Chapter Text
Y/N’s POV
She hadn’t meant to fall asleep crying. Again.
The city outside her window was still glowing, still breathing in neon and exhaust, but she didn’t see it anymore. Her apartment — the same one-bedroom that had once felt like a sanctuary — now felt cold, empty. She clutched her phone like it might answer the questions spinning inside her chest: Why did it all feel so wrong lately? Why couldn’t she just be… normal?
But there was no answer. Just that tight, invisible pressure behind her eyes and the awful ache of loneliness that didn’t go away with sleep.
Some days I wake up I just wanna hide under the covers
'Cause no matter what I do I'll never be like all the others
I'm a little O.D.D, most people really don't get me
I'm the girl in the back of the class, blank stare, don't care, don't ask
The room had been silent except for the soft buzz of her phone’s screen lighting up every so often with another unread message she couldn’t bring herself to answer. A coworker checking in. A family group chat still clinging to its usual stream of birthday emojis and baby pictures. None of it felt real anymore.
Not when her own body felt like it didn’t belong. Not when she woke up most mornings with her heart racing.
She turned over, pulled the blanket tighter around her shoulders, and let herself drift.
It was easier to shut it out. Wrap herself in her blanket, roll toward the wall, and pretend the world would somehow rearrange itself while she slept.
Her last conscious thought was simple and silent:
I wish I could disappear.
And maybe, in some twisted way, the universe had listened.
Because the next time she opened her eyes, everything was wrong.
As Y/N drifted in the hazy limbo between sleep and wakefulness, cocooned in the comforting embrace of her black satin sheets, the rhythmic hum of the city outside her window that provided a soothing backdrop to her dreams was gradually fading.
She heard a noise and was stirred from her slumber, her mind still foggy with sleep as she blinked against the soft glow of moonlight filtering through her bedroom window. Rubbing her eyes, she yawned and stretched, sighing as she burrowed deeper beneath the cozy blankets.
But as she shifted, her hand brushed against something cold and hard beneath her pillow, and she froze, brow furrowing in confusion. With a frown, she reached beneath the pillow and her fingers closed around a smooth, polished stone. Puzzled, she lifted it into the dim light, examining it with half-lidded eyes.
What’s this?, she wondered. And why the hell was she so uncomfortable all of a sudden? And what was that on her hand? Was that… a rock? What was a rock doing on her bed?
Oh, Alice, dear, where have you been?
So near, so far, so in-between
What have you heard, what have you seen?
Alice, Alice, please, Alice!
As if pulled by an unseen force, Y/N's slumber abruptly shattered, replaced by a disorienting sense of weightlessness, as if the ground opened beneath her. Panic seized her chest as she jolted upright, her eyes snapping open, wide with confusion as she scanned her surroundings. Gone was the familiar sight of her bedroom and the soft glow from the hallway light she always left on. She found herself not in the comfort of her bed but amidst the wild chaos of a dense forest, sitting in dew-soaked grass. And a forest, dark and dense, breathing slowly around her like it had been waiting.
The air was thicker here. Cleaner, yes, but unnaturally still, like it hadn’t moved in centuries. The cool night air bit at her skin in her thin black nightgown and her satin comforter, and the rustle of leaves and snapping of twigs filled her ears. A cold wind pressing against her bare arms like a stranger’s breath.
“No, no, no—” Her voice cracked. Her mouth was dry. “What is this?”
The sky above her stretched far too wide. A pale gray dome without stars, like the world had paused mid-dream. Trees stood around her in thick, looming clusters — not the manicured kind lining a suburban park, but towering, ancient things, gnarled and reaching as if they wanted to pull her in. The ground smelled of damp moss and earth and something metallic, like old blood or rust.
She blinked, trying to make sense of it. Her clothes were the same ones she’d worn to bed — a black nightgown — completely useless against the cold. Her skin prickled.
She scrambled to her feet warping the comforter around herself to protect her from the bite of the wind, her senses overwhelmed by the unfamiliar sights and sounds. Where was she?
Her mind raced with disbelief. How had she gone from the safety of her bedroom to the heart of this untamed wilderness? Had she sleepwalked to the forest near her house? It didn’t look like it, this forest looked old, with towering trees stretched towards the starless sky, their thick canopies casting dappled shadows on the forest floor below. The air was alive with the sweet scent of pine and earth, and a gentle breeze whispered through the leaves, stirring the branches in a delicate dance. But it was also ominous, and very, very dark.
“Could I be dreaming? It looks so real…” the sensation of damp earth beneath her feet and the sharp tang of pine in the air was unmistakable. It did feel like a dream, but the cool touch of dew-kissed grass beneath her fingertips and the distant call of nocturnal creatures begged to differ.
A chill raced down her spine as she realized the gravity of her situation. This wasn't her home, nor any place she recognized. The realization left her breathless, her heart pounding against her ribcage as she struggled to make sense of her surroundings.
The panic came next. Quick and loud, like a siren in her chest.
She stood on shaking legs, stumbling backward as the enormity of it all hit her. No streetlights. No buildings. No phone. No people. Not even the faint hum of power lines or planes overhead. Nothing.
Nothing but forest.
Nothing but fog curling low against the ground like it had been waiting.
She turned in a slow circle. “Is this a dream?” she asked the air, her voice thin. “Am I dreaming?”
The forest didn’t answer. Just wind. And trees.
But she caught something with the corner of her eyes. It moved.
It was subtle. A ripple between the trees, like something huge shifting its weight just beyond her line of sight. She froze. Every muscle in her body locked as a deep, primal instinct whispered the only truth she needed:
She wasn’t alone.
And eyes were watching from the dark.
She couldn’t see them, but she could feel them. A hundred little pinpricks of attention brushing against her skin. Something in the air shifted. Something listened.
Her pulse roared in her ears. She turned in circles, trying to find something — anything — familiar. Her body screamed to run, but run where? There was no trail, no streetlight, no signal. Just moss, shadows, and the feeling that she’d stepped into a world that didn’t want her.
Or maybe wanted her too much.
And then, from deeper in the woods, came the sound.
Not a growl. Not a voice. It was something in between — low, guttural, and impossibly alive. It was something primal… something she recognized from predators she’d seen on TV. It was… thrilling.
Too big to be an animal.
Too quiet to be a person.
The hair on the back of her neck stood on end. Her breath came faster now, shallow and ragged. She took one step back. Then another. Branches cracked softly somewhere to her right — deliberate, steady.
“I don’t know where I am,” she said aloud, trying to anchor herself with sound. “I don’t know how I got here —”
The forest listened. And something in it exhaled.
A low rumble rolled across the earth like distant thunder. Not natural. Not wind. A sound that didn’t belong in any world she knew — guttural, weighted with breath and intention.
It sounded almost like a voice.
Not speaking words.
Calling.
She backed away slowly, her breath catching. “No. No, no, no, this isn’t real,” she whispered.
But it was.
She ran.
Heart pounding, she broke into a desperate run, blindly, barefoot, branches slashing her legs and rocks cutting her feet, panic thundering in her ears as she pushed herself to the limit. Fear clawed at her chest as she stumbled over gnarled roots and dodged the grasping branches that reached out to ensnare her, slowing her down as they grabbed parts of the comforter around her and ripped it. The world blurred into shades of green and gray as the forest swallowed her whole. She didn’t care where she was going. She only knew she had to get away.
But this place didn’t follow rules. Paths didn’t lead anywhere. The trees seemed to shift when she wasn’t looking. The air grew warmer, heavier — not threatening, but watchful. She stumbled into a clearing, collapsed to her knees, gasping for breath.
And then she heard it again.
Closer.
“A female… alone?”
That voice — that sound — wrapped in low growls and vowels that weren’t quite human.
She turned toward it slowly, her body shaking.
And that’s when she saw the silhouette.
Y/N was not short by any means, but she was also not that tall, standing at 5’5, but the shadow was almost a foot taller than her. Broader than should be legal. Unearthly. Ears pointed back. Shoulders impossibly wide. Glowing green eyes fixed directly on her — not curious, not cruel, but… focused.
Like she was something rare.
Like he’d been searching.
"Little female, are you alone?"
Little female? What the fuck? And what was wrong with him? Why ask if she was alone? Was he a rapist? Oh, no, she was in the middle of a forest close to a giant man. She was going to die. Her grave would have the most awful epitaph:
Here lies Y/N, not even 10 minutes into this nightmare, by the hands of a strange man.
The stranger's eyes widened in alarm as he took in her disheveled appearance, his gaze flickering between her and the encroaching darkness behind her. "Are you alone?" he repeated, his voice tense with urgency.
Why did he want to know if she was alone so much? At this point, she was sure he was going to kill her, if not worse. His arms came slowly around her smaller frame and held her shoulders by the tips of his fingers, as if he didn’t know if he should touch her, but needed to make sure she was real. She couldn’t move. Couldn’t speak. She could only stare, frozen in the moment between worlds, between lives, between everything she’d ever known and everything about to come.
"Come with me," the man-beast said firmly. "I'll keep you safe."
The moonlight hit his face as she looked up. He was beautiful, looking like he was in his early thirties. He had long black hair, flowing down his shoulders like ink. Innocent, big green eyes. A body like an ancient tribal fighter, with three stripes decorating his face. But that was not what had caught her attention.
She had noticed something on him. Atop his long sleek black hair, sat pointed wolf ears. Forcing herself to not shy away from looking down at his naked body, she also saw that he had something else — a long, furry appendage protruding from the base of his spine.
He didn’t notice that she was looking at his tail though. He thought she was checking out his cock, which began to swell with the attention. This pretty little female would surely take him as her mate if she was looking at him like this, right? He would finally leave the bachelor life behind! They would mate and have cubs, and mate, and live together, and mate, and…
Unbeknownst to the beastman’s vivid imagination, Y/N's mind whirled with disbelief as she struggled to come to terms with her surreal predicament. She was in a world with real beastmen. Not that she didn’t know what beastmen entailed. She did, as she had always been an avid reader of webnovels, losing herself in fantastical worlds and impossible romances. But never in her wildest dreams did she imagine that she would become a character in one of those stories. A weird dream/nightmare indeed.
Was she dreaming she was in Beauty and the Beasts? Bai QingQing herself was stupid, as any teenager. But was Y/N taking her place? Or taking the place of any other characters from similar stories, like Romance in the Beast World, or When Beauty Meets Beasts? All of those had wolf beastmen, so it was hard to tell. Or was it an entirely different world? Or was it a merge from all the worlds?
She must really be feeling lonely if that's what her subconscious came up with. Not that a hot werewolf was a bad thing, but it looked like a session with her trusted wand was long overdue from when she woke up from this. Maybe with a little less of the scary factor.
As her mind whirled with the possibilities, the beastman was looking at her with adoration in his eyes. Yes, she was going to be his mate, he had decided, already deep in his fantasies. He was already a three-stripped male, and very strong. She was the most beautiful female he had ever seen, with green eyes much like his own, pale skin and long, deep red hair. Thick lashes and a cute, heart shaped mouth finished the look on her amazing face.
As the female was still thinking, his eyes went down her figure. She was wearing something bulky and black wrapped around her, like a cocoon, with a strange fabric. It was like a pelt he had never seen, so smooth. The only thing visible besides her shoulders were her feet, which caught his attention as he panicked. The female was hurt!
As soon as he made a brusque move toward her, intending to grab her to go care for her feet, her soul almost left her body as she was startled and ran again. Her instincts screamed danger and her conscious thoughts left her body. She wasn’t going to be caught by a wolf, not even in a nightmare. No way!
In any case, she wasn’t even sure if this was Beauty and the Beasts. She wasn’t going to be hurt to find out, no sir!
The forest echoed with the sound of pounding footsteps as Y/N ran, her breath coming in ragged gasps as she pushed herself to the limit. But no matter how fast she ran, she couldn't shake the feeling of impending danger that lingered behind her.
The wolf’s heart raced as he was too stunned to chase after her, arm still stretched toward her feet, his mind clouded with panic as he watched her stumble and falter, her ankle moving in a weird direction, and a cold dread settled in the pit of his stomach.
"Wait!" he called out, his voice desperate as he took a few steps to reach her.
But Y/N paid him no heed, her only focus on putting as much distance between herself and the encroaching danger as possible. With each step, she felt the sharp sting of her ankle starting to hurt, and of branches lashing against her skin opening the little cuts from before, but she pushed through the pain, her only thought to escape.
As he finally caught up to her, his long legs taking him quickly to her side, he could see the strain etched on her face, her breaths coming in shallow gasps as she stumbled over the uneven terrain. His heart clenched with fear at the sight, his protective instincts kicking into overdrive.
"Female, please," he pleaded, his voice thick with emotion. "You need to stop. You're only hurting yourself."
But Y/N shook her head stubbornly, her eyes wild with fear as she glanced over her shoulder and saw him right there. "Let me go!" she gasped, her voice trembling. "Don’t hurt me!"
His mind raced as he weighed his options, his heart torn between his desire to protect the beautiful female without scaring her and his need to make sure she came with him to his village to be treated. But as he looked at her trembling form, he knew that there was only one choice he could make. He needed to make sure she was treated, even if she hated him later for it.
With a determined nod accepting his fate, he scooped her up into his arms, his muscles barely straining with effort as he cradled her close to his chest, her flailing limbs making the job difficult.
"I’m not going to hurt you! I’m just taking you to the healer, your feet are hurt!” Kael begged.
That’s when she noticed her ankle hurt like hell. Way too much for it to be a nightmare. It suddenly passed through her mind that she might not even be in her world anymore.
Please tell us so we'll understand
Alice? Alice, oh, Alice!
What she didn’t know was that maybe her presence here wasn’t an accident. That in this strange place of beasts and survival, she wasn’t just lost — she was rare.
A female.
Human.
And — if she really was in Beauty and the Beasts — precious in ways she could never have imagined.
So when the wolf man grabbed her, she did the only thing that she was able to. She passed out.