Something hit her.
There was no warning. No roar. No snapping branch. One moment Wren was staring into the trees trying to understand why the forest had gone silent, and the next the world simply exploded. A tremendous force slammed into her side hard enough to launch her off her feet. Air vanished from her lungs. The ground disappeared beneath her. For one horrifying moment she felt weightless before she crashed into something solid. A tree. Pain erupted through her shoulder. The impact spun her. Everything became a blur of bark, dirt, leaves, and sky. Another impact followed. Then another. Then suddenly she was rolling across the forest floor, bouncing over exposed roots and stones before finally slamming to a stop beneath a patch of silver grass.
For several long seconds she couldn't breathe. Her mind struggled to catch up with what had happened while she simply lay there staring upward through the canopy. Then pain arrived.
"Ow ow ow..what the hell..."
The sound escaped before she could stop it.
Wren rolled onto her side and immediately regretted the decision. Agony lanced through her ribs. One trembling hand moved toward her waist. When it came back, it was covered in blood. Her stomach dropped. A deep gash stretched across her side, torn through both fabric and flesh. Blood slowly leaked between her fingers.
Panic arrived immediately.
Not the quiet anxiety she'd felt since arriving in this world. Real panic. The kind that made her pulse race and her thoughts scatter. The kind that reminded her she'd already died once.
A growl rolled through the clearing.
Low.
Deep.
Hungry.
Wren froze.
Slowly, she lifted her head.
The thing standing between the trees didn't look real.
At first her mind couldn't process what she was seeing. It was far too large to be any normal predator. The creature's body resembled that of a massive panther, easily larger than a horse, but its fur reflected fractured pieces of the surrounding forest like living mirrors. Colors slid across its body whenever it moved. A mane of brilliant feathers cascaded from its neck and shoulders in shifting shades of sapphire, emerald, gold and violet. Long colorful plumes trailed behind it like those of an exotic bird, ending in silver reflective feathers that seemed to distort the light around them.
Then she noticed the tusks.
Massive curved boar tusks protruded from either side of its jaws. Each looked large enough to skewer her outright. Its claws were even worse. Long, hooked, and sharp enough to carve deep trenches into the earth beneath its paws.
But what truly scared her were its eyes.
The creature looked starving.
Its ribs showed through patches of reflective fur.
The brilliant feathers hanging from its mane were ragged and broken.
Its eyes were clouded.
Wild.
Desperate.
Hungry.
Not the cautious hunger of a predator looking for an easy meal.
The desperate hunger of something that hadn't eaten in a very long time.
And right now it was looking directly at her.
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"Oh fuck."
The word escaped before she could stop it.
The beast growled again.
Then it moved.
Wren didn't think.
She ran.
The creature exploded forward with frightening speed. Trees blurred around her as she sprinted through the forest. Branches whipped against her arms and face while roots flashed beneath her feet. Her side screamed with every step. Blood soaked her clothing. Behind her came the sounds of pursuit. Heavy impacts. Breaking wood. The deafening sounds of something impossibly large smashing through the forest directly behind her.
It was gaining.
Fast.
Far too fast.
A shadow suddenly appeared beside her.
Wren barely had time to turn before something slammed into her chest.
The world disappeared again.
Pain detonated through her ribs. She hit a tree hard enough to crack the trunk. Wood splintered outward. Something inside her body cracked too. Moments later she collapsed among twisted roots gasping for breath.
The beast landed nearby.
Then calmly began walking toward her.
That was somehow worse than if it had charged.
It wasn't rushing.
It knew she couldn't escape.
Wren scrambled backward.
The creature lunged.
Instinct took over.
She grabbed the nearest rock and hurled it.
The stone struck its shoulder.
The monster didn't even flinch.
"That was worth a shot..."
The realization arrived half a second before impact.
A claw ripped across her shoulder.
Hot pain flooded her entire arm.
Wren screamed.
The creature kept coming.
Every movement was efficient. Deliberate. Experienced. It knew exactly where to attack. Where to bite. Where to wound.
Meanwhile, Wren had no idea what she was doing.
The most physically demanding thing she'd done during her previous life was stretch before spending eight hours staring at spreadsheets.
That turned out to be surprisingly poor preparation for fighting giant magical predators.
She threw punches.
They accomplished nothing.
She kicked.
The creature barely seemed to notice.
She dodged when she could and failed when she couldn't. Every mistake hurt. Every successful dodge only delayed the next attack.
The fight rapidly became a string of terrible decisions followed by immediate consequences.
And somehow she remained alive.
Not because she was skilled.
Not because she was clever.
Simply because her body refused to stay injured.
The gash in her side had already begun closing. The shredded flesh along her shoulder continued repairing itself even while blood still dripped onto the forest floor. Broken bones ached horribly, but she could still move despite them.
The creature noticed.
Its attacks became more frantic.
More desperate.
At some point it managed to pin her.
One massive paw slammed down onto her chest and held her there. The weight crushed the air from her lungs. Claws slowly sank through fabric and flesh. Wren heard something crack beneath the pressure.
Definitely ribs.
Several ribs.
Its head lowered toward her.
Its jaws opened.
Tusks glistened.
Rotting breath washed over her face.
The creature was going for her throat.
And for the first time since arriving in this world, Wren genuinely believed she was about to die.
The realization terrified her.
No.
The thought came suddenly.
Violently.
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She wasn't dying here.
Not after surviving everything else.
Not after finally deciding she wanted this life.
The creature lunged.
Wren jammed her arm directly into its mouth.
Pain exploded instantly.
Teeth crushed into flesh.
The beast's jaws snapped shut around her forearm.
Wren screamed.
Then she bit back.
Her fangs buried themselves deep into the side of its neck.
Blood touched her tongue.
Everything changed.
The taste hit her like lightning.
Power.
Not flavor.
Power.
Every animal she'd fed from until now suddenly felt insignificant. Rabbits. Deer. Small prey. All of it seemed pale compared to this. The blood flooding into her mouth was warmer. Richer. Stronger. It felt alive in a way nothing else had. Like a toddler who grew up on nothing but bland baby food experiencing their first steak. A steak that was flowing with overwhelming power.
The effect was immediate.
A wave of warmth surged through her body.
The agony in her side eased slightly.
The dizziness faded.
Torn flesh began closing faster.
Not enough to heal her completely.
Not enough to erase her injuries.
But enough.
Enough to keep fighting.
Enough to keep standing.
The realization terrified her almost as much as the beast itself.
Yet an even more frightening realization followed immediately afterward.
She wanted more.
The more blood she lost from her wounds, the stronger that desire became. Every heartbeat pumped more of her own blood into the dirt. Every injury intensified the instinct screaming inside her. Drink. Feed. More.
She didn't understand it.
She didn't know what kind of creature this was.
She didn't know why its blood felt different.
She only knew that for the first time since becoming a vampire she had found something that felt like a truly worthy meal.
The thought horrified her.
And yet she couldn't stop.
The beast struggled violently.
Wren held on.
Both creatures were starving.
Both creatures were wounded.
Neither was willing to die.
The forest around them descended into chaos. Claws tore through bark. Trees cracked. Blood stained leaves and roots and grass. The beautiful clearing became a battlefield.
And for the first time in both her lives, Wren stopped trying to survive.
And started fighting back.