Death was something he wasn't prepared for and he didn't expect it to be this way. He was cold, and it was dark. He couldn't move even when he heard roaring all around him. His dreams were a paranoid darkness of fear, and he knew something was in the darkness, hunting him. He stood in the silence, holding his arms for warmth he heard the yips and barks in the shadows, like a pack of hungry wolfs were stalking him.<br/><br/>He jumped when one stepped out into the light. A pure white wolf with long hair that seemed to flow behind it like mist. It stopped before him and stared with deep, ice blue eyes, oddly similar to his own. His fear of the animal slowly subsided and he found himself walking towards it, captivated by its eyes.<br/><br/>*Do not fear me, for I am you.*<br/><br/>"What?"<br/><br/>*You must accept yourself for what you have become. This is the you now.* it said. Jaden looked down and saw the claws and the fur on his arm, his nose elongated into a snout and he stood much taller than he was used to on oddly shaped legs. Fear gripped his heart and he began to panic, but the white wolf before him remained still, staring at him with those eerie blue eyes.<br/><br/>*This is what you have become. You must accept it, or to deny it is to deny a part of yourself. One can never live in such a way.* Jaden began breathing hard and his arms shook then tears streamed from his eyes, soaking into the fur on his face.<br/><br/>"W-What am I?" he stammered.<br/><br/>*A Werewolf.*<br/><br/>---------------------<br/><br/>The wolf had faded from his view and he slowly began to wake, not knowing he was tossing in his sleep before. He felt warm now and smelled smoke, but he wasn't lying in cold snow anymore. With the dream still vivid in his mind, he groaned, then winced when he tried to move. Pain shot through his body as he slowly sat up, his vision blurred by his tears. He still thought he had died, because now he saw people, or rather, the blurry outlines of people and a fire, but can you smell when you are dead? He definitely smelled smoke and something else, a rusty smell. He felt funny too, like his body weighed a ton and it still hurt to move. He brought a hand to his face to wipe his eyes, but once he did, they came into view, and he sat staring at the massive paws at the end of his thick furry arms, each finger tipped with an onyx, razor sharp claw. His eyes slowly widened and his eyes burned holes into his palms. *It wasn't a dream...* he thought.<br/><br/>His breathing quickened and he became frantic, finally looking away to see the others, who were next to him now, calmly trying to sooth him. How could they act this way around a monster like himself? Why aren't they scared? He stumbled backwards into the cave wall and pushed himself to his feet, standing shakily on his oddly shaped legs, "No! Stay away!" he exclaimed, his own voice sounding like a growl and scared him even more. The people kept trying to advance on him, ensuring that he was safe, but glancing around he spotted a few knives laying around and he thought they were hunters.<br/><br/>Not wanting to be killed, he ran out the cave entrance, his suspicion was encouraged by the deer and the bear lying next to it and kept going, but he didn't know his new strength and fell, landing hard on his shoulder as he slid down the bank, landing with a loud splash in the creek below.