Daemon.

I was surprised by discovering an unfamiliar man, whose age was tricky to estimate. He observed me keenly for a few seconds before reaching to his left and gesturing to summon someone. The guy I wrestled with yesterday emerged directly in front of me. I stretched instinctively.

“Is it him?” the man inquired of the guy.

Instead of responding, the guy only nodded. I was perplexed. We battled, so he brought his father to reprimand me?

“Ragné Lennart,” the man introduced himself, offering his hand to me. “You can call me Ragnar.”

I was taken aback but shook his hand.

“And this is Daniel,” he said, introducing the biting guy. “May we come in?”

There was something in his voice that made me unconsciously want to obey. I stepped aside from the doorway and opened it wider.

“First and foremost,” the man added, “I’d like to apologize for Daniel.”

“Look, Mr. Lennart…” I interrupted him and gestured for them to sit on the sofa.

“Please call me Ragnar,” the man said warmly.

I nodded.

“Daniel did something foolish. Exceptionally silly!” Ragnar continued, and Daniel bowed his head, staring at the floor.

We sat for a while in awkward silence.

I had no idea what those two wanted from me. How could they find me?

“It’s my fault,” I broke the silence. “I provoked the fight.”

Ragnar smiled as Danielle proceeded to hypnotize the floor.

“Please tell me...” Ragnar stuttered, uncertain how to refer to me.

“Daemon,” I introduced myself belatedly.

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“So, tell me, Daemon, how do you feel?”

I considered those men odd.

“I’m fine” I chose to lie and immediately felt sick again.

“Indeed?” Ragnar lifted his brow.

The discussion took a ridiculous turn. The older visitor was the first to attempt to resolve the situation,

“Don’t you feel sick? How did you spend the night? Don’t you want to drink?”

“I have a hangover. Yesterday, I drank way too much. Anyone would feel sick after such an alcohol intoxication,” I shrugged.

“Yeah, but not anyone feels like a growling voice in his head is trying to tell him something,” Ragnar gave me a keen look.

“Yeah... But no one believes a growling voice in his head is trying to tell him something,” Ragnar said, giving me a piercing look.

I stared at the visitor in awe. From the moment I woke up, I was tormented by a noise in my head that sounded like a growl and appeared to demand something that I was unable to comprehend.

“Daemon, I’m truly sorry it happened,” Ragnar remarked sympathetically “But you’re required to come with us.”

What I was told next seemed like total nonsense. If I weren’t feeling terrible, I’d chuckle and escort those peculiar guests away, thanking them for brightening my day.

Werewolves? Seriously?!

They tried to persuade me to accompany them to a secret place where they could help me. My experience was comparable to being recruited into a cult, but instead of an impending apocalypse, my guests warned me about the possibility of death on the first full moon.

I was silent. The guests were staring at me, waiting for my decision.

“I’m not going anywhere with you,” I uttered every word.

“I’m afraid you have no choice,” Ragnar commented calmly.

Then something extraordinary started.

“Daniel?” my unsolicited guest addressed his companion.

I switched my attention to the biter. For some reason, he started to grow in size, complete with fangs and claws. I twitched and rushed behind the armchair, ignoring my weakness and nausea.

“Well, that’s it. I’m hallucinating due to my fever,” I reasoned, estimating the distance to the door and preparing to escape.

There were only a few steps left to the door when I felt a powerful punch over my head.

“Hmm... He’s strong. I believe he will surprise us when the time comes.” I caught Ragnar’s voice before collapsing.

I awoke in an unknown environment. It felt nasty.

My first visitor was Ragnar. He claimed to be the Elder of the Northern Wolves clan, one of the most powerful. We had a lengthy discussion about what happened to me and where it would lead. The newly-born werewolf, which I was now, was a menace to society unless he learned to control himself. Then I faced a big challenge: my first full moon. The devastating news was that the bulk of the newly-born werewolves failed to survive their first full moon, but Ragnar swore to do anything possible to help me.

I was grateful to him for bringing me here because three nights later, the full moon appeared from the clouds, and I experienced excruciating pain.

I was screaming and feeling my bones crack. Several werewolves witnessed my first shift and prevented me from harming myself. However, I managed to survive.

Seymour, who was only 8 months older than me in wolf hypostasis, was one of a number who assisted me in adapting. Even though I nearly beat the heck out of him during my first full moon, we became best friends later.

After a few months, I had complete control over my impulses and was allowed to go visit my parents, who were persuaded by Ragnar that I had changed employment and was on a lengthy business trip.

Ragnar felt attached to me and Seymour since he hadn’t had kids of his own. He persuaded the alpha to grant us authority over one of the construction business’s departments to keep us busy. This is the story of me and Seymour becoming business partners in addition.

Four months later, after ensuring that we weren’t committing faults and had been performing an excellent job, Ragnar relinquished responsibility for us. Is it worth revealing the fact that after tasting the flavour of a different life, my friend and I periodically allowed ourselves to have a great time? We progressively acquired apartments and cars and enjoyed our lives to the fullest yet avoiding unnecessary attention.

I’ve been a lycan for a year now. To be truthful, I wasn’t bitter about what’s happened to me.

I assured Daniel that I was not upset with him, even though he walked away with embarrassment every time I encountered him.

My second hypostasis gave me an incredible sensation of power and independence. Sometimes I felt as if I was capable of anything. Absolutely anything. But yesterday, my confidence in it was undermined.

I thought I couldn’t struggle with worse pain than the night of my initiation, but after meeting Diana again, I realized how naive I was. I was experiencing an increasing sense of emptiness within myself. Worst of all, my inner wolf refused to comply.