Or do anything at all. But he heard a voice. A young woman’s voice. It said, “Let your beastly temper sour your future. A curse upon you. By light of moon, your true form revealed....”

There, in that same wooded glade, surrounded by the tattered remnants of fine silks and velvet. Stood a wolfish beast full of primal desires and hungry, for revenge...