The forest is my home now (short story included)

(Description/story be fenrirsblood)

"There are many things from the human world you shall leave behind. But you won't forget who you are. Your body and soul will be illuminated, as a creature of the woodland; and you will gain so much. No desire to return to the place of men will cross your mind. You will see," the goddess had assured him, her golden eyes sparkling with the reflection of the hunter's moon. He remembered that night vividly. It was no dream, but a wondrous reality.

It had been only a few days since the transformation, since becoming the beast he had dreamed of. For years he'd watched the wolves of the wood from afar, letting his evenings dwindle at the edge of the trees as he sat quietly, admiring their beauty (and wishing with the deepest desires of his heart that he could somehow join their revelry). It was his devotion to the forest that caught the goddess's attention, persuading her to let him to partake in the sacred Feryllt ritual.

Bolts of warm sunlight sliced through the leaves, tingling the skin beneath his fur. Indeed, every inch of the wolf-man was streaked with a soft, luxurious pelt, painted, as if by nature's hand, in hues of ash and soil and snow; but to his delight, and at first awkward realization, his wolf fur saved nothing of his physique for the imagination. Like the other forestborn, he girded himself only in the air of the wilderness, and he'd grown quite comfortable with the experience. As he crept carefully through the forest path, which was weathered and worn from the trail-tracks of countless beasts who had come this way, he relished the feeling of the clean and cool air bathing his nude body. With each gentle step, he splayed his hardened claws in the dirt; the soft, moist earth kissed the pads of his bare feet, a perfect mixture of man and animal. The sensation was intoxicating.

Powerful and raw, the wolf-man's transformed body was molded like the chiseled marble of a Greek statue. He could sprint faster than any human. He could tear through the woodland in a heartbeat, his rushing blood, rippling tendons, and steaming hot breath strengthening his stride; but he bided his time, embracing every moment in this peaceful sanctuary. After he was reborn into a new world, the world of the forest folk, it was as if a veil of fog had been lifted from his senses, and tears of joy flooded his vision when he finally opened his eyes. Every color was brilliant and vibrant to his lupine pupils, which were tinged with a deep and primal gold, marked with eons of instinct and acuity. A hundred new scents and humming voices floated through the glen to penetrate his pointed ears and engulf his twitching nose... but his senses weren't overwhelmed, not in the slightest. In fact, they granted him a primordial understanding beyond what any normal human could comprehend. The forest spoke to him, a sensuous song of wild growth and the pulse of life; a tongue that only beasts could decipher.

The acrid smell of wood-smoke tickled his nostrils; the village was roasting boar that evening. Even from five miles away the aroma was as clear as if he stood before the fire. There would be enough meat for every carnivore to gorge himself and make merry; a daily ritual, a celebration of what they had become. Soon it would be his turn to take part in the hunt, and he salivated at the thought of it, to let his human mind be drawn and guided by bestial instinct... what a magnificent release!

It wasn't long before the village peered into view. There was a young wolfess there, waiting for him, seething with beauty and grace; it was she who had courted him, brought him to the goddess's circle, and their passion grew stronger every night. Indeed, his life had been swept into a strange and uncanny kind of heaven. It was a life closer to the world of beasts than any human could understand, and he realized that many of the common folk he left behind were deeply superstitious about such transformations. "It was a curse!" he'd once been told, scolded by an elder with frightful eyes. How little they knew! What pity he had for them now!

Yet others, those who let the woodland speak to their spirits, yearned for it strongly, and in time, the goddess would answer their pleas. He was lucky enough to be one of the chosen... and to be blessed with these rare and spectacular gifts, he would give thanks to the forest at every new dawn.

Peaceful post-transformation wolf-man by teo nocturnal. Part of my fantasy world: https://www.furaffinity.net/view/55090663/