Kael stared at her, his protective instincts already kicking into gear. "I will hunt some rabbits for you," he promised, "after I leave you safely at the den again."

"Ugh, no. Never mind. Don’t," Nuan groaned, leaning back on her good leg. "I’m so hungry I might actually pass out if you subject me to another 80 km/h rollercoaster ride through the woods. By the time you hunt and come back, I’ll be a skeleton. Let me just have my lamb leg."

She reached into the air, and with a familiar shimmer, she pulled a hefty, raw leg of lamb out of her inventory.

"Witchcraft..." Kael murmured, his eyes widening as he stared at the meat with predatory hunger.

"Boy, I haven’t eaten since yesterday. Please wait—I’ll share it with you," Nuan said, her professional survivor brain already ticking through the steps. "I just need some fire first."

Kael’s entire body stiffened. "Fire?! You want to summon the Red Evil? Do not do that! It will burn you and everything else to ash, meek savior!"

She sighed, ignoring his dramatic panic. She untied the shirt from her waist, laid it out on the grass like a makeshift picnic blanket, and set the lamb leg on it.

Then, she materialized her elbow crutches from the inventory, slipped her arms into the cuffs, and hoisted herself up.

Kael immediately leaned in, his nose inches away from the meat, taking a deep, longing sniff.

"Nope!" Nuan grunted, using the tip of one crutch to gently but firmly shove his massive head away from her lunch. "No touching! Fire first, eating second."

She looked down at him with a commanding brow. "Since you’re so worried about the ’Red Evil,’ why don’t you help this witch? Go collect some tiny dry sticks, small branches, and some leaves. Go on."

Kael stood up, hovering over her for a moment before nodding. "I will bring it right away." He marched off toward the treeline, moving with a strange intensity as he began picking up sticks, sniffing each one individually as if checking for quality control.

Meanwhile, Nuan stayed put, using her crutches like hockey sticks to gather medium-sized stones into a neat circle. "If I’m going to cook in the stone age," she muttered to herself, "I’m at least going to have a proper fire pit."

Nuan sat near the riverbank, shifting into the center of her stone circle.

She carefully arranged the medium-sized rocks into a precise 320-degree arc, leaving a small opening for airflow.

It was a classic survivalist structure, barely half a foot high, but it was designed for maximum heat retention.

Just as she finished the perimeter, Kael marched back, his arms cupped around a massive bundle of dry sticks and leaves.

He dumped the load right beside her, his tail giving a happy, rhythmic thwack-thwack against the dirt.

"Okay, big boy. Good job," Nuan praised. She began adjusting the sticks into a perfect teepee shape, tucking the driest leaves at the bottom like kindling.

"Okay, it’s done. Kael, get my pants," she pointed to the cargo pants resting on the grass.

Kael tossed them to her. Nuan fished into the pocket, her fingers closing around her ferrocerium rod. She grabbed her survival knife, braced the rod, and scraped the blade down the side.

Sparks.

Bright, orange embers showered onto the leaves. "Bless my survival tools!" she cheered as the kindling caught. A tiny, controlled flame began to dance between the stones.

Kael scrambled back, his hands hovering, ready to yank Nuan to safety, but she grabbed his wrist. "Just look! It’s trapped between the stones. It’s not harmful at all, it’s contained, Kael!"

Kael stared at the flickering light, then at Nuan, then back at the flames, his pupils wide. "You... you controlled the Red Evil and trapped him within the stones!"

Nuan let out a theatrical, villainous cackle. "Hahaha! You better watch out for this witch, boy!"

Kael nodded, looking at her with a mix of awe and genuine fear. He handed her the shirt and the raw leg of lamb.

Nuan skewered the meat and balanced it over the pit, the smell of roasting fat beginning to fill the air.

As the meat started to sizzle, she grabbed Kael’s muscular forearm to pull herself up.

"Time for a second round of bath and laundry. You pinned me into the dirt earlier, and now my back is absolutely itching for a scrub!"

"I’ll scrub your back with my nails," Kael offered helpfully, already leading her toward the water’s edge with a predatory sort of helpfulness.

"No, please don’t! You’ll leave scars like a bear attack. I’ll handle the scrubbing of my own skin, thank you," Nuan said, dragging her muddy clothes into the river.

She dunked herself back into the current, letting out a satisfied sigh. "Bwahha! Now this is refreshing."

She looked over at Kael, who was watching her with his usual intensity. "Kael, you better wash your mouth. Please. You smell like... well, a wolf that hasn’t seen a toothbrush in a decade. Sorry to hurt your feelings, but just do this."

She scooped up some water, gargled loudly, and spat it toward the bank. "See? Like this. It cleans the mouth."

Kael mimicked her, taking a massive gulp of river water. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

"Rrghlkkk..."

He made a strange, offended gargling noise—a sound somewhere between a low growl and a malfunctioning engine.

"Spit it out now!" Nuan commanded.

Kael turned his head and squirted the water directly onto her.

"Ackk!!!! Why on me, you idiot?!" Nuan shrieked, diving underwater to rinse off the wolf-spit. She surfaced, sputtering. "Do it the other way! Toward the bank! Kael! Directional awareness!"

Kael took another mouthful and went back to his noisy gargling. Nuan shook her head and started scrubbing the grime out of her cargos. As she worked, she noticed a group of ravens circling low over their heads.

’Hm. Wolf-bird symbiosis,’ she thought, remembering her survival training. ’Ravens scout the prey, wolves do the heavy hunting, and everyone gets a cut. Are they trying to tell him the lamb is ready?’

The aroma of roasting meat began to drift over the water, making her mouth water. She limped out of the river, leaving her clothes to soak, and flipped the lamb leg over the fire.

"Uhm, this side is cooked perfectly..."

Suddenly, the blue system screen flickered to life, pulsing with a frantic red border.

[ DANGER DETECTED: Mate Kael’s Enemy approaching. ]

’Kael’s enemy?’ Nuan froze. She scanned the treeline, but the forest seemed still.

She was wrong.

From the shadows of the ancient trees, pairs of glowing, amber eyes began to emerge. Her heart skipped a beat as seven—no, eight—tiger beastmen stepped into the clearing.

They were massive, their striped shoulders rippling with power as they fanned out, surrounding the riverbank.

"Kael..." Nuan whispered, her hand instinctively reaching for the knife sitting by the fire. "We have company. And they don’t look like they’re here for the lamb."