Albert mouthed the curse, but it never made it past his lips.
A sudden, slicing crack tore through the air behind him—like a massive predator cutting through the atmosphere with a single leap.
An instant later, something heavy and powerful slammed him flat onto the ground.
Shouts erupted from the camp tents.
"Sir!"
"Why is the Commander out here? I thought he was still—"
"GRRR—!"
A low, guttural snarl vibrated right beside Albert's ear.
A heavy paw pinned him down, claws slipping in and out with quiet menace—sharp enough to open him from spine to stomach if he so much as twitched.
And then the beast—no, the bestial mutant—spoke.
"Don't move."
Its voice was rough, likely because it was still in its animal form, but unmistakably young—and unmistakably male.
Albert's cheek was pressed against the frozen dirt, his ears still ringing from the roar. His head buzzed. He coughed, dry and involuntary, and forced a strained laugh.
"Don't worry, sir. Not planning on it."
With danger sitting literally on top of him, instinct kicked in. Stay still. Stay calm. Don't die.
The Commander lowered his massive head, sniffing at Albert. A damp nose brushed lightly along his cheek; warm breath puffed against his skin.
Albert wrinkled his nose.
Great. I'm gonna sneeze.
The creature continued sniffing—slow, methodical—until it reached the back of Albert's neck. There, it paused. And lingered.
Albert's heart plummeted.
That was exactly where his alpha gland was.
In his previous life, Albert had lived in a modern ABO world. After waking up here, he'd tried sensing the drifters' scents but caught nothing. He'd assumed this world didn't have secondary genders.
So that wasn't his first thought now.
Instead, he wondered:
Do beast mutants eat people?
What if the thing behind him found the flesh at his nape especially soft and decided to take a sample?
His Adam's apple bobbed anxiously.
After a long, nerve-shredding silence, the beast finally spoke.
"Hey. What's your name?"
"…Albert," Albert answered. "Albert."
Relief washed through him. Whatever the creature wanted, it didn't sound like dinner.
A soft huff—almost a scoff—escaped the bestial man behind him, as though acknowledging the answer.
Then the weight lifted. The furry paw withdrew.
Albert gasped as air rushed back into his lungs.
Albert felt as though he'd just been granted a royal pardon. He stayed facedown for a moment, gulping air, then slowly rolled onto his back so he could breathe more easily.
The instant he moved, the surrounding guards snapped their weapons up, all guns trained on him.
But Albert barely noticed them. His attention was completely captured by the towering figure before him—
A snow leopard. One far larger than any ordinary adult man.
Magnificent, wrapped in thick, plush fur. Its immaculate white coat was dotted with elegant black rosettes, each one sharp and beautifully defined. The creature had its back to Albert, as if preparing to leave. Its long, heavy tail swayed lazily behind it, brushing lightly across Albert's waist from time to time.
An adjutant stepped forward, visibly tense. "Sir, why have you come out? We can handle this—"
Everyone in the camp knew Commander Hayes was currently in his mating cycle.
After bestialization, mutants' biological rhythms gradually aligned with the animals they had transformed into. During certain periods, instinctive urges for reproduction surged—impossible to suppress. Most bestial mutants solved the issue in the simplest way: finding a clean, temporary partner.
But everyone also knew their commander, Hayes, was an obsessively fastidious man with an extreme sense of purity.
—He would rather shut himself in his tent for over ten days, enduring his entire mating cycle alone, than let a stranger anywhere near him.
Physiological frustration made bestial mutants especially irritable and temperamental during this period, with occasional waves of drowsiness and lethargy that severely reduced their combat abilities.
Which was why the entire team did everything in their power not to disturb Hayes at this time.
No one expected him to appear now.
"Relax," Hayes said.
The snow leopard glanced back over its shoulder, towering over Albert. Its crystalline feline eyes—like twin gemstones—glowed beneath the firelight.
With a proud lift of its chin, it looked down at the man still on the ground, scrutinizing him with regal disapproval. "Someone explain this to me."
A subordinate immediately stepped forward. "Report. We just identified a band of drifters suspected of long-term theft in the city. They attempted to steal food from our warehouse. We've already deployed two squads in pursuit. Three of this petty thief's accomplices have been captured, and the rest won't get far!"
It took Albert a second to realize he was the "petty thief" being referred to.
As the words sank in, the snow leopard's cold, dangerous gaze swept over his face once more, making the back of his neck prickle.
Awkward.
Albert forced a stiff smile and tried to defend himself. "I'm, uh… not with them. I just ran into them on the road, thought I'd follow along to see what— hey, hey, let's talk this over properly."
A gun barrel pressed against his forehead.
"How dare you lie!"
"I'm really not—!" Albert protested, feeling thoroughly wronged.
"Enough."
The crisp command sliced through the air, and the entire camp fell silent.
Albert shut his mouth too, adopting the most harmless expression he could muster as he looked up at the enormous snow leopard.
Hayes stared at him in silence for a moment, then said offhandedly, "I see. Just thieves. Detain them and interrogate them. Follow standard procedure. As for this one—"
A flicker of pure distaste crossed the snow leopard's noble face. But the next words he spoke stunned everyone present.
"I'll take him."
The three simple syllables landed like an explosion.
"Wh—what?!"
Hayes ignored their shock completely.
The snow leopard turned and padded back toward the tent, tossing out one final command without so much as a backward glance:
"He's filthy. Clean him up and send him to my tent later."
Several guards' jaws practically hit the ground. They exchanged looks of pure disbelief, wondering if they'd all heard wrong.
After all, they had previously searched the entire city, selecting dozens of handsome drifters for Hayes to choose from. Each one had been eager—thrilled at the possibility of being chosen by a powerful mutant.
Hayes rejected every single one of them and scolded the team for the idea.
Yet now…
A few seconds later, they finally regained their senses and saluted at once.
"Yes, Sir!"