Aria's breath catches in her throat. Her heart pounds. She tries to sit up, but her body screams in protest, pain lancing through her shoulder. As she finds a large gray wolf sitting near the entrance of the chamber—watching her menacingly with intense, unblinking eyes—she scrambles backward, crawling away from it, her injured shoulder dragging, her movements clumsy and desperate.

  "No," she gasps, her voice hoarse, weak. "No, no, no—"

  Hands grab her, gentle but firm. "Aria," a voice says. "Aria, calm down. It's okay. It's okay."

  It's Kai. He's holding her, his arms around her, keeping her from crawling away. She struggles for a moment, panic overriding everything, but then his voice cuts through the fear.

  "Aria, look at me," Kai says, his voice steady, calm. "Look at me. We're safe. They're not attacking. They saved us. They saved us, Aria."

  Aria stops struggling, her breathing steadying as her mind takes over. She looks at Kai, his face close to hers, his expression calm but concerned. "Kai?" she says, her voice gaining strength. "What happened? Where are we?"

  "We're safe," Kai says, his voice calm and reassuring. "Wolves saved us. They brought us here, treated our wounds."

  Aria gives him a confused look.

  "Look, one of them wrote this." He gestures toward the cave wall, where words have been scratched into the dirt.

  **SAFE. REST. RECOVER.**

  The gray wolf moves out of the room, leaving them alone.

  Aria stares at the message, her mind racing. Wolves. Intelligent wolves. Wolves that can write. Wolves that can communicate.

  Her breathing slows, the initial panic giving way to sharp focus.

  "Intelligent wolves?" Aria says, her voice gaining strength despite the pain. She pulls away from Kai slightly, sitting up straighter, ignoring the protest from her shoulder. "This is interesting." Her eyes narrow, analytical now rather than fearful.

  "I know," Kai says. "I'm glad we're safe."

  Aria looks at the words scratched into the dirt again.

  "Safe for now," she thinks. "But I need to figure out what these wolves want."

  "What do you think we should do?" Kai asks, his voice quiet, still weak from his injuries.

  Aria looks around the cave, taking in the organized chamber and the entrance up ahead. "Even if it's true that they saved us," she shifts, wincing slightly at her shoulder, but her voice remains steady, "we really don't understand their motives."

  "What if this is just... temporary?" Aria says, her expression worried. "What if they're planning something?"

  "I don't think so," Kai says, pointing to his now-healed injuries. "Look. They even healed us."

  Aria nods slowly, though uncertainty still lingers in her eyes. "I hope you're right," she says. "Because if you're wrong, we're in serious trouble."

  "We're already in serious trouble," Kai says, his voice dry. "We're being hunted by Xian soldiers, we're injured, and we're in the middle of nowhere. It can only get better from here."

  Aria's expression softens. "You're right," she says. "But we need to be careful. We can't let our guard down completely."

  Kai nods slowly. Then a sound at the entrance draws their attention.

  Notail approaches the chamber, carrying a large bundle—several broad leaves tied together with vine to form a makeshift bag—clamped firmly in his jaws. The bag is stuffed with apples, berries, and other fruits, bulging at the sides.

  On top of Notail's back, riding like a tiny, furry conqueror, sits one of the cubs. The cub has its own little leaf pouch in its mouth—barely bigger than Notail's ear—containing hardly a couple of berries. The cub looks immensely pleased with itself, tail wagging.

  Behind Notail, two cubs trot along obediently, each carrying their own small leaf pouches. These pouches are tied with grass and contain a handful of berries each. The cubs are walking carefully, clearly taking their task seriously.

  Kai's expression softens slightly, watching the small procession.

  Two more cubs are approaching, but they're not walking. They're fighting. Over a single leaf pouch. Both have their jaws clamped on opposite ends of the bag, growling and tugging, their little paws digging into the ground for leverage. The bag is being stretched between them like a tiny, furry tug-of-war competition. Berries are spilling out amidst their tugging.

  Aria's brows furrow, and her lips move, forming a confused smile.

  One cub yanks particularly hard, and the leaf bag tears. Both cubs tumble backward, each holding half a leaf. The berries scatter across the cave floor. The cubs look at their torn leaf pieces, then at each other, growl, and then immediately start fighting.

  But wait. There's more.

  The smallest, scrappiest one comes bounding in completely empty-mouthed. No pouch. No berries. Nothing. This cub has apparently decided that the best contribution to the fruit delivery effort is to attack Notail.

  Stolen story; please report.

  The tiny cub launches itself at Notail's hind leg, latching on with its little teeth and growling ferociously. Notail, still carrying the heavy bag and the cub on his back, now has to walk with a third cub attached to his leg like a furry, yipping barnacle.

  Notail takes a step. The cub dangles, growling, "attacking," but completely ineffective.

  Kai blinks, his expression caught between concern and amusement.

  Notail finally reaches Aria and Kai and carefully places his large bag down in front of them. The cub on his back tumbles off, landing in a small heap, still clutching its two-berry pouch. The two obedient cubs place their small pouches down neatly beside Notail's bag, adding to the pile.

  The attack cub is still attached to Notail's leg.

  Notail calmly walks over to the two fighting cubs, picks them both up by their scruffs—one in his mouth, managing to grab the other by nudging it close enough—and turns to leave.

  The fighting cubs dangle from his jaws, still trying to swat at each other mid-air.

  Aria watches the scene, her eyes following Notail as he carries the two squirming cubs away while another one is attached to his leg and another is trying to climb him and reclaim his spot. The two obedient cubs follow behind gracefully. A small laugh escapes her despite herself.

  Aria and Kai stare at the pile of food in front of them.

  "Should we?" Kai says quietly, his voice uncertain.

  Aria's stomach growls audibly, answering the question. She picks up an apple, appraises it for a moment, then bites into it aggressively, eating messily.

  "Wonder who's the animal here," Kai teases. Aria looks at him and squints her eyes while continuing to munch.

  Kai picks up an apple, examining it carefully. It looks fresh, unblemished, perfectly ripe. He takes a bite, and his expression shifts—surprise, then gratitude. "It's good," he says. "Really good."

  They eat, slowly, carefully, their bodies still weak from their injuries. The fruits are fresh, sweet, nourishing. The wolves are out of the chamber, giving them space.

  As Kai finishes eating, Tara approaches from the entrance, Unolf following closely behind. Aria still has a mouthful of mango.

  Kai's expression hardens instinctively. Aria freezes mid-munch as she sees the huge wolf—much bigger than the gray one—approach. With a coat of red fur and long canines, he looks menacing and majestic at the same time.

  Unolf positions himself near the entrance, resuming his guard post, while Tara moves to a patch of dirt near the cave wall—the same spot where he wrote before.

  Tara looks at the words written on the patch of dirt and cringes internally. "Not communicating for so long has really taken its toll. I wanted to make a good first impression, and look what I managed—'Safe? Rest? Recover?' Three words. Like a hotel owner trying to talk to a foreign visitor in their language. I couldn't even form a proper sentence."

  Erasing the previous message, he begins to write with his claws. Letters form in the dirt, scratched carefully, deliberately.

  **NEED TO TALK. MAN. GO.**

  Kai and Aria both look at the words, their expressions shifting—confusion, concern, uncertainty.

  "Mm!" Aria makes a sound, her mouth still stuffed, offering the half-eaten mango in her hands to Tara.

  Kai looks at Aria with a defeated expression, then back at Tara as his expression hardens.

  "No, I'm coming across too strong," Tara thinks as he observes Kai, then hurriedly writes again.

  **YOU'RE SAFE. I NEED TO TALK TO ONE OF YOU. ALONE.**

  Kai shakes his head. "I'm not leaving her," he says, his voice soft but firm. "It's not that I don't trust you. I do. You saved us. But I'm not leaving her. I'd rather die than see anything happen to her."

  Aria swallows quickly and wipes her mouth as she looks at Kai, her eyes widening for a split second. Then she looks back at Tara.

  Tara stares at the man, thinking, "This guy is determined. That's... that's actually kind of impressive. Stupid, maybe, but impressive."

  "I wanted to question them separately to check if they're honest. But fine," Tara thinks. "The man is being protective. Given what they've been through, I can't blame him."

  **UNDERSTOOD. BOTH STAY.**

  Kai's expression softens slightly.

  Tara sits on the ground and begins writing, his claws scratching words into the dirt. "This is going to take a while," he thinks.

  **TELL ME EVERYTHING ABOUT THIS WORLD.**

  ********* Chapter end *********