A powerful full drama movie filled with love, secrets, and unexpected twists.
Follow a powerful story where relationships are tested, hidden truths are revealed, and lives change forever. From romantic moments to shocking surprises, this drama keeps you engaged from beginning to end.
Featuring stories about CEO, billionaire lifestyles, family connections, and life-changing decisions, this movie delivers strong emotions and unforgettable scenes.
Watch the full movie and discover what happens in the end.
New full drama movies uploaded regularly. Stay tuned for more captivating and trending stories.
#drama #fullmovie #lovestory #dramatic #billionaire #ceo #family #relationships #movie #story
Follow a powerful story where relationships are tested, hidden truths are revealed, and lives change forever. From romantic moments to shocking surprises, this drama keeps you engaged from beginning to end.
Featuring stories about CEO, billionaire lifestyles, family connections, and life-changing decisions, this movie delivers strong emotions and unforgettable scenes.
Watch the full movie and discover what happens in the end.
New full drama movies uploaded regularly. Stay tuned for more captivating and trending stories.
#drama #fullmovie #lovestory #dramatic #billionaire #ceo #family #relationships #movie #story
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00:00My throat slit, I was pushed off the cliff, but the last seen before me was my devoted mate over
00:06there kissing the hand of my dear sister.
00:08Reborn, I had returned to the day I chose my beast.
00:11The little fox looked at me eagerly, his crimson eyes glistening.
00:15I raised my hand, and under his expectant gaze, pointed past him to the frail white snake behind him.
00:21I want him.
00:23You don't want me anymore?
00:25I had returned back to the day of the choosing.
00:27Vendors shouting in the black market, voices clashing with the snarls of caged beastmen.
00:33The truth is clear.
00:34I had returned to the day father had brought us to the black market to choose.
00:37Pax unspoken blood laud.
00:39Every young man and woman, three years before coming of age, personally select an equally young beastman as their future
00:47mate.
00:48Bonded for life.
00:49No betrayal, no abandonment.
00:51Beastmen matured much quicker than humans.
00:54A puppet's love was to prevent a bonded beastman from growing into a resentful predator.
00:58But I had never fully understood why.
01:01Beastmen ranked beneath humans, caged and passive, waiting to be claimed like livestock.
01:06So why would our bloodline insist on binding us to them?
01:10Weren't they afraid of us being betrayed?
01:13Suddenly, I locked with Kale's eyes, still young and naive.
01:16Memory of my past life resurfaced.
01:18The stinging pains of my throat being slipped are so vivid, I bit it back and steadied myself with a
01:25fist, pressed hard against the pain of my chest, and looked around.
01:28The massive holding cage ahead contained no fewer than 20 beastmen.
01:33Unsurprisingly, every one of them bore fresh wounds.
01:36My gaze locked instantly on Kale, hunched in the corner, arm torn by bite marks, his fox ears and tail
01:42no longer able to stay hidden.
01:44He caught my gaze, and something lit in his eyes, then 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. I 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.
02:35This was the moment Kale had first set his sights on her.
02:38Serafina spotted Kale too, and murmured,
02:41You've always had a taste for pretty things.
02:44That fox suits you.
02:45Pretty, and nothing else.
02:48The color drained from Kale's face.
02:50In my last life, those words had fallen from Serafina's lips, and they had shattered him on the spot.
02:56This time was no different.
02:58He stared at me, ashen, his eyes flooding with disbelief.
03:02A question stirred in my gut.
03:03Serafina gave a small smile, drifted away, and began her own careful selection.
03:08Just as in my last life, she chose the powerfully built Shadow Wolf.
03:13Now I was the only one who hasn't chosen.
03:15Few beastmen remained in the cage.
03:18A quick sweep found Kale watching me with naked hope.
03:21My gaze moved past him and settled on the beastman behind,
03:25half human, half serpent, coiled, and utterly still.
03:28If memory served, no one had chosen him in my last life.
03:31But a beastman had risen in this city after that.
03:34A name that made even hardened predators go still.
03:37Silas.
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.
04:04Yes.
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.
04:27Silas pressed a palm to the floor, crawled toward me.
04:30He stopped at my feet.
04:32I crouched down and pressed a palm to his cheek.
04:34I'm taking you with me.
04:36Kale lunged forward and seized my wrist.
04:38Choose me.
04:39You're supposed to choose me.
04:41He's half-dead already.
04:43Why would you pick him?
04:44That settled it.
04:45Kale had been reborn, too.
04:47Before I could react, Silas's brow furrowed, and the blood-streaked serpent tail uncoiled and snapped around Kale like a
04:54whip.
04:54Kale hit the wall hard enough to rattle the iron bars.
04:58Silas's eyes were cold-slit.
05:00Come closer again, and I'll kill you.
05:02Watching Kale clutch his ribs, I felt something close to joy rise in my chest, and I rewarded Silas with
05:09an 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, Kale'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, and, 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, a place where survival was measured in
05:41blood and screaming iron.
05:42I 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, but a congenital defect in his body slowed his recovery to a crawl.
06:00It made me only more curious.
06:02How had he survived the fighting pit in his last life, dragging that broken body through it all?
06:07My stare must have been too obvious, because a slow flush crept up Silas's neck.
06:11Mistress?
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, taller too, his frame filling out overnight
06:40like a plant after rain.
06:42Beastman really did grow at an inhuman pace.
06:45That morning, father tracked me down.
06:47A beastman healer had come to the city, he said.
06:49A merkin named Mira.
06:51She could treat both beastmen and humans.
06:54Father wanted me to take Silas to see her.
06:57The merkin carried innate healing gifts from birth, the strength of which scaled with individual talent.
07:03Even the weakest among them could mend their own bodies, but the most gifted could restore life to the near
07:08dead.
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 PAC law bind us to them as mates?
07:20He paused, let out a long breath.
07:23Elara, remember this.
07:24A beastman's loyalty is something no human being can replicate.
07:28Whether you earn that loyalty, that depends entirely on you.
07:32He waved the conversation closed and walked away.
07:35I knew as well as anyone how rare a beastman's loyalty was.
07:39But in the mess I'd inherited from my last life, 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.
07:59Stall signs, storefronts, passing vehicles, with wide, hungry eyes.
08:04Mistress, what's that?
08:06An amusement park.
08:07Mistress!
08:08When we get back, I'll teach you to read, then you'll figure it out yourself.
08:12Okay.
08:13Silas beamed, falling into step just behind my shoulder.
08:17Out of the corner of my eye, I caught him eating the ice cream with total indifference.
08:21He didn't like it at all.
08:23While his gaze moved in quick, methodical sweeps across the street around us, the carefully performed helplessness had cracked.
08:30Just for a second.
08:31He didn't trust me.
08:32Not even close.
08:33And beneath the docile surface, he was calculating.
08:37Of course he is, I thought.
08:38We arrived at the address father had given me.
08:40I 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.
09:29Get 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.
09:48What was Kale even doing here?
09:50But I wasn't the only one questioning it.
09:52A fox and an heiress whose family treats beasts like dirt?
09:56The pair drew everyone's attention.
09:58Someone gossiped among the crowd.
10:00On Kale's first day in the fighting pit, he had weaved his fox allure around a girl named Talia, making
10:06her desperate to buy him.
10:08Her father was a business partner of father's.
10:10And when the black market saw how badly she wanted Kale, they drove the price up.
10:15Talia didn't have enough, went home to scrape together the rest, and 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.
10:28Talia had come back just in time to pull him out at death's door.
10:32I 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.
10:47He 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.
11:03Revulsion.
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.
11:16Silas' 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.
11:32He 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.
11:57The 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!
12:20Even if he's mishaving, that'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-beastmen getting too close to me.
12:30They carry a certain...
12:31Musk.
12:32Kale coughed up another mouthful of blood and stared at me with 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!
12:44Careful.
12:46Statements like that tend to offend my beastman.
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
13:16for the door.
13:20Out of the way!
13:21Can'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!
13:36He really is!
13:37From inside the room came a voice, smooth as river water.
13:43He won't die.
13:45Wait your turn.
13:46I raised an eyebrow.
13:47I 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?
14:05The Talia family and mine were nothing alike.
14:08Our bloodline maintained some measure of regard for beastmen.
14:12The Talias treated them like livestock.
14:14If her father found out she'd spent a small fortune on a useless fox, the fallout would
14:19be spectacular.
14:21Talia blinked.
14:22You know my father?
14:23Then her eyes went wide.
14:24You're threatening me!
14:25I just smiled.
14:27Talia's lip trembled.
14:28Tears spilled down her face and she cried openly, chest heaving.
14:32I hadn't expected the waterworks.
14:34A headache bloomed behind my eyes.
14:36Stop crying.
14:37Your 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 cue crawled forward for several more hours before it was finally, mercifully, Kale's
14:53turn.
14:54I had arrived later and stood behind them.
14:56By the time Talia helped Kale out of the treatment room, an hour had passed and his color had
15:01returned.
15:02He looked at me and the wounded helplessness was gone, replaced by something close to resentment.
15:07You're heartless, Aloksa.
15:09I made a dry sound.
15:10I can't compete with you.
15:12Stop wasting breath on her.
15:13Let's go.
15:15Steering Kale away 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 Merkin were extraordinary.
15:37No instruments, no diagnostic tools, only a touch, and she already knew.
15:42I said it without thinking.
15:43That'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.
16:12Then he turned to me, and the look in his eyes said everything.
16:17Money is no obstacle.
16:18But Mira shook her head, her smile faint and tired.
16:22A 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.
16:51The 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 Merican 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.
17:15But the rarest among us, the ones born with song, they can restore the dead to life.
17:22I stared at her.
17:23That sounds impossible.
17:24I'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.
17:32But in the past 20 years, one Merican was born carrying that gift from her very first breath.
17:38Something clicked into place at the back of my mind.
17:41What is her name?
17:43Lyra.
17:44Of course.
17:46I understand.
17:48Thank you, Mira.
17:48I set a payment card 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, Lucien had finally been free.
18:19She seemed to care for him, or so the rumors said.
18:22Lucien 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 Lucien'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, reach 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.
19:01A flush crept up the back of my neck.
19:04I cleared my throat twice.
19:06In public?
19:08You don't have to use that.
19:09Just call me by my name.
19:11Silas adapted without hesitation.
19:13Alright, 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.
19:26It took less than two days before the news reached me.
19:29Miss Alata, the news is here.
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 Alata, something's wrong.
19:49Silas, Simus, and Raven are fighting.
19:52Raven was Serafina's beast man.
19:54I was on my feet before the sentence finished.
19:57I followed the servant to the garden outside the mower,
20:00where Silas had been pinned beneath the flowering hawthorn tree,
20:04and Raven's massive fists were falling on him again and again,
20:08each 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,
20:27had survived the fighting pit on a broken frame,
20:29which meant there was no possible world
20:31in which he was simply being 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.
20:39I had no use for a beast man who might drive a blade into my back.
20:43This first step towards trust,
20:45he would have to be the one to take it.
20:47Silas still didn't move,
20:48arms folded over his head,
20:50the crack of breaking bone cutting through the garden like a gunshot.
20:54He turned his head, spat blood onto the flagstones,
20:57and through the gap in the flowering branches,
20:59saw me, disbelief in his eyes,
21:02hurt, a silent, furious question,
21:04why aren't you coming?
21:06My hand clenched at my side,
21:07and my jaw locked.
21:09Raven, scenting blood,
21:11found the animal in himself rising to the surface,
21:14both ears pushing through his hair,
21:16every muscle lit up with predatory excitement,
21:19barely a step from the edge of a full, feral shift.
21:22I held my breath,
21:23my entire body strung tight as a wire,
21:26and stared at Silas.
21:27Just take this one step towards me,
21:29and I swear I will never stop protecting you.
21:32Silas' pupils elongated,
21:34the calm human iris collapsing into serpent slit.
21:37In the moment before Raven lunged to bite himself,
21:41Silas moved,
21:42his legs dissolved into a white serpent tail
21:44that coiled around Raven's body in one fluid motion,
21:48and then his fangs,
21:49long and curved and appearing from nowhere,
21:52drove into the side of Raven's neck without hesitation.
21:55Raven screamed and thrashed,
21:57every muscle in his body convulsing.
21:59Silas' tail contracted like a closing vice.
22:02I watched Raven's face shift from red to violet
22:05in the span of seconds,
22:06and understood instantly,
22:08Silas' fangs were venomous.
22:10So he's a viper, I thought.
22:12Serafina arrived then,
22:13late and unhurried,
22:15and 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
22:26shifted through several versions of itself
22:29when she saw me.
22:30She drew a breath,
22:32steadied herself.
22:33Alara,
22:34tell Silas to stop.
22:35Raven will die.
22:36I smiled.
22:37My brother keeps his head.
22:39Don't worry,
22:40Serafina.
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.
22:58He 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.
23:08Enough.
23:09Everyone stop.
23:10Father's voice rolled through the garden from somewhere behind me,
23:14heavy with displeasure.
23:15Before Serafina could arrange her face into something pitiable,
23:18I got there first
23:20and let tears spill down my own.
23:22Father.
23:22She started it
23:23and 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,
23:32spared Serafina one flat look.
23:35A lesson he needed to learn.
23:36And you.
23:37Don'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.
23:55It's to build him.
23:56Otherwise,
23:56his gaze cut across her,
23:58cold and quiet,
23:59and said nothing more.
24:00Serafina dropped to her knees.
24:02Yes, father.
24:03As Raven finally went still,
24:05the desperation broke through Serafina's composure,
24:08and tears ran down her face.
24:10Father.
24:11Please.
24:11Save 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.
24:19Silas released the coil.
24:21Raven's limp body hit the earth beside the hawthorn tree,
24:25scattering petals across the flagstones.
24:27I moved quickly to catch Silas.
24:29He had burned through everything he had,
24:31the serpent tail refusing to retract,
24:34his legs unable to carry him,
24:35his full weight dropping into my arms.
24:38Father made a sound of pure displeasure.
24:40I bought you beastmen to bond with,
24:42not to put them against each other.
24:43If it happens again,
24:44you're both out of this bloodline.
24:48Understood, father.
24:51Quick, carry Raven inside.
24:57I looked at Raven's violet face and asked,
25:00Will the venom kill him?
25:03I don't make problems for myself.
25:05Look at him,
25:06and found his face stripped of everything he usually wore around me.
25:10The deference,
25:11the careful performance,
25:12all of it gone.
25:13What remained was cold and still,
25:15the slit pupils unmoved.
25:17This is who he actually is.
25:19Then Silas went boneless against my shoulder,
25:21head lolling,
25:22as if the last of his strength had left him at once.
25:25But I didn't believe it.
25:26Then again,
25:27a performance was only worth running to its end.
25:29So I slid an arm around that ice-cold tail,
25:32settled my other hand at his waist,
25:34and lifted him.
25:36Silas stared at me,
25:37startled into actual surprise,
25:39a flush climbing fast up his neck.
25:41Hold still.
25:44I carried him back to his room,
25:46where the physician was already waiting.
25:48The broken ribs were set.
25:50Silas endured it with his face gone paper white,
25:53the scales along his tail rippling open and closed with every wave of pain,
25:57until 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,
26:05I looked at the pale expanse of serpent tail.
26:10Silas pressed his lips together,
26:12and under my gaze,
26:13drew it back in,
26:14the tail dissolving into human legs again.
26:18Oddly fascinating, that.
26:20And met those still unrecovered slit pupils,
26:23blinking 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,
26:31which one?
26:32Real trust is earned in kind.
26:34You didn't trust me,
26:35so don't expect me to trust you first.
26:37After I left Silas' room,
26:39I 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,
26:47and he'd been spending idle hours beneath it.
26:50He'd had the misfortune of crossing paths with Raven,
26:53who was wound tight and looking for something to hit.
26:56Serafina's standard for a beast man was raw power.
26:59And since a beast man who had learned to suppress their feral instinct lost much of that,
27:03she had never taught Raven to pull back from the edge.
27:06Instead, she trained him to his limits,
27:08and then patched him up herself with careful, gentle 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,
27:19heart given over to him,
27:21every alarm in me silenced,
27:22I wouldn't have died so stupidly.
27:25Speaking of which,
27:25I wonder how Kale is doing in the Talia household.
27:29I asked,
27:29and promptly had to swallow a laugh.
27:31The Talia patriarch had been putting Kale's fox allure to work,
27:35entertaining guests with it,
27:36men and women alike,
27:38sparing no categories.
27:39Kale had always been beautiful.
27:41With his glamour on top of that,
27:43more than a few people had wanted him in my last life.
27:46To protect him,
27:47I had taken on damage I never should have absorbed.
27:50And every time,
27:51he had one thing to say,
27:52That's what you're here for.
27:54That's what I'm here for.
27:55As if I were furniture,
27:57a plan began to form in the back of my mind.
27:59I was humming to myself on the way back to my room,
28:02when I heard voices inside Silas's,
28:04and pressed myself quietly to the wall.
28:07Serafina's voice,
28:08all warmth and remorse.
28:10Silas,
28:10I'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,
28:27isn't this your future husband's work?
28:29Silas said,
28:30and 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,
28:42she said a few perfunctory words of concern,
28:45and prepared to leave.
28:46I moved quickly back to my own room.
28:48But the next second,
28:49there was a knock on my door,
28:51and Silas was standing in the frame,
28:53eyes dark and steady,
28:54looking at me.
28:55I was genuinely surprised.
28:57He'd looked critically wounded moments ago,
28:59and he was already on his feet?
29:01Beastman healing was fast,
29:03but not that fast.
29:05Something you need?
29:06You said you'd teach me to read.
29:07I'd completely forgotten about that.
29:09Ha, sorry.
29:10We can start now.
29:12Silas pressed his lips together and stepped inside.
29:14I started from the very beginning,
29:16the phonetic alphabet,
29:18and 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,
29:26was it worth watching?
29:27He meant,
29:28Why didn't you come in?
29:29I smiled.
29:30Honestly,
29:31it was.
29:31Silas's brow 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.
29:46Yes,
29:47that history.
29:48He was quiet for a moment.
29:50I can-
29:50That one,
29:50I genuinely hadn't seen coming.
29:53And then my father 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,
30:01I saw it.
30:02Actual sincerity in his eyes.
30:04But still,
30:05why?
30:06Trust for trust was one thing,
30:08but I hadn't done anything to earn it yet.
30:10A flicker of tension moved through his expression.
30:13I 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,
30:25you survived the fighting pit using exactly that.
30:28Fain weakness,
30:29let them close in,
30:31then coil and bite through their throats.
30:33Thinking that,
30:34I reached up without meaning to,
30:36and touched my own neck.
30:37Learn what you need to learn first.
30:40Lyra.
30:41I'll find a way.
30:43Okay.
30:43For the first time,
30:44the usually cold boy let a genuine smile break across his face.
30:49A few days later,
30:50word came that the Voss family's grandmother was turning 80,
30:53and the Voss household had sent a formal invitation to ours.
30:57Because of the garden incident,
30:59father took only me,
31:01and left Serafina behind.
31:03Beastmen were barred from formal events,
31:05so I left Silas at home.
31:07In the banquet hall,
31:08I found Talia,
31:09beaming at guests with practiced ease,
31:11until she caught sight of me,
31:13and her expression went flat as stone.
31:15I fell in step beside her after the gift presentation.
31:20Where's Kale?
31:20You have a nerve asking.
31:22This is all your fault,
31:24you know.
31:25Talia,
31:26do we have a problem?
31:30I don't know.
31:31You're the one 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,
31:55and 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.
32:33He 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.
33:01Talia, 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?
33:58He barely had to try,
34:00and 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.
34:15But,
34:18you'll be fine.
34:19Talia looked over her shoulder three times on the way out,
34:22and then the cellar was just the two of us.
34:24Kale watched me,
34:25something 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,
34:36you went to Serafina,
34:37but your fox-alore never worked on her, did it?
34:39She kept her guard up.
34:41She knew what you were,
34:42and what you were capable of,
34:43so she was always watching.
34:45But your gift was too valuable to waste,
34:47so 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
34:54the 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
35:01in the black market?
35:04Elara!
35:05Elara!
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 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,
35:30Talia was still outside,
35:32eyes 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
35:56human and beast man love story.
35:59She broke into full,
36:01shuddering sobs.
36:02I rubbed a spot on my temple.
36:04Even if you wanted an epic love story,
36:06you'd need your father's blessing first.
36:10Come on, let's go.
36:12She wept.
36:13Okay.
36:14After managing Talia
36:15back to some level of composure,
36:17I asked,
36:18Is Lucien on the guest list?
36:20That was the second reason
36:21I'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.
36:31Where 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,
36:38we both heard it.
36:39A melody,
36:40rising and falling
36:41like water over stone.
36:43The music moved through the air
36:45and straight into my chest.
36:49I feel like someone just told me
36:50it's going to be okay.
36:52I could go back in there
36:53and 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
37:05and asking for her
37:06was out of the question.
37:08He was far too volatile
37:09for a frontal approach.
37:11Better to reach Lyra herself.
37:13I sent Talia off,
37:15opened the door directly across
37:17from Lucien's suite,
37:18sat down in the frame,
37:20and listened.
37:21The melody flowed without pause
37:23and something in my bones
37:25began to unknot.
37:26The grief of a whole past life
37:28starting to quiet.
37:30I yawned,
37:31biting it.
37:32I kept my eyes open
37:33by force
37:34and waited.
37:35What I hadn't counted on,
37:37waiting the entire night.
37:39Lyra's voice never stopped once.
37:41When I realized how angry
37:43I was on her behalf,
37:44the feeling surprised me.
37:46The morning meal arrived
37:48for delivery.
37:49I opened the door
37:50at the right moment.
37:51Lyra was stepping out
37:53of Lucien's suite,
37:54waving off the breakfast tray.
37:55I raised a hand.
37:57Hi.
37:58Lyra turned at the sound
38:00of my voice and smiled.
38:01She was genuinely beautiful.
38:03Skin that caught the light
38:04like satin,
38:06eyes clear and bright.
38:07But what stayed with you
38:08was something underneath
38:10the beauty,
38:11something that made you
38:12want to draw closer
38:13and stay.
38:14Her voice came out
38:15sand rough.
38:16That made the next part
38:17awkward.
38:18She seemed to read
38:19the awkwardness on my face
38:20and gave a small,
38:22tired smile.
38:23Do you need something for me?
38:24I stepped aside
38:25and gestured.
38:26Would you mind
38:27coming in for a moment?
38:28Lyra nodded
38:29and walked in.
38:30I poured her a glass
38:31of warm water first,
38:32let her settle,
38:33then said,
38:35I have a beastman.
38:36He was born
38:36with a congenital gap.
38:38I took him to see Mira.
38:40She can't mend it,
38:41but she directed me to you.
38:42Lyra listened
38:43and nodded.
38:44Mira is my aunt.
38:45I blinked.
38:46Mira looked barely older
38:47than Lyra.
38:48Lyra checked the time.
38:50I have about two hours.
38:52You can bring your beastman
38:54to a nearby hotel.
38:55The fee for a congenital repair
38:57is two million.
38:58She said it with her lashes lowered,
39:00the expression beneath them hidden.
39:02What I was thinking about
39:04was her voice.
39:05Right now?
39:06Your throat?
39:07It doesn't matter.
39:09Every day is like this.
39:11If you're waiting for it to recover,
39:13you'll be waiting forever.
39:14Something 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.
39:28Cruelty, mostly.
39:30I thought of the rumors
39:31I'd heard once
39:32in another life.
39:33You don't have to stay devoted
39:34to one tree.
39:35You're overthinking it.
39:37Get the hotel sorted.
39:38If Lucien wakes and finds me gone,
39:40there won't be another chance.
39:41I booked the nearest suite fast,
39:43then contacted Silas.
39:45After I hung up,
39:46I turned back to Lyra.
39:47She was working through breakfast
39:49in small, unhurried bites.
39:51Every movement neat
39:52and somehow restful to watch.
39:54But there was something
39:55about that narrow back
39:57that made the chest ache
39:58for no clear reason.
39:59I sat down across from her,
40:01words rising and dying on my tongue.
40:03In the end,
40:04I said nothing.
40:05Silas arrived minutes later.
40:07He had clearly run the whole way,
40:09sweat still at his temple.
40:11Lyra extended her hand.
40:12He glanced at me first
40:13and only after I nodded
40:15did he approach with any care.
40:17Lyra laid her palm over his
40:19and her brow began to draw together.
40:21I felt the tension move up
40:23through my own spine.
40:24I was desperate to intervene,
40:26but I forced myself to stay back.
40:29Lyra wasn't faring
40:31any better than Silas.
40:32Every note she sang
40:34seemed to tear something loose
40:36in her throat.
40:38Slowly, blood appeared
40:40at the corner of her mouth.
40:41I started forward.
40:43She stopped me with a look
40:45and a small shake of her head.
40:47An hour later,
40:49the singing stopped.
40:51Silas and Lyra folded to the floor
40:53at the same moment.
40:55I moved fast to catch Lyra,
40:58wiped the blood from her mouth.
40:59I'm sorry.
41:00I didn't know it would be like this.
41:01Were you all right?
41:02She was breathing hard.
41:04You paid.
41:05I gave what was asked.
41:09There's nothing to apologize for.
41:12Let me take you back.
41:14Lyra looked at Silas,
41:15still on the floor,
41:16catching his breath.
41:19One moment.
41:22The gap is sealed,
41:24but he'll need a course of medicine
41:25to follow.
41:28And because the deficiency
41:30has held his body back,
41:32he'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.
41:44I understand.
41:44Rest for a moment.
41:45I nodded fast.
41:49Lyra let her eyes close
41:51and went quiet.
41:52I arranged transport
41:54and personally saw her back
41:56to the Talia estate.
41:57My plan had been to slip her back
41:59to her suite unnoticed.
42:05But standing at the front entrance
42:07when we arrived
42:08was Lucien,
42:10jaw set
42:10and expression
42:11like incoming weather.
42:12Behind him, Talia,
42:14red-eyed and...
42:18We'd been found out.
42:20I moved to step out
42:21of the car with Lyra.
42:22She stopped me
42:23with a hand on my arm.
42:25Go home.
42:25I shook my head.
42:27I row.
42:29I went to school with Lucien.
42:31He should give me
42:32at least a little room.
42:35Lyra smiled.
42:36If he were the type
42:37to give you room,
42:38you wouldn't have had
42:39to come to me directly.
42:42I'm alright.
42:42He still needs me.
42:44Go.
42:45Trust me.
42:47I gritted my teeth.
42:49In the end,
42:50I pressed the payment card
42:52into 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
43:08found her,
43:09his face darkened
43:10in a way that was visible
43:11from a distance.
43:14On the drive back
43:15to the hotel,
43:16I couldn't settle.
43:17What had happened?
43:18I asked Talia
43:19and she told me.
43:20Lucien had woken
43:2130 minutes ago,
43:23couldn't find Lyra anywhere
43:24and had made a scene.
43:25everyone knew
43:26how much Lyra
43:27mattered to him.
43:29So they'd all
43:30started searching too.
43:32someone reviewed
43:33the security footage
43:34and traced it to me.
43:35Under pressure
43:36from Lucien's people,
43:37Talia had been forced
43:38to give up
43:39the whole story
43:40of how I'd spent
43:40the night waiting
43:41outside his door
43:42and caught a thorough
43:43dressing down for it.
43:46I had a feeling
43:47I was out to receive
43:48one too.
43:48But my worry about that
43:49was smaller than
43:50my worry about 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
43:57when he launched
43:58himself at me
43:59the second the door
44:00opened.
44:01His usual cold
44:02was gone.
44:02He was burning.
44:03And he was bigger,
44:04taller, broader,
44:06the change in him
44:07unmistakable.
44:08Then Lyra's warning
44:09came back to me
44:10in a rush.
44:11Grown beastmen
44:11enter a heat cycle.
44:13Be careful.
44:14Don'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
44:25his chest,
44:26his scorching hands
44:27closed around my waist,
44:28his forehead
44:29pressed down to mine.
44:30Mistress.
44:31Mistress.
44:32That word in a voice
44:33dropped 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.
44:42It isn't right.
44:43Silas tilted his head
44:44just slightly
44:45and the tip of his nose
44:46grazed my cheekbone.
44:48The heat off his breath
44:49landed against my face
44:51in waves.
44:51I 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
45:03came out ragged.
45:04Help me.
45:06Please.
45:06I had absolutely
45:07no idea
45:08how to help with this.
45:09Alright, okay.
45:11I'll help.
45:11Just let go of me first.
45:13Silas loosened his hold
45:14by a fraction.
45:15The next second,
45:16I spun for the door.
45:17My fingers were
45:18almost on the handle
45:19when a serpent tail
45:20coiled around my waist
45:22and reeled me back.
45:23I turned.
45:24The slit pupils
45:25had bled fully through
45:26and faint scales
45:27had begun appearing
45:28along his cheekbones.
45:30Full shift starting.
45:31That was a
45:32catastrophically bad sign.
45:36The vertical pupils
45:37went deep
45:37and 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
45:45and made it very clear
45:47he wanted nothing from me.
45:48He was saving himself
45:49for Serafina.
45:50So this particular experience
45:52was new territory.
45:53My hand,
45:54trapped in Silas' grip,
45:56had lost all sensation.
45:58By 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.
46:16His voice shook the walls.
46:19Elara,
46:22have I been too lenient with you?
46:24Is that why you act
46:25like there are no rules?
46:26If you wanted Lyra
46:28to treat Silas,
46:29you could have come to me.
46:31Instead,
46:32you took her without permission.
46:34Did it ever occur to you
46:36what would happen
46:37if Lucien collapsed
46:38while she was gone?
46:40If that had ended badly,
46:42how would I face
46:43the Vos bloodline?
46:44Father's chest heaved
46:46with every word.
46:47I bent my head lower.
46:49I was wrong, Father.
46:51Please don't stress yourself
46:53over it.
46:57If 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.
47:05I kept my head down
47:07and let the rest of it
47:08wash over me.
47:10Then Silas tapped
47:11my hand twice.
47:13I looked up.
47:15Serafina was coming in
47:16from outside,
47:17with Kale behind her,
47:19looking considerably less
47:20like something dragged
47:21through gutters.
47:22So,
47:23Kale had made his move.
47:25I couldn't stop
47:26one corner of my mouth.
47:27You think this is funny?
47:30I flattened
47:31my expression instantly.
47:36No, Father.
47:37Serafina came to
47:37Father'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,
47:45Father ran through
47:46all of it again,
47:47from the beginning.
47:49Thanks for that,
47:50Serafina.
47:50In the retelling,
47:51she managed to look concerned
47:52while adding fuel
47:53to every sentence.
47:54The verdict,
47:55one month's house confinement.
47:57When you're done,
47:58go back to your room.
47:58Don't leave without permission.
47:59Yes, Father.
48:00When Father finally released me
48:02and I turned to go,
48:03Serafina said,
48:07Alara,
48:08is this Silas?
48:10I looked back.
48:12Silas was nearly
48:12the same height as me now.
48:14His features sharpened
48:16and settled
48:16into something older,
48:18the boyishness
48:19almost entirely gone.
48:21Yesterday,
48:22he had still looked
48:23like a boy of 12,
48:24but that whole development
48:25was connected
48:26to the heat cycle,
48:27and I was not going
48:29to explain the heat cycle
48:30to anyone in this room.
48:32Enough.
48:33I know.
48:35Go.
48:36Yes!
48:39I turned and walked,
48:41quickly,
48:42back to my room.
48:43Naturally,
48:43I did not miss
48:44the flash of jealous hatred
48:46in Serafina's eyes
48:47as I left.
48:48Back in my room,
48:54I crooked a finger
48:56at Silas.
48:57More?
48:58The look on his face
48:59was entirely too knowing.
49:01Silas!
49:02He laughed then,
49:04easy,
49:04unbothered.
49:05What does mistress require?
49:09I took a breath,
49:10steadied myself.
49:12All of this
49:13was exactly
49:14what you planned,
49:15wasn't it?
49:16The body
49:17that looked like a boy's
49:18had hidden a mind
49:19that had never been
49:20a boy's at all.
49:22Which meant
49:23from the beginning,
49:24I had been played.
49:26No.
49:28You choosing me,
49:29that was the thing
49:30I didn't plan for.
49:36He looked at me
49:37and his eyes
49:38were level
49:39and serious.
49:41So everything else
49:42he had.
49:43I can't even be surprised.
49:45The beast man
49:45who dismantled
49:46the black market
49:47and negotiated
49:48equal rights
49:49for his entire species.
49:50Of course he was always
49:51three moves ahead.
49:53I was gnashing my teeth.
49:54Silas smiled,
49:55just slightly.
49:56You came out ahead,
49:57didn't you,
49:58mistress?
49:59He drew that last word
50:00out deliberately.
50:01I turned away.
50:03Please leave my room.
50:05I could take the loss,
50:06but I wasn't staying
50:07in the same space
50:08as his satisfaction.
50:10The month of confinement passed.
50:11I had the bodyguard
50:12route the payment card
50:13to Mira with a note.
50:15She would know
50:15what to do with it.
50:16During that time,
50:17I searched every channel
50:18I could find
50:19for news of Lyra
50:20and found nothing,
50:21every thread dead.
50:23The silence worried me.
50:25Meanwhile,
50:25Silas had grown at a pace
50:27that defied
50:27any reasonable measurement.
50:29Two days gone
50:30and he was noticeably taller.
50:32The ease of a predator
50:33settling into his posture
50:34with every passing hour.
50:36Father approved
50:37of the development
50:38in ways that visibly
50:39extended to me.
50:40Since Serafina
50:41had brought Kale
50:42into the house,
50:43Kale had been reporting
50:44to me daily.
50:45Small details,
50:46careful observations,
50:47while his fox allure
50:48went to work on Serafina.
50:50Drop by patient drop.
50:52Everything I had suffered
50:53in my last life,
50:54I was going to make her
50:56feel every inch of.
50:58Serafina had been
50:58resistant at first,
51:00but with Raven diminished
51:01after his confrontation
51:02with Silas,
51:03and with my own quiet efforts
51:04pulling her reputation
51:06apart from the seams,
51:07her composure
51:08was starting to fracture.
51:09She was getting volatile,
51:11reaching for Kale's attention
51:12at any hour,
51:13storming when she didn't get it.
51:15Kale was doing to her
51:16exactly what he had done to me,
51:18and she was falling,
51:19piece by piece.
51:20The ugly incidents mounted,
51:22scenes in public,
51:23a shouting match
51:24that had left witnesses unsettled,
51:26a round of self-pity so deep
51:28it had shaded into something worse.
51:30The worst incident?
51:31She had nearly used a blade
51:33on her own wrist.
51:34A servant had caught her
51:35in time and run for father.
51:37Father arrived home
51:38from the office to find her,
51:40and the fury on his face
51:41was something I had
51:43never seen before.
51:44He slapped her,
51:45once open-handed.
51:50for a beastman.
51:51Have you lost your mind?
51:55Isn't this exactly
51:56what you wanted, father?
51:58You were the one who said
51:59we had to bond with beastmen.
52:01One mate, one life,
52:03no betrayal.
52:04So why is it wrong now?
52:06Father's fury and grief
52:08fought each other visibly.
52:10Wake up!
52:14Serafina surfaced
52:15for a moment, blinking.
52:17Father pressed his fingers
52:19hard into his temple.
52:20I know you've resented me
52:22for a long time.
52:24You think I failed you.
52:26That I shouldn't have remarried.
52:27That Alada and her brother
52:29took something from you.
52:30That the bloodline's legacy
52:31belongs to you alone.
52:33But Serafina,
52:34have I ever actually neglected you?
52:36He looked at her,
52:37and something wet
52:38moved through his eyes.
52:39You're older than Alira
52:40by a few years.
52:41You know as well as I do
52:42why this bloodline requires us
52:43to choose a beastman companion
52:44at 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?
52:52Father looked at me
52:53and let out a long,
52:55slow breath.
52:56It's the old law,
52:58the founding rule.
52:59To inherit and hold
53:01the family's work,
53:02you must must be in true
53:03accord with a beastman.
53:05Serafina,
53:06you've always known
53:07the bloodline standard.
53:09Leadership goes to the most capable,
53:11regardless of birth order or gender.
53:13Three years ago
53:14was when you should have begun.
53:16Chosen your beastman,
53:18prepared yourself,
53:19entered the business with intent.
53:21Instead, you waited,
53:22and while you were waiting,
53:24you were building a trap.
53:28Don't dress it up,
53:30Father.
53:31Answer me honestly.
53:32Did you treat us the same?
53:34Ever?
53:35I was born with no mother.
53:37You were busy.
53:38You gave me to the nurses.
53:40You gave me everything material
53:41I asked for, yes.
53:43But how many hours
53:44did you spend with me?
53:46How many times did you hold me
53:47or 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 what you thought
53:59I should want,
54:00not what I asked for.
54:04Every one of those small things
54:05you 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 to feel it.
54:19I failed you.
54:21Sorry 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 had gone somewhere
54:33I hadn't seen it go before.
54:36Elada,
54:37I had a dream.
54:38I dreamed you died.
54:40The fully shifted raven
54:42bit you right through 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
54:57and confined to her rooms.
55:00When 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
55:10a single offer,
55:11his freedom
55:12in exchange
55:13for his obedience.
55:14Seduce Serafina
55:16and do it
55:16until she broke.
55:17He'd agreed
55:18and she had broken.
55:20So now,
55:21it was his turn.
55:22Through the door,
55:23Serafina's voice
55:24rose and fell,
55:25cresting and breaking.
55:27Kale!
55:27Why aren't you answering me?
55:29Don't you love me anymore?
55:31You said I was
55:32the one person
55:33who mattered most to you.
55:35You said you'd never leave.
55:37You said you'd give me
55:39anything I wanted!
55:40Serafina,
55:41you've gone insane!
55:42Alara,
55:43open this door!
55:44Open it!
55:44I stood still
55:45and listened to
55:46what was happening
55:47on the other side,
55:48the frantic banging,
55:49and then gradually,
55:51silence.
55:52I went to
55:53Father's room instead.
55:55I've sent for your brother.
55:56I should never
55:57have sent him away.
55:59Little Alara,
56:00everything she said
56:01it was true?
56:03Or you wouldn't
56:03have done what you did.
56:05That's on me.
56:06It's all on me.
56:07Father didn't punish me.
56:09He showed me
56:09the Bloodline's
56:10founding records,
56:11and without exception,
56:12every paired name
56:13on the page
56:14was a human
56:15and a beastman.
56:16Long ago,
56:18the family's
56:19founding grandmother
56:19had a beastman
56:20against all opposition,
56:22and the world
56:23had denied them both.
56:25A disaster came,
56:26and the beastman
56:27gave his life
56:28to save her.
56:29Out of grief
56:30and out of conviction,
56:31she had used
56:32her authority
56:33to set the law
56:34that had governed
56:34every generation since.
56:36So that one day,
56:37humans and beastmen
56:38might live in peace.
56:39When I came out
56:40of father's study,
56:41Silas was in the hallway,
56:42leaning against the wall.
56:44All of it handled?
56:45I nodded.
56:46He had been busy
56:47this past month.
56:48I'd barely seen him,
56:50and I was starting
56:50to recognize,
56:51in the way he moved
56:52and held a room,
56:53the shape of who
56:54he 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,
57:02he'd been reporting
57:03to me faithfully.
57:04While in the background,
57:05Serafina's image
57:07had been quietly
57:07and methodically demolished.
57:09She had done to herself
57:10everything Kale
57:11once did to me.
57:12Then father had stepped in.
57:14My brother came home,
57:15took over the business
57:16under father's guidance,
57:18and the household
57:18found 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
57:27would find its way
57:28around my ankle.
57:29Silas.
57:30Hmm?
57:32I have a knife.
57:34The tail withdrew.
57:35As I thought,
57:36he had been exaggerating
57:37all along.
57:38Silas.
57:39Explain yourself.
57:40He leaned in
57:41and grazed his lips
57:42against the shell
57:43of my ear.
57:44Is it really so hard
57:45to understand?
57:46I turned on him.
57:48Plain words.
57:49He was quiet
57:49for a long moment.
57:51In my last life,
57:52you buried me.
57:54I jolted upright.
57:56You...
57:57You also...
57:58Silas sat up unhurried.
58:00After that,
58:01my spirit wouldn't leave.
58:03I stayed.
58:04And I watched you
58:05grieve for Kale,
58:06suffer for Kale,
58:07and finally die for nothing.
58:08And then...
58:09With you,
58:10I came back.
58:13Remarkable.
58:14And then he spoke again.
58:15Alara.
58:16Do you remember
58:17the Bloodline's
58:18founding law?
58:21What?
58:22He smiled,
58:23and the look in his eyes
58:24held something
58:25that had been there
58:25for a long time.
58:27Choose a beastman to raise.
58:29Bond with them
58:30for life.
58:31No betrayal.
58:33No abandonment.
58:35His voice dropped low.
58:37You chose me.
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