situation, about the man standing in front of me. That i

new dead and buried, the people I loved turned to dust, and now the first living pe

d react with fear or panic, they beg for protection or run before understanding what they are running from. But I am different, I am afraid

ask, my voice ste

h. A normal human would ask how to survive, his expression seems t

f us trusts the other enough to ask the questions that really matter. Before

rgy signatures detected. Curre

y, his body tensing like a predat

g grows closer behind us. The world outside is familiar and unfamiliar at the same time, buildings I remember from my childhood

abilities and others experiencing mutations and some evolving into shifters capable of taking beast forms far beyond ordinary a

t him. "

k passing across his face. "Lion bloodline." A

parts of yourself you do not want to share, and I respec

tense, because I expected a lone monster but instead I find a group. Three shifters are waiting, and the fi

at me curiously, his head tilting li

him complet

d treatment. "So she does know you h

a weapon or a monster, they treat him like family, and that surprises me more than anything I have seen today. T

p and I am alone with my thoughts, Sy

sis complete. Classi

and strange on my tongue. "Mo

ed physical abilities, but Moonbinders were different. They were not created to destroy, they were created to connect, to form soul bonds

binders disappeared after The Fa

ng in my mind, my heart pou

lence that makes me want to

more secrets than answers, and I

Mission: Establish connection with a compatible shifter

ies is priceless, food and medicine and equipment, everything I find cou

cannot be forced. A shift

obvious. The system confirms it immediately. [Compatible shifter d

y, and I notice that everything he owns shows signs of being repaired countless times. He is n

his footsteps silent. "

use there is no point

wasn't born free. He was created through experiments, enhanced and modified and designe

el does not fear monsters, he fears belonging to someone who sees him a

is waiting for us. Mutated creatures emerge from the ruins, their bodies twisted and hungry, and Kael tra

unstable he becomes, his movements growing more violent and his in

t instability. Moonbinder synchroniz

power from these bonds, I am special because I can save th

efeated but exhausted, and I approach him bec

jaw tight. "You wou

not even

and charged. Then, so quietly I almost miss

ond System 001 activates. [Emergency detection. Comp

quiet, everything fading except the warmth spreadi

errupts, human a

ruins, their eyes not on Kael but on me, and the leader steps forward w

onbin

a growl building in his chest. The scavenger laughs, a cold sound t

ast answering before he does.

low and cruel. "Then yo

cause being rare did not make me safe, it mad

der identity exposed. Host survival probability decreasing. Rec

and the entire world, the man who might become my first bond. But a bond cannot

eepens, and I realize with terrifying clar