Chapter 2: The First Lesson

The tigress watched him, her golden eyes studying his every move. The cub trembled, his body still weak, his mind struggling to keep pace with the flood of alien sensations.

"Can you understand me?" she asked, her voice tinged with curiosity.

He nodded instinctively, but no words escaped him. His tongue felt foreign, his mouth incapable of forming the thoughts in his head. I understand you, he thought desperately. But I cannot speak.

The tigress, sensing his confusion, crouched low, her gaze softening. "You are not like the others of your kind, cub. I can see it in your eyes. You've lived before... but now, you must learn to live again."

Her words echoed in his mind. Live again. The idea felt wrong, like a heavy burden. His memories came in flashes—fragments of a life he once had: school days filled with failure, the loss of friends, a failed marriage, the absence of a son he never truly knew. Regret. So much regret.

The tigress seemed to sense his inner turmoil. "The jungle does not care for the past," she said quietly. "It demands that you learn its rules, now, in this life. If you cannot survive, you will perish, like many others before you."

A pang of something sharp and painful tugged at his chest, a memory—perhaps from his past life—of the many times he had failed to rise to the occasion, to take control of his fate. But now, there was no choice but to act, to become what he had to be.

"Your family is not just the ones you were born to," the tigress continued, as if reading his thoughts. "It is the bonds you form in this world. The territory you fight for. The lives you protect."

The cub, still weak and overwhelmed, tried to focus. Bonds... territory... protect.

His eyes flickered to the dense jungle around him. The trees stretched tall, their shadows thick and watchful. A world so full of life, yet so full of danger. He wasn't ready. He wasn't even sure he wanted to be ready. But the tigress' gaze, fierce yet patient, held him there.

"Let's see what you are capable of."

The tigress moved, her body flowing like water through the underbrush. The cub, unsure of his next move, hesitated before following her.