Ves began to bolt through the woods, trying to fumble her way back to her makeshift home. She did suppose they could be Old Gray’s pack and not the same wolves that wanted to eat her, not that she was willing to take the risk to check. For all she knew, his pack would treat her like any other prey without him around as well.

Unfortunately, she was not quick enough. After but a scant few moments, she could hear the dire wolves tearing across the forest behind her. She had thought herself a predator, but with fear gripping her chest, she knew she was still prey. Realizing they would be on top of her at any moment, she did the only thing she could and climbed up the nearest tree. Thankfully, a much easier task, having two hands again. In less than a minute, the wolves had caught up. Three of them circled the base, growling at her. Drool dripping down their maws. They were the same brown variety of dire wolves as before. The ones Old Gray had apparently displaced. 

She was also pretty sure they were from the same pack that fought the drones. Had they been tracking her all this time?

Having trapped her in the tree, the wolves settled down around it. Likely planning to wait her out. As her only means out of the tree was to climb down and into their gaping jaws. 

So, she waited.

Day turned to night, and still, the wolves stalked her from the base of the tree. Exhaustion did get the better of her, and she reluctantly managed a few hours of sleep. Nell promised to wake her should anything happen. Unfortunately, come the early morn, just as the sun was starting to rise, Ves woke up with a bit of a problem.  

Nature called, and badly. Yet the wolves were still around. One, she could see it had decided to nap right under the branch she slept in. Likely hoping she would roll out of the tree in her sleep. 

Left with no choice, she opted for petty revenge. 

‘Are you serious….’ Nell said, annoyed after realizing what Ves was about to do. 

With a grin, Ves pulled down her makeshift undergarments as she precariously squatted on the branch right above the wolf and let it all go. Perfectly nailing the wolf right in the eyes. 

Startled, the wolf yelped and bolted off into the trees. Realizing she may have just made an opportunity for herself, she quickly looked around, only spotting one other wolf who was walking towards the tree to investigate what had happened. 

As the second wolf bent down to sniff the puddle, Ves hatched a crazy plan. She didn’t have time to think it through; it was now or never. Lifting her claw, she aimed for the base of the branch. She swiped down with all her might. The damage was severe but not quite enough to snap the branch.

“Shit!” Ves shouted, and the wolf looked up at her in confusion. The branch just needed one more push, and its own weight would do the rest. As a final desperate attempt, she jumped on the branch. As she landed, a loud crack caught the wolves' attention, but they didn’t realize what was going on until it was too late. When a few hundred pounds of wood fell, crushing the wolf some twenty feet below. 

Ves landed hard, tumbling out of the way as she heard a yelp. Turning back, she could see the wolf was injured, yet still very much alive. Before it could free itself, Ves dashed towards the wolf and swiped as her claw dug deep. Ripping out its throat. 

She stood there for a moment in shock as she could see the wolf panic, blood gurgling from the wound, before its strength finally gave out, collapsing to the ground.

Unfortunately, or fortunately, she was brought back to her senses as a rustle of leaves behind her tickled her ears. Flipping around, she saw the third wolf from the night before charging her. She mistakenly assumed it had left…

In a panic, she tried to scamper back up the tree, but in vain. The wolf lunged, managing to grab hold of the loose cloth that made up her horrible undergarments. The force yanked her out of the tree and sent her tumbling to the ground.  

Landing on her back hard enough to force the breath from her lungs, Ves gasped for air before scrambling to her feet. She looked to see the wolf spit out the cloth remains of her clothes in disgust before charging again. It was mere yards away. No time to get up, she held out her arms as a shield before the wolf’s jaws closed around her right arm.

The pain was sharp, the pressure alone made it feel like her arm was in a vice. Yet that was it — just pain. The wolf’s fangs couldn’t even break the skin of her new arm. Still, the wolf refused to let go and thrashed about. Ves tried to resist, tried to hold her ground before she realized something important. 

She WAS holding her ground. 

She yanked her arm to the side, only to see that the wolf was the one tossed away as it lost its grip on her arm. The wolf shook itself off and quickly pulled itself back to its feet. Circling her, growling at her. It was wary now; they both knew she was no easy prey.

Emboldened by the knowledge, she charged. All she needed was one clean hit, and the fight was hers. Unfortunately, despite the raw increase in power her new body had, that didn’t mean she knew how to use it properly. The wolf gracefully danced around Ves as she awkwardly fumbled about. Looking more like a flailing drunk than someone in a life-or-death battle. Having one arm notably heavier than the other was really throwing off her balance. 

She was also wary of letting the fight drag on any longer. What if the other wolf came back? She knew her right arm could hold up to a wolf’s jaws, but she wasn’t about to test that with the rest of her body. 

Knowing she was running out of time, that she couldn’t outmaneuver it. She took a gamble. She began to slow down, become less aggressive with her movements, trying to make the wolf think she was exhausted, which wasn’t far from the truth.

It was do or die.

She was pretty sure that if she could land one clean hit, then the fight was hers. Pretending to trip, she stumbled only for the wolf to lunge. Trusting in Nell to heal her, she blocked with her left arm, letting the wolf’s teeth sink deep.

Ves hissed in pain as she could feel the fangs tear through the muscle and down to the bone. Still, she had survived worse. Feeling the beast had a good grip, she yanked her arm to the side enough to stumble the wolf, right into the path of her claw. It raked along the beast’s side before she plunged it deep into the wolf’s stomach.

With a yelp, the beast let go. It staggered back even as blood gushed from the gaping wound. The wolf only made it a handful of steps before it tripped over its own spilling intestines, collapsing to the ground.

‘Why did you do that! Your arm!’

“Sorry, it was the best option I could see in the moment. Please tell me it's treatable.”

‘Yes, yes… I can fix this.’

Her left arm, while still usable, was shredded deep with bite marks. For anyone else, such a wound would, in the best case, take weeks, if not months, to recover from. And that was only if you were lucky enough to avoid infection. The fact that she could now shrug off such wounds, let alone stand toe to toe with a dire wolf. It really drove home how much she had changed, how she was no longer quite human.

‘Still, you realize it takes a lot of time and food we desperately lack to fix this? It’s a major task for me to heal this properly. Fighting off the infection alone is a nightmare.’

“Wait, you need to consciously think through it? I thought it was subconscious?”

‘It's sort of half and half. The issue is things don’t always heal properly without conscious effort on my part. It’s the reason you’re not riddled with scars. I doubt you would have ever walked normally again, let alone run, had I not corrected things.’

“I’m sorry, I didn’t realize any of that was going on.”

‘Don’t be, it's also taught me a lot. Watching the subconscious healing and seeing how I can consciously guide it has helped me learn so much about our body.’

“Thanks Nell”

Dusting herself off, Ves got up and walked to the dying wolf. She could see the fear in its eyes. While it was a mortal wound, death would not be quick. So gently she leaned down and slit the beast’s throat. Letting it drift off into an endless slumber. As its killer, it was the least she could do.

Unfortunately, staring down at the body awakened a more pressing need. It had been days since she last ate, and now she had two fresh kills before her. 

As gluttony started to consume her thoughts, a voice stopped her. 

‘Should we really do this here? The third wolf you so unceremoniously defiled could return at any moment. Let alone, we still have Yujiro to worry about.’

Frustratingly, Ves returned to her senses and kicked the body. With a sigh, “You’re right”.

With a strength surprising both of them, she was able to lift a wolf over each shoulder as she hauled them back to camp. Only to realize on the way back, with a blush, that she was now completely naked. Granted, she was also so drenched in gore and wolf blood it would be a bit hard to tell…

On the bright side, at least her thighs no longer chafed.