Suho sat on the edge of the bed and stared at the wall for a long time after the intruder ran off.
The pup stayed pressed to his chest.
Her nose stayed right over his heart. He rubbed the back of his neck and stood up.
He needed to get stronger.
The laughter from Minjun and the rest of the class still sat in his head.
He pulled on a clean shirt, tucked the pup inside his jacket, and slipped out of the dorm.
The academy grounds stayed dark except for a few weak lights along the training paths, no one else trained at this hour.
He walked to the empty practice field behind the remedial wing and set the pup down on the grass.
He started with basic swings of his iron rod.
He practiced the footwork he had used in the dungeon earlier.
The pup watched him with her blind eyes. She followed every step he took even though she could not see.
He kept going until his arms burned and sweat ran down his back.
The pup suddenly jerked, her small body convulsed on the grass.
She let out a sharp whine and curled into a tight ball.
Suho dropped the rod and knelt beside her. He scooped her up and held her against his chest.
"What is happening?" he said out loud. "Geurim, stay with me."
Her body shook harder. The System chimed in his vision.
[DING!] — RESTRICTED PATH SELECTED. Evolving: [Blind Shadow Pup] → [Shadow Fang Wolf]
[DING!] — Trait [Primordial Tamer's Heart] — Status: DORMANT → AWAKENING
Suho held her tighter.
He sat on the ground and wrapped both arms around her.
The convulsions got worse. Her bones started to shift under his hands.
He felt every change through the bond.
Her ribs stretched wider, her spine lengthened, muscles grew thick along her legs and back.
New nerves fired inside her skull and he felt the exact second her ears picked up sound for the first time.
The Micro-Bond fired again and again.
He felt her body expand in his arms like it was his own skin stretching.
He felt her new fangs push through her gums.
He felt the first pulse of echolocation click inside her head and bounce back to him.
She felt his arms around her. She felt how hard he focused on keeping her safe.
The shared rush of it hit him deep in the chest and lower.
He kept holding her, the bond pulled their senses together so tight he could not tell where he ended and she began.
Her body kept growing, her weight pressed heavier into his lap. Her fur thickened under his fingers.
She pushed her face into the side of his neck and he felt her new tongue drag across his skin once, hot and slow.
The pulses kept coming.
Each one sent another wave through him. He held her through every second of it.
His hands stayed flat on her sides so she would know he was there.
The transformation stretched on and the intimacy of it made his head spin. He felt her new senses lock onto him and only him.
When it stopped he sat there breathing hard. He looked down and saw he held a full-sized wolf.
She filled his arms completely now, her fur stayed white but her fangs looked longer and sharper.
Her ears twitched at every small sound. She pressed her head to his chest and breathed with him.
[DING!] — Obsession Index: Geurim +10 (21/50) — FIXATION STAGE ENTERED
[DING!] — NOTICE: Beast [Geurim] has entered Fixation. Territorial behavior expected.
Suho tried to stand but a sharp headache hit him behind the eyes. It felt like pressure pushing from the inside.
He winced and pressed his palm to his forehead.
The pain lasted three seconds then faded. He shook his head and blamed it on the long day and the training.
[DING!] — Spiritual Friction: Negligible (0.3%). F-Rank Obsession Cap: 50. Current: 21. Status: Safe.
He carried the bigger wolf back toward the dorm.
She walked beside him on the path but kept her shoulder pressed to his leg the whole way.
They reached the room and he shut the door quiet so he would not wake the roommates.
He lay down on his back. The wolf jumped onto the bed and curled around him.
She took up most of the space now, her head rested on his chest and her tail lay across his legs.
Suho closed his eyes and sleep pulled him under fast.
◆ ◆ ◆
The dream came again.
The same woman from the other night, this time she had white wolf ears that twitched when she looked at him.
She straddled him on the dark floor and sank down until he filled her.
Her hips rolled in slow circles at first.
She planted both hands on his chest and used them to brace herself while she rode him harder.
"Master," she said and her voice came out low. "You kept me safe, you held me through it all."
She leaned down and licked the side of his neck exactly where the wolf had licked him earlier.
Her white wolf ears brushed his cheek.
She sat back up and ground her hips down in tight circles that made him feel every inch of her.
She reached back and dragged her nails down his thighs.
"Only me," she whispered. "No one else gets this."
She rode faster.
Her body squeezed him on every stroke.
Suho thrust up to meet her and she moaned against his mouth when she kissed him. The bond between them pulsed hotter with every move.
She kept going until her body locked around him and she came hard.
He followed right after and spilled deep inside her while she kept moving through it.
She stayed on top of him afterward. Her white wolf ears stayed perked.
She licked his ear once more and smiled.
Suho laughed in the dream.
He thought about his cute Geurim back in the real world.
The wolf with the blind eyes who had grown so fast tonight.
The ears looked just like hers would if she ever got bigger, he reached up and touched one of the white ears in the dream.
The woman leaned closer and whispered right against his ear.
"I am already bigger for you, Master."
◆ ◆ ◆
Suho woke up with a start. The wolf still curled around him on the bed, her head stayed on his chest.
Her breathing stayed steady. The headache from earlier came back sharper this time.
It pressed behind his eyes again and stayed longer. He rubbed his temples but the pressure did not leave right away.
He looked down at the wolf.
She lifted her head and stared at him with new eyes that caught the faint light from the window.
She pressed her nose to his neck exactly where the dream woman had licked him.
The System chimed one last time before the room went quiet again.
[DING!] — New Quest Unlocked: [The First Hunt] — Tier-2 Field Boss detected near academy grounds.
Suho stared at the message. He did not know what to do next but he knew he could not ignore the quest.
The wolf's tail thumped once against his leg like she already understood what came next.