Part 5: The Wolf in the Cage
Sylvia's body was warm, but barely.
Yuji lowered her gently to the grass beside the still-smoking cage, one arm beneath her shoulders. She didn't resist. Her pulse thumped fast under her skin. Her breathing came in short, shaky bursts—like a wild animal too hurt to flee but too proud to beg.
He tore off a piece of his own cloak—the only garment Priapus had bothered to manifest on him post-crash—and wiped a streak of blood from her temple. Her cheek twitched at the touch but she didn't flinch away.
"Those two almost had you chained again," he said softly.
She didn't answer.
He adjusted her so she leaned against a broken cart wheel, propped upright. She wasn't bleeding badly, just bruised. But exhaustion had carved into her like a blade.
"You could've fought," he said. "You had magic. I saw it. So why wait in a cage?"
Sylvia's eyes, pale and glassy, shifted to him. "Because I've broken cages before. But no one's ever broken them for me."
Her words hung in the smoke-heavy air. A gentle wind stirred the grass, carrying the scent of ash and cold metal.
Yuji looked away. A few villagers were creeping back now, cautiously, staring at the wreckage he'd made. He didn't meet their eyes. They didn't approach. Fear held them back—fear and awe.
He looked down at his hands again.
The warmth from before still throbbed in his chest, but now it felt... heavier. Like a contract he'd accidentally signed in blood.
"You don't know what I am," he said to her. "You just smelled something that made your instincts go stupid."
Sylvia chuckled, a low, husky sound—half pain, half amusement. "True. I barely remember your face. But your scent... it pulled me out of the dark. That's not instinct. That's recognition."
"Of what?"
"Of an alpha," she said simply. "Not the strongest. Not the loudest. The one you can't disobey, even if you try."
Yuji studied her a moment. Then sat down beside her.
"Just to be clear," he muttered, "I'm not your master, your owner, or your breeding stud."
She didn't answer right away. Then:
"I know. But you will be something."
She looked up at him, eyes clear for the first time. "You killed without blinking. Protected without asking. My kind understands that better than words."
Yuji leaned his head back against the cart wheel. "You're not scared of me?"
"I'm terrified." She smiled faintly. "And that's exactly why I'm staying."
The fire in the village was dying down. Somewhere distant, someone was sobbing. Somewhere else, a child's laugh broke through the silence like a miracle.
Sylvia's fingers brushed his wrist. Light contact. Testing.
"You smell like spring," she said again.
Yuji didn't reply.
But he didn't pull away.
And for now, that was enough.