The Next Day: The Great Mating Festival
Xin Yi woke up and imdiately tried to crawl under her bed.
[DING! (╬ Ò﹏Ó)]
[Wakey wakey! It’s the Day of the Mark! The Day of the Knot! The Day of—]
"I’M NOT DOING IT!" Xin Yi yelled into her fur pillow. "I’m leaving! I’m going back to the bathroom I transmigrated from! I’ll take the diarrhea, just get out of here!"
[You can’t flee, Host! The pheromones in the air are currently at a 400% concentration. If you leave now, these three Alphas will literally tear the forest apart looking for you. Also, according to my sensors, everyone is... extrely ’motivated’ today.]
Xin Yi peeked out of the palace doors and imdiately ducked back in. The camp was a ss. Even the regular warriors were acting feral. She saw a female tiger pinned against a tree by a male panther, both of them smooching with enough intensity to start a brushfire.
"It’s like Spring Break but with more fur," she whispered.
She tried to sneak out the back entrance, hoping to hide in the vegetable patch until the sun went down. She didn’t get five feet before a cold, firm hand grabbed her wrist.
"Going sowhere?" Qing Lin asked, his voice low and vibrating. He looked different today, his scales were shimring, and his pupils were blown wide.
"I... I was just checking the kale!"
"The kale can wait."
Suddenly, the bushes exploded. Hei Yan erged, his chest bare, his muscles rippling under his black-spotted skin. He looked completely feral, his eyes glowing with a dark, territorial hunger.
"Give my woman, Snake," Hei Yan growled.
"She has not chosen you yet," Qing Lin countered, pulling Xin Yi closer to his chest.
"I am taking her!" Feng Huang roared, leaping from a nearby rock. "She’s mine!"
"I AM NOT AN OBJECT!" Xin Yi scread, her voice cracking the tension for a split second. "I will do what I want! And right now, I want you all to STOP!"
But the "Mating Fever" was too strong. Hei Yan didn’t listen. With a roar of triumph, he lunged forward, swiped her out of Qing Lin’s grasp, and scooped her into his massive arms.
"Hei Yan! Put down!"
He didn’t. He tucked her head under his chin and began to run toward his private quarters, his heart thumping like a war drum against her ear.
[DING! (⊙_⊙)]
[WARNING! WARNING! ALERT!]
[Host, the ’Alpha Feral’ status is at 100%! He is currently 0% rational and 100% ’I must provide an heir.’]
[Also... just a reminder... you’re still a virgin. Would you like to play so soothing elevator music? Or perhaps the ’Beginner’s Guide to Beastly Anatomy’?]
"HELP!" Xin Yi wailed as Hei Yan kicked open the door to his stone chamber. "SYSTEM, DO SOTHING! I’M NOT READY FOR THE KITTENS!"
Hei Yan slamd the door shut and pinned her against the furs, his golden-black eyes burning into hers.
"Choose," he rasped, his breath hot against her neck. "Choose , Xin Yi. Before I lose what’s left of my mind."
Before Xin Yi could even find her voice, the heavy stone door creaked open.
"Hei Yan!" a high, desperate voice called out.
i Hu stood there, her clothes intentionally disheveled, her scent spiked with the sa pheromones currently driving the rest of the tribe mad. She ignored Xin Yi entirely, throwing herself at Hei Yan’s back and wrapping her arms around his thick waist.
"Alpha, look at !" i Hu pleaded, rubbing her cheek against his shoulder blades. "The Mating Fever is burning up. Why waste your strength on a weak, scentless human who doesn’t even know how to submit? I am a Panther of your own blood! I can give you the strongest cubs the Shadow Claw has ever seen!"
She slid around to his front, trying to wedge herself between Hei Yan and Xin Yi. Her hands climbed up his chest, and she stood on her tiptoes, trying to press her lips to his jawline. "Mate with , Hei Yan. Claim . Let’s show the tribe what a real Alpha and his Luna look like."
For a split second, Hei Yan went dead still. Xin Yi held her breath, wondering if the "Feral" status would make him take the easy option.
But then, a low, guttural snarl ripped from Hei Yan’s throat. It wasn’t a sound of passion, it was a warning.
Without even looking at her, Hei Yan grabbed i Hu by the shoulders. With a surge of raw, terrifying strength, he flung her away. i Hu let out a shriek as she tumbled across the stone floor, crashing into a pile of storage crates in the corner.
"Out," Hei Yan roared, his voice vibrating the very foundations of the room. He didn’t even glance back to see if she was hurt. His eyes never left Xin Yi’s face, burning with a singular, obsessive focus. "I only have room for one scent in my head. And it isn’t yours."
[DING! (⌐■_■)]
[System Comntary: Ouch. Talk about a brutal rejection. That’s going to cost her a lot in therapy points, if therapy existed here. Also, Host? He just chose you over a ’superior’ genetic match. If that’s not a 100% ’Claiming’ flag, I don’t know what is!]
i Hu scrambled to her feet, her face twisted in a mask of pure, humiliated rage. She hissed at Xin Yi, a sound of pure venom, before fleeing the chamber.
The door slamd shut with a finality that made Xin Yi jump. Hei Yan turned back to her, his shadow looming large over the bed. The brief interruption seed to have only made his hunger more concentrated.
He crawled back over her, his large, calloused hands sliding into her hair, tilting her head back as he began to nuzzle the sensitive skin behind her ear. His tongue swiped against the lobe, sending a jolt of electricity straight to her toes.
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