After accepting to have her tag along, Charlotte handed Liam the healing potion and afterward, he led her back toward the outcrop where his shelter was hidden.

The journey back was mostly quiet.

Smoke moved ahead through the shadows while Liam guided Charlotte through the portions of the forest that were safest to traverse in the dark. The moonlight filtering through the canopy cast pale silver patterns across the uneven terrain, though most of the forest remained drowned beneath heavy darkness.

Charlotte, however, moved through it effortlessly.

Her movements carried that unnatural grace as she stepped over roots and rocks without hesitation, her golden eyes adjusting to every shift within the darkness almost instantly.

Eventually, they reached the rocky outcrop once more.

Liam climbed through the narrow crevice first before Charlotte followed closely behind him.

The moment she stepped into the hollow chamber hidden within the rock formation, her nose twitched slightly.

"Mm~" Charlotte hummed while leaning slightly forward inside the chamber. "Is that deer meat I smell?"

Her eyes shifted immediately afterward.

"And fishhh?!"

"Yeah," Liam answered calmly while grabbing one of the used branches from earlier.

The next moment, flames ignited at the tip of the branch, illuminating the chamber with a steady orange glow.

The sudden brightness caused Charlotte to immediately squint and raise a hand partially over her eyes before they adjusted.

"Damn, bae," she complained dramatically. "You trying to blind me or something?"

She narrowed her eyes slightly while staring at him.

"I can see perfectly in the dark, you know."

"Yeah, I know," Liam replied while walking deeper into the chamber. "So can I."

Charlotte dramatically narrowed her eyes even further.

"Then what’s the point of the torch?" she asked suspiciously.

"Just thought you might need it later," Liam answered simply while wedging the burning branch firmly between several rocks to hold it upright.

The orange glow immediately spread through the hollow chamber, illuminating the rough stone walls and the supplies gathered around the area.

Liam then walked toward the colder corner where he had arranged most of the things he gathered earlier that day.

"Those are the fish," he said calmly while pointing toward the large leaf-wrapped bundles one after another.

"And that’s the deer meat."

He then gestured toward the makeshift wooden container resting nearby.

"This has water in it. You’re free to drink it. It’s clean."

Afterward, Liam turned his attention toward the small smoke pit he had constructed earlier.

He gathered several branches together before igniting a controlled flame beneath them.

"You can warm up whichever one you plan to eat here," he explained calmly. "I only smoked them for preservation, so you’ll probably want to cook them a bit more before eating unless you don’t care about taste."

Charlotte remained quiet for a moment.

She simply stood there watching Liam casually move through the shelter while explaining everything she needed to know about the place.

And honestly speaking... she was surprised.

Very surprised.

This entire place had structure. Organization. Planning.

Despite having lost his supplies earlier, despite his injury, despite being thrown into one of the worst sections of Nalim from the very beginning, Liam had still somehow managed to establish an actual functioning shelter within less than two days.

And more importantly...

He still looked composed doing it.

Not relaxed. Not comfortable.

But composed.

Like someone who naturally adapted to survival no matter how inconvenient the circumstances became.

Charlotte quietly stared at him for a few more moments before eventually allowing her usual smirk to return.

"You know..." she began teasingly, "...I’m starting to think you’re some kind of order freak."

Her tail swayed slowly behind her.

"But honestly? I love it."

"Seems you understood everything I said," Liam replied calmly while turning toward the crevice entrance again.

"Wait," Charlotte called out immediately. "Where are you going?"

She tilted her head slightly.

"You’re seriously just gonna leave me all alone in here? By myself?"

Her expression shifted into that of an innocent girl abandoned by the world itself.

Unfortunately for her, Liam wasn’t buying any of it.

"I need to wash up and clean this wound before I actually drink the healing potion," he answered calmly while pausing near the entrance.

"I can’t have the injury close up with dirt and debris still inside it."

"Can I join you?" Charlotte asked immediately, her voice slipping back into its usual seductive tone. "I need to clean up too."

She slowly crossed her arms beneath her chest again.

"I mean... I can help clean you up and you can help clean me up. Sounds fair, no?"

Her golden eyes gleamed mischievously.

"We both get to touch and feel and get exactly what we want. Everybody wins~"

Liam ignored her completely.

Without another word, he climbed back through the narrow crevice and stepped outside into the cool night air again.

Behind him, Charlotte giggled softly in obvious satisfaction while watching him leave.

"He is always cute when he ignores me," she muttered to herself while stretching slightly.

Her eyes drifted briefly toward the narrow exit.

"And with him all wrecked up like that..." she continued softly, "...plus the sleeveless look?"

Her tail flicked behind her slowly.

"It’s honestly like he’s begging me to drool over him."

She paused afterward and slowly looked around the hollow chamber again.

Then she stretched once more, this time more fully, her tail swaying lazily behind her.

"Time to change back," Charlotte muttered to herself. "Maintaining this form for this long is starting to become annoying."

The next moment, a soft white-gold light began illuminating her figure.

The fur covering portions of her body slowly began receding while the jaguar-like traits faded gradually back into her normal appearance.

Back outside, the faint white-gold glow shining through the crevice briefly caught Liam’s attention.

He immediately understood what it was.

Still, he ignored it completely.

As tempting as Charlotte was determined to make herself, Liam had absolutely no intention of invading the privacy he had just given her.

Instead, he shifted his attention toward Smoke, who stood nearby beneath the moonlight.

"Guard the outcrop like last night," Liam said calmly while looking at the shadow wolf. "I’m heading down to the river to clean up. I’ll be back soon."

Smoke let out a low grunt, though the sound carried clear concern.

The shadow wolf clearly disliked the idea of Liam moving through the forest alone in his injured state.

"We both know I’ll be fine, so quit whining," Liam replied calmly while patting Smoke lightly along the side of his neck.

Smoke grunted again before slowly lowering his head slightly in reluctant understanding.

A second later, the shadow wolf gestured subtly toward the crevice entrance instead.

Clearly referring to Charlotte.

"You need to stop worrying about her too," Liam said calmly.

He paused briefly.

"Well... I can’t entirely blame you. She is a piece of work."

Smoke immediately grunted in full agreement.

Liam ignored that reaction.

"Just alert me if she decides to come toward the river," he added calmly.

Smoke nodded slightly again.

Liam then finally turned and began descending from the rocky outcrop.

"Also," he added without turning back, "alert me if you sense any threats or anything suspicious nearby."

Smoke grunted once more in acknowledgment before ascending silently toward the very peak of the outcrop once again, returning to his role as guardian overlooking the surrounding forest.

Meanwhile, Liam continued descending through the rocks alone, heading toward the river under the pale moonlight to finally clean himself and properly treat the injury in his thigh.