Nia followed Kael through the rain while the forest gradually opened around them into easier terrain.
The storm had weakened since earlier, though water still dripped steadily through the canopy overhead and soaked the ground beneath their feet into deep mud. Her clothes clung heavily against her skin, and her ankle ached each time she stepped wrong against uneven roots hidden beneath the wet earth.
Kael adjusted his pace whenever the terrain worsened.
At first she wondered whether she imagined it, but after several quiet minutes the pattern became impossible to ignore. Whenever the path narrowed or the ground grew slick, his stride shortened slightly until she caught up again. He never commented on the adjustment. He simply moved around her limitations as though the decision required no thought at all.
That constant awareness unsettled her more than open aggression might have.
“You shift often while traveling?” she asked after stepping carefully over a fallen branch.
Kael glanced back toward her over his shoulder. Rainwater slid through dark hair over broad bronze skin while his tail moved once behind him.
“When I’m hunting or patrolling.”
“That sounds inconvenient for clothing.”
“It usually is.”
Nia absorbed the answer quietly.
The fact that he responded so naturally eased one concern she had carried since his transformation. Clothing clearly existed normally enough here for him to speak about it without confusion. Kael simply treated it as impractical in certain situations rather than unnecessary altogether.
His gaze drifted lower briefly toward her legs before returning forward again. “Your ankle is getting worse.”
Nia straightened instinctively. “It’s manageable.”
“You’ve been favoring your left side for a while now.”
“I can still walk.”
Kael looked back at her again, and the faint shift near the corner of his mouth told her he did not entirely believe that answer.
“You dislike admitting when you’re hurt.”
The comment landed uncomfortably close to the truth.
Most people stopped noticing discomfort if she carried it long enough without complaint. She learned early that visible weakness often created more problems than solutions, especially in places where resources were limited and sympathy ran thin.
Kael, however, seemed to track every change in her posture automatically.
Before she could think further about it, her foot slipped slightly against wet stone hidden beneath the mud. Pain shot sharply through her ankle when she landed wrong, and she caught herself against the nearest tree trunk with a sharp inhale.
Kael was moving before the pain fully registered. She barely had time to catch herself against the tree before his hand closed around her upper arm to steady her.
Warmth spread through the cold gathered beneath her soaked clothing where his skin touched hers.
Nia stiffened on reflex.
Kael loosened part of his grip at once without letting her fall. The restraint behind the movement felt impossible to ignore. He was strong enough that lifting her entirely off the ground would probably require very little effort, yet every time he touched her, he behaved as though he was fully aware of how easily he could overwhelm her if he stopped being careful.
“You need to stop doing that,” she muttered.
“Catching you?”
“Yes.”
Kael’s brows lowered slightly. “You’d rather fall?”
“That’s not the point.”
“Then explain the point.”
Rain moved softly through the trees around them while he waited for an answer.
Nia shifted her weight carefully before replying. “I don’t like strangers deciding I can’t manage myself.”
His expression shifted slightly, the confusion disappearing as he followed her meaning.
“You move like someone used to relying on herself,” he said calmly. “That’s different from being uninjured.”
The answer surprised her enough that she forgot to pull her arm away immediately.
Kael released her on his own a moment later anyway.
Nia adjusted her grip on the branch while trying not to dwell too much on the lingering warmth left behind on her skin.
The farther they walked, the more the forest changed around them. Thick undergrowth gradually gave way to wider trails that curved naturally between the trees, and unfamiliar scents lingered beneath the rain and wet earth strongly enough that she noticed them even without understanding what caused them. Several tree trunks nearby bore deep claw marks high above her head, and the marks looked recent enough that she found herself glancing upward more than once.
“You patrol alone often?” she asked.
“Usually.”
“Aren’t there stronger predators deeper in the forest?”
“There are.”
Nia waited quietly.
Kael glanced briefly toward her before continuing. “Most know better than to cross paths with me.”
The simple certainty in his voice sent a small chill through her.
The certainty in his voice didn't sound arrogant. It sounded practiced, like the confidence of someone who had already survived the situations she was imagining.
Before she could respond, another sound moved faintly through the trees behind them.
Kael reacted instantly.
His posture sharpened while his ears angled toward the darkness beyond the trail. The almost relaxed atmosphere from moments earlier disappeared so quickly that tension tightened through Nia’s body before she consciously understood why.
“What is it?”
“Scavengers,” Kael answered. “They’ve been following us since the stream. The storm pushed them closer than usual.”
Nia tightened her grip on the branch automatically.
Kael’s eyes flicked briefly toward it before returning to the forest around them. “Stay close to me.”
The command came low and direct without sounding controlling. Nia moved nearer without argument while the forest around them grew quieter in a way that made the back of her neck tighten uneasily.
A dark shape darted through the undergrowth to their left, moving fast and low to the ground before vanishing again between the trees. Another creature moved deeper in the forest moments later, barely visible through the rain.
Kael stepped slightly in front of her.
The movement happened naturally enough that she doubted he even realized he kept doing it whenever something unfamiliar approached.
Rustling sounded again farther back through the trees.
This time Kael stopped walking entirely.
The rumble that left his chest rolled through the forest deep and violent enough that Nia felt the vibration beneath her feet. The warning spread outward through the trees with terrifying force, and the effect around them was immediate. Every distant movement stopped. Even the rain sounded louder afterward.
Silence settled around them.
Kael remained still several more seconds before continuing down the trail as though nothing unusual had happened.
Nia stared at him openly. “You know, moments like that make it very easy to remember you were a giant predator first.”
Kael glanced sideways toward her. “You keep sounding surprised by that.”
“I think my brain keeps trying to soften the reality of the situation for self-preservation.”
That faint almost-smile appeared again briefly near the corner of his mouth.
Unfortunately, her attention caught on it before she could stop herself.
The expression changed his face in ways she found increasingly inconvenient. Kael already looked striking in a dangerous sort of way, but amusement softened the sharper edges of his intensity just enough to make him seem more approachable without making him appear less dangerous.
The trees finally began thinning ahead of them.
Warm orange firelight flickered faintly through the rain between the trunks ahead.
Nia slowed slightly as the forest opened.
Wooden structures rose beyond the trees beneath layered hide coverings and heavy timber frames. Smoke curled upward into the damp night air while large figures moved between fires carrying the same mixture of human and animal traits Kael possessed.
Conversation stopped almost immediately when they emerged from the tree line.
Every face turned toward them.
Or more specifically, toward Kael first.
Then toward her.
The reaction moved visibly through the settlement. Some of the beastmen stared openly while others lowered their heads after glancing toward Kael again. Several stepped aside before he reached them, creating a clear path through the center of the settlement without being asked.
Kael continued walking with complete calm.
Nia matched his pace as closely as her ankle allowed while keeping her expression neutral despite the attention following her from every direction.
Children peeked from behind larger figures near one of the fires before older women gently ushered them farther back. Several scents drifted through the air beneath smoke and rain—roasting meat, herbs, damp fur, and unfamiliar flowers hanging from woven bundles near the shelters.
A large man with gray-brown wolf ears stepped forward first.
Rain dripped from dark hair onto broad shoulders wrapped in fur while visible surprise crossed his face the moment he looked directly at her.
Then his posture straightened sharply.
“Chief—”
Kael silenced him with a glance before the rest of the sentence fully left his mouth.
The wolf-eared man immediately stepped aside.
Nia’s eyes flicked briefly toward Kael before returning forward again.
Kael led her farther into the settlement toward the largest fire beneath a broad shelter built from thick logs and layered hides. Warmth rolled outward immediately when they stepped beneath it, and her body reacted before pride could stop it. A shiver moved hard through her shoulders while sensation slowly returned to fingers that had been numb longer than she realized.
Kael noticed instantly.
“You’re freezing.”
“I’ll survive.”
“That wasn’t the question.”
Before she could answer, another figure approached from the side. This one looked older, with heavy antlers curving upward from his temples and gray woven through dark hair. His eyes widened visibly when they landed on her.
Then he looked toward Kael.
Silence stretched several seconds before the older man finally spoke. “You found her in the western forest?”
Kael nodded once.
The older man studied Nia again with an unreadable expression before his gaze dropped briefly toward the branch still clutched in her hand.
Nia resisted the urge to hide it.
Kael’s quiet rumble returned beside her, and she had already spent enough time near him to recognize the sound for what it was.
“You find this funny,” she said under her breath.
Kael’s eyes settled on her face. “You crossed half the forest holding a branch like you planned to fight the world with it.”
Nia lifted her chin slightly. “And yet I survived.”
Another faint shift touched the corner of his mouth before he answered.
“You did.”