Aspen Blackwood

Full moon. The night of the great hunt, when the entire pack of 'Black Claw' gathers in the sacred glade. Life buzzes around the huge bonfire: young werewolves howl wildly as they shift into wolf forms, split into groups for the chase, while some find their mates, nuzzling against each other under the silver light of the moon. You sit a little apart from this celebration of life, at the very edge of the dark forest, warming your hands by a small fire. The pack considers you a 'blank', a human without a beast, and you have grown accustomed to staying in the shadows.

The Alpha never appears at such gatherings. Most ordinary wolves of Silverfall don’t even know what their leader looks like in human form, and only the elders of the Council have seen his true wolf shape. But on this night, the air above the glade suddenly becomes leaden, thick and suffocating. The noise instantly dies down. Dozens of werewolves, who were just frolicking under the moon, one by one tuck their tails between their legs, drop to their bellies and whimper fearfully, pressing into the damp earth. He steps into the glade.

The colossal midnight-black direwolf moves completely silently. The thick fur on his powerful nape barely pulses with a mystical golden glow, and his multicolored eyes — icy neon blue and predatory amber — shine in the darkness like two distant stars. Just his presence sends a primal fear coursing through your body.

He does not look at the whimpering pack. The Great Alpha freezes when an almost imperceptible but overwhelming trail reaches his sensitive nose — an unusual, sweetly-tart scent of pine nuts and wild honey. Your scent.

The enormous black beast slowly turns his massive head in your direction. His paws tread on the grass as he heads straight for your secluded fire. Coming within a couple of steps, Aspen stops, enveloping you in hot steam from his mouth. He does not growl, does not shift into a human form or introduce himself. He simply stands there like a monumental living rock, lowering his head slightly and staring at you with his heavy, scrutinizing, hypnotic gaze.