Chapter 1
"Captain, come in. This is Euphoria. Do you copy?"
Deep within a tangled forest, a woman clad in green digital camouflage lay flat against the earth, blending into the thick brush.
Her face was streaked with dark green paint, her sharp eyes scanning the shadows for movement as she whispered urgently into a compact radio.
Despite several attempts, the device remained stubbornly silent, emitting nothing but dead air.
She was part of a high-stakes sting to intercept a band of fleeing drug traffickers. She had just survived a skirmish with several of them; while she had escaped physically unscathed, her magazines were completely dry.
What troubled her more was the environment. During the fight, she had rolled into a hollow for cover, only for the woods to be swallowed by a heavy, unnatural mist. It had descended with impossible speed, thick enough to blind.
Now that she had found a secure hiding spot, a chilling realization hit her: the forest had gone deathly still. Where had the echoes of gunfire and shouting gone?
Anxiety gnawed at her as she tried the radio one last time, but the silence on the other end was absolute.
Accepting that she was cut off, Euphoria stowed the radio. She pulled a single tear gas canister from her tactical vest and gripped it tight, her senses heightened like a predator on the hunt.
She lay in ambush for nearly half an hour until the fog finally began to lift. As the air cleared, the silence was shattered by the guttural roars of beasts.
Euphoria tensed, her muscles coiled and ready.
Just a short distance away, she spotted several massive tigers locked in a violent struggle.
Holding her breath, she watched the carnage. These beasts were gargantuan—far larger and more terrifying than any zoo-bred animal she had ever seen. Was this simply the raw power of the wild?
"Roar! Roar!"
The thunderous cries shook the trees, keeping Euphoria frozen in high alert.
As the tigers shifted their positions, she realized with a jolt of horror that they weren't fighting each other. They were swarming a man.
The man was pinned to the ground, his body a map of shredded flesh and crimson gashes. Blood stained his lips, yet his eyes burned with a defiant, fearless intensity as he stared down the predators.
Euphoria narrowed her eyes, taking him in. He had long, flowing blond hair, yet his facial features were distinctly Asian—sharp and well-defined, giving him a striking, mixed-race look.
He didn't fit the profile of the drug dealers they were hunting; none of them had hair that long, let alone that color.
She didn't hesitate for long. She began to crawl toward the scene.
She was a soldier; she couldn't just sit in the grass and watch a man be torn to pieces.
She crept closer to the pack, the sheer size and power of the tigers becoming more intimidating with every inch she gained. Their roars felt like physical blows against her chest.
Just as a tiger prepared for a lethal pounce, Euphoria pulled the pin and hurled the tear gas canister into the center of the pack. Before the white plumes could even billow out, she had memorized the man's exact position. As the smoke blinded the beasts, she darted forward, hauled the man up, and dragged him into the trees.
Once they had put enough distance between themselves and the tigers, they collapsed behind a massive trunk. The man was clearly battered, yet he watched her with bright, piercingly alert eyes.
"Female?" He wiped a smear of blood from his mouth, seemingly indifferent to his wounds. However, the way he looked at her made her skin crawl.
Female?
Wasn't that a term for livestock or pets?
What a rude brat. She had just saved his life, and he was treating her like a specimen.
"Ha! It really is a female!" The man's eyes lit up with predatory excitement. He scrambled to his feet and lunged forward, grabbing Euphoria's shoulders.
Caught off guard by his sudden burst of energy, Euphoria acted on pure instinct. As his hands clamped onto her, she pivoted, grabbed his arm, and sent him flying over her shoulder.
A heavy "thud" echoed through the clearing, followed by a sharp gasp of pain.
Only after the man hit the dirt did Euphoria realize what she'd done. She looked down at the stunned figure and awkwardly rubbed the back of her neck. "Uh, sorry. Force of habit."
The man lay there dazed, blinking his amber-brown eyes. A look of profound defeat crossed his face. "Are you truly a female? I... I was bested by a female?" He looked like his entire world had been turned upside down.
In truth, Euphoria wasn't stronger than him; he had simply let his guard down completely because of her gender.
But to Wayne, being the first male in memory to be tossed like a sack of grain by a woman was a humiliation so great he wanted to bury his head in the dirt.
Euphoria, oblivious to his internal crisis, figured she could easily take on a handful of men his size.
"Hey, get up," she said, extending a hand to help him.
Wayne stared at her slender, calloused hand and decided that being thrown wasn't so bad after all. His face flushed a deep red as he took her hand and pulled himself up.
Euphoria didn't notice his blushing because, the moment he stood, she was hit by a blinding realization.
Wait—he was completely naked.
Even for a tough soldier used to the bluntness of army life, seeing a man in his "full glory" for the first time—and a very well-built one at that—sent a heat to her cheeks. She looked away, coughing to clear her throat. "Why on earth aren't you wearing any clothes?"
Wayne was captivated by her flustered expression. To him, there was nothing strange about his state, but he answered anyway, "I was out hunting. Why would I wear my furs for that?"
Euphoria stared at him, bewildered. What did hunting have to do with being buck-naked?
Before she could press him, he leaned in. "Female, what tribe do you belong to?"
Wayne's mind was racing. She's a bit strange-looking and dressed in rags, but females are so rare. If she's unattached, she's mine.
Euphoria felt a growing sense of dread. His vocabulary was becoming increasingly bizarre.
Tribes? Like... primitive tribes?
Her unit had scouted this entire region. There were no indigenous settlements, no tribes, and certainly no prehistoric-sized tigers.
A cold sweat broke out on her neck. She ran to the edge of the clearing and looked out at the horizon.
This was not the forest she had been in an hour ago.
"Female, what are you looking for?" Wayne asked, noting her frantic movements.
Euphoria forced herself to take three deep breaths. "Where are we? And who are you?"
Wayne's grin widened. He was now certain she was a lost traveler, which made him very happy. "This is the Half-Moon Forest. And I am Wayne."
Half-Moon Forest?
That wasn't on any map she'd studied. How could she have traveled so far?
Her mind whirled with impossible theories. She checked her watch—still no signal, no GPS, nothing.
Could this really be like those web novels? Did I actually cross over into another world?
She looked back at Wayne and her jaw nearly dropped. The deep gashes on his chest were already beginning to scab and heal before her very eyes.
I really did time-travel. And I've found myself a monster.
Euphoria groaned internally, but she didn't have time to process it. Wayne tossed his hair back and leaned his handsome face inches from hers. "Since you have no home, you'll be my female!" he declared, sniffing her neck. "When your heat comes, we'll mate and you can bear me a whole litter of pups..."
"Mmmph!"
The word "pups" died in Wayne's throat. As he was leaned over, Euphoria grabbed his neck, drove her knee upward, and delivered a brutal strike to his stomach.
This absolute creep! Heat? Mating? In his dreams!
"Listen up," Euphoria snapped, releasing him as he doubled over. She dusted off her hands. "I don't care where we are. If you say one more word like that, I'll beat you into the ground!"
Wayne gasped for air, the pain radiating through his gut. He was stunned—was this female actually threatening to knock his teeth out?
By the gods!
In his world, males did whatever females asked, but if he lost his teeth, how would he eat?
Yet, seeing her fire and fury only made his heart race faster. How could a male let such a precious female stay angry?
As the pain faded, he rubbed his belly and whispered sheepishly, "Um... if we mate, and you really want a tooth... I suppose I could give you one of mine."
Euphoria stared at him, genuinely confused. Was he playing dumb or was he actually this thick?
"I am saying there is zero chance I am mating with you!" She lifted her chin, her expression hard as flint.
Wayne finally caught her drift. His eyes widened and his posture became dominant once more. "I found you. That makes me your male!"
"You found me? I'm pretty sure I saved your life!" Euphoria narrowed her eyes dangerously.
Wayne flinched at her glare, but he wasn't about to give up his prize. "You have no tribe, no home. Therefore, I found you!"
Euphoria realized talking to him was a dead end. There was no reasoning with a savage. Her priority was finding a way out of this wilderness.
She gave Wayne one last dismissive look and began marching away.
Wayne stood frozen for a few seconds, blinking in surprise. It wasn't until she was several yards away that he called out, "Female! Where are you going?"
Euphoria didn't look back. She kept her pace steady.
Wayne scratched his head. She was definitely angry again. He decided he needed to find some older males with mates to ask for advice—clearly, he was doing something wrong.
Determined, Wayne began to trot after her.
Despite her urgency, Euphoria moved with the practiced caution of a soldier, aware that even deadlier predators could be lurking.
Checking the compass on her tactical watch, she set her sights on the south and pushed forward into the unknown.