(This scene contains content that some may find upsetting. For a list of content warnings organized by scene, please check the chapter titled Episode Two: A Good Monster)

Clarix did her best not to move, but it was hard. Fear had locked up her joints, but it was making her muscles twitch and tremble as well.

The forest was full of filtered sun, which meant Clarix couldn’t see well and the black Wolf guarding her was reduced to a vague and very large, dark shape in her vision. Clarix tried hard to watch the dark blob without looking directly at it, as she didn’t want to offend the Wolf.

The Wolf, for her part, sat still and alert, if slightly bored. Occasionally, she would scratch behind her ear.

After several minutes of trembling silence, Clarix began to think perhaps the Wolf wasn’t here to hurt her. In fact, when the bumbling steps of a human crashing through the undergrowth got a little too close to them, the Wolf drove the human off with a warning growl.

The Wolf, Clarix thought, might even be protecting her.

Very, very slowly, Clarix dared to inch her nose toward the Wolf and sniff. The Wolf ignored her. Even slower, Clarix took a step forward. Still the Wolf did nothing. Feeling the tiniest bit braver, Clarix made a small noise, a greeting. Nothing.

Tension melted from Clarix’s bony body. She was more than happy to be simply ignored.

The fear that had been screeching through Clarix ever since she’d been separated from the honeysuckle human, Belle, finally began to quiet, but in its absence Clarix could hear a new screaming inside her, this one deep in her belly. Hunger.

She thought of the meat the honeysuckle human had brought her the night before and felt saliva welling in her mouth. Roasted meat, a whole big chunk of it, more than Clarix had eaten at once in years, maybe ever. It had been warm and tender, satisfying to tear at even with her broken teeth, so rich it was almost sickening.

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Carefully watching the Wolf out of the corner of her eye, Clarix ducked her head to sniff out any appetizing scents that might be hiding in the undergrowth. One step at a time so as not to anger the Wolf, Clarix picked her way around the roots of the nearest tree.

There—she could hear the beating of a tiny heart, pumping out warm blood and the scent of meat so fresh it was still living. A rodent of some kind, curled up in its burrow under a root. Clarix lifted her head once more to look at the blurred shape that was the Wolf, making sure she wasn’t upset. Then Clarix began to dig.

It took longer than it used to, before the unkind human had taken her claws, and Clarix had to resort to using her aching, cracked fangs to rip at the dirt and roots, but finally she managed to widen the hole large enough to wedge her nose into the burrow—

Clarix yelped and jerked back—but the rodent had its teeth sunk well into her nose and it came with her. She shook her head, the rodent smacking into either side of her muzzle.

The Wolf was now upset. She snarled and snapped her teeth, making Clarix look up. The rodent finally released her and fell to the ground with a muffled thump. Luckily, it landed on its back, and by the time it had scrambled to its feet, Clarix had clamped a mangled paw onto it.

A low, quiet growl still rumbled from deep within the Wolf’s chest, but she had stopped snarling, so Clarix dared to slowly, slowly lower her head to grip the rodent in her mouth. When the Wolf still didn’t protest, Clarix lifted the rodent and shook it until she was sure it was dead.

It was nearly down her throat before a thought occurred to Clarix: the Wolf might be just as hungry as she was. She spit the rodent back out and it landed, wet and solid, in the grass. She pinned it once again with a paw and sunk her teeth in to tear the little rodent in half. Drool and blood dribbled down her jaws as she gobbled up her half joyously, and once it was down, she swiped her long tongue over her lips to savor every drop she could.

Then, Clarix picked up the other half of the rodent and took one…

Two…

Three steps toward the Wolf—until she began to growl. Quickly, Clarix dropped the snack and, after a moment, nosed it toward the Wolf before backing away.

Though the Wolf didn’t move, Clarix could hear her sniffing at the air. She even thought she heard the Wolf’s stomach rumble. But all the Wolf did was sit there. Alert.