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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, vendors shouting in the black market, voices clashing with the
00:31snarls of caged beastmen.
00:33The truth is clear, I had returned to the day father had brought us to the black market to choose.
00:37Pac's unspoken blood lot, every young man and woman, three years before coming of age, personally select an equally young
00:45beastman as their future mate.
00:48Bonded for life, no 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, but I had never fully
00:59understood 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.
01:22I bit it back and steadied myself with a fist, pressed hard against the pain of my chest, and looked
01:28around.
01:29The 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, watching Serafina now, poised as a flower, I understood perfectly.
02:35This was the moment Kale had first set his sights on her.
02:39Serafina 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.
03:04Serafina gave a small smile, drifted away, and began her own careful selection.
03:09Just 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.
03:27Toiled and utterly still.
03:28If memory served, no one had chosen him in my last life.
03:32But a beastman had risen in this city after that.
03:34A name that made even hardened predators go still.
03:37Silas.
03:38Single-handedly, he had dismantled the black market,
03:41led a mass exodus of captive beastmen,
03:43and years later stood across a negotiating table from the humans,
03:47and won equal rights for every last one of his kind.
03:50I had crossed paths with Silas once,
03:52and that white serpent tail was burned into my memory.
03:55Right now, Silas could barely hold his human form,
03:59every 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,
04:50and the blood-streaked serpent tail uncoiled
04:52and snapped around Kale like a whip.
04:55Kale 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.
05:43I was very much looking forward to that.
05:45The 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,
05:56but 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, dragging that broken body through it all?
06:07My stare must have been too obvious, because a slow flush crept up Silas's neck.
06:12Mistress...
06:14Do you need something?
06:16In my last life, Kale had never once called me anything but my name, saving 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.
06:49He said, a 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, the 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.
07:23Alara, 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, rare 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, leading him out into the city for
07:53the first time.
07:54Mistress, what's that?
07:56Ice cream.
07:57He cataloged everything.
08:00Storefronts, 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.
08:10Then 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, the carefully performed helplessness had cracked.
08:30Just for a second.
08:31He didn't trust me, not even close, and beneath the docile surface, he was calculating.
08:37Of 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, because a beast-man healer of rare power commanded human
08:48respect as much as fear.
08:50Instead, I found the most unremarkable courtyard I'd ever seen, identifiable only because it was packed shoulder to shoulder with
08:57people 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, and fixed me with an expression that begged without
09:19words.
09:20Then a hand closed over my eyes.
09:23Don't look at him.
09:24Glamour rat.
09:26I laughed and pulled his hand down.
09:28Get in line.
09:31Of course I could feel Kale's fox allure threading through the air, but it couldn't touch me now.
09:36Not with only hatred and wariness where softness used to live, and not when his glamour was still this juvenile.
09:44Silas gave me one more uncertain look, then moved to join the queue.
10:17What was Kale even doing here?
10:18And spent several days doing it.
10:20During those days, on the bodyguard's quiet instruction, every beast man Kale faced in the pit was as brutal as
10:27they came.
10:28Taria had come back just in time to pull him out at death's door.
10:31I understood now.
10:33Kale was wounded badly enough that Talia had brought him here.
10:36I took a proper look at Talia.
10:38Peach bloom skin, wide eyes, all open sincerity.
10:42Not a calculating bone in her body by the look of it.
10:45No wonder Kale had reeled her in so easily.
10:48He never does change.
10:49Suddenly, Kale tore free of Talia's grip and lurched toward me.
10:53Hey, where are you going?
10:55Talia reached for him, and he shoved her hand away viciously.
10:58Don't touch me!
11:00He glared at her with an expression I knew by heart.
11:04Revulsion.
11:04The specific kind reserved for things that had already served their purpose.
11:08He was certain Talia couldn't live without him, so he treated her with careless cruelty.
11:13Something sour moved through me, and I set my jaw.
11:17Silas's brow creased, his weight shifted.
11:20I stopped him with a look.
11:21Kale staggered to me in a few short steps, those steps costing him everything.
11:26His legs gave.
11:27He dropped to one knee, barely catching himself before he hit the ground entirely.
11:31He forced his chin up, and his eyes were sincere in a way that made my skin crawl.
11:36I'm sorry.
11:38I know what I did.
11:40He reached out, small and careful.
11:42Can you forgive me?
11:43So, he'd guessed I'd been reborn, too.
11:46I didn't move, and a flicker of relief crossed his face.
11:49He was almost close enough to take my hand.
11:52I looked past him at Talia instead.
11:54Let me show you how to handle a beastman who won't behave.
11:56The next second, I drove my boot into the center of Kale's chest with every bit of force I had.
12:03He flew backward and crashed through a low stone table in the courtroom.
12:07A choked sound, then a mouthful of blood hit the flagstones.
12:11Kale sat in the wreckage, white-faced, hand pressed to his chest.
12:15Talia sprinted over and rounded on me.
12:18What do you think you're doing?
12:19He's my beastman, even if he's mischaving that's between us.
12:22Who gave you the right?
12:24I tilted my head.
12:26You can't control him, and I don't like Fox Beastmen getting too close to me.
12:30They carry a certain musk.
12:32Kale coughed up another mouthful of blood and stared at me with the expression of someone whose world had just
12:38inverted.
12:39Talia flushed Scarlet.
12:41There's no, there's no musk. You're making that up. That's beastman discrimination.
12:45Careful. Statements like that tend to offend my beastmen.
12:49Silas looked at Talia, then let his gaze drop to the barely breathing Kale.
12:53You should be grateful it was my mistress who hit him.
12:56He said, his voice carrying the disinterest of someone announcing a weather forecast.
13:00Otherwise, I would have killed him.
13:02The undisguised kill intent sat in the air like a blade.
13:06You-
13:07Talia sputtered at him, then whipped around to stare at me.
13:10At last, she made a disgusted sound, hoisted Kale up with visible effort, and marched straight for the door.
13:20Out of the way! Can't you see he's dying?
13:22Everyone in the queue had been waiting far longer, and had no interest in being cut.
13:27Talia ended up wedged at the entrance, Kale sagging against her.
13:31She raised her voice in desperation.
13:34Miss Mira, please, I'm begging you, save him, he really is!
13:37From inside the room came a voice, smooth as river water.
13:43He won't die. Wait your turn.
13:47I raised an eyebrow. I liked this Mira already.
13:50Talia had no choice but to stand there, seething.
13:53Kale was losing his grip on his human form.
13:55The fox ears and tail slipped free, trembling.
13:59She glared daggers at me.
14:00This isn't over!
14:01I looked at her.
14:03Does your father know how much you paid for that beastman?
14:06The Talia family and mine were nothing alike.
14:08Our bloodline maintained some measure of regard for beastmen.
14:12The Talias treated them like livestock.
14:15If her father found out she'd spend a small fortune on a useless fox, the fallout would be spectacular.
14:21Talia blinked.
14:22You know my father?
14:23Then her eyes went wide.
14:24You're threatening me!
14:26I just smiled.
14:27Talia's lip trembled.
14:28Tears spilled down her face and she cried openly, chest heaving.
14:32I hadn't expected the waterworks.
14:34A headache bloomed behind my eyes.
14:36Stop crying.
14:38Your beastman isn't worth it.
14:39I won't let you say that about him.
14:41He's weak.
14:41Yes, but to me he's worth a thousand times more.
14:44Right.
14:45I had nothing left to say to that.
14:47The queue crawled forward for several more hours before it was finally,
14:52mercifully,
14:53Kale's turn.
14:53I had arrived later and stood behind them.
14:56By the time Talia helped Kale out of the treatment room,
14:59an hour had passed and his color had returned.
15:02He looked at me and the wounded helplessness was gone,
15:05replaced by something close 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.
15:14Let's go.
15:16Steering Kale away with a huff in my direction.
15:18Behind me, Silas spoke quietly.
15:21You know them?
15:24I pointed toward the treatment room door.
15:26Your turn.
15:29Silas pressed his lips together, said nothing, and stepped inside.
15:33I followed and watched Mira work.
15:35The mercant were extraordinary.
15:37No instruments, no diagnostic tools, only a touch, and she already knew.
15:42I said it without thinking.
15:44That's remarkable.
15:45Mira looked at me with a faint smile.
15:47Nothing special.
15:48There are dozens in my bloodline more gifted than I am, and the greatest among them is...
15:53Her expression dimmed.
15:54A shadow of grief crossed her face, and she let the sentence die.
15:58His body has a congenital gap.
16:01It's why he appears far weaker than other beastmen, and it will shorten his lifespan.
16:06The hand resting at Silas' side closed into a fist, and his voice came out tight.
16:11Please, help me.
16:13Then he turned to me, and the look in his eyes said everything.
16:17Money is no obstacle.
16:19But Mira shook her head, her smile faint and tired.
16:23A congenital gap is beyond my reach.
16:26I can't mend what was never formed.
16:28Silas' face fell in a way that was visible to the naked eye.
16:31Thank you, anyway.
16:34He turned to leave, and Mira looked at me.
16:36If you happen to know Lucien, Miss Alara, there may still be a chance.
16:41I was caught off guard, not only because Mira had recognized me, but because of the name itself.
16:46Lucien was the most gifted, and most ungovernable of the Vos bloodline.
16:50Lucien, the family's golden heir, known to everyone as their little crown prince.
16:55We had attended the same school once.
16:57I knew him after a fashion, but his health had declined, and he'd withdrawn from classes years ago.
17:03We hadn't spoken since.
17:04Does Lucien keep someone gifted near him?
17:07The Merkin are born with healing in our blood.
17:10It's simply a matter of degree.
17:12Even the least gifted of us can mend our own bodies through instinct alone.
17:16But the rarest among us, the ones born with song,
17:20They can restore the dead to life.
17:22I stared at her.
17:23That sounds impossible! I've never heard of anything like it!
17:26It isn't surprising.
17:27Our bloodline hasn't produced that level of gift in centuries.
17:30Then her voice shifted, quiet, deliberate.
17:33But in the past twenty years, one Merican was born, carrying that gift from her very first breath.
17:39Something clicked into place at the back of my mind.
17:41What is her name?
17:43Lyra.
17:44Of course.
17:46I understand. Thank you, Mira.
17:48I set a payment card on the table, and left with Silas.
17:52The moment we were outside, he asked, barely containing himself.
17:56Are we going to find Lyra?
17:58His eyes were bright with something almost desperate.
18:01If it's possible, I'll take you to her.
18:03I had heard Lyra's name once, in my last life.
18:06Lyra!
18:07She had been offered to the Vos bloodline by the Merican as a gesture of protection.
18:11Her extraordinary healing talent, the price of her bloodline's safety.
18:16And with her, Lucian had finally been free.
18:19She seemed to care for him, or so the rumors said.
18:22Lucian cared for someone else entirely, and treated her accordingly.
18:25What happened after that, I didn't know.
18:29Because by that point, I was already dead.
18:32Given Lucian's erratic temperament, approaching him directly and asking for Lyra would be met
18:38with a flat refusal, no matter how I framed it.
18:41The better path was to go around him.
18:44Reach Lyra herself.
18:45Silas must have sensed my hesitation, because some of the heat faded from his expression.
18:51Mistress doesn't need to worry.
18:53I'm fine as I am.
18:55That word, mistress, spoken aloud on a public street, turned heads up and down the block.
19:02A flush crept up the back of my neck.
19:04I cleared my throat twice.
19:07In public?
19:08You don't have to use that.
19:09Just call me by my name.
19:11Silas adapted without hesitation.
19:13Alright, Alara.
19:14When I got home, I sent Talia's father an anonymous letter.
19:18A quiet, detailed account of exactly how much she had spent on kale at the black market.
19:24I didn't want Talia to become what I had been.
19:27It took less than two days before the news reached me.
19:30Talia had been confined to the house.
19:32But the money was already spent, and her father was too proud to return kale to the black market.
19:38Which meant he would find ways to extract that investment from kale's skin.
19:42The Talia household would be its own kind of hell.
19:45I was still turning that over when a servant came running.
19:48Miss Alara!
19:48Something's wrong!
19:49Silas, Simus, and Raven are fighting!
19:52Raven was Seraphina's beast man.
19:54I was on my feet before the sentence finished.
19:57I followed the servant to the garden outside the mirror, where Silas had been pinned beneath the flowering hawthorn tree.
20:03And Raven's massive fists were falling on him again and again, each blow landing like a hammer.
20:10Miss Alara, 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, his body was mostly healed.
20:23And this was the Silas who, in his last life, had survived the fighting pit on a broken frame.
20:29Which meant there was no possible world in which he was simply being dominated by Raven right now.
20:35He was hiding what he could do, because he didn't trust me.
20:38So I wouldn't save him.
20:40I had no use for a beast man who might drive a blade into my back.
20:43This first step towards trust, he would have to be the one to take it.
20:47Silas still didn't move, arms folded over his head, the crack of breaking bone cutting through the garden like a
20:53gunshot.
20:54He turned his head, spat blood onto the flagstones, and through the gap in the flowering branches, saw me.
21:00Disbelief in his eyes, hurt, a silent, furious question, why aren't you coming?
21:06My hand clenched at my side, and my jaw locked.
21:09Raven, scenting blood, found the animal in himself rising to the surface.
21:13Both ears pushing through his hair, every muscle lit up with predatory excitement, barely a step from the edge of
21:20a full, feral shift.
21:22I held my breath, my entire body strung tight as a wire, and stared at Silas.
21:27Just take this one step towards me, and I swear I will never stop protecting you.
21:32Silas' pupils elongated, the calm human iris collapsing into serpent slit.
21:37In the moment before Raven lunged to bite himself, Silas moved, his legs dissolved into a white serpent tail that
21:45coiled around Raven's body in one fluid motion.
21:48And then his fangs, long and curved and appearing from nowhere, drove into the side of Raven's neck without hesitation.
21:55Raven screamed and thrashed, every muscle in his body convulsing.
21:59Silas' tail contracted like a closing vice.
22:02I watched Raven's face shift from red to violet in the span of seconds, and understood instantly, Silas' fangs were
22:09venomous.
22:10So he's a viper, I thought.
22:12Serafina arrived then, late and unhurried, and when she saw what was happening...
22:17Simus!
22:18You dare kill him!
22:20I stepped forward without hesitation.
22:23What if he does?
22:25Serafina's fierce expression shifted through several versions of itself when she saw me.
22:30She drew a breath, steadied herself.
22:33Alara, tell 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 stillening body with meaning.
22:43I won't let my sister become a widow this early.
22:46Alara!
22:47Serafina finally snapped.
22:49One finger leveled at me.
22:50Aren't you afraid father will punish you for this?
22:53I put on an expression of perfect innocence.
22:55Silas has always been fragile and obedient.
22:57He wouldn't provoke Raven without reason.
23:00This was self-defense and you know it.
23:02Why would father punish me?
23:04My voice cooled.
23:05Shouldn't the punishment fall on the one who started it?
23:08You.
23:09Enough.
23:09Everyone stop.
23:11Father's voice rolled through the garden from somewhere behind me, heavy with displeasure.
23:15Before Serafina could arrange her face into something pitiable, I got there first,
23:20and let tears spill down my own.
23:22Father!
23:23She started it, and now she's turning 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 a cold sound, spared Serafina one flat look.
23:35A lesson he needed to learn.
23:37And you, don't think I don't know what you've been doing.
23:39The handbook I gave you covers how to suppress a beast man's feral instincts.
23:43What exactly have you been doing with it?
23:45Father's voice rose.
23:47Serafina's chin dropped.
23:48I was wrong, father.
23:50Serafina.
23:51Raven is going to be your mate.
23:52Your work isn't only to tame him, it's to build him.
23:56Otherwise, his gaze cut across her, cold and quiet, and said nothing more.
24:00Serafina dropped to her knees.
24:02Yes, father.
24:03As Raven finally went still, the desperation broke through Serafina's composure, and tears
24:09ran down her face.
24:10Father, please, save him.
24:12He's still going to be my husband one day.
24:14Please.
24:15Only then did father look at me.
24:17I nodded at Silas.
24:19Let him go.
24:20Silas released the coil.
24:21Raven's limp body hit the earth beside the hawthorn tree, scattering petals across the
24:26flagstones.
24:27I moved quickly to catch Silas.
24:29He had burned through everything he had, the serpent tail refusing to retract, his legs
24:34unable to carry him, his full weight dropping into my arms.
24:38Father made a sound of pure displeasure.
24:40I want you beastmen to bond with, not to put them against each other.
24:43If it happens again, you're both out of this bloodline.
24:48Understood, father.
24:51Quick, carry Raven inside.
24:57I looked at Raven's violet face and asked, will the venom kill him?
25:03I don't make problems for myself.
25:06Look at him and found his face stripped of everything he usually wore around me.
25:10The deference, the careful performance, all of it gone.
25:13What remained was cold and still, the slit pupils unmoved.
25:17This is who he actually is.
25:19Then Silas went boneless against my shoulder, head lolling, as if the last of his strength
25:24had left him at once.
25:25But I didn't believe it.
25:26Then again, a performance was only worth running to its end.
25:29So I slid an arm around that ice-cold tail, settled my other hand at his waist, and lifted
25:35him.
25:36Silas stared at me, startled into actual surprise, a flush climbing fast up his neck.
25:41Hold still.
25:44I carried him back to his room, where the physician was already waiting.
25:48The broken ribs were set.
25:50Silas endured it with his face gone paper-white, the scales along his tail rippling open and
25:55closed with every wave of pain, until the sight made my own skin crawl.
25:59I turned away and rubbed the goosebumps down my arms.
26:02When the physician finished and left with a list of instructions, I looked at the pale
26:07expanse of serpent tail.
26:10Silas pressed his lips together, and under my gaze, drew it back in, the tail dissolving
26:15into human legs again.
26:18Oddly fascinating, man.
26:20And met those still, unrecovered, slit pupils, blinking at me without looking away.
26:26He was asking why I'd stood there and watched.
26:29I smiled.
26:30Have you ever heard the saying, which one?
26:32Real trust is earned in kind.
26:34You didn't trust me, so don't expect me to trust you first.
26:38After I left Silas' room, I did a quiet round of inquiries and pieced together what had happened.
26:43Silas had developed a fondness for the hawthorn tree in the garden.
26:46It was full bloom, and he'd been spending idle hours beneath it.
26:50He'd had the misfortune of crossing paths with Raven, who was wound tight and looking
26:54for something to hit.
26:56Serafina's standard for a beast man was raw power, and since a beast man who had learned
27:00to suppress their feral instinct lost much of that, she had never taught Raven to pull
27:05back from the edge.
27:06Instead, she trained him to his limits, and then patched him up herself with careful,
27:11gentle hands.
27:12Two sessions of that, and Raven was completely devoted to her.
27:15If I hadn't been blinded by Kale's fox allure in my last life, heart given over to him,
27:21every alarm in me silenced, I wouldn't have died so stupidly.
27:25Speaking of which, I wonder how Kale is doing in the Talia household.
27:28I asked, and promptly had to swallow a laugh.
27:32The Talia patriarch had been putting Kale's fox allure to work, entertaining guests with
27:36it, men and women alike, sparing no categories.
27:40Kale had always been beautiful.
27:41With his glamour on top of that, more than a few people had wanted him in my last life.
27:46To protect him, I had taken on damage I never should have absorbed.
27:50And every time, he 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, a plan began to form in the back of my mind.
27:59I was humming to myself on the way back to my room, when I heard voices inside Silas's,
28:04and pressed myself quietly to the wall.
28:07Serafina's voice, all warmth and remorse.
28:10Silas, I'm so sorry.
28:12I should have kept Raven under control.
28:14You're hurt so badly.
28:15Can I help you with your bandages?
28:17I raised an eyebrow and leaned closer.
28:19Silas's voice came back flat as a locked door.
28:22Get out.
28:23Where's Alara?
28:24Didn't she stay with you?
28:25With injuries this serious, isn't this your future husband's work?
28:29Silas said, and the chill in his voice could have frosted glass.
28:32I bit down on a laugh hard enough to hurt.
28:35Serafina had clearly caught a glimpse of what Silas was capable of,
28:39and immediately wanted to pull him into her orbit.
28:41When it didn't work, she said a few perfunctory words of concern, and prepared to leave.
28:46I moved quickly back to my own room.
28:48But the next second, there was a knock on my door,
28:51and Silas was standing in the frame, eyes dark and steady, looking at me.
28:55I was genuinely surprised.
28:56He'd looked critically wounded moments ago, and he was already on his feet?
29:01Beastman healing was fast, but not that fast.
29:05Something you need?
29:06You said you'd teach me to read.
29:07I'd completely forgotten about that.
29:10Huh, sorry.
29:10We can start now.
29:12Silas pressed his lips together and stepped inside.
29:14I started from the very beginning, the phonetic alphabet,
29:17and we sat across from each other until he looked up and said,
29:21Am I what you expected?
29:22I blinked.
29:23Hmm.
29:24Silas raised his eyes.
29:25Earlier, was it worth watching?
29:27He meant, why didn't you come in?
29:29I smiled.
29:30Honestly, it was.
29:32Silas's brow drew together immediately.
29:34He looked genuinely displeased.
29:36The question in his voice coming out sharper than he probably intended.
29:40You have history with her.
29:41He'd picked up on the tension between Serafina and me.
29:44Of course he had.
29:45I let my lashes fall.
29:47Yes, that history.
29:48He was quiet for a moment.
29:50I can't.
29:50That one, I genuinely hadn't seen coming.
29:53And then my father kills 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, I saw it.
30:02Actual sincerity in his eyes.
30:04But still, why?
30:06Trust for trust was one thing.
30:08But I hadn't done anything to earn it yet.
30:10A flicker of tension moved through his expression.
30:12I want Lyra to treat me.
30:14If I had a body that worked the way it should,
30:18I wouldn't have had to spend today looking as pathetic as I did.
30:21I softened my voice.
30:22You were anything but pathetic today.
30:24In your last life, you survived the fighting pit using exactly that.
30:29Fain weakness, let them close in, then coil and bite through their throats.
30:33Thinking that, I reached up without meaning to and touched my own neck.
30:37Learn what you need to learn first.
30:40Lyra.
30:41I'll find a way.
30:42Okay.
30:43For the first time, the usually cold boy let a genuine smile break across his face.
30:49A few days later, word came that the Voss family's grandmother was turning 80,
30:53and the Voss household had sent a formal invitation to ours.
30:58Because of the garden incident, father took only me and left Serafina behind.
31:03Beastmen were barred from formal events, so I left Silas at home.
31:06In the banquet hall, I found Talia, beaming at guests with practiced ease,
31:12until she caught sight of me and her expression went flat as stone.
31:15I fell and stepped beside her after the gift presentation.
31:20Where's Kale?
31:21You have a nerve asking.
31:22This is all your fault, you know.
31:26Talia, do we have a problem?
31:30I don't know.
31:31You're the one who's had it out for me from the start.
31:33I've never had a problem with you.
31:35Only with Kale.
31:37If you don't believe me...
31:42I don't believe he'd do that to me.
31:46Then test him.
31:48While the crowd was distracted,
31:50Talia guided me quietly toward the cellar below the manor.
31:54Go in, and remember,
31:57don't look directly at his eyes.
31:59Talia wrinkled her nose,
32:01gripped her composure,
32:02and clicked into the cellar on high heels.
32:04I slipped in behind her.
32:06It took a while before the light reached Kale's cage.
32:09He was chained at 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 hadn't been faintly moving,
32:25he could have passed for dead.
32:28Kale.
32:30Kale.
32:31Talia's voice barely reached a whisper.
32:34He opened his eyes slowly,
32:35and when he saw her,
32:37something electric came back into his face.
32:40The chain snapped and rang at 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 to add it.
32:56But I promise.
32:59I'll come back for you.
33:00I will.
33:02Talia, look at me.
33:03Just 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 to me then.
33:13You were the only light.
33:15Please, just look at me.
33:16Talia kept her chin down, listening.
33:18Kale ran out of patience fast.
33:21Talia.
33:23Get me out.
33:24Now!
33:26Why not?
33:27Why can't you?
33:28You did it fine at the fighting pit.
33:30You were falling over yourself to help me then.
33:33Why is now any different?
33:35You're blaming me?
33:36When you were the one begging me to save you?
33:39Who even gave you permission to be that gullible?
33:42You were practically throwing yourself at me.
33:44Just like Alara.
33:47Alara.
33:49You've done this to her too?
33:57Do you see it now?
33:59He barely had to try, and you couldn't hand yourself over fast enough.
34:03Talia turned to look at me.
34:04And you ended up being the one blamed for it.
34:07I rested a hand on her shoulder.
34:09Go wait outside.
34:11She glanced back at Kale, uncertain.
34:18But, you'll be fine.
34:19Talia looked over her shoulder three times on the way out, and then the cellar was just
34:23the two of us.
34:24Kale watched me, something testing in his voice.
34:27What do you want?
34:30I'm curious.
34:32How were you reborn?
34:33Let me guess.
34:35After I died in our last life, you went to Serafina, but your fox-alore never worked
34:39on her, did it?
34:40She kept her guard up.
34:41She knew what you were, and what you were capable of, so she was always watching.
34:45But your gift was too valuable to waste, so she put it to use.
34:49Until the very end.
34:50When you'd served your purpose completely.
34:52And her shadow wolf finished you the same way he finished me.
34:55That's not true.
34:56She cared about me.
34:57She cared about me.
34:58You don't know anything.
35:00Then why were you hoping I'd choose you in the black market?
35:04Alara!
35:05Alara!
35:07You have to take me back!
35:09Why won't you choose me?
35:10Why?
35:10I stepped back, just out of reach.
35:13The chain snapped taut around his neck.
35:17I'll give you something.
35:21One chance.
35:23To take back what was done to me.
35:28When I came up from the cellar, Talia was still outside, eyes raw.
35:33I almost sighed.
35:35I told you he wasn't worth it.
35:37Why are you this upset?
35:39Sorry.
35:40For what?
35:43I was...
35:44I was so stupid before.
35:48I thought it was destiny.
35:54I thought we'd be this epic human and beast man love story.
35:59She broke into full, shuddering sobs.
36:02I rubbed a spot on my temple.
36:04Even if you wanted an epic love story, you'd need your father's blessing first.
36:10Come on, let's go.
36:12She wept.
36:13Okay.
36:14After managing Talia, back to some level of composure, I asked,
36:18Is Lucien on the guest list?
36:20That was the second reason I'd come tonight.
36:24Did he bring anyone with him?
36:27I didn't pay attention.
36:29He sent a gift and went to rest.
36:30His health isn't great.
36:32Where is he resting?
36:33I'll take you.
36:34Talia led me to the VIP lounge.
36:36And before we'd even reached the door, we both heard it.
36:39A melody, rising and falling like water over stone.
36:43The music moved through the air and straight into my chest.
36:49I feel like someone just told me it's going to be okay.
36:52I could go back in there and stab him about 15 times right now.
36:55I turned to look at her, surprised.
36:58It had that effect too?
37:00Then this was Lyra.
37:01It had to be.
37:03Walking up to Lucien directly and asking for her was out of the question.
37:07He was far too volatile for a frontal approach.
37:11Better to reach Lyra herself.
37:13I sent Talia off.
37:16Opened the door directly across from Lucien's suite.
37:19Sat down in the frame and listened.
37:21The melody flowed without pause and something in my bones began to unknot.
37:26The grief of a whole past life starting to quiet.
37:30I yawned, biting it.
37:32I kept my eyes open by force and waited.
37:35What I hadn't counted on, waiting the entire night.
37:40Lyra's voice never stopped once.
37:41When I realized how angry I was on her behalf, the feeling surprised me.
37:46The morning meal arrived for delivery.
37:49I opened the door at the right moment.
37:51Lyra was stepping out of Lucien's suite, waving off the breakfast tray.
37:55I raised a hand.
37:58Hi.
37:59Lyra turned at the sound of my voice and smiled.
38:01She was genuinely beautiful.
38:03Skin that caught the light like satin.
38:06Eyes clear and bright.
38:07But what stayed with you was something underneath the beauty.
38:11Something that made you want to draw closer and stay.
38:14Her voice came out sand rough.
38:16That made the next part awkward.
38:18She seemed to read the awkwardness on my face and gave a small, tired smile.
38:23Do you need something for me?
38:24I stepped aside and gestured.
38:26Would you mind coming in for a moment?
38:28Lyra nodded and walked in.
38:30I poured her a glass of warm water first, let her settle, then said.
38:35I have a beastman.
38:36He was born with a congenital gap.
38:38I took him to see Mira.
38:40She can't mend it, but she directed me to you.
38:42Lyra listened and nodded.
38:44Mira is my aunt.
38:45I blinked.
38:46Mira looked barely older than Lyra.
38:49Lyra checked the time.
38:50I have about two hours.
38:52You can bring your beastman to a nearby hotel.
38:55The fee for a congenital repair is two million.
38:58She said it with her lashes lowered, the expression beneath them hidden.
39:03What I was thinking about was her voice.
39:05Right now?
39:06Your throat!
39:07It doesn't matter.
39:10Every day is like this.
39:12If you're waiting for it to recover, you'll be waiting forever.
39:15Something dropped in my chest.
39:17Every day is like this.
39:21Is Lucien not ill?
39:23I said.
39:23He isn't.
39:25Then why?
39:26Lyra's smile went pale at the edges.
39:29Cruelty, mostly.
39:30I thought of the rumors I'd heard once in another life.
39:33You don't have to stay devoted to one tree.
39:35You're overthinking it.
39:37Get the hotel sorted.
39:38If Lucien wakes and finds me gone, there won't be another chance.
39:41I booked the nearest suite fast, then contacted Silas.
39:45After I hung up, I turned back to Lyra.
39:47She was working through breakfast in small, unhurried bites.
39:51Every movement neat and somehow restful to watch.
39:54But there was something about that narrow back that made the chest ache for no clear reason.
40:00I sat down across from her, words rising and dying on my tongue.
40:04In the end, I said nothing.
40:05Silas arrived minutes later.
40:07He had clearly run the whole way, sweat still at his temple.
40:10Lyra extended her hand.
40:12He glanced at me first, and only after I nodded did he approach with any care.
40:17Lyra laid her palm over his, and her brow began to draw together.
40:21I felt the tension move up through my own spine.
40:24I was desperate to intervene, but I forced myself to stay back.
40:29Lyra wasn't faring any better than Silas.
40:32Every note she sang seemed to tear something loose in her throat.
40:38Slowly, blood appeared at the corner of her mouth.
40:41I started forward.
40:43She stopped me with a look and a small shake of her head.
40:47An hour later, the singing stopped.
40:51Silas and Lyra folded to the floor at the same moment.
40:55I moved fast to catch Lyra, wiped the blood from her mouth.
40:59I'm sorry.
41:00I didn't know it would be like this.
41:01Are you all right?
41:02She was breathing hard.
41:04You paid.
41:05I gave what was asked.
41:10There's nothing to apologize for.
41:12Let me take you back.
41:13Lyra looked at Silas, still on the floor, catching his breath.
41:19One moment.
41:22The gap is sealed, but he'll need a course of medicine to follow.
41:28And because the deficiency has held his body back, he's been presenting as a juvenile.
41:35But he's actually an adult beastman.
41:37Grown beastmen enter a heat cycle.
41:40Be careful.
41:41Don't let him hurt you.
41:43I understand.
41:44Rest for a moment.
41:45I nodded fast.
41:48Mmm.
41:49Lyra let her eyes close and went quiet.
41:53I arranged transport and personally saw her back to the Talia estate.
41:58My plan had been to slip her back to her suite unnoticed.
42:05But standing at the front entrance when we arrived was Lucien, jaw set and expression like incoming weather.
42:12Behind him, Talia.
42:14Behind him, Talia.
42:15Red-eyed and...
42:18We'd been found out.
42:20I moved to step out of the car with Lyra.
42:22She stopped me with a hand on my arm.
42:25Go home.
42:26I shook my head.
42:27Lyra.
42:29I went to school with Lucien.
42:31He should give me at least a little room.
42:35Lyra smiled.
42:37If he were the type to give you room, you wouldn't have had to come to me directly.
42:42I'm all right.
42:43He still needs me.
42:44Go.
42:45Trust me.
42:47I gritted my teeth.
42:50In the end, I pressed the payment card into her hand.
42:53She gave it back.
42:54Give it to my aunt.
42:56She'll know what to do with it.
42:59I can't use it.
43:01There's nowhere it would go.
43:04She pushed the door open.
43:06The moment Lucien's eyes found her, his face darkened in a way that was visible from a distance.
43:14On the drive back to the hotel, I couldn't settle.
43:17What had happened?
43:18I asked Talia and she told me.
43:20Lucien had woken 30 minutes ago, couldn't find Lyra anywhere and had made a scene.
43:25Everyone knew how much Lyra mattered to him.
43:29So they'd all started searching too.
43:31Eventually, someone reviewed the security footage and traced it to me.
43:35Under pressure from Lucien's people, Talia had been forced to give up the whole story of how I'd spent the
43:41night waiting outside his door and caught a thorough dressing down for it.
43:46I had a feeling I was out to receive one too.
43:48But my worry about that was smaller than my worry about Lyra.
43:52I gripped the payment card in my hand and pushed into the hotel room, ready to call Silas and head
43:57home, when he launched himself at me the second the door opened.
44:01His usual cold was gone.
44:02He was burning.
44:03And he was bigger, taller, broader.
44:06The change in him unmistakable.
44:08Then Lyra's warning came back to me in a rush.
44:10Grown beastmen enter a heat cycle.
44:13Be careful.
44:15Don't let him hurt you.
44:16Heat cycle.
44:17Not this fast.
44:18Surely not this fast.
44:21Silas, it's me.
44:23Look at me.
44:23Look at me.
44:24I pushed against his chest.
44:26His scorching hands closed around my waist.
44:28His forehead pressed down to mine.
44:30Mistress.
44:31Mistress.
44:32That word in a voice dropped three registers.
44:35A fully adult male's voice.
44:37I had vastly underestimated Lyra.
44:41Let go of me.
44:42You can't do this.
44:42It isn't right.
44:43Silas tilted his head just slightly and the tip of his nose grazed my cheekbone.
44:48The heat off his breath landed against my face in waves.
44:51I threw every bit of strength into pushing him away.
44:54He didn't move an inch.
44:56That hurts.
44:57The grip at my waist drawing tighter.
44:59My waist was flesh, not iron.
45:01Silas buried his face at my shoulder and his breath came out ragged.
45:04Help me.
45:06Please.
45:06I had absolutely no idea how to help with this.
45:10All right.
45:10Okay.
45:11I'll help.
45:11Just let go of me first.
45:13Silas loosened his hold by a fraction.
45:15The next second, I spun for the door.
45:17My fingers were almost on the handle when a serpent tail coiled around my waist and reeled
45:22me back.
45:23I turned.
45:24The slit pupils had bled fully through and faint scales had begun appearing along his cheekbones.
45:30Full shift starting.
45:31That was a catastrophically bad sign.
45:35Help me.
45:36The vertical pupils went deep and still.
45:38You promised.
45:42In my last life, Kale had gone through heat and made it very clear he wanted nothing from
45:48me.
45:48He was saving himself for Serafina.
45:50So this particular experience was new territory.
45:54My hand, trapped in Silas' grip, had lost all sensation.
45:57By the time we made it back to the estate, night had fallen.
46:02I felt deeply and specifically guilty about several things.
46:07Father was in the main hall, waiting.
46:10I walked in, dropped to my knees on reflex, and grabbed Silas down with me.
46:16His voice shook the walls.
46:24If you wanted Lyra to treat Silas, you could have come to me.
46:31Instead, you took her without permission.
46:34Did it ever occur to you what would happen if Lucian collapsed while she was gone?
46:40If that had ended badly, how would I face the Vos bloodline?
46:44Father's chest heaved with every word.
46:46I bent my head lower.
46:49I was wrong, Father.
46:51Please don't stress yourself over it.
46:57If your brother were here, I wouldn't have to be more like your sister.
47:02She's composed, well-mannered, and makes no trouble.
47:05I kept my head down and let the rest of it wash over me.
47:10Then Silas tapped my hand twice.
47:13I looked up.
47:15Serafina was coming in from outside, with Kale behind her, looking considerably less like
47:21something dragged through gutters.
47:23So, Kale had made his move.
47:25I couldn't stop one corner of my mouth.
47:27You think this is funny?
47:31I flattened my expression instantly.
47:36No, Father.
47:37Serafina came to Father's side and made all the right soothing gestures.
47:40Alara, what did you do this time to upset him this badly?
47:45So, Father ran through all of it again, from the beginning.
47:49Thanks for that, Serafina.
47:51In the retelling, she managed to look concerned while adding fuel to every sentence.
47:54The verdict?
47:55One month's house confinement.
47:57When you're done, go back to your room.
47:58Don't leave without permission.
47:59Yes, Father.
48:00When Father finally released me and I turned to go, Serafina said,
48:07Alara, is this Silas?
48:10I looked back.
48:11Silas was nearly the same height as me now.
48:14His features sharpened and settled into something older, the boyishness almost entirely gone.
48:21Yesterday, he had still looked like a boy of 12, but that whole development was connected
48:26to the heat cycle, and I was not going to explain the heat cycle to anyone in this room.
48:32Enough.
48:33I know.
48:35Go.
48:36Yes!
48:39I turned and walked, quickly, back to my room.
48:43Naturally, I did not miss the flash of jealous hatred in Serafina's eyes as I left.
48:48Back in my room,
48:55I crooked a finger at Silas.
48:57More?
48:58The look on his face was entirely too knowing.
49:01Silas!
49:02He laughed then, easy, unbothered.
49:05What does mistress require?
49:09I took a breath, steadied myself.
49:12All of this was exactly what you planned, wasn't it?
49:16The body that looked like a boy's had hidden a mind that had never been a boy's at all.
49:22Which meant from the beginning, I had been played.
49:26No.
49:28You choosing me, that was the thing I didn't plan for.
49:36He looked at me, and his eyes were level and serious.
49:41So everything else he had.
49:43I can't even be surprised.
49:45The beast man who dismantled the black market and negotiated equal rights for his entire species.
49:50Of course he was always three moves ahead.
49:52I was gnashing my teeth.
49:54Silas smiled, just slightly.
49:56You came out ahead, didn't you, mistress?
49:59He drew that last word out deliberately.
50:01I turned away.
50:03Please leave my room.
50:05I could take the loss, but I wasn't staying in the same space as his satisfaction.
50:10The month of confinement passed.
50:11I had the bodyguard route the payment card to Mira with a note.
50:15She would know what to do with it.
50:16During that time, I searched every channel I could find for news of Lyra, and found nothing.
50:21Every thread dead.
50:23The silence worried me.
50:25Meanwhile, Silas had grown at a pace that defied any reasonable measurement.
50:29Two days gone, and he was noticeably taller.
50:32The ease of a predator settling into his posture with every passing hour.
50:36Father approved of the development in ways that visibly extended to me.
50:40Since Serafina had brought Kale into the house, Kale had been reporting to me daily.
50:45Small details, careful observations, while his fox allure went to work on Serafina.
50:50Drop by patient drop.
50:52Everything I had suffered in my last life, I was going to make her feel every inch of.
50:57Serafina had been resistant at first, but with Raven diminished after his confrontation with Silas,
51:03and with my own quiet efforts pulling her reputation apart from the seams,
51:07her composure was starting to fracture.
51:09She was getting volatile, reaching for Kale's attention at any hour, storming when she didn't get it.
51:15Kale was doing to her exactly what he had done to me, and she was falling, piece by piece.
51:20The ugly incidents mounted, scenes in public, a shouting match that had left witnesses unsettled.
51:26A round of self-pity so deep, it had shaded into something worse.
51:30The worst incident?
51:31She had nearly used a blade on her own wrist.
51:34A servant had caught her in time and run for father.
51:37Father arrived home from the office to find her,
51:40and the fury on his face was something I had never seen before.
51:44He slapped her, once open-handed.
51:50For a beastman, have you lost your mind?
51:55Isn't this exactly what you wanted, father?
51:58You were the one who said we had to bond with beastmen.
52:01One mate, one life, no betrayal.
52:04So why is it wrong now?
52:06Father's fury and grief fought each other visibly.
52:10Wake up!
52:14Serafina surfaced for a moment, blinking.
52:17Father pressed his fingers hard into his temple.
52:20I know you've resented me for a long time.
52:23You think I failed you.
52:26That I shouldn't have remarried.
52:28That Alada and her brother took something from you.
52:30That the Bloodline's legacy belongs to you alone.
52:33But Serafina, have I ever actually neglected you?
52:36He looked at her, and something wet moved through his eyes.
52:40You're older than Alira by a few years.
52:41You know as well as I do why this Bloodline requires us to choose a beastman companion at 18.
52:45It isn't cruelty. It is what gives us the right to lead.
52:48I spoke up from the side, genuinely confused.
52:51What does that mean?
52:52Father looked at me and let out a long, slow breath.
52:56It's the old law.
52:58The founding rule.
52:59To inherit and hold the family's work, you must be in true accord with a beastman.
53:06Serafina, you've always known the Bloodline standard.
53:09Leadership goes to the most capable, regardless of birth order or gender.
53:13Three years ago was when you should have begun.
53:16Chosen your beastman, prepared yourself, entered the business with intent.
53:21Instead you waited, and while you were waiting, you were building a trap.
53:28Don't dress it up, Father. Answer me honestly.
53:32Did you treat us the same? Ever?
53:35I was born with no mother.
53:37You were busy. You gave me to the nurses.
53:40You gave me everything material I asked for, yes.
53:43But how many hours did you spend with me?
53:46How many times did you hold me, or come to quiet me when I was scared?
53:51After you remarried, you held Elyra.
53:54You came when Elyra cried.
53:56You gave her the pair because she wanted the pair.
53:58You gave me what you thought I should want, not what I asked for.
54:04Every one of those small things you thought didn't matter, they were scars, Father.
54:08Every single one.
54:10This bowl was never level.
54:12You just couldn't see it.
54:13Serafina, I'm sorry.
54:17You were right to feel it.
54:19I failed you.
54:21Sorry doesn't fix it!
54:23I want Elyra dead!
54:25I want all of them dead!
54:29She lunged for me, hands in my collar, and her face had gone somewhere I hadn't seen it go before.
54:36Alada, I had a dream.
54:38I dreamed you died.
54:41The fully shifted raven bit you right through the throat.
54:45You were dead!
54:48You were dead!
54:49The blood in my veins turned to ice water and stopped.
54:53It wasn't a dream.
54:54It happened.
54:55Father couldn't watch anymore.
54:56He had her removed and confined to her rooms.
55:01When Kyle came to me later, pleased with himself, I took him directly to Serafina's door.
55:06In the cellar of the Talia estate, I had made him a single offer.
55:11His freedom in exchange for his obedience.
55:15Seduce Serafina and do it until she broke.
55:18He'd agreed, and she had broken.
55:20So now, it was his turn.
55:22Through the door, Serafina's voice rose and fell, cresting and breaking.
55:27Kale, why aren't you answering me?
55:29Don't you love me anymore?
55:31You said I was the one person who mattered most to you.
55:35You said you'd never leave.
55:37You said you'd give me anything I wanted.
55:40Serafina, you've gone insane.
55:42Alara, open this door.
55:44Open it.
55:44I stood still and listened to what was happening on the other side.
55:48The frantic banging.
55:50And then, gradually, silence.
55:52I went to Father's room instead.
55:55I've sent for your brother.
55:56I should never have sent him away.
55:59Little Alara.
56:00Everything she said, it was true?
56:03Or you wouldn't have done what you did.
56:05That's on me.
56:06It's all on me.
56:07Father didn't punish me.
56:08He showed me the bloodline's founding records.
56:11And without exception, every paired name on the page was a human and a beastman.
56:16Long ago, the family's founding grandmother had a beastman against all opposition.
56:22And the world had denied them both.
56:25A disaster came.
56:26And the beastman gave his life to save her.
56:29Out of grief and out of conviction,
56:31she had used her authority to set the law that had governed every generation since.
56:35So that one day, humans and beastmen might live in peace.
56:39When I came out of Father's study,
56:41Silas was in the hallway, leaning against the wall.
56:44All of it handled?
56:45I nodded.
56:46He had been busy this past month.
56:48I'd barely seen him.
56:50And I was starting to recognize, in the way he moved and held a room,
56:53the shape of who he was going to become.
56:56Father had warmed to him in ways he hadn't bothered to hide.
56:59Since Kale had moved into the house as Serafina's beastman,
57:02he'd been reporting to me faithfully.
57:04While in the background, Serafina's image had been quietly and methodically demolished.
57:09She had done to herself everything Kale once did to me.
57:13Then Father had stepped in.
57:14My brother came home, took over the business under Father's guidance,
57:18and the household found its footing again.
57:20As for Silas, the heat cycles kept coming back.
57:23More and more frequently as it happened.
57:25Every deep night, a cold serpent tail would find its way around my ankle.
57:29Silas.
57:30Hmm?
57:32I have a knife.
57:34The tail withdrew.
57:35As I thought, he had been exaggerating all along.
57:38Silas.
57:39Explain yourself.
57:41He leaned in and grazed his lips against the shell of my ear.
57:44Is it really so hard to understand?
57:46I turned on him.
57:48Plain words.
57:49He was quiet for a long moment.
57:51In my last life,
57:52you buried me.
57:54I jolted upright.
57:56You...
57:57You also...
57:59Silas sat up, unhurried.
58:01After that, my spirit wouldn't leave.
58:03I stayed.
58:04And I watched you grieve for Kale, suffer for Kale, and finally die for nothing.
58:08And then, with you, I came back.
58:13Remarkable.
58:14And then he spoke again.
58:15Alara.
58:16Do you remember the bloodline's founding law?
58:21What?
58:22He smiled, and the look in his eyes held something that had been there for a long time.
58:27Choose a beastman to raise.
58:29Bond with them for life.
58:31No betrayal.
58:33No abandonment.
58:35His voice dropped low.
58:37You chose me.
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