"Wait! What ARE you!?"

Under normal circumstances, the human would be pissed at being interrupted so many times. However, she was more flabbergasted and curious than anything else.

Stella tried her best to follow the creature. She tried to run, but after the cardio from earlier, it was too much for her body. She wasn't sedentary by any means, but she was still a child, a pre-teen, to be exact.

Her body urged her to take it easy, and the girl had no choice but to comply. She walked at a comfortable but fast enough speed to catch that "wolf" if she had stopped.

After a minute of walking, Stella heard the cries of the wolf, urging her to dash toward the creature. However, she stopped when she heard another voice, hiding in the bushes afterward.

"Let's see what the net brought us!" It was a raspy voice that seemed to belong to someone old.

Crouching and sneaking through the bushes, the girl saw two men wearing hats similar to those gnome decorations that people put in their gardens. Not only their caps but their whole outfits were identical to those. They were old, it seemed, judging by their big, white beards. However, their big, red noses were odd. The men were having a cold, perhaps?

One of the elders was the size of Stella, and the other was the size of a sixteen-year-old. The taller one carried a hook in his right hand.

The girl carefully followed the two elderly, dodging any stick or leaf that could make a sound and expose her location. Though in the middle of a forest, it was a tall order.

To her luck, they led her to her objective, though not in the way she hoped.

The wolf was stuck in a net, hanged by a strong tree branch. The poor creature had been a victim of a trap. Although she didn't seem too bothered by it.

Stella hid behind a white tree, very upset about the wolf's situation. Surprisingly, the bearded men were also upset about this.

"I'm hungry!" The wolf shouted at the two. Yeah, she wasn't desperate nor afraid of the predicament she found herself in. If anything, she sounded just a little impatient.

The short man became red with anger and shouted back. "That food wasn't yours, you stupid mutt!"

Stella assumed that the food he mentioned was the bait for the net trap. Now, her worries became about what would happen to the wolf in these men's hands. Would they capture her? Use her as food? It felt really fucked up to do that with a sentient creature.

She couldn't act now. First, she would stay hidden to see where this would go.

The other, taller man sighed and touched the smaller one's shoulder. "Don't bother, Stúfur."

That didn't seem to calm Stúfur down, though. He started to ramble about how the wolf had the annoying habit of interfering in their hunting trips in one way or another. His voice felt like nails on a chalkboard for Stella and the wolf, as seen by the creature covering her ears the second he started ranting.

The taller one sighed again, seeming to be more used to this.

He spotted a few tiny rocks on the ground, collected them, and then offered some to his companion. "Actually, how 'bout we have fun AND teach that fleabag a lesson?"

Stúfur gave a devious smile in response. He eagerly accepted the gift and looked at the wolf with malicious intent. "You know, we were searchin' something to use as target practice."

Without mercy, the two geezers started throwing pebbles at the wolf. The furry creature started whimpering in pain due to the rocky barrage.

Stella was shocked. Of all the things they could do, this was their answer!?

She didn't know the creature, but that didn't matter. She always felt like it was her duty to beat the shit out of bullies, and not just the typical school type.

It was time to dose them with their own medicine.

The wolf kept whimpering and complaining, but the rocks kept coming. The men laughed at the creature's pain.

"Oh, what's wrong?" Stúfur taunted. "Not enjoying our game of-"

"FETCH!" Stella's voice could be heard by them for the first time.

A rock connected at the back of Stúfur's head, knocking him out cold. She immediately retreated to the tree the second the projectile hit the target. She was admittedly afraid of these men, but damn! That felt good!

His partner looked at his unconscious body with shock. It took about ten seconds for him to completely absorb what had just happened.

"STÚFUR!"

Before he could help his companion, another rock was thrown in his direction. However, he quickly swung his meat hook to redirect the sturdy projectile.

Stella was once again shocked, which was becoming a pattern for that day. Then, the girl immediately went into hiding again, wishing her target did not see her.

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What the hell was that geezer?! His reflexes came straight from those old martial arts movies she saw, thanks to a weird dude who helped her get by sometimes.

"I saw you hiding there!" The man with the hook shouted.

Stella gulped. That was it, then. She would get her ass kicked by that guy, who did not hesitate in pummeling a little wolf with rocks.

The man waited for Stella to come clean, but she decided to stay hidden and silent in case it was a bluff. But her assumption was misguided.

"Too afraid to face me, huh?! Well... Let's do this the hard way..."

He rushed to the tree with his meat hook in hand. Accepting that there was no other way out, Stella exposed herself, throwing more and more pebbles at him. He deflected most of them with his weapon, but a few managed to hit him. However, that did not stop his fierce advance. Each step he took made the girl more and more anxious and fearful for her life.

He finally reached close range with Stella and swung his hook at her. However, the girl's survival instincts activated! She managed to duck and avoid the attack. Not only that, but she used this as an opening and landed a punch square on his chest!

The bearded was on his knees, writhing in pain. Stella felt a sense of relief when her life was no longer threatened. However, she remembered the cruel treatment he gave to that poor creature, and her blood began to boil again. Justice would be served!

Fists and jaw clenched, she walked towards the man, who was starting to get up, and landed a push kick directly on his nose! Making that bastard's big, red nose be marked by her boot was such a satisfying experience.

"Did you feel that, butt-face!? I bet that she felt the same way!" Stella shouted at the downed man with a confident grin on her face. She even kicked out some dirt to him to add salt to injury.

Unfortunately, her attacks weren't enough to keep him down for long. He got himself up at an uncanny speed and grabbed his meat hook from the ground. Stella's bravado broke into pieces in a split second.

The girl could finally see the "man" and his appearance clearly. He still looked like a geezer mostly, but he didn't look quite... human.

His face was covered in wrinkles and warts, his rows of teeth were all pointy and sharp, like a shark, and his eyes were pitch-black. The look on his face was one of unyielding rage and violent intent, which made him even more terrifying.

Stella gulped nervously and quickly started to make some distance from him. Her mind begged her to run away from this creature as fast as she could, but what about that creature? Was she going to abandon her like that?

No, she wouldn't. The thought of letting someone be a victim of bullies like him disgusted her so much that her fear was secondary.

Stella took a deep breath and closed her fists, adopting a stance similar to a boxer. "Do you think I am afraid of you?! You're nothing to me, asshole!"

The "man" growled and charged at the girl, who reciprocated the gesture. However, before they can clash again, the creature is crushed by the wolf, surprisingly. She came from the top, making the girl assume she had just freed herself from the net and used the trees to gain enough momentum to knock him down in one hit.

The wolf sat on top of him like a regular canine and wagged her tail like nothing had happened.

"Hey! Thanks for the distraction!" The wolf spoke to the girl with a big, bright smile on her face.

This anti-climatic ending for the fight made Stella's brain glitch a little. "H-How did you escape the trap?" Stella questioned, looking at the creature dumbfounded.

The wolf shrugged it off. "Oh, this wasn't my first time with those pesky nets!" Then she took a moment to smell the guy she was sitting on. Stella found that pretty fucking weird.

"Oof. We are pretty unlucky, huh? We are on the Lads' territory." She said that without a change in tone whatsoever.

Before Stella could ask further questions, another voice took them by surprise.

"KETKRÓKUR!" It was the short one that the girl knocked out with a rock. He looked at the two girls with a mixture of fear and anger. And now Stella could see the same general traits as the other guy, black eyes, sharp teeth, and wrinkly skin.

His face was red like a tomato, especially his big nose, and he shook his fists at them. "Wait until I tell Mom and Dad about ya! You will regret crossing us!

He ran away soon after in a very pathetic manner. Stella looked at him, dumbfounded. She thought. "Isn't he an old man, though?"

The wolf seemed to be more intimidated by his words, though. Her fur went up from her head to her tail. "We should really bail." She waved her paw at Stella. "Bye, stranger!" Then went to a four-point position, preparing to run.

However...

"WAIT!" Stella shouted, stretching her right hand to get her attention. The wolf stopped and perked up her ears, making the human sigh with relief for not losing the creature from her sight again.

The girl lowered her tone since she already caught her attention. Now what? She had to think about something to say quickly since the creature proved to have a short attention span. "I'm... also lost..."

The wolf seemed puzzled. It wasn't easy to read her expressions, thanks to the fringe in her eyes. How did she even see with those? Truly the strangest part of this anthropomorphic wolf...

The wolf started to scratch the top of her head. "Really? I just assumed you were a local. Sorry about that."

Weirdly enough, the creature started sniffing Stella as well. Which made her be freaking weirded out! What was the deal with that animal?! Was she even an animal? So many fucking questions!

Right after that, the wolf scrunched her nose a little. Stella couldn't help but be offended by that reaction. Was she that smelly? She did not bathe in a week, so... it wasn't surprising.

"You smell weird..." Stella couldn't see the wolf's eyes, but she was sure the creature was in deep thought, judging by her cupping her chin with her left paw.

"What species of Monoke are you?" The wolf questioned.

Stella's eyes widened. "M-Monoke? What is that?"

The wolf seemed even more confused than ever. "Geez, you hit your head on that tree a bit too hard." Stella didn't know how to respond, dooming the two of them into awkward silence once again.

And once again, the creature had to break it, adopting a more cheery demeanor. "But don't worry! You can stay in my home for now. My mom might be cool with it! I guess..." She added the last sentence with uncertainty.

"That would be nice." The girl replied.

The wolf howled at her answer, a clear sign of her eagerness. Her wagging tail even became more erratic. She was so excited that she was about to pounce on her, but she recomposed herself and remained in place, only extending her left paw. "Lien. That's my name."

Stella smiled, extended her left hand, and shook hands with the furry being. "Stella. Nice to meet you."

After properly greeting each other, Lien took on a confident demeanor, with a cocky grin, paws on her hip, and a straightened posture. "Well, stay close to me. I will protect you from any thr-

Lien's ears perked, and her fur bristled when she heard a weird, sharp noise next to them. Stella also heard but didn't see why the wolf had that reaction.

When the human turned to the source of it, she discovered its identity, a red squirrel, standing next to them with an acorn in his front paws.

Stella chuckled, finding the tiny animal cute. Lien, however...

She immediately hid behind Stella, shaking with fear. She firmly gripped the human's shoulders. "Get this vile creature away from me..."

Stella did not bother dignifying that with a response and only sighed. "Oh, boy..."