Monster 🔥

The night was restless.

The dense forest, usually filled with the distant howls and calls of creatures, had fallen eerily silent. Only the wind whispered through the trees, rustling the leaves in a quiet, almost respectful hush. But something else was moving among the undergrowth—something small, fragile.

He had been watching.

Perched amidst the thick shadows, his glowing eyes flickered as he observed the weak creature below. It had stopped moving, slumped against a tree, trembling. The scent of fear was thick in the air, mingling with the subtle, fading aroma of prey—the small, wounded animal it had been holding was gone.

Then it saw him.

Panic. The instinctive reaction of prey in the presence of a predator. It ran.

He let it—for a moment. He was faster, stronger, and when the chase finally ended with the small form crumpled in the dirt, clutching its injured leg, he did not lunge for the kill. Instead, he crouched low, placing one massive clawed hand against the tree behind it, trapping it within his shadow.

Its heartbeat was frantic, breath ragged, eyes wide with terror.

He leaned in.

His nose brushed against its trembling form, inhaling deeply, taking in its scent. A soft, rumbling growl echoed in his chest as he nudged against it, pressing his forehead to its shoulder, marking it. It flinched, but did not move away.

Good.

Satisfied, he curled around it, encasing it in the safety of his limbs. He could feel its weak protests, the tremor in its small frame, but he simply let out a deep, soothing rumble. The sound of comfort, of possession.

Tonight, it would not be hunted.

Tonight, it was his.