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00:02the chieftain gathered every unmated male and told me and sister to choose male shifters are
00:07ranked s a b or c my sister lyra seized the a rank wolf shifter that should be mine
00:16and threw the low level b rank snake shifter that should be hers to me
00:19as a result her fate was tragic while i won everything she bore him five litters every
00:27single one lowly b rank the wolf shifter raged he kicked her hard in the stomach and cursed her for
00:33being useless tore the bond like it was nothing the other males wanted nothing to do with her either
00:39and me i chose a b rank snake shifter one litter ten cubs every single one high quality a rank
00:47the whole clan named me the sacred daughter my mate inherited the chieftain's seat
00:55lyra couldn't stand it she killed all my children and pushed me off the cliff
01:08when i opened my eyes again we were back back to the day of choosing i came back to myself
01:14just as
01:15lyra pressed her body against the snake shifter's side chieftain she said sweetly
01:22i choose boss she said it and then she looked at me one long deliberate look the kind that said
01:30i've already won i understood she'd been reborn too actually my sister and i weren't from this world
01:37but we couldn't find a way back in the end we would just have to adapt to the rules here
01:42but this time i absolutely won't let her control everything
01:47male shifters are born ranked s a b or c the higher the rank the more valuable the male
01:54c rank males were everywhere b rank was considered a prize a rank was rare enough to cause a stir
02:00as for s rank even the elderly chieftain had never seen one females in the beastlands were fewer than
02:07males their social standing was higher which standing on the children they bore the higher
02:12the rank of your cubs the higher you climbed in our last life lyra had wanted to be the top
02:17female
02:17in the clan she'd gone straight for the only a rake wolf shifter without blinking she'd told me to
02:23choose voss the snake shifter snakes have two you know she'd said with that conspiratorial smile of
02:29hers but they lay eggs hatching eggs is so much easier than live birth i'd listened i'd chosen vox
02:37we bonded and i fell pregnant quickly one clutch 10 cubs every single one a rank this clan had existed
02:46for over a century among clans they'd never had more than five a rank shifters total the chief
02:54declared voss his successor on the spot lyra had conceived around the same time i had she gave birth
03:03to a b rank cub then another five pregnancies total nothing above b nothing below c she decided the
03:13problem was the wolf's bloodline one night she crept into voss's den voss threw her out of bed
03:19and called the entire clan to witness his innocence before dawn the wolf shifter found out his rage was
03:26immediate and absolute he dissolved their bond and drove her out along with her children within a month
03:33lyra's cubs had all starved she'd tried to seduce some of the c-rank males during that time
03:41but this world had no tolerance for betrayal
03:46the males would take what she offered they wouldn't bond with her when lyra was close to starving
03:54i'd brought her back to mine given her meat from my own stores
03:59she repaid me by destroying me even now i could still feel the drop
04:05that weightless stomach larching fall the chieftain nodded at me now signaling it was my turn to choose
04:13i scanned the remaining males then i pointed at the wolf shifter
04:18i'd like to choose i didn't finish the sentence a crack split the air a hand connected with my face
04:27the female who hit me belonged to drac the black tiger shifter she came at me with all the males
04:33who'd
04:33been eyeing me with interest took a collective step back the wolf shifter in particular his expression
04:39shudded he frowned i turned to look at lyra in her eyes i saw it clearly calculation satisfaction
04:47then i remembered in my last life she and drac had history a brief affair it was a trap by
04:55her
04:56i didn't do anything with drac and that's not my fur if no one believes me i'll shift right now
05:04so you
05:05can all see for yourselves i shifted i turned in a slow circle showing every angle no bald patches
05:12no missing fur anywhere on my body except there on my inner thigh a small bear patch i hadn't noticed
05:21before the crowd erupted what kind of female goes after someone else's male that kind should be thrown
05:29out of the clan the noise belt and built this clan male and female alike had no room for a
05:35female who
05:35might lure away bonded males the chieftain raised his hand i was cast out lyra came to see me off
05:42at the
05:42border she was curled against voss's chest when she said goodbye her voice all silk and sympathy
05:47sister being cast out isn't necessarily a bad thing there are plenty of strong males out there in the
05:53wild maybe you'll find your true mate the wild was full of powerful shifters yes they were also the
06:00ones every clan had already thrown away half feral dangerous the kind who would take a lone female
06:07and break her i'd saved lyra from them three times in our last life however she hadn't remembered that
06:15at all when she killed me last life i smiled at her slow and pleasant
06:24i think you can save concern for yourself voss is vigorous
06:31you'll have your fill of trouble then vox was a snake shifter as lyra had once told me herself
06:38snakes had appetites he had no interest in hunting he had every interest in making love
06:47once or twice a day was sport
06:52once or twice without stopping for days that was suffering
07:00it hurt terribly every time if i hadn't satisfied him he'd gone looking outside the clan
07:06he screwed many female at the same time without a clan's backing he was useless
07:14the memory of all of it made my skin crawl lyra thought she'd won a prize
07:24what she'd actually won was a rotting thing wearing a decent face
07:30you must be jealous of me lyra snapped her sweetness curdling in an instant
07:35what exactly are you smiling about this life i'm gonna make you watch me watch me become the
07:41sacred daughter of this clan she and voss disappeared back into their den
07:46their laughter trailing behind them i stepped outside the clan's boundary and immediately
07:51had company a leopard shifter eyes full of hunger and violence i knew what solitary males like him
07:57did to lone females they played they broke every survival instinct i had fired at once i ran
08:03i ran until a cave mouth appeared in the rock face ahead of me with nowhere else to go i
08:09dived
08:09inside the leopard stopped at the entrance he paced he snarled in my direction then when i didn't come
08:16out he cursed twice and left from the darkness deeper in the cave came a roar that pinned me to
08:23the spot i looked up a white lion stood before me beautiful enormous his jaws were wide enough to swallow
08:30i ran again two steps then i stopped the lion had roared but he hadn't moved it was almost like
08:44he was trying
08:45to frighten me off rather than attack then i smelled it rot the hot sickening smell of infected flesh i
08:53looked at his back legs
08:56the meat there was going necrotic white with larvae i steadied myself hello you're injured i know how to heal
09:06will you let me stay he understood me he looked at me for a long moment then he stretched both
09:15back legs forward
09:18his wounds were severe the larvae the larvae had spread deep i forced down the nausea and cleaned them out
09:28thorough methodical
09:34then i opened my pack and found my medicinal powders
09:45before i'd came this world i'd been trained in herbalism
09:52after arriving in the beastlands that knowledge had made me a healer for the varmeric clan
09:59when i finished dressing the lion's wounds he leaned his great head forward
10:06and pressed his face against my sleeve gratitude for me
10:13then his stomach ground injured immobile unfed
10:21i'll find food wait here i moved to leave he hooked one paw around my ankle and drew me back
10:28then he dragged his enormous tongue over my shoulder and down my arm
10:33i understood he was marking me with his scent most predators wouldn't come near me now
10:41i thought of the leopard at the cave entrance whatever rank this lion was
10:49it was enough to send others running
10:56i didn't go far i gathered wild fruit some edible roots and came back to the cave as the sky
11:04went dark
11:06i made a fire
11:10the lion's eyes the lid up
11:14he inched closer to the flames and that was how i came to live in his den
11:20days settled into rhythm mornings i changed his dressings then went out for water and food
11:28nights he curled around me like a living blanket
11:31his warmth soaking into me while we slept half a month passed then one afternoon i returned to the cave
11:42and stopped in the entrance a man lay where the lion had been
11:49white hair long and loose eyes the color of gold he saw me two pale ears rose slowly from the
11:57top of his head
11:58you're back
11:59his voice was startling low and clear and unexpectedly lovely
12:05you're the white lion
12:11he nodded
12:15my name is caius i smiled
12:20hello i'm sarah under my care caius had healed enough to walk
12:30on our first hunt together he showed me what he was capable of a wild boar
12:36under a minute
12:38he bit through its neck like it was nothing
12:46that night i finally had meat again pork fat crackling over the fire
12:50filling the cave with the kind of smell that made your stomach hollow with want
12:54i ate until my face was shiny with grease and asked him around a mouthful
13:01you're a rank are you a rank you have to be at least
13:04caius's expression shadowed
13:08no i don't have a rank i paused
13:13what
13:16every male shifter in the beastlands was ranked
13:20that was just the world
13:23caius just shook his head he'd never had a rank
13:28and because of that his clan had called him a monster from birth
13:33cast him out young
13:37the memory sat visibly on him as he spoke
13:40his eyes went somewhere far away
13:43cast out as a cub
13:45no family
13:47no kin
13:49no one
13:52i reached over and touched his head
13:55just lightly
13:57it's all right
13:59you have me now
14:01we're friends
14:03caius went red
14:04it was sudden and total
14:07and genuinely charming
14:11another month passed
14:14healed completely
14:18winter was coming
14:24i woke late one morning to heat radiating from his side of the den
14:29his eyes were red rimmed his breathing rough
14:38he told me to stay inside
14:41that he needed to step out for a while that i shouldn't worry
14:43he made it two steps
14:45before his legs gave out
14:47when he hit the ground
14:48i understood
14:49every shifter had a fixed heat cycle
14:52during the surge
14:53the animal instinct overwhelmed everything else
14:57he was already past his limit
15:00he was painful
15:01don't be scared
15:02he managed
15:03i won't touch you
15:05i'll handle it myself
15:06he was fighting his own body
15:08every muscle in his neck was stinic
15:10veins visible under his white hair
15:12the sounds coming from his throat were low and inimpolentary and painful to hear
15:16i looked at him
15:18something in my chest did something quiet and final
15:22i crossed the distance between us and crouched down in front of him
15:29i said
15:30i said
15:31do you not want me
15:32no
15:34how
15:34how could you think that
15:36i cupped his face in my hands
15:43and i kissed him
15:46when his hands came up to touch me
15:49i braced
15:51i thought sex was simply about being hurt
15:53he was so strong it must be hurting a lot
15:57i'd prepared myself
16:00but surprisingly
16:01i felt no pain
16:03caius was gentle
16:05he moved like he was afraid to break something
16:09i felt weightless
16:11i was as comfortable as if i were floating in the sky
16:17when it finally finished
16:19snow had fallen
16:21since then
16:22we have been making love all the day
16:25one sustained glance across the den
16:28and i'd find myself pinned to the sleeping furs a moment later
16:32unlike my last life
16:34i was happy and no longer felt pain
16:38he was
16:39as it turned out
16:41extraordinarily good at this
16:43and i was pregnant
16:45i was not surprised
16:48really
16:50for three full seconds he didn't move
16:52then his ears began to tremble
16:55his tail followed
16:57his whole face changed
16:58he pressed one broad rough harm to my stomach
17:02so carefully
17:04you're really carrying my cub
17:05my little lion
17:06he lifted me straight off the ground
17:08i laughed and he laughed with me
17:10and the sound of it filled the cave
17:12after pregnant he was at my side constantly
17:15i'd reach for something and he'd already have it
17:19i'd think about standing up and he'd be there
17:22lying in the warmth of his arms one evening
17:24i found myself thinking about the previous life
17:27vos was cold-blooded
17:28he hibernated in winter
17:31no warmth to give
17:33i'd been on my own
17:34wading through snow to find anything edible
17:36then the ten snake cubs had hatched
17:38i was so tired
17:40vos slept through all of it
17:41the cubs had been good
17:43even abrank
17:44they'd never started fights
17:45never made trouble
17:46they'd helped with the den chores
17:48so adorable
17:49my eyes started to sting
17:51i hadn't protected them
17:53caius's chest was warm against my back
17:56he turned me gently
17:59sarah
18:00you're not happy
18:01what is it
18:02i'm fine
18:04i wiped the corner of my eye
18:07just missing home
18:38is it not good here
18:38shaking
18:38white lion sir please don't kill me
18:41i looked at her
18:41something that wasn't quite amusement moved through me
18:44sarah
18:46what are you doing here
18:48do you know her
18:49no
18:51caius's killing in tate rose immediately
18:53lyra screamed
18:55no
18:56sister don't let him kill me
18:57i came to save you
18:58that single word stopped everything
19:01sister
19:02caius held back
19:03he asked me if there might be some misunderstanding
19:05i exhaled slowly and walked toward her
19:09why did you come
19:10the sweet
19:12plastating smile again
19:13hypocritical
19:15i spoke to the chieflin for you
19:17he'll let you come back
19:18i didn't move
19:20i mean it
19:22sister
19:23we have conflict with another clan
19:26there's going to be war
19:28neither of you belong to either side
19:31you'll be collateral
19:33lyra's words landed
19:35and i remembered
19:36in our previous life
19:37there had been a war
19:39exactly like this
19:40but that war had ended the moment my ten snake pubs hatched
19:44the simultaneous appearance of ten aweed shifters is powerful enough
19:48they'd surrendered without a fight
19:49the two clans had merged
19:51the ulterth clan had a priest
19:53he'd looked at me afterward and declared that i was the sacred daughter
19:57given to the clan by the beast gods
20:00but none of that was a reason to go back
20:02caius and i were living well
20:04i would never return that clan again
20:07lyra's eyes moved to my stomach
20:09her voice shifted
20:10softer more deliberate
20:12sister
20:13you're pregnant
20:15even if you don't care about yourself
20:17you have to think about the child
20:19you can't wander forever
20:21and when your cub is grown
20:24what then
20:24do you want to raise them out here
20:27alone
20:27with no clan behind them
20:30she wasn't wrong
20:31this world was ruthless
20:33caius was the strongest male i'd ever encountered
20:36and he'd nearly died alone in a cave with rotting legs
20:38our cub would arrive small and vulnerable no matter what rank they carried
20:42a clan meant numbers
20:44numbers meant survival
20:45but caius had been driven out of a clan before
20:48i turned to look at him
20:50he read it immediately
20:51he reached over and took my hand
20:53he said quietly
20:54sarah
20:55let's go back
20:56after i told lyra yes
20:58she sagged with relief
21:00then almost immediately
21:02do you have any food
21:04she ate like she hadn't seen a proper meal in weeks
21:07given vos's hibernation schedule
21:09she probably hadn't
21:11she was enormous with pregnancy
21:14but her arms and legs were too thin
21:16she'd had a hard stretch of it
21:18when she finished
21:19she settled into the outer part of the cave to rest
21:23caius tucked me into his arms as usual
21:26lyra looked over at us from across the den
21:29the expression on her face was pure naked envy
21:34in the middle of the night i got up
21:36lyra's back was to me
21:38she thought i was still asleep
21:40how is she still getting everything in this life too
21:44what's so great about bonding with something that doesn't even have a rank
21:47mongrel she pressed a hand to her own swollen stomach
21:53come on little ones
21:55come out soon
21:57then mother won't have to keep swallowing this
22:00i stood in the dark and looked at her
22:03we'd lost our parents in the same accident
22:05grown up in the same grief
22:07all my life to give her room
22:10warn her leaving
22:11let her choose first
22:13done what our parents had asked me to do
22:16you're the older one look out for your sister
22:18what i'd meant as love she'd received as tribute
22:23we returned to the verret clan three days later
22:27by the third day back i knew exactly why lyra had worked so hard to retrieve me
23:01her due date was close
23:03many of the females looked at me with hostility
23:06i'd been labeled a female who went after bonded males
23:09they didn't want me near their maters so i kept to the den isolated
23:13lyra meanwhile told everyone she was the sacred daughter sent by the beast gods
23:18and that all 20 of her eggs contained a rank shifters
23:22the clan believed her her status climbed
23:27then the war began
23:29caius went to the front after the first skirmish
23:32the rest of the clan realized what he was capable of
23:35his bite force surpassed the a rank wolf shifters by a margin
23:38his speed and strength were in a different category entirely
23:41by any logic that made him valuable
23:44worth protecting worth standing behind
23:46instead the wolf shifter grew jealous
23:48he organized the other males quietly no rank they said doesn't belong
23:53and on a day when caius was pushing deep into ultroth clan territory alone
23:57the wolf shifter led the others away and left him surrounded
24:00i found out after caius came home bleeding
24:03i was already moving toward the chieftain's den when caius caught my arm
24:07sarah it's fine he sounded almost amused
24:10they still couldn't take me down i made it back didn't i
24:14i looked at his wounds my eyes stung
24:16i'm sorry i shouldn't have brought you here
24:20this place isn't right for you we're leaving back to our own den
24:26no he caught my hands something almost panicked moved across his face
24:31sarah if we go back to the den you'll miss home again
24:34i don't want that stay here as long as you and the cub are safe
24:38it doesn't matter what they do to me something cracked open in my chest
24:43i remembered saying once in passing that i missed home
24:47i'd meant something abstract grief a vague ache
24:51he'd taken it as a specific thing he thought i meant the clan he'd been
24:56humiliating himself to keep me close to something he thought i needed
25:00you are my home you're the only family i have now
25:04let's go back to the den just the two of us and live the way we want to live
25:10i just convinced him we hadn't even started packing when a female came running
25:17sarah come quickly your sister she's in labor
25:23i heard the screaming from outside the den inside blood more than there should have been
25:29the scene was identical to the worst of lylara's previous life labors that same desperate quality
25:35to the air that same sense of something gone wrong at the start it didn't make sense snake eggs were
25:41small this should have been easy i understood quickly enough once i started working i helped her
25:47past 10 eggs then i reached back in and felt more i was mid-reach when lyra's body seized seizure
25:55no
25:56one in the den knew the word i snapped them to find a smooth cloth get it between her teeth
26:00before she
26:01bit through her tongue they scrambled while they held her i worked i cleared the rest of the eggs as
26:08fast as i could 20 in total when it was over lyla went limp and unconscious i brewed a draft
26:18and got it
26:18down her throat waiting outside the den he grabbed my wrist before i could leave she's your sister you
26:26should stay and care for her i looked at his hand on my arm he'd watched a woman nearly die
26:32in that den
26:33his mate and he was already trying to pass the burden to someone else i pulled my wrist free she's
26:41your female not mine i've done what i can the rest is yours i stepped out of the den into
26:47the night
26:47air exhausted to my marrow caius was standing there waiting i started to say something about his wounds
26:55about how he should be resting he pulled me into him before i could finish his voice was rough when
27:01he
27:01spoke sarah we're not leaving i want to stay i started to ask why my shoulder went wet i brought
27:10him back
27:11to the den and sat with him when i pressed him the tears came harder he'd been outside lyra's den
27:20the whole
27:20time he'd heard everything he hadn't known that was what bearing young looked like for a female
27:27the sounds she'd made the blood the way the others had moved he was terrified
27:36if we left if we went back to the den alone and i went into labor and something went wrong
27:41there would
27:41be no one to help me no one to do what i had just done for lyla i felt the
27:46tears come before i could
27:47stop them caius i said softly that was difficult for specific reasons mine might be nothing like it i don't
27:54care he held tighter even one chance in a hundred i won't let you suffer without help not for anything
28:04he'd made himself small in this clan he hunted and shared the meat with everyone even the ones
28:10who'd abandoned him at the front he smiled at the ones who'd left him to die swallowed every indignity
28:16without complaint all of it for me what had i ever done to deserve a male like this lyra woke
28:25the
28:25following day snake eggs take time to hatch while they incubated lyra stationed herself beside them
28:32and invited most of the clam to come and watch she told anyone who would listen that all 20 would
28:38be
28:39a rock the clan was skeptical but intrigued she'd been right before they came around the same time
28:48the war finished largely because of caius the ultra clan sent delegates to negotiate their chieftain and
28:55their priest came together to discuss terms the meeting was still in progress when someone burst in
29:00from outside chieftain come quick the exit boss's den are hatching the room emptied even the ultroth delegates
29:08went word had traveled even to their clan the sacred daughter of the varay clan had birthed 20
29:14eiklar snake shifters they wanted to see the den was so crowded the walls seemed to breathe the chieftain
29:22had to push his way in he arrived just as the first egg cracked open a small dark snake emerged
29:31lyra picked
29:32it up with trembling hands and held it out chieftain tell me a rank isn't it the chieftain looked
29:42he considered for a moment then he said what he saw c rank
29:50the smile frozen on lyra's face her eyes went sharp that can't be right look again please look
30:00properly the chieftain had been judging blood rank for 60 years he could do it blindfolded but he looked
30:07again because she'd asked c rank i'm certain lyra went still
30:17what's happening i thought they were all a rank 20 is an enormous number
30:24we've only ever had one a rank in the whole clan maybe there's a mix maybe the rest will be
30:30higher
30:31that last voice gave lyra something to grab onto she straightened hands on her hips exactly that was
30:39only the first i expect at least 10 a rake out of these 20. three more eggs cracked everyone looked
30:51all sea rained
30:54the strong ones hatched last lyra said firmly crack crack crack five more one b rank among them
31:06there lyra said her voice climbing see the better ones come at the end i told you but the crowd
31:15had
31:15stopped believing her the expressions had shifted the last eggs opened final count one b rank 10 c rank
31:23and several with no rank at all the chieftain studied the unranked ones briefly his face said everything
31:29his mouth didn't need to lyra's composure shattered this is impossible where are my a rank cubs someone
31:37tampered with them her voice rose cracking there's no other explanation a female in the back had had
31:47enough tampered how boss is a b rank snake shifter what exactly were you expecting him to give you a
31:52couple of good weather predictions and suddenly you're the sacred daughter the resentment had
31:55been building for weeks it broke open now all at once voice after voice peeling back the patience
32:00they'd kept then lyra's eyes found me she'd been scanning the crowd now she stopped she came straight
32:05for me and grabbed my arm you it was you you can't stand to see me do well you switched
32:12my eggs give
32:13them back give them back right now i pulled my arm from her grip lyra my voice came out flat
32:23and cold
32:23stop you accused me of going after a bonded male now you're accusing me of stealing your cubs
32:30half the clan was in that den with me ask any of them they watched everything i did the females
32:37who'd attended the birth stepped forward one by one she's right we were all there sarah didn't take
32:43anything what would she even want with snake eggs she's carrying her own the voices layered over each
32:49other lyra broke entirely why is everyone suddenly on her side just die sarah you should just die
32:56she threw herself at me i didn't move fast enough she put me square and we both went down
33:03kaia shifted the white lion came down on top of her in one motion all that weight and fury and
33:09he
33:09opened his jaws over her he didn't close them because from somewhere behind us a voice rang out over the
33:14chaos no stop caius get your mate back to the den she's in labor the next second i was airborne
33:20lifted
33:20clean off the ground held against a chest that was warm and solid and moving very fast caius ran
33:28in the den he held my hand through all of it his brow didn't unfurl once he kept talking low
33:37steady
33:38you're all right you're doing so well i'm right here while his own hand shook harder than mine
33:44everything went smoothly less than two hours later i delivered two white lion cubs twins
33:54oh they're beautiful the attending female breathed lifting one and cleaning it briskly
34:02strong too look at them i'd wager these are a rank at least
34:06let the chieftain have a look it's fine i started we don't need
34:16the chieftain and the ultrath priest had followed us in the chieftain reached for the nearest cub
34:23turned it over and frowned spirited little thing but no rank to speak of i glanced at caius his face
34:31was careful he was nervous i took his hand it doesn't matter before i'd finished the sentence
34:39the altar priest leaned in his voice went sharp with something that sounded almost like outrage
34:45you can't see rank these cubs are s rank
34:55s rank did you just say s rank i helped birth them and i thought they looked different from other
35:01cubs
35:01but i didn't dare s rank here from this den two of them we have two s rank shifters in
35:07this clan
35:08the den erupted caius and i looked at each other the news moved through the clan like fire lyra had
35:16pushed her way back through the crowd and into the den entrance she saw the cubs she looked at me
35:22this isn't real her voice had gone strange too high too tight sarah how could you possibly produce s rank
35:30cubs who's with him he doesn't even have a rank the joy in the den quiet it was the thing
35:37people had
35:37wondered and hadn't said before any of it could take hold the altar priest stepped forward no rank
35:45who told you his voice rang off the stone walls caius is s rank he's been s rank this entire
35:53time
35:54that's precisely why we yielded silence the priest told them what the ultrac clan had seen on the
36:01battlefield abilities that couldn't be explained by any ordinary blood rank when they realized what
36:06they were facing they'd stopped fighting no one here had ever encountered an s rank shifter before
36:11not even the chieftain he hadn't known what he was looking at caius sat with that for a moment
36:16he'd spent his whole life believing he was broken cast out proof of something shameful
36:24and the answer had simply been that everyone around him had lacked the eyes to see him clearly
36:29the priest turned to me next he studied me with the focused attention this female's fate line
36:38he said slowly is unlike anything ordinary unless i'm mistaken he looked out at the gathered clan she is
36:47the sacred daughter reborn if the s-rate announcement had been a shock this was the stone that broke the
36:52surface
36:53of still water everyone went quiet then they went to their knees
37:00in our previous life it had happened too but then people had been uncertain willing to believe
37:07but not quite sold this time with three s-reek shifters in the same den no one hesitated
37:16you're all forgetting she was cast this clan for going after a bebonded male
37:25what sacred daughter has a history like that she's been playing all of you the room had heard enough
37:32from her today
37:34but she'd reminded them the old accusation resurfacing in a few sets of eyes
37:41i stood up straight and looked across the den at drac the black tiger shifter who had been standing
37:47very still and very quiet in the corner since this all began drac are you going to tell the truth
37:55now or not
37:58under the judgment of the whole clan drac admitted all of it lila had planned it from the beginning
38:03she'd bribed him with herself he'd stolen a tough of my fur and they'd staged the confrontation together
38:09the one who'd gone after a bonded male had never been me boss's face went white he was a snake
38:16and
38:17snakes were possessive creatures lyra his voice was very quiet you betrayed me her legs buckled
38:28no boss please listen to me they're lying all of them don't he'd already shifted the great dark snake
38:34moved faster than eyes could follow he caught her by the back of the neck and then he was gone
38:39a trail
38:40in the snow and nothing else a few days later someone found what remained of lyra outside the clan boundary
38:47she was identifiable only by her clothes word spread fast the chieftain had no choice
38:55voss was driven out the cubs lyra had carried were not held accountable for any of it
39:00the females of the clan gathered them all up and raised them together the males under caius's lead
39:08turned outward new territory broader boundaries room to grow season by season the work accumulated
39:17in the new spring the clan raised caius to chieftain i stood beside him the same position i had held
39:24in
39:24another life through a different path with different scars but here now with someone who had wept outside
39:30a den because he was afraid of losing me our two white lion cubs rolled in the grass nearby already
39:36stocky and ridiculous and impossibly strong i watched caius tilt his face toward the sun eyes half
39:42closed ears twitting i had lived two lives in this world i didn't need a third
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