Milo tried to stand. His limbs didn’t respond the way he expected. The fall had knocked the air out of him, left his body slow and unsteady. The ground felt wrong beneath him. Too rough. Too open. Too exposed. He pressed himself against the tree, small hands gripping bark as his chest rose in sharp, uneven bursts.
Everything smelled different here. Heavy. Predatory. Then a sound. Low. Deep. Close. Milo froze. Across the enclosure, the lioness moved without hurry. Her steps were slow, deliberate, each one placed with quiet certainty. Her eyes never left him. Not for a second. Beyond the barrier, chaos surged again. Voices shouted over one another. Instructions. Panic. Fear.
“Clear the area!” “Get the vet team—now!” Arjun barely heard any of it. His focus narrowed to a single point. Distance. Timing. Options. None of them were good. Inside the enclosure, the space between them shrank. Step by step. The lioness lowered her head slightly, muscles shifting beneath her skin.
The air changed. And everyone felt it; the moment before something irreversible. The moment before the strike.