Golden

This dark retelling pulls from both The Little Mermaid and the myth of Loki, and it is pitched as the opposite of a gentle fairy tale. Enemies pass for friends, the heroes are gleefully wicked, and the ending is meant to be impossible to predict.

Ten years ago the narrator faked their own death and found it the best thing that ever happened to them. Free of their family at last, they settled into life running a tiny bookshop. That ends when their brother walks through the door. Nobody walks away from the Grayling pack, and the narrator is dragged back, though not for the reason they expect. Their mother has made an enemy of a powerful witch, and the narrator is to suffer the punishment intended for her.

The curse is far worse than death. The witch severs the narrator from their wolf and turns them into a golden retriever, then has them sent to an animal shelter. Ready, even hopeful, to die for real, the narrator is stunned when their mate walks into the shelter. He needs a strong partner to help him stop the end of the world, but the narrator has a problem: they cannot stop wagging their tail.