Chapter 1

Analise Chamber groaned in pain and mumbled, "I can't believe I survived." She held her throbbing head and slowly opened her eyes. "Looks like that fortune teller wasn't wrong... I really am hard to kill." She was supposed to be on a business trip that day. Since she was short on time, she booked the earliest flight available. However, the plane malfunctioned less than 20 minutes after takeoff and started plummeting uncontrollably. The violent drop knocked her out, and when she finally woke up, she was already here—wherever she was. Analise shifted slightly, trying to get up. However, she realized there was something soft beneath her. She had just woken up, and her head was still spinning. So, she had not noticed anything earlier. As she looked down, her eyes widened in shock. "Is that… a tail? Like an actual animal tail? Oh, no! Did I fall out of the sky and land on some endangered animal or something?" Analise wondered if this would count as an involuntary killing of an endangered species. The wildlife crime podcaster Zayn Lambert did not mention whether one would be jailed for this, and she could not help but scold herself for not tuning into more of Zayn's podcasts. "Lady, you need to run. I can barely hold myself back," a hoarse voice growled. Analise instinctively turned around and saw Finlay Knight wearing one of those animal-ear headbands. Moreover, he was injured, too. Then, it hit her—she had passed out during the fall, but somewhere in the middle of it, she briefly regained consciousness. She remembered being up in the sky, her heart already sinking, thinking she was done for. The wind had been so strong that she could barely keep her eyes open, but just before she hit the ground, she vaguely saw someone sprinting through the forest below. After that, everything went dark again. She thought to herself, "Did I actually crash-land on him? I had fallen from that high up, and I weighed about 110 pounds! How is he even alive? He must be just as unkillable as I am…" Analise was relieved that she had not landed on an endangered species. Instead, it was just a random dude running around the woods in a costume with fake wolf ears and a tail. Analise figured she should probably apologize first and then get Finlay to a hospital, just in case he had internal bleeding or something. She said, "Hey, um—" But before she could finish, Finlay shoved her forward with surprising gentleness. Then, he suddenly roared and transformed right in front of her. One second, he was a man. The next, he was a massive, snarling wolf twice the size of any she had seen on nature documentaries. Analise's eyes widened, her mind going completely blank. "What the actual hell? How did he just turn from a human into a wolf just like that? So, those ears and tail were real?" Her instincts screamed at her to run, but her body refused to move. She was frozen in place, paralyzed by fear. Her mind buzzed. "What the hell? What's happening? How does one just randomly shapeshift into a wolf?" "Lady…" The wolf's growl snapped her back to reality—especially when it locked eyes with her like she was its next meal. Maybe it was the survival instinct kicking in or the adrenaline flooding her system, but somehow she bolted. If she did not run now, she was as good as dead. The wolf howled and immediately gave chase, barreling through the trees and knocking them over like twigs. Luckily, Analise was petite and agile. Even with the wolf right on her heels, he could not quite catch her. Just then, she heard the chime of a bell. "This system has detected a highly compatible host. Dear Analise Chamber, would you like to bind with me? Complete the assigned tasks, and you'll be rewarded handsomely." Still dodging branches and sprinting as fast as she could, Analise answered without hesitation, "Yes!" She couldn't care less what the system was. Right now, she would bargain with the devil if it meant survival. "Wow, you're surprisingly polite for a system! All the ones in novels just bind without asking!" Analise teased while weaving through the forest. The system said, "Consent confirmed. Initiating binding sequence." Seconds later, it added, "Binding complete. Hello, Analise. I am Purification System Unit 0612, but you may call me Echo. I'll now be issuing your starter pack. Please stand by." Analise was gasping for air as she kept running, and the giant wolf behind her was still hot on her trail. It had already crashed into several trees along the way. If she had not been quick enough to dodge, she probably would have been crushed by one of the falling trunks by now. Suddenly, a transparent screen appeared in front of her in midair, and a gift box wrapped with a big bow was bouncing on the screen. Without even thinking, Analise reached out and tapped the bouncing box. [Congratulations, Analise! You've received Level-1 Purification Heart, Level-1 Purification Bow, Purification Potion, Dual Daggers, and F-grade Mind Essence.] As soon as the box opened, a white orb labeled Purification Heart and a blue orb labeled Mind Essence shot toward her chest and vanished into her body like beams of light. Analise felt a strange mix of burning heat and icy coldness swirl around her heart. The sensations collided all at once, and the shock made her stumble. She dropped to her knees, her strength drained by the overwhelming feeling—but that sudden drop just so happened to help her dodge the wolf's next strike. Echo said, "Analise, you can try using your Purification Power now." "How do I use it?" Analise asked quickly, twisting halfway around as she looked up at the massive wolf looming over her. Echo replied, "Simply touch any part of the wolf therian's body. The Purification Heart has fully fused with you, giving you access to your basic purification power." Seeing her frozen in place, the wolf immediately raised its paw to strike again. But before it could land, Analise lifted her hand and slapped it against the soft pad of the wolf's paw. Everything froze in that instant, and her hand was pressed firmly against the wolf's paw pad, almost like they were locked together. Analise could see a stream of black mist slither from the wolf's body into her hand and flow into her chest. That strange burning sensation returned, and her hand began to tremble from the intensity. As the black mist kept pouring out of him and into her, the wolf slowly began to shift back into his human form. However, its ears and tail were still there. She finally realized that they were actually real. "Little lady?" Finlay, the wolf therian, blinked down at their interlocked hands, visibly confused as if he had not fully regained consciousness yet. The moment the last wisp of dark energy vanished, Analise pulled her hand back and finally got a proper look at the guy in front of her. When she first woke up, everything had happened too fast—he pushed her away, then chased her through the woods like a rabid beast. She had not even seen his face. Now that things had calmed, she could see Finlay was tall, probably around six feet three inches. He also looked slightly mixed-race, with sharp features. He had normal human ears, but on top of his head sat a pair of animal ears that looked suspiciously like dog ears. Nonetheless, since he was a wolf therian, those had to be wolf ears. Noticing her stare, his tail gave a sudden twitch, wagging nervously behind him. "Um… Lady, was it you who calmed me down? Are you hurt at all?" Finlay's gaze darted anxiously over her body, as if making sure she had not broken a bone or something. When he confirmed she was fine, his shoulders relaxed just slightly. If she had gotten hurt, he would have been in serious trouble. No matter which alliance a female belonged to, if a male caused her harm, he would be severely punished. Females were meant to be protected—no exceptions. "I'm fine. But what made you lose control like that?" Analise asked carefully, trying to understand the situation. However, her eyes could not stop drifting toward that wagging tail. It looked so soft, and she kind of wanted to pet it. When she saw him shift into a full-blown wolf earlier, she already suspected she was not in her original world anymore. But since her body was still her own, she figured she had somehow body-crossed rather than soul-crossed like in those fantasy novels. "I was attacked by a Vexoth therian. I got infected with its venom," Finlay said bluntly. His tail slowed down as his tone turned serious. "Either way, little lady, we should leave this forest. It's not safe here." Analise mumbled, "Vexoth?"