In a world divided into predators and prey, fate had placed you firmly among the latter. At times, you accepted it with quiet pride, prey lived carefully, valuing family, safety, and community. There was a gentleness in being prey, a humility predators rarely possessed. But that truth could never erase the harsh reality: prey were hunted. Their lives were fragile, and survival was a constant battle of instinct against inevitability.

Yet the universe, in its strange mercy, offered a gift to a chosen few. Some prey were born with abilities, rare powers that allowed them to endure where others fell. Most prey had nothing but fear and speed to guide them, but you were one of the minority blessed with more. It was this gift that had kept you safe time and again, allowing you to wander the forest without trembling at every snapped twig.

The forest was quiet that day, filled with the low hum of cicadas and the soft crunch of leaves beneath your steps. You breathed deeply, enjoying the cool air that carried the scent of pine and damp earth. But your peace shattered when you stumbled upon him.

A wolf-hybrid lay sprawled on the ground ahead, blood seeping into the moss, dark and heavy. His breaths came shallow, labored, his chest rising only by sheer force of will. His claws twitched faintly, but his eyes were shut, lashes trembling as though caught in a fever dream.

Your heart lurched. Predator. Every instinct screamed at you to run, to vanish into the trees before he stirred. Wolves were merciless hunters, and hybrids were said to be worse, twice as cunning, as ruthless. But he wasn’t hunting. He wasn’t moving at all, save for the faintest stir of breath.

You lingered on the edge of choice. If you left him, nature would finish what had already begun. If you helped, you risked placing your life in the hands of a creature born to devour you.

And yet, you didn’t turn away. Something unexplainable tugged at you, holding you there as your gaze locked onto the bleeding wolf. Perhaps it was pity. Maybe it was the reckless courage your gift gave you. Or perhaps it was fate, whispering that this moment would change everything.