The next couple of weeks passed in a blur. Except for the two hunting trips I was required to take part in, I spent most of my time with the humans. We had gone through a long phase of pointing at things and repeating the correct word. But now we had finally gotten to a stage where I could speak simple sentences and understand most of what they said back.

  We still hadn't gotten to the part where we could actually communicate properly about the important things, like how Finley had to start hunting for Arissa soon, unless he wanted to end up as her food instead. They had also avoided asking me about the important things I knew they wanted to ask. I had overheard them whispering every day, and now that I could understand many of their words, their whispering was quite entertaining to overhear. If only they knew how well my hearing was.

  I had made a point of pointing out that our sense of smell was good, and if they tried to escape, someone would track them down and eat them, and the only thing keeping them alive was my own desire to keep them alive. Getting them to understand that on one of the first days had been one hell of a struggle, I think we spent nearly an hour with pointing and imitations before they got the full meaning.

  I had just gotten back to the village after killing and bringing back a dire wolf. I hated sharing my meat, but since I hadn't found any edible vegetation yet, I didn't have much of a choice.

  But I had decided that today was the day we would have the big talk about the future, and I figured we could do it while sharing a meal. I hadn't managed to shake off the memory of their terrified gazes, they had given me the last time they saw me eat, the day we had captured them. So since then, I avoided eating in front of them.

  But I had a good feeling about today, their fear of me had lessened considerably, and I had something special I had saved for the day we would have the big talk. So I grinned like a loon when I entered my house with a giant dire wolf over my shoulder. As soon as I entered, I shouted “ I'm home” in the common human language.

  I heard Harvey and Finley scramble to their feet and hurried to the door to meet me. Both men met me with a bow and said in unison,” Welcome home.”

  Harvey stared at the dire wolf on my back and said,” That is one giant wolf. Do you need any help with it ?”

  I let out a soft chuckle at the thin man’s offer. I waved my paw in dismissal before replying. “ Nah, it's fine, this thing must weigh twice of what you do.”

  Harvey just eyed me up and down. He hesitated for a moment before he said,” That might be so, but it must weigh nearly three times your own weight. Is there some special occasion? You usually bring us much smaller animals, or just parts of one. We can't possibly eat the whole thing before it spoils.”

  I tried to give him a genuine smile while holding my teeth back as I answered.” I might not weigh that much, but I'm much stronger than humans are. As for occasions, I figured I would eat with you today. Now that we can communicate better, we need to have that overdue discussion.”

  “What overdue discussion?” Finley asked, with a hint of fear in his voice.

  I put the dire wolf down in the main room, avoiding the sleeping furs I had provided the humans. My eyes lingered on the dead wolf, and I felt my stomach rumble in anticipation. I forcefully changed my attention back to Finley and said. “ The important one. Like, why are you here, why has no one killed you yet, the plan for the future, and so on. I know you two have plenty of questions you haven't dared to ask yet. So let's get it all out in the open,”

  Finley visibly swallowed in nervousness and asked.” Will you really answer? We don't ask anything that might anger you in any way.”

  I just waved my paw in dismissal and responded. “ Don't worry about it, I'm not easily offended, and I've already gone through great lengths to keep you alive so far. I promise I will answer truthfully to all of your questions. I might refuse to answer certain questions, but I won't lie. And if this goes well, I have a treat for you a bit later, but first I want us to eat together, so take as much as you want from the wolf and start the fire.”

  I sat down on a stool at the table Finley had been carving over the last couple of days, and I couldn't help grinning to myself at the thought that I owned more furniture. Finley had proved to be a talent at carving wood, and he had managed to create four stools and a simple table in less than a week.

  I watched Finley as he struggled to cut off the hind leg of the dire wolf. I couldn't help but laugh at the sight. He turned towards me as I laughed, and I managed to say. “ Need any help with that?”

  A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  His face turned into a grimace, before he sighed and his face fell into defeat, and he replied. “ Yeah, why not. Maybe you can show off some of that strength you seem so proud of.”

  I got up from my seat and sat down beside Finley and said. “ Just tell me how much you want. “

  I extended my claw and cut precisely through the leg. The bone itself was the only thing resisting, but my claw went through as soon as I applied a little force. I put the leg in his lap, and he stared wide-eyed at my extended claw.

  “ Wow, just wow. Those claws look sharp, but they just sliced through. you even cut through the bone itself.” Finley stated with his eyes wide in surprise.

  I couldn't help but grin like an idiot at the praise, but the scent of the open wound hit my nose, and I felt the lingering hunger creeping in on me. I tried to shake it off and abruptly got up and took a few steps away from Finley.

  “ What's wrong? “ He asked in a curious voice.

  I kept trying to shake away the hunger that tried to claim control over me. It demanded that I eat, to stuff my mouth in an endless act of gluttony. I mentally screamed at the voice of my hunger to leave me alone, that I would eat when the time was right.

  I took a few deep breaths to calm myself down further. A few moments later, I regained myself and looked back at Finley, his eyes filled with worry.

  “ It's fine. I'm fine.” I replied,

  “What was that about? “ He asked

  I sighed and said. “ It's nothing really, the scent of the blood just hit my nose, and I felt extra hungry for a moment there. But is it enough? Should I slice off a bit more for you?”

  “Extra hungry? What do you mean by that? “ He asked with a hint of fear in his voice.

  “ It's just a fox thing, all our senses are sharp, and I just reacted a bit to the scent of blood. No need to worry. “ I said, not wanting to bring up the entire concept of my hunger overwhelming me.

  At that, Harvey came back into the house, his arms filled with firewood. He put it all down by the fireplace and gave us a curious glance before asking. “ What happened? I can nearly feel the tension in the air.”

  “ It's nothing, I just got a bit excited by the smell of blood, and I had to calm myself down, and Finley here got a bit nervous. That's all.” I stated, with a hint of nervousness in my voice.

  Harvey glanced at Finley before looking at me with his eyebrow raised and said, “Didn't you just say that you wouldn't lie?”

  I let a nervous laugh escape my mouth and replied. “ That wasn't a lie.”

  “But it wasn't the full truth either,” Harvey stated, like he knew there was more behind it.

  I exhaled in defeat, sat down on the stool, and felt my ears droop, and said. “ Okay, okay there is more behind it, but it's a fox thing. We are just a little sensitive to the smell of blood, and the excitement was just a bit overwhelming for a moment there. That's all.”

  “That's all? You can see how that is worrying to us, considering how you could eat us, we have already seen you eat our colleagues after all.” Harvey said with a stern expression

  “You have no idea the lengths I've gone through to keep you alive so far, that is part of what we need to discuss. But let's eat first, I'm starving, and I get moody if I'm too hungry.” I said, trying to dodge the question.

  Harvey accepted my response, and started treading meat onto sticks for roasting and a while later we sat down, the men with a wooden plate filled with grilled swevers, and me with a freshly skinned dire wolf carcass.

  I patiently waited for the humans to take a server each before I dove into the carcass. Being able to sit with a table and simply eat without the risk of having someone snatch the meat out of your mouth was liberating, and I tried to take my time and enjoy my meal. Nevertheless, my hunger wouldn't give me peace, and I had to endure the whispering voice in the back of my mind during the entire meal

  When I swallowed the final scrap of flesh, I laid my eyes on the two humans, and my hunger demanded more, and for a brief moment, I imagined myself jumping over the table to keep on devouring. I pushed the thought back into the back of my mind and sighed.

  Then I noticed the humans still had several sewers left and were staring with fearful eyes at me. With a slight annoyance in my voice, I looked at Harvey and asked. “ What? Why aren't you eating? Wasn't the wolf to your liking?

  “The wolf meat is fine, it's just that, seeing you eat is kinda terrifying. How can you possibly eat that much? You must have even more than your own body weight in a single meal. Also, you are completely covered in blood, it reminds us of that night you captured us.

  I inspected my shirt, only to realize it was soaked with blood from my meal. I groaned, suspecting my face was equally filthy, and I let out a nervous chuckle before saying,” We can eat several times our own weight, but I might have made more of a mess than planned. Will it be an issue? I could go and change if that makes you feel better.”

  Harvey seemed hesitant to give me an answer, so I got to my feet and said. “ You are allowed to speak your own mind, I will go and change. I need to pick up the surprise I had saved for you anyway.

  I picked a cleaner shift from my dresser and headed to the tent I had resumed using since I packed the humans in my house. I changed into my clean clothes and found two of the bottles of spirits I had taken from the camp. I had considered having some ever since that day, but had decided to wait. Drinking alone was never a good idea after all.

  I suddenly puzzled over that, I thought I knew how it felt to be drinking. Alcohol was not something that Celestial snow foxes knew about, and I had never overheard anyone discuss it, but I thought I knew the feeling of being drunk. Does that mean that my previous life isn't a figment of my imagination after all?

  If everything I thought I remembered was true after all, what does that make me? The humans look at me like I'm a monster, and from certain points of view, I can't argue against that. Oh gawd, that is a depressing thought. Sounds like the perfect excuse to get hammered, I told myself before making my way back to my little house.