A sickening moment of weightlessness. My stomach lurches into my throat. I claw at roots, at air, at anything that might stop my fall. Nothing but empty space and the jarring knowledge that I've made a fatal mistake.
I crash through rotting wood and vegetation. Pain explodes through my right leg—blinding, consuming, absolute. The sound of bone shattering against stone echoes in the underground chamber. White-hot agony radiates outward as my femur punches through flesh, gleaming ivory against torn leggings.
The sinkhole has dropped me at least thirty feet into darkness. My harsh breathing echoes off stone walls, mingling with the distant patter of rain.
The compound fracture would likely kill a normal human without immediate medical attention. For me, it likely means hours of excruciating pain while my body slowly knits itself back together. That is, if I can set it properly. My healing ability usually prevents serious injuries, making this compound fracture unlike anything I've experienced before. I've dealt with minor breaks in training… a finger once, a cracked rib. But nothing where bone has torn through skin like this.
Fucking hell.
I drag my broken body against the cave wall, positioning myself to face the opening above. My handgun remains clutched in my right hand, miraculously intact. I check the magazine—full, minus the single shot I fired at the wolf. It won't save me if that monster decides to finish me, but I'll go down fighting.
Pain pulses in waves from my shattered leg, each heartbeat sending fresh agony through nerve endings. I’m rarely injured and when it does happen it’s almost never serious.
A low growl echoes through the cavern, bouncing off stone walls until it seems to emanate from the very earth itself.
Then silence. Only the distant patter of rain and my ragged breath disturb the stillness.
He's found me.
The wolf appears at the edge of the sinkhole, massive head silhouetted against the blue-black night sky. His eyes catch what little moonlight filters through cloud cover—twin flames burning in the darkness. Intelligence shines in that gaze, assessing, calculating. He's enormous, the size of a Clydesdale, silver-black fur rippling with each breath.
I raise my weapon, arm trembling not from fear but from blood loss. After over a decade of hunting magickal creatures, of lies and necessary violence, I'm going to die in a hole in the ground. Killed by one of the very things I've dedicated my life to eliminating.
The wolf descends carefully, finding footholds on jutting rocks, movements deliberate as a mountain climber's. I fire a warning shot that ricochets painfully in the confined space. The beast doesn't flinch—just pauses momentarily before continuing his descent with unnerving focus.
"Stay back," I warn, voice steadier than I feel. "I don't know who or what you are, but I will kill you if you come closer."
The wolf stops. His head tilts, ears swiveling forward. He studies me as one predator might study another—with respect, with caution, with curiosity.
He takes another step forward.
I aim for center mass, finger tightening on the trigger—then hesitate. Something in those eyes...
"You knew my name," I say, lowering my weapon slightly. "The man you were—before you changed—he knew who I was. How?"
The wolf huffs, a sound almost like acknowledgment. He steps closer, close enough now that I can smell wet fur and wild earth. Close enough to count the silver flecks in his midnight coat. Close enough to see the rise and fall of his massive chest with each breath that clouds the cool cave air.
Pain shoots through my leg as I try to shift position. A cry tears from my throat. The wolf's ears prick forward. His massive head lowers, inspecting my injury with unexpected gentleness.
"Don't—" I warn, but instead of attacking, he sniffs carefully at the broken bone. A low whine escapes his throat—a sound of concern, of sympathy.
A laugh bubbles up from my chest, edged with hysteria. "All these years hunting your kind, and now I'm going to die because I carelessly fell in a hole. Ironic, isn't it?" The pain makes me reckless, words spilling out that I'd never speak to another living soul. "I'm just like you, you know. Magick. Different. The very thing GUIDE hunts. They would execute me if they knew what I was."
The wolf's head snaps up, golden eyes boring into mine with sudden, fierce intensity.
"Sixteen years I've been hiding what I am," I continue, confession both terrifying and liberating. "Lying to everyone. Hunting creatures and people like me—like us—to protect people who would burn me at the stake if they knew the truth."
Another wave of pain washes over me, breaking against my consciousness like waves against stone. I clench my teeth to keep from screaming again. "My father was killed by a chimera. I just found that out last week. Double fangs on those beasts. My mother hid what I was from everyone, trained me to control it. And now here we are."
I stare at the massive wolf, gun still raised but wavering in my weakening grip. "What are you waiting for? Finish me off. That's what you want, isn't it?"
The wolf moves closer, his massive form eclipsing what little light filters from above. His breath warms my face, hot and alive. This is it. The end.
I press my back harder against the rocks, heart hammering so loud I'm certain he can hear it. The wolf's ears flick forward, his attention completely focused on me. Not with hunger or aggression, but with... concern? Impossible.
Before I can process this, he carefully maneuvers his massive body, positioning his head beneath mine. I have no time to react before he's lifting me, jaws gentle as they grasp the edges of the tactical vest. A whimper escapes before I can stop it—partly from fear, partly from surprise.
Pain blinds me as my broken leg dangles uselessly, but he moves with purpose, climbing the fallen debris toward the surface. Each step is measured, deliberate, as if he's trying not to jostle me further. The gentleness in this predator's actions makes no sense, and I find myself more terrified of the unknown intention than I was of death itself.
