Luz Noceda has spent the last sixteen years of her life by her mother's side. It was too risky for her to be left alone lest she reveal their long-held familial secret: they're all werewolves.
When a Wolf Runs Alone is a The Owl House fanfic by Subject_of_Ridicule where Luz is a werewolf instead of a normal human.
The story ended up on hiatus after Chapter 17 and the following chapter wasn't published until a year later.
This fanfic can be read on Archive of Our Own here
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When a Wolf Runs Alone provides examples of:
- Adaptational Angst Upgrade: This version of Luz has massive self-confidence issues due to spending her whole life keeping her lycanthropic heritage a secret, as well as being a recurring victim of bullying.
- Adaptational Badass: Being a werewolf with a fairly good grasp on her shape-changing abilities, Luz is much more physically capable than her canon counterpart - being stronger and faster in her human-form and having all of the Natural Weapons you'd associate with wolves. Her traits even help her take Emperor Belos by surprise when they face off.
- Adaptational Explanation: While canon left the cause of Luz's father's death unknown, here he dies from taking taking a bullet protecting her from someone who attempts to kidnap her.
- Adaptation Name Change:
- Willow's father Gilbert becomes known as Elias in this story, on account of his name being unknown when Chapter 14 was released.
- Same goes for Luz's father and Camila's husband Manny Noceda, who's known as Theo.
- Adaptation Species Change: The entire premise is based around Luz being a werewolf native to the Human Realm instead of a normal human.
- Adapted Out: Episodes 8-11 and 14 of season 1 are skipped over since the author had nothing to add or change, with the story jumping from "Lost in Language" to "Adventures in the Elements", then from "The First Day" to "Understanding Willow".
Word of God has confirmed the story won't adapt season 2, and will deviate from canon since rebuilding the portal is no longer a plot point. - Affectionate Nickname:
- Luz calls Amity "Ames" and takes to calling her "Mittens" when they start dating.
- Luz's parents called her their "little light" because she always seemed to brighten other's lives.
- Viney seems to call Emira "Emmy".
- Age Lift: Luz and most of the witches her age are aged up by two years, making them 16 (17 in Skara's case, 14 in Gus'.)
- Bite of Affection: During their first time kissing Luz bites Amity's lip with her fang. In turn, Amity gives her a hickey on her neck. When Amity agrees to be Luz's mate, Luz marks her by biting her on her neck.
- Claimed by the Supernatural: The aforementioned Bite of Affection doubles as this, although Luz didn't claim Amity, as the witch allowed the werewolf to mark her.
- Crazy-Prepared: Amity brought a first aid kit with her when she goes to the Owl House the night Eda was captured. When Willow lampshades it, Amity credits it to expecting to treat any possible injuries Luz might've had.
- Curb-Stomp Battle: The second after Eda is raised to the platform for the petrification ceremony and Lilith appears, Luz takes her down in seconds leaving her severly injured. And she was holding back.
- Daddy's Girl: Luz was very close to her father, Theo, until his death.
- Darker and Edgier: As of Chapter 7, the story has become "M" rated due to the description of blood.
- Dark and Troubled Past: When Luz was a kid, she chased a rabbit and nearly got kidnapped. The guy shot her father causing him to bleed to death and it reached her new school, where she was subjected to bullying.
- Disappeared Dad: As per canon, Luz's father. As stated above, Theo died protecting Luz from a kidnapper.
- Everyone Can See It:
- Eda, King, Willow and Principal Bump all catch on to Luz's feelings for Amity after seeing how concerned she can become over her. Of the four, Willow was the only one who knew it's mutual.
- The very moment Luz sees Viney get flustered just for being asked if she knows Emira, she knows how Viney really feels about her.
- Face Palm: Luz performs this when Eda unintentionally encourages Edric and Emira to keep trying to surprise her.
- Fantastic Racism: One of the kids at Luz's new school insulted her and her mother for tainting her father's bloodline, and even mistook them for Mexican.
- For Want Of A Nail:
- While canon!Luz entered the human realm chasing after Owlbert when he was collecting human paraphernalia, here Luz accidentally finds the portal while out on a nightly run, the portal opening and closing on its own due to a malfunction.
- While Camila does not notice Luz's absence in canon, here it does not take long before Camila notices that Luz has gone missing, having called the entire pack to help her. Camila also learns about the Boiling Isles much earlier than in canon.
- When Adegast sends Luz on his "quest", Luz's instincts immediately put her on edge, leading her to take off all of the enchanted objects he gave her along the way, foiling his trap. By the time Eda and King get there, Luz had curb-stomped him in her werewolf-form.
- Luz gets to choose what track she studies on her first day at Hexside and goes with Healing.
- Amity doesn't burn Willow's memories and fixes them with Luz's help. Instead, she burns Luz's memories by accident and has to fix them alongside Willow. During this time, it's revealed that Luz was expelled from her last school for several incidents including her book report gone wrong.
- Unlike canon, the Golden Guard/Hunter actually keeps an eye on the residents of the Owl House. Specifically, he focuses on Luz, who he's been ordered to figure out what she is.
- Headbutt of Love: As Luz and Amity grow closer, it becomes habit for them to do this, complete with nose rubbings.
- Improperly Paranoid: While Luz is afraid about what might happen in the event that someone discovers that she is a werewolf, no one on the Boiling Isles finds it shocking or frightening. Justified considering such creatures are commonplace on the Boiling Isles. Luz is only insistent on keeping it a secret as a learned habit, both because her family taught her to keep it secret and having been a frequent victim of bullying.
- Inopportune Voice Cracking: Luz suffers this twice when she talks to Amity before she faces Grom.
- In Spite of a Nail:
- Luz is thrown into the detention track, but the reason why isn't stated.
- Willow and Amity still make amends with each other despite the different circumstances.
- Lilith still splits the curse between herself and Eda and takes up residence in the Owl House. She later leaves to stay with her parents.
- Amity eventually changes her hair from green to purple.
- Internal Reveal: "Chapter 17: Like Clockwork" has Hunter learn Luz is a werewolf after doing some research and reporting his findings to Belos.
- In the Blood: Luz's family being werewolves dates back to the 17th century.
- I Thought Everyone Could Do That: Luz is able to understand Barcus right from the start, surprising Viney and Jerbo as there aren't many people who can especially as Luz thought he was speaking english, not a different language. This is what clues Barcus in to Luz's true species.
- Laughing Mad: Getting messed with by Boscha for an entire day results in Luz laughing like a crazed maniac.
- Laser-Guided Karma: Derek, the guy who murdered Theo and tried to do the same to Luz, was tackled by Camila and instantly killed when his neck broke hitting a tree.
- Marshmallow Hell: Invoked. Since Luz refuses to let go of Amity when they sleep in Eda's nest, Amity buries her face into Luz's chest as she doesn't want to face the rest of their friends about it afterwards.
- No-Holds-Barred Beatdown: Luz brutally attacks Lilith to avenge Eda, giving her a wound in her arm and a broken nose.
- Non-Standard Kiss: Luz and Amity tend to eskimo kiss during their Headbutt of Love moments.
- The Nose Knows: Being a werewolf, Luz naturally has a powerful sense of smell. However, it can also be a hindrance, as Eda discovered while salvaging junk from the trash slug.
- Over-the-Shoulder Carry: After defeating Grom, Luz does this to Amity after she teases her dancing capabilities.
- Out-Gambitted: Thanks to her ability to sense magic, Luz always knows where Edric and Emira are when they use invisibility and silencing spells to get the drop on her. This doesn't stop them from trying, however.
- Phlebotinum Breakdown: Luz is trapped in the Boiling Isles because Eda's portal to the Human Realm has been acting irregularly and Luz won't be able to go back until they figure out why.
- Post-Kiss Catatonia: Amity gives Luz a brief kiss before she and King go to rescue Eda as a promise to give Lilith some well deserved payback. Luz briefly zones out before holding her mouth and grinning.
- Later when Luz attempts to ask Amity to date her, when Amity kisses her and pulls away Luz briefly fumbles over her words.
- Puppy-Dog Eyes:
- Luz used these on her father all the time as a kid. Theo even namedrops this.
- Amity has to resort to using these to get Luz to sleep the night after Eda got captured.
- Relationship Upgrade: Luz and Amity become an Official Couple in Chapter 15 once the former asks the latter out.
- Secret-Keeper: Only a few people in the Boiling Isles know Luz is a werewolf, not human. So far, they include the residents of the Owl House, Willow, Gus, Amity, Principal Bump and Barcus.
- She's Not My Girlfriend: Luz namedrops this when Eda and King start referring to Amity as such.
- Signature Scent: Luz can identify her friends by this: Eda's scent is an old, abandoned log cabin, Amity's is cherry blossoms, Willow's is fresh soil after a rainstorm and Gus' is parchment and ink.
- Sleep Cute: Chapter 7 features a one-sided variation, in which Luz props a tired and wounded Amity onto her chest so she can rest, but stays up the rest of the night so as to not leave them vulnerable. Even when she tries to wake Amity up, Luz allows her to sleep a while longer because she's tired and not because she's comfortable and thinks Amity looks adorable while sleeping.
- Later in Chapter 14 when Amity convinces her to rest while they're in Eda's nest, Luz pulls her onto her chest to get some comfort. When Luz hears King complain about it, she pulls him to her side and Willow and Gus soon move close to the three's proximity: everyone but Luz falls asleep immediately and Luz eventually joins them at ease thanks to the contentment of their bond.
- Split Personality: As shown in Chapter 10, Luz has 2 in the forms of her human side and her wolf side. Luz later realizes that the owl beast is technically one to Eda.
- Stations of the Canon: Word of God confirms that despite the skipped-over episodes not being included, the events of said episodes have happened exactly as canon.
- Suddenly Bilingual: Canine is a language on the Boiling Isles, so Luz is able to understand what Barcus is saying due to her werewolf roots.
- Time Skip: "Chapter 15: Life Goes On" picks up 2 weeks after the chapter before it.
- Werewolves Are Dogs: In Luz's mindscape, her inner wolf acts like a dog when showered with affection. Willow likens her to a big puppy, which she takes offense to until Amity says it's true.
- Wham Episode: Chapter 17 has Luz marking Amity thus strengthening their bond with each other. Unbeknownst to Luz, Hunter has learned she's a werewolf and reports to Belos, who asks him to bring Amity to him to bait Luz.
- Worthy Opponent: Luz is able to avoid several of Emperor Belos' attempts to trap her in their fight, even using a sweep to make him fall on the ground. This combined with her chipping a piece of his mask has him admit she's impressive. Luz even manages to use her skills to tackle him and leave a wound on his arm he didn't initially notice.
