Chapter 339

**Chapter 0339**

At that moment, I was grateful that I wasn’t alone in this cave. I thanked the heavens for having Goddess Tabby by my side.

Once I felt ready, I transformed into my wolf form. With a burst of energy, I lunged forward, ready to face whatever lay ahead.

My wolf was smaller than the bear, but she was fierce and never backed down from a fight. She had sharp claws and powerful teeth that could cause serious harm when she bit.

Tabby stepped back as my wolf prepared to defend herself.

I jumped into the fight, charging at the bear and clinging to its back until it finally fell to the ground. The bear growled and tried to swipe at me again, but it was too slow to catch me. My quick movements allowed me to sink my teeth into its fur, and I held on tight.

I tore into its neck, ripping it apart. Blood filled my mouth. I should have felt disgusted, but I didn’t. Instead, a strange sense of victory and a lot of pride washed over me.

Tabby watched in awe as I single-handedly took down the creature.

Tabby’s eyes were wide with fear as she tightly held the rocks in her hands.

Once the bear was on the ground and struggling against me, Tabby quickly decided to help. She moved to grab the flag that was tangled around the bear’s neck. Carefully, she dropped the remaining rocks and focused on freeing the flag.

She grabbed my clothes and headed towards the entrance of the cave, eager not to waste another moment. I followed her, and as soon as the bear was down, I chased after her, leaving the remaining rocks scattered on the ground.

In the cave, the bear was still asleep, not yet aware of what had happened.

My fur was stained with the bear’s blood, but I knew it was still alive. It would wake up soon and go back to living its life as if nothing had occurred. I hadn’t killed it; I only defended myself.

I just knocked it out.

As soon as we were out of the cave, I quickly changed back into my human form and grabbed my clothes from her. My human skin was still covered in blood. She fell over, laughing so hard that I couldn’t help but join in.

Tears filled her eyes.

“Holy cow! That was crazy! Just wait until we tell everyone what happened,” she laughed.

I couldn’t help but smile too. Now that the adrenaline was fading, my heart rate was slowing down.

As everything settled down, the drone returned right on cue, capturing us with the flag. I smiled at the camera, proudly showing off the flag so everyone watching would know what we had just accomplished.

The flag had some blood on it, a reminder of the struggle we went through.

“That’s a really bad scratch,” Tabby said as she looked at my arm.

“It’ll heal,” I replied, not worried at all. Shifters like me healed quickly.

“Yeah, but you should be more careful,” she insisted.

“Clean it up anyway,” she told me.

I nodded as we walked back to the campsite.

“What happened to you two?” Sherry asked, hurrying towards us. When she noticed the flag, her eyes lit up. “Did you find a flag?”

“Yeah, in a cave,” I told her.

“Around a bear’s neck,” Tabby said. “You should have seen Judy. It was incredible. She fought a black bear.”

Sherry’s eyes lit up with excitement. “Really?” she exclaimed when she noticed the scratch on my arm. Her eyes widened with concern. “Let’s get you cleaned up.”

We sat by the open fire, and Sherry quickly gathered some supplies to help me with my arm. The warmth of the flames wrapped around us as we settled in, feeling safe and comfortable.

Along with a few others on the team, I helped clean and bandage my wound.

We rested for the rest of the evening. I didn’t think I would be able to sleep, especially since we were on the ground.

I wasn’t in the most comfortable situation, but I managed to get some sleep. I didn’t wake up until Chuck’s morning wake-up call.

“Okay, guys,” Chuck said, “we have two more flags to find, and we need to find them.”

“By the end of today, we need to get back to base tonight,” Chuck said as we gathered sleepily around the fire early in the morning. The sun was just starting to rise, and some of the night watch crew had not yet gone to sleep.

It was still early in the day, and someone suggested, “A few of us should go hunting. We need food for later and some extra water too.”

“I’ve marked some spots on the map that we haven’t explored yet,” one of them added. “These areas are closer to other competitors, so we might find something good there.”

“We need to be careful,” I said. “I have a feeling there will be a lot of fighting today, so we shouldn’t travel around alone.”

Everyone nodded in agreement. Some looked more nervous than others.

“Judy,” I continued, “because you…”

“Tabby and I fought a black bear yesterday. You both can rest today and watch over the flags we got,” Chuck said, making me frown.

“I’d rather search for the flags,” I replied. “I don’t want to just stay here.”

“This is a team assignment,” he reminded me. “We work together as a team; every part is important. We need to keep an eye on those flags. You did your part yesterday, and you did great.”

“I’m not trying to take that away from you. But the rest of us have this now. We only have two flags left to find.”

“Now that we are nearing the end, they are going to try to take our flags from us.”

“…we can’t finish the competition,” Sherry said to me. “Your job is really important today. Can we count on you?”

I looked at Tabby, who just shrugged. I let out a sigh.

“Yes, of course,” I replied.

“I promise, you can,” I said to them. “We’ll be here.”

With smiles on their faces, everyone left, and soon it was just Tabby and me. We stayed behind to keep an eye on the flags.