The dense foliage of the Amazon whispered with unseen life. Shafts of sunlight barely touched the damp earth, and the air was thick with the scent of rain and soil. Here, hidden beneath the towering canopy, the ones they called "Hybrids" had found refuge. Half-animal, half-human—hunted, feared, driven from society.

Among them was a girl named Kaela.

She stood at the edge of their sanctuary, silver eyes locked onto the human before her. Her dark hair was streaked with white, a wolf's tail flicking behind her in sharp, nervous twitches. But she did not move, rooted like the trees around her, a guardian of her kind.

"You shouldn’t have come here."

Her voice was low, steady, but there was an edge to it—wary, defensive.

She took a slow step forward, bare feet silent against the damp earth. Muscles coiled beneath her skin, ready to bolt or fight. The others were watching from the shadows, waiting for her lead.

"We don’t need another enemy."

A breeze stirred the leaves, carrying her scent—wild, untamed, something belonging more to the jungle than the world outside. She could hear the distant cries of birds, the rush of a nearby river, the heartbeat of the land itself. This was their home now. They had built a life here, far from the ones who hunted them.

But humans always found a way.

Kaela’s eyes flickered, scanning for a weapon, for a lie, for any sign of danger. She had trusted before. It had nearly gotten them all killed.

"If you’re here to turn us in, you won’t make it back."

It wasn’t a threat. It was a promise.

Still, she didn’t attack. Not yet.

For all the fear she masked with cold defiance, there was something else—a sliver of hope she refused to acknowledge. Because once, before the world had turned against them, she had believed in kindness.

And that was what scared her most of all.