🦋ALTHEA
​Umbra went still.
​His jaws loosened, releasing my neck, and those massive amber eyes suddenly sharpened. He pulled back just enough to look at me properly, his head tilting in a gesture that was almost... curious.
​He sniffed. Once. Twice.
​His nostrils flared as he drew in my scent, processing. The growling stopped. The tension in his massive frame shifted from aggression to something else.
​And then his head came down.
​I braced for another attack—but he didn't bite.
​He licked me.
​One long, slow swipe of his tongue across my face, from jaw to ear. I froze, stunned.
​And then he did it again. And again.
​Adoring, enthusiastic licks that were so at odds with the nightmare beast he'd been seconds ago. His massive tail began to wag, sending gusts of air through the ruined hall. He licked my muzzle, my ears, the top of my head, his entire demeanor shifting from predator to... puppy.
​A massive, shadow-wreathed, apocalypse-inducing puppy.
