Chapter 13 Fractures Within

I dropped the dead predator at the edge of camp with a heavy thud. Its blood still steamed in the cool night air. My new jaw ached, fangs pressing against my lip as I spoke.

"You two. Now."

The words came out in a low growl that cut through the camp like a blade. Everyone froze. The two men I’d overheard, Joren and Tarek, looked up from where they sat near the fire. Joren, the skinny one with the shifty eyes who’d been with us since the arena collapse. Tarek, broader, always complaining about rations. Both of them.

Dak stood up fast, spear in hand. "What’s this about, Ren?"

I didn’t take my golden eyes off them. "They can tell you. Or I can drag it out of them."

Karg smirked from the side. "See? He’s losing it. Turning on his own already."

"Shut it," Dak snapped at him, then looked at me. "Talk."

Joren tried to play innocent. "We didn’t do anything, hybrid. You’re just scaring people with that new face of yours. Look at your teeth, man. You’re…"

I crossed the distance in two strides and grabbed Joren by the front of his torn shirt, lifting him until his feet dangled. "I heard you. Both of you. Planning to drug my medicine. Take supplies and run. While I’m out hunting to feed you."

Tarek scrambled back. "Wait! It wasn’t like that! They approached us!"

Mira woke up at the noise and ran straight to me, wrapping her arms around my leg without hesitation. "Ren... don’t hurt them. Please."

Her touch cooled some of the rage. I set Joren down but didn’t let go of his shirt. "Talk. Now. Who approached you?"

Dak moved to my side, solid as stone. "Answer him. We’ve bled together too long for this shit."

Joren swallowed hard, eyes darting between me and Dak. "A Sanctuary agent. Two nights ago, when we were scouting for water. He dropped from a small skiff. Said the purists know about the Beast Messiah rising. Offered us safe passage back to a lower Sanctuary if we fed them information about you. Your changes. Where we’re heading. Everything."

Tarek nodded fast. "He promised food. Real beds. No more running from beasts or your... whatever you’re becoming. We’re scared, Ren. Look at yourself. You’re turning into the thing they warned us about."

The camp went dead quiet. Whispers started immediately. Someone cursed. Another person started packing their small bag like they might bolt too.

Dak stepped closer to me, voice low but firm. "They’re rats. But killing them makes you exactly what they’re afraid of. You’re better than that, brother."

I felt Mira squeeze my leg tighter. "You’re still Ren. You saved me. Don’t become what they want."

I stared at the two men. The Beast God fragment whispered in my head, urging me to rip their throats out. The Codex chimed coldly, calculating survival odds if I removed the threat. My claws flexed. My new fangs ached to bite.

Instead I let Joren go. "Take what you can carry. Two days’ rations each. Nothing more. Leave the weapons. You want to run to your Sanctuary masters? Go. But when they use what you tell them to hunt us down, remember this moment. I could’ve killed you. I chose not to."

Tarek looked shocked. "You’re... letting us go?"

"Get out," I growled. "Before I change my mind."

They scrambled, grabbing what they could. The group watched in heavy silence as the two men slipped into the glowing forest. Supplies gone. Two more hands lost. Morale cracked wider than before.

Karg shook his head. "This is how it ends. We’re weaker now because you played merciful."

Dak turned on him. "He did what a real leader does. You want blood every time someone gets scared? Then you’re no better than the purists." He looked at me, gripping my scaled shoulder. "We’re still here. Still breathing. That’s on you, Ren. Brother."

I nodded once, throat tight. "Appreciate it, Dak."

Mira didn’t let go of my leg even after the men disappeared. "I knew you wouldn’t kill them. You’re not a monster."

The camp settled into uneasy sleep. I stayed awake, sitting against a glowing tree, the new night vision painting everything in sharp detail. My jaw still felt wrong, teeth too sharp when I ran my tongue over them.

Soft footsteps approached. Lysa.

"You’re hurt," she said quietly, kneeling in front of me. A fresh gash on my forearm from the stealth cat fight still seeped. She cleaned it carefully, her fingers gentle on my furred skin. "Hold still. This medicine will close it quick."

Her touch lingered as she wrapped the wound. Longer than necessary. Warm. Almost tender.

I watched her face in the bioluminescent light. "You’ve been dosing me heavy lately. It’s helping... but something feels off."

The Codex suddenly stirred in a new way. Not a prompt. An analysis. My heightened senses locked onto her scent, herbs, sweat, something else underneath. Something chemical. Engineered. Not quite right for a simple healer.

[Anomaly detected in subject scent profile. Foreign compounds. Cross-reference with mutation acceleration patterns.]

I blinked hard. "Lysa?"

She looked up, eyes meeting mine. For a split second her hands trembled again, just like the other night. Then she smiled softly and squeezed my arm. "You’re carrying too much, Ren. Let me help carry it. You don’t have to do this alone."

Her fingers stayed on my skin, warm and steady now. But that Codex flag wouldn’t fade. Something in her scent didn’t belong. Something that smelled like the medicine she kept feeding me.

I stared at her, the glowing forest pressing close around us, while the caravan slept uneasily behind her. The traitor was gone, but the fracture inside our group, and maybe inside her, felt deeper than ever.

The Beast God’s whisper returned, faint but clear.

[Trust is the first chain.]