My heartbeat echoed in my ears, rising so loud it nearly drowned out my thoughts. As the panic inside me continued to grow, I couldn't stop myself from staring at the wolves surrounding me, desperately trying to figure out how I was supposed to get out of this. Before I could do anything, the brown wolf suddenly lunged at me. I let out a scream and instinctively raised my arms over my head, bracing myself and waiting for the impact that could come at any moment.
But it never came.
Something sudden and powerful rushed past my left side, like a gust of furred wind brushing against me. When I slowly forced my eyes open to understand what had happened, I saw the massive black wolf standing between me and the brown one. Its muscles were tense, its teeth bared in a threatening display, yet its gaze was not on me—it was locked entirely on the other wolf. The first thought that formed in my mind was that it was protecting me… but almost immediately, a far more unsettling possibility followed: perhaps it wasn't protecting me from others at all, but keeping me for itself.
At that exact moment, a pair of arms lifted me off the ground. Startled by the sudden contact, I turned my head and realized it was Kongar holding me. My breath caught in my throat. I still wanted to believe that he was nothing more than a trick of my mind, but that was no longer possible. His touch was real, the strength in his arms was real. And if he was real… then everything around me had to be real as well. So why couldn't the others see him? The thought tangled itself deeper in my mind, and as it did, the change in Kongar's face drew my attention.
His face was veined with thin black lines, and his breathing rose and fell in uneven, rapid bursts. The way his arms wrapped around my waist was too tight now, no longer just protective but almost painful, as if he were struggling to control himself. Just as I was about to ask him something, a deep, threatening growl rose from in front of us, pulling all my attention back to the black wolf.
The black wolf lowered itself toward the brown one, baring its teeth in warning. The tension in the air was so thick it felt almost tangible. Yet instead of attacking as I had expected, the brown wolf slowly lowered its head and approached with cautious steps. Then, in a move that caught me completely off guard, it extended its tongue and licked the black wolf's face. The gesture was nothing like the savage aggression I had braced myself for—it was something else entirely, something closer to submission.
The black wolf did not step back; on the contrary, it continued to growl.
This time, the brown wolf dropped fully to the ground, pressing its body against the earth and exposing its neck. There was no defense in that posture, no challenge—only clear, undeniable surrender. I couldn't take my eyes off the black wolf. It didn't move; it simply watched. Even in its stillness, there was a weight to it, a sense of dominance that pressed down on everything around it.
Something settled into place inside me at that moment.
This wasn't a fight; it was a display of power.
And that black wolf…
Was the Alpha.
At least, that was how it seemed to me. Before I could fully make sense of the thought forming in my mind, I became aware of the arms wrapped around my waist tightening even more. My breath began to grow shallow. Kongar's hold was no longer merely protective; it had hardened into something almost painful.
I turned my head toward him and tried to loosen his grip with my hands.
"I-I… Kongar… you're holding me too tight," I said with difficulty. "I can't breathe."
My voice came out weak, uneven.
Kongar slowly turned his head toward me. The moment his eyes met mine, a shiver ran through me. There was something in that gaze—something familiar, yet at the same time foreign, uncontrolled. It was as if he could see me… and yet somehow not see me at all.
He must have noticed, because his arms loosened, then withdrew from around me completely. But his gaze never left me.
That was when I saw it—a single black tear slipping from his eye.
As it trailed down his cheek, it vanished the moment it touched the dark veins spread across his skin. The sight sent an unexpected ache through me. I didn't understand why, but for a brief moment, it felt as though my heart had tightened.
Without realizing it, I lifted my hand.
My fingers reached his cheek without hesitation.
Kongar slowly leaned into my touch, resting his head against my hand. The gesture was the complete opposite of the dark, unsettling state he had been in moments ago. The sharp blackness in his eyes began to recede, his irises returning to that thin, slit-like shape, while the veins on his face faded one by one.
"Don't ever leave me again," he said.
His voice was low, but there was something restrained within it, something heavy.
The words struck my heart in a way I hadn't expected. I didn't know how to respond. I hadn't been prepared for this—because it didn't feel like a simple request. It felt like something much deeper.
Before I could say anything, a wet nose suddenly pushed between us, forcing me away from Kongar.
The black wolf pressed its head against my chest and nudged me a few steps back, then placed its massive body between us. Its back was turned to me, its full attention fixed on Kongar. The tension radiating from it was unmistakable; its muscles were taut, its tail held low but steady, as though it was restraining something just beneath the surface.
The circle of wolves around us was tightening with every passing second. The brown wolf that had lunged at me moments ago now came to my side and sat down as if nothing had happened. I didn't know what to make of such a sudden shift. Only minutes ago, it had been ready to sink its teeth into me, and now it simply remained there, silent, as though it belonged beside me.
There was no explanation for what I was seeing; this… couldn't be normal.
When a deep growl echoed through the air, I turned my head back toward the black wolf. Its teeth were bared at Kongar. The tension between them was invisible, yet suffocating, as though the slightest movement could shatter everything at once.
But Kongar…
Kongar was looking at me.
His eyes did not leave mine, not even for a moment. There was something in that gaze—something that felt like a plea, something reaching out, trying to hold on. As if, in the middle of all this chaos, I was the only thing anchoring him.
Without realizing it, I brought my hands together over my chest.
My heart was racing.
What… was this feeling?
The black wolf turned its head toward me for a brief moment, studying me as if weighing something unseen, then shifted its body slightly, pushing me a step farther back. The motion wasn't harsh, but it was firm—deliberate, as though it was deciding exactly where I should stand.
The moment Kongar took a step toward me, the black wolf turned back to him.
A brief silence fell.
Then it lifted its head toward the sky and howled.
The sound spread through the forest—deep, powerful, commanding. The brown wolf beside me immediately joined in, and one by one, the rest of the wolves surrounding us followed.
Their voices overlapped, rising together.
The forest… seemed to tremble with the sound.
And within that moment, something strange stirred inside me.
It was ridiculous, but… I wanted to join them.
Something restless stirred beneath my skin, as if it were trying to answer their call. My breathing shifted, my heartbeat falling into a different rhythm.
This… wasn't right.
And yet…
I couldn't say it was wrong either.
I turned my head back toward Kongar.
He hadn't changed at all.
The howling wolves, the rising voices, the chaos surrounding us… he didn't react to any of it. He kept his eyes on me without blinking, as if nothing else existed.
As if his entire world was only me.
Kongar took another step toward me, but this time, instead of approaching directly, he chose to circle around the black wolf. The moment he did, all the wolves surrounding us fell silent at once; the howls that had filled the forest moments ago vanished, replaced by a heavy, oppressive stillness that pressed down on everything.
The silence did not last long.
In the very next instant, the black wolf lunged at Kongar.
As if he had anticipated the attack, Kongar moved back with practiced ease, slipping away from the strike, and even as he did, his eyes never left mine. The sight only deepened my confusion; I couldn't understand how he could be so aware of everything around him while remaining so completely focused on me.
The brown wolf beside me tensed suddenly and stepped in front of me without hesitation, placing its body between us as a shield. The same creature that had tried to attack me moments ago now stood as if it were protecting me, and the contradiction shattered any remaining sense of logic I had.
But in that moment, logic didn't matter.
Because there was only one thing I was certain of—I didn't want Kongar to get hurt.
Whether any of this was real or not no longer mattered. Even if everything I was seeing was nothing more than an illusion, I still had to help him.
My eyes scanned the ground quickly, and that was when I noticed the tripod—the same one I had tripped over earlier—lying right beside my foot. I bent down and picked it up, wrapping my fingers tightly around the metal, feeling a strange steadiness settle into me as my resolve pushed aside any hesitation.
At that very moment, the black wolf lunged at Kongar again—and this time, it managed to knock him to the ground.
Something inside me snapped.
Before I could even think, I rushed forward, raising the tripod in my hand like a weapon, charging toward them. I could hear the other wolves shifting, their growls rising as they moved, closing in—but I didn't stop, because in that moment, all I could see was Kongar.
I lifted the tripod, ready to bring it down with all my strength—
But the black wolf suddenly turned toward me.
And my movement froze in place.
Its eyes flicked first to the tripod in my hand, then slowly lifted until they met mine—and in that moment, something inside me unraveled.
Time seemed to slow as I lost myself in the depth of those blue eyes, forgetting entirely what I had been about to do.
My hand was still raised in the air, yet it refused to move.
I wanted to strike. I truly did. But I couldn't—because as it looked at me, there was no threat in its gaze, no anger. Instead, there was a strange warmth, an incomprehensible sense of closeness, and that feeling stripped me of all my strength.
As the sound of my own heartbeat echoed in my ears, my fingers loosened, and I slowly lowered the tripod before finally letting it slip from my grasp.
The black wolf released Kongar and began to walk toward me with slow, deliberate steps, stopping right in front of me. Its eyes never left mine; its gaze was steady, deep, and carried an intensity I couldn't begin to understand. It watched me like that for a moment without moving, then took a deep breath and closed its eyes. For an instant, it swayed as if intoxicated.
Trying to understand what had caused that reaction, I instinctively took a deep breath as well—but the only thing that filled my lungs was the sharp scent of pine.
At that exact moment, the black wolf opened its eyes again.
Its pupils seemed to move as though they had a will of their own, and then, suddenly, they caught the light and gleamed. As I struggled to make sense of what I was seeing, a dry, cracking sound reached my ears.
The sound of bones breaking.
The black wolf began to twist and bend as if in pain. Its body tensed, its limbs shifting, losing their natural shape as they seemed to change. I couldn't look away. I didn't understand what was happening… but I knew it wasn't something ordinary.
When I glanced around, I realized that all the other wolves were focused entirely on it. None of them attacked. None of them fled. Instead, they stood there, silent and still, as if they had been waiting for this moment.
When I turned back to it, the pain it was enduring felt so real it made my chest ache.
Then…
I felt someone watching me.
I searched for that gaze.
It was Kongar.
He had risen to his feet, his eyes fixed on me.
The wolf's pained sounds stopped abruptly.
The forest fell into silence.
When I looked back in front of me, I realized the black wolf was no longer there.
In its place…
stood a naked man.
He slowly straightened.
And locked his eyes directly onto mine.