- 2 days ago
Cry For Me Fox Episode
Category
π₯
Short filmTranscript
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.
00:22I want him.
00:23You don't want me anymore?
00:25I had returned back to the day of the choosing.
00:28Vendor shouting in the black hole.
00:30Voices 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.
00:38Pac's unspoken blood lot.
00:40Every 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.
00:50No abandonment.
00:52Beastmen matured much quicker than humans.
00:54A puppet's love was to prevent a bonded beastman from growing into a resentful predator.
00:59But I had never fully understood why.
01:01Beastmen ranked beneath humans.
01:03Caged and passive.
01:04Waiting to be claimed like livestock.
01:06So why would our bloodline insist on binding us to them?
01:11Weren't they afraid of us being betrayed?
01:13Suddenly, I locked with Kale's eyes.
01:15Still young and naive.
01:16Memory of my past life resurfaced.
01:18The stinging pains of my throat being slipped are so vivid.
01:23I 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.
01:41His fox ears and tail no 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.
01:57A woman who had bled out in labor, and never held her child.
02:01Father had remarried, and my brother and I came after.
02:04For years, Serafina had maintained a flawless image.
02:08Gracious and elegant to the outside world.
02:10Warm and devoted sister within the walls.
02:12In truth, she burned with rabid jealousy.
02:15Convinced that my brother and I had stolen father's attention, and her birthright.
02:19So she had delayed her own choosing.
02:22Father, 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.
02:31Watching Serafina now, poised as a flower, I understood perfectly.
02:36This 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.
02:44That fox suits you.
02:46Pretty, 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
02:56on the spot.
02:57This 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.
03:16Few beastmen remained in the cage.
03:18A quick sweep found Kale watching me with naked hope.
03:22My gaze moved past him and settled on the beastman behind, half-human, half-serpent,
03:27coiled, and utterly still.
03:29If 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.
03:38Silas.
03:38Single-handedly, he had dismantled the black market, led a mass exodus of captive beastmen,
03:44and years later stood across a negotiating table from the humans, and won equal rights
03:49for every last one of his kind.
03:51I had crossed paths with Silas once, and that white serpent tail was burned into my memory.
03:56Right now, Silas could barely hold his human form.
03:59Every inch of him fragility.
04:01Made up your mind?
04:02Father's voice cut through the noise.
04:04Yes.
04:07I want him.
04:09Kale's expression cracked.
04:10He spun around to stare at the frail serpent in disbelief.
04:14You're not choosing me?
04:16I 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.
04:31He 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.
04:46Kale had been reborn, too.
04:47Before I could react, Silas's brow furrowed,
04:50and the blood-streaked serpent tail uncoiled and 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.
05:03Watching 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.
05:14He 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,
05:22shouting my name with a fury that echoed off the iron.
05:25I glanced sideways at the bodyguard beside me,
05:27and, as if deeply inconvenienced,
05:30He'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 beastmen care.
05:50Manuals, medicinal compounds, and supply crates flowed into my room like a tide.
05:55Silas'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,
06:05dragging that broken body through it all?
06:07My stare must have been too obvious,
06:09because a slow flush crept up Silas's neck.
06:12Mistress, do you need something?
06:16In my last life,
06:18Kale had never once called me anything but my name,
06:21saving reverence for Serafina.
06:22Being called Mistress had a strange, particular weight to it.
06:26I tossed the medicine kit onto his lap.
06:29Dress your own wounds.
06:30Silas caught it and nodded,
06:32docile as still water.
06:33A few days of rest,
06:35and Silas had reclaimed his fully human form,
06:38taller too,
06:38his frame filling out overnight like a plant after rain.
06:42Beastmen really did grow at an inhuman pace.
06:45That morning,
06:46Father tracked me down.
06:47A beastmen healer had come to the city.
06:49He said,
06:50a merkin named Mira.
06:51She could treat both beastmen and humans.
06:55Father 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.
07:13His status over beastmen is absolute.
07:17So why does the pack law bind us to them as mates?
07:21He paused,
07:22let out a long breath.
07:23Alara,
07:24remember this.
07:25A beastman's loyalty is something no human being can replicate.
07:28Whether you earn that loyalty,
07:30that depends entirely on you.
07:33He 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,
07:49then turned back and called Silas from his room,
07:52leading him out into the city for the first time.
07:54Mistress,
07:55what's that?
07:56Ice cream.
07:57He cataloged everything.
07:59Stall signs,
08:00storefronts,
08:01passing vehicles,
08:02with wide,
08:03hungry eyes.
08:04Mistress,
08:05what's that?
08:06An amusement park.
08:08Mistress!
08:09When we get back,
08:09I'll teach you to read,
08:10then you'll figure it out yourself.
08:13Okay.
08:14Silas beamed,
08:15falling into step just behind my shoulder.
08:17Out of the corner of my eye,
08:19I caught him eating the ice cream with total indifference.
08:21He didn't like it at all.
08:23While his gaze moved in quick,
08:25methodical sweeps across the street around us,
08:27the carefully performed helplessness had cracked.
08:30Just for a second,
08:31he didn't trust me,
08:33not even close,
08:34and beneath the docile surface,
08:35he was calculating.
08:37Of course he is,
08:38I thought.
08:39We arrived at the address father had given me.
08:41I had expected something imposing,
08:43a high-rise,
08:44gilded signage,
08:45because a beast man healer of rare power commanded human respect as much as fear.
08:50Instead,
08:51I found the most unremarkable courtyard I'd ever seen,
08:54identifiable only because it was packed shoulder-to-shoulder with people waiting.
08:59Inside,
08:59I spotted Kale.
09:01He was slumped against a girl's shoulder,
09:03barely breathing,
09:04more absent than present.
09:06As if he sensed me,
09:07Kale 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,
09:16eyes red-rimmed,
09:17and fixed me with an expression that begged without words.
09:21Then a hand closed over my eyes.
09:23Don't look at him.
09:25Glamour 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,
09:37not with only hatred and wariness where softness used to live,
09:40and not when his glamour was still this juvenile.
09:45Silas gave me one more uncertain look,
09:47then moved to join the queue.
09:49What was Kale even doing here?
09:50But I wasn't the only one questioning it.
09:53A fox and an heiress whose family treats beasts like dirt?
09:56The pair drew everyone's attention.
09:59Someone gossiped among the crowd.
10:01On Kale's first day in the fighting pit,
10:03he 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,
10:11and when the black market saw how badly she wanted Kale,
10:13they drove the price up.
10:15Talia didn't have enough,
10:16went home to scrape together the rest,
10:18and spent several days doing it.
10:20During those days,
10:22on 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.
10:32I understood now.
10:33Kale was wounded badly enough
10:35that Talia had brought him here.
10:37I took a proper look at Talia.
10:38Peach bloom skin,
10:40wide eyes,
10:41all 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.
10:48He never does change.
10:49Suddenly,
10:50Kale tore free of Talia's grip
10:52and lurched toward me.
10:53Hey, where are you going?
10:55Talia reached for him,
10:56and he shoved her hand away viciously.
10:59Don't touch me!
11:00He glared at her with an expression
11:02I knew by heart.
11:04Revulsion.
11:05The specific kind reserved for things
11:07that had already served their purpose.
11:09He was certain Talia couldn't live without him,
11:11so he treated her with careless cruelty.
11:14Something sour moved through me,
11:15and I set my jaw.
11:17Silas's brow creased.
11:19His weight shifted.
11:20I stopped him with a look.
11:22Kale staggered to me in a few short steps,
11:24those steps costing him everything.
11:26His legs gave.
11:27He dropped to one knee,
11:29barely catching himself
11:30before he hit the ground entirely.
11:32He forced his chin up,
11:33and his eyes were sincere
11:35in a way that made my skin crawl.
11:37I'm sorry.
11:39I know what I did.
11:40He reached out,
11:41small and careful.
11:43Can you forgive me?
11:44So, he'd guessed I'd been reborn too.
11:47I didn't move,
11:47and a flicker of relief crossed his face.
11:50He was almost close enough to take my hand.
11:52I looked past him at Talia instead.
11:55Let me show you how to handle a beastman
11:56who won't behave.
11:57The next second,
11:58I drove my boot into the center of Kale's chest
12:01with every bit of force I had.
12:03He flew backward
12:04and crashed through a low stone table
12:06in the courtroom.
12:07A choked sound,
12:09then a mouthful of blood
12:10hit the flagstones.
12:11Kale sat in the wreckage,
12:13white-faced,
12:14hand pressed to his chest.
12:16Talia sprinted over and rounded on me.
12:18What do you think you're doing?
12:19He's my beastman!
12:20Even if he's mishaving,
12:22that's between us!
12:22Who gave you the right?
12:24I tilted my head.
12:26You can't control him.
12:27And I don't like Fox Beastman
12:29getting too close to me.
12:30They carry a certain...
12:32musk.
12:33Kale coughed up another mouthful of blood
12:35and stared at me
12:36with the expression of someone
12:37whose world had 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!
12:45Careful!
12:46Statements like that
12:47tend to offend my beastman.
12:49Silas looked at Talia,
12:51then let his gaze drop
12:52to the barely breathing Kale.
12:54You should be grateful
12:54it was my mistress who hit him.
12:56He said,
12:57his voice carrying the disinterest
12:58of someone announcing
13:00a weather forecast.
13:01Otherwise I would have killed him.
13:03The undisguised kill intent
13:04sat in the air like a blade.
13:07You...
13:07Talia sputtered at him,
13:08then whipped around to stare at me.
13:10At last,
13:11she made a disgusted sound,
13:13hoisted Kale up with visible effort,
13:15and marched straight for the door.
13:20Out of the way!
13:21Can't you see he's dying?
13:23Everyone in the queue
13:24had been waiting far longer
13:25and had no interest in being cut.
13:28Talia ended up
13:29wedged at the entrance,
13:30Kale sagging against her.
13:32She raised her voice
13:33in desperation.
13:34Miss Mira!
13:35Please!
13:36I'm begging you!
13:36Save him!
13:37He really is!
13:38From inside the room
13:39came a voice,
13:40smooth as river water.
13:44He 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.
13:56The fox ears and tail
13:57slipped free,
13:58trembling.
13:59She glared daggers at me.
14:01This isn't over!
14:02I looked at her.
14:03Does your father know
14:04how much you paid
14:05for that beastman?
14:06The Talia family and mine
14:07were nothing alike.
14:09Our bloodline maintained
14:10some measure of regard
14:11for beastmen.
14:12The Talias treated them
14:14like livestock.
14:14If her father found
14:16out she'd spent
14:17a small fortune
14:18on a useless fox,
14:19the fallout would
14:20be spectacular.
14:21Talia blinked.
14:22You know my father?
14:23Then her eyes went wide.
14:25You're threatening me!
14:26I just smiled.
14:27Talia's lip trembled.
14:29Tears spilled down her face
14:30and she cried openly,
14:32chest heaving.
14:32I hadn't expected
14:33the waterworks.
14:34A headache bloomed
14:35behind my eyes.
14:37Stop crying!
14:38Your beastman isn't worth it!
14:40I won't let you say
14:40that about him!
14:41He's weak!
14:42Yes, but to me
14:43he'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,
14:53Kale's turn.
14:54I had arrived later
14:55and stood behind them.
14:56By the time Talia
14:58helped Kale out
14:58of the treatment room,
15:00an hour had passed
15:01and his color
15:02had returned.
15:03He looked at me
15:03and the wounded
15:04helplessness was gone,
15:06replaced by something
15:07close to resentment.
15:08You're heartless,
15:09Alaksa.
15:09I made a dry sound.
15:11I can't compete with you.
15:12Stop wasting breath on her.
15:14Let's go.
15:16Steering Kale away
15:17with a huff in my direction.
15:19Behind me,
15:20Silas spoke quietly.
15:21You know them?
15:24I pointed toward
15:25the treatment room door.
15:27Your turn.
15:29Silas pressed his lips together,
15:31said nothing,
15:32and stepped inside.
15:33I followed and watched
15:34Mira work.
15:35The merkin 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
15:46with a faint smile.
15:47Nothing special.
15:49There are dozens
15:49in my bloodline
15:50more gifted than I am,
15:52and the greatest
15:53among them is...
15:53Her expression dimmed.
15:55A shadow of grief
15:56crossed her face,
15:57and she let the sentence die.
15:59His body has
15:59a congenital gap.
16:02It's why he appears
16:03far weaker than other beastmen,
16:05and it will shorten
16:06his lifespan.
16:06The hand resting
16:07at Silas' side
16:08closed into a fist,
16:10and his voice
16:10came out tight.
16:11Please, help me.
16:13Then 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
16:24is beyond my reach.
16:26I can't mend
16:27what was never formed.
16:29Silas' face fell in a way
16:30that was visible
16:31to the naked eye.
16:32Thank you anyway.
16:34He turned to leave,
16:35and Mira looked at me.
16:37If you happen to know
16:38Lucian, Miss Alara,
16:40there may still be a chance.
16:41I was caught off guard,
16:42not only because Mira
16:43had recognized me,
16:45but because of the name itself.
16:47Lucian was the most gifted
16:48and most ungovernable
16:50of the Vos bloodline,
16:51the family's golden heir,
16:53known to everyone
16:54as their little crown prince.
16:55We had attended
16:56the same school once.
16:58I knew him after a fashion,
16:59but his health had declined,
17:01and he'd withdrawn
17:02from classes years ago.
17:03We hadn't spoken since.
17:05Does Lucian keep
17:05someone gifted near him?
17:08The Merkin are born
17:09with healing in our blood.
17:10It's simply a matter of degree.
17:12Even the least gifted of us
17:14can mend our own bodies
17:15through instinct alone.
17:15But the rarest among us,
17:18the 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.
17:26It isn't surprising.
17:27Our bloodline hasn't produced
17:29that level of gift in centuries.
17:30Then her voice shifted,
17:32quiet, deliberate.
17:33But in the past 20 years,
17:35one Merkin was born
17:36carrying that gift
17:37from her very first breath.
17:39Something clicked into place
17:40at the back of my mind.
17:42What is her name?
17:44Lyra.
17:45Of course.
17:47I understand.
17:48Thank you, Mira.
17:49I set a payment card
17:50on 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 Voss bloodline
18:09by the Merkin
18:10as a gesture of protection.
18:11Her extraordinary healing talent,
18:14the price of her bloodline's safety.
18:16And with her,
18:18Lucian had finally been free.
18:20She seemed to care for him,
18:21or so the rumors said.
18:22Lucian cared for someone else entirely,
18:24and treated her accordingly.
18:26What happened after that?
18:27I didn't know.
18:29Because by that point,
18:31I was already dead.
18:32Given Lucian's erratic temperament,
18:35approaching him directly,
18:36and asking for Lyra,
18:38would be met with a flat refusal,
18:39no matter how I framed it.
18:41The better path was to go around him,
18:44reach Lyra herself.
18:46Silas must have sensed my hesitation,
18:48because some of the heat
18:49faded from his expression.
18:52Mistress doesn't need to worry.
18:54I'm fine as I am.
18:56That word,
18:57mistress,
18:57spoken aloud on a public street,
19:00turned 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.
19:10Just call me by my name.
19:11Silas adapted without hesitation.
19:14Alright, Lyra.
19:15When I got home,
19:16I sent Talia's father an anonymous letter.
19:19A quiet, detailed account
19:20of exactly how much she had spent on kale
19:23at the black market.
19:24I didn't want Talia to become what I had been.
19:27It took less than two days
19:29before the news reached me.
19:30Talia had been confined to the house,
19:32but the money was already spent,
19:34and her father was too proud
19:36to return kale to the black market,
19:38which meant he would find ways
19:39to 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
19:47when a servant came running.
19:48Miss Alotta!
19:49Something's wrong!
19:49Silas,
19:50Simus,
19:51and Raven are fighting!
19:53Raven was Seraphina's beast man.
19:55I was on my feet
19:56before the sentence finished.
19:57I followed the servant
19:59to the garden outside the mirror,
20:00where Silas had been pinned
20:02beneath the flowering Hawthorne tree,
20:04and Raven's massive fists
20:06were falling on him again and again,
20:08each blow landing like a hammer.
20:11Miss Alora, please!
20:12You have to help him!
20:13He'll be beaten to death!
20:14The servant pulled at my arm.
20:16I raised a hand.
20:18Silence.
20:18My eyes stayed fixed on Silas.
20:21After days of recovery,
20:22his body was mostly healed.
20:24And this was the Silas who,
20:26in his last life,
20:27had survived the fighting pit
20:28on a broken frame,
20:30which meant there was
20:31no possible world
20:32in which he was simply
20:33being dominated by Raven right now.
20:35He was hiding what he could do,
20:37because he didn't trust me.
20:38So I wouldn't save him.
20:40I had no use for a beast man
20:42who might drive a blade
20:43into my back.
20:44This first step towards trust,
20:46he would have to be the one
20:47to take it.
20:47Silas still didn't move,
20:49arms folded over his head,
20:51the 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,
21:00saw me,
21:01disbelief in his eyes,
21:02hurt,
21:03a silent furious question,
21:05why aren't you coming?
21:06My hand clenched at my side,
21:08and my jaw locked.
21:09Raven,
21:10scenting 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,
21:19barely a step from the edge
21:20of a full,
21:21feral shift.
21:22I held my breath,
21:23my entire body strung tight
21:25as a wire,
21:26and stared at Silas.
21:27Just take this one step towards me,
21:30and I swear I will never
21:31stop protecting you.
21:32Silas's pupils elongated,
21:35the calm human iris
21:36collapsing into serpent slit.
21:38In the moment before
21:39Raven lunged a bite,
21:41Silas moved,
21:42his legs dissolved
21:43into a white serpent tail
21:45that coiled around Raven's body
21:47in one fluid motion,
21:48and then his fangs,
21:50long and curved
21:51and 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.
22:00Silas's 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,
22:07and understood instantly,
22:08Silas's fangs were venomous.
22:10So he's a viper,
22:11I thought.
22:12Serafina arrived then,
22:14late and unhurried,
22:15and when she saw
22:16what was happening,
22:17Simus.
22:18You dare kill him.
22:20I stepped forward
22:22without hesitation.
22:23What if he does?
22:25Serafina's fierce expression
22:27shifted through
22:28several 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.
22:41I glanced at Raven's
22:42stoning body with meaning.
22:43I won't let my sister
22:45become a widow this early.
22:46Alara!
22:47Serafina finally snapped.
22:49One finger leveled at me.
22:51Aren't you afraid
22:51father will punish you for this?
22:53I put on an expression
22:54of perfect innocence.
22:56Silas has always been
22:57fragile 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.
23:06Shouldn't the punishment
23:06fall on the one
23:07who started it?
23:08You.
23:09Enough.
23:10Everyone stop.
23:11Father's voice rolled
23:12through the garden
23:13from somewhere behind me,
23:14heavy with displeasure.
23:15Before Serafina
23:16could arrange her face
23:18into something pitiable,
23:19I got there first
23:20and let tears
23:21spill down my own.
23:22Father,
23:23she started it
23:24and now she's
23:25turning 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,
23:33spared Serafina one flat look.
23:35A lesson he needed to learn.
23:37And you,
23:38don't think I don't know
23:39what you've been doing.
23:40The handbook I gave you
23:41covers how to suppress
23:42a beast man's feral instincts.
23:44What exactly have you
23:45been doing with it?
23:46Father's voice rose.
23:47Serafina's chin dropped.
23:49I was wrong father,
23:50Serafina.
23:51Raven is going to be your mate.
23:53Your work isn't only to tame him,
23:55it's to build him.
23:56Otherwise,
23:57his gaze cut across her,
23:58cold and quiet,
24:00and said nothing more.
24:01Serafina dropped to her knees.
24:03Yes, father.
24:04As Raven finally went still,
24:06the desperation broke
24:07through Serafina's composure
24:08and tears ran down her face.
24:10Father,
24:11please,
24:12save him.
24:12He's still going to be
24:13my husband one day.
24:15Please.
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
24:23hit the earth
24:23beside the hawthorn tree,
24:25scattering petals
24:26across the flagstones.
24:27I moved quickly
24:28to catch Silas.
24:30He had burned
24:30through everything he had,
24:32the serpent tail
24:33refusing to retract,
24:34his legs unable to carry him,
24:36his full weight
24:37dropping into my arms.
24:38Father made a sound
24:39of pure displeasure.
24:40I bought you beast men
24:41to bond with,
24:42not to put them
24:43against each other.
24:43If it happens again,
24:45you're both out
24:45of this bloodline.
24:48Understood, father.
24:51Quick,
24:52carry Raven inside.
24:58I looked at Raven's
24:59violet face
25:00and asked,
25:01will the venom kill him?
25:03I don't make problems
25:05for myself.
25:06Look at him
25:07and found his face
25:08stripped of everything
25:09he usually wore around me.
25:10The deference,
25:11the careful performance,
25:12all of it gone.
25:13What remained
25:14was cold and still,
25:16the slit pupils unmoved.
25:17This is who he actually is.
25:19Then Silas went boneless
25:20against my shoulder,
25:22head 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
25:28worth running to its end.
25:30So I slid an arm
25:31around that ice cold tail,
25:33settled my other hand
25:34at his waist,
25:34and lifted him.
25:36Silas stared at me,
25:38startled into actual surprise,
25:40a flush climbing
25:40fast up his neck.
25:41Hold still.
25:45I carried him back
25:46to his room,
25:47where the physician
25:47was already waiting.
25:49The broken ribs were set.
25:50Silas endured it
25:51with his face
25:52gone paper white,
25:53the scales along his tail
25:54rippling open and closed
25:56with every wave of pain,
25:57until the sight
25:58made my own skin crawl.
26:00I turned away
26:01and rubbed the goosebumps
26:02down my arms.
26:03When the physician finished
26:04and left with a list
26:05of instructions,
26:06I looked at the pale expanse
26:08of serpent tail.
26:10Silas pressed his lips together
26:12and under my gaze,
26:14drew it back in,
26:15the tail dissolving
26:16into human legs again,
26:20and met those still
26:21unrecovered slit pupils,
26:23blinking at me
26:24without looking away.
26:26He was asking
26:27why I'd stood there
26:28and watched.
26:29I smiled.
26:30Have you ever heard
26:31the saying,
26:32which one?
26:32Real trust
26:33is earned in kind.
26:34You didn't trust me,
26:35so don't expect me
26:36to trust you first.
26:38After I left Silas' room,
26:40I did a quiet round
26:40of inquiries
26:41and pieced together
26:42what had happened.
26:43Silas had developed
26:44a fondness for the
26:45hawthorn tree in the garden.
26:47It was full bloom,
26:48and he'd been spending
26:49idle 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
27:01to suppress their
27:02feral instinct
27:02lost much of that,
27:04she had never taught
27:04Raven to pull back
27:05from the edge.
27:06Instead,
27:07she trained him
27:08to his limits
27:09and then patched him
27:10up herself
27:10with careful,
27:11gentle hands.
27:12Two sessions of that,
27:14and Raven was
27:14completely devoted to her.
27:16If I hadn't been
27:17blinded by Kale's
27:18fox allure in my
27:19last life,
27:20heart given over to him,
27:21every alarm in me
27:22silenced,
27:23I wouldn't have died
27:24so stupidly.
27:25Speaking of which,
27:26I wonder how Kale
27:27is doing in the
27:28Talia household.
27:29I asked,
27:30and promptly
27:30had to swallow a laugh.
27:32The Talia patriarch
27:33had been putting
27:33Kale's fox allure
27:35to work,
27:35entertaining guests
27:36with it,
27:37men and women alike,
27:38sparing no categories.
27:40Kale had always
27:41been beautiful.
27:42With 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
27:49absorbed,
27:50and every time,
27:51he had one thing
27:52to say,
27:53that'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.
28:00I was humming to myself
28:01on the way back
28:01to my room,
28:02when I heard voices
28:03inside Silas's,
28:05and pressed myself
28:06quietly to the wall.
28:07Serafina's voice,
28:08all warmth and remorse.
28:10Silas,
28:11I'm so sorry,
28:12I should have kept
28:13Raven under control.
28:14You're hurt so badly,
28:16can I help you
28:16with your bandages?
28:17I raised an eyebrow
28:18and leaned closer.
28:20Silas's voice
28:20came back flat
28:21as a locked door.
28:23Get out,
28:23where's Alara?
28:24Didn't she stay
28:25with you?
28:26With injuries
28:26this serious,
28:27isn't this your
28:28future husband's work?
28:29Silas said,
28:30and the chill
28:31in his voice
28:31could have frosted glass.
28:33I 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,
28:39and immediately wanted
28:40to pull him
28:40into her orbit.
28:41When it didn't work,
28:43she 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,
28:50there was a knock
28:50on my door,
28:51and 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
29:01on his feet?
29:02Beastman healing
29:03was fast,
29:04but not that fast.
29:05Something you need?
29:06You said you'd
29:07teach me to read.
29:08I'd completely
29:08forgotten about that.
29:10Huh, sorry.
29:11We can start now.
29:12Silas pressed his lips
29:13together and stepped inside.
29:14I started from the
29:16very beginning,
29:17the phonetic alphabet,
29:18and we sat across
29:19from 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.
29:32Silas's brow
29:33drew together immediately.
29:34He looked
29:35genuinely displeased,
29:36the question in his voice
29:38coming out sharper
29:38than he probably intended.
29:40You have history with her.
29:41He'd picked up
29:42on the tension
29:43between Serafina and me.
29:44Of course he had.
29:45I let my lashes fall.
29:47Yes,
29:47that history.
29:48He was quiet for a moment.
29:50I can't.
29:50That one,
29:51I 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.
30:05But still,
30:06why?
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.
30:13I want Lyra to treat me.
30:15If I had a body
30:16that worked the way it should,
30:18I wouldn't have had to spend
30:19today looking as pathetic
30:20as I did.
30:21I softened my voice.
30:23You were anything
30:23but pathetic today.
30:25In your last life,
30:26you survived the fighting pit
30:27using exactly that.
30:29Fain weakness,
30:30let them close in,
30:31then coil and bite
30:32through their throats.
30:34Thinking 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.
30:43Okay.
30:43For the first time,
30:45the usually cold boy
30:46let a genuine smile
30:47break across his face.
30:49A few days later,
30:50word came that
30:51the Voss family's grandmother
30:53was turning 80,
30:54and the Voss household
30:55had sent a formal invitation
30:57to ours.
30:58Because of the garden incident,
31:00father took only me
31:01and left Serafina behind.
31:03Beastmen 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
31:12until she caught sight of me
31:13and her expression
31:14went flat as stone.
31:16I fell and stepped beside her
31:17after the gift presentation.
31:20Where's Kale?
31:21You have a nerve asking.
31:23This 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
31:32who's had it out for me
31:33from the start.
31:33I've never had a problem with you.
31:35Only with Kale.
31:38If you don't believe me,
31:42I don't believe
31:43he'd do that to me.
31:47Then test him.
31:48While the crowd was distracted,
31:50Talia 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.
32:00Talia wrinkled her nose,
32:01gripped her composure,
32:03and clicked into the cellar
32:04on high heels.
32:05I slipped in behind her.
32:07It took a while
32:07before the light
32:08reached Kale's cage.
32:10He was chained
32:10at the neck like livestock,
32:12locked behind bars,
32:14filthy and broken-looking.
32:15A picture of wreckage.
32:17I stayed back
32:17around 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,
32:26he could have passed for dead.
32:28Kale.
32:31Kale.
32:31Talia's voice
32:32barely reached a whisper.
32:34He opened his eyes slowly,
32:35and when he saw her,
32:37something electric
32:38came back into his face.
32:41The 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.
32:49My father is still angry.
32:50He's still angry.
32:54Then she rushed to add it.
32:56But I promise
32:59I'll come back for you.
33:01I will.
33:02Talia, look at me.
33:03Just look at me.
33:05I'm begging you.
33:06Get me out
33:07the way you did
33:08in the fighting pit.
33:12You were everything to me then.
33:13You were the only light.
33:15Please, just look at me.
33:16Talia kept her chin down,
33:18listening.
33:19Kale ran out of patience fast.
33:22Talia,
33:23get me out
33:24now!
33:26Why not?
33:27Why can't you?
33:28You did it fine
33:30at the fighting pit.
33:31You were falling over yourself
33:32to help me then.
33:33Why is now any different?
33:35You're blaming me
33:36when you were the one
33:37begging me to save you?
33:40Who even gave you permission
33:41to be that gullible?
33:42You were practically
33:43throwing yourself at me,
33:45just like Alara.
33:47Alara?
33:50You've done this to her too?
33:57Do you see it now?
33:59He barely had to try
34:00and you couldn't
34:01hand yourself over
34:02fast enough.
34:03Talia turned to look at me.
34:05And you
34:05ended up being
34:06the one blamed for it.
34:07I rested a hand
34:08on her shoulder.
34:09Go wait outside.
34:11She glanced back
34:12at Kale,
34:13uncertain.
34:16But...
34:19you'll be fine.
34:20Talia looked over
34:20her shoulder three times
34:22on the way out
34:22and then the cellar
34:23was just the two of us.
34:25Kale watched me,
34:26something testing
34:26in his voice.
34:27What do you want?
34:30I'm curious.
34:32How were you reborn?
34:34Let me guess.
34:35After I died
34:36in our last life
34:37you went to Serafina
34:38but your fox-alore
34:38never worked on her,
34:39did it?
34:40She kept her guard up.
34:41She knew what you were
34:42and what you were capable of
34:44so she was always watching.
34:45But your gift
34:45was too valuable to waste
34:48so she put it to use
34:49until the very end
34:51when you'd served
34:51your purpose completely
34:52and her shadow wolf
34:54finished you
34:54the same way
34:55he finished me.
34:56That'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
35:01I'd choose you
35:02in the black market?
35:04Alara!
35:06Alara!
35:07You have to take me back!
35:09Why won't you choose me?
35:10Why?
35:11I stepped back
35:12just out of reach.
35:13The chain snapped
35:14taut around his neck.
35:17I'll give you something.
35:21One chance
35:23to take back
35:24what was done to me.
35:28When I came up
35:29from the cellar
35:30Talia was still outside
35:32eyes raw.
35:33I almost sighed.
35:35I told you
35:36he wasn't worth it.
35:38Why are you this upset?
35:40Sorry.
35:41For what?
35:44I was so stupid before.
35:48I thought it was destiny.
35:54I thought we'd be
35:55this epic
35:56human and beast man
35:58love story.
36:00She broke into
36:00full shuddering sobs.
36:02I rubbed a spa
36:03on my temple.
36:04Even if you wanted
36:05an epic love story
36:06you'd need your father's
36:08blessing first.
36:10come on
36:11let's go.
36:13She wept.
36:14Okay.
36:14After managing Talia
36:16back to some level
36:17of composure
36:17I asked
36:18Is Lucien on the guest list?
36:20That was the second reason
36:22I'd come tonight.
36:25Did he bring anyone
36:26with him?
36:28I didn't pay attention.
36:29He sent a gift
36:30and went to rest.
36:31His health isn't great.
36:32Where is he resting?
36:33I'll take you.
36:34Talia led me to the
36:35VIP lounge
36:36and before we'd even
36:38reached the door
36:38we both heard it.
36:40A melody
36:40rising and falling
36:42like water over stone.
36:44The music moved
36:45through the air
36:45and straight into my chest.
36:49I feel like someone
36:50just told me
36:51it's going to be okay.
36:53I could go back in there
36:54and stab him
36:54about 15 times right now.
36:56I turned to look at her
36:57surprised.
36:58It had that effect too?
37:00Then this was Lyra.
37:02It had to be.
37:03Walking up to Lucien
37:05directly
37:05and asking for her
37:07was out of the question.
37:08He was far too volatile
37:10for a frontal approach.
37:11Better to reach Lyra
37:13herself.
37:14I sent Talia off.
37:16Opened the door
37:17directly across
37:17from Lucien's suite.
37:19Sat down in the frame
37:20and listened.
37:22The melody flowed
37:23without pause
37:24and something in my bones
37:25began to unknot.
37:27The grief of a whole
37:28past life
37:29starting to quiet.
37:30I yawned
37:32biting it.
37:33I kept my eyes open
37:34by force
37:35and waited.
37:36What I hadn't counted on
37:37waiting
37:38the entire night.
37:40Lyra's voice
37:41never stopped once.
37:42When I realized
37:43how angry I was
37:44on her behalf
37:44the feeling surprised me.
37:46The morning meal
37:48arrived for delivery.
37:49I opened the door
37:50at the right moment.
37:52Lyra was stepping out
37:53of Lucien's suite
37:54waving off
37:55the breakfast tray.
37:56I raised a hand.
37:58Hi.
37:59Lyra turned at the sound
38:00of my voice
38:01and smiled.
38:02She was genuinely beautiful.
38:04Skin that caught the light
38:05like satin.
38:06Eyes clear
38:07and bright.
38:08But what stayed with you
38:09was something
38:10underneath the beauty.
38:11Something that made you
38:12want to draw closer
38:13and stay.
38:14Her voice came out
38:15sand rough.
38:17That made the next part
38:18awkward.
38:18She seemed to read
38:19the awkwardness
38:20on my face
38:21and gave a small
38:22tired smile.
38:23Do you need
38:24something for me?
38:25I stepped aside
38:26and gestured.
38:26Would you mind
38:27coming in for a moment?
38:28Lyra nodded
38:29and walked in.
38:30I poured her
38:31a glass of warm water
38:32first.
38:33Let her settle.
38:34Then said,
38:35I have a beastman.
38:36He was born
38:37with a congenital gap.
38:38I took him
38:39to see Mira.
38:40She can't mend it
38:41but she directed me
38:42to you.
38:42Lyra listened
38:43and nodded.
38:44Mira is my aunt.
38:46I blinked.
38:47Mira looked
38:47barely older
38:48than Lyra.
38:49Lyra checked
38:49the time.
38:51I have about
38:52two hours.
38:52You can bring
38:53your beastman
38:54to a nearby hotel.
38:56The fee
38:56for a congenital repair
38:58is two million.
38:59She said it
38:59with her lashes
39:00lowered.
39:01The expression
39:01beneath them
39:02hidden.
39:03What I was
39:03thinking about
39:04was her voice.
39:05Right now?
39:06Your throat.
39:08It doesn't matter.
39:10Every day
39:11is like this.
39:12If you're waiting
39:13for it to recover
39:14you'll be waiting
39:14forever.
39:15Something dropped
39:16in my chest.
39:17Every day
39:18is like this.
39:21Is Lucien
39:22that ill?
39:23I said.
39:24He isn't.
39:25Then why?
39:26Lyra's smile
39:27went pale
39:28at the edges.
39:29Cruelty mostly.
39:30I thought of
39:31the rumors
39:31I'd heard once
39:32in another life.
39:33You don't have
39:34to stay devoted
39:35to one tree.
39:36You're overthinking it.
39:37Get the hotel
39:38sorted.
39:38If Lucien wakes
39:39and finds me gone
39:40there won't be
39:40another chance.
39:41I booked
39:42the nearest suite
39:42fast
39:43then contacted
39:44Silas.
39:45After I hung up
39:46I turned back
39:47to Lyra.
39:48She was working
39:48through breakfast
39:49in small
39:50unhurried bites.
39:51Every movement
39:52neat
39:52and somehow
39:53restful
39:54to watch.
39:55But there was
39:55something about
39:56that narrow back
39:57that made the chest
39:58ache for no clear reason.
40:00I sat down
40:00across from her
40:01words rising
40:02and dying
40:03on my tongue.
40:04In the end
40:04I said nothing.
40:06Silas arrived
40:07minutes later.
40:08He had clearly
40:08run the whole way
40:09sweat still at his temple.
40:11Lyra extended her hand.
40:13He glanced at me first
40:14and only after I nodded
40:15did he approach
40:16with any care.
40:17Lyra laid her palm
40:19over his
40:19and her brow
40:20began to draw together.
40:21I felt the tension
40:22move up
40:23through my own spine.
40:24I was desperate
40:25to intervene
40:26but I forced myself
40:28to stay back.
40:30Lyra wasn't faring
40:31any better than Silas.
40:32Every note she sang
40:34seemed to tear
40:35something loose
40:36in her throat.
40:38Slowly
40:39blood appeared
40:40at the corner
40:41of her mouth.
40:42I started forward.
40:44She stopped me
40:45with a look
40:45and a small shake
40:46of her head.
40:48An hour later
40:49the singing stopped.
40:51Silas and Lyra
40:52folded to the floor
40:53at the same moment.
40:55I moved fast
40:56to catch Lyra
40:57wiped the blood
40:59from her mouth.
40:59I'm sorry
41:00I didn't know
41:01it would be like this.
41:02are you alright?
41:03She was breathing hard
41:04and paid.
41:06I gave what was asked.
41:10There's nothing
41:11to apologize for.
41:13Let me take you back.
41:14Lyra looked at Silas
41:16still on the floor
41:17catching his breath.
41:19One moment.
41:23The gap is sealed
41:24but he'll need
41:25a course of medicine
41:25to follow.
41:29and because the deficiency
41:31has held his body back
41:32he's been presenting
41:33as a juvenile
41:35but he's actually
41:36an adult beastman.
41:38Grown beastmen
41:39enter a heat cycle.
41:41Be careful.
41:42Don't let him hurt you.
41:43I understand.
41:45Rest for a moment.
41:46I nodded fast.
41:48Mmm.
41:50Lyra let her eyes close
41:51and went quiet.
41:53I arranged transport
41:55and personally saw her back
41:56to the Talia estate.
41:58My plan had been
41:59to slip her back
42:00to her suite unnoticed.
42:06But standing at the front entrance
42:08when we arrived
42:08was Lucien
42:09jaw set
42:11and expression
42:11like incoming weather.
42:13Behind him
42:14Talia
42:14red-eyed
42:15and
42:18we'd been found out.
42:20I moved to step out
42:21of the car with Lyra.
42:23She stopped me
42:24with a hand on my arm.
42:25Go home.
42:26I shook my head.
42:28Lyra
42:30I went to school
42:31with Lucien.
42:31He should give me
42:32at least a little room.
42:35Lyra smiled.
42:37If he were the type
42:38to give you room
42:38he wouldn't have had
42:39to come to me directly.
42:42I'm alright.
42:43He still needs me.
42:45Go.
42:46Trust me.
42:48I gritted my teeth.
42:50In the end
42:51I pressed the payment card
42:52into her hand.
42:53She gave it back.
42:55Give it to my aunt.
42:56She'll know
42:57what to do with it.
43:00I can't use it.
43:01There's nowhere it would go.
43:05She pushed the door open.
43:07The moment Lucien's eyes
43:08found her
43:09his face darkened
43:11in a way
43:11that was visible
43:12from a distance.
43:14On the drive back
43:15to the hotel
43:16I couldn't settle.
43:18What had happened?
43:19I asked Talia
43:20and she told me.
43:21Lucien had woken
43:2230 minutes ago
43:23couldn't find Lyra
43:24anywhere
43:24and had made a scene.
43:26Everyone knew
43:26how much Lyra
43:27mattered to him.
43:30So they'd all
43:30started searching too.
43:32someone reviewed
43:33the security footage
43:34and traced it to me.
43:36Under pressure
43:36from Lucien's people
43:37Talia had been forced
43:39to give up
43:39the whole story
43:40of how I'd spent
43:41the night
43:41waiting outside his door
43:43and caught a thorough
43:44dressing down for it.
43:46I had a feeling
43:47I was out to receive
43:48one too.
43:49But my worry
43:49about that
43:50was smaller
43:50than my worry
43:51about Lyra.
43:52I gripped the payment
43:53card in my hand
43:54and pushed into
43:55the hotel room
43:56ready to call Silas
43:57and head home
43:58when he launched
43:59himself at me
43:59the second the door
44:00opened.
44:01His usual cold
44:02was gone.
44:03He was burning
44:03and he was bigger
44:05taller
44:05broader
44:06the change in him
44:07unmistakable.
44:08Then Lyra's warning
44:09came back to me
44:10in a rush.
44:11Grown beastmen
44:12enter a heat cycle.
44:13Be careful.
44:15Don't let him hurt you.
44:17Heat cycle.
44:17Not this fast.
44:19Surely not this fast.
44:21Silas.
44:22It's me.
44:23Look at me.
44:24Look at me.
44:25I pushed against
44:26his chest
44:26his scorching hands
44:27closed around my waist
44:28his forehead
44:29pressed down to mine.
44:32Mistress.
44:33That word
44:33in a voice
44:34dropped three registers
44:35a fully adult male's voice.
44:37I had vastly
44:38underestimated Lyra.
44:41Let go of me.
44:42You can't do this.
44:43It isn't right.
44:43Silas tilted his head
44:45just slightly
44:46and the tip of his nose
44:47grazed my cheekbone.
44:48The heat off his breath
44:50landed against my face
44:51in waves.
44:52I threw every bit of strength
44:53into pushing him away.
44:54He didn't move an inch.
44:56That hurts.
44:57The grip at my waist
44:58drawing tighter.
44:59My waist was flesh
45:00not iron.
45:01Silas buried his face
45:02at my shoulder
45:03and his breath
45:04came out ragged.
45:05Help me.
45:06Please.
45:07I had absolutely
45:08no idea
45:08how to help with this.
45:10Alright.
45:10Okay.
45:11I'll help.
45:12Just let go of me first.
45:13Silas loosened his hold
45:15by a fraction.
45:16The next second
45:16I spun for the door.
45:18My fingers were almost
45:19on the handle
45:20when a serpent tail
45:21coiled around my waist
45:22and reeled me back.
45:23I turned.
45:24The slit pupils
45:25had bled fully through
45:26and faint scales
45:28had begun appearing
45:29along his cheekbones.
45:30Full shift starting.
45:32That was a
45:32catastrophically bad sign.
45:36Help me.
45:36The vertical pupils
45:37went deep and still.
45:38You promised.
45:40Okay.
45:41Okay.
45:42Okay.
45:42I'll help.
45:43In my last life
45:44Kale had gone through heat
45:46and made it very clear
45:47he wanted nothing from me.
45:49He was saving himself
45:50for Serafina.
45:51So this particular experience
45:52was new territory.
45:54My hand
45:54trapped in Silas's grip
45:56had lost all sensation.
45:59By the time we made it
46:00back to the estate
46:01night had fallen.
46:02I felt deeply
46:04and specifically guilty
46:05about several things.
46:07Father was in the main hall
46:09waiting.
46:10I walked in
46:12dropped to my knees
46:13on reflex
46:14and grabbed Silas
46:15down with me.
46:17His voice shook the walls.
46:20Elara
46:22have I been too lenient
46:24with you?
46:25Is that why you act
46:26like there are no rules?
46:27If you wanted Lyra
46:28to treat Silas
46:30you could have come to me.
46:31Instead you took her
46:32without permission.
46:34Did it ever occur to you
46:36what would happen
46:37if Lucian collapsed
46:39while she was gone?
46:40If that had ended badly
46:42how would I face
46:43the Vos bloodline?
46:45Father's chest heaved
46:46with every word.
46:47I bent my head lower.
46:49I was wrong father.
46:52Please don't stress yourself
46:53over it.
46:58If your brother were here
46:59I wouldn't have to.
47:00be more like your sister.
47:02She's composed
47:03well mannered
47:04and makes no trouble.
47:06I kept my head down
47:07and let the rest of it
47:09wash over me.
47:10Then Silas tapped
47:12my hand twice.
47:13I looked up.
47:15Serafina was coming in
47:16from outside
47:17with Kale behind her
47:19looking considerably less
47:21like something
47:21dragged through gutters.
47:23So
47:23Kale had made his move.
47:25I couldn't stop
47:26one corner of my mouth.
47:27You think this is funny?
47:31I flattened my expression
47:32instantly.
47:36No father.
47:37Serafina came to father's side
47:38and made all the right
47:39soothing gestures.
47:40Alara
47:41what did you do this time
47:42to upset him this badly?
47:45So father ran through
47:46all of it again
47:47from the beginning.
47:49Thanks for that Serafina.
47:51In the retelling
47:51she managed to look concerned
47:53while adding fuel
47:54to every sentence.
47:54The verdict
47:55one month's house confinement.
47:57When you're done
47:58go back to your room.
47:59Don't leave without permission.
48:00Yes father.
48:01When father finally released me
48:02and I turned to go
48:03Serafina said
48:07Alara
48:08is this
48:09Silas?
48:10I looked back.
48:12Silas was nearly
48:13the same height
48:14as me now.
48:15His features sharpened
48:16and settled
48:16into something older.
48:18The boyishness
48:19almost entirely gone.
48:21Yesterday he had still
48:23looked like a boy of 12
48:24but that whole development
48:26was connected
48:27to the heat cycle
48:27and I was not going
48:29to explain the heat cycle
48:30to anyone in this room.
48:33Enough.
48:34I know.
48:36Go.
48:37Yes.
48:39I turned and walked
48:41quickly
48:41back to my room.
48:43Naturally I did not
48:44miss the flash
48:45of jealous hatred
48:46in Serafina's eyes
48:47as I left.
48:48Back in my room
48:55I crooked a finger
48:56at Silas.
48:57More?
48:58The look on his face
48:59was entirely
49:01too knowing.
49:02Silas!
49:03He laughed then
49:04easy
49:04unbothered.
49:06What does mistress require?
49:09I took a breath
49:10steadied myself.
49:13All of this
49:14was exactly
49:14what you planned
49:15wasn't it?
49:17The body that looked
49:18like a boy's
49:19had hidden a mind
49:20that had never been
49:21a boy's at all.
49:22Which meant
49:23from the beginning
49:24I had been played.
49:26No.
49:28You choosing me
49:30that was the thing
49:31I didn't plan for.
49:37He looked at me
49:38and his eyes
49:39were level
49:39and serious.
49:41So everything else
49:42he had
49:43I can't even
49:44be surprised.
49:45The beast man
49:46who dismantled
49:46the black market
49:47and negotiated
49:48equal rights
49:49for his entire species
49:50of course he was
49:51always three moves ahead.
49:53I was gnashing
49:54my teeth.
49:54Silas smiled
49:55just slightly.
49:56You came out ahead
49:57didn't you mistress?
49:59He drew that last word
50:01out deliberately.
50:02I turned away.
50:03Please leave my room.
50:05I could take the loss
50:07but I wasn't staying
50:07in the same space
50:08as his satisfaction.
50:10The month of confinement
50:11passed.
50:12I had the bodyguard
50:13route the payment card
50:14to Mira with a note.
50:15She would know
50:16what to do with it.
50:17During that time
50:17I searched every channel
50:19I could find
50:20for news of Lyra
50:20and found nothing.
50:22Every thread dead.
50:23The silence worried me.
50:25Meanwhile
50:25Silas had grown
50:27at a pace
50:27that defied
50:28any reasonable measurement.
50:29Two days gone
50:30and he was
50:31noticeably taller.
50:32The ease of a predator
50:33settling into his posture
50:35with every passing hour.
50:37Father approved
50:37of the development
50:38in ways that
50:39visibly extended to me.
50:41Since Serafina
50:41had brought Kale
50:42into the house
50:43Kale had been
50:44reporting to me daily.
50:45Small details
50:46careful observations
50:47while his fox allure
50:49went to work
50:49on Serafina
50:50drop by patient drop.
50:52Everything I had
50:53suffered in my last life
50:55I was going to
50:55make her feel
50:56every inch of.
50:58Serafina had been
50:59resistant at first
51:00but with Raven diminished
51:01after his confrontation
51:02with Silas
51:03and with my own
51:04quiet efforts
51:05pulling her reputation
51:06apart from the seams
51:07her composure
51:08was starting to fracture.
51:10She was getting volatile
51:11reaching for Kale's
51:12attention at any hour
51:13storming when
51:14she didn't get it.
51:15Kale was doing to her
51:16exactly what he had
51:18done to me
51:18and she was falling
51:19piece by piece.
51:21The ugly incidents
51:22mounted
51:22scenes in public
51:23a shouting match
51:25that had left
51:25witnesses unsettled
51:26a round of self-pity
51:28so deep
51:28it had shaded
51:29into something worse.
51:31The worst incident?
51:32She had nearly used
51:33a blade on her own wrist.
51:35A servant had caught her
51:36in time and run for father.
51:37Father arrived home
51:39from the office
51:39to find her
51:40and the fury
51:41on his face
51:42was something
51:42I had never seen before.
51:45He slapped her
51:45once open-handed.
51:50For a beastman
51:52have you lost
51:53your mind?
51:55Isn't this exactly
51:56what you wanted father?
51:58You were the one
51:59who said we had to
52:00bond with beastmen.
52:02One mate
52:03one life
52:03no betrayal.
52:05So why is it wrong now?
52:07Father's fury
52:08and grief
52:08fought each other visibly.
52:10Wake up!
52:14Serafina surfaced
52:15for a moment
52:16blinking.
52:18Father pressed his fingers
52:19hard into his temple.
52:21I know you've resented me
52:22for a long time.
52:24You think I failed you.
52:26That I shouldn't
52:27have remarried.
52:28That Alada and her brother
52:29took something from you.
52:30That the bloodline's legacy
52:32belongs to you alone.
52:33But Serafina
52:34have I ever
52:35actually neglected you?
52:36He looked at her
52:37and something wet
52:38moved through his eyes.
52:40You're older than Alira
52:41by a few years.
52:42You know as well as I do
52:43why this bloodline
52:43requires us to choose
52:44a beastman companion
52:45at 18.
52:45It isn't cruelty
52:46it is what gives us
52:47the right to lead.
52:48I spoke up from the side
52:49genuinely confused.
52:51What does that mean?
52:53Father looked at me
52:54and let out a long
52:55slow breath.
52:57It's the old law
52:58the founding rule.
53:00To inherit
53:01and hold the family's work
53:02you must must be
53:03in true accord
53:03with a beastman.
53:05Serafina
53:07you've always known
53:08the bloodline standard.
53:10Leadership goes
53:10to the most capable
53:11regardless of birth order
53:13or gender.
53:13three years ago
53:14was when you should
53:15have begun.
53:17Chosen your beastman
53:18prepared yourself
53:19entered the business
53:20with intent.
53:21Instead you waited
53:22and while you were waiting
53:24you were building a trap.
53:29don't dress it up father
53:30answer me honestly
53:32did you treat us
53:33the same
53:34ever
53:35I was born
53:36with no mother
53:37you were busy
53:38you gave me
53:39to the nurses
53:39you gave me
53:41everything material
53:42I asked for
53:43yes
53:43but how many hours
53:44did you spend
53:45with me
53:46how many times
53:47did you hold me
53:48or come to quiet me
53:49when I was scared
53:51after you remarried
53:52you held Elira
53:54you came when Elira cried
53:56you gave her the pair
53:57because she wanted the pair
53:58you gave me
53:59what you thought
54:00I should want
54:01not what I asked for
54:04every one of those
54:05small things
54:06you thought didn't matter
54:07they were scars father
54:08every single one
54:10this bowl was never level
54:12you just couldn't see it
54:14Serafina
54:16I'm sorry
54:17you were right
54:18to feel it
54:19I failed you
54:20sorry doesn't fix it
54:23I want Elira dead
54:25I want all of them dead
54:29she lunged for me
54:31hands in my collar
54:32and her face
54:33had gone somewhere
54:34I hadn't seen it go before
54:36Alada
54:37I had a dream
54:38I dreamed you died
54:40the fully shifted raven
54:43bit you right
54:44through the throat
54:45you were dead
54:48you were dead
54:50the blood in my veins
54:51turned to ice water
54:52and stopped
54:53it wasn't a dream
54:54it happened
54:55father couldn't watch anymore
54:56he had her removed
54:58and confined to her rooms
55:01when Kyle came to me later
55:03pleased with himself
55:04I took him directly
55:05to Serafina's door
55:07in the cellar
55:08of the Talia estate
55:09I had made him
55:11a single offer
55:11his freedom
55:12in exchange
55:13for his obedience
55:15seduce Serafina
55:16and do it
55:17until she broke
55:18he'd agreed
55:18and she had broken
55:20so now
55:21it was his turn
55:23through the door
55:23Serafina's voice
55:25rose and fell
55:26cresting
55:26and breaking
55:27Kale
55:28Kale
55:28why aren't you answering me
55:29don't you love me anymore
55:32you said I was the one person
55:33who mattered most to you
55:35you said you'd never leave
55:37you said you'd give me anything I wanted
55:40Serafina
55:41Serafina you've gone insane
55:42Alara
55:43open this door
55:44open it
55:45I stood still
55:46and listened to what was happening
55:47on the other side
55:48the frantic banging
55:49and then gradually
55:51silence
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
56:01everything she said
56:02it was true
56:03or you wouldn't have done
56:04what you did
56:05that's on me
56:06it's all on me
56:07father didn't punish me
56:09he showed me the bloodline's
56:10founding records
56:11and without exception
56:12every paired name on the page
56:14was a human
56:15and a beastman
56:16long ago
56:18the family's founding grandmother
56:20had a beastman
56:21against all opposition
56:22and the world had denied them both
56:24a disaster came
56:26and the beastman
56:28gave his life
56:29to save her
56:29out of grief
56:30and out of conviction
56:31she had used her authority
56:33to set the law
56:34that had governed
56:34every generation since
56:36so that one day
56:37humans and beastmen
56:39might live in peace
56:39when I came out
56:40of father's study
56:41Silas was in the hallway
56:43leaning against the wall
56:44all of it handled
56:45I nodded
56:46he had been busy
56:48this past month
56:49I'd barely seen him
56:50and I was starting
56:51to recognize
56:51in the way he moved
56:53and held a room
56:54the shape of who
56:55he was going to become
56:56father had warmed to him
56:57in ways he hadn't
56:58bothered to hide
56:59since Kale had moved
57:00into the house
57:01as Serafina's beastman
57:03he'd been reporting
57:04to me faithfully
57:05while in the background
57:06Serafina's image
57:07had been quietly
57:08and methodically demolished
57:09she had done to herself
57:11everything Kale once did to me
57:13then father had stepped in
57:14my brother came home
57:16took over the business
57:17under father's guidance
57:18and the household
57:19found its footing again
57:20as for Silas
57:21the heat cycles
57:22kept coming back
57:23more and more frequently
57:24as it happened
57:25every deep night
57:26a cold serpent tail
57:28would find its way
57:29around my ankle
57:29Silas
57:30I have a knife
57:34the tail withdrew
57:35as I thought
57:36he had been exaggerating
57:37all along
57:38Silas
57:39explain yourself
57:41he leaned in
57:42and grazed his lips
57:43against the shell
57:44of my ear
57:44is it really so hard
57:45to understand
57:46I turned on him
57:48plain words
57:49he was quiet
57:50for a long moment
57:51in my last life
57:53you buried me
57:54I jolted upright
57:55you
57:57you also
57:58Silas sat up
58:00unhurried
58:01after that
58:02my spirit
58:02wouldn't leave
58:03I stayed
58:04and I watched you
58:06grieve for Kale
58:06suffer for Kale
58:07and finally die
58:08for nothing
58:08and then
58:09with you
58:10I came back
58:13remarkable
58:14and then he spoke again
58:15Alara
58:17do you remember
58:18the bloodline's
58:18founding law
58:21what
58:22he smiled
58:23and the look
58:24in his eyes
58:24held something
58:25that had been there
58:26for a long time
58:27choose a beastman
58:28to raise
58:29bond with them
58:30for life
58:31no betrayal
58:33no abandonment
58:34his voice dropped low
58:37you chose me
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