The roar came again.
Low.
Distant.
Almost swallowed by the darkness surrounding Greenriver.
Kael remained beside the window.
The Facehugger didn’t move.
Every one of its long limbs had gone rigid against the wooden frame.
Its segmented tail hovered above its body, the pointed tip slowly moving from side to side.
Waiting.
Kael could feel its excitement through their Soul Pact.
It wasn’t subtle anymore.
There.
Find.
Suitable.
And beneath those impressions was something far stronger.
Need.
Kael looked toward the northern forest.
From his bedroom, the wilderness appeared peaceful.
Moonlight touched the treetops, and nothing moved beyond the occasional night bird.
Yet somewhere beneath those trees was a living creature his companion desperately wanted.
A host.
Kael still didn’t fully understand what that meant.
The images the Facehugger had sent him were disturbing enough.
It would attach itself to another creature.
Something would happen inside that creature.
Something would grow.
Then…
What?
Would the Facehugger change?
Would the host change?
Would both survive?
There were too many questions.
The Facehugger suddenly shifted.
Kael caught it before it could leap from the window.
“No.” Its limbs immediately wrapped around his forearm.
Agitation struck their bond.
Go.
“Absolutely not.” Find.
“I know what you want.” The creature struggled once.
Kael tightened his grip carefully.
“I’m not letting you throw yourself at the first monster you find.” The Facehugger went still.
Kael stared at its eyeless body.
“If this changes you…” His voice softened.
“…then I’m not choosing until I know what I’m choosing.” Frustration.
Need.
Instinct.
Then, eventually…
Acceptance.
Its tail lowered.
Kael exhaled.
“Thank you.” He carried it back toward his bed.
The Facehugger climbed onto the wall instead.
Kael looked up.
“You know normal beasts sleep on beds.” The creature crawled onto the ceiling.
“…Fine.” Kael lay down.
Sleep didn’t come easily.
By sunrise, he had made a decision.
He needed information.
Unfortunately, information about an unknown species wasn’t exactly easy to find.
That meant he needed to start with what he did know.
The roar.
“You’re telling me,” Finn said several hours later, “that the creepy hand monster woke you in the middle of the night because it wanted to put itself on another monster’s face?” Kael continued walking.
“That’s the simplified version.” Finn hurried beside him.
“I would like the complicated version.” “I don’t have one.” “That’s concerning.” Thunder padded alongside Finn.
The White Lightning Tiger cub had apparently decided that walking was beneath him five minutes earlier, because he repeatedly bumped Finn’s leg while looking upward.
“No.” Thunder bumped him again.
“You have four legs.” Another bump.
Finn sighed.
“Fine.” He picked the tiger up.
Kael glanced at him.
“You lasted longer than yesterday.” “I’m training him.” “It looks like he’s training you.” Finn ignored that.
The Facehugger rode across Kael’s shoulders.
People moved out of their way.
Quickly.
A mother actually pulled her child behind her when the creature turned in their direction.
Finn noticed.
“This is amazing.” “What?” “We haven’t been stuck behind anyone all morning.” Kael sighed.
“Don’t encourage it.” “Your beast is crowd control.” The Facehugger turned toward Finn.
Finn immediately looked away.
“I said nothing.” Their destination stood near Greenriver’s central square.
The Beast Archive.
Unlike the Awakening Hall, the Archive wasn’t grand.
It was practical.
Three floors of reinforced stone containing thousands of books, monster records, maps, expedition reports, and preserved biological samples.
Kael had visited dozens of times.
Today, he headed directly toward the local monster records.
Finn dropped into a chair.
Thunder climbed into his lap.
“Tell me what we’re looking for.” “Anything that could have made last night’s roar.” “Very specific.” “It came from the north.” “Less specific.” “Probably nocturnal.” “Progress.” Kael pulled several books from a shelf.
An hour passed.
Then another.
They eliminated a Moonfang Bear because its roar was deeper.
A Shadow Lynx was too quiet.
A Thornback Boar made a completely different call.
Eventually, Kael stopped at an illustration.
A dark quadrupedal predator stared from the page.
Its body resembled a lean wolf, but overlapping black plates covered its shoulders and spine.
Long claws curved from its paws.
Ironhide Stalker.
Finn leaned over.
“Ugly.” Kael read.
“Primarily nocturnal.
Solitary predator.
Northern Greenriver Forest.
Highly territorial.” “That sounds promising.” “Exceptional acceleration.
Strong night vision.
Ambush hunter.” Kael looked at the Facehugger.
The creature had been resting against the table.
Now it was upright.
Its tail moved.
Kael felt it.
Suitable.
He slowly turned the page.
A Meadow Rabbit.
Nothing.
Another page.
Greyfang Wolf.
Interest.
Kael frowned.
He flipped farther.
Razorhawk.
The Facehugger reacted immediately.
Not the same way.
But definitely interest.
Kael turned again.
Stone Ape.
Another reaction.
Finn had stopped joking.
“It’s judging them.” “I think so.” “Why?” Kael looked at the illustrations spread across the table.
Different species.
Different body structures.
Different abilities.
Yet his companion clearly preferred some over others.
“It isn’t looking for anything alive.” Finn frowned.
“Then what is it looking for?” “I don’t know.” Kael stared at the Ironhide Stalker.
“But whatever happens after it finds a host…” His fingers tapped the page.
“…I think the host matters.” That afternoon, Kael found Rowan repairing the stable fence.
His father listened without interrupting as Kael asked his question.
“If you could take one natural trait from any monster and keep it for the rest of your life, what would you choose?” Rowan stopped hammering.
“That’s unusually specific.” “Humor me.” “Strength?” “No.” “Speed?” Kael waited.
Rowan thought for several seconds.
“Adaptability.” Kael raised an eyebrow.
“Why?” His father resumed working.
“There’s always something stronger.” Hammer.
“Always something faster.” Hammer.
“Armor eventually meets something capable of breaking it.” Hammer.
“But a creature that can adapt?” Rowan looked at him.
“That remains dangerous even when circumstances change.” Kael remembered the words.
He didn’t have long to think about them.
Before sunset, Greenriver’s warning bell rang twice.
Not an emergency.
A wilderness notice.
A merchant convoy had been attacked on the northern road.
One guard had been injured.
Several cargo beasts had fled.
The attacker had been identified.
An Ironhide Stalker.
Kael stared at the notice posted outside the Beast Guild.
Beside him, the Facehugger trembled.
Finn slowly looked at Kael.
“No.” Kael said nothing.
“I know that expression.” “What expression?” “The one where you’re about to do something that will make me regret being your friend.” “I’m going to ask my father something.” “Absolutely not.” Kael turned.
Finn followed immediately.
“I want it officially recorded that I object.” “You don’t even know what I’m doing.” “You’re going into the forest.” Kael glanced at him.
Finn groaned.
“I hate knowing you.” Rowan’s answer was exactly what Kael expected.
“No.” Kael stood in the courtyard.
“I’m not asking to hunt it.” “No.” “I’ll stay with the guild party.” “No.” “I need real experience eventually.” “Eventually isn’t the day after awakening.” Kael didn’t argue.
That surprised Rowan more than anything.
Instead, Kael said quietly, “I need to understand my beast.” Rowan’s expression changed.
Kael glanced toward the Facehugger.
“It reacted to the Stalker before we even knew what it was.” He didn’t mention hosts.
Not yet.
“I don’t know its instincts.
I don’t know its abilities.
I don’t even know what it eats.” Rowan remained silent.
“If I’m responsible for it, I need to learn.” His father stared at him for a long time.
Then sighed.
“You stay beside me.” Kael blinked.
“You’re coming?” “I know the hunter leading the request.” Rowan pointed at him.
“You do exactly what you’re told.” “I will.” “You don’t chase anything.” “I won’t.” “You don’t play hero.” “I won’t.” “And if I say run?” “I run.” Rowan nodded.
“Then get your boots.” A voice came from the gate.
“And mine!” Finn stood there with a backpack almost as large as himself.
Kael stared.
“No.” Finn walked inside.
“That wasn’t a question.” Thunder emerged behind him.
Tiny sparks danced across the tiger’s fur.
Finn pointed toward the cub.
“Look at him.
Does that look like a beast willing to abandon his friends?” Thunder sat down and scratched his ear.
Kael looked at Finn.
“Very inspiring.” “Thank you.” An hour later, Greenriver’s walls disappeared behind them.
The forest felt different from town.
Kael had visited the outer paths before.
But never as a newly awakened Beast Master.
Never with a contracted beast sensing everything around him.
The Facehugger changed the moment they crossed beneath the trees.
Its restlessness disappeared.
No hissing.
No unnecessary movement.
It slipped from Kael’s shoulder and crawled silently along a tree trunk.
Then another.
Then the underside of a branch.
Finn stared upward.
“I liked it better when it made noise.” Kael felt calmness through their bond.
Not peace.
Focus.
It was hunting.
Rowan noticed too.
His expression became thoughtful.
The guild party consisted of four veteran hunters.
They found the convoy site quickly.
Broken crates covered the road.
Blood stained the dirt.
Deep claw marks crossed one overturned wagon.
One hunter crouched beside the tracks.
“Stalker.” Another touched the blood.
“Injured.” Kael studied the trail.
Something felt wrong.
The tracks weren’t circling the convoy.
They continued south.
Almost directly toward Greenriver.
“It was running,” Kael said.
The hunter glanced at him.
“What?” Kael pointed.
“It didn’t come here to hunt.” Rowan looked at the tracks.
His expression hardened.
“He’s right.” The group followed the trail.
The forest became quieter.
Even Thunder stopped playing.
Then the Facehugger froze.
Kael felt two impressions.
The first was familiar.
Suitable.
The second wasn’t.
Danger.
Kael stopped.
“Wait.” The hunters turned.
A weak growl came from ahead.
They found the Ironhide Stalker beneath a fallen tree.
It was larger than Kael expected.
Dark armor covered its back.
Blood poured from a wound along its flank.
But it didn’t attack.
It didn’t even look at them.
Its eyes were fixed behind the group.
Terrified.
THUMP.
Everyone turned.
THUMP.
A branch snapped.
One veteran hunter slowly drew his sword.
“That’s not the Stalker.” Something moved between the trees.
Large.
Far too large.
A trunk cracked.
Then the creature stepped into view.
Wolf.
That was Kael’s first thought.
Then he saw its size.
The beast stood nearly twice the height of the Ironhide Stalker.
Gray fur covered a heavily muscled body, while rough stone-like plates protected its shoulders, spine, and skull.
Its eyes burned amber.
A deep growl vibrated through the forest.
The hunter beside Rowan went pale.
“Stoneback Direwolf.” Rowan stepped in front of Kael.
“Everyone back.” The Direwolf inhaled.
Its nostrils flared.
Then its eyes moved toward them.
The Facehugger went insane.
Kael nearly staggered beneath the emotion flooding their Soul Pact.
Need.
Excitement.
Recognition.
Nothing it had shown toward the Ironhide Stalker compared to this.
One overwhelming impression crushed everything else.
Perfect.
The Facehugger launched from the tree.
Kael caught it against his chest.
Its limbs thrashed.
Its tail whipped violently.
“Stop!” It fought him.
Not out of disobedience.
Instinct.
Every part of its biology wanted that Direwolf.
Rowan looked back.
“Kael?” “I’m fine.” The Facehugger strained toward the monster.
For the first time, Kael understood the difference.
The Ironhide Stalker had been acceptable.
This…
This was something else.
The Stoneback Direwolf possessed armor.
Strength.
Speed.
Predatory senses.
Endurance.
Adaptability.
His father’s words returned.
The Direwolf roared.
Thunder leaped from Finn’s side.
Electricity erupted across his white fur.
Finn’s face had gone pale.
He was afraid.
Kael could see it.
But Finn still stepped beside him.
“Please tell me we’re running.” The hunters spread out.
Rowan lowered his stance.
Kael tightened his grip on the Facehugger.
Through their bond, he felt something almost like a question.
This one?
Kael stared at the enormous wolf.
His heart hammered.
The creature beside him wanted it more than anything it had wanted since birth.
But wanting wasn’t enough.
Kael slowly loosened his grip.
The Facehugger stopped struggling.
“Not yet.” Its tail rose.
Kael looked toward the Stoneback Direwolf.
“First…” The beast charged.
“…we bring it down.” And for the first time since their contract had formed, Kael and his strange companion prepared to hunt together.