Cora scrambled backward, her palms slipping in the mud.

The moment his rough skin dragged against her cheek, every survival instinct she had screamed at her to run.

The man's thick eyebrows pulled together. A flash of irritation darkened his gold eyes. He didn't say a word. He just reached out, his massive arm moving with terrifying speed, and grabbed her by the waist.

With one effortless motion, he hauled her up from the mud.

Cora gasped, her feet dangling in the air. Her hands instinctively flew up, pressing flat against his bare, burning-hot chest to push him away. It was like pushing against a solid brick wall.

He pulled her flush against his body, ignoring her weak struggle, and turned to walk away from the bloody carcass.

A faint, dry scraping sound came from the canopy above.

Cora's eyes darted upward. A flash of vibrant crimson caught her peripheral vision.

A snake, covered in razor-sharp barbs, launched itself from a thick branch, shooting straight toward Cora's exposed neck.

The man moved before Cora could even scream.

He spun, twisting his torso to shield her. He buried her face into his chest, wrapping his thick arms around her head.

The snake's fangs sank deep into the thick muscle of his forearm.

Dark purple venom instantly bloomed beneath his skin. The man let out a low, guttural grunt. He didn't drop Cora. Instead, his free hand snapped out, his fingers wrapping around the snake's neck.

He squeezed. The sound of the snake's spine crushing was sickeningly loud.

As the snake thrashed in its death throes, the barbed tip of its tail whipped across Cora's wrist. It left a shallow, stinging scratch.

He tossed the dead snake aside. His golden eyes immediately dropped to the thin line of blood on Cora's wrist. His pupils dilated.

A searing, white-hot pain erupted in Cora's arm. The world tilted violently. Her knees buckled, and a wave of nausea hit her so hard she gagged.

The man didn't hesitate. He lowered his head and pressed his lips directly over the scratch on her wrist.

He sucked hard, trying to draw the venom out.

But the moment the venom touched his tongue, the color drained from his face. The poison was a neurotoxin, lethal to his kind. He pulled back, his jaw tight, his breathing suddenly shallow.

His massive body swayed. He dropped to one knee, the impact jarring the ground, but his arms remained locked around Cora, keeping her upright.

Cora stared at him, her vision blurring. This terrifying, wild man was dying because he tried to save her.

The edges of her vision went black.

"BEEP! Critical vitals detected. Implanted AI Assistant DAISY reboot complete."

The crisp, mechanical female voice echoed directly inside Cora's skull. A translucent blue interface flickered to life across her retinas.

"New Survival Quest triggered: Save the poisoned Alpha. Time remaining: 5 minutes."

Cora bit her tongue hard, using the sharp pain to force her eyes to focus. She used DAISY's targeting system. A glowing red circle highlighted the deep puncture wounds on the man's forearm, where the tissue was already turning black.

Her trembling fingers fumbled with the zipper of her hazard suit's thigh pocket. She pulled out a micro-tactical knife.

She looked at the man. His eyes were closed, his chest barely moving.

Cora gripped the handle of the knife. She pressed the blade against the blackened skin around the bite marks and cut.

The man let out a raw, agonizing roar, his muscles violently contracting.

Cora didn't stop. She sliced away the necrotic tissue, her hands slick with his dark, poisoned blood. She pressed her thumbs hard against the wound, forcing the thick, purple venom out until the blood began to run a healthy crimson.

"Quest Complete. Reward: Universal Antivenom synthesis formula unlocked and uploaded to host's emergency med-kit."

Cora's trembling fingers flew to the survival pouch strapped to her hip. She yanked out the portable micro-synthesizer and a vial of base saline. Following DAISY's rapid on-screen prompts, she fed a scraping of the beast's venom and a drop of her own blood into the chamber. The device whirred, glowing green as it quickly processed the cure. She didn't hesitate. She grabbed the freshly synthesized auto-injector and slammed the needle into her own thigh.

A rush of ice-cold relief flooded her veins. The dizziness vanished. Her mind cleared.

She looked down at the man. He was completely still, his lips tinged blue. The antivenom was in her system, not his.

Cora dropped the knife. She pressed her bleeding wrist-the one he had tried to suck the poison from, now mixed with her antivenom-laced blood-directly against his cold lips.

She smeared her blood over his mouth, forcing a few drops past his teeth.

Seconds ticked by in agonizing silence.

Then, the man's chest hitched. The blue tint faded from his lips. His heavy brow twitched, and his eyes slowly opened.

Those golden eyes locked onto her. He looked at her bloodstained hands, then up to her face. The raw, predatory possessiveness in his stare ignited into something absolute and terrifying.

He sat up slowly, the mud sucking at his skin.

His eyes never left Cora's face. He reached out, his massive hands wrapping around her waist, and pulled her hard against his chest. He buried his face in the crook of her neck, inhaling deeply.

The sheer force of his grip made Cora's ribs ache. She pushed against his shoulders, but it was useless.

"BEEP! Target lifeform's protective instincts have been triggered. Threat level to host decreased. Reward: Basic Language Translation Module."

A sharp prick of pain hit Cora's temples. Suddenly, the low, guttural sounds rumbling in the man's chest formed into distinct words.

"I owe you my life," his voice was a rough, gravelly rasp against her ear. "You are mine now."

Cora's breath hitched. Her heart pounded a frantic rhythm against her sternum. She opened her mouth to argue, to tell him she belonged to no one, but the words died in her throat.

He didn't wait for an answer. He stood up, hauling her over his broad shoulder like a sack of grain.

Cora gasped as her stomach hit his hard shoulder muscle. She grabbed fistfuls of his thick, dark hair to keep from sliding off.

He started walking. His strides were long and ground-eating.

Cora bounced against his back, her stomach churning with every step. She focused on the translucent blue screen of DAISY, scanning the bizarre, glowing flora they passed, trying to distract herself from the nausea.

A rustle in the canopy above made her flinch.

A beast that looked like a panther with a single, jagged horn leaped from the branches, aiming straight for Cora's exposed back.

The man didn't even break his stride. He reached down, his hand wrapping around the hilt of a bone knife strapped to his thigh. In one fluid, brutal motion, he spun and hurled the blade.

The bone knife sank deep into the beast's skull, pinning it to the trunk of a tree.

He walked over, ripped the blade free, wiped the blood on his own thigh, and kept walking.

Cora stared at the dead beast, her throat dry. This world was a meat grinder, and the man carrying her was the sharpest blade in it.

Hours later, the dense jungle gave way to a massive clearing.

A sprawling settlement of stone huts and massive animal hide tents came into view. Two towering men, holding spears tipped with black stone, stood at the entrance.

When they saw the man carrying Cora, they immediately dropped their heads in submission.

But as they straightened, their eyes locked onto Cora. The submission vanished, replaced by blatant shock and sneering disgust.

The man carrying her felt the shift. A low, vibrating growl ripped from his throat. The guards instantly averted their eyes, their bodies trembling.

He carried her into the heart of the tribe.

The bustling square fell dead silent. Hundreds of eyes turned to them.

The women, dressed in scraps of fur, stared at Cora's small, mud-caked frame. Their lips curled in revulsion. They whispered to each other, their eyes full of contempt for her lack of physical strength.

The men looked at her differently. Their eyes were hungry, stripping her down, assessing her as a weak, easy piece of prey.

The hostility in the air was thick enough to choke on. Cora shrank back, her fingers digging tighter into the man's hair. She felt completely exposed, completely vulnerable.

He felt her fear.

He stopped in the center of the square. His golden eyes narrowed.

Suddenly, a suffocating, invisible weight crashed down on the entire square. The air grew thin. Cora couldn't feel it, but she saw the reaction.

The tribespeople gasped, clutching their chests. Several of the weaker men dropped to their knees, their faces pale with terror.

He was using his spiritual power to crush them into submission.

An old man, leaning heavily on a staff made of a twisted spine, hobbled forward. He looked at the man, his voice shaking but stern. "Jagger. Why do you bring this useless, weak thing into our home? She will only waste our meat."

Jagger. That was his name.

Jagger's jaw clenched. He looked at the old shaman, his voice carrying across the silent square, cold and absolute.

"She is not useless. She is my property."

A collective gasp rippled through the crowd.

Cora's face burned hot. She pushed against his back, desperate to tell them it was a misunderstanding, but Jagger's massive hand clamped down over her lower back, holding her firmly in place.

He ignored the shocked whispers and the angry stares, carrying her straight toward the back of the settlement.

Jagger's boots hit the stone path leading away from the square.

"Stop right there, Jagger!"

A shrill, grating voice cut through the tension.

A woman stepped into their path, blocking the way. She wore a skirt made of vibrant, iridescent feathers that caught the sunlight. Her face was painted with aggressive red lines, and her eyes were fixed on Cora with pure, unadulterated hatred.

This was Inell, the tribe leader's daughter.

Cora lifted her head from Jagger's shoulder. The sheer malice radiating from Inell made the hair on her arms stand up.

Inell pointed a manicured finger at Cora. "You brought back a piece of trash from the mud? Look at her. She's pathetic. She smells like a rotting corpse."

Jagger's body went rigid. He slowly lowered Cora to her feet, stepping in front of her, completely shielding her from Inell's view.

"Move, Inell," Jagger warned. His voice was a low, dangerous rumble that vibrated in the air.

Inell flinched, her eyes shining with unshed tears of jealousy. She had thrown herself at Jagger for years, only to be ignored. And now, he was protecting this filthy outsider.

She forced a sickeningly sweet smile onto her face. She snatched a beautifully crafted leather waterskin from one of the women standing behind her.

"I only came to offer you water, Jagger," Inell purred, holding the skin out. "My father sent the sweetest spring water for our strongest warrior."

Jagger didn't even blink. He didn't reach for it. The disgust in his eyes was clear.

Inell's smile tightened. She shifted her gaze to Cora, peeking out from behind Jagger's arm.

"If Jagger won't drink, perhaps your... little pet is thirsty," Inell said, her voice dripping with fake pity. She shoved the waterskin toward Cora. "Drink. You look like you're dying."

Cora stared at the waterskin. Her throat was parched, but something in Inell's eyes felt wrong.

"BEEP! Critical Warning! Liquid contains high concentrations of alien aphrodisiac herbs. Ingestion will cause severe mental disorientation and forced heat."

DAISY's voice screamed in Cora's head.

A cold sweat broke out on the back of Cora's neck. Inell wanted her to drink it. She wanted Cora to lose her mind in front of the entire tribe, to become a spectacle of uncontrollable lust.

Cora's hands trembled as she reached out. Behind her lowered eyelashes, DAISY's interface rapidly scanned the ground beneath them. "Notice: Indigenous 'Blue Flame Grass' detected in stone crevices at 6 o'clock. Chemical property: Reacts violently with alien aphrodisiacs, emitting visible vapor." Cora's mind raced. This wasn't just a trap; it was her chance to turn the tables. She adjusted her footing, calculating the exact angle.

She played the part of the weak, exhausted victim perfectly. Just as her fingertips brushed the leather, she feigned a stumble, intentionally twisting her wrist to knock the waterskin downward at a sharp angle.

The heavy waterskin slipped from her grasp. It didn't just hit the stone. It splashed directly onto the cluster of small, blue-leafed weeds growing in the cracks of the path.

The moment the liquid touched the 'Blue Flame Grass', a violent chemical reaction occurred.

Thick, bright pink smoke hissed up from the weeds, carrying a heavy, sickeningly sweet, musky scent.

Several older hunters in the crowd instantly covered their noses, their eyes widening in shock.

"That's heat-root!" one of them yelled, pointing at the pink smoke. "It's a breeding drug!"

The square erupted into chaos. Every eye turned to Inell. The disgust that had been aimed at Cora was now entirely focused on the Chief's daughter.

Inell's face drained of all color. She stumbled backward, her hands shaking. "I... I didn't know! My servant must have grabbed the wrong skin!"

Jagger didn't care about her excuses.

He lunged. His massive hand wrapped around Inell's throat, lifting her entirely off the ground.

Inell kicked her legs wildly, her hands clawing at his thick forearm. Her face turned a deep, mottled purple as her airway was crushed.

He was going to snap her neck right there.

Cora knew if Jagger killed the Chief's daughter, the entire tribe would turn on him. She grabbed his thick bicep.

"Jagger, stop," she pleaded, her voice shaking.

The warmth of her small hands on his skin seemed to break through his bloodlust. Jagger's golden eyes flicked to Cora. The murderous rage in them dialed back just a fraction.

He threw Inell onto the hard stone path like a piece of garbage.

Inell gasped for air, coughing violently, tears streaming down her face.

Jagger stood over her, his chest heaving. He looked at Inell, then swept his deadly gaze over the rest of the tribe.

"If anyone touches her again," Jagger roared, his voice echoing off the stone huts, "I will slaughter your entire bloodline."

He turned, scooped Cora up into his arms, and walked away, leaving the tribe in stunned, terrified silence.