Kate's mind flashed with images: a sharp muzzle ripping into flesh and tasting blood; claws tearing at intestines; a giant paw crushing a leathery torso like an egg.

Thump. Thump. Thump.

She squeezed her eyes shut, and tried to force the gruesome images away.

Kate had gritted her teeth and followed behind Tom—who had to be dragged along by their neighbors—as they walked back to camp, her shoulders aching under the weight of her backpack full of Coins.

Since regaining consciousness after the Boss fight, the Bear had been silent or asleep. However, that had not lessened Kate's fear for Tom. The Bear didn't like being scared.

Later, as the dawn light settled over the campsite, all of them were awake and sitting—bleary-eyed—beside their campfire. Bo was poring over blueprints. Some of their neighbors had congregated nearby, which added to Kate's nerves.

The Bear was awake too.

Kate groaned as she mentally stamped down more gory images.

"Kate?" Tom whispered, his voice tired. "You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm good." Her heart pounded, and the Bear snarled and thrashed within. "I'm just worried about you."

Is it testing me?

Could the Bear force a change? She wasn't getting a prompt, but she could feel it pushing at her. She couldn't afford to let her guard down.

The Dungeon memories were vivid. Her perspective had been all Bear; her children were her cubs and Tom was her mate. As far as the Robinsons and Brad; her cubs and mate seemed to trust them, so Kate the Bear had as well. All of her higher-level thoughts had fallen away. It was astonishing how different it felt to be driven by raw instinct and emotion. She had felt powerful. Wild. Free.

And it scared the hell out of her.

Kate was even more terrified of losing control and hurting someone. The Bear raging and pushing at her only had made her fear of it grow.

She clenched her fists. Her nails dug into her palms as she fought to keep the Bear at bay.

"Um, has anyone looked through these blueprints?" Chloe said from behind Kate.

Her voice was a welcome distraction from the Bear's insistent weight.

"Yeah," said Bo. "Why, what's up?"

"Well, I was thinking that maybe we want to modify the blueprints before we build the items."

"For what purpose? And how do you know we can modify them at all?"

Chloe pointed to her robe. "All my Simple, I mean Crappy, gear gives a boost to mental power, as do several of the items in my new recipes. But I don't think I want to only boost mental power. We took plenty of damage in the Dungeon. Maybe I would like some type of mental defense boost, or maybe stamina, or a million other things. What I'm saying is that I believe . . . "

Chloe looked up to see she had the full attention of not only her family but many of their neighbors. Her voice froze.

The Bear growled at her cub for being timid.

For a split-second Kate almost snapped at Chloe, but she held her tongue.

Kate leaned in closer so only Chloe could hear. "Just pretend like you're only talking to me. They are interested in hearing what you have to say, they are not judging you, honey."

Chloe nodded, but kept glancing over her shoulder. "Ummm . . . oh yeah. Anyway, so the point I was trying to make is that I think we should experiment with the ingredients before blindly building the items on our blueprints. It might take a little longer to figure out the process, but we might end up with better items for ourselves."

"You're speaking about how we learned to swap out food ingredients, only you're suggesting that might work with . . . everything?" Tom grunted, and shifted his weight.

"Well . . . maybe not everything. I doubt you can add maple syrup to your new Shield blueprint to make it warmer, but maybe you could find a resource which would add a strength buff instead of toughness if that would be something you'd want." Chloe looked at the ground. "I don't know, I was mostly thinking out loud . . . "

"With our limited resources, I think that it's a great idea," Tom said.

"Same here," Bo said. "There are some items which we need to get started immediately, like the cabins. But the idea is smart and we'll have to experiment. Good thinking, Chloe."

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

Bo picked up a few blueprints and moved away to talk to some craftspeople.

Kate caught Chloe smiling to herself. That simple smile brought a relief to Kate that—for the moment—seemed to hold the Bear at bay all on its own.

Bo waved Chloe forward to join their conversation. Chloe gulped, but moments later she was quietly explaining to them the detail behind her ideas.

Tess approached Bo and the craftspeople, who were now going over their schedules and workloads. She tapped her father on the shoulder.

"Dad! If we're talking about schedules, I think it's important that we schedule time for training."

"Yeah, honey. Good idea. You and the kids should keep that up." Bo was already scrutinizing one of his blueprints. "Sam, how many lumber piles did you say we—"

"No, Dad! I meant you too. The adults. Everyone on the hill."

"We can discuss that later."

"No, Dad. This is important. I know we defeated the Dungeon, but—"

"Buildings are our priority." Red blotches crept up Bo's neck. "People are freezing." His tone ended the conversation.

Tess tightened her fists, and left to sit with her mother.

The families were almost falling over with exhaustion, but the early-morning air buzzed with activity. People on the hill came over to greet them, and even cheered when they found out everyone was safe.

Bridget rounded up [Skinners], [Tanners], and [Butchers] to process the slain boars. With the families' permission, they dragged the massive creatures away.

Bo had instructed their neighbors to pile the loot beside their usual campfire. Now, Kate's eyes narrowed as a group of curious people gathered around the stacks of treasures, their eyes greedily scanning each item. Kate's blood pressure rose. The Bear growled, ready to tear apart those who threatened her family's hard-earned gains. She clenched her fists again, until her nails broke the skin.

Chill out. Chill out. They're just looking.

Stan was among them.

He's that fucker who hit Tom!

He bent down, grabbed a pair of Leather Gloves, and began to put them on.

Kate's lip pulled back in a snarl. She stepped forward.

I'm gonna—

"Whoa!" Tess stepped between the neighbors and the loot pile. "Hold on, this stuff isn't yours. We bled for this. After we look at it and decide what we can and can't use, then we'll be happy to talk about giving some of this out to everyone. Until then, keep your hands off our stuff!"

Kate and the Bear both raised their eyebrows at Tess.

Tess looked over to Bo; he nodded in agreement.

Stan dropped the Gloves back onto the loot pile. He raised his hands, and they all reluctantly backed off, murmuring among themselves.

Bridget ran over from the far side of the hill. "After Blake heard that noble stuff, he ran back here and whipped up some of the others. He's in the woods with them now, packing and getting ready to flee. They don't know you're back!"

I'm so sick of that guy.

"He thinks I'm poaching last minute supplies, but I ran here to warn you. I choose to stay with the Kingdom of Raintree, if you'll have me."

"Yeah, Bridget. Of course," Bo said. "If those people want to leave, that's up to them."

"Blake lied! They don't know anything about the Kingdom of Raintree or that we can build permanent structures now. They're all scared out of their minds, and he's lying to them!"

That son of a bitch!

Thump. Thump. Thump.

"All right," said Bo. "Let's go inform them."

Tom lay on his back in the dirt. "I'm going to just stay here, if that's cool."

"Yeah, rest up," Bo said. "We're just going to have a chat."

Kate kissed Tom on the cheek, and followed Bridget and the others down the hill. She wanted to stay with Tom, but her healing aura wouldn't do any good at this point, and she might be needed if a fight broke out.

Shadows moved beyond the treeline. They stepped into the woods, and came upon Blake and a group of people carrying bulging bundles of goods—probably stolen.

This douche bag is always causing problems.

Thump. Thump. Thump.

"Hey, everyone," Bo called out with a forced smile.

Most of the group looked sheepish.

Bo raised a hand. "Listen, please. Just for a second. You're still welcome to leave if you want. No hard feelings, and I honestly wish you the best of luck. Before you leave, though, I just wanted to make sure you had the most up to date information."

"What do you mean?" an older White woman asked.

"Everyone, focus on me like you would an item." Bo pointed above his head. "There should be a title there now. By defeating the Dungeon, I've been given ownership of this land. We can now build on it. I have blueprints for housing, tables, chairs, lumbermills, bread ovens, and so on. It's going to be a lot of hard work, and you're free to leave if you want to, but I honestly don't think there's anything out there. I hope you'll stay here with us, so that we can make it through this together."

A young Black man set his small daughter down. Kate recognized him as one of the loggers.

"Bo, you seriously think we can survive here? I got young ones to worry about, man. I'm scared as hell, and I honestly don't know what to do. And this guy," the man pointed at Blake, "keeps saying we're all going to die if we stay here."

"I believe staying is way safer than running out into those woods," said Bo. "I believe it enough that my family is staying, and the Damascus family too. We just knocked that Headless Dungeon back to zero. We can build now, and we have access to more materials, and information books. I want to be totally . . . transparent here. The Dungeon will be back next week, and we will have to be defeat it again. But it will only be a Level 1 . . . I think we can do it."

The logger nodded, and exchanged a look with his wife.

"All right, Bo. We'll stay."

Some of the others nodded.

"Sorry, Bo," the older woman said.

Blake's face turned red. "Fine! We'll go on our own!" He grabbed Bridget's arm and tried to drag her away.

"Let me go!" Bridget cried, and wrenched her arm from Blake's grip. "I'm not leaving with you!"

Bo stepped between them. "Listen, man. This can't go down like this. Bridget doesn't have to go with you if she doesn't want to."

Blake moved right into Bo's face. "This is all your fault! You're going to get everyone here killed!" he spat.

Bo met Blake's gaze evenly. "Everyone has a choice, Blake. If you want to go, then go. But don't force anyone else to follow you." He leaned closer. "And you better get out of my face. I am trying really hard to be civil, but that is only going to last so long."

"Sir, I think I can feel your fear," said Chloe. "I understand this is scary. I'm scared too, but this might actually be the safest place to be, since the Dungeon is Level zero."

"I didn't ask you, bitch! Stay out of my fucking head!"

That's it.

Kate saw red. The Bear roared, ready to tear Blake apart.

The Black logger's daughter peered around her father's legs. Her large brown eyes halted Kate.

The Bear's fury mixed with Kate's, threatening to break free. Her heart raced, and her breath came in ragged gasps as she struggled to keep the Bear under control.

"Fine! I guess we'll all just stay here and fucking die then!" Blake shouted, and his voice cracked.

Bo had to yell to be heard as they continued to argue.

Kate barely noticed; her focus was consumed by the battle within.

The Bear wanted out. It was going to tear this guy to pieces.

Kate kept expecting a flashing prompt, but it never appeared. Was that a one-time thing, for her first change? Could the Bear just force its way out? If it got out, would it stop at hurting Blake? What if she killed him? Her family didn't know these other people, what if she killed others?

Thump. Thump. Thump.

She closed her eyes, but the Bear was right there with her in her mind. Kate stood beside it in the small, cramped mental Bear's den. The weight of the Bear's immense body pressed down on her. Its ragged breaths filled her ears, and its snarls and growls echoed in her skull. Its hot meaty breath blew in her face.

It attacked her. Each swipe of its massive claws sent jolts of pain through Kate's mind. With each strike, Kate's control slipped away, like water through a cupped hand.

I can't let it hurt these people!

Kate's [Maternal Instincts] buff flowed through her body like a storm surge, bringing a mental strength she didn't know she possessed. She roared, and slammed her fists and shoulder into the Bear over and over.

The Bear backed away, eyeing her warily.

Kate smelled it then; the Bear's fear and uncertainty. She charged at it, swinging and kicking at it with everything she had.

The Bear groaned, and faded away.

A warm pulse returned to Kate's chest. She let out a long sigh of relief.

Am I going to have to fight this thing every time I get angry?

Kate looked around; Bridget was standing beside her, tears streaming down her face.

Blake had retreated; his bravado was gone, and he was too scared to leave the community on his own.

"Are you okay, Kate?" Bridget asked.

"Fine." Her voice was steady despite her inner turmoil. "I'm fine. How about you?"

Bridget watched Blake walk away. "Fine as well."

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.