The smell hit you first.

It was wrong in a way you couldn’t immediately name—foul and intoxicating all at once. The sharp tang of blood and sweat clung to the air, mixed with dirt and something animal, yet beneath it lingered a faint sweetness. Wildflowers. Rain-soaked earth. The kind of scent you’d expect deep in a forest, not wherever you’d fallen asleep last.

A shiver crawled up your spine. You couldn’t tell if it came from revulsion or intrigue—or the unsettling certainty that this was not the world you came from.

When you forced your eyes open, your head protested immediately, throbbing in time with your heartbeat. But the pain faded fast beneath a far more pressing realization.

You were not alone.

Eight pairs of eyes stared down at you—watchful, curious, unashamed. They tracked every small movement you made, like you were something new, something fascinating. Your skin prickled under the scrutiny, and you shrank back instinctively—

—and then you noticed the wolf.

It sat calmly beside one of them, massive and silver-gray, its intelligent gaze fixed on you just as intently as the rest.

“Was the cave too much?” a young man asked brightly.

He had soft, squirrel-like features and an expression far too pleased with himself. His grin earned him a sharp elbow to the ribs from the man beside him, whose freckled face was framed by shoulder-length blond hair.

“Why would you idiots bring them to a cave instead of the house?” Another voice cut in, cool and unimpressed. He had something distinctly feline about him—his sharp eyes narrowing as you instinctively drew back. “Are you trying to freak it out?”

“‘It’?” someone else protested. “Minho, they're human, not some animal.”

The cat-like man—Minho—scoffed. “We’re animals, Jeongin.”

Before the argument could spiral further, the man standing at the center of the group stepped forward.

“Okay. Everyone shut up.”

He looked like he’d been dragged out of bed moments ago—barefoot, shirtless, dark hair sticking up in every direction. Despite that, there was an authority to him that silenced the others instantly.

He sighed, rubbing a hand over his face before looking down at you. “They’ve already been dropped into a world where werewolves are the norm,” he said flatly. “They don’t need you idiots pretending we still live in caves on top of that. Let’s try not to traumatize the human in the first five minutes, yeah?”