Chapter 2

“Inhabit her body… what the hell does that mean?” I blurted out, feeling my thoughts unravel. “I just woke up here, after the accident.”

The creature looked at me with eyes that seemed to pierce my soul. “My name is Eva, and this body belongs to Fenir, the Moon of the Mountains.”

Fenir… The name sounds familiar, but in my mind, nothing makes sense. Am I in a fairy tale? Talking to a she-wolf after being hit by a car isn’t remotely close to my reality.

“This is too surreal,” I muttered, trying to rationalize the irrational. “Am I trapped in a damn novel or what?”

“Novel… it’s not a novel,” growled the she-wolf, irritated. “This is the wall of your mind, your subconscious, where I exist. We are one.”

I stared at her like she had just told me the sky was green. “One? And I can tell you’re not Fenir. Your scent is different… you’re different.”

“Of course, I mean, hello, obviously I’m not Fenir! Wolf, you’re confusing me,” I said, rolling my eyes as I tried to stay calm. “It must be the morphine. I’m probably drugged and hallucinating about wolves. Yeah, that makes more sense. I’m a fan of wolves, but this is not exactly my dream scenario. If I’m going to hallucinate, I’d prefer something more reasonable, like being a millionaire or, I don’t know, being in a spa with champagne.”

The wolf tilted her head, clearly confused by my rambling. “What nonsense are you babbling, human? You are extremely strange,” she said, her voice carrying a mix of curiosity and disdain. “I don’t know how you got here or how you’re inhabiting Fenir, but I won’t let you drain her life force.”

I blinked a couple of times, processing what she had just said. “Excuse me? Do you think I’m some kind of soul-sucking witch or something?”

The wolf tilted her head further, looking even more intrigued. “Aren’t you?”

“No!” I exclaimed, feeling a mix of desperation and disbelief. “All I know is that I was reading a werewolf novel, then I got hit by a car, and now I’m here… talking to you. Soul-sucking witch? That’s definitely not on my list of skills.”

The wolf suddenly lifted her head, sniffing the air with intensity, like a dog searching for food. “Prepare yourself, human,” she said gravely. “I can smell rogues in the distance.”

“What?” My mind was struggling to catch up. “Did I hear you right? Did you say rogues?”

“Yes, and that’s bad. Very bad,” the wolf replied seriously. “They’re in heat and they’re hunting for you. They’ve caught your scent in the forest.”

“What?!” My heart skipped a beat, pure terror washing over me. “We have to run!” I shouted, panicking. “I didn’t expect to be assaulted in a fantasy world by… whatever those things are!”

“We’re not going to run,” the wolf replied with irritating calmness. “We’re going to fight. There are only two.”

“What? Fight? You and how many more? Because I, my dear stubborn wolf, plan to run!”

“It’s our only option,” the wolf insisted. “There are only two. We can handle them. You are a warrior.”

“Ha! No! I’m not a warrior,” I retorted, looking around desperately for a way out. “I’m not going to fight two grown males who want to… you know, either mount me or, worse, kill me!”

The wolf growled in frustration. “If you don’t kill them now, they’ll chase us relentlessly.”

“Great!” I responded sarcastically. “If I can put some distance between us, I’ll gladly keep running. Now, get me out of this damn limbo!”

“You must face those rogues,” the wolf demanded, mentally pushing me toward that direction.

“Impossible!” I shouted, turning and running in the opposite direction. At that moment, I blinked, and suddenly, I was no longer in that strange limbo. The wolf had disappeared from my sight, but her voice still echoed in my mind, clearly irritated.

“Well, sorry, I’m not suicidal,” I muttered out loud as I moved forward. “I just want to live. Fenir, or whoever was here before me, was probably a warrior. But I only know basic self-defense, which is useful for buying time and running away, not for charging headfirst into a fight.”

“Run, run, run!” I kept telling myself as I ran at full speed without daring to look back. I knew what I feared: the wolf’s voice in my head, more frustrated than ever, demanding the impossible.

“If you want to escape faster, you need to transform!”

“Transform!” I replied mentally, panting from exhaustion. “Hello! I just showed up here, I don’t even know how to do that!” But she insisted.

“Wolves can cover hundreds of miles in minutes.”

“Fantastic! But I’m human, remember?”

There was no time for further debate. All I could do was run with everything I had. My goal was clear: the smoke I had seen earlier. There seemed to be a city a few miles away, and the only thing separating me from it was a river.

I felt something stalking me. Every time I looked back, I saw nothing, but I could feel it—a chill running down my spine. They were good predators, too good. They knew how to hide in the vegetation, waiting for the perfect moment to strike.

When I reached the river, I didn’t stop. I plunged into the water without thinking twice and started swimming. The water was freezing and deep, but my only thought was to get to the other side. The city is close, just a few more miles.

Halfway across the river, my body began to tire, but I kept swimming. That’s when I felt it: a huge hand closed around my leg. My heart froze in fear. I turned my head and saw him. A burly man with a scruffy beard and scars crossing his face, wearing animal skins like some kind of primitive tribesman. His grip was like an iron lock, impossible to break.

I kicked frantically, trying to free myself, but it was useless. With one tug, he dragged me toward him with alarming ease. He was hauling me like a trophy fish.

No, no, no… I thought as I swallowed a mouthful of river water. I kicked, I tried to punch him, but nothing worked. I was trapped.

As I emerged from the water, I doubled over, coughing and trying to catch my breath. How useless! Eva growled in my head. How do you let yourself get caught? You’re a wolf, not a turtle.

“Shut up, you bitch!” I shouted, furious and soaked. I couldn’t take all of this. The man who had caught me looked at me with a mix of irritation and amusement.

“You don’t need to scream,” he said in a gruff voice. “People will think you’re a lunatic.”

“We have a mental connection,” I replied to Eva in my mind, ignoring the man. I already knew that. I know everything about wolves, but being one… that’s different. There’s no manual for this!