For the first time, Claw couldn't tell whether Vein was wrong, or terrifyingly right.
Claw's breath came in ragged bursts as he staggered backward.
"Fed… no… impossible!"
The weight of Vein's words clung to him like a curse, and Gash's faint laughter cut through the silence.
"No… no… I'm not!!"Claw's paws flew to his head as if to block out the truth.
Vein's grin lingered in the air, curdling into something darker with every heartbeat.
He grabbed a human corpse and hurled it toward Claw.
The stench of blood hit Claw's nose like a blow.
"Who will feed you now, huh? Will they keep feeding you?!"
"Heh-heh… actually, yes, Vein. They can keep feeding him..literally!" Gash cackled, his laughter wobbling between humor and madness, staring at the trembling Claw.
"Wh… what's wrong with me? Why am I acting like this?!" Claw's stomach twisted as if something inside him wanted out.
Claw gasped, his claws digging into his belly as he stumbled back.
"Come on, don't be shy," Vein hissed. "Eat."
Vein's eyes gleamed, daring Claw to move.
Claw's breath hitched; something deep inside him growled, answering Vein's command.
The tribe's fire seemed to shrink between them, leaving only the smell of coal and smoke.
"Oh, I see—you don't prefer crunchy meat, huh?" Vein's grin brushed against Claw's whiskers, his voice dripping with mockery.
"Give him this one, Vein!" Gash bellowed, pointing to the trembling woman, the last surviving tribe member on the mountain.
She screamed before finding herself between Gash's fangs.
"No!!!" the woman cried, her tears spilling onto the ground.
Claw's body tensed; the scent of blood clawed at his throat. He wanted to look away—but couldn't.
"Good idea," Vein hissed, his tongue sweeping across his fangs.
Claw swallowed hard, sweat running down his cheek like melting ice as he stared at the woman approaching him.
"This is way better than that huge bowl, isn't it, traitor?"
"Please, anyone! Please!!!" the woman's desperate cries tore through the smoke.
When Claw met her eyes, he realized something he couldn't describe.
That same look... the one I saw when I tried to swallow that bird... the same stare I saw in Wooly's eyes, Claw thought.
His claws loosened. Something in his chest twisted, pulling him between hunger and horror.
"So that's what the small human felt... before she disappeared," Claw said, his eyes fixed on the ground.
His paws trembled, the weight in his chest heavier than hunger itself.
"Monsters," he whispered, not sure whether he meant them—or himself.
The fire's crackle faded, leaving only the rasp of his own breath. In that silence—
"No." Claw raised his head, his voice calm but edged with something fierce.
"No?" Vein stared, his eyes widening.
Even Gash's jaw dropped, letting the woman fall to the ground.
She crawled backward, too afraid to scream, her eyes fixed on Claw as if unsure whether to fear or thank him.
"Tch… pathetic." Vein turned away, disgust curling his lip.
"This ain't fun anymore, Gash… let's go," Vein muttered, his eyes narrowing toward the mountain's dark horizon, as if something waited beyond.
...
"Not before dessert!" Vein shouted, then leapt toward the woman.
But before Vein could land on the woman, he was slammed to the ground beneath Claw's massive body.
"From now on…" his voice trembled, not with fear, but with release.
"I'm not Claw," he growled, "and I never was yours."
The ground shuddered beneath Vein's fall, dust curling around him like smoke.
Claw's gaze met the woman's for only a moment enough to speak without words.
A silent sign to run.
She ran, her footsteps swallowed by the crackle of dying fire.
Claw exhaled slowly, his chest rising and falling, as if that single act of mercy had drained more from him than any battle.
"Not this easy!" Gash roared, rushing toward the woman, his jaw wide open.
Thud!
Gash's weak body crashed into Claw's—a mountain of a leopard.
"How did you get here so fast?!" Gash gasped.
Claw kept staring at the trembling Gash, but then his body jerked forward, slashed from behind.
"Tch… his body's thick. I didn't expect less from Claw's frame," Vein said, wiping blood from his paw.
"Hey, fake leopard—you're disrespecting our leader's body!" Vein snarled.
"And we're about to bury it."
"So that's how the small human felt…" Claw's breath caught, his vision flashing white for a heartbeat.
The pain didn't just cut flesh—it pulled rage from the marrow.
His paw trembled as it found the warmth of his own blood, spilling from his wound—crimson and hot against his fur.
"So that's… pain…"
He stared at it, the proof he was still alive, still trapped between beast and being.
Claw turned toward Vein and Gash, his eyes narrowing until they cut through the smoke like blades.
"You both wanted this…"
"So you'll get it!!" Claw roared, the sound so fierce that even the fleeing tribe members heard it.
The roar rolled across the valley, shaking trees and hearts alike.
Far away, Grizzler was climbing a tree when the roar thundered across the forest.
Birds exploded into the air in a flurry of wings.
Grizzler climbed higher, his gaze fixed on the distant mountain.
"…Fire?"
"Huh?" Grizzler froze, then stared toward the mountain.
A slow, knowing smirk crept across his face, like someone who'd been waiting for this.
"So, the beast finally woke up," Grizzler muttered, his claws tightening around the bark.
The branches creaked under his weight as he leapt to the next one, eyes gleaming with anticipation.
Smoke rose like a signal calling him closer.
A grin flickered across his face.
"My chance!!"