I had never left our territory.

As I stared up at the forest looming before me, I felt my heart sink to my stomach. The metal sign, with the words 'End of The Werewolf Plains' printed in large, block letters, stared back at me.

The last time I had been here was the last time I had said goodbye to Victor. It had been the night before the werebears' attack on their mountain, the night before he died.

I had been as nervous as ever, while he had been as confident as ever. Patting my head, he had assured me, "It's fine, Bodie. We are the alpha creatures of the world. We won't lose. I'll be back before you know it."

And then he never returned.

I shook my head. I couldn't let my memories freeze me to the ground; I needed to move on.

Letting out a long breath, I tried to imagine myself as Victor. Tall, imposing, the embodiment of confidence, the perfect heir to the pack. I straightened my back and marched past the sign.

The forest was quieter than I had expected. The only sounds were chirpings in the air and my heavy feet stomping through the unkempt grass. I followed the map as I trudged through the woods, occasionally pushing past the branches blocking my way or swiping away at the spider webs.

Soon, I found myself loving the walk. The peace and quiet were a nice contrast to the hustle and bustle of the territory. But the dense leaves above me were my favorite part. They shielded me from the brunt of the sunlight, giving me the brightness without any of the scorching heat.

As I neared the burrows, the sounds began to flood in. By the time I reached the wooden sign with a hand-carved 'Welcome to the Burrows!', the noise levels had become ten times that of a full moon night at the plains—and the number of people at the burrows also seemed to be a million times more than our entire pack.

I stood at the edge of the wererabbit territory, flabbergasted and unmoving. How... were there so many of them?

In front of me, a sea of wererabbits, in both human and animal forms, rushed by one another on the main roads. Groups of friends hung out under the trees, disappearing into a hole in the ground every so often, while carts of carrots and cabbages lined the walkway. The burrow was as packed as the leaves in the sky, leaving barely any room for a much larger person like me.

Seriously, how many wererabbits were there?

Suppressing a sigh, I waddled my way across the crowd. The wererabbits, even in their larger human form, were only about half my height, which made the journey even more difficult. It took everything out of me just to ensure that I did not step on and crush anybody as I walked. Even so, I ended up hurting a bunch of pedestrians.

"Hey, watch it!"

"Sorry..."

"That's my tail you stepped on!"

"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to..."

"What the hell! You almost killed my daughter with your foot!"

"I'm so, so sorry about that..."

"Ouch, my ears!"

"Sorry, just passing through..."

When I finally made it to the City Hall, I had created a trail of injuries and angry retorts. One wererabbit even bit me on my arm. It actually hurt a lot, despite the fact that he had no fangs...

I let out a long sigh. Starting my task apologizing a thousand times was not a good sign. I could almost hear my father tossing his hands up in annoyance. "Can you step up and be a proper Alpha for once?"

"Okay, okay..." I mumbled to no one in particular. Rubbing my face, I entered the building.

The City Hall was grand, opulent, and considerably larger than the other houses I saw on my way here. Despite that, the ceiling only reached the top of my head, and I had to bend down to avoid crashing into the chandeliers. There were a lot fewer people walking about in the building, so I had a much easier time strolling and looking around.

A woman waved at me from the reception amicably. "Hello there! How can I help you, uh... um, how would you like me to address you?"

"Hi. Just call me Bodie. I'm looking for the, uh," —I scanned the long list of departments and rooms on the wall behind her— "whoever's in charge of burrowing decisions here?"

"Ah, you mean the burrowing department!"

"You guys have a department just for burrowing?"

"Why yes, of course, we have a whole burrowing team and all, led by Auri!"

"Oh. And may I ask where I can find this... Auri?"

"Upstairs, third floor, first room to the right!"

"Thank you."

I followed the instructions and climbed up the stairs. After being berated and screamed at for a good fifteen minutes, the friendliness of the receptionist was comforting.

The door to the room was ajar. There was a nameplate with what I assumed was Auri's full name, 'Aurelia Broadears'.

Was that... an actual last name?

I knocked. When there was no answer, I gently pushed the door open and peeked in.

Behind a messy table, a petite woman was perched on top of a ladder, rearranging the folders on a shelf. Two long ponytails hung out from her head, like two droopy ears that danced in the air as she moved about. Her actual ears were normal, however. Maybe they turned broad when she transformed?

I cleared my throat, about to speak, when the woman turned around—and whatever I was about to say dissolved like my mind.

The flares of her floral dress twirled as she spun, while her ponytail swished to her side. Her bright eyes, round as the full moon and dark as the midnight sky, dilated when she saw me. Curling up her lips in a way a small pup would, she chirped, "Oh, hello there!"