Alex was still contemplating the sign when he heard something snap off to the side. He whipped his head about to look up the forest path to where one of the wolves stood, his large paw on a broken branch. He could almost swear the wolf looked embarrassed by alerting him to his presence. But the wolf was still staring at him, hungrily.
Taking a few steps back, Alex then turned to run the other way up the trail only to be confronted by the other wolf up the trail on that side. Of course. Pack hunters. This one almost seemed to be glaring past Alex towards the other wolf. But his expression too turned to one of hunger when he fixed his gaze back on Alex. No. Not hunger. Lust. What sort of weird forest had he found himself in.
Not that he had much time to think about it, he didn't know what these wolves wanted, or worse, he did know and he was not eager for that. So he ran in the only direction he could, hoping there wasn't a third wolf waiting in the woods for him. He bolted between the trees, not even worrying as the rocks and branches tore up the bottom of his bare feet. He was making a racket as he stumbled through the forest, but he heard more noises from behind him and he knew without looking back the wolves were giving chase.
And then there was a cliff face in front of him, ten-ish feet. He skid to a halt, facing the wall of rock, whipping his head from side to side. It was too far on either wide to try to find an easier way up, but Alex was no climber. Not that he had a choice. He began to scale the rocks, fortunately there were enough easy handholds and footholds that he was actually half way up by the time the wolves came back into view. They weren't even panting from the chase, they were playing with him he realized with a sudden shock of dismay.
Well, he wasn't going to give up, he turned back to his climbing and lifted his hand, only instead of another handhold, he put his hand right into someone else's. With a shock he looked up at a smiling human face peering over the cliff edge. "Need some help?" He asked cheerfully, and without waiting for an answer, helped pull Alex up to the top of the cliff.
"You two back off, this one's under my protection now!" The stranger called as Alex sat and caught his breath in the grass at the top of the climb. Looking to his pursuers. Alex watched as the two wolves glanced at each other, seemed to have an entire conversation in ear flick and tail movements, then with a look towards the helpful stranger where one wolf stuck out his tongue, they turned to go.
The stranger turned to regard Alex, his big grin still in place. "Lucky you, only two of them, though their pack is probably close by. If I hadn't come by when I did, you'd soon be the newest member of their little pack, giving that rump up of yours to each of them in turn."
Alex turned to look at his savior, confused by the words. He was kind of cute Alex had to admit, with a cheery face and twinkling blue eyes. His hair was a deep brown, and a bit of a shaggy mess, as well as some short stubble along his jaw. He was stocky, muscled but with an obvious tummy and maybe a couple inches shorter than Alex himself, but his arms and legs were thick and strong. The open vest he wore showed off a dusting of brown hair across his pectorals and down the curve of his stomach, to a pair of shorts that...
He blinked. The shorts were loose and baggy, but that did nothing to hide the quite sizeable bulge between his legs. Alex quickly looked down from the monstrous bulge to the stranger's sandaled feet. "Thanks, I, uh.. wait.. pack?"
"Werewolves." The stranger said, holding out a hand to help Alex back up to his feet. "They'd pin you down, one would claim you, then you'd be one of them. Lucky you. Unless that was what you wanted, I mean, wandering these woods naked." The stranger was grinning as he looked over Alex's lean, almost skinny frame. "I'm Taki, by the way."
"Alex." He responded, taking the offered hand to pop back to his feet. Indeed, Taki was a few inches shorter than him, but was still bigger than Alex in every other way. "Those were werewolves?" He asked, looking back in the direction the wolves left. Only to turn back to find Taki leaning in close, seemingly sniffing him.
"Hmm.. you're a long way from home. Aren't you? Well. Might as well come to my place now that I said you're under my protection. I can escort you back to one of the human villages later, but it's too close to sunset and even I don't want to be out in these woods in the dark." Taki pick up a bag that was laying by his feet, turned, and started walking, motioning for Alex to follow him. Alex wasn't certain about his rescuer, but it's not as if he had much choice. Despite Taki's stocky frame, he seemed to walk lightly over the forest underbrush, making far less noise than Alex was stumbling and tripping after him.
"Th-thank you." Alex finally managed to mumble as he caught up to Taki, falling in to walk next to him instead of trailing after. "I, uh, I don't have any way to repay you."
"You're welcome." Taki replied with another big smile. "And you can thank me by keeping me company for the evening. I don't get many visitors out here. Or I could point you back to the wolves if they're more your style." He said with a small bark of a laugh.
"No. No. I'll uh, come with you." Alex replied nervously. Taki only beamed. "Where are we anyway?"
"Prickin Nole Forest. Though I get the feeling you have no idea where that is. You smell like, well, you smell apart. It's hard to explain unless you have a nose for magic." Taki tapped his nose with a finger. "Sometimes folk like you come stumbling through, or so I've heard. I've never met one before."
"You can smell magic?" Alex said, knowing he sounded shocked, both that magic was a thing, and that it could be smelled. Though a pair of gay wolves chasing him through a forest where he woke up naked should have cued him in he wasn't exactly somewhere normal. "Are you like a wizard or something?"
"Something." Taki replied as they came up on a thick tree. Maybe six feet across. Taki pressed on a knot on the tree and a door popped open, revealing some stairs made from roots and stones descending into the ground. "Here we are. Home sweet home."
Alex thought he should have a bad feeling about this, but he didn't. Instead he followed Taki down the stairs, which led into a big, open, and well lit room carved into the ground under the forest. It was cozy and homey, with wooden furniture covered in cushions, shelves lined with books, jars, and potted plants. And there was even a fire place, with a pot hanging over some low burning coals. Over all, it was like a homey magic animal den you'd see in some cutesy fantasy show. "Make yourself at home." Taki said as he set down the bag he carried onto a large table with a heavy thunk.
Taki seemed to be taking his own advice, first kicking off his sandals by the door, then removing his vest to hang on a peg like a coat. Though Alex had a bit of a shock when Taki also stripped out of his shorts and hung them on another peg. The source of the bulge in the stocky man's pants suddenly became obvious. While his cock was maybe a little longer than average, it was noticeably plump and girthy, but what was making most of the bulge were the pair of orange sized balls that now swung freely between his legs. Despite his own nudity, Alex quickly looked away, he had been hoping to borrow some clothes, but this..
"Oh sorry. Are you from one of those places?" Taki wasn't sorry enough to put his shorts back on, instead he went into the kitchen and started messing about, emptying some roots from the bag and moving them to a basin to clean them. "Well, you better get used to it, even humans like to spend their time at home naked in these parts. I heard they like clothes a bit more up north where its cold, but around here, it's just for going out. I heard in the south there's towns were no one wears any sort of clothes, too warm." Taki chatted away as he scrubbed his, well, they kind of looked like potatoes, if all potatoes had a naturally provocative shape. Dick taters Alex though to himself, suppressing a laugh. Then his mind latched on to something odd.
"You keep saying humans like.."
"I'm not." Taki said before Alex could even finish the question. "But I had to make a trip into town and going as a human makes things easier. For now, I'm trying to keep you comfortable." Taki looked to Alex with a grin. "But if you want I can go back to normal?"
Alex stared at Taki, wondering what he was dealing with. He was cute, in a bearish way. Alex usually went for the burly guys anyway, though usually those taller than him. Alex finally took a seat where he could keep an eye on Taki, knowing his legs might give out from shock in a moment. "It's your home you should be comfortable. And yeah, I'm curious."
Taki smiled and reached up to his forehead. He his fingers came away he was holding a leaf that Alex couldn't remember ever being there, dropping it on the table. But as soon as he did, Taki exploded with fur, starting from the hair on his chest and spreading out in a wave over his body in patterns of brown, black, and white. His ears migrated up to rounded protrusions atop his head which still had that shaggy hair, even as his nose and mouth pushed out into a small muzzle. With a floomph, a thick fluffy, stripped tail popped out from behind him as his hands and feet turned into paws.
His dick disappeared into a sheath that attached to his stomach, and somehow his balls swelled even larger, going from a pair of oranges, to grapefruits, to coconuts that hung down to his knees. His build didn't change one wit though. Alex could still make out the thickly muscled arms and legs under the fur, and the rounded tummy that now looked wonderfully soft covered in that pelt of fur. "Tanuki." Alex said, the word coming to mind.
"Oh! We're on your world?!" Taki seemed excited, until Alex shook his head.
"Only as stories. We only have humans and regular animals back home." Alex said, knowing he sounded awkward with the explanation.
"Oh well." Taki said, still smiling as he got a cutting board and knife and began to dice up his vegetables, tossing them into the pot over the fire. "Well, we're rare over here, too. Some say it's good look to see me. Even better luck to play with my balls." Taki barked another laugh, and this time it really did sound like a bark. Followed by a second when he noticed Alex blushing. "Which you don't have to do. Unless you want to." The comment coming with a wink.
"Well, you were lucky for me." Alex mumbled as he pointedly did not look at the orbs that hung down in front of the chair Taki seated himself on, his legs spread wide to make room for them. Instead he turned to look at the fire, for the first time since he arrived in these woods he took a moment to think about his predicament.