The sudden arate caught thempletelyoff guard. "Wh

    Vespera, Kebeora, Jade, and Byron screamed and quickly backed away.

    Everyone wasterified of the wolf-dag

    That big dog lunging at them was sure to either bite them or leave them seriously injured.

    Even Byron, a young athletic guy, was so started that he almost pushed Reba into the river.

    Thankfully, Vespera pulled her back in time. Spotting a crooked tree nearby, she yanked Reba and climbed up. Byron and Jade jumped down to the riverbank, looking for a ce to hide.

    The one walchaotic.

    He hadn''t even gotten a chance to stop them before they were already panicking, running off in all directions

    Vespera sow Calvert still standing there, frozen in ce. The wolf-dog bared its teeth, getting ready to attack him.

    She dung to the tree, her voice cracking with panic "Calvert, run

    "Don''t w

    worry, Vespera. It won''t bite me," Calvert said, smiling despite the situation. He tumed toward the barking, snarling well-dog, its teeth based and ready to attack. He said, "Alright, little one, stop backing now.

    The will digitalisten.

    In fact, it growled even louder, getting ready to leap at him.

    Calvertook a step forward and "gently" nudged it with his foot, Then, with exaggerated care, he patted the dog''s head. "Stop barking, I''ll cut off your you by what_and Beed it to the fish,"

    The wolf-dog let out two low howls, whining softly before losing its fierceness and muching at his feet.

    Calvert undled with satisfaction, crouching down to put it again. "That''s a good dog"

    Meanwhile, the others, still perched in the tree or hiding by the riverbank, stared at him in disbelief. He called that wall-dog "little one". He even threatened and didn''t care if it understood or not

    Reba shakly pointed at the wolf-dog "You you raised in?

    Vespera reminded her, "Calven came with us, didn''t he?"

    Reba was stunned. "But... Why does it only listen to him? I mean, it''s not like dogs can understand humannguage or is it scared of what he threatened it

    Veera blinked, uncertain. Te didn''t seem all that reasonable that theeatening the dog would calm it down

    Calvert stood up and waved at the group

    The four of them remained sti

    hiding. "Alright, you cane down new-and the rest of you,e up. It''s time, the dog won''t hurt you."

    They were afraid that the dog was only friendly toward him. They didn''t have the courage to try threatening it up closel

    It felt like that dog was just waiting for the chance to lunge forward and rip their throat out before they even got the chance to scream

    Themotion by the riverbunk quickly drew attention from nearby houses. Even people on the other side of the mat came out to see what was happening

    Vesperafelt a wave of secondhand embarrassment crash over her. She thought, "If I don''t die from a dog bite today, I might as well die of secondhand shame." And just when she thought being caught clinging to a tree by a coed of locals was as humiliating as it could get, the universe decided to prove her wrong.

    From the house that presumably owned the well-dog, three men came walking out.

    The sound of footsteps grew closer, echoing ominously.

    Vespera was locked in a tense stare with the massive wolf-dog, not daring to look away for a second. But then, she nced up with the briefest perk Then her gaze dropped back to the dog but her mind caught on something. She couldn''t believe who she had just seen,

    me kind of

    Thallucination

    She quickly looked back in the duction of the man she had glimpsed and frea

    thetre trunk, the suddenly felt dizzy. She wondered if the dog''s sudden appearance had frightened her enough to trigger some!

    Mayber this was some near death delusion. Like those stories where a superhero appears right before disaster strikes

    The was in the middle of that chaotic, nonsensical train of thought when a dazed voice came from below. "Vera, did you see that?"

    "I don''t know. He''sust wearing los underwear on the outside, so I don''t think so." Evening fellow wdos, there were sti

    to what they could respond to

    Dominic frowned as he stared up at the ko- de woman wrapped around the tree. He rubbed his temple in exasperation

    Then, he causally walked over and gave Calvert light smack on the back of the head.

    "Hey! Who just hit me-

    Calvert turned around, ready to throw a punch.

    But when he saw who it was, he froze. "Mr. Reid "