Prologue

The radio static squealed around her head, causing her to lay back her ears and grit her sharp teeth. A threatening male drawl crackled over the speaker.

“Nova Radkial. You forgot to bury your business. Naughty girl. I must be getting close. If you’d just let me catch you, I promise I’ll fuck you gently...”

Switching the radio off, Nova growled to herself. “Shut up, Anubis. I hate yer voice. Asshole.”

There wasn’t any reason to have it on anyways. Just a foolish hope. She was well behind enemy lines. There was no way her radio could reach far enough to call for help without its antenna. That had been one of the first things to snap off when the ambush happened.

It was supposed to be routine. Just some testing near the forest in the makeshift, slapped together Mobile Armor Suits. This was supposed to be the next generation of M.A.S., though they honestly weren’t a huge improvement. After all, her people specialized in farming, not weapons. Most of the machine she had helped design and was currently driving was repurposed farming equipment.

Then the Wogtal had attacked. With their massive, terrifying suits, they had leapt from the tree line. As she was not actually a soldier, she had run for cover. That was the choice that had led her to this week long nightmare through unfamiliar lands in a terribly inadequate machine with only the onboard supplies. Chased. Herded. Hunted by a black devil who had so smugly introduced himself when he had first cornered her while she had been in a compromising position.

And then she had kicked him down the hill. Ha, the look on his face! That would teach him to bother a lady when she needed to relieve herself.

Speaking of needing relief, the itching was driving her nuts. The thick silver fur that covered her body under her uniform was becoming matted with the end of her spring molt. Licking her parched, black nose with an equally dry tongue, she checked her short range scans. Not that they meant much. The scans couldn’t tell her that a mud hole was waiting for her behind that enormous fern she pushed out of her way.

Cursing in dismay as the leg of the machine sank deep, it protested loudly when she tried to pull free. The heavy clunk made her heart sink. She had known the machine was going to give out at some point. It wasn’t meant to go more than a day without servicing.

With a whimper of fear and fury, she popped the hatch and hopped to the ground. Immediately the sounds and smells of dusk in the mountains hit her right in the instincts. Large ears twitched about nervously as she assessed her situation.

With tool in hand, she tugged a panel open and thought perhaps she could ... Well, no, that gear was solidly stuck. But what if she ... nope, that bolt might as well be welded. Oh, and now the gross water was seeping in. Great. Just great. Another whine of frustration left her.

This was not where she wanted to be right now. She was supposed to be on the farm, helping her pack with the losa harvest. And she used to think husking losa was a shit job. Just because she had noticed and suggested a fix for a design flaw that had caused an overheating problem in the first gen of M.A.S., she was now on foot with no weapons, no supplies, and the furthest from home she’d ever been. She was sure every creature in a kilometer could hear her stomach. It felt like her tongue was dragging the ground as she panted.

Something rustled near her. Dropping down to all fours, whether she was a human becoming a wolf or a wolf becoming a human couldn’t be told. Indeed such debates were best saved for when bored in the fields with little else to discuss. Right now, the wolf in her had enough senses to notice a bird in the brush, hunting for insects in the deepening darkness.

Her nose twitched and her mouth watered, but the instant she moved, the bird flapped away with a loud squawk. Ears back with an aggravated sigh, Nova trudged on, clenching at her belly.

After an hour or so of navigating steep and rocky terrain in the dark, she had to pause to figure out where she was even going. Every time she tried to go downhill back into the valley, that damned Dire was waiting for her. The only way she could put distance between them was uphill, deeper into the mountain ranges of the Wogtal.

Even though her leather paw wraps left her toes out for grip, the rocks were slippery. Moisture? Moisture! Nose up, she single mindedly followed her senses to the river. It growled over boulders and tasted so sweet as she lapped it from her cupped hands. She wasn’t an animal, after all.