Evangeline followed the faint GPS signal, searching as she went. She crossed five snowy mountains, and by the ti night fell, she still hadn’t found Lachlan. Just as she was about to doubt the accuracy of the Contract Mark, she ca upon a tribe.
Clusters of flickering campfires illuminated a nomadic tribe of beast skin tents.
Evangeline narrowed her eyes. Judging by the tribe’s totem, this had to be the Yak Clan.
’So, Lachlan recklessly ca all the way here to investigate?’
But Evangeline soon realized she was mistaken. Lachlan wasn’t that reckless—he had actually been captured.
Inside a beast skin tent.
Midori tossed a wooden club in her hand as she looked at Lachlan, who was drenched in blood. She doubled over with laughter, utterly delighted. "Who would have thought that the high and mighty Lachlan the Snow Leopard would see such a pathetic day."
Lachlan’s eyes were vacant and blood trickled from the corner of his lips, but his expression remained as cold as ever.
"I asked you to Contract with back then, but you refused. You just had to choose a vicious female like Evangeline!"
"Lachlan, ending up like this is your retribution!"
"You’re surprisingly hard to kill, surviving even a Snow Dragon’s wrath."
Midori’s gaze swept over Lachlan’s face. She ripped open the beast skin on his body and stared at the Red Fox Contract Mark on his neck. She reached out to touch it gently, a morbid smile spreading across her face.
Lachlan’s brows finally furrowed. His clear voice was laced with disgust. "Don’t touch ."
"Don’t... touch you?" Midori’s smile grew even more delighted.
"Now that you’re in my hands, what can’t I do?" Midori chuckled, grabbing Lachlan’s chin.
"Although this pathetic state of yours is quite an eyesore, you can’t even maintain your beast form..." Midori paused, then tightened her grip on Lachlan’s chin to force his head up. A greedy glint appeared in her eyes. "But this face... it’s still as handso as ever. No wonder even Evangeline is so infatuated with you."
Just then, the flap of the beast skin tent was thrown open. A tall, powerfully built male walked in, well over eight feet tall even in his human form. His fierce, nacing face instantly softened the mont he saw Midori.
Jago offered her the roasted at in his hand. "Dolly, have sothing to eat?"
Midori frowned and slapped the roasted at from his hand, snapping, "Get out!"
A flicker of disappointnt crossed Jago’s eyes, but it vanished as quickly as it appeared.
He crouched down and picked up the roasted at. With a casual wipe of his calloused fingers to brush off the dirt, he swallowed it whole. His gaze then lingered for a mont on Lachlan’s pale face.
"I’ll be standing guard outside." Jago’s voice was deep, but it held a gentle tone when he spoke to Midori. "Be careful you don’t get hurt by him. Just call if anything happens!"
With that, he turned and left the beast skin tent, standing guard outside like an iron tower.
The tent fell silent.
A faint smile played on Midori’s lips. Her fingertips hooked onto her Beast Skin Skirt and, with a gentle tug, exposed her wheat-colored skin to the air.
She took a step closer, her fingers already touching the beast skin at Lachlan’s waist.
Lachlan’s body, bound by vines, went taut. The Bone Ornant in his hair made a jarring clatter.
"Don’t touch ." His clear, pleasant voice was filled with rage and edged with hostility. The corners of his vacant eyes flushed red with anger, making him look exactly like a cornered Ferocious Beast.
Midori’s fingertips hovered in mid-air as she admiringly watched the taut line of his jaw.
"Such a fiery temper," Midori chuckled, her warm breath brushing against the wounds on his body.
Suddenly, her expression darkened. She grabbed a handful of Lachlan’s long, loose hair and yanked his head back. "You’d better keep that fire for later. Don’t spoil my fun."
Suddenly, the deep bellow of a yak ca from outside the tent.
Midori instinctively turned to look, just as the crack of a whip tore into the tent, kicking up a wave of snow.
"AH—"
A single lash of the whip sent Midori flying.
A lock of her flaxen hair was severed, falling to the ground along with a Bone Ornant with a CLATTER.
Lachlan panted and turned his head. The Red Fox Contract Mark on his neck began to grow warm, then hot.
A familiar, sultry voice spoke up. "These days, a male needs to know how to protect himself when he’s out and about."
Evangeline strode unhurriedly into the tent. She glanced at the disheveled Lachlan, her red lips curving into a dangerous smile. "Well, look at this pitiful sight. If I had arrived a mont later... wouldn’t you have..."
Lachlan’s lips tightened into a pale, thin line. Suddenly, he felt the vines binding his limbs snap one by one.
The next mont, a soft beast skin was thrown over his head. The supple fur grazed the still-bleeding whip marks on his body, sending a shiver through him. He clenched his jaw against the pain.
Lachlan instinctively gripped the edge of the beast skin, his white-knuckled fingers sinking into the plush fur.
Evangeline turned and walked toward Midori, her steps light, a faint smile on her face.
Midori clutched the bleeding welt from the whip, her face turning deathly pale as she stared at Evangeline. "E-Evangeline?"
Evangeline tilted her head, her narrow, fox-like eyes filled with an icy chill. Her sultry voice was like a biting winter wind as she drew out her words. "Didn’t your parents ever teach you not to touch other people’s things?"
"I..." Midori’s lips trembled, her body shaking like a leaf in the autumn wind.
Evangeline’s fingertips crept up Midori’s neck as she whispered, "I did warn you. Why didn’t you listen..."
CRACK—
With a faint, crisp snap, Midori’s head twisted to the side at an unnatural angle.
Evangeline deliberately withdrew her hand, letting Midori’s limp body slump to the ground. Her limbs were still twitching, and her calf kicked the Bone Ornant on the floor, causing another crisp clatter.
Evangeline stared at the Bone Ornant for a few monts, then turned to Lachlan and quirked her lips. "Let’s go. We’re going ho."
Those last two words, "going ho," echoed in Lachlan’s ears, making his fingertips grow even more rigid. He had just started to move when a pair of slender hands took the beast skin from him and draped it over his shoulders, none too gently. "There!"
Once outside the beast skin tent, Evangeline saw they were surrounded by Beastn from the Yak Clan.
And at the entrance to the tent, Jago’s body lay limp on the ground, his pupils dilated.
He had Contracted with Midori. With her dead, he hadn’t been able to survive the backlash from the Beast God Contract.
Of course, it’s not as if he was innocent.
Lachlan had just stepped out of the tent when an arm suddenly wrapped tightly around his waist.
Evangeline’s slender arm had coiled around him, pulling him forcefully into her embrace.
She carried a cool, dark fragrance, and her fingertips left a searing heat on his waist through the beast skin.
"Hold on tight."
She whispered close to his ear, her warm breath sending a faint shiver across the tip of his ear.
Before Lachlan could react, a sense of weightlessness washed over him.
Evangeline leaped into the air with him in her arms, the night wind howling past their ears.
Lachlan instinctively reached out, and his knuckles brushed against her slightly rounded belly. He froze.
The roars of the Yak Clan Beastn rose from below, while Evangeline’s sultry chuckle scattered in the whistling wind.
After what felt like an eternity, Lachlan’s feet finally touched solid ground.
He staggered half a step, but Evangeline’s hand remained firmly locked around his waist. It was as if she had expected this reaction—after all, he was a Snow Leopard and likely had no experience with flying through the sky.
"Alright, we’re ho. I’ll leave you here."
"I’ll be back after I find the eyes. The plague in the Frost-plain Tribe is gone, so the Yak Clan Beastn are no match for you Snow Leopard Beastn. You don’t need to worry too much."
After she spoke, Evangeline shoved a box into Lachlan’s hand.
"Our deal is valid anyti."
"I’m leaving."
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