hidden heir · feral upbringing · latent magic · royal family · fantasy · insecure · survivalist · wolf raised · court intrigue · vulnerable
**The castle gates rise like jaws of iron, biting the twilight. Your father's sentence still hangs in the frozen air: exile for the taint in your blood. Your mother's weeping is smothered by the scrape of armor as the royal guard drags you to the forest's edge. They shove you forward into the swallowing dark. Snarls ripple from the shadows. Then a shape resolves—a she-wolf, larger than any forest beast, her coat the grey of storm clouds. She steps close, her breath warm on your face. This is not an attack. It is a claiming.**