عودة أروى لسحق الخونة
Watch the full short drama with English subtitles. CEO, billionaire, revenge, betrayal — complete story in one video.
#shortdrama #ceodrama #drama #revenge #fullmovie #englishsub #reelshort #dramabox #miniseries #love #betrayal #drama2026
Watch the full short drama with English subtitles. CEO, billionaire, revenge, betrayal — complete story in one video.
#shortdrama #ceodrama #drama #revenge #fullmovie #englishsub #reelshort #dramabox #miniseries #love #betrayal #drama2026
Category
🎥
Short filmTranscript
00:03My throat slit, I was pushed off the cliff, but the last seen before me was my devoted mate over
00:09there kissing the hand of my dear sister.
00:11Reborn, I had returned to the day I chose my beast.
00:14The little fox looked at me eagerly, his crimson eyes glistening.
00:18I raised my hand, and under his expectant gaze, pointed past him to the frail white snake behind him.
00:25I want him.
00:26You don't want me anymore?
00:28I had returned back to the day of the choosing.
00:31Vendors shouting in the black market, voices clashing with the snarls of caged beastmen.
00:36The truth is clear.
00:37I had returned to the day father had brought us to the black market to choose.
00:41Pax unspoken blood lot.
00:43Every young man and woman, three years before coming of age, personally select an equally young beastman as their future
00:50mate.
00:51Bonded for life, no betrayal, no abandonment.
00:55Beastmen matured much quicker than humans.
00:57A puppet's love was to prevent a bonded beastman from growing into a resentful predator.
01:02But I had never fully understood why.
01:04Beastmen ranked beneath humans, caged and passive, waiting to be claimed like livestock.
01:09So why would our bloodline insist on binding us to them?
01:14Weren't they afraid of us being betrayed?
01:16Suddenly, I locked with Kale's eyes, still young and naive.
01:19Memory of my past life resurfaced.
01:22The stinging pains of my throat being slipped are so vivid.
01:25God.
01:26I bit it back and steadied myself with a fist, pressed hard against the pain of my chest, and looked
01:31around.
01:32The massive holding cage ahead contained no fewer than 20 beastmen.
01:36Unsurprisingly, every one of them bore fresh wounds.
01:39My gaze locked instantly on Kale.
01:41Hunched in the corner, arm torn by bite marks.
01:44His fox ears and tail no longer able to stay hidden.
01:47He caught my gaze and something lit in his eyes.
01:50Then he moved toward me.
01:51Alara, which one do you like?
01:53Serafina appeared at my shoulder, her smile perfectly gentle.
01:57She was father's daughter from his first wife, a woman who had bled out in labor and never held her
02:03child.
02:04Father had remarried, and my brother and I came after.
02:07For years, Serafina had maintained a flawless image, gracious and elegant to the outside world.
02:13Warm and devoted sister within the walls.
02:15In truth, she burned with rabid jealousy.
02:18Convinced that my brother and I had stolen father's attention, and her birthright.
02:23So she had delayed her own choosing.
02:24Father, I'd like to wait a bit before choosing an orc.
02:27I want to go with my sister.
02:31Laying a trap she'd been tightening for years.
02:34Watching Serafina now, poised as a flower, I understood perfectly.
02:38This was the moment Kale had first set his sights on her.
02:41Serafina spotted Kale too, and murmured,
02:44You've always had a taste for pretty things.
02:47That fox suits you.
02:48Pretty, and nothing else.
02:51The color drained from Kale's face.
02:54In my last life, those words had fallen from Serafina's lips, and they had shattered him on the spot.
02:59This time was no different.
03:01He stared at me, ashen, his eyes flooding with disbelief.
03:05A question stirred in my gut.
03:06Serafina gave a small smile, drifted away, and began her own careful selection.
03:12Just as in my last life, she chose the powerfully built Shadow Wolf.
03:16Now I was the only one who hasn't chosen.
03:19Few beastmen remained in the cage.
03:21A quick sweep found Kale watching me with naked hope.
03:24My gaze moved past him and settled on the beastman behind.
03:28Half human, half serpent.
03:30Coiled, and utterly still.
03:31If memory served, no one had chosen him in my last life.
03:35But a beastman had risen in this city after that.
03:37A name that made even hardened predators go still.
03:41Silas.
03:41Single-handedly, he had dismantled the black market.
03:44Led a mass exodus of captive beastmen.
03:47And years later, stood across a negotiating table from the humans.
03:50And won equal rights for every last one of his kind.
03:54I had crossed paths with Silas once.
03:56And that white serpent tail was burned into my memory.
03:59Right now, Silas could barely hold his human form.
04:02Every inch of him fragility.
04:03Made up your mind?
04:05Father's voice cut through the noise.
04:07Yes.
04:10I want him.
04:12Kale's expression cracked.
04:13He spun around to stare at the frail serpent in disbelief.
04:17You're not choosing me?
04:19I didn't acknowledge Kale.
04:20Behind him, Silas cracked open his eyes.
04:22A pair of serpent-slit pupils fixing on me without a flicker of warmth.
04:26I held that gaze, my voice steady with conviction.
04:29Come with me, and I'll heal you.
04:31Silas pressed a palm to the floor, crawled toward me.
04:34He stopped at my feet.
04:35I crouched down and pressed a palm to his cheek.
04:37I'm taking you with me.
04:39Kale lunged forward and seized my wrist.
04:41Choose me.
04:42You're supposed to choose me.
04:44He's half dead already.
04:46Why would you pick him?
04:47That settled it.
04:49Kale had been reborn, too.
04:50Before I could react, Silas's brow furrowed.
04:53And the blood-streaked serpent tail uncoiled and snapped around Kale like a whip.
04:58Kale hit the wall hard enough to rattle the iron bars.
05:01Silas's eyes were cold-slit.
05:03Come closer again, and I'll kill you.
05:06Watching Kale clutch his ribs, I felt something close to joy rise in my chest.
05:11And I rewarded Silas with an approving pinch of his cheek.
05:13That was impressive.
05:15Silas's lashes trembled.
05:17He dropped his gaze fast.
05:18After father paid and sent us home with our chosen beastmen, Kale's voice chased me out of the black market,
05:25shouting my name with a fury that echoed off the iron.
05:28I glanced sideways at the bodyguard beside me, and, as if deeply inconvenienced...
05:33He's so irritating.
05:34Understood.
05:36I let the corner of my mouth curl.
05:38In the black market, every unchosen beastman was sent to the fighting pit, a place where survival was measured in
05:44blood and screaming iron.
05:46I was very much looking forward to that.
05:48The good mood carried me all the way home.
05:50Father spared no resources on beastmen care.
05:53Manuals, medicinal compounds, and supply crates flowed into my room like a tide.
05:58Silas's wounds weren't deep, but a congenital defect in his body slowed his recovery to a crawl.
06:03It made me only more curious.
06:05How had he survived the fighting pit in his last life, dragging that broken body through it all?
06:10My stare must have been too obvious, because a slow flush crept up Silas's neck.
06:15Mistress, do you need something?
06:19In my last life, Kale had never once called me anything but my name, saving reverence for Serafina.
06:25Being called mistress had a strange, particular weight to it.
06:29I tossed the medicine kit onto his lap.
06:32Dress your own wounds.
06:33Silas caught it and nodded, docile as still water.
06:36A few days of rest, and Silas had reclaimed his fully human form, taller too, his frame filling out overnight
06:43like a plant after rain.
06:45Beastmen really did grow at an inhuman pace.
06:48That morning, father tracked me down.
06:50A beastmen healer had come to the city, he said.
06:53A merkin named Mira.
06:55She could treat both beastmen and humans.
06:58Father wanted me to take Silas to see her.
07:00The merkin carried innate healing gifts from birth, the strength of which scaled with individual talent.
07:06Even the weakest among them could mend their own bodies.
07:09But the most gifted could restore life to the near dead.
07:12Father turned to leave.
07:13I stopped him with a question that had been sitting in my chest for days.
07:17His status over beastmen is absolute.
07:20So why does the pack law bind us to them as mates?
07:24He paused, let out a long breath.
07:26Alara, remember this.
07:28A beastman's loyalty is something no human being can replicate.
07:31Whether you earn that loyalty, that depends entirely on you.
07:36He waved the conversation closed and walked away.
07:39I knew as well as anyone how rare a beastman's loyalty was.
07:42But in the mess I'd inherited from my last life, rare felt like a polite word for impossible.
07:48Wasn't this just gambling with our lives?
07:50I watched father go, then turned back and called Silas from his room, leading him out into the city for
07:56the first time.
07:57Mistress, what's that?
07:59Ice cream.
08:00He cataloged everything.
08:02Stall signs, storefronts, passing vehicles, with wide, hungry eyes.
08:07Mistress, what's that?
08:09An amusement park.
08:11Mistress!
08:11When we get back, I'll teach you to read, then you'll figure it out yourself.
08:16Okay.
08:17Silas beamed, falling into step just behind my shoulder.
08:20Out of the corner of my eye, I caught him eating the ice cream with total indifference.
08:25He didn't like it at all.
08:26While his gaze moved in quick, methodical sweeps across the street around us,
08:31the carefully performed helplessness had cracked.
08:33Just for a second.
08:34He didn't trust me, not even close.
08:37And beneath the docile surface, he was calculating.
08:40Of course he is, I thought.
08:42We arrived at the address father had given me.
08:44I had expected something imposing.
08:46A high-rise, gilded signage.
08:48Because a beast-man healer of rare power commanded human respect as much as fear.
08:53Instead, I found the most unremarkable courtyard I'd ever seen.
08:57Identifiable only because it was packed shoulder-to-shoulder with people waiting.
09:02Inside, I spotted Kale.
09:04He was slumped against a girl's shoulder, barely breathing, more absent than present.
09:09As if he sensed me, Kale opened his eyes and found mine instantly.
09:13That one look was packed with a lifetime of grievances.
09:17He pushed himself upright from the girl's arms, eyes red-rimmed,
09:20and fixed me with an expression that begged without words.
09:24Then a hand closed over my eyes.
09:26Don't look at him.
09:28Glamour rat.
09:30I laughed and pulled his hand down.
09:32Get in line.
09:34Of course I could feel Kale's fox allure threading through the air.
09:38But it couldn't touch me now.
09:40Not with only hatred and wariness where softness used to live.
09:43And not when his glamour was still this juvenile.
09:48Silas gave me one more uncertain look, then moved to join the queue.
09:52What was Kale even doing here?
09:54But I wasn't the only one questioning it.
09:56A fox and an heiress whose family treats beasts like dirt?
10:00The pair drew everyone's attention.
10:02Someone gossiped among the crowd.
10:04On Kale's first day in the fighting pit,
10:06he had weaved his fox allure around a girl named Talia,
10:09making her desperate to buy him.
10:11Her father was a business partner of fathers.
10:14And when the black market saw how badly she wanted Kale,
10:16they drove the price up.
10:18Talia didn't have enough,
10:19went home to scrape together the rest,
10:21and spent several days doing it.
10:23During those days,
10:25on the bodyguard's quiet instruction,
10:27every beast man Kale faced in the pit was as brutal as they came.
10:32Talia had come back just in time to pull him out at death's door.
10:35I understood now.
10:37Kale was wounded badly enough that Talia had brought him here.
10:40I took a proper look at Talia.
10:42Peach bloomed skin,
10:43wide eyes,
10:44all open sincerity.
10:46Not a calculating bone in her body by the look of it.
10:48No wonder Kale had reeled her in so easily.
10:51He never does change.
10:53Suddenly, Kale tore free of Talia's grip,
10:55and lurched toward me.
10:56Hey, where are you going?
10:58Talia reached for him,
10:59and he shoved her hand away viciously.
11:02Don't touch me!
11:04He glared at her with an expression I knew by heart.
11:07Revulsion.
11:08The specific kind reserved for things that had already served their purpose.
11:12He was certain Talia couldn't live without him,
11:14so he treated her with careless cruelty.
11:17Something sour moved through me,
11:19and I set my jaw.
11:20Silas's brow creased.
11:22His weight shifted.
11:23I stopped him with a look.
11:25Kale staggered to me in a few short steps,
11:27those steps costing him everything.
11:29His legs gave.
11:31He dropped to one knee,
11:32barely catching himself before he hit the ground entirely.
11:35He forced his chin up,
11:37and his eyes were sincere in a way that made my skin crawl.
11:40I'm sorry.
11:42I know what I did.
11:43He reached out, small and careful.
11:46Can you forgive me?
11:47So, he'd guessed I'd been reborn, too.
11:50I didn't move,
11:51and a flicker of relief crossed his face.
11:53He was almost close enough to take my hand.
11:56I looked past him at Talia instead.
11:58Let me show you how to handle a beastman who won't behave.
12:00The next second, I drove my boot into the center of Kale's chest,
12:04with every bit of force I had.
12:07He flew back and crashed through a low stone table in the courtroom.
12:11A choked sound, then a mouthful of blood hit the flagstones.
12:14Kale sat in the wreckage, white-faced, hand pressed to his chest.
12:19Talia sprinted over and rounded on me.
12:21What do you think you're doing?
12:22He's my beastman!
12:24Even if he's mishaving, that's between us!
12:26Who gave you the right?
12:27I tilted my head.
12:29You can't control him.
12:30And I don't like Fox Beastmen getting too close to me.
12:33They carry a certain...
12:35Musk.
12:36Kale coughed up another mouthful of blood,
12:38and stared at me with the expression of someone whose world had just inverted.
12:43Talia flushed Scarlet.
12:44There's no...
12:45There's no musk!
12:46You're making that up!
12:46That's beastman discrimination!
12:48Careful.
12:50Statements like that tend to offend my beastman.
12:52Silas looked at Talia,
12:54then let his gaze drop to the barely breathing Kale.
12:57You should be grateful it was my mistress who hit him.
12:59He said, his voice carrying the disinterest of someone announcing a weather forecast.
13:04Otherwise I would have killed him.
13:06The undisguised kill intent sat in the air like a blade.
13:10You...
13:10Talia sputtered at him,
13:12then whipped around to stare at me.
13:14At last, she made a disgusted sound,
13:16hoisted Kale up with visible effort,
13:18and marched straight for the door.
13:23Out of the way!
13:24Can't you see he's dying?
13:26Everyone in the queue had been waiting far longer,
13:29and had no interest in being cut.
13:31Talia ended up wedged at the entrance,
13:33Kale sagging against her.
13:35She raised her voice in desperation.
13:37Miss Mira!
13:38Please, I'm begging you, save him!
13:40He really is!
13:41From inside the room came a voice, smooth as river water.
13:47He won't die.
13:48Wait your turn.
13:50I raised an eyebrow.
13:51I liked this Mira already.
13:53Talia had no choice but to stand there, seething.
13:56Kale was losing his grip on his human form.
13:59The fox's ears and tail slipped free, trembling.
14:02She glared daggers at me.
14:04This isn't over!
14:05I looked at her.
14:07Does your father know how much you paid for that beastman?
14:09The Talia family and mine were nothing alike.
14:12Our bloodline maintained some measure of regard for beastmen.
14:16The Talias treated them like livestock.
14:18If her father found out she'd spend a small fortune on a useless fox,
14:22the fallout would be spectacular.
14:24Talia blinked.
14:25You know my father?
14:27Then her eyes went wide.
14:28You're threatening me!
14:29I just smiled.
14:31Talia's lip trembled.
14:32Tears spilled down her face and she cried openly, chest heaving.
14:36I hadn't expected the waterworks.
14:38A headache bloomed behind my eyes.
14:40Stop crying.
14:41Your beastman isn't worth it.
14:43I won't let you say that about him.
14:44He's weak.
14:45Yes, but to me he's worth a thousand times more.
14:48Right.
14:48I had nothing left to say to that.
14:51The queue crawled forward for several more hours before it was finally,
14:55mercifully, Kale's turn.
14:57I had arrived later and stood behind them.
15:00By the time Talia helped Kale out of the treatment room,
15:03an hour had passed and his color had returned.
15:06He looked at me and the wounded helplessness was gone,
15:09replaced by something close to resentment.
15:11You're heartless, Alaksa.
15:13I made a dry sound.
15:14I can't compete with you.
15:15Stop wasting breath on her.
15:17Let's go.
15:19Steering Kale away with a huff in my direction.
15:22Behind me, Silas spoke quietly.
15:24You know them?
15:27I pointed toward the treatment room door.
15:30Your turn.
15:33Silas pressed his lips together, said nothing, and stepped inside.
15:36I followed and watched Mira work.
15:39The Merkin were extraordinary.
15:40No instruments, no diagnostic tools, only a touch, and she already knew.
15:46I said it without thinking.
15:47That's remarkable.
15:49Mira looked at me with a faint smile.
15:51Nothing special.
15:52There are dozens in my bloodline more gifted than I am, and the greatest among them is...
15:57Her expression dimmed.
15:58A shadow of grief crossed her face, and she let the sentence die.
16:02His body has a congenital gap.
16:05It's why he appears far weaker than other beastmen, and it will shorten his lifespan.
16:10The hand resting at Silas' side closed into a fist, and his voice came out tight.
16:15Please, help me.
16:16Then he turned to me, and the look in his eyes said everything.
16:21Money is no obstacle.
16:22But Mira shook her head, her smile faint and tired.
16:26A congenital gap is beyond my reach.
16:29I can't mend what was never formed.
16:32Silas' face fell in a way that was visible to the naked eye.
16:37He turned to leave, and Mira looked at me.
16:40If you happen to know Lucian, Miss Alara, there may still be a chance.
16:44I was caught off guard, not only because Mira had recognized me, but because of the name itself.
16:50Lucian was the most gifted, and most ungovernable of the Vos bloodline.
16:55The family's golden heir, known to everyone as their little crown prince.
16:59We had attended the same school once.
17:01I knew him after a fashion, but his health had declined, and he'd withdrawn from classes years ago.
17:07We hadn't spoken since.
17:08Does Lucian keep someone gifted near him?
17:11The Merkin are born with healing in our blood.
17:14It's simply a matter of degree.
17:16Even the least gifted of us can mend our own bodies through instinct alone.
17:19But the rarest among us, the ones born with song,
17:24they can restore the dead to life.
17:26I stared at her.
17:27That sounds impossible. I've never heard of anything like it.
17:29It isn't surprising. Our bloodline hasn't produced that level of gift in centuries.
17:34Then her voice shifted, quiet, deliberate.
17:37But in the past 20 years, one Merican was born, carrying that gift from her very first breath.
17:42Something clicked into place at the back of my mind.
17:45What is her name?
17:47Lyra.
17:48Of course.
17:50I understand. Thank you, Mira.
17:52I set a payment card on the table, and left with Silas.
17:55The moment we were outside, he asked, barely containing himself.
18:00Are we going to find Lyra?
18:02His eyes were bright with something almost desperate.
18:05If it's possible, I'll take you to her.
18:07I had heard Lyra's name once, in my last life.
18:10Lyra.
18:11She had been offered to the Vos bloodline by the Merkin as a gesture of protection.
18:15Her extraordinary healing talent, the price of her bloodline's safety.
18:20And with her, Lucian had finally been free.
18:23She seemed to care for him, or so the rumors said.
18:26Lucian cared for someone else entirely, and treated her accordingly.
18:29What happened after that, I didn't know.
18:33Because by that point, I was already dead.
18:36Given Lucian's erratic temperament, approaching him directly, and asking for Lyra, would be met with a flat refusal, no matter
18:44how I framed it.
18:45The better path was to go around him, reach Lyra herself.
18:49Silas must have sensed my hesitation, because some of the heat faded from his expression.
18:55Mistress doesn't need to worry.
18:57I'm fine as I am.
18:59That word, mistress, spoken aloud on a public street, turned heads up and down the block.
19:06A flush crept up the back of my neck.
19:08I cleared my throat twice.
19:10In public?
19:12You don't have to use that.
19:13Just call me by my name.
19:15Silas adapted without hesitation.
19:17Alright, Lyra.
19:18When I got home, I sent Talia's father an anonymous letter.
19:22A quiet, detailed account of exactly how much she had spent on kale at the black market.
19:28I didn't want Talia to become what I had been.
19:31It took less than two days before the news reached me.
19:34Talia had been confined to the house.
19:36But the money was already spent, and her father was too proud to return kale to the black market.
19:42Which meant he would find ways to extract that investment from kale's skin.
19:46The Talia household would be its own kind of hell.
19:49I was still turning that over when a servant came running.
19:52Miss Alotta!
19:52Something's wrong!
19:53Silas, Simus, and Raven are fighting!
19:56Raven was Serafina's beast man.
19:58I was on my feet before the sentence finished.
20:01I followed the servant to the garden outside the mirror, where Silas had been pinned beneath
20:06the flowering hawthorn tree, and Raven's massive fists were falling on him again and again,
20:12each blow landing like a hammer.
20:14Miss Alotta, please!
20:15You have to help him!
20:16He'll be beaten to death!
20:18The servant pulled at my arm.
20:20I raised a hand.
20:21Silence.
20:22My eyes stayed fixed on Silas.
20:24After days of recovery, his body was mostly healed.
20:28And this was the Silas who, in his last life, had survived the fighting pit on a broken frame.
20:33Which meant there was no possible world in which he was simply being dominated by Raven right now.
20:39He was hiding what he could do, because he didn't trust me.
20:42So I wouldn't save him.
20:44I had no use for a beast man who might drive a blade into my back.
20:47This first step towards trust, he would have to be the one to take it.
20:51Silas still didn't move.
20:53Arms folded over his head.
20:54The crack of breaking bone cutting through the garden like a gunshot.
20:58He turned his head, spat blood onto the flagstones, and through the gap in the flowering branches,
21:03saw me.
21:04Disbelief in his eyes.
21:06Hurt.
21:06A silent, furious question.
21:08Why aren't you coming?
21:09My hand clenched at my side, and my jaw locked.
21:13Raven, scenting blood, found the animal in himself, rising to the surface.
21:18Both ears pushing through his hair.
21:20Every muscle lit up with predatory excitement.
21:23Barely a step from the edge of a full, feral shift.
21:26I held my breath.
21:27My entire body strung tight as a wire, and stared at Silas.
21:31Just take this one step towards me, and I swear I will never stop protecting you.
21:36Silas' pupils elongated, the calm human iris collapsing into serpent slit.
21:42In the moment before Raven lunged to bite him, Silas moved.
21:46His legs dissolved into a white serpent tail that coiled around Raven's body in one fluid
21:51motion.
21:52And then his fangs, long and curved and appearing from nowhere, drove into the side of Raven's
21:57neck without hesitation.
21:59Raven screamed and thrashed, every muscle in his body convulsing.
22:03Silas' tail contracted like a closing vise.
22:06I watched Raven's face shift from red to violet in the span of seconds, and understood instantly.
22:12Silas' fangs were venomous.
22:14So he's a viper, I thought.
22:16Serafina arrived then, late and unhurried.
22:19And when she saw what was happening...
22:21Simus!
22:22You dare kill him!
22:24I stepped forward without hesitation.
22:27What if he does?
22:29Serafina's fierce expression shifted through several versions of itself when she saw me.
22:34She drew a breath, steadied herself.
22:37Alara, tell Silas to stop.
22:39Raven will die.
22:40I smiled.
22:41My brother keeps his head.
22:43Don't worry, Serafina.
22:44I glanced at Raven's stoning body with meaning.
22:47I won't let my sister become a widow this early.
22:50Alara!
22:51Serafina finally snapped.
22:53One finger leveled at me.
22:54Aren't you afraid father will punish you for this?
22:57I put on an expression of perfect innocence.
22:59Silas has always been fragile and obedient.
23:02He wouldn't provoke Raven without reason.
23:04This was self-defense and you know it.
23:06Why would father punish me?
23:08My voice cooled.
23:09Shouldn't the punishment fall on the one who started it?
23:12You.
23:13Enough.
23:13Everyone stop.
23:15Father's voice rolled through the garden from somewhere behind me, heavy with displeasure.
23:19Before Serafina could arrange her face into something pitiable, I got there first.
23:24And let tears spill down my own.
23:26Father, she started it, and now she's turning it around on me.
23:30Serafina went pale.
23:31I didn't father.
23:32Please, save Raven.
23:34He'll die.
23:35Father let out a cold sound, spared Serafina one flat look.
23:39A lesson he needed to learn.
23:41And you, don't think I don't know what you've been doing.
23:43The handbook I gave you covers how to suppress a beastman's feral instincts.
23:47What exactly have you been doing with it?
23:49Father's voice rose.
23:51Serafina's chin dropped.
23:53I was wrong father.
23:54Serafina.
23:55Raven is going to be your mate.
23:57Your work isn't only to tame him.
23:59It's to build him.
24:00Otherwise, his gaze cut across her, cold and quiet, and said nothing more.
24:05Serafina dropped to her knees.
24:06Yes, father.
24:08As Raven finally went still, the desperation broke through Serafina's composure, and tears
24:13ran down her face.
24:14Father, please, save him.
24:16He's still going to be my husband one day.
24:18Please.
24:19Only then did father look at me.
24:21I nodded at Silas.
24:23Let him go.
24:24Silas released the coil.
24:25Raven's limp body hit the earth beside the hawthorn tree, scattering petals across the
24:30flagstones.
24:31I moved quickly to catch Silas.
24:33He had burned through everything he had, the serpent tail refusing to retract, his legs
24:38unable to carry him, his full weight dropping into my arms.
24:42Father made a sound of pure displeasure.
24:44I bought you beastmen to bond with, not to put them against each other.
24:47If it happens again, you're both out of this bloodline.
24:52Understood, father.
24:55Quick, carry Raven inside.
25:01I looked at Raven's violet face and asked, will the venom kill him?
25:07I don't make problems for myself.
25:10Look at him, and found his face stripped of everything he usually wore around me.
25:14The deference, the careful performance, all of it gone.
25:17What remained was cold and still, the slit pupils unmoved.
25:21This is who he actually is.
25:23Then Silas went boneless against my shoulder, head lolling, as if the last of his strength
25:28had left him at once, but I didn't believe it.
25:30Then again, a performance was only worth running to its end.
25:34So I slid an arm around that ice-cold tail, settled my other hand at his waist, and lifted
25:39him.
25:40Silas stared at me, startled into actual surprise, a flush climbing fast up his neck.
25:45Hold still.
25:48I carried him back to his room, where the physician was already waiting.
25:53The broken ribs were set.
25:54Silas endured it with his face gone paper white, the scales along his tail rippling open
25:59and closed with every wave of pain, until the sight made my own skin crawl.
26:04I turned away and rubbed the goosebumps down my arms.
26:07When the physician finished and left with a list of instructions, I looked at the pale expanse
26:11of serpent tail.
26:14Silas pressed his lips together, and under my gaze, drew it back in, the tail dissolving
26:20into human legs again, and met those still unrecovered slit pupils, blinking at me without
26:28looking away.
26:30He was asking why I'd stood there and watched.
26:33I smiled.
26:34Have you ever heard the saying, which one?
26:36Real trust is earned in kind.
26:38You didn't trust me, so don't expect me to trust you first.
26:41After I left Silas's room, I did a quiet round of inquiries and pieced together what
26:46had happened.
26:47Silas had developed a fondness for the hawthorn tree in the garden.
26:51It was full bloom, and he'd been spending idle hours beneath it.
26:54He'd had the misfortune of crossing paths with Raven, who was wound tight and looking for
26:59something to hit.
27:00Serafina's standard for a beast man was raw power, and since a beast man who had learned
27:05to suppress their feral instinct lost much of that, she had never taught Raven to pull
27:09back from the edge.
27:10Instead, she trained him to his limits, and then patched him up herself with careful,
27:15gentle hands.
27:16Two sessions of that, and Raven was completely devoted to her.
27:20If I hadn't been blinded by Kale's fox allure in my last life, heart given over to him, every
27:25alarm in me silenced.
27:27I wouldn't have died so stupidly.
27:29Speaking of which, I wonder how Kale is doing in the Talia household.
27:33I asked, and promptly had to swallow a laugh.
27:36The Talia patriarch had been putting Kale's fox allure to work, entertaining guests with
27:40it, men and women alike, sparing no categories.
27:44Kale had always been beautiful.
27:46With his glamour on top of that, more than a few people had wanted him in my last life.
27:50To protect him, I had taken on damage I never should have absorbed.
27:54And every time, he had one thing to say,
27:57That's what you're here for.
27:58That's what I'm here for.
27:59As if I were furniture, a plan began to form in the back of my mind.
28:03I was humming to myself on the way back to my room, when I heard voices inside Silas's,
28:09and pressed myself quietly to the wall.
28:11Serafina's voice, all warmth and remorse.
28:14Silas, I'm so sorry.
28:16I should have kept Raven under control.
28:18You're hurt so badly.
28:19Can I help you with your bandages?
28:21I raised an eyebrow and leaned closer.
28:24Silas's voice came back flat as a locked door.
28:26Get out.
28:27Where's Alara?
28:28Sarah, didn't she stay with you?
28:30With injuries this serious, isn't this your future husband's work?
28:33Silas said, and the chill in his voice could have frosted glass.
28:37I bit down on a laugh hard enough to hurt.
28:39Serafina had clearly caught a glimpse of what Silas was capable of,
28:43and immediately wanted to pull him into her orbit.
28:45When it didn't work, she said a few perfunctory words of concern, and prepared to leave.
28:50I moved quickly back to my own room.
28:52But the next second, there was a knock on my door, and Silas was standing in the frame,
28:57eyes dark and steady, looking at me.
28:59I was genuinely surprised.
29:01He'd looked critically wounded moments ago, and he was already on his feet?
29:06Beastman healing was fast, but not that fast.
29:09Something you need?
29:10You said you'd teach me to read.
29:12I'd completely forgotten about that.
29:14Huh, sorry.
29:14We can start now.
29:16Silas pressed his lips together and stepped inside.
29:19I started from the very beginning, the phonetic alphabet.
29:22And we sat across from each other until he looked up and said,
29:25Am I what you expected?
29:26I blinked.
29:27Hmm.
29:28Silas raised his eyes.
29:29Earlier, was it worth watching?
29:31He meant, why didn't you come in?
29:33I smiled.
29:34Honestly, it was.
29:36Silas's brow drew together immediately.
29:38He looked genuinely displeased.
29:40The question in his voice coming out sharper than he probably intended.
29:44You have history with her.
29:45He'd picked up on the tension between Serafina and me.
29:48Of course he had.
29:49I let my lashes fall.
29:51Yes, that history.
29:52He was quiet for a moment.
29:54I can-
29:54That one I genuinely hadn't seen coming.
29:57And then my father kills you in return?
29:59Silas's gaze didn't waver.
30:01You said it yourself.
30:02Real trust is earned in kind.
30:04For the first time, I saw it.
30:07Actual sincerity in his eyes.
30:09But still, why?
30:10Trust for trust was one thing.
30:12But I hadn't done anything to earn it yet.
30:14A flicker of tension moved through his expression.
30:17I want Lyra to treat me.
30:19If I had a body that worked the way it should,
30:22I wouldn't have had to spend today looking as pathetic as I did.
30:25I softened my voice.
30:27You are anything but pathetic today.
30:29In your last life, you survived the fighting pit using exactly that.
30:33Fain weakness, let them close in, then coil and bite through their throats.
30:38Thinking that, I reached up without meaning to, and touched my own neck.
30:41Learn what you need to learn first.
30:44Lyra, I'll find a way.
30:47Okay.
30:48For the first time, the usually cold boy let a genuine smile break across his face.
30:53A few days later, word came that the Vos family's grandmother was turning 80,
30:58and the Vos household had sent a formal invitation to ours.
31:02Because of the garden incident, father took only me and left Serafina behind.
31:07Beastmen were barred from formal events, so I left Silas at home.
31:11In the banquet hall, I found Talia, beaming at guests with practiced ease,
31:16until she caught sight of me and her expression went flat as stone.
31:20I fell and stepped beside her after the gift presentation.
31:25Where's Kale?
31:25You have a nerve asking.
31:27This is all your fault, you know.
31:30Talia, do we have a problem?
31:34I don't know.
31:36You're the one who's had it out to me from the start.
31:37I've never had a problem with you.
31:39Only with Kale.
31:42If you don't believe me.
31:46I don't believe he'd do that to me.
31:51Then test him.
31:52While the crowd was distracted,
31:54Talia guided me quietly toward the cellar below the manor.
31:59Go in, and remember,
32:01don't look directly at his eyes.
32:04Talia wrinkled her nose, gripped her composure,
32:07and clicked into the cellar on high heels.
32:09I slipped in behind her.
32:11It took a while before the light reached Kale's cage.
32:14He was chained at the neck like livestock,
32:16locked behind bars,
32:18filthy and broken looking.
32:19A picture of wreckage.
32:21I stayed back around the corner,
32:23out of sight.
32:24Kale had his eyes closed,
32:26the fox ears flat and still.
32:28If his chest hadn't been faintly moving,
32:30he could have passed for dead.
32:32Kale.
32:35Kale.
32:36Talia's voice barely reached a whisper.
32:38He opened his eyes slowly,
32:40and when he saw her,
32:41something electric came back into his face.
32:45The chain snapped and rang at his sudden movement.
32:49You came to get me out?
32:51I can't get you out yet.
32:53My father is still angry.
32:55He's still angry.
32:58Then she rushed to add it.
33:01But I promise.
33:03I'll come back for you.
33:05I will.
33:06Talia, look at me.
33:07Just look at me.
33:09I'm begging you.
33:11Get me out.
33:12The way you did.
33:13In the fighting pit.
33:16You were everything to me then.
33:18You were the only light.
33:19Please, just look at me.
33:21Talia kept her chin down, listening.
33:23Kale ran out of patience fast.
33:26Talia.
33:27Get me out.
33:29Now!
33:30Why not?
33:31Why can't you?
33:33You did it fine at the fighting pit.
33:35You were falling over yourself to help me then.
33:37Why is now any different?
33:39You're blaming me?
33:41When you were the one begging me to save you?
33:44Who even gave you permission to be that gullible?
33:47You were practically throwing yourself at me.
33:49Just like Alara.
33:51Alara.
33:54You've done this to her too?
34:02Do you see it now?
34:03He barely had to try and you couldn't hand yourself over fast enough.
34:08Talia turned to look at me.
34:09And you ended up being the one blamed for it.
34:12I rested a hand on her shoulder.
34:14Go wait outside.
34:16She glanced back at Kale, uncertain.
34:21But...
34:23You'll be fine.
34:24Talia looked over her shoulder three times on the way out.
34:27And then the cellar was just the two of us.
34:29Kale watched me.
34:30Something testing in his voice.
34:31What do you want?
34:34I'm curious.
34:36How were you reborn?
34:38Let me guess.
34:39After I died in our last life you went to Serafina but your Foxalore never worked on her, did it?
34:44She kept her guard up.
34:46She knew what you were and what you were capable of so she was always watching.
34:49But your gift was too valuable to waste.
34:52So she put it to use.
34:54Until the very end.
34:55When you'd served your purpose completely.
34:57And her Shadow Wolf finished you the same way he finished me.
35:00That's not true.
35:01She cared about me.
35:02She cared about me.
35:02You don't know anything.
35:04Then why were you hoping I'd choose you in the black market?
35:09Alara!
35:10Alara!
35:12You have to take me back!
35:13Why won't you choose me?
35:15Why?
35:15I stepped back.
35:16Just out of reach.
35:17The chain snapped taut around his neck.
35:21I'll give you something.
35:26One chance.
35:28To take back what was done to me.
35:33When I came up from the cellar, Talia was still outside.
35:36Eyes raw.
35:37I almost sighed.
35:39I told you he wasn't worth it.
35:42Why are you this upset?
35:44Sorry.
35:45For what?
35:48I was...
35:49I was so stupid before.
35:52I thought it was destiny.
35:58I thought we'd be this epic human and beast man love story.
36:04She broke into full shuddering sobs.
36:07I rubbed a spa on my temple.
36:09Even if you wanted an epic love story,
36:11you'd need your father's blessing first.
36:14Come on, let's go.
36:17She wept.
36:18Okay.
36:19After managing Talia back to some level of composure,
36:22I asked,
36:23Is Lucian on the guest list?
36:25That was the second reason I'd come tonight.
36:29Did he bring anyone with him?
36:32I didn't pay attention.
36:33He sent a gift and went to rest.
36:35His health isn't great.
36:36Where is he resting?
36:38I'll take you.
36:39Talia led me to the VIP lounge.
36:41And before we'd even reached the door,
36:43we both heard it.
36:44A melody,
36:45rising and falling like water over stone.
36:48The music moved through the air
36:50and straight into my chest.
36:53I feel like someone just told me it's going to be okay.
36:57I could go back in there and stab him about 15 times right now.
37:00I turned to look at her, surprised.
37:03It had that effect too?
37:05Then this was Lyra.
37:06It had to be.
37:08Walking up to Lucian directly and asking for her was out of the question.
37:13He was far too volatile for a frontal approach.
37:16Better to reach Lyra herself.
37:18I sent Talia off.
37:20Opened the door directly across from Lucian's suite.
37:23Sat down in the frame and listened.
37:26The melody flowed without pause and something in my bones began to unknot.
37:31The grief of a whole past life starting to quiet.
37:34I yawned, biting it.
37:37I kept my eyes open by force and waited.
37:40What I hadn't counted on.
37:42Waiting the entire night.
37:44Lyra's voice never stopped once.
37:46When I realized how angry I was on her behalf,
37:49the feeling surprised me.
37:51The morning meal arrived for delivery.
37:54I opened the door at the right moment.
37:56Lyra was stepping out of Lucian's suite,
37:58waving off the breakfast tray.
38:00I raised a hand.
38:02Hi.
38:03Lyra turned at the sound of my voice and smiled.
38:06She was genuinely beautiful.
38:08Skin that caught the light like satin.
38:10Eyes clear and bright.
38:12But what stayed with you was something underneath the beauty.
38:16Something that made you want to draw closer and stay.
38:19Her voice came out sand rough.
38:21That made the next part awkward.
38:23She seemed to read the awkwardness on my face
38:25and gave a small, tired smile.
38:28Do you need something for me?
38:29I stepped aside and gestured.
38:31Would you mind coming in for a moment?
38:33Lyra nodded and walked in.
38:35I poured her a glass of warm water first,
38:37let her settle, then said,
38:39I have a beastman.
38:41He was born with a congenital gap.
38:43I took him to see Mira.
38:45She can't mend it, but she directed me to you.
38:47Lyra listened and nodded.
38:49Mira is my aunt.
38:50I blinked.
38:51Mira looked barely older than Lyra.
38:53Lyra checked the time.
38:55I have about two hours.
38:57You can bring your beastman to a nearby hotel.
39:00The fee for a congenital repair is two million.
39:03She said it with her lashes lowered,
39:05the expression beneath them hidden.
39:07What I was thinking about was her voice.
39:10Right now?
39:10Your throat?
39:12It doesn't matter.
39:14Every day is like this.
39:16If you're waiting for it to recover,
39:18you'll be waiting forever.
39:19Something dropped in my chest.
39:21Every day is like this.
39:26Is Lucian not ill?
39:27I said.
39:28He isn't.
39:30Then why?
39:31Lyra's smile went pale at the edges.
39:33Cruelty, mostly.
39:35I thought of the rumors I'd heard once in another life.
39:38You don't have to stay devoted to one tree.
39:40You're overthinking it.
39:42Get the hotel sorted.
39:43If Lucian wakes and finds me gone,
39:45there won't be another chance.
39:46I booked the nearest suite fast,
39:48then contacted Silas.
39:49After I hung up,
39:51I turned back to Lyra.
39:52She was working through breakfast
39:54in small, unhurried bites.
39:56Every movement neat
39:57and somehow restful to watch.
39:59But there was something about that narrow back
40:02that made the chest ache
40:03for no clear reason.
40:04I sat down across from her,
40:06words rising and dying on my tongue.
40:08In the end,
40:09I said nothing.
40:10Silas arrived minutes later.
40:12He had clearly run the whole way,
40:14sweat still at his temple.
40:15Lyra extended her hand.
40:17He glanced at me first,
40:18and only after I nodded
40:20did he approach with any care.
40:22Lyra laid her palm over his,
40:24and her brow began to draw together.
40:26I felt the tension move up
40:28through my own spine.
40:29I was desperate to intervene,
40:31but I forced myself to stay back.
40:34Lyra wasn't faring any better than Silas.
40:38Every note she sang
40:39seemed to tear something loose
40:41in her throat.
40:43Slowly, blood appeared
40:45at the corner of her mouth.
40:46I started forward.
40:48She stopped me with a look
40:50and a small shake of her head.
40:52An hour later,
40:54the singing stopped.
40:56Silas and Lyra
40:57folded to the floor
40:58at the same moment.
41:00I moved fast
41:01to catch Lyra,
41:03wiped the blood
41:03from her mouth.
41:04Sorry.
41:05I didn't know
41:06it would be like this.
41:06Are you all right?
41:07She was breathing hard.
41:09You paid.
41:10I gave what was asked.
41:15There's nothing
41:15to apologize for.
41:17Let me take you back.
41:18Lyra looked at Silas,
41:21still on the floor,
41:21catching his breath.
41:24One moment.
41:27The gap is sealed,
41:29but he'll need
41:29a course of medicine
41:30to follow.
41:33And because the deficiency
41:35has held his body back,
41:37he's been presenting
41:38as a juvenile.
41:40But he's actually
41:41an adult beastman.
41:42Grown beastmen
41:43enter a heat cycle.
41:45Be careful.
41:46Don't let him hurt you.
41:48I understand.
41:49Rest for a moment.
41:50I nodded fast.
41:53Mmm.
41:54Lyra let her eyes close
41:56and went quiet.
41:58I arranged transport
41:59and personally saw her back
42:01to the Talia estate.
42:02My plan had been
42:04to slip her back
42:04to her suite unnoticed.
42:10But standing at the front entrance
42:12when we arrived
42:13was Lucien,
42:15jaw set,
42:15an expression
42:16like incoming weather.
42:18Behind him,
42:18Talia,
42:20red-eyed
42:21and...
42:23We'd been found out.
42:25I moved to step out
42:26of the car with Lyra.
42:27She stopped me
42:28with a hand on my arm.
42:30Go home.
42:31I shook my head.
42:32Lyra.
42:34I went to school
42:35with Lucien.
42:36He should give me
42:37at least a little room.
42:40Lyra smiled.
42:41If he were the type
42:42to give you room,
42:43he wouldn't have had
42:44to come to me directly.
42:47I'm alright.
42:47He still needs me.
42:49Go.
42:50Trust me.
42:53I gritted my teeth.
42:55In the end,
42:56I pressed the payment card
42:57into her hand.
42:58She gave it back.
42:59Give it to my aunt.
43:01She'll know
43:02what to do with it.
43:04I can't use it.
43:06There's nowhere
43:07it would go.
43:10She pushed the door open.
43:12The moment Lucien's eyes
43:13found her,
43:14his face darkened
43:15in a way
43:16that was visible
43:16from a distance.
43:19On the drive back
43:20to the hotel,
43:21I couldn't settle.
43:22What had happened?
43:24I asked Talia
43:24and she told me.
43:25Lucien had woken
43:2630 minutes ago,
43:28couldn't find Lyra anywhere
43:29and had made a scene.
43:30Everyone knew
43:31how much Lyra
43:32mattered to him.
43:34So they'd all
43:35started searching too.
43:37Eventually,
43:37someone reviewed
43:38the security footage
43:39and traced it to me.
43:40Under pressure
43:41from Lucien's people,
43:42Talia had been forced
43:43to give up
43:44the whole story
43:45of how I'd spent
43:46the night
43:46waiting outside his door
43:47and caught
43:48a thorough dressing
43:49down for it.
43:51I had a feeling
43:52I was out to receive
43:53one too.
43:54But my worry
43:54about that
43:55was smaller
43:55than my worry
43:56about Lyra.
43:57I gripped the payment
43:58card in my hand
43:59and pushed into
44:00the hotel room,
44:01ready to call Silas
44:02and head home
44:03when he launched
44:03himself at me
44:04the second the door
44:05opened.
44:06His usual cold
44:07was gone.
44:08He was burning
44:08and he was bigger,
44:10taller, broader,
44:11the change in him
44:12unmistakable.
44:13Then Lyra's warning
44:14came back to me
44:15in a rush.
44:15Grown beastmen
44:16enter a heat cycle.
44:18Be careful.
44:20Don't let him hurt you.
44:21Heat cycle.
44:22Not this fast.
44:23Surely not this fast.
44:26Silas, it's me.
44:28Look at me.
44:28Look at me.
44:30I pushed against
44:30his chest.
44:31His scorching hands
44:32closed around my waist.
44:33His forehead
44:34pressed down to mine.
44:35Mistress.
44:36Mistress.
44:37That word
44:38in a voice
44:39dropped three registers.
44:40A fully adult male's voice.
44:42I had vastly
44:43underestimated Lyra.
44:46Let go of me.
44:47You can't do this.
44:48It isn't right.
44:48Silas tilted his head
44:50just slightly
44:50and the tip of his nose
44:52grazed my cheekbone.
44:53The heat off his breath
44:54landed against my face
44:56in waves.
44:57I threw every bit of strength
44:58into pushing him away.
44:59He didn't move an inch.
45:01That hurts.
45:02The grip at my waist
45:03drawing tighter.
45:04My waist was flesh,
45:05not iron.
45:06Silas buried his face
45:07at my shoulder
45:08and his breath
45:09came out ragged.
45:10Help me.
45:11Please.
45:12I had absolutely
45:12no idea
45:13how to help with this.
45:14All right, okay.
45:16I'll help.
45:17Just let go of me first.
45:18Silas loosened his hold
45:19by a fraction.
45:20The next second
45:21I spun for the door.
45:23My fingers were
45:23almost on the handle
45:24when a serpent tail
45:25coiled around my waist
45:27and reeled me back.
45:28I turned.
45:29The slit pupils
45:30had bled fully through
45:31and faint scales
45:33had begun appearing
45:33along his cheekbones.
45:35Full shift starting.
45:36That was a
45:37catastrophically bad sign.
45:40Help me.
45:41The vertical pupils
45:42went deep and still.
45:43You promised.
45:45Okay.
45:46Okay.
45:47Okay.
45:47I'll help.
45:48In my last life,
45:49Kale had gone through heat
45:51and made it very clear
45:52he wanted nothing from me.
45:53He was saving himself
45:54for Serafina.
45:55So this particular experience
45:57was new territory.
45:59My hand,
45:59trapped in Silas' grip,
46:01had lost all sensation.
46:04By the time we made it
46:05back to the estate,
46:06night had fallen.
46:07I felt deeply
46:09and specifically guilty
46:10about several things.
46:12Father was in the main hall,
46:14waiting.
46:15I walked in,
46:17dropped to my knees
46:18on reflex,
46:19and grabbed Silas
46:20down with me.
46:22His voice shook the walls.
46:25Elara,
46:27have I been too lenient
46:29with you?
46:30Is that why you act
46:31like there are no rules?
46:32If you wanted Lyra
46:33to treat Silas,
46:35you could have come to me.
46:36Instead,
46:37you took her
46:37without permission.
46:39Did it ever occur
46:41to you
46:41what would happen
46:42if Lucien collapsed
46:44while she was gone?
46:45If that had ended badly,
46:47how would I face
46:48the Vos bloodline?
46:49Father's chest heaved
46:51with every word.
46:52I bent my head lower.
46:54I was wrong,
46:56Father.
46:57Please don't stress
46:58yourself over it.
47:02If your brother were here,
47:04I wouldn't have to
47:05be more like your sister.
47:07She's composed,
47:08well-mannered,
47:09and makes no trouble.
47:11I kept my head down
47:12and let the rest of it
47:14wash over me.
47:15Then Silas
47:16tapped my hand twice.
47:18I looked up.
47:20Serafina was coming
47:21in from outside,
47:22with Kale behind her,
47:24looking considerably less
47:26like something
47:26dragged through gutters.
47:28So,
47:29Kale had made his move.
47:30I couldn't stop
47:31one corner of my mouth.
47:32You think this is funny?
47:36I flattened
47:37my expression instantly.
47:41No, Father.
47:42Serafina came to
47:43Father's side
47:43and made all the
47:44right soothing gestures.
47:45Alara,
47:46what did you do this time
47:47to upset him this badly?
47:50So Father ran through
47:51all of it again,
47:52from the beginning.
47:54Thanks for that,
47:55Serafina.
47:56In the retelling,
47:57she managed to look concerned
47:58while adding fuel
47:58to every sentence.
47:59The verdict,
48:00one month's house confinement.
48:02When you're done,
48:03go back to your room.
48:03Don't leave without permission.
48:05Yes, Father.
48:06When Father finally released me
48:07and I turned to go,
48:09Serafina said,
48:12Alara,
48:13is this Silas?
48:15I looked back.
48:17Silas was nearly
48:18the same height as me now.
48:19His features sharpened
48:21and settled into something older.
48:23The boyishness
48:24almost entirely gone.
48:26Yesterday,
48:27he had still looked
48:28like a boy of 12,
48:29but that whole development
48:31was connected
48:31to the heat cycle.
48:33And I was not going
48:34to explain the heat cycle
48:35to anyone in this room.
48:38Enough.
48:39I know.
48:41Go.
48:42Yes!
48:44I turned and walked,
48:46quickly,
48:47back to my room.
48:48Naturally,
48:49I did not miss
48:49the flash of jealous hatred
48:51in Serafina's eyes
48:52as I left.
48:53Back in my room,
49:00I crooked a finger
49:01at Silas.
49:02More?
49:02The look on his face
49:04was entirely too knowing.
49:07Silas!
49:08He laughed then,
49:09easy,
49:10unbothered.
49:10What does mistress require?
49:14I took a breath,
49:16steadied myself.
49:18All of this
49:19was exactly
49:19what you planned,
49:20wasn't it?
49:22The body
49:22that looked like a boy's
49:24had hidden a mind
49:25that had never
49:25been a boy's at all.
49:27Which meant
49:28from the beginning,
49:29I had been played.
49:31No.
49:33You choosing me,
49:35that was the thing
49:36I didn't plan for.
49:42He looked at me,
49:43and his eyes
49:44were level
49:44and serious.
49:46So everything else,
49:47he had.
49:48I can't even be surprised.
49:50The beast man
49:51who dismantled
49:51the black market
49:52and negotiated
49:53equal rights
49:54for his entire species.
49:55Of course,
49:56he was always
49:57three moves ahead.
49:58I was gnashing my teeth.
49:59Silas smiled,
50:01just slightly.
50:01You came out ahead,
50:03didn't you,
50:03mistress?
50:04He drew that last word
50:06out deliberately.
50:07I turned away.
50:08Please leave my room.
50:10I could take the loss,
50:12but I wasn't staying
50:12in the same space
50:13as his satisfaction.
50:15The month of confinement
50:16passed.
50:17I had the bodyguard
50:18route the payment card
50:19to Mira with a note.
50:20She would know
50:21what to do with it.
50:22During that time,
50:23I searched every channel
50:24I could find
50:25for news of Lyra
50:26and found nothing,
50:27every thread dead.
50:28The silence worried me.
50:30Meanwhile,
50:31Silas had grown
50:32at a pace
50:32that defied
50:33any reasonable measurement.
50:34Two days gone
50:35and he was noticeably taller,
50:37the ease of a predator
50:38settling into his posture
50:40with every passing hour.
50:42Father approved
50:42of the development
50:43in ways that
50:44visibly extended to me.
50:46Since Serafina
50:46had brought Kale
50:47into the house,
50:48Kale had been
50:49reporting to me daily,
50:50small details,
50:51careful observations,
50:52while his fox allure
50:54went to work on Serafina.
50:56Drop by patient drop.
50:57Everything I had suffered
50:59in my last life,
51:00I was going to make her
51:01feel every inch of.
51:03Serafina had been
51:04resistant at first,
51:05but with Raven diminished
51:06after his confrontation
51:07with Silas
51:08and with my own
51:09quiet efforts
51:10pulling her reputation
51:11apart from the seams,
51:12her composure
51:13was starting to fracture.
51:15She was getting volatile,
51:16reaching for Kale's attention
51:17at any hour,
51:19storming when she
51:19didn't get it.
51:20Kale was doing to her
51:21exactly what he had
51:23done to me,
51:23and she was falling,
51:25piece by piece.
51:26The ugly incidents mounted,
51:28scenes in public,
51:29a shouting match
51:30that had left
51:30witnesses unsettled,
51:32a round of self-pity
51:33so deep
51:34it had shaded
51:34into something worse.
51:36The worst incident?
51:37She had nearly used
51:38a blade on her own wrist.
51:40A servant had caught her
51:41in time and run for father.
51:43Father arrived home
51:44from the office
51:44to find her,
51:45and the fury on his face
51:47was something
51:48I had never seen before.
51:49He slapped her,
51:51once open-handed.
51:55For a beastman,
51:57have you lost your mind?
52:00Isn't this exactly
52:02what you wanted, father?
52:03You were the one
52:04who said we had to bond
52:05with beastmen.
52:07One mate,
52:08one life,
52:09no betrayal.
52:10So why is it wrong now?
52:12Father's fury and grief
52:13fought each other visibly.
52:15Wake up!
52:20Serafina surfaced
52:21for a moment,
52:21blinking.
52:23Father pressed his fingers
52:24hard into his temple.
52:26I know you've resented me
52:27for a long time.
52:29You think I failed you,
52:31that I shouldn't have remarried,
52:33that Alada and her brother
52:34took something from you,
52:36that the Bloodline's legacy
52:37belongs to you alone.
52:38But Serafina,
52:39have I ever actually
52:41neglected you?
52:42He looked at her,
52:42and something wet
52:43moved through his eyes.
52:45You're older than Alira
52:46by a few years.
52:47You know as well as I do
52:48why this Bloodline requires us
52:49to choose a beastman
52:50companion at 18.
52:51It isn't cruelty,
52:52it is what gives us
52:52the right to lead.
52:53I spoke up from the side,
52:55genuinely confused.
52:56What does that mean?
52:58Father looked at me
52:59and let out a long,
53:00slow breath.
53:02It's the old law,
53:03the founding rule.
53:05To inherit and hold
53:06the family's work,
53:07you must must be
53:08in true accord
53:09with the beastman.
53:11Serafina,
53:12you've always known
53:13the Bloodline standard.
53:15Leadership goes
53:15to the most capable,
53:16regardless of birth order
53:18or gender.
53:19Three years ago
53:19was when you should
53:20have begun,
53:22chosen your beastman,
53:24prepared yourself,
53:25entered the business
53:25with intent.
53:27Instead, you waited,
53:28and while you were waiting,
53:29you were building a trap.
53:34Don't dress it up, Father.
53:36Answer me honestly.
53:37Did you treat us
53:39the same?
53:39Ever?
53:40I was born
53:41with no mother.
53:43You were busy,
53:44you gave me to the nurses.
53:45You gave me everything
53:46material I asked for,
53:48yes.
53:48But how many hours
53:50did you spend with me?
53:51How many times
53:52did you hold me
53:53or come to quiet me
53:54when I was scared?
53:56After you remarried,
53:58you held Elira.
53:59You came when Elira cried.
54:01You gave her the pair
54:02because she wanted the pair.
54:04You gave me
54:04what you thought
54:05I should want,
54:06not what I asked for.
54:09Every one of those
54:10small things
54:11you thought didn't matter,
54:12they were scars,
54:13Father.
54:14Every single one.
54:15This bowl was never level.
54:17You just couldn't see it.
54:19Serafina,
54:21I'm sorry.
54:22You were right to feel it.
54:24I failed you.
54:26Sorry doesn't fix it!
54:28I want Elira dead!
54:30I want all of them dead!
54:34She lunged for me,
54:36hands in my collar,
54:37and her face had gone somewhere
54:39I hadn't seen it go before.
54:42Alada,
54:42I had a dream.
54:44I dreamed you died.
54:46The fully shifted raven
54:48bit you right through the throat.
54:50You were dead!
54:53You were dead!
54:55The blood in my veins
54:56turned to ice water
54:57and stopped.
54:58It wasn't a dream.
54:59It happened.
55:00Father couldn't watch anymore.
55:02He had her removed
55:03and confined to her rooms.
55:06When Kyle came to me later,
55:08pleased with himself,
55:10I took him directly
55:11to Serafina's door.
55:12In the cellar
55:13of the Talia estate,
55:15I had made him
55:16a single offer.
55:17His freedom
55:18in exchange
55:18for his obedience.
55:20Seduce Serafina
55:21and do it
55:22until she broke.
55:23He'd agreed
55:24and she had broken.
55:25So now,
55:27it was his turn.
55:28Through the door,
55:29Serafina's voice rose
55:30and fell,
55:31cresting and breaking.
55:32Kale!
55:33Why aren't you answering me?
55:35Don't you love me anymore?
55:37You said I was the one person
55:39who mattered most to you.
55:40You said you'd never leave.
55:43You said you'd give me
55:44anything I wanted.
55:46Serafina,
55:46you've gone insane!
55:47Alara,
55:48open this door!
55:49Open it!
55:50I stood still
55:51and listened to
55:52what was happening
55:52on the other side.
55:53The frantic banging
55:55and then gradually,
55:57silence.
55:58I went to
55:58Father's room instead.
56:00I've sent for your brother.
56:02I should never
56:02have sent him away.
56:04Little Alara,
56:06everything she said,
56:07it was true?
56:08Or you wouldn't have
56:09done what you did.
56:11That's on me.
56:12It's all on me.
56:12Father didn't punish me.
56:14He showed me
56:15the bloodline's
56:16founding records
56:17and without exception,
56:18every paired name
56:19on the page
56:20was a human
56:21and a beastman.
56:22Long ago,
56:23the family's
56:24founding grandmother
56:25had a beastman
56:26against all opposition
56:27and the world
56:29had denied them both.
56:30A disaster came
56:32and the beastman
56:33gave his life
56:34to save her.
56:35Out of grief
56:36and out of conviction,
56:37she had used
56:38her authority
56:38to set the law
56:39that had governed
56:40every generation since.
56:41So that one day,
56:43humans and beastmen
56:44might live in peace.
56:45When I came out
56:46of father's study,
56:47Silas was in the hallway
56:48leaning against the wall.
56:49All of it handled?
56:50I nodded.
56:52He had been busy
56:53this past month.
56:54I'd barely seen him
56:55and I was starting
56:56to recognize
56:57in the way he moved
56:58and held a room
56:59the shape of who
57:00he was going to become.
57:01Father had warmed to him
57:03in ways he hadn't
57:04bothered to hide.
57:05Since Kale had moved
57:06into the house
57:06as Serafina's beastman,
57:08he'd been reporting
57:09to me faithfully,
57:10while in the background,
57:11Serafina's image
57:12had been quietly
57:13and methodically demolished.
57:15She had done to herself
57:16everything Kale
57:17once did to me.
57:18Then father had stepped in.
57:20My brother came home,
57:21took over the business
57:22under father's guidance,
57:23and the household
57:24found its footing again.
57:25As for Silas,
57:27the heat cycles
57:27kept coming back.
57:29More and more frequently
57:30as it happened,
57:31every deep night,
57:32a cold serpent tail
57:33would find its way
57:34around my ankle.
57:35Silas.
57:36Hmm?
57:38I have a knife.
57:39The tail withdrew.
57:40As I thought,
57:41he had been exaggerating
57:42all along.
57:44Silas,
57:45explain yourself.
57:46He leaned in
57:47and grazed his lips
57:48against the shell
57:49of my ear.
57:49Is it really so hard
57:50to understand?
57:52I turned on him.
57:53Plain words.
57:54He was quiet
57:55for a long moment.
57:56In my last life,
57:58you buried me.
57:59I jolted upright.
58:02You...
58:02You also...
58:04Silas sat up,
58:05unhurried.
58:06After that,
58:07my spirit wouldn't leave.
58:08I stayed.
58:10And I watched you
58:11grieve for Kale,
58:12suffer for Kale,
58:12and finally die for nothing.
58:14And then,
58:15with you,
58:16I came back.
58:19Remarkable.
58:19And then he spoke again.
58:20Alara,
58:22do you remember
58:23the bloodline's
58:24founding law?
58:27What?
58:27He smiled,
58:29and the look in his eyes
58:30held something
58:30that had been there
58:31for a long time.
58:32Choose a beastman to raise.
58:35Bond with them for life.
58:37No betrayal.
58:38No abandonment.
58:40His voice dropped low.
58:42You chose me.
58:45No defense,
58:45you know,
58:47there are no redo.
58:48There are no
58:48people memığı room for life.
58:48Do you believe it?
58:48You
Comments