What are werewolves?
In theory, they are humans that are able to transform into the wolf form, and since their first transformation, they attain a few quirks from their beast side. From better senses overall to stronger physically to faster recovery, there are some that are willing to be turned into a werewolf.
But to turn into a werewolf is not exactly an easy feat. Only those that have attained the alpha status can turn a human safely into a werewolf without any side effects. For those that are bitten by normal werewolves, those poor souls will turn into a beast without any ways to turn back to human form, their sane mind no more.
So how does one become an alpha? The alpha candidates will battle the current alpha for the position and once the battle is won, the new alpha will be undergoing a ritual that can make them one. An alpha's command is absolute in his own pack or clan, so being an alpha can have their perks while the ones below might suffer if the current alpha makes selfish decisions.
This is also why Chilve Pane, a born werewolf with werewolf parents, decides to run away from the pack. The current alpha, who is his uncle, loves taking all the females with him to satisfy his high lust, while the males are forced to do hard labor work, which includes the children. He knows that his parents might be suffering more from his escape, but he must train hard to get stronger, so strong he can challenge for the alpha position as soon as possible to relieve the pains of his pack.
So what better place to train than the enchanted forest right beside the kingdom's palace? It is said that the place is full of mana veins, enhancing further the magical prowess one can hold if harnessed carefully. Luckily he learnt how to hunt for himself previously from his father, and he knows which ones to avoid.
'Not enough.' If he wants to be strong quickly, he has to look for ways to counter those strong beasts. Soon he starts looking for their weaknesses, observing their behaviors and possibly their habits, and in no time he gets stronger from taking down those huge magical beasts. Digging out their mana core by using his claws, he consumes them and can feel the power coursing through his own veins.
'More.'
Chilve constantly reminds himself of what he is working for, for his pack's better future. He knows he shouldn't consume too many mana cores in a short time, since he might lose his humane side with how much magical beast he defeated. 'I can do this. For the pack.'
And that's when he sees a human, a girl to be exact, with a bear hovering over her.
'Is she stupid to roam this forest alone?'
Knowing the girl will not last long, Chilve turns into his wolf form and tackles the bear, getting it off from the girl. When he lands in between the bear and the girl, the bear goes lower and Chilve knows instantly that he is going to pounce. He quickly turns and grabs the girl's back, hoping he doesn't scratch her too much from that, and starts running.
Sensing a clearing ahead, he runs towards that direction and with his breath panting fast, he lets go of the girl a little forcefully and turns back to face the bear. He knows he can't stay long in his wolf form without the moonlight, so he has to be quick enough. He quickly gathers his strength and starts hitting the bear, just like how he used to do it. Once the bear is down, he lands on the flat ground and wonders if he should transform in front of the girl, but knowing she might be lost and can't protect herself, he has to earn her trust so she will cooperate with him.
Transforming is always a huge pain, no matter from the wolf to human form or vice versa. When the pain subsides, he sighs in relief and turns to look at the girl, then asks the first thing that comes to his mind.
"Are you alright?"
She gets up and looks in pain with how red and swollen her arm looks, where she keeps frowning and he tries to lighten up the mood by approaching her to look at her closer. She hisses and he shakes his head when he realizes she needs immediate medical attention, "can you walk? I think I should bring you somewhere to get this treated."
"Thank you, but I think I can go back on my own," her voice is almost as smooth as silk, which reminded him of home when the times were peaceful without much worries, her mother singing lullabies for him with a voice similar to this. Still, she is a fool for being alone here.
"And risk getting attacked by another beast? You must have little knowledge of the dangers of a forest if you don't even know how to protect yourself."
He didn't mean to sound too sarcastic, but what's done is done, "I do know some self defense, just paralyzed from the surprise attack."
'Well this self defense doesn't sound enough.' "Okay then little princess, then I assume you have bodyguards of your own then?" Chilve teases, thinking how pompous she is if she thinks a little self defense can fight off a magical beast.
"How do you know I'm a princess?"
He never expected that, he really didn't. Eyes widened, he shouts whatever that is on his mind, "you're really a princess?!"
Chilve frowns when the girl covers his mouth and looks close to mad with how he reacted, and despite he hates intimacy with girls since they find them annoying, he is surprised with how alright he feels for letting her do whatever she wants, "can't you be more quiet or something? What if you alerted something strange?"
"Fine," she puts down her good arm down and Chilves decides to introduce himself, "my name's Chilve, what's yours, or do I have to call you the blonde princess without knowing your name?"
"Lune."
'The word moon in the ancient language.'
"Lu- Lune," and he tilts his head, "so what are you doing here in the first place?"
"I was tailing my brother until I lost sight of him, and I got distracted by some flowers," she dares to pick flowers in the open with the risk of being attacked? He shakes his head and teases, "so some flowers are more important than searching for your brother?"
"It's not some flowers, I have never seen them!"
"I thought you are a princess, and a princess is supposed to know every flower in the royal garden or something."
"I feel like I'm being watched if I'm in the garden, so I took this chance to have a quick escape from the palace surveillance," Lune pouts and he suddenly laughs, making her mad with him, "what do you even know about being watched constantly?!"
He wipes some tears that come out from his eyes from laughing too much at how cute she looks like right now, just like a mad pup and he grins, "oh, I do know that, but at least I do know how to protect myself unlike you, Lune."
"And that's because they don't even let me learn magic or sword fighting!"
"Have you considered asking or just picking a sword up? Maybe archery suits you," he rubs his chin while thinking about what his father used to teach him about the fundamentals of magic, "or you can try to focus on combat magic, since most mages are girls anyway."
"That's outdated thinking."
"That's how it is, it's related to our body's flow of energy," with how surprised Lune looks right now, it seems she never gets the chance to study anything related to magic. Didn't the royal family get access to all kinds of knowledge? Chilve picks up some voices of a group of humans, and he quickly puts a finger on her lips since he needs to focus on what they are talking. He can pick up someone talking about how they must find the princess, and assuming they are still in the range of the palace, he turns to ask Lune, "it seems a group of armored guards are looking for you."
"But I don't hear that."
'That's because you're a human, '"That's because I have keen senses thanks to my wolf side," he grabs her good hand and starts pulling her and starts walking. Before she can ask where they are going, he answers her question first, "I'm leading you towards them, and you will be back in the palace in no time."
"But I don't want to go back so soon."
"And I don't want to babysit you if there's another beast attack."
"Babysit? I'm already 10!"
"At least I'm older than you princess, I'm 12."
She silently lets him lead the way and Chilve is a little disappointed at the lack of sound coming from her. After some twists and turns, he finally stops walking when he feels them close enough and she almost bumps into his back, "they are right in front. Go ahead without me."
"What, are you some sort of a refugee?"
"Do you think they will believe what a boy says about saving their princess from a beast's attack? Just go," he goes to her back and pushes her forward, "wait!"
"What is it?"
"Can I meet you again? You know, to get to know more about your kind for educational purposes."
'She wants to meet me again?' He can see a hint of hesitation in her expression, and he smiles thinking how cute she looks right now, "why not. It's not like you can meet a werewolf everyday anyway, since we are pretty rare. See you at the same time everyday near the royal garden."
Without waiting for her reply, he dashes out from the spot, away from Lune and the guards, and after running a good distance, Chilve reaches a river and he drinks some water to wash his flushed face. 'What am I thinking letting her disturb my flow of training.'