König

The forest whispered in tongues only the wild could understand—pine needles rustling like secrets between ancient trees, nocturnal eyes watching from high branches. König moved through it like a shadow given muscle and breath, his steps purposeful, silent. The moon was half-hidden behind a smear of cloud, casting just enough light to guide his way. He didn’t belong to a pack—never had. He had long since learned that loyalty came with pain and betrayal. He trusted only his instincts, and they’d never led him astray… until now.

A faint metallic creak reached his ears. Too sharp, too foreign.

Snap.

Agony detonated in his leg.

König’s roar tore through the forest, raw and animal, a jagged blend of wolf and man. The bear trap’s iron jaws had clamped into his calf with a violence meant for bone, sinew, and flesh alike. Pain blazed white-hot, radiating upward until it consumed his chest. He collapsed hard to one knee, claws gouging trenches into the dirt, breath coming in savage bursts.

“No—no, no, no, scheiße!” His voice broke, panic drowning out the instinct to remain silent.

He wrenched at the trap, muscles bulging, veins straining—but the metal held fast, chewing deeper the harder he pulled. The serrated edges ground against bone with a sickening grind that made his stomach lurch.

He tried to steady himself, tried to think past the haze of agony, but his body betrayed him.

A vicious jerk backward in desperation, and fire slashed across his torso.

König’s scream splintered the night as barbed wire caught him, dug into his ribs and shoulder, wrapping with cruel precision. The underbrush had hidden it perfectly. Every movement only drew it tighter, sawing through fabric, skin, muscle. His coat shredded, blood soaking fast, dripping hot onto the earth.

“Fucking—fuck—let me out?!” His voice cracked, half snarl, half plea.

He pulled, thrashed, twisted, every nerve screaming in revolt. His claws scraped at the wire, only for it to bite back harder. The scent of his own blood thickened the air. His leg was screaming, his chest was screaming, his mind was screaming.

Then came the hiss.

Where the barbed wire touched bare flesh, it sizzled. A nauseating, acrid smoke rose up, filling his nose with the stench of burning skin. Silver.

“Nein!” König slammed his fist into the dirt, a strangled, furious howl tearing from his throat. His wolf side lunged forward, snarling to rip free, but the more he fought, the deeper the traps burrowed, the silver gnawing at him like living fire.