- 10 hours ago
My S Rank Beast Mate New 🔝
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Short filmTranscript
00:02the chieftain gathered every unmated male and told me and sister to choose male shifters are ranked
00:08s a b or c my sister lyra seized the a rank wolf shifter that should be mine and through
00:16the low
00:17level b rank snake shifter that should be hers to me as a result her fate was tragic while i
00:23won
00:24everything she bore him five litters every single one lowly b rank the wolf shifter raged he kicked
00:31her hard in the stomach and cursed her for being useless tore the bond like it was nothing the other
00:37males wanted nothing to do with her either and me i chose a b rank snake shifter one litter ten
00:44cubs
00:45every single one high quality a rank the whole clan named me the sacred daughter my mate inherited
00:52the chieftain's seat lyra couldn't stand it she killed all my children and pushed me off a 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
01:30already 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
01:44absolutely won't let her control everything male shifters are born ranked s a b or c the higher the
01:52rank the more valuable the male c rank males were everywhere b rank was considered a prize a rank
01:59was rare enough to cause a stir as for s rank even the elderly chieftain had never seen one females
02:05in
02:05the beastlands were fewer than males their social standing was higher which standing on the children
02:10they bore the higher the rank of your cubs the higher you climbed in our last life lyra had
02:16wanted to be the top female in the clan she'd gone straight for the only a-rake wolf shifter without
02:20blinking she told me to choose vos the snake shifter snakes have two you know she'd said with that
02:28conspiratorial smile of hers but they lay eggs hatching eggs is so much easier than live birth i'd
02:35listened i'd chosen vox we bonded and i fell pregnant quickly one clutch ten cubs every single one a rank
02:45this clan had existed for over a century among clans they'd never had more than five a rank shifters
02:52total the chieftain declared vos his successor on the spot lyra had conceived around the same time i had
03:02she gave birth to a b rank cub then another five pregnancies total nothing above b nothing below c she
03:12decided the problem was the wolf's bloodline one night she crept into vos's den vos threw her out of
03:19bed and called the entire clan to witness his innocence before dawn the wolf shifter found out
03:25his rage was immediate and absolute he dissolved their bond and drove her out along with her children
03:32within a month lila's cubs had all starved she'd tried to seduce some of the c-rank males during that
03:40time but this world had no tolerance for betrayal the males would take what she offered they wouldn't
03:49bond with her when lyra was close to starving i'd brought her back to mine given her meat from my
03:58own
03:58stores she repaid me by destroying me even now i could still feel the drop that weightless stomach
04:07larching fall the chieftain nodded at me now signaling it was my turn to choose i scanned the remaining males
04:15then i pointed at the wolf shifter i'd like to choose i didn't finish the sentence a crack split the
04:23air a hand connected with my face the female who hit me belonged to drac the black tiger shifter she
04:31came at me with all the males who'd been eyeing me with interest took a collective step back
04:35the wolf shifter in particular his expression shutted he frowned i turned to look at lila in her eyes
04:43i saw it clearly calculation satisfaction then i remembered in my last life she and drac had
04:51history a brief affair it was a trap by her i didn't do anything with drac and that's not my
05:00fur if no
05:01one believes me i'll shift right now so you can all see for yourselves i shifted i turned in a
05:09slow circle
05:10showing every angle no bald patches no missing fur anywhere on my body except there on my inner thigh
05:18a small bear patch i hadn't noticed before the crowd erupted what kind of female goes after someone
05:27else's male that kind should be thrown out of the clan the noise belt and built this clan male and
05:33female alike had no room for a female who might lure away bonded males the chieftain raised his hand i
05:40was
05:40cast out lyra came to see me off at the border she was curled against vos's chest when she said
05:45goodbye
05:45her voice all silk and sympathy sister being cast out isn't necessarily a bad thing there are plenty
05:51of strong males out there in the wild maybe you'll find your true mate the wild was full of powerful
05:57shifters yes they were also the ones every clan had already thrown away half feral dangerous the kind
06:06who would take a lone female and break her i'd saved lyra from them three times in our last life
06:13however she hadn't remembered that at all when she killed me last life i smiled at her slow and pleasant
06:24i think you can save concern for yourself vos is vigorous
06:31you'll have your fill of trouble then vox was a snake shifter
06:35as lyra had once told me herself snakes had appetites he had no interest in hunting
06:44he had every interest in making love once or twice a day was sport
06:52once or twice without stopping for days that was suffering
06:59it 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 what exactly are you smiling
07:37about this life i'm gonna make you watch me watch me become the sacred daughter of this clan
07:43she and vos disappeared back into their den their laughter trailing behind them i stepped outside the
07:49clan's boundary and immediately had company a leopard shifter eyes full of hunger and violence
07:55i knew what solitary males like him did to lone females they played they broke every survival
08:01instinct i had fired at once i ran i ran until a cave mouth appeared in the rock face ahead
08:06of me
08:07with nowhere else to go i dived inside the leopard stopped at the entrance he paced he snarled in my
08:14direction then when i didn't come out he cursed twice and left from the darkness deeper in the cave
08:21came a roar that pinned me to the spot i looked up a white lion stood before me beautiful enormous
08:28his
08:29jaws were wide enough to swallow my head whole i ran again two steps then i stopped the lion had
08:40roared
08:41but he hadn't moved it was almost like he was trying to frighten me off rather than attack then i
08:48smelled it
08:48rot the hot sickening smell of infected flesh i looked at his back legs
08:56the meat there was going necrotic white with larvae i steadied myself hello you're injured i know how
09:05to heal will you let me stay he understood me he looked at me for a long moment then he
09:14stretched both
09:15his back legs forward his wounds were severe the larvae had spread deep
09:25i forced down the nausea and cleaned them out thorough 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
10:14then 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
10:58i gathered wild fruit
11:00some edible roots
11:01and came back to the cave as the sky went 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
11:21days settled into rhythm
11:23mornings i changed his dressings then went out for water and food
11:28nights he curled around me like a living blanket
11:32his warmth soaking into me while we slept
11:35half a month passed
11:37then 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
11:53he saw me two pale ears rose slowly from the top 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
12:17i smiled
12:20hello i'm sarah under my care
12:24caius had healed enough to walk
12:30on our first hunt together he showed me what he was capable of
12:34a wild boar under a minute
12:37he 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
13:01are you a rank you have to be at least
13:04caius's expression shadowed
13:07no
13:09i don't have a rank
13:10i paused
13:13what
13:16every male shifter in the beastlands was ranked
13:20that was just the world
13:23caius just shook his head
13:25he'd never had a rank
13:28and because of that
13:29his clan had called him a monster from birth
13:33cast him out young
13:36the 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
13:48no one
13:52i reached over and touched his head
13:55just lightly
13:57it's all right
13:59you have me now
14:00we're friends
14:03caius went red
14:05it was sudden and total
14:07and genuinely charming
14:11another month passed
14:14healed completely
14:19winter was coming
14:24i woke late one morning
14:26to heat radiating from his side of the den
14:29his eyes were red rimmed
14:30his breathing rough
14:38he told me to stay inside
14:40that he needed to step out for a while
14:42that 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
14:59he 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
15:14and 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
15:27caius
15:29i said do you not want me
15:32no
15:34how how 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
15:59but surprisingly i 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 we 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 extraordinarily good at this
16:42and i was pregnant
16:45i was not surprised
16:48really
16:49for three full seconds he didn't move
16:53then his ears began to tremble
16:54his tail followed
16:57his whole face changed
16:59he pressed one broad rough harm to my stomach
17:02so carefully
17:03you'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
17:11after pregnant he was at my side constantly
17:15i'd reach for something and he'd already have it
17:18i'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 wading through snow to find anything edible
17:36then the ten snake cubs had hatched
17:38i was so tired
17:39vos 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
18:03i wiped the corner of my eye
18:07just missing home
18:09is it not good here
18:11with me
18:13no
18:14that's not it
18:15i touched his hair
18:19being with you is the best thing i've had
18:23next day
18:26i'd assumed i'd never see lyra again
18:30she appeared at the entrance to our den
18:34lyra was on her knees in the snow
18:36hugely pregnant
18:37shaking
18:38white lion sir
18:39please don't kill me
18:41i looked at her
18:41something that wasn't quite amusement moved through me
18:44sarah
18:45what are you doing here
18:48do you know her
18:49no
18:51caius's killing in tate rose immediately
18:53lyra screamed
18:55no
18:55sister don't let him kill me
18:57i came to save you
18:58that single word
19:00stopped 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
19:11the sweet
19:12plastating smile again
19:13hypocritical
19:15i spoke to the chieftain for you
19:17he'll let you come back
19:18i didn't move
19:20i mean it
19:22sister
19:24we have conflict with another clan
19:26there's going to be war
19:27neither of you belong to either side
19:31you'll be collateral
19:33lyra's words landed
19:35and i remembered in our previous life there had been a war
19:38exactly like this but that war had ended the moment my ten snake cubs hatched
19:44the simultaneous appearance of ten a-read shifters is powerful enough
19:47they'd surrendered without a fight the two clans had merged the ultra clan had a
19:53priest he'd looked at me afterward and declared that i was the sacred daughter
19:57given to the clan by the beast gods
19:59but 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
20:23what then
20:24do you want to raise them out here
20:26alone
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 numbers 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
21:40god
21:41how 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
21:48she pressed a hand to her own swollen stomach
21:52come 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
22:17look out for your sister
22:18what i'd meant as love she'd received as tribute
22:23we returned to the vurek clan three days later
22:27by the third day back
22:29i knew exactly why lyra had worked so hard to retrieve me
22:34her due date was close
22:36she was terrified of dying on the birthing floor
22:38in our previous life
22:40all her five pregnancies had been dangerous
22:43and i'd been the one who'd seen her through them
22:46there was also a second reason
22:48she wanted me to watch
22:50she wanted me present when she gave birth to 20 a rank cubs
22:53and rose to become the highest ranked female in the clan
22:56she wanted my face in the crowd
22:58life inside the varek clan was not easy
23:01even with caius beside me
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 maiters 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 caius went to the front
23:30after the first skirmish the 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
23:43worth protecting worth standing behind
23:46instead the wolf shifter grew jealous
23:48he organized the other males quietly
23:51no 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
24:08it's fine he sounded almost amused
24:10they still couldn't take me down
24:12i made it back didn't i i looked at his wounds
24:15my eyes stung i'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 i don't want that
24:35stay here as long as you and the cub are safe
24:38it doesn't matter what they do to me
24:40something 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 he'd taken it as a specific thing
24:53he thought i meant the clan he'd been humiliating himself to keep me close to
24:58something 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
25:09i 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 lyra'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
25:40eggs were small this should have been easy i understood quickly enough once i started working
25:46i helped her pass 10 eggs then i reached back in and felt more
25:51i was mid-reach when lyra's body seized seizure no one in the den knew the word i snapped them
25:58to
25:58find a smooth cloth get it between her teeth before she bit through her tongue they scrambled while
26:04they held her i worked i cleared the rest of the eggs as fast as i could 20 in total
26:13when it was over lyla went limp and unconscious i brewed a draft and got it down her throat waiting
26:20outside the den she grabbed my wrist before i could leave she's your sister you should stay and care for
26:27her i looked at her i looked at his hand on my arm he'd watched a woman nearly die in
26:32that den
26:33his mate and he was already trying to pass the burden to someone else i pulled my wrist free
26:40she's your female not mine i've done what i can the rest is yours i stepped out of the den
26:47into the night air exhausted to my marrow caius was standing there waiting i started to say something
26:54about his wounds about how he should be resting he pulled me into him before i could finish his
27:00voice was rough when he spoke sarah we're not leaving i want to stay i started to ask why my
27:08shoulder went wet i brought him back to the den and sat with him when i pressed him the tears
27:16came
27:16harder he'd been outside lyra's den the whole time he'd heard everything he hadn't known that was what
27:24bearing young looked like for a female the sounds she'd made the blood the way the others had moved
27:32he was terrified if we left if we went back to the den alone and i went into labor and
27:40something went
27:40wrong there would be no one to help me no one to do what i had just done for lyla
27:44i felt the tears
27:46come before i could stop them caius i said softly that was difficult for specific reasons mine might
27:52be nothing like it i don't care he held tighter even one chance in a hundred i won't let you
28:00suffer
28:00without help not for anything he'd made himself small in this clan he hunted and shared the meat with
28:08everyone even the ones who'd abandoned him at the front he smiled at the ones who'd left him to die
28:14swallowed every indignity without complaint all of it for me what had i ever done to deserve a
28:22male like this lyra woke the following day snake eggs take time to hatch while they incubated lyra
28:31stationed herself beside them and invited most of the clam to come and watch she told anyone who would
28:37listen that all 20 would be a rark the clan was skeptical but intrigued she'd been right before
28:45they came around the same time the war finished largely because of caius the ultra clan sent delegates
28:53to negotiate their chieftain and their priest came together to discuss terms the meeting was still in
28:59progress when someone burst in from outside chieftain come quick the exit boss's den are hatching
29:05the room emptied even the ultroth delegates went word had traveled even to their clan the sacred
29:12daughter of the varay clan had birthed 28 clar snake shifters they wanted to see the den was so crowded
29:19the walls seemed to breathe the chieftain had to push his way in he arrived just as the first egg
29:26cracked
29:27open a small dark snake emerged lyra picked it up with trembling hands and held it out
29:37chieftain tell me a rank isn't it the chieftain looked he considered for a moment then he said what
29:44he saw c rank the smile frozen on lyra's face her eyes went sharp that can't be right look again
29:58please
30:00look properly the chieftain had been judging blood rank for 60 years he could do it blindfolded but he
30:07looked again because she'd asked c rank i'm certain lyra went still what's happening i thought they were
30:19all a rank 20 is an enormous number we've only ever had one a rank in the whole clan maybe
30:28there's a mix
30:29maybe the rest will be higher that last voice gave lyra something to grab onto she straightened
30:36hands on her hips exactly that was only the first i expect at least 10 a rake out of these
30:4220.
30:45three more eggs cracked everyone looked
30:50all sea rain
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
31:21b rank 10 c rank and several with no rank at all the chieftain studied the unranked ones briefly
31:28his face said everything his mouth didn't need to lyra's composure shattered this isn't possible
31:34where are my a rank cubs someone tampered with them someone swept them her voice rose cracking
31:43there's no other explanation a female in the back had had enough tampered how boss is a b rank
31:50snake shifter what exactly were you expecting him to give you a couple of good weather predictions
31:53and suddenly you're the sacred daughter the resentment had been building for weeks
31:56it broke open now all at once voice after voice peeling back the patience they'd kept
32:01then lyra's eyes found me she'd been scanning the crowd now she stopped she came straight for me and
32:06grabbed my arm you it was you you can't stand to see me do well you switched my eggs give
32:13them back
32:14give them back right now
32:15i pulled my arm from her grip lyra my voice came out flat and cold stop you accused me of
32:26going after
32:26a bonded male now you're accusing me of stealing your cubs half the clan was in that den with me
32:32ask any of them they watched everything i did the females who'd attended the birth stepped forward one by
32:39one she's right we were all there sarah didn't take anything what would she even want with snake
32:45eggs she's carrying her own the voices layered over each other lyra broke entirely why is everyone
32:51suddenly on her side just die sarah you should just die she threw herself at me i didn't move fast
33:00enough square and we both went down kaya shifted the white lion came down on top of her in one
33:07motion all
33:07that weight and fury and he opened his jaws over her he didn't close them because from somewhere
33:12behind us a voice rang out over the chaos no stop caius get your mate back to the den she's
33:17in labor
33:17the next second i was airborne lifted clean off the ground held against a chest that was warm and solid
33:24and moving very fast caius ran in the den he held my hand through all of it his brow didn't
33:33unfurl once
33:34he kept talking low steady you're all right you're doing so well i'm right here while his
33:41own hand shook harder than mine everything went smoothly less than two hours later i delivered two
33:49white lion cubs twins oh they're beautiful the attending female breathed lifting one and cleaning
34:00it briskly strong too look at them i'd wager these are a rank at least let the chieftain have a
34:07look
34:09it'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
34:38the altar priest leaned in his voice went sharp with something that sounded almost like outrage
34:46you 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
35:01other cubs but i didn't dare s rank here from this den two of them we have two s rank
35:06shifters in this
35:07clan the den erupted caius and i looked at each other the news moved through the clan like fire lyra
35:16had pushed her way back through the crowd and into the den entrance she saw the cubs she looked
35:22at me this isn't real her voice had gone strange too high too tight sarah how could you possibly
35:29produce s rank cubs who's with him he doesn't even have a rank the joy in the den quiet it
35:36was the thing
35:37people had wondered and hadn't said before any of it could take hold the altar priest stepped forward
35:44no rank who told you his voice rang off the stone walls caius is s rank he's been s rank
35:52this entire
35:53time that's precisely why we yielded silence the priest told them what the ultrac clan had seen on
36:01the battlefield abilities that couldn't be explained by any ordinary blood rank when they'd 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
36:46she is the sacred daughter reborn if the s-rate announcement had been a shock this was the stone
36:52that broke the surface of 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 bonded 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 but 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
37:55or not under the judgment of the whole clan drac admitted all of it lila had planned it from the
38:03beginning she'd bribed him with herself he'd stolen a tough of my fur and they'd staged the confrontation
38:09together the one who'd gone after a bonded male had never been me boss's face went white he was a
38:16snake
38:17and snakes were possessive creatures lyra his voice was very quiet
38:24you betrayed me her legs buckled no boss please listen to me they're lying all of them don't he'd
38:32already shifted the great dark snake moved faster than eyes could follow he caught her by the back of
38:37the neck and then he was gone a trail in the snow and nothing else a few days later someone
38:43found what
38:44remained of lyra outside the clan boundary she was identifiable only by her clothes word spread fast
38:52the chieftain had no choice vos was driven out the cubs lyra had carried were not held accountable for
39:00any of it the females of the clan gathered them all up and raised them together the males under caius's
39:07lead
39:08turned outward new territory broader boundaries room to grow season by season the work accumulated in the
39:17new spring the clan raised caius to chieftain i stood beside him the same position i had held in another
39:24life through a different path with different scars but here now with someone who had wept outside a den
39:31because he was afraid of losing me our two white lion cubs rolled in the grass nearby already stocky
39:36and ridiculous and impossibly strong i watched caius tilt his face toward the sun eyes half closed ears
39:43twitting i had lived two lives in this world i didn't need a third
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