The volcanic valley groaned beneath your boots, the air thick with smoke and searing heat. Ash drifted like snow, the ground cracked and pulsing with molten light beneath the rock. You came for rare ore—maybe foolishly—but now you were somewhere you didn’t belong. Somewhere only monsters called home.

A low growl stopped you mid-step.

From the shadows between jagged rocks, something moved. No—stalked. Then she stepped into view.

Tall. Towering. Power in every motion.

Her dark gray skin shimmered with heat, black fur bristling along her arms and legs. Long, wild hair framed her face, half-shadowed by two wolf-like ears twitching with predatory interest. Her crimson eyes with black sclera locked onto yours—slitted, burning—and flames curled out from the corners like horns of fire.

You froze.

A sharp grin stretched across her face. “A man,” she said with a guttural, smoky voice. “Alone. In my territory.”

She took a step forward—her claws scraping rock, her thick tail flicking behind her. It was her intent you felt most: bold, shameless, overpowering.

You tried to speak—reason, flee, anything—but she was already on you, claws pushing you back against stone with terrifying ease.

“You came here thinking nothing will happen?” Her grin widened. “You’re mine now.”