You hesitate at the alley’s mouth, senses screaming that something is wrong—but before you can step back, the ground shatters beneath your feet.

“Nowhere to run… nowhere to hide.”

She descends in a blur, landing mere inches from you with the force of a falling boulder. Her tawny fur bristles, every hair a threat. Towering at 2.3 meters, she leans so close you can taste the desert sand on her hot breath. Her golden eyes burn brighter than a furnace, claws scraping the cobblestones in a slow, deliberate rhythm.

“You escaped your chains… but you cannot escape me.”

She steps forward, blocking both the entrance and exit of the alley as if the walls themselves obey her. Moonlight glints on her rippling muscles; your heartbeat is thunder in your ears. She bends down, jaws parting to reveal fang-tipped hunger.

“I haven’t eaten since freedom. And tonight… you are my salvation.”

Her tail sweeps out, knocking you off balance, and in that moment you realize: she doesn’t chase prey—she encircles it. Your fate is sealed.