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It was completely naked but covered in thick, black fur, which was longer around the face like a mane—or a beard. A long and thin tail with a tufted point came out from its lower back.

It wasn’t fully unconscious; its odd face scrunched up in pain occasionally, but it didn’t seem lucid enough to even notice she was there. Naomi wasn’t sure what it was, or who it was, but it was clearly dying and she couldn’t just leave it for the wolves to prey on.

It was too enormous and likely too heavy for her to pick up and bring home by herself, but maybe she could drag it back if she could put it on something.

Naomi rushed back to the chalet, searching through the small shed in the backyard, and found a wooden board she could use. She quickly drilled a few holes and looped ropes through them, then ran back to the beast.

It was still there in the same position, its chest rising so slowly that Naomi wondered if she had been too late. Grabbing its shoulders, she used all of her strength to slide the plank under it, far enough that its body would come along with her if she pulled.

“Muscles, don’t fail me now,” she mumbled to herself as she started pulling the ropes.

The journey back was slow. She had to take many breaks to regain strength, stealing glances at the beast from time to time to ensure it was still breathing.

She dragged the creature into the shed, knowing she wouldn’t be able to get it inside the house on her own due to the front porch steps. After dropping it off she rushed inside the chalet, grabbing every towel and med kit she could find, then came back to tend to the beast.

Naomi struggled to find its injuries with all the thick fur covering its body, but she took deep breaths and chanted to herself quietly, “don’t panic, don’t panic.”

Naomi inspected under the wettest patches of coat, doing her best to stitch the cuts and wounds on its body. All the nights spent watching medical TV shows and listening to her doctor cousin—who complained about all the procedures and inaccuracies—gifted her with enough basic knowledge to do a good job. Hands now covered in its blood, she covered the injuries with bandages wherever she could. After giving it an injection to avoid infections, Naomi fell back on her ass, staring at the giant beast in front of her.

She wasn’t sure what it was, and trying to blindly administer more medicine would have been more dangerous. It had lost so much of its blood during the journey and on the shed’s floor, that Naomi worried about how much was even left, but she couldn’t donate hers, either. All she could do now was let it rest and hope it regained its strength.

Something so big and tough should be able to do that, right?

Before leaving, Naomi covered its body with a blanket. It felt silly considering it was already covered in thick fur, but with the blood loss and the lack of heating in the shed, it was better to keep it as warm as possible.

Naomi locked the shed and stumbled back inside the chalet, her arms and legs like jelly. Her hot shower lasted longer than it should have, all spent scrubbing the blood from her hands and letting the water wash over her aching muscles, attempting to soothe the pain.

Naomi was so exhausted, physically and mentally, that she fell asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow.

The next morning, Naomi startled awake to loud thumping.

What the hell is happening? Is someone trying to get into the house?

Naomi jumped from the bed, quickly putting a coat over her pajamas. Grabbing a hatchet, she looked outside the window.

There was no one at the door. There was no one around at all, not even an animal, yet the rhythmic sound was still present. It took Naomi a couple seconds to shake off the sleepiness and remember what had happened the day before.

The beast!

She rushed to the back of the house, and there it was. The door of the shed trembled with each thud.

If the beast was awake and had enough strength to bump against the door, then she had succeeded in keeping it alive. However, it was locked inside and clearly didn’t like it, which was not a good sign. Naomi didn’t even know if it was more than just an animal. Was it just a beast, or did it have intelligent thoughts? Could she have an actual conversation with it?

Her throat was fully dry and she couldn’t bring herself to speak, to call the beast and tell it to calm down. Instead, she chose another approach. If she quickly opened the door wide and hid herself behind it, maybe the beast would rush out and run back into the woods without looking back.

She tightened her grip on her hatchet then swung the door open. There was silence for a moment, then the door was ripped away from her and a clawed hand grabbed her by the arm, shoving her to the ground.

The impact wrenched the hatchet out of her grasp, tumbling away in the snow. She gasped but the scream died in her throat. The beast crouched over her with its huge body caging her in. Its hands pinned down her arms and its sharp mouth was just a few inches from her face, snarling down at her. Naomi was frozen in fear, tears burning behind her eyes.

“Who. Are. You,” the beast growled, enunciating every word.

It was more of an order than a question. Naomi fought to find her voice.

“I-I’m no one. I-I just found y-you in t-the—” she bit her lips in between stutters. “I’m sorry. I’m s-sorry.”

It sniffed her, its gaze gradually following her arm until it reached the sleeves of her coat. Its blood was still there, dry now—she hadn’t had time to wash it the evening before.

“What did you do?”