I awaken in the middle of the forest with a terrible hangover.

I notice the gentle breeze, barely cool as it flows and grazes my spine.

Strange? Yes, way too strange.

At this time of year, the forest at night is normally bitingly cold, and even more so in the morning, yet now I only feel a mild chill.

Looking around, I spot animal tracks, more specifically...

Wolves

I jump to my feet and see my clothes torn apart on the ground; there are signs of wolves all around me, and I'm completely naked.

"Damn it, what the hell happened?"

I ask the void.

Flashes of my wild night come back to me.

A few days ago, I turned 18, and last night was my university graduation.

Yes

As you hear it, I graduated from university at age 18, with a double major.

Perhaps I haven't introduced myself; my name is Mardel Rossi, freshly-turned 18, my mother's name is Juhani Rossi.

I don't know my family because I am not loved by my mother; she says mistakes should remain hidden from others.

So, I've always been self-reliant.

My mother spends over 18 hours a day drunk and unconscious; the rest of the time, she spends telling me how miserable she is because of me, how my father left her for a man, abandoning her when he learned of me.

I loathe him

I hate everything about him; regrettably, I don't know his name, but I know what he looks like, as my mother says.

Juhani: You are the damn spitting image of your father; you have no idea how much I loathe you. I wish you were never born; maybe then your father wouldn't have left with him.

I hate my mother, just as much as I hate my father.

The only person who cares for me is my Aunt Anya; she lives roughly a kilometer away from us, her cabin amidst the forest. I've always wondered why.

She says that to protect me she needed to be close to me, but also far at the same time, as my mom should never find out about her, only I should.

When I was five, on one of the many days my mother left me alone, I ventured into the forest and there met a beautiful woman; she told me to treat her like an aunt and insisted on keeping it a secret, especially from my mother that she lived nearby, to come and find her whenever I wanted and could. She was the only one that gave me that motherly love I so desperately sought; her husband is like a father to me.

My mother would go visit her family and be gone for whole weeks; thus, I learned to fend for myself.

One day, I asked my aunt to enroll me in school; my mother was always out of it, she would never notice.

And so, the next day I woke up early, climbed out my window, and headed into the forest to find my aunt.

I didn't mention it, but we live on the outskirts of the city, close to the forest, and unlike most kids who fear it, I find such peace there.

I can walk in it, day or night, without issues; there are communities of people within the forest, but they don't allow outsiders into their reserves, always there are visitors around, and if they see someone trying to enter, they are stopped immediately.

Despite it all, they're not hostile; I've seen wolves too, enormous ones to clarify, but unlike what most would think, these aren't aggressive, rather, they seem gentle.

Well, as I was saying, my aunt got me into elementary school and I finished it just two years later, at the age of 8 I completed elementary and moved on to high school, my Uncle Ivan, who is my Aunt Anya's husband, helped with all my expenses.

At the age of 11, I finished middle school, and as of yesterday, I completed my university education, at just 18 years old. Graduated with a double major, and a scholarship that fully covered everything.

Remarkable, right?

The only downside is that I could share my joy only with my aunt and her husband.

But one day, you'll see, I'll be able to break free from my mother and go to meet my father, to learn why he left us, just to understand what was so important that he abandoned me with a madwoman like my mother.

She has never taken an interest in anything I do, which is for the better, although on such a special day for me as yesterday, I would've loved to see my mother in the front row shouting my name when I received my diploma for graduating and making the dean's list.

She's never cared about any of my birthdays.

Only when I turned 16.

On the day I turned 16, my mother said to me.

Juhani: Hey useless, when do you turn 16?

That day I was happy; passing by my aunt's house on the way back from school, she was already waiting with a cake to celebrate my birthday, as she has done many times before.

I cried that day, cursing to the heavens that my parents didn't love me. My aunt said.

Anya: Don't pay any mind to your mother, I can't tell you what happened the day you were born, I'm forbidden, but promise me that when you do meet your father, you'll give him a chance to explain, okay?

Mardel: Okay, Auntie.

Upon returning home, the first thing I did was prepare a meal for when my mother woke up.

Juhani: Hey useless, when do you turn 16?

Mardel: In a month, mother.

I answer, sarcasm woven through, she never remembers, so why tell her the truth, just for her to ruin my day?

Juhani: Mmm, what a pain.

I don't know what happened then, but a month later, she stayed sober for two full days, waiting for I don't know what, luckily for me, it was vacation time, but after two days she forgot all about it and resumed her normal routine. For a brief moment, I thought she might change, but of course, she didn't.

Mardel:

A few days ago, I turned 18. As usual, my mother forgot, and to my surprise, she left with her family a few days beforehand.

When I returned, just like always, my aunt was waiting for me outside.

And just like always, her comment for each year.

Anya: Pay no attention to your mother. I can't tell you what happened on the day you were born because I'm forbidden to, but promise me that when you meet your father, give him the chance to explain what happened, okay?

Mardel: Alright, Aunt, only because you say so.

Maybe my aunt is right and I should ask my father first what happened, before I forgive him. But I definitely won't be able to forgive him for leaving my mother for another man. How foolish.

A few days later, I was at my graduation.

The guys invited me to the party, and well, I wanted to see what college parties were like. Parties that nobody invited me to because I was underage, poor, and attending a prestigious scholarship school - an all-boys school for the elite, as they say. One of them is the captain of the team that all the girls want, a total playboy. Oh, what a nuisance.

He's always with the most beautiful girls, but he's just a brute.

Well, as I was saying.

Today, I wanted to get drunk for the first time. Normally, a guy gets drunk for the first time after graduating from high school.

But I was only 11 years old.

My uncle Ivan told me,

Ivan: No, son, when you graduate from college, then you can, for now, let's toast with juice, okay?

But well, today we were at the prom, and it's not like I'm very sociable, but my uncle said,

Ivan: Have fun, but please come back early.

At 11:30, I decided to head back home.

I felt dizzy, I had definitely had too much to drink. As I entered the forest, everything was silent. The moon shone brightly, and I've always thought that the moon is alive, that it lulls me to sleep at night. The only one who understands my suffering and my pain besides my aunt.

When I reached the lake, I sat down and looked at my reflection. I was 18 years old, entirely virgin, living with my mother, and a college student with two majors.

The boy reflected in the lake was a young man with fair skin, light brown hair, and sapphire blue eyes. Strange, yes, my mother says I'm an exact replica of my father, that's why she hates me so much.

That's why she has hit me several times, in the freezing taiga forest.

Taiga means "cold forest".

Although the weather here can drop several degrees below zero, I've never felt so cold during those times. However, tonight the sky was clear.

I lamented how miserable I was.

Suddenly, an excruciatingly painful sensation made me fall to the ground, doubled over in pain. I fell to the ground, witnessing my fingers turning into claws, my hands covered in fur. I could clearly hear my bones cracking, as if something inside me was breaking. I reached the lake, wanting to drink some water when I saw the reflection of a gray wolf with amber eyes.

I was frightened by that sight.

Mardel: What the hell?

"Hello, Mardel, my name is Akeem, which means "Intelligent"."

I hear a voice in my head.

Mardel: Damn, I'm going crazy. What the hell did they put in my drink?

Akeem: You're not crazy, or well, yes we are, I've been waiting for you for a long time.

Mardel: Yeah, right.

That's the last thing I can say before falling unconscious from the shock of going crazy.

I wake up to the coolness of the morning. My head hurts, and when they say they fear hangovers, they're right, they're dangerous. My bones ache, probably from the cold.

As I stand up, I realize that I'm completely naked. My clothes are torn and lying on the ground. The images of my drunkenness from last night come flooding back to my mind.

Mardel: Damn, I always took care not to pollute my body, I didn't even drink coffee, and now I get drunk once and they drug me.

I can see that there are wolf tracks around where I was lying.

I'm frightened because although they have never done anything against me, that doesn't mean they won't attack someday.

I approach the lake to wash my face, the water at this hour is frozen, to my surprise it is not, so I immediately end up bathing to fully activate my senses.

Once ready, I step out and check my clothes one last time, maybe there's something salvageable, but no, there isn't.

I'll have to walk home naked, my mother is not there so there won't be any problems.

As I pass by my aunt's house, she comes out and sees me, I try to cover my male tools with my hands.

Anya: What happened to you, son?

Mardel: Uh, well, I don't know, aunt.

She lifts her head and stares at me, inspecting everything.

Mardel: Can you lend me some clothes from uncle? I promise I'll change as soon as I get home and return them afterwards.

Anya: Okay, son, come in.

I nod and enter, hoping my cousins are not around.

Anya: The clothes are on the bed, go into the room.

I nod and enter.

While in the room, I can read some things on the wall, it seems strange because my aunt had it written in a foreign language that she never wanted to tell me about. I have learned several languages, I know Spanish, German, Italian, English, Korean, and my native language Russian, but I was never able to figure out the meaning of what she had written on her walls. Now I understand it very well.

I finish changing and come out.

Mardel: Aunt, what does what you have written on the wall mean?

Anya: Son, it's a language I learned as a child, you wouldn't understand.

Mardel: But I understand what it says there, hey aunt, you smell different, like a forest and wild flowers, your eyes have always been that color.

She looks at me strangely.

Mardel:

My aunt leaves the kitchen and enters her room.

But what did I say, uuu, I've never liked coffee, but that exquisite aroma is tempting me to try it.

It doesn't matter, I'll do it anyway, yesterday I got drunk and drugged, so there won't be any problems if I have a little.

I pour myself some coffee.

Aaa

How delicious.

I'm such a fool for having missed out on something so exquisite for so long.

My aunt enters the kitchen and is surprised to see me drinking her coffee. She brings a book with her and shows it to me.

Anya: You can read this.

I take the book in my hands and start reading.

Mardel: Yes, aunt, I can read it, but these seem to be some kind of rhymes. What are they?

Anya: Son, do you have something to tell me? I mean, something strange happened last night.

And now what do I say?

Yes, aunt, I got drunk to the point where I could barely walk home. I didn't realize I was also drugged, and now that I remember, I even hallucinated that I was a wolf.

Link:

Akeem: You didn't hallucinate, I am your inner wolf and you are my host.

That damn voice again.

Aaa, I knew that too much intelligence would bring me problems.

I'm going crazy, I just hope I don't end up like some mad scientist, unhinged.

I always thought that the intelligence I inherited from my father, just like everything else about me, could be beneficial, but now I see that madness has also caught up with me.

Akeem: You're not crazy, I'm really your inner wolf.

I just hope it's not multiple personality disorder and my other self is a killer.

Akeem: Well, I'm not a killer, but if I don't like something, I don't usually respond in a good way.

Anya: Mardel? Are you okay? What's wrong with you? Tell me what you have.

I tell my aunt everything that happened to me last night, even what I heard in my head.

She becomes serious, searches in the book she brought a few seconds ago, and finds a page.

Anya: Mardel, listen to what I'm going to tell you. I know it might sound funny or silly to you, but it's not. Do you believe in witches, werewolves, as well as vampires?

Mardel: How could I, aunt? Those don't exist.

Anya: Of course they exist.

Mardel: Do you think that if these people existed, they would have already been killed?

Anya: They would have been killed, yes, I know that. That's why everything has remained in the shadows. Werewolves can pass as simple humans, just like any other different creature. Fairies, witches, vampires, elves exist.

Mardel: Like in Harry Potter and Twilight?

Anya: Real elves, my son, and yes, like in Twilight, but, on the other hand, we are real and more beautiful. But getting back to the point, son, you are a werewolf, and last night was your transformation, I suppose because you are a hybrid.

Marbel: Wait, wait, wait, aunt, stop right there, what do you mean werewolf, hybrid?

Anya: I know it's not easy to understand just like that, but it's true. Your mother is a wolf, a crazy wolf, who went crazy when she met your father and became obsessed with him. She was capable of anything to have him, but in the end, she didn't succeed. I am cursed by a black witch, I cannot speak or reveal information about your father. Your mother made sure to leave me like this when she left with you. I spent years looking for you until I found you. I met your father, but I can't speak, son, until the witch who caused the spell dies, or a witch with higher power can break the spell.

I was sitting there trying to comprehend everything my aunt told me.

Anya: Son, you are a werewolf, just like your mother, your father, and your whole family, but you are a hybrid, half wolf, half witch, just like your father. That's why you can easily read this language, because only witches can do it. I know it's difficult for you to assimilate it, but think about it, what sane woman lives on the outskirts of the city, in a cabin at the entrance of the forest? Or how do you explain that my cabin is in the middle of the forest? Or the people you've seen wandering around at night or during the day, the wolves that have never attacked you, what happened this morning, the wolves lose their clothes when they transform, that's why they take them off first.

She smiled playfully.

It didn't seem funny to me at all.

Anya: And when they return to their human form, they are naked, that's why they always try to wear clothes. Son, what I'm telling you is true, please don't tell anyone what I told you, okay? Not even your mother, because I'm sure she will do something worse than what she has done to you all your childhood if you tell her, my dear.

Worse than what she has done to me?

I hand her the book.

Anya: When you leave here, recite this spell. You will be able to smell other people, know what they are. Look, fairies have a strong overly sweet aroma, witches smell like forests and wildflowers, except for black witches, they smell like mud and decay, demons smell like sulfur.

Mardel: There are demons too?

I asked, surprised.

Anya: Yes, and many other species that you will come to realize exist. But none of them will harm you, we are all in a time of peace thanks to your father. Please don't tell anyone about what we talked about. Recite the spell, and don't tell your mother about this. Try to read the book and understand the spells in there, because you never know when they may come in handy.

Mardel: Why do I have to cast the spell?

Anya: This spell will help you go unnoticed by other wolves who might want to harm you, like your mother. She must not know that you've already had your transformation. If she asks anything, act like you don't know anything. This spell hides your being, hides your wolf from others. They won't be able to smell or sense anything from you. If your mother asks about your birthday, tell her it's in a month, so I can think of something to get you out of that house, okay?

Still bewildered, I nod, and she hands me the book.

Anya: Recite the spell at least twice a day, every day while you're in that house, okay? Don't forget to study the book and if you go out, always carry a backpack with clothes and don't let anyone see the book.