One of them

Jake opened his eyes, and the world around him seemed to explode with colors and sounds. He sat up abruptly, immediately overwhelmed by a wave of strange sensations—his body felt different somehow, though he hadn't had the time to fully grasp it yet. Something else bothered him more. 'Where am I?' the thought flashed through his mind, but no answer was forthcoming. A forest, dense and vast, lay around him, stretching to the horizon. In the distance, mist swirled, and the air was humid and fresh, filled with the scent of grass and damp earth. But none of this explained the strange feeling of discomfort that grew with each passing second.

He stood up, but the strange heaviness in front of him made him stop. His eyes dropped to his chest. Huge. Female. Gently swaying with his movements. His body… it wasn't his body. Instead of his usual broad shoulders and sculpted muscles, he saw delicate, feminine shapes. Pale skin, smooth curves of hips, and breasts that moved with the breeze. No clothes. Na**d. Panic surged through him, and he instinctively covered his chest with his hands.

— What the hell?! — the voice escaped his lips, but it came out high-pitched, feminine, and that only intensified his horror.

He looked around and saw his long, blonde hair softly falling over his shoulders, and the feeling of being in someone else's body crashed over him again. In a panic, he began feeling his new form, desperately searching for something familiar. But there was no broad chest, no rugged facial features, no powerful biceps he was used to. Just the smoothness of feminine skin and the strange weight on his chest that moved with each breath.

His breathing quickened, his head spun, and he nearly lost his balance, barely noticing the edge of a cliff in time. Squatting down, he stared into the distance, finding no sign of civilization. Out of frustration, he screamed, a scream that echoed across the landscape, but instead of an angry masculine roar, a thin, almost helpless sound emerged, startling him even more.

— What the hell... who did this to me? — raced through his mind. Inside, he seethed with rage. Of course, someone had decided to mess with him. With Jake. He was used to everything going according to his plan. In the company, he was the guy who gave orders, teased colleagues, knew how to use people to his advantage. If someone crossed him, Jake wasn’t shy about putting them in their place—and he enjoyed it. He knew that charisma and power gave him the right to do so. But this… this was some kind of nightmare. Someone had screwed him over. And he was going to get revenge, once he figured this out.

The sound of footsteps behind him made him turn. From the dense underbrush emerged several women holding stone tools. Their hair was tangled, their faces painted, and they looked like they had stepped out of an ancient history book. One of them stared at him grimly, unable to believe her eyes.

— Kuhma mahma huh!?!? — one of them shouted, pointing at Jake.

Jake froze, as if caught in a scene from an ancient movie. Their gazes were harsh, as if they saw something completely out of place in him. The rough language of the woman sounded like a command, but he didn’t understand a word. His heart pounded in his chest, and heat spread through his body. Instinctively, he raised his hands in a gesture of peace, though it looked absurd in his new female form.

— I... I don’t understand! — he tried to speak again, but his high-pitched voice trembled. The woman frowned even more, and one of them stepped closer, raising a sharp stone tool as if in warning. Jake instinctively backed away, feeling the cliff dangerously close behind him. One wrong move—and he’d fall.

— Kuhma hah! — she shouted again, this time pointing at his feet, then gesturing at his chest. A second later, Jake understood. She was ordering him to… cover up? Or show something? His panic deepened, but he slowly lowered his hands, hoping it would calm the situation.

The women exchanged glances. One of them, standing slightly behind with thick hair, suddenly laughed and said something loudly, causing the others to chuckle. Jake felt lost, vulnerable, and angry all at once. What did they want from him? Why had they dragged him into this strange and wild place? Where was he? What happened to his body? And these women… they looked like they were from the Stone Age!

He opened his mouth again, trying to speak, but another woman, taller with a serious expression, stepped forward. She seemed to be in charge. Her gestures were sharp, precise—she pointed at the cliff, then at the forest, and then touched her stomach, looking at Jake intently. It took him a moment to understand, but her expression left no doubt: something here was tied to their beliefs. Maybe they thought he was some kind of sign or spirit?

— I don’t... — he started again, but the woman cut him off with a sharp gesture, silencing him.

Instead of attacking, as he had expected, she cautiously approached him, her eyes gleaming with something Jake couldn’t quite decipher. It was as if there was a question in them, but he didn’t know the answer. Her hand gently touched his shoulder, and in that moment, he realized—they had accepted him as one of them.