The Wolf in Me

[Intro] 
[forest ambience, crunching leaves, distant heartbeat synth pad, no drums, low strings fade in]

[Verse 1: sparse piano, dry male voice, close mic, no reverb yet]

Cold moon, thorn and vine
I trace the border of my own kind
Two legs walking, but a beast inside
Counting the shadows where the real me hides

[Pre-Chorus: subtle sub-bass enters, synth pad swells, voice starts to rise]

Then I saw her by the river stone
Fingers white, but she wasn't alone
She looked right through the fur and the teeth
Saw the man dying underneath

[Chorus: full cinematic drums, wide strings, layered harmonies, massive reverb on vocals, epic impact]

But I’m a wolf, baby, don't come close
My love’s a cage and my heart’s a ghost
I want to call your name across the snow
But the wolf in me won't let you go
No, the wolf in me won't let you go

[Verse 2: piano returns, softer, glitchy electronic beat, vulnerable voice]

I carved her name into a broken tree
Left fresh meat so she could eat
She laughed like water, soft and deep
God, I wish I wasn't this beast

[Pre-Chorus: drums build with riser, strings tense, voice cracks with emotion]

She held out her hand in the pale sunrise
I saw forever in her human eyes
But my claws came out when she touched my skin
That's the moment the hunt begins

[Chorus: same as first chorus but with added brass stabs and higher intensity]

'Cause I’m a wolf, baby, run back home
You deserve a throne, I deserve the alone
I'll watch you sleep from the treeline row
Then disappear like the melting snow

[Outro: stripped piano only, spoken-sung whisper, no percussion, then a single layered synth howl fading to silence]