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00:00My throat slit, I was pushed off the cliff, but the last seen before me was my devoted mate over
00:06there kissing the hand of my dear sister.
00:08Reborn, I had returned to the day I chose my beast.
00:11The little fox looked at me eagerly, his crimson eyes glistening.
00:15I raised my hand, and under his expectant gaze, pointed past him to the frail white snake behind him.
00:21I want him.
00:23You don't want me anymore?
00:25I had returned back to the day of the choosing.
00:27Vendors shouting in the black market, voices clashing with the snarls of caged beastmen.
00:33The truth is clear.
00:34I had returned to the day father had brought us to the black market to choose.
00:37Pax unspoken blood lawed.
00:39Every young man and woman, three years before coming of age, personally select an equally young beastman as their future
00:47mate.
00:48Bonded for life.
00:49No betrayal, no abandonment.
00:51Beastmen matured much quicker than humans.
00:54A puppet's love was to prevent a bonded beastman from growing into a resentful predator.
00:58But I had never fully understood why.
01:01Beastmen ranked beneath humans, caged and passive, waiting to be claimed like livestock.
01:06So why would our bloodline insist on binding us to them?
01:10Weren't they afraid of us being betrayed?
01:13Suddenly, I locked with Kale's eyes, still young and naive.
01:16Memory of my past life resurfaced.
01:18The stinging pains of my throat being slipped are so vivid, I bit it back and steadied myself with a
01:25fist, pressed hard against the pain of my chest, and looked around.
01:28The massive holding cage ahead contained no fewer than 20 beastmen.
01:33Unsurprisingly, every one of them bore fresh wounds.
01:36My gaze locked instantly on Kale, hunched in the corner, arm torn by bite marks, his fox ears and tail
01:42no longer able to stay hidden.
01:44He caught my gaze, and something lit in his eyes.
01:47Then he moved toward me.
01:48Alara, which one do you like?
01:50Serafina appeared at my shoulder, her smile perfectly gentle.
01:54She was father's daughter from his first wife, a woman who had bled out in labor and never held her
02:00child.
02:00Father had remarried, and my brother and I came after.
02:03For years, Serafina had maintained a flawless image, gracious and elegant to the outside world, warm and devoted sister within
02:11the walls.
02:12In truth, she burned with rabid jealousy, convinced that my brother and I had stolen father's attention and her birthright.
02:19So she had delayed her own choosing.
02:21Father, I'd like to wait a bit before choosing an orc.
02:24I want to go with my sister.
02:28Laying a trap she'd been tightening for years.
02:30Watching Serafina now, poised as a flower, I understood perfectly.
02:35This was the moment Kale had first set his sights on her.
02:38Serafina spotted Kale too, and murmured,
02:41You've always had a taste for pretty things.
02:43That fox suits you.
02:45Pretty, and nothing else.
02:48The color drained from Kale's face.
02:50In my last life, those words had fallen from Serafina's lips, and they had shattered him on the spot.
02:56This time was no different.
02:58He stared at me, ashen, his eyes flooding with disbelief.
03:02A question stirred in my gut.
03:03Serafina gave a small smile, drifted away, and began her own careful selection.
03:08Just as in my last life, she chose the powerfully built Shadow Wolf.
03:13Now I was the only one who hasn't chosen.
03:15Few beastmen remained in the cage.
03:18A quick sweep found Kale watching me with naked hope.
03:21My gaze moved past him, and settled on the beastman behind, half-human, half-serpent, coiled, and utterly still.
03:28If memory served, no one had chosen him in my last life.
03:31But a beastman had risen in this city after that.
03:34A name that made even hardened predators go still.
03:37Silas, single-handedly, who had dismantled the black market, led a mass exodus of captive beastmen,
03:43and years later stood across a negotiating table from the humans, and won equal rights for every last one of
03:50his kind.
03:50I had crossed paths with Silas once, and that white serpent tail was burned into my memory.
03:55Right now, Silas could barely hold his human form, every inch of him fragility.
04:00Made up your mind?
04:01Father's voice cut through the noise.
04:03Yes.
04:07I want him.
04:08Kale's expression cracked.
04:10He spun around to stare at the frail serpent in disbelief.
04:14You're not choosing me?
04:15I didn't acknowledge Kale.
04:17Behind him, Silas cracked open his eyes.
04:19A pair of serpent-slit pupils, fixing on me without a flicker of warmth.
04:23I held that gaze, my voice steady with conviction.
04:26Come with me, and I'll heal you.
04:28Silas pressed a palm to the floor, crawled toward me.
04:30He stopped at my feet.
04:32I crouched down and pressed a palm to his cheek.
04:34I'm taking you with me.
04:36Kale lunged forward and seized my wrist.
04:38Choose me.
04:39You're supposed to choose me.
04:41He's half-dead already.
04:43Why would you pick him?
04:44That settled it.
04:45Kale had been reborn, too.
04:47Before I could react, Silas's brow furrowed, and the blood-streaked serpent-tail uncoiled
04:52and snapped around Kale like a whip.
04:54Kale hit the wall hard enough to rattle the iron bars.
04:58Silas's eyes were cold-slit.
05:00Come closer again, and I'll kill you.
05:02Watching Kale clutch his ribs, I felt something close to joy rise in my chest,
05:07and I rewarded Silas with an approving pinch of his cheek.
05:10That was impressive.
05:12Silas's lashes trembled.
05:13He dropped his gaze fast.
05:15After Father paid and sent us home with our chosen beastmen,
05:19Kale's voice chased me out of the black market,
05:21shouting my name with a fury that echoed off the iron.
05:24I glanced sideways at the bodyguard beside me,
05:27and, as if deeply inconvenienced...
05:29He's so irritating.
05:31Understood.
05:33I let the corner of my mouth curl.
05:35In the black market, every unchosen beastman was sent to the fighting pit,
05:39a place where survival was measured in blood and screaming iron.
05:42I was very much looking forward to that.
05:44The good mood carried me all the way home.
05:47Father spared no resources on beastman care.
05:50Manuals, medicinal compounds, and supply crates flowed into my room like a tide.
05:54Silas's wounds weren't deep, but a congenital defect in his body slowed his recovery to a crawl.
06:00It made me only more curious.
06:02How had he survived the fighting pit in his last life,
06:05dragging that broken body through it all?
06:07My stare must have been too obvious,
06:08because a slow flush crept up Silas's neck.
06:11Mistress?
06:14Do you need something?
06:16In my last life,
06:17Kale had never once called me anything but my name,
06:20saving reverence for Serafina.
06:22Being called mistress had a strange, particular weight to it.
06:25I tossed the medicine kit onto his lap.
06:28Dress your own wounds.
06:30Silas caught it and nodded, docile as still water.
06:33A few days of rest, and Silas had reclaimed his fully human form.
06:37Taller, too.
06:38His frame filling out overnight like a plant after rain.
06:42Beastman really did grow at an inhuman pace.
06:45That morning, father tracked me down.
06:47A beastman healer had come to the city, he said.
06:49A merkin named Mira.
06:51She could treat both beastmen and humans.
06:54Father wanted me to take Silas to see her.
06:57The merkin carried innate healing gifts from birth,
07:00the strength of which scaled with individual talent.
07:03Even the weakest among them could mend their own bodies.
07:06But the most gifted could restore life to the near dead.
07:09Father turned to leave.
07:10I stopped him with a question that had been sitting in my chest for days.
07:13Our bloodline status over beastmen is absolute.
07:17So why does the pack law bind us to them as mates?
07:20He paused, let out a long breath.
07:23Elara, remember this.
07:24A beastman's loyalty is something no human being can replicate.
07:28Whether you earn that loyalty, that depends entirely on you.
07:32He waved the conversation closed and walked away.
07:35I knew as well as anyone how rare a beastman's loyalty was.
07:39But in the mess I'd inherited from my last life,
07:42rare felt like a polite word for impossible.
07:45Wasn't this just gambling with our lives?
07:47I watched father go, then turned back and called Silas from his room,
07:51leading him out into the city for the first time.
07:54Mistress, what's that?
07:56Ice cream.
07:57He cataloged everything.
07:58Stall signs, storefronts, passing vehicles, with wide, hungry eyes.
08:04Mistress, what's that?
08:05An amusement park.
08:07Mistress!
08:08When we get back, I'll teach you to read, then you'll figure it out yourself.
08:12Okay.
08:13Silas beamed, falling into step just behind my shoulder.
08:17Out of the corner of my eye, I caught him eating the ice cream with total indifference.
08:21He didn't like it at all.
08:23While his gaze moved in quick, methodical sweeps across the street around us,
08:27the carefully performed helplessness had cracked, just for a second.
08:31He didn't trust me, not even close, and beneath the docile surface, he was calculating.
08:36Of course he is, I thought.
08:38We arrived at the address father had given me.
08:41I had expected something imposing, a high-rise, gilded signage,
08:45because a beast-man healer of rare power commanded human respect as much as fear.
08:50Instead, I found the most unremarkable courtyard I'd ever seen,
08:54identifiable only because it was packed shoulder to shoulder with people waiting.
08:58Inside, I spotted Kale.
09:00He was slumped against a girl's shoulder, barely breathing, more absent than present.
09:05As if he sensed me, Kale opened his eyes and found mine instantly.
09:10That one look was packed with a lifetime of grievances.
09:13He pushed himself upright from the girl's arms, eyes red-rimmed,
09:17and fixed me with an expression that begged without words.
09:20Then a hand closed over my eyes.
09:22Don't look at him.
09:24Glamour rat.
09:26I laughed and pulled his hand down.
09:29Get in line.
09:31Of course I could feel Kale's fox allure threading through the air,
09:35but it couldn't touch me now.
09:36Not with only hatred and wariness where softness used to live,
09:40and not when his glamour was still this juvenile.
09:44Silas gave me one more uncertain look, then moved to join the queue.
09:48What was Kale even doing here?
09:50But I wasn't the only one questioning it.
09:52A fox and an heiress whose family treats beasts like dirt?
09:56The pair drew everyone's attention.
09:58Someone gossiped among the crowd.
10:00On Kale's first day in the fighting pit,
10:02he had weaved his fox allure around a girl named Talia,
10:06making her desperate to buy him.
10:08Her father was a business partner of fathers.
10:10And when the black market saw how badly she wanted Kale,
10:13they drove the price up.
10:14Talia didn't have enough,
10:16went home to scrape together the rest,
10:18and spent several days doing it.
10:20During those days,
10:21on the bodyguard's quiet instruction,
10:24every beast man Kale faced in the pit
10:26was as brutal as they came.
10:28Taria had come back just in time
10:30to pull him out at death's door.
10:31I understood now.
10:33Kale was wounded badly enough
10:34that Talia had brought him here.
10:36I took a proper look at Talia.
10:38Peach bloom skin,
10:39wide eyes,
10:40all open sincerity.
10:42Not a calculating bone in her body
10:44by the look of it.
10:45No wonder Kale had reeled her in so easily.
10:47He never does change.
10:49Suddenly,
10:50Kale tore free of Talia's grip
10:51and lurched toward me.
10:53Hey, where are you going?
10:54Talia reached for him,
10:56and he shoved her hand away viciously.
10:58Don't touch me!
11:00He glared at her with an expression
11:02I knew by heart.
11:03Revulsion.
11:04The specific kind reserved for things
11:06that had already served their purpose.
11:08He was certain Talia couldn't live without him,
11:11so he treated her with careless cruelty.
11:13Something sour moved through me,
11:15and I set my jaw.
11:16Silas' brow creased.
11:18His weight shifted.
11:20I stopped him with a look.
11:21Kale staggered to me in a few short steps,
11:24those steps costing him everything.
11:26His legs gave.
11:27He dropped to one knee,
11:28barely catching himself
11:30before he hit the ground entirely.
11:31He forced his chin up,
11:33and his eyes were sincere
11:34in a way that made my skin crawl.
11:36I'm sorry.
11:38I know what I did.
11:40He reached out,
11:41small and careful.
11:42Can you forgive me?
11:43So,
11:44he'd guessed I'd been reborn, too.
11:46I didn't move,
11:47and a flicker of relief
11:48crossed his face.
11:49He was almost close enough
11:51to take my hand.
11:52I looked past him
11:53at Talia instead.
11:54Let me show you
11:55how to handle a beastman
11:56who won't behave.
11:57The next second,
11:58I drove my boot
11:59into the center of Kale's chest
12:01with every bit of force I had.
12:03He flew backward
12:04and crashed through
12:05a low stone table
12:06in the courtroom.
12:07A choked sound,
12:08then a mouthful of blood
12:09hit the flagstones.
12:11Kale sat in the wreckage,
12:13white-faced,
12:13hand pressed to his chest.
12:15Talia sprinted over
12:16and rounded on me.
12:17What do you think you're doing?
12:19He's my beastman!
12:20Even if he's mishaving,
12:21that's between us!
12:22Who gave you the right?
12:24I tilted my head.
12:25You can't control him,
12:27and I don't like fox beastmen
12:28getting too close to me.
12:30They carry a certain musk.
12:32Kale coughed up
12:33another mouthful of blood
12:34and stared at me
12:36with the expression
12:36of someone
12:37whose world
12:38had just inverted.
12:39Talia flushed scarlet.
12:41There's no...
12:41There's no musk!
12:42You're making that up!
12:43That's beastman discrimination!
12:44Careful.
12:46Statements like that
12:47tend to offend my beastmen.
12:49Silas looked at Talia,
12:50then let his gaze drop
12:51to the barely breathing Kale.
12:53You should be grateful
12:54it was my mistress
12:55who hit him.
12:56He said,
12:56his voice carrying
12:57the disinterest
12:58of someone announcing
12:59a weather forecast.
13:00Otherwise,
13:01I would have killed him.
13:02The undisguised kill intent
13:04sat in the air
13:05like a blade.
13:06You...
13:07Talia sputtered at him,
13:08then whipped around
13:09to stare at me.
13:10At last,
13:11she made a disgusted sound,
13:12hoisted Kale up
13:13with visible effort,
13:15and marched straight
13:16for the door.
13:19Out of the way!
13:21Can't you see he's dying?
13:22Everyone in the queue
13:23had been waiting
13:24far longer
13:25and had no interest
13:26in being cut.
13:27Talia ended up
13:28wedged at the entrance,
13:30Kale sagging against her.
13:31She raised her voice
13:32in desperation.
13:34Miss Mira,
13:35please,
13:35I'm begging you,
13:36save him,
13:36he really is!
13:37From inside the room
13:38came a voice,
13:39smooth as river water.
13:43He won't die.
13:45Wait your turn.
13:46I raised an eyebrow.
13:48I liked this Mira already.
13:50Talia had no choice
13:51but to stand there,
13:52seething.
13:53Kale was losing his grip
13:54on his human form.
13:55The fox ears and tail
13:57slipped free,
13:58trembling.
13:59She glared daggers at me.
14:00This isn't over!
14:01I looked at her.
14:03Does your father know
14:04how much you paid
14:04for that beastman?
14:05The Talia family
14:06and mine were nothing alike.
14:08Our bloodline maintained
14:09some measure of regard
14:11for beastmen.
14:12The Talias treated them
14:13like livestock.
14:14If her father found out
14:16she'd spend a small fortune
14:17on a useless fox,
14:19the fallout would be spectacular.
14:21Talia blinked.
14:22Do you know my father?
14:23Then her eyes went wide.
14:24You're threatening me!
14:25I just smiled.
14:27Talia's lip trembled.
14:28Tears spilled down her face
14:30and she cried openly,
14:31chest heaving.
14:32I hadn't expected
14:33the waterworks.
14:34A headache bloomed
14:35behind my eyes.
14:36Stop crying.
14:37Your beastman isn't worth it.
14:39I won't let you say
14:40that about him.
14:41He's weak.
14:41Yes, but to me
14:42he's worth a thousand times more.
14:44Right.
14:45I had nothing left
14:46to say to that.
14:47The queue crawled forward
14:49for several more hours
14:50before it was finally,
14:52mercifully,
14:52Kale's turn.
14:54I had arrived later
14:55and stood behind them.
14:56By the time Talia
14:57helped Kale out
14:58of the treatment room,
14:59an hour had passed
15:00and his color had returned.
15:02He looked at me
15:03and the wounded helplessness
15:04was gone,
15:05replaced by something
15:06close to resentment.
15:07You're heartless, Alaksa.
15:09I made a dry sound.
15:10I can't compete with you.
15:12Stop wasting breath on her.
15:13Let's go.
15:15Steering Kale away
15:17with a huff in my direction.
15:18Behind me,
15:19Silas spoke quietly.
15:21You know them?
15:24I pointed toward
15:25the treatment room door.
15:26Your turn.
15:29Silas pressed his lips together,
15:31said nothing,
15:31and stepped inside.
15:33I followed and watched
15:34Mira work.
15:35The mercant were extraordinary.
15:37No instruments,
15:38no diagnostic tools,
15:40only a touch,
15:41and she already knew.
15:42I said it without thinking.
15:44That's remarkable.
15:45Mira looked at me
15:45with a faint smile.
15:47Nothing special.
15:48There are dozens
15:49in my bloodline
15:50more gifted than I am,
15:51and the greatest among them is...
15:53Her expression dimmed.
15:54A shadow of grief
15:55crossed her face,
15:56and she let the sentence die.
15:58His body has a congenital gap.
16:01It's why he appears
16:02far weaker than other beastmen,
16:04and it will shorten his lifespan.
16:06The hand resting at Silas' side
16:08closed into a fist,
16:09and his voice came out tight.
16:11Please, help me.
16:12Then he turned to me,
16:14and the look in his eyes
16:15said everything.
16:17Money is no obstacle.
16:19But Mira shook her head,
16:20her smile faint and tired.
16:23A congenital gap
16:23is beyond my reach.
16:26I can't mend
16:27what was never formed.
16:28Silas' face fell in a way
16:30that was visible
16:30to the naked eye.
16:31Thank you anyway.
16:34He turned to leave,
16:35and Mira looked at me.
16:36If you happen to know Lucian,
16:38Miss Alara,
16:39there may still be a chance.
16:41I was caught off guard,
16:42not only because Mira
16:43had recognized me,
16:44but because of the name itself.
16:46Lucian was the most gifted,
16:48and most ungovernable
16:49of the Vos bloodline.
16:51The family's golden heir,
16:53known to everyone
16:53as their little crown prince.
16:55We had attended
16:56the same school once.
16:57I knew him after a fashion,
16:59but his health had declined,
17:01and he'd withdrawn
17:01from classes years ago.
17:03We hadn't spoken since.
17:04Does Lucian keep
17:05someone gifted near him?
17:07The Merkin are born
17:08with healing in our blood.
17:09It's simply a matter of degree.
17:12Even the least gifted of us
17:13can mend our own bodies
17:14through instinct alone.
17:15But the rarest among us,
17:17the ones born with song,
17:20they can restore the dead to life.
17:22I stared at her.
17:23That sounds impossible.
17:24I've never heard
17:25of anything like it.
17:25It isn't surprising.
17:26Our bloodline hasn't produced
17:28that level of gift in centuries.
17:30Then her voice shifted,
17:31quiet, deliberate.
17:33But in the past 20 years,
17:35one Merican was born
17:36carrying that gift
17:37from her very first breath.
17:38Something clicked into place
17:40at the back of my mind.
17:41What is her name?
17:43Lyra.
17:44Of course.
17:46I understand.
17:48Thank you, Mira.
17:48I set a payment card
17:49on the table
17:50and left with Silas.
17:52The moment we were outside,
17:53he asked,
17:54barely containing himself,
17:56Are we going to find Lyra?
17:58His eyes were bright
17:59with something almost desperate.
18:01If it's possible,
18:02I'll take you to her.
18:03I had heard Lyra's name once
18:05in my last life.
18:06Lyra.
18:07She had been offered
18:08to the Vos bloodline
18:09by the Merkin
18:10as a gesture of protection.
18:11Her extraordinary healing talent,
18:13the price of her bloodline's safety.
18:16And with her,
18:18Lucien had finally been free.
18:19She seemed to care for him,
18:20or so the rumors said.
18:22Lucien cared for someone else entirely
18:24and treated her accordingly.
18:25What happened after that,
18:27I didn't know.
18:29Because by that point,
18:31I was already dead.
18:32Given Lucien's erratic temperament,
18:34approaching him directly
18:35and asking for Lyra
18:37would be met with a flat refusal,
18:39no matter how I framed it.
18:41The better path
18:42was to go around him,
18:44reach Lyra herself.
18:45Silas must have sensed my hesitation,
18:47because some of the heat
18:49faded from his expression.
18:51Mistress doesn't need to worry.
18:53I'm fine as I am.
18:55That word,
18:56mistress,
18:57spoken aloud on a public street,
18:59turned heads up and down the block.
19:02A flush crept up the back of my neck.
19:04I cleared my throat twice.
19:06In public?
19:08You don't have to use that.
19:09Just call me by my name.
19:11Silas adapted without hesitation.
19:13All right, Lyra.
19:14When I got home,
19:16I sent Talia's father
19:17an anonymous letter,
19:18a quiet, detailed account
19:20of exactly how much
19:21she had spent on kale
19:23at the black market.
19:24I didn't want Talia
19:25to become what I had been.
19:27It took less than two days
19:28before the news reached me.
19:30Talia had been confined
19:31to the house,
19:32but the money was already spent,
19:34and her father was too proud
19:35to return kale to the black market,
19:38which meant he would find ways
19:39to extract that investment
19:40from kale's skin.
19:42The Talia household
19:43would be its own kind of hell.
19:45I was still turning that over
19:46when a servant came running.
19:48Miss Allura,
19:48something's wrong.
19:49Silas,
19:50Simus,
19:50and Raven are fighting.
19:52Raven was Seraphina's beast man.
19:54I was on my feet
19:55before the sentence finished.
19:57I followed the servant
19:58to the garden outside the morgue,
20:00where Silas had been pinned
20:01beneath the flowering hawthorn tree,
20:03and Raven's massive fists
20:05were falling on him
20:07again and again,
20:08each blow landing like a hammer.
20:10Miss Allura, please.
20:11You have to help him.
20:12He'll be beaten to death.
20:14The servant pulled at my arm.
20:16I raised a hand.
20:17Silence.
20:18My eyes stayed fixed on Silas.
20:20After days of recovery,
20:22his body was mostly healed,
20:23and this was the Silas who,
20:25in his last life,
20:27had survived the fighting pit
20:28on a broken frame,
20:29which meant there was no possible world
20:31in which he was simply being dominated
20:33by Raven right now.
20:35He was hiding what he could do,
20:36because he didn't trust me.
20:38So I wouldn't save him.
20:39I had no use for a beastman
20:41who might drive a blade into my back.
20:43This first step towards trust,
20:45he would have to be the one to take it.
20:47Silas still didn't move,
20:49arms folded over his head,
20:50the crack of breaking bone
20:52cutting through the garden
20:53like a gunshot.
20:54He turned his head,
20:55spat blood onto the flagstones,
20:57and through the gap
20:58in the flowering branches,
20:59saw me.
21:00Disbelief in his eyes,
21:02hurt.
21:02A silent, furious question,
21:04why aren't you coming?
21:05My hand clenched at my side,
21:07and my jaw locked.
21:09Raven, scenting blood,
21:11found the animal in himself
21:12rising to the surface,
21:14both ears pushing through his hair,
21:16every muscle lit up
21:17with predatory excitement,
21:18barely a step from the edge
21:20of a full, feral shift.
21:22I held my breath,
21:23my entire body strung tight as a wire,
21:25and stared at Silas.
21:27Just take this one step towards me,
21:29and I swear I will never stop protecting you.
21:32Silas' pupils elongated,
21:33the calm human iris
21:36collapsing into serpent slit.
21:38In the moment before
21:38Raven lunged to bite himself,
21:41Silas moved,
21:42his legs dissolved
21:43into a white serpent tail
21:44that coiled around Raven's body
21:46in one fluid motion,
21:48and then his fangs,
21:49long and curved
21:50and appearing from nowhere,
21:52drove into the side of Raven's neck
21:54without hesitation.
21:55Raven screamed and thrashed,
21:57every muscle in his body convulsing.
21:59Silas' tail contracted
22:01like a closing vice.
22:02I watched Raven's face shift
22:04from red to violet
22:05in the span of seconds,
22:06and understood instantly,
22:08Silas' fangs were venomous.
22:10So he's a viper,
22:11I thought.
22:12Serafina arrived then,
22:13late and unhurried,
22:15and when she saw what was happening,
22:16Simus,
22:18you dare kill him.
22:20I stepped forward without hesitation.
22:23What if he does?
22:25Serafina's fierce expression
22:26shifted through several versions of itself
22:29when she saw me.
22:30She drew a breath,
22:32steadied herself.
22:33Alara,
22:34tell Silas to stop.
22:35Raven will die.
22:36I smiled.
22:37My brother keeps his head.
22:39Don't worry, Serafina.
22:40I glanced at Raven's
22:42stillening body with meaning.
22:43I won't let my sister
22:44become a widow this early.
22:46Alara!
22:47Serafina finally snapped.
22:49One finger leveled at me.
22:50Aren't you afraid
22:51father will punish you for this?
22:53I put on an expression
22:54of perfect innocence.
22:55Silas has always been
22:56fragile and obedient.
22:58He wouldn't provoke
22:59Raven without reason.
23:00This was self-defense
23:01and you know it.
23:02Why would father punish me?
23:04My voice cooled.
23:05Shouldn't the punishment
23:06fall on the one
23:07who started it?
23:08You.
23:08Enough.
23:09Everyone stop.
23:11Father's voice rolled
23:12through the garden
23:12from somewhere behind me,
23:14heavy with displeasure.
23:15Before Serafina could
23:16arrange her face
23:17into something pitiable,
23:18I got there first
23:19and let tears spill
23:21down my own.
23:22Father.
23:22She started it
23:23and now she's
23:24turning it around on me.
23:26Serafina went pale.
23:27I didn't, father.
23:28Please, save Raven.
23:30He'll die.
23:31Father let out
23:31a cold sound,
23:33spared Serafina
23:33one flat look.
23:35A lesson he needed
23:36to learn.
23:37And you.
23:37Don't think I don't know
23:38what you've been doing.
23:39The handbook I gave you
23:40covers how to suppress
23:41a beast man's
23:42feral instincts.
23:43What exactly
23:44have you been doing
23:45with it?
23:45Father's voice rose.
23:47Serafina's chin dropped.
23:48I was wrong, father.
23:50Serafina.
23:51Raven is going
23:51to be your mate.
23:52Your work isn't
23:53only to tame him.
23:54It's to build him.
23:56Otherwise,
23:56his gaze cut across her,
23:58cold and quiet,
23:59and said nothing more.
24:01Serafina dropped
24:01to her knees.
24:02Yes, father.
24:03As Raven finally went still,
24:05the desperation broke
24:06through Serafina's composure,
24:08and tears ran down her face.
24:10Father, please, save him.
24:12He's still going to be
24:13my husband one day.
24:14Please.
24:15Only then did father look at me.
24:17I nodded at Silas.
24:19Let him go.
24:19Silas released the coil.
24:21Raven's limp body
24:22hit the earth
24:23beside the hawthorn tree,
24:24scattering petals
24:25across the flagstones.
24:27I moved quickly
24:28to catch Silas.
24:29He had burned
24:30through everything he had,
24:31the serpent tail
24:32refusing to retract,
24:34his legs unable
24:34to carry him,
24:36his full weight
24:36dropping into my arms.
24:38Father made a sound
24:39of pure displeasure.
24:40I bought you beastmen
24:41to bond with,
24:42not to put them
24:42against each other.
24:43If it happens again,
24:44you're both out
24:45of this bloodline.
24:48Understood, father.
24:51Quick!
24:52Carry Raven inside!
24:57I looked at Raven's
24:59violet face and asked,
25:00will the venom kill him?
25:03I don't make problems
25:04for myself.
25:06Look at him
25:06and found his face
25:07stripped of everything
25:08he usually wore around me.
25:10The deference,
25:11the careful performance,
25:12all of it gone.
25:13What remained was cold
25:14and still,
25:15the slit pupils unmoved.
25:17This is who he actually is.
25:19Then Silas went boneless
25:20against my shoulder,
25:21head lolling,
25:22as if the last of his strength
25:24had left him at once.
25:25But I didn't believe it.
25:26Then again,
25:27a performance was only worth
25:28running to its end.
25:29So I slid an arm
25:30around that ice-cold tail,
25:32settled my other hand
25:33at his waist,
25:34and lifted him.
25:36Silas stared at me,
25:37startled into actual surprise,
25:39a flush climbing fast
25:40up his neck.
25:41Hold still.
25:44I carried him back
25:45to his room,
25:46where the physician
25:47was already waiting.
25:48The broken ribs were set.
25:50Silas endured it
25:51with his face
25:51gone paper white,
25:53the scales along his tail
25:54rippling open and closed
25:55with every wave of pain,
25:57until the sight
25:58made my own skin crawl.
25:59I turned away
26:00and rubbed the goosebumps
26:01down my arms.
26:02When the physician finished
26:04and left with a list
26:05of instructions,
26:06I looked at the pale expanse
26:07of serpent tail.
26:10Silas pressed his lips together
26:12and under my gaze,
26:13drew it back in,
26:14the tail dissolving
26:15into human legs again.
26:18Oddly fascinating, man.
26:20and met those still
26:21unrecovered slit pupils,
26:23blinking at me
26:23without looking away.
26:26He was asking
26:27why I'd stood there
26:28and watched.
26:29I smiled.
26:29Have you ever heard
26:30the saying,
26:31which one?
26:32Real trust is earned
26:33in kind.
26:34You didn't trust me,
26:35so don't expect me
26:36to trust you first.
26:37After I left Silas' room,
26:39I did a quiet round
26:40of inquiries
26:41and pieced together
26:42what had happened.
26:43Silas had developed
26:44a fondness
26:44for the hawthorn tree
26:45in the garden.
26:46It was full bloom
26:47and he'd been spending
26:48idle hours beneath it.
26:50He'd had the misfortune
26:51of crossing paths
26:52with Raven,
26:53who was wound tight
26:54and looking for
26:55something to hit.
26:56Serafina's standard
26:57for a beast man
26:58was raw power,
26:59and since a beast man
27:00who had learned
27:00to suppress their
27:01feral instinct
27:02lost much of that,
27:03she had never taught
27:04Raven to pull back
27:05from the edge.
27:06Instead,
27:07she trained him
27:07to his limits
27:08and then patched him
27:09up herself
27:10with careful,
27:11gentle hands.
27:12Two sessions of that
27:13and Raven was
27:14completely devoted to her.
27:15If I hadn't been blinded
27:17by Kale's fox allure
27:18in my last life,
27:19heart given over to him,
27:21every alarm in me silenced,
27:23I wouldn't have died
27:23so stupidly.
27:25Speaking of which,
27:26I wonder how Kale
27:27is doing in the Talia household.
27:28I asked,
27:29and promptly had
27:30to swallow a laugh.
27:31The Talia patriarch
27:32had been putting
27:33Kale's fox allure
27:34to work,
27:35entertaining guests
27:36with it,
27:36men and women alike,
27:38sparing no categories.
27:39Kale had always
27:40been beautiful.
27:41With his glamour
27:42on top of that,
27:43more than a few people
27:44had wanted him
27:45in my last life.
27:46To protect him,
27:47I had taken on damage
27:48I never should have absorbed.
27:50And every time,
27:51he had one thing to say,
27:52that's what you're here for,
27:54that's what I'm here for.
27:55As if I were furniture,
27:57a plan began to form
27:58in the back of my mind.
27:59I was humming to myself
28:00on the way back
28:01to my room
28:02when I heard voices
28:03inside Silas's
28:04and pressed myself
28:05quietly to the wall.
28:07Serafina's voice,
28:08all warmth and remorse.
28:10Silas,
28:10I'm so sorry.
28:11I should have kept
28:12Raven under control.
28:14You're hurt so badly.
28:15Can I help you
28:16with your bandages?
28:17I raised an eyebrow
28:18and leaned closer.
28:19Silas's voice
28:20came back flat
28:21as a locked door.
28:22Get out.
28:23Where's Alara?
28:24Didn't she stay with you?
28:25With injuries this serious,
28:27isn't this your future
28:28husband's work?
28:29Silas said.
28:30And the chill in his voice
28:31could have frosted glass.
28:32I bit down on a laugh
28:34hard enough to hurt.
28:35Serafina had clearly
28:36caught a glimpse
28:37of what Silas
28:38was capable of
28:38and immediately wanted
28:39to pull him
28:40into her orbit.
28:41When it didn't work,
28:42she said a few
28:43perfunctory words
28:44of concern
28:45and prepared to leave.
28:46I moved quickly
28:47back to my own room.
28:48But the next second,
28:49there was a knock
28:50on my door
28:50and Silas was standing
28:52in the frame,
28:53eyes dark and steady,
28:54looking at me.
28:55I was genuinely surprised.
28:57He'd looked critically
28:58wounded moments ago
28:59and he was already
29:00on his feet?
29:01Beastman healing
29:02was fast,
29:03but not that fast.
29:05Something you need?
29:06You said you'd
29:06teach me to read.
29:07I'd completely
29:08forgotten about that.
29:09Huh, sorry.
29:10We can start now.
29:12Silas pressed his lips
29:13together and stepped inside.
29:14I started from the very beginning,
29:16the phonetic alphabet,
29:17and we sat across
29:18from each other
29:19until he looked up
29:20and said,
29:21Am I what you expected?
29:22I blinked.
29:23Hmm.
29:24Silas raised his eyes.
29:25Earlier,
29:26was it worth watching?
29:27He meant,
29:28Why didn't you come in?
29:29I smiled.
29:30Honestly,
29:31it was.
29:31Silas's brow
29:32drew together immediately.
29:34He looked genuinely displeased,
29:36the question in his voice
29:37coming out sharper
29:38than he probably intended.
29:40You have history with her.
29:41He'd picked up on the tension
29:42between Serafina and me.
29:44Of course he had.
29:45I let my lashes fall.
29:46Yes,
29:47that history.
29:48He was quiet for a moment.
29:50I can-
29:50That one,
29:50I genuinely hadn't seen coming.
29:53And then my father
29:54kills you in return?
29:55Silas's gaze didn't waver.
29:57You said it yourself.
29:58Real trust is earned in kind.
30:00For the first time,
30:01I saw it.
30:02Actual sincerity in his eyes.
30:04But still,
30:05why?
30:06Trust for trust was one thing.
30:08But I hadn't done anything
30:09to earn it yet.
30:10A flicker of tension
30:11moved through his expression.
30:12I want Lyra to treat me.
30:14If I had a body
30:15that worked the way it should,
30:17I wouldn't have had to spend today
30:19looking as pathetic as I did.
30:21I softened my voice.
30:22You were anything
30:23but pathetic today.
30:24In your last life,
30:25you survived the fighting pit
30:27using exactly that.
30:28Fain weakness,
30:29let them close in,
30:31then coil and bite
30:32through their throats.
30:33Thinking that,
30:34I reached up without meaning to
30:36and touched my own neck.
30:37Learn what you need
30:38to learn first.
30:40Lyra.
30:41I'll find a way.
30:42Okay.
30:43For the first time,
30:44the usually cold boy
30:45let a genuine smile
30:47break across his face.
30:48A few days later,
30:50word came that the Voss family's
30:52grandmother was turning 80,
30:54and the Voss household
30:55had sent a formal invitation
30:56to ours.
30:57Because of the garden incident,
30:59father took only me
31:00and left Serafina behind.
31:03Beast men were barred
31:04from formal events,
31:05so I left Silas at home.
31:07In the banquet hall,
31:08I found Talia
31:09beaming at guests
31:10with practiced ease
31:11until she caught sight of me
31:13and her expression
31:14went flat as stone.
31:15I fell and stepped beside her
31:17after the gift presentation.
31:20Where's Kale?
31:21You have a nerve asking.
31:22This is all your fault,
31:24you know.
31:25Talia,
31:26do we have a problem?
31:30I don't know.
31:31You're the one
31:31who's had it out
31:32for me from the start.
31:33I've never had a problem
31:34with you,
31:35only with Kale.
31:37If you don't believe me,
31:42I don't believe
31:43he'd do that to me.
31:46Then test him.
31:48While the crowd
31:48was distracted,
31:49Talia guided me quietly
31:51toward the cellar
31:52below the manor.
31:54Go in
31:55and remember
31:57don't look directly
31:58at his eyes.
31:59Talia wrinkled her nose,
32:01gripped her composure,
32:02and clicked into the cellar
32:03on high heels.
32:05I slipped in behind her.
32:06It took a while
32:07before the light
32:08reached Kale's cage.
32:09He was chained
32:10at the neck like livestock,
32:12locked behind bars,
32:13filthy and broken looking.
32:15A picture of wreckage.
32:16I stayed back around the corner,
32:18out of sight.
32:19Kale had his eyes closed,
32:21the fox ears flat and still.
32:23If his chest
32:24hadn't been faintly moving,
32:25he could have passed
32:26for dead.
32:28Kale.
32:30Kale.
32:31Talia's voice
32:32barely reached a whisper.
32:34He opened his eyes slowly,
32:35and when he saw her,
32:37something electric
32:37came back into his face.
32:40The chain snapped
32:42and rang
32:42at his sudden movement.
32:45You came to get me out?
32:47I can't get you out yet.
32:48My father is still angry.
32:50He's still angry.
32:53Then she rushed
32:54to add it.
32:56But I promise.
32:58I'll come back for you.
33:00I will.
33:01Talia, look at me.
33:02Just look at me.
33:04I'm begging you.
33:06Get me out
33:07the way you did
33:08in the fighting pit.
33:11You were everything
33:12to me then.
33:13You were the only light.
33:15Please, just look at me.
33:16Talia kept her chin down,
33:18listening.
33:18Kale ran out
33:19of patience fast.
33:21Talia,
33:23get me out!
33:24Now!
33:26Why not?
33:27Why can't you?
33:28You did it fine
33:29at the fighting pit.
33:30You were falling over
33:31yourself to help me then.
33:33Why is now any different?
33:34You're blaming me
33:36when you were the one
33:37begging me to save you?
33:39Who even gave you
33:40permission to be
33:41that gullible?
33:42You were practically
33:43throwing yourself at me,
33:45just like Alara.
33:47Alara.
33:49You've done this
33:50to her too?
33:51I don't know.
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