Chapter 2

I gaped at him.

What was he talking about?

“She grew up beautifully, Marquis.” Another man entered, speaking to the man who held onto me earlier.

“Of course, she is to be your in-law after all.”

“And you my lord, deserves the best.” He bowed. My head was beginning to hurt.

“Indeed, she is beautiful.”

“My grandchildren will be the strongest and most beautiful children the clan has ever seen.” A woman settled beside the man in front of me. She was just as huge, and her eyes were hard and assessing. Looking at me from head to toe like I was just livestock.

Who is this?

That same window from earlier appeared before me. I jumped and looked around, but no one paid me any mind. Like they were not seeing the window, or they couldn’t care less.

STATUS

Name: Ellen Grayham

Age: 52

Status: Claimed

Value: Extremely high

Specie: Bear Clan (Warrior)

Rank: B

Am I in a game?

I turned to the man whose hand was still on my belly. And stepped away from him. He smiled, dashing. Enough to make my legs shake.

What about him?

STATUS

Name: Knox Grayham

Age: 24

Status: Unclaimed

Value: Extremely high

Specie: Bear Clan (Heir to the bear clan)

Rank: A

This is real.

And what does it mean by bear clan?

Am I seriously in a game?

“Inara.” The woman I ran from earlier stopped beside me. Then turned to Bear clan and bowed like the others.

“Welcome, my Lords.”

STATUS

Name: Avery Bloomwood

Age: 40

Status: Claimed

Value: High

Specie: Human (Reproductive status: Compatible)

Rank: None

I guessed she was Inara’s mother.

And I was beginning to guess that I died or somehow transmigrated into this mess. Dread curled at the pit of my stomach and tears burned the back of my eyes.

My life, gone, just like that?

What would happen to my job?

My stocks?

Will anyone even notice I was gone?

My chest hurt. Like there was a boulder there, pressing and pressing till I couldn’t breathe.

“Are you alright?” Avery stepped beside me, jolting me. She sounded worried. I blinked my tears away. I must have frightened her after I sped out like that. I was frightened and confused. I didn’t understand what was going on but I wanted to return to my body. And my daily life.

I turned to her, meeting her eyes.

What would happen if I told her that I wasn’t Inara?

I shook my head. That was a bad idea that would lead to major catastrophe.

What if they tortured me? Would they even believe me?

“I can’t remember anything.” Tears ran down my cheeks. And I lowered my gaze immediately before anyone would see.

I didn’t want to die. I wanted my life back.

She paused. Then her eyes went wide.

“This isn’t funny.”

“I really don’t know what’s wrong with me.” I raised my gaze after subtly wiping my tears away.

“Am I Inara? Is that my name? Are you my mother? Who are these people? Where am….”

“Shhh.” She snapped her hands over my mouth. Anger hardening her eyes. But she must have seen something in my eyes. Was it fear? Confusion? The pain etched deep within my soul. Whatever she saw, it was enough to believe that I was telling the truth. So, she took a step back and smiled weakly, looking at everyone and acting as normally as she could in this situation.

“For now, just remain quiet.” She whispered underneath her breath. Just at the same time, a clinking sound stopped everyone.

All attention turned to the man from earlier.

“Twenty four years ago, when Duke Grayham had his son, he sent for lowly me.” He bowed lightly to said Duke Grayham. He was just as huge as his son.

“And he gave me an assignment. The honor and duty to find a perfect wife and bear a daughter.”

“That daughter would be the one to carry the future of the Bear clan.”

Cheers rose.

I frowned.

“Today, I am proud and happy to say I fulfilled that assignment.” The man turned to me. And the girls around me squealed.

“You will do what you were born to do.”

“And bring honor to the Bear clan and this family alike.”

Cheers rose, the girls wouldn’t stop grinning and from across the room, Knox Grayham smiled, raising a glass at me. Eyes undressing me.

I wanted to laugh, then cry.

It was funny but it wasn’t.

A glass found its way to my hand, and everyone kept congratulating me while I wanted to disappear.

“I want to bear his pup too.” The girls didn’t stop talking about him.

“Oh, the honor.”

“I am jealous.”

“I can go for the unclaimed guards.”

“I don’t care, as far as he is a shifter.”

“I will gladly give birth to a dozen if I could be claimed by a shifter.”

“Hahaha.”

I laughed, awkwardly. Nerves getting the best of me.

Absolutely fucking not. Are they insane?

“Excuse me.” I walked away from the crowd, needing to breathe. I had no idea where I was going but I just kept walking till I arrived at the back of the house. Flowers were planted alongside smooth, paved paths. Something I could stop and admire if I wasn’t so out of it.

I only stopped when I couldn’t hear the guests talking. Then I took a deep breath and relaxed against a lone standing tree.

Nothing made sense. Except the fact that I might have died in my sleep. And was probably reborn into this world. Or maybe I transmigrated here.

But why?

And what was this world?

Where is the real Inara?

“There you are.” A voice came from behind me. I jumped to find Knox hovering over me.

“I was made to believe you like this sort of party. Are you unwell?”

I swallowed. And took a step back. For someone who had been undressing me with his eyes, I wasn’t sure close proximity was the best.

“Oh, I just…” I took another step back.

“Are you frightened?”

I stiffened.

“What?”

“I am a bear, I can smell fear in you.”

A bear?

A real bear?

“But don’t worry, I will try to be gentle on our first night.” He took a step forward, closing the distance between us.

God he was massive. And now that I knew he was a real bear shifter, he was scarer.

“I will fulfill your wish and make you the envy of all human women.”

My brows raised.

“My wish?”

“Yes,” he wrapped his arms around me and pulled me close. His eyes glinting with something dangerous. Cold ran down my spine.

“I still have your letters.”

My letters?

Inara’s letters. 

“I got hard every time you expressed how honored you were to be born just for me. And how you couldn’t wait to fulfil your duties.”

What?

Is she crazy?

“After seeing you for the first time, I find myself wishing for the two weeks to get here, so I can take you back to my territory.” He squeezed my waist.

“But till then, wait.” He pulled away and without saying anything else, walked away.

The party ended quickly after that and the ladies who wanted my attention were dismissed by Avery after she told them I had a fever.

It was late into the night that she finally came back to the room. She stopped in front of the door and stared at me for a while.

“You really can’t remember anything?” She entered, her voice sounding smaller, frightened.

I shook my head slowly. If I was dead and, in another world, then I couldn’t tell anyone the truth. And I had to survive somehow.

“You were fine this morning.” She rushed towards me.

“Excited. You refused to eat, because you wanted to look good in your dress.”

“Then you slept off while waiting after drinking that….” She paused. Her eyes going wide.

“The tea. Could it have been poisoned.”

Oh no.

“Did someone do this to you?”

Someone was going to get in trouble because of me. Maybe I should tell the truth now.

“Wait.” I grabbed her hand as she was about to storm out. And the words caught in my throat. I couldn’t tell the truth.

“Will it be alright if people find out that I lost my memories?”

Her eyes went wide and she grabbed my arm tight.

“No one must know.”

“You…we will keep this to ourselves.”

Phew…

No one was going to get hurt.

“But how could this have happened. You were trained from childhood for a day like today and suddenly you lose your memories. Someone clearly doesn’t want the alliance with the bear clan.”

“But that wouldn’t happen.”

“I will help you remember all you’ve forgotten about yourself, about this world, about your duties.”

“Our duties as women.”

“Our duties as women?”

“Yes, that’s the most sacred, most important and most honorable.” She started.

I was in a world ruled by beasts. Shifters as they were called. And they were the most powerful, frightening and the most respected people in the world. Shifters were ranked by how powerful they were and the most powerful ones were given their territories as dukes. While humans deemed the weakest of all race serve underneath them. But most importantly.

“Women, human women especially are given the honor to strengthen and continue their bloodline.”

My brows raised.

“Every year, only a few hundred women are chosen by shifters. And you, my dear…” she cupped my cheek.

“Are a breed above the others. You were born for the bear clan. One of the powerful clans around and meant to breed for the heir.”

My heart stopped.

“Their bloodline rests entirely on you.”