Out of nowhere, the first sign of life appeared soon after her runner's high faded away. Fireworks shot up in the sky and her legs couldn't run fast enough to follow after it.

Extreme fatigue started setting in just as she arrived across an ancient historical site with broken columns and weathered down arches but the commotion of hundreds of people sitting around it made it seem like an arena for big competitions. It had an open roof with no ceiling overhead, giving away what was happening inside the arena even from a great distance. And by the sounds coming from it, the battles were going bloody intense.

She had to stop for a moment to catch her breath, observing if anyone looked friendly. Then, she smoothed down her flimsy nightgown gathered with dirt and sweat. Damn, what sort of horror will I inspire looking like this? she thought.

The noisy spectators were seated, circling around a hollowed pit in the center. It was a battle arena filled with glittering white sands. Their excitement intensified as they cheered for leather-strapped gladiators marching out with brief introductions by a hyped-up host.

She gulped. Could there be the slightest chance that she was walking into a fantasy roleplay event?

But even so, she watched the skies above, it was filled with rainbow-luminescent birds. Some of them could be larger than a school bus, and their squawking noises seemed like agitation from the shooting fireworks.

Shielding her eyes, she peered to the sun with a quick look. Even then, she couldn't believe what she just saw. Maybe she'll try again later when its brightness didn't have too harsh a glare to look at. The sun can't have two rings, can they? she thought. Perhaps it was a rare phenomenon and she missed its relevance by not paying attention at science class.

She glanced back to the arena and found nobody was even remotely bothered by Godzilla birds gliding through the sky nor the strange phenomenon that was happening with the sun. There was still a chance that these odd unearthly bird creatures were products of her lonely stressed-out mind and that these people were entirely normal. And that she might be the crazy one. She was hoping that wasn't the case.

Several moments later, it was becoming clear that the leather-clad warriors were competing against each other by skill and physical prowess. They raced through obstacles with speed beyond what she could manage to follow with her eyes, and they jumped through elaborate wood contraptions that were far beyond the abilities of an average Olympian athlete. Most of the game contraptions had splintered under their supernatural strength, leaving a lot of crashing injuries for the other warriors. She thought that game equipment breaking would call off the race but they were resourceful, they managed to form into teams to overcome their faulty obstacles.

There was this one guy who pulled everyone's attention the second he stepped out to survey any splintered mess. With a few pointed gestures, this one cocky guy gets the whole race of warriors working for him. Unbelievable. The races pulled a lot of excitement from the crowd. And this leading guy pulled most of that excitement. He had sun-kissed dirty blonde hair and a lean muscle build meant for stealth as opposed to the other warriors whose bigger physical strength were meant to endure hard-earned manual labor. Teenage boys on the benches gushed over this leading guy as he drew closer to them, handing him a cleansing towel and a pouch of water with delighted eagerness. He drained the water, tilting his head back and tossed the pouch to the boys before wiping away the blood staining his arms with the towel. It wasn't his blood.

He would stay behind helping any warrior with debilitating injuries, concern written all over his body language, and then proceed to win the races in one fluid motion despite his lagging delay. It was infuriating to watch. There clearly was a power imbalance. That guy swept through the races coming up roses and he left behind a swarm of frustrated injured competitors.

The hyped-up host addressed the crowd in a majestic gesture and they went ballistic. Something was about to happen and she wished she could make out the deafening speech of the roaring host from her safe distance. Staying true to their primal barbaric theme, the whole event pressed on without having to use so much as a single speaker equipment.

A few racing competitions later, the arena was getting cleared out of every contraption until bare glittering sands remained. The defeated warriors left the arena save for this leading guy whom boys were idolizing on and girls were melting for. She can't understand what they were going crazy for. That guy was surely messing up the game by a wide gaping margin with his skills that far surpassed others. What else does he have to prove for?

She would have thought this whole thing was meant to pander to his ego, but by the looks of him, he didn't enjoy it for a single second. Why did he have to be on the games when it was clear he'd be the smooth winner to take it all home? It didn't seem fair to the other warriors, there barely was any competition at all because this guy can wipe the floor in a matter of seconds.

Tension in the arena ratcheted up by thousands as another competitor entered the arena, stepping out and surveying the bloody mess staining the sands. River stepped closer, risking being seen by them. This new guy wasn't wearing leather-clad armor like the rest of them wore. Instead, he was wearing a studded steel armor without holding any weapons which River thought was weird. The crowd was thirsty, clamoring for a fight to break out. With all the violence considered, she got confused about them not wielding weapons. Do they fist-fight? It seemed strange to be wearing armor for it.

She sighed when her stomach growled. She might have to throw caution to the wind and jog towards the bloodthirsty crowd. What she needed right now was some answers, food, directions, water and a sensible covering to replace her nightgown. Not necessarily in that order. But she got cut off mid-stride as low feral rumbling began to vibrate in the air reaching her even at a great distance.

The tension was palpable and the two warriors were circling each other like vultures, heated eyes trained on the other. The crowd grew silent, holding their breath. The two competitors had their lips pulled back in a devastating growl, showing their teeth elongating to larger fangs.

Blinking in disbelief, she saw how their faces were beginning to pull forwards to a furry snout, ears started sprouting at the top of their heads springing up like a dog's, and their claws got insanely longer and larger.

She had to step closer, the warrior with the steel studded armor rose up in his two feet like a normal bi-pedal human, but the similarity ended there. Because everything else about him resembled a beefy grizzly bear. His steel armor managed to adjust to his transforming change into a body full of fur with a bigger cuddling density, although thinking twice about it, there was nothing about him that invited cuddles. He was ferocious and riddled with rage. He was the one to charge forward as the other guy who turned into a werewolf ducked under his guard and raked a vicious claw across the werebear's stomach. Steel armor got cut open smoothly like butter with blood spurting from its opening. The werebear collapsed to the ground, red liquid pooling beneath him as he clutched at the wound.

The crowd clamored, the battle was over in just a matter of seconds like it did with the previous matches. The triumphant cheering turned to howling and it was rippling through the mouths of the spectators and that is when River realized that they were all werewolves. Creatures from stories. The crowd turned feral in forms bearing resemblance to wolves as they howled, she began noticing they had transformed their faces into animals and their skin into fur. Despite the changes, they still stood on two legs standing upright like a human. Half-human. Half-wolf. Werewolf.

In a stunned daze, her mouth dropped open, feeling a prickle of awareness coming up her spine. She found the winning warrior, who previously had his back turned, was now zeroing his direct gaze at her over his shoulder. Just like the others, he was a werewolf and was staring at her with narrowed calculating gaze, looking like a feral starving monster and she was the finest item on the menu.

The moment her eyes landed on him, he snarled and she felt fear seized her by the throat. Compared to his human form, his werewolf eyes looked larger and soulful with pupils blown black overwhelming the whites of his eyes. His breaths started coming in hard and fast, tension wringing up his whole body with impatience. Horrified, she watched him turn even more wolfish, his back arching in a bigger growth spurt as he doubled over to the ground on his four paws followed by longer and thicker blonde fur covering each inch of his skin. Through his painful transformation, he never broke eye contact and by the end of it he bore no resemblance to a human. He was a full damned golden wolf the size of a Toyota truck.

An overwhelming silence reverberated around the arena. Spectators with jaws gaping open began glancing next to each other in confusion as if they couldn't believe what they were seeing. The bleeding competitor whose fatal wound was healing faster than she has ever seen now has his eyes widening at the sudden appearance of a giant golden wolf in the center of the arena. It looked like nobody knew what to make of this latest development.

Through the confusion, River took small careful steps backward. The golden wolf didn't like that. His wolfish eyes darkening in fury. He didn't look friendly.

Not bothering to suppress her primal instincts anymore, she let her body take control and flee away from the bloody arena. From the grueling day she has had, it was only a matter of time before her feet and legs refused to bear her weight anymore. Actually, it hadn't taken long until the strength of her legs gave out in surrender, the gathering speed of the sprint had her falling forward to the amber grassland headfirst for a faceplant.

In a breath of a second, the golden wolf was behind her, growling. She twisted, landing on her elbows as she came face-to-face with crazed black eyes. He towered over her and she couldn't help but take in the tropical scent of peachy fragrance surrounding the wolf. The overpowering smell was like freshly plucked sweet mangoes under a summer sun, reminding her of a fruity breakfast buffet of sugary waffles and buttery croissants.

To her shame, a pathetic growling noise mewled in her stomach, producing a miserable cry of help. Great, she thought, I'm dying with no small shred of dignity.

The wolf glanced down to her belly and growled at it. Before she could stop herself she had reacted in outrage, slapping his nuzzle away and he seemed chastened. Slightly. Then he was back to giving warning growls but not directed at her.

Some of the werewolf warriors have followed after him and she noticed they were staring hard, looking like she had sprouted another head. They spun their gazes back and forth to her then to the wolf and it took them a full moment before it hit them.

"Behagthi" one of the warriors said before transforming back to human.

The wolf put himself between her and the warriors, getting territorial with his food. What has a girl gotta do to get some food around here first? she thought. They might consider fattening me up before serving me to their master wolf or something... or whatever this golden wolf is to them.

A tall lanky man jogged up to where they gathered, panting. He was sweating heavy and red color bloomed from his cheeks down to his neck. She watched how strands of brown hair had gotten stuck to his sweaty nape and forehead, giving him a sexy model elegance. His eyes were a burst of green like salad. God am I so hungry, she thought, feeling light-headed.

The new guy with green-eyed luscious goodness had started bowing his head and then kept on nodding with enthusiasm to nobody. It was an odd behavior and yet it wasn't the first odd thing she noticed ever since she had arrived. Tilting her head, she observed how his worn-in leather top had been held by thick leather strips on his muscular shoulders and it fit snugly down to his tapered waist.

The wolf regarded this new guy sternly, looking bored and waiting for him to catch his breath.

The new green-eyed guy glanced her way but he was intent on listening to someone even as nobody spoke. He nodded one last time. "I am called Russ'lo" the new guy said, handing her food from his belt pouch.

"Thanks. My name is.."

"Behagthi" he interrupted her, his palm raising in the air.

"No," she said, growing upset. She might be needy and hungry with her butt flat on the ground but she would be damned if she was going to be another doormat for anyone else. I've had enough of that, she thought. She knew she must make a strong first impression like most animals do in hostile environments. Raising her chin to meet his gaze, she tapped a fist over her chest and said, "My name is.."

"You must not speak your name," a warrior rumbled, looking spooked.

"Your name doesn't belong here in this world. You are behagthi." Russ'lo explained.

Slowly, she asked, "What does that mean?"

"Follow us." he said, brooking no further argument when he turned to leave and the other warriors began flanking to his side to trail behind him.

When she hesitated to follow suit, Russ'lo glanced at her over his shoulder, raising his brows, "We got food."

Suddenly, she was on her feet but her limbs were uneasy and shaking like a baby deer. As if this day couldn't get more embarrassing.

The warriors gave searching looks to each other, spinning worried glances to the giant wolf. When one of them moved to help her, the wolf almost bit his hand away. It was a warning.

Russ'lo announced, "The wolf will carry you."

Using whatever strength she had left, she climbed to ride on the wolf, "I want answers, Russ'lo." she warned, not trusting these strangers. But so far, no one has killed her yet and she was going to take advantage of that. If she was going to die today, she better die with dignity. And a belly full of food. Following strangers back to their place might not be the best idea but she is well-ready to take her chances. Going back to leave her fate upon that damned rainforest was not an option she was willing to take. On the bright side, there are chances they might fatten her up before murdering her as tribute to their champion winning wolf. She just has to find a way to escape before she ends up on a sacrificial platter.

"And you will get those answers" Russ'lo promised "Once you are safe and well-fed"

River nodded. She knew it was necessary to resist some more, her survival instincts would have resisted until logic dictated it was safe to go with these strangers. No murderer would ever say "I'm gonna kill you" outright without having their claws trapping her first.

I could be walking into a trap, she warned herself.

And yet weariness was finally dawning in her bones and muscles. The promise of sleep edging in her consciousness.

She felt the warmth of the giant wolf moving beneath her as he ambled across the grassy meadow and it must have been her burnt-out weariness messing with her but she could have sworn her own instincts reacted to him like he was the cozy beacon of light she was chasing down after decades of dark winters and stormy nights, and at long last, she finally caught up to him like a drowning girl holding on to a lifeline.

She told herself that she was only hugging him close to her chest as a precaution. Tumbling headfirst into the ground again was not an option, however, she couldn't shake off the feeling that he felt a lot like coming home.