As a squadron leader serving under royalty, even if she was the lowest in the hierarchy, Kaida knew very well.

The truth was that beastkins were killed simply for being weak and resembling demons, without any reason other than to satisfy the ego of humans, who offered the pitiful justification that beastkins were more sensitive to corruption, when in reality, it was the opposite.

Kaida, thinking about beast-kin, turned her cage towards the one within her group, towards the slave whom she would have hated but didn't, since she knew a slave means following the orders of the master without will.

So she felt more sympathy than hatred towards Bella for attacking Mira. But as she turned, knowing what this demonic mist, a part of history for Bella, meant, her eyes widened.

'!'

Bella's hands were shaking.

Her mind wasn't in the cave anymore.

She was back in Ashvale—her village, small and tucked away in the hills, far from the capital's eyes.

A place where catkin like her family had scratched out a living for generations.

Her mother's warm laugh echoing as she stirred stew over the fire. Her father's rough hands ruffling her silver hair after a long day in the fields. Her baby sister Kira's tiny fists waving, chasing fireflies at dusk with those gummy smiles that lit up the night.

And then 'he' came.

Third Prince Leo Wanhen Eldrian. The golden boy of the kingdom, sweeping through with his army like a storm.

Ashvale wasn't even on their path—some border skirmish had pissed off the royals, demons had killed one of their own, and the rage needed an outlet.

Beast-kin villages were easy targets.

"Demon lovers," they spat. Close enough to the mist to make the lie stick.

The soldiers hit at dawn. No warning. No mercy.

Bella had been hiding with her mother and Kira in the root cellar when the screams started.

Her father was outside, axe in hand, trying to protect the neighbors.

She heard the clash—metal on metal, then a wet sound.

Her father challenged the Prince to a duel, his grim back protecting her while she helplessly watched him die.

Her father's headless body slumped, blood pooling black in the dirt.

Her mother stumbled forward from the chaos, reaching for him, tears carving tracks through the soot on her furred cheeks.

Prince Leo stood there, sword dripping, his yellow eyes empty as a dead fish. He didn't even glance twice. Just turned to walk away.

Clink.

A pebble bounced off his golden hair. Bella's doing—she'd chucked it from the rubble pile, pure hate burning through her shock. "You killed my father!"

He turned. Slow. Annoyed. "Capture her."

The guards swarmed. Her mother grabbed Kira and bolted, some speed ability kicking in, blurring them through the burning streets. For a heartbeat, hope flickered.

Then the arrow punched through her mother's back. Straight through the heart. They tumbled—mother and sisters—in a heap of blood and broken dreams.

"Mama!" Bella crawled to her, blood soaking her dress, as her mother gasped final words. "Run..."

The sword fell. Mother's head rolled, eyes locking with Father's across the gore.

Leo loomed over Bella next, blade raised. She froze, hatred the only thing keeping her from shattering.

Kira's wail pierced it all. The baby glowed—white-gold light exploding from her tiny body, some freak awakening. Leo's eyes lit with cold interest. "Fascinating. Shut her up."

He stepped toward Kira. Bella lunged, scooping her sister, screaming defiance.

The light erupted. It swallowed them—burning, twisting space itself. Bella felt reality rip, hurling her away from the slaughter, from Leo's hollow stare.

She woke in this gods-forsaken forest, alone. Kira gone. Family butchered. Chained later by slavers who found her half-dead.

No cellar hiding. No little sister. Just Leo's face, burned into her nightmares.

"Bella?"

Viktor's voice sliced through the memory like a blade.

She blinked hard, vision snapping back. The cave. The Demonic Mist swirling like death's breath beyond the entrance. Viktor and Kaida staring, concern etching their faces.

Her body shook like a leaf in a storm. Claws out, digging bloody crescents into her palms. Breath came in sharp, ragged hitches, chest heaving as if she'd sprinted from Ashvale all over again.

"Bella," Viktor said again, softer this time.

She looked up at him—his dark eyes, his ridiculous tail swishing behind him, his hand still resting on Kaida's waist even though she was glaring at him.

"Hey." His voice was low, steady. "I'm here."

Her breath hitched.

"Why are you showing that face?" Viktor asked, tilting his head slightly. His tone wasn't mocking. Wasn't teasing. Just... present.

Bella flinched, stumbling back a step. Her foot caught on a loose stone and she nearly fell, but Viktor moved—chain rattling as he stepped forward and steadied her with his free hand on her shoulder.

The touch was warm. Solid. Real.

Her golden eyes trembled, locked on his.

"I'm here," Viktor repeated. "You're not alone."

Bella's lips parted, but no sound came out. Her throat felt too tight, her chest too full of something she couldn't name.

Viktor's hand squeezed her shoulder once—firm, reassuring—before letting go.

He turned then, his gaze shifting past her toward Kaida, who stood with her arms folded, watching the fog with narrowed eyes. Her expression was hard, unreadable.

Bella followed his gaze.

And then her eyes dropped lower.

To the chain.

The glowing purple chain that connected Viktor's wrist to Kaida's.

'Consummate.'

The word echoed in her mind again, louder this time.

To break the chain, they had to—

Bella's face flushed, and she bit her lip hard enough to taste blood.

'What does it matter to me?' she thought bitterly. 'He's not even related to me. I'm just... I'm just...'

A slave. A tool. A burden.

She clenched her fists tighter, her claws retracting slowly.

'I have no right to feel anything.'

"Let's move," Viktor said, his voice snapping Bella out of her spiral.

He started walking toward the newly opened passage—the one that led away from the Demonic Mist, deeper into the cave system. The chain rattled as Kaida followed, her jaw set.

Bella hesitated for a moment, her gaze lingering on the swirling black fog behind them.

Then she turned and followed.

The three of them moved in silence, before finally stopped outsude the narrow passage from where light was comibg, basking in.

"...."

"...."

Both Kaida and Viktor stood there for exactly 3 seconds.

"What happen?"

"Nothing, go inside."

"What?"

Kaida's eye twitched as she stared at the narrow passage before them—a crack in the stone wall barely wide enough for one person to squeeze through sideways.

Light spilled from the other side, warm and inviting, but the path to it looked like something designed by a sadist. The purple chain connecting their wrists pulsed faintly, as if reminding them it wasn't going anywhere.

"Ladies first," Viktor said, gesturing toward the opening with his free hand.

Kaida's mouth tightened into a flat line. Her red eyes narrowed suspiciously. "Why are you suddenly being polite?"

Viktor shrugged, wincing as the motion pulled at his still-healing ribs. "Just common courtesy."

"Bullshit."

And then it hit her.

Kaida's mind, as if through the experience with this man, finally realized why he was being so gentlemanly right now.

'T-thi-this... PERVERT!'

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