Between one blink and the next the world vanished as the pod did its job. I found myself deposited on the edge of the bed as the usual prompt hovered in front of me. The thing blocked my view of the room as I skimmed the information. To be honest, it was a bit weird that the system considered my going back to Earth as logging off. Then again, what could the person that made the pods have put in that wouldn’t have caused at least a few people to freak out?

  As the prompt vanished, I found myself eye to chest with a completely naked, save for the towel, Xander. My eyes widened while my muscles stiffened. Fear, confusion, and a few other emotions flared up inside me at the sight.

  Now, it wasn’t the first time I had seen another guy naked before. Hell, I had seen this guy shirtless on many occasions. Typically during work in the summers as being inside a building that wasn’t kept cool caused even the weird people who liked heat to remove at least one layer.

  But that didn’t mean I had ever seen him like this. His muscles were toned to a degree I had thought impossible except in ads. Couple that with the sheen of water, I found the sight oddly enjoyable. There was even a strange flutter that stirred in my chest — a sensation I had never associated with Xander or any other man before.

  Wait, that wasn’t entirely true. It did something similar when the elf had hugged me. What did that mean? Had this not-really-a-game started changing me even back then? Was the SoulStone simply a tool to speed up the transformation? The thought and feelings caused a shiver of fear to shear its way down my spine and adrenaline to dump into my blood as panic surged through me.

  He must have noticed me because he looked in my direction. “Alex,” was all he got out before I bolted across the room and through the door. My boosted hearing meant that I could hear curses that emanated from his room as I sprinted in a random direction. God, how I hoped that there was a stairwell in this direction. If not then I would have to double back.

  Lucky for me, I found the stairs. Too bad there was a group of people between me and my escape and there was no way I was going to be able to stop in time. My feet slid across the ground as I scrambled to stop my momentum. A scaled man casually reached out and grabbed onto both of my shoulders as he brought me to a stop.

  I didn’t give him time to say anything. I simply nodded my thanks as I scurried around him and onto the stairs. The group’s chat became more animated as I whipped around the first switchback. As I ripped around the second, I found myself face to face with a group coming up the stairs. Each of them wore armor that looked well-used. Given the dry blood and slightly tired looks, I was pretty sure they had just returned from a hunt.

  “So, after we get washed up, do y’all want to hit up that new bar down the road?” One of the guys in lighter armor asked.

  I tried to look for a way around the slow-moving group, but they left little room on either side. None of them seemed to have noticed me yet. “Sure, I need something to wash the taste of spider off my tongue.” A woman in a darker robe grumped before taking a sip from a waterskin.

  “Hey,” the man in a light-grey robe groaned. “I said I was sorry for that.” The ring of blue gold that hovered over his head caught my eye. Even if the stairs were not lit, I was sure that thing would have lit the group's way. Body turned, I tried to edge past the group.

  “Well, maybe you should figure out how to turn off your SoulStone artifact.” The first guy said before snapping his eyes in my direction. “Oh, what do we have here?”

  A sliver of fear bolted through me as his eyes trailed up and down my body. Another man spoke up from where he hovered over the group. He was huge, likely a tank or a heavy hitter, and his voice was a deep base that seemed to rumble as he spoke. “Looks like a fox beastman.” The fear expanded into a pit as I recalled what people in Proxima had done to the non-humans that resided there.

  Now, I could cower and hope they moved on but that had never been my thing. Seeing as I had been noticed, I saw no reason to try and hide my need to pass. My body pushed forward as I tried to move through the small gap between the woman and the wall. Something suddenly pulled on my tail. The jerk and pain caused me to squeak as it yanked me to a stop. Without reason, a wild thought flit through my mind of what one of the men might decide to do if they got ahold of me.

  It was a fear that I had even when I was still a man. I had honestly been lucky that no one managed to do anything. But maybe my luck had finally run out. Maybe today would be the day that I didn’t get away. Not that it meant I would go without a fight.

  My eyes were wild as I spun on the balls of my feet. One of my fists flew toward the hand of whoever had a grip on my tail. The perpetrator had it to their face as they rubbed it against their cheek. They almost looked ready to purr until my fist collided with her chin.

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  She had to be quite a bit stronger than me because the strike only caused her to stumble a step back. Either she didn’t notice or didn’t care as she just continued to rub her cheek against my fur. That was a bad sign as I had thrown everything I had into that attack yet it had only caused her to stumble. Hell, even her lip had made it through without any signs of bruising. Worst still, I was now stuck in the middle of the small group with no easy way out.

  “Alex!” Xander called as he ran around the steps. He must not have expected the group to be there as he nearly turned the light-grey robed guy into a speed bump in his hurry to find me. Lucky for him, Xander managed to grab onto the banister to slow down. The thing must have been fairly sturdy as it survived his white-knuckled grip.

  “Smith,” the tank rumbled. His voice sounded respectful if not a bit reverent.

  Xander gave a simple nod back. His voice was calm as he asked, “You wouldn’t have happened to see a Kitsune girl running through here, would you?” The combination of fast-moving eyes and twitchy fingers was all I needed to see to know that Xander was practically panicked at my sudden departure. His eyes flicked over to the railing multiple times as if he was debating launching himself over the damned thing.

  I debated with myself if I should call out for him or to stay quiet. If I did call out to him and the group decided that they wanted me, what could he do against them? He was one person. It didn’t matter how many levels he had on me. It was likely that everyone here matched or exceeded his level and they had numbers on their side.

  Of course, this was also a great argument against staying quiet. If he didn’t stand a chance, I sure as hell didn’t. My only hope in such a scenario was to somehow trick them into letting me go. Fat chance of that happening.

  Before I could decide, the group collectively stepped back. Their eyes darted nervously between Xander and me as fear filled their expressions. The woman dropped my tail as if it burned her as she sputtered. “We, we, we didn’t know she was yours.”

  Given what I knew about Xander, none of their reactions made sense. Still, that didn’t stop me from using it to my advantage. I turned and bolted down the stairs. While it sounded as if multiple people gave chase, their steps soon started to recede as they made it around the next landing.

  My feet managed to carry me fairly fast yet I didn’t make it far. Not even halfway down another set of stairs, Xander dropped into my path. “Stop running,” his voice was calm as his hand gently patted the air. It was almost as if he was trying to calm a spooked animal. Maybe that was how he saw me. Maybe to him I was simply an animal.

  While I saw a path around him, I took a page out of his book and grabbed the banister. I used it to stop my momentum as I debated leaping down to the next floor before he could stop me. “Why are you running?” His words somehow cut through the panic.

  “Um…” I had no answer ready. “I need to?” My mind worked feverishly as it tried to come up with a convincing reason as it simultaneously looked for an escape route. He stood there, stock still as he waited for my answer. “I was going to meet someone.” I blurted out.

  His eyebrows lift as what he says next confuses me. “Dressed like that?” Heat rushed to my cheeks as I glanced down. The oversized t-shirt barely covered me. A sudden cool draft reminded me just how exposed I was. My arms wrapped around me on instinct as my desire to run evaporated. The sudden lack of adrenaline being pumped into my veins left me weak. Both legs gave out as a sudden wave of tiredness pulled them out from under me.

  Xander didn’t catch me like I expected. I thought it was because I had done something wrong but when I looked, I found that he had a worried expression on his face. His hands slowly reached out toward me as he spoke in the softest tone I had ever heard from him. “At least come back to the room to get dressed.”

  Tears pricked my eyes as I shook my head. I don’t have anything to wear. Not for this body. Maybe the dress would fit, but the strikes from the demon had likely damaged it beyond usability. So even if I knew where it was, it would be useless.

  As I tried to keep from bursting into tears, Xander continued his slow movements. He sat next to me as his hands wrapped around me. His pull was light. Somehow, I knew that if I were to put up any resistance he would stop. In fact, I even debated doing just that but found that I liked the embrace. Despite my earlier panic, Xander’s presence was soothing enough that I didn’t fight him as he pulled my head to his chest.

  He smelled of something dark and woodsy mixed with petrichor. We sat like that for a little while. People were quiet as they walked around us. Eventually, though, he asked a question. “Do you feel up to going back to the room?” Unable to speak, lest I broke whatever this was, I shook my head. “Why not? Does it have something to do with me?” At first, I shook my head once before I gave a tentative nod. “Are you afraid of what I might do?” My head practically vibrated side to side in answer.

  If there was a guy that I could wholeheartedly trust to not try something, it would be Xander. His sigh sounded relieved. “Are you afraid of what you have become?” I took a second to think about the question. My thumb and forefinger practically touched as I held them up. “That is understandable but you cannot hide from it. No matter how temporary the change is, you need to face it face-on.”

  I shook my head. I didn’t want to face this body. I wanted to hide from it. To deny it. He sighed again before he spoke. “At least come get changed.” Suddenly, something occurred to him. “You don’t have anything to wear, do you?” My flinch must have been enough of an answer because his chuckle was light and comforting. “While I expected as much, I had hoped you had something that might have fit your new form. Still, I am happy my sister insisted that I get a few pieces for you.”

  I jerked my head back in shock. I didn’t know that Xander had a sister. We had known each other for years and the guy never mentioned her once. Xander chuckled lightly as he stood up. He held out a hand as he said. “How about we make a deal? You come back and get dressed. Afterward, I will take you to meet her. I have a feeling you will both get along quite well. Probably too well.” He practically murmured the last part. The old me wouldn’t have been able to hear it but now it came across as a soft whisper in my ear.

  Those words more than anything spurred me to grab his hand. His grip was soft as he pulled me to my feet. A moment later, he led me up the stairs and I followed without protest. Partly out of curiosity and desire to meet his sister, and partly because he was still holding my hand. His grip was strong and insistent yet soft enough that it didn’t hurt.