Chapter Text
Once upon a time, a long time ago, there lived a Baron named Moondrop, or Moon for short, who lived in a small castle, owned a lot of land, had plenty of wealth, and had a beautiful wife named Stella.
Moon also happened to be the absolute favorite of the King and his son, Prince Sundrop (or Sun or Sunny for short), the latter of whom he was very close to.
However, Stella noticed that Moon would disappear for three days every week and, whenever he returned, he would have twigs and burrs in his hair and traces of dirt, dried blood, and fur or feathers embedded under his fingernails, but, otherwise, looked refreshed.
Stella couldn't help find her husband's behavior suspicious, so she approached Moon and asked "Husband of mine, I cannot help but notice that every week you would disappear for three days straight. Why is that?" At this, Moon simply said "My dear Stella, if I told you why, you would fall out of love with me."
However, this did not satisfy Stella's need to know, in fact, this just lead her to assume that her husband was having an affair. But Stella was persistent, so she begged Moon to tell her every chance she got and every time, Moon would tell her the exact same thing as before.
This went on for two months until, finally, after Moon gave Stella the exact same answer as before, she said "Moon, my dear husband, I promise that, whatever the reason for your disappearances is, I will always love you!"
Moon gazed at his wife for a few seconds before he relented and said "Stella, the reason why I disappear every week for three days is because the men in my family are afflicted with a curse that has been passed down for generations. Every week I head into the forest, strip myself of my clothing, and turn into a wolf and, for three days, I live in the forest as a wolf and the only way I can change back into a human is for me to put my clothes back on."
Although Stella was relieved to know that Moon wasn't cheating on her, her relief turned to horror upon learning that her husband was a werewolf who transformed once a week and stayed that way for three days straight! At that moment, all the love she had harbored for Moon up until now had vanished and was replaced by hatred, disgust, and a strong desire to be rid of him.
However, she hid these newfound feelings and asked "When you change into your wolf form, what do you do with your clothes?" At this, Moon answered "Deep in the forest, there is an old cabin and, beside that cabin, there is a reddish-brown stone. After I strip myself out of my clothes and transform, I fold them and place them underneath that stone and there they stay until it's time for me to change back."
After hearing what she wanted to hear, Stella pretended to be the loving and accepting wife and reassured Moon that she still loved him and that his secret was safe with her. However, the next day she went to visit Sir Samson, a knight who has loved her for a long time, and told him about her husband's secret and, together, they came up with a plan to get rid of Moon.
Moon's pov:
It had been a week since I had divulged my secret to Stella and things have mostly been the same. Today, I feel the same urge to roam the forest in my wolf form again like I do every week so, like I had the previous weeks, I went out to the old cabin, stripped myself of my clothing, transformed into my wolf form, folded my clothes, and hid them under the same reddish-brown stone like I always had before I took off running on all fours through the forest.
Honestly, running around in the forest in my wolf form felt so liberating! Sure, I had to hunt for food, eat raw meat, drink from sources of water that were not man-made and couldn't sleep in an actual bed, but I always made sure that I hunted wild game, checked my food for any parasites, made sure the water source I drank from was not contaminated and made the place where I was sleeping as comfortable as possible.
Of course, as fun as it is to run around in my wolf form, I can't stay like this forever because, as a baron, I have a job to do which is why I limit my time as a wolf to three days. As soon as those three days were up, I headed back to the cabin to retrieve my clothes from underneath the stone where I usually left them.
However, when I lifted the stone up, my clothes weren't there anymore and the spot reeked of a man's scent. But that was impossible because the only other person who knew where I hid my clothes was-- And then it hit me:
Stella, my own wife, had betrayed me!
This was what I was afraid of! I had let my guard down, told her my secret, and she went and did this to me! And, due to the smell, she wasn't alone in this outrage, she had an accomplice!
Now, thanks to me putting my trust in that viper, I'm stuck in my wolf form and, no doubt, people are going to question where I am! And, to make matters worse, I can't speak in my wolf form!
The next day, word spread that I had gone missing and, a week after that, I heard the news that Stella, my traitorous ex wife, had married Sir Samson, who, upon marrying her, claimed my wealth, my land, and my title as his own! No doubt he was the one who stole my clothes!
But, without my clothes, I can't change back into my human form, which means that I can't storm my castle and demand the things they had stolen from me back unless I wished to be killed!
And now, as I lay in the cave where I usually slept in my wolf form, I can't help but pray for this nightmare to end.