CHAPTER 256: CHAPTER 256 - INTERFERING WITH REALIZATIONS

***[POV: Fox-in-Denial]***

I’d positioned myself with my back against the container wall and on top of a towel on the rough, unpolished stone. One leg hanging off the side and one sneaker covered foot flat on top - knee raised up into the air in the most casual pose I could think of.

This is very, very uncomfortable. What was I thinking?

My phone was in hand, but my short attention span kept drifting to the woman curled up on my bed instead of the game I was half-heartedly playing. Kyrie had fallen asleep faster than I’d expected. Much faster.

Within minutes of her head hitting that pillow, her breathing had evened out. Into the deep rhythm of someone who desperately needed rest. And I can’t help but find that concerning.

She said the other day she hadn’t been sleeping, but I thought our talking helped then. To crash that quickly...

Vrika sent me an impression of similar worry mixed with satisfaction. It mirrored my concern for the Alpha’s wellbeing, but also held a pleasure that she was resting in ’our den’ that I’m not sure I have.

Look, I’m willing to concede that as contractual partners and because technically you don’t have a body that this container belongs to the both of us. But it’s not *really* a den or anything. Stop looking so smug about her being allowed here.

My power games with Kyrie may be giving the wolf some extra confidence that it knows what I’m up to, but I rolled my eyes at what it felt was ’shared’ possessiveness. Because I may have gotten a bit jealous earlier, but...

Well, it didn’t mean anything. If it did, I wouldn’t be wanting to kick her out or just flee. I’m pretty sure I could still collect it even with her in it.

She would just be left midair like those bugs were in the railyard that time... and it’s because I can’t bring myself to harm her physically - because I’m a coward - that I remain watching the steady rise and fall of this woman’s bare shoulders.

That’s all. But I swear that she turned that way on purpose... to show me her skin and that tattoo...

She looked younger or perhaps... smaller like this. Pressed into the mattress and slightly curled up. Assailable in a way her stance would not usually allow when awake.

And that silly worry rears its head once more. My fingers twitched toward the System interface. | Matron’s Monitor | had worked on Zoé earlier - had diagnosed her stress-related stomach issues.

It would be simple enough to check if Kyrie was actually okay. If there was just a similar stress or something more than just exhaustion... but my fingers fall every time I start to reach for the edge to slide off this towel.

Because if she had a similar ability and she didn’t ask for permission before using it on me? I would be upset. It’s invasive and... well, it would tell her I’m pregnant.

What if it also tells me something I don’t want to hear? Or that she doesn’t want me to know?

The worry gnawed, but I opened the other symbol interfaces instead. Blue glow, like foxfire... or ’ignis fatuus’ according to what I looked up on my phone. A term that literally means [foolish fire] in this world and is known to be an alluring phenomena that leads to disappointment.

"Smart world... or a cheeky system."

It was translucent enough that I could still keep an eye on Kyrie through it. Or, well, the container door... since I promised to watch for danger. Tilting my head and lining up the snowflakes, I let the text unfurl.

| TIME UNTIL APOCALYPSE COMMENCEMENT: 43 DAYS, 6 HOURS, 12 MINUTES |

The countdown moved toward winter solstice. Thinking of it as three times as long as I’ve been here feels like a lot of time in some ways, but also... short.

Everything I want to accomplish before that date is... well, actually I’m starting to wonder what I’m even doing here. This work I’ve lined up won’t take long, but it feels like I could be doing something bigger.

Like finding a nice warm cave in which to hibernate in. Or completing more of its tasks so that I can find out what new benefits they may bring.

My gaze drifted next to that very list - and my mood immediately soured. Because what the system wants of me this time is the first time I’m unwilling to do it.

| TASK: Complete The Marking Ritual, Obtain Fated Mate Bond |

The words still make my stomach twist with a mixture of want and terror. If she wasn’t so sweet, it would be easy to just complete it and then... I don’t know, betray her. Make her revoke the contract like Jace asked of Helene.

Yes, and me. But that bastard... I can’t be like that. I can be ruthless. But not to people who do not have it coming.

Vrika huffs at my assertion that I could harm anyone. Certainly, it is true that direct application of physical force was never used... however, after sharing with the spirit a few choice memories, my wolf has gone quiet - and starts looking at me warily.

I grumbled internally at that reaction and switched to the pack roster, mostly to avoid staring at that particular psychological landmine. The familiar inverted tree structure appeared, showing my own entry at the top with Kyrie’s... partial connection via that dotted line.

But there was something new.

"...Crap. Good thing I tested..."

On the side of the main roster, a section that had been empty finally was not. Labeled | Pack Integration Candidates | in blue text, the name below it was a very contrasting yellow.

| Zoé Morin - Sandhowl Origin |

Scared to risk trying to touch or mentally poke at the name, I lose the focus of the roster entirely and let my head loll back... drumming once against the steel. Because if Zoé was showing up as a candidate just from one scan, one moment of genuine care?

My eyes darted back to Kyrie laying there. A werewolf with her own pack, but that the system already expresses that sort of pronounced connection to.

I drop my phone into my lap and pressed my palms against my eyes. The System arguably had only responded to what I was already doing. For all I know, it doesn’t understand the finer points of relationships and intention.

But it might know that inviting out and doing what I did with her... usually is part of such a thing deepening naturally for more optimistic people. And the system was likely just giving me a potential reward for making it, ugh, ’permanent’.

"Now it is practically suggesting I could do the same with others. Build an actual pack of my own. Not just survive alone but work to create something lasting here. Something that might tie me to this world, to these people, in ways I couldn’t take back as easily."

Already, I’d been... doing that. In a way. Making friends and getting a job. I can’t deny that I’ve been trying to fit in and carve some small space for myself before the world goes to the frozen hells.

But would an Apocalypse System really offer to make such binding things if everything is just going to end? No, if this is any sort of proof... it is to hint again that there are routes to survival.

This is just one of the ones it thinks I should take.