Morning came not with sunlight but heat—a thick, cloying humidity that clung to my skin like sweat born from fever. The fire had burned down to embers, and Kaelira was already awake, standing barefoot at the edge of the grove with her back to me, stretching like a feline goddess in heat.
Every muscle moved like it had a mind of its own—slow, deliberate, deadly.
Her ears twitched. She knew I was watching. She wanted me to.
She turned, her white hair sticking to her bare shoulders. Her eyes were sharp now, no longer amused.
"You dream loud," she said.
"I scream in five languages."
She smirked. "Good. You'll need that voice."
Before I could ask what she meant, she kicked something toward me. It landed at my feet with a wet thud.
A severed wolf head. Eyes glassy. Blood still dripping.
"The woods are alive," she said. "And not in a pretty way."
I crouched. Inspected the head. Fangs too long, tongue swollen, fur matted with soot and some kind of purple slime. This wasn't a natural beast.
"What the hell is it?"
"A Hollow Fang. Twisted things. Born when mana poisons what was never meant to drink it. They hunt in packs. They don't stop."
"And you brought me a head as—what—a welcome gift?"
She crouched beside me, her nose almost touching mine. "No. I brought it to tell you they're coming."
[DING!]
> Emergency Quest Activated: Survive the Hunt
Time Limit: Until Sunrise (6 Hours)
Waves: 3
Bonus Objective: Impress Kaelira
Failure: Death + System Downgrade
Because of course it's always death.
She rose, walking to a nearby tree where she had a curved blade propped against the bark. It shimmered in the morning mist, runes etched deep along the metal like bite marks.
"I'm going to fight. You're going to survive. If you impress me—maybe I'll let you touch my tail again."
I stared.
"That's a real offer?"
Kaelira's eyes sparkled. "Earn it."
---
We spent the next half hour prepping the battlefield.
Kaelira moved like war was her dance. She didn't just set traps—she sang to the roots, whispered to vines, and left glyphs in the moss that shimmered red before vanishing.
She gave me one task: bait.
Me.
Apparently, the Hollow Fangs tracked heat and blood. I had both.
So I stood on a stone platform in the middle of the grove, shirtless, dagger in hand, with a fresh cut across my palm and Kaelira's parting words echoing in my skull:
"Don't die ugly."
Thanks, babe.
The first wave hit just after nightfall.
I heard them before I saw them—snapping branches, wheezing breath, claws dragging across bark. The trees shuddered as they came.
The first Hollow Fang burst into the clearing—a wolf-shaped thing with no eyes and a mouth that opened too wide, like it wanted to eat air itself.
I didn't wait.
I threw the dagger.
It embedded in its throat. The beast barely flinched.
"Oh, come on!"
I grabbed a burning branch from the fire and rammed it into its face.
It howled—a bone-splitting screech that sent ripples through the ground—and I kicked its legs out, slamming my foot into its side until it collapsed.
[DING!]
> +10 XP
Weapon Proficiency Unlocked: Improvised Melee
New Trait: Wild Swing – +5% Damage when panicked
"Not funny, System!"
But I didn't have time to argue. More came.
Kaelira exploded from the trees in a storm of fur and steel, her sword humming, her body glowing with pale red light.
She didn't just kill. She performed.
Limbs flew. Claws shattered. Blood painted the grove in patterns only she could appreciate.
And me?
I was learning to survive.
Fire was my best weapon. I lit everything I could. Threw torches. Kicked burning logs. One Hollow Fang caught fire and ran into two others, setting the whole mess ablaze.
Kaelira laughed.
"You're reckless."
"I'm adaptable!"
The second wave hit harder. Bigger beasts. One with a skull like a boar's and poison dripping from its tusks.
I got impaled.
Literally.
Tusk through the side.
Pain flared white-hot. I screamed. My HP dropped to 3.
Kaelira didn't come. She watched.
Testing me.
I gritted my teeth. Grabbed the tusk. Snapped it off. Jammed it upward through the beast's eye.
It collapsed on me. Heavy. Stinking. Burning.
[DING!]
> +50 XP
Survival Bonus: +10 Affinity (Kaelira)
Progress Updated: 33%
I crawled free, coughing blood, as the third wave arrived.
Kaelira stepped over me, calm and terrifying.
"Stay down," she said, voice low. "This part's mine."
And holy hell, was it ever.
She moved—no, vanished. Reappeared midair. Slashed downward. Flames roared from her sword, setting the clearing ablaze in a ring of fire.
She danced in it, naked but for blood and heat, cutting through the final monsters like her blade was part of her body.
When it ended, the grove was silent.
She stood in the ashes, her tail singed, her body slick with sweat and gore.
She turned to me, panting.
"Still alive?"
"Barely."
"Then congratulations," she said, sauntering over, crouching beside me. Her hand pressed to my wound. Heat flared. The skin closed.
"I've decided you're worthy."
She leaned down. Lips brushed my ear.
"Tonight, you sleep with me."
[DING!]
> Affinity: 53%
Progress: Halfway There
New Trait Unlocked: Bloodbound – You gain +2 Strength for every fatal wound survived
Kaelira smiled, eyes glowing like embers.
"Now let's see if you're worth keeping."
----------
The fire roared again that night—not the weak flickering embers from earlier, but a bonfire, fed with Hollow Fang corpses and Kaelira's own strange alchemical oils that made the flames burn blue and high, licking at the stars like they were hungry for a fight.
She stood across from me, naked as prophecy, shadows dancing over the cuts and curves of her warrior's body. Her tail coiled behind her like smoke given form. Those amber eyes weren't glowing anymore.
They were burning.
Kaelira didn't speak as she approached. She didn't ask. Didn't smirk. Didn't tease.
She grabbed me by the front of my torn shirt, yanked me forward, and kissed me like the war wasn't over. Like it had just begun between our teeth.
Lips, teeth, tongue—her mouth tasted like metal and flame, like wild nectar that fermented in chaos. Her claws scraped across my chest, not enough to cut but enough to threaten.
My breath caught. My pulse thundered. The System dinged faintly in the back of my skull, but I ignored it.
There was only her.
She shoved me back against a moss-covered boulder and climbed on top, straddling me like she was mounting a beast she intended to tame—or break.
"I told you," she breathed against my ear, "if you survived… I'd take what I wanted."
I met her gaze. "Then take it."
Her grin turned savage. "Good answer."
Her hips rolled, grinding down hard, and I realized two things instantly—she was hotter than the fire, and she was already wet. The scent of her hit me like a drug—feral, sweet, intoxicating.
Kaelira guided herself down onto me with no hesitation, no patience. She sank onto me in one, slick, searing motion, and her head tilted back as she exhaled a sound somewhere between a growl and a moan.
My hands went to her waist—firm, muscular, made to ride. Her claws wrapped around my shoulders for leverage, and she began to move. Not like a lover. Like a conqueror.
Every motion was purposeful. Every roll of her hips a challenge. Every time she slammed down against me, it wasn't affection—it was possession.
I wasn't making love to Kaelira. I was being claimed.
And I couldn't get enough.
"Fuck," I gasped, head thrown back as she rode harder, faster. Her tail wrapped around my thigh, tightening, anchoring us like a knot of pleasure and dominance.
Kaelira leaned in close, her teeth grazing my throat.
"Don't come," she whispered. "Not until I say."
Her command hit me like a spell.
"System," she hissed, her voice going cold and clear. "Lock his orgasm timer to my call."
[DING!]
> Orgasm Control Engaged
Partner: Kaelira, the Feral Flame
Release Permission: Denied
I groaned and she laughed.
"You're mine tonight," she said, voice breathless but sharp. "Every drop. Every sound. Every shiver belongs to me."
She slammed down again—hard enough to make me see white.
I grabbed her hips, matching her pace, thrusting up into her as the grove spun around us. Our skin slapped loud and wet under the firelight, her moans rising into howls. The scent of sex mingled with ash and blood, thick and animal.
Her tail tightened.
She was close.
And when she came—gods—her whole body shook. She threw her head back, cried out in something close to a snarl, and bit my shoulder, hard enough to draw blood.
[DING!]
> Task completed.
Reward: 10000 gold coins.
Bonus Reward: Charm [Able to seduce your target at one glance. Cool down: 24hours]
Her eyes fluttered open.
"Now," she whispered, grinding slow, drawing the last tremors from her core.
"Come."
The System released me like a dam bursting.
I came hard, buried deep inside her, muscles twitching, mind blank. She clenched around me with a final growl, milking every last drop like it was owed.
We collapsed together, tangled, slick, burning.
After a long silence, Kaelira murmured against my neck, "You didn't disappoint."
I chuckled, dazed. "I aim to please."
She nuzzled me. Actual affection. Just a flicker.
"If you ever let another woman touch you," she whispered, "I'll rip her throat out. Slowly."
"Understood."
She bit my ear one last time.
"Good boy."
And then we slept—her tail wrapped tight around my leg like a chain, her claws resting gently over my heart, just above the wound she'd sealed.