Chapter 3

“My lady.” A voice called out to me. Forcing me to open my eyes. Mary, the maid from before, smiled and my heart fell. After the bizarre situation the previous day and everything that I was told last night. I had hoped I would wake up somewhere in hell, because I doubted my chance in heaven. Or somewhere in eternal darkness. Anywhere dead souls go. Or, and I really wished I found myself back in my house, on my bed, laughing at the bizarre dream.

Seeing Mary, and the unfamiliar room proved beyond a doubt that this and everything else was real.

“Are you alright?” Mary asked, frowning.

“Yes, just had a strange dream.” I lied, recalling what Inara’s mother said.

My mother now I guessed.

I never really had one of those.  

But no one must know that I lost my memories.

No one must know that I wasn’t Inara.

My father was one of the marquises governing the east of the human territory. And is considered the most powerful amongst the four marquises in charge of the human territory. Our connection to the bear clan will only help us expand and gain power and she believed the other marquises were trying to sabotage that. Which was why I lost my memory. I wasn’t going to dispute that.

“Rise and shine, Inara. We’ve got much to do today.” The lady of the house walked in grandly. Still as beautiful as she was the previous day. Proud and happy.

To be an incubator meant for bearing children.

I still could not believe that I had somehow returned to the stone age. And meant to be given out to a man who wanted me to breed twelve children and strengthen his bloodline.

Is this my life now?

I slapped my cheeks hard.

Fuck it.

I didn’t spend twenty-six years of my life, busting my ass, studying, working to end up being a glorified incubator by these bastards.

This was my world now and my first mission was set.

Two weeks, that’s all I had to stop this claiming.

~

The world truly was different from where I came from. There were no skyscrapers or cars or even phones. Carriages, carts, and foot were the mode of transportation and we made use of coins rather than bank notes. But I wouldn’t say this was the stone age.

The houses were beautiful, in different shapes, heights and sizes. Stores and restaurants with glasses, panned throughout and smooth roads. It wasn’t like my world, just in between.

The streets bustled with life. With men and women, lining up in front of a saloon, sitting in a restaurant or bidding over a necklace in front of a stall.

But the longer I watched, the more I realized one dreadful reality. None of the women were working. Just the men.

“The women don’t work.” I turned to Avery, as our carriage rode by and made sure the sentence came as a statement more than a question.

My mother chuckled.

“That’s absurd to even imagination.”

“No, the men work, they lead. The women wait, then serve and carry out our duties.”

Cold ran down my spine.

“But there are more women than there are men.” I protested that logic. Women were in abundance. In the streets, giggling, arguing, hanging around some men, gossiping in front of a saloon.

“And there are more shifters that need us more than you would realize.” Avery retorted.

“We are always needed and bound by our duties.”

“If not here, then somewhere else.”

I said nothing.

This was truly absurd. Something I would never have imagined in a million years.

The carriage stopped in front of a fancy looking store, displaying women clothing. Women strolled out of the store, confident and satisfied. And more walked right in.

The moment we stepped out of the carriage, all eyes turned to me. Even from across the street.

“Isn’t that Marquis Bloomwood’s daughter?”

“The one born for the Bear clan.”

“She is so lucky.” The gossip started and I shrank into myself.

I wasn’t even known for my name. Not like I wanted to be known.

Before I could blink, the store was surrounded and everyone suddenly wanted to congratulate me. My mother led the way, smiling, while ignoring most of them and I followed as we walked right into the store. But that didn’t disperse the crowd. They hung around the door, see-through glass panels, giggling over how many children I would bear and if I could introduce them to more shifters.

Just hearing them made my head hurt.

“My lady,” a man stopped in front of us, bowing dramatically. Followed by other men, dressed in matching uniforms. I swallowed. They were exquisite to the eye.

“Llyod,” my mother walked past him and made herself comfortable in a sit.

“Get me your finest dresses, under wears and shoes.” She ordered. Llyod turned to me, his eyes openingly roaming my body, then he smiled.

“Right away, my lady.”                                                            

Forced to sit down beside my mother, one of the attendants offered us a glass of wine and some cookies while the rest went ahead to get the dresses.

Twenty minutes later, the store was cleared out, and lines of clothes flooded my vision, followed by shoes, then under wears. In another situation, this would be exciting. I would jump right into them, but I was too worried about my future to care.

“My boys will help you change.” Llyod said, taking my hand and forcing me to get up.

I frowned.

“Boys?”

“Go with them, Inara.” Avery entered and my heart skipped. I stared at the two guys waiting for me and cold immediately ran down my spine. Not to be unprofessional, or to discriminate, I would rather change on my own.

“I can handle it.”

“No, you can’t.” Avery insisted. I swallowed back my protest and followed the men into the dress room. Immediately their hands came on my shoulders and back and I jumped.

“Relax, my lady.” One of them whispered in my ears.

“We’ve been over this a couple of times already.”

My stomach hallowed out. I might insist that Inara has lost her memories, but acting out of my character too much might not be a good thing. However, I still couldn’t bring myself to let strangers strip me.

“Not today.” I squared my shoulders.

They frowned.

“But my lady….”

“You are wasting my time. Please leave and let me get dressed.”

Their frowns deepened but they didn’t leave immediately. I spun around, ready to protest further when one grabbed my waist, pinning me against his body while his other hand grabbed the back of my hair and pulled. The sting came like a whip and the shock rolled through my body, freezing me in place. I couldn’t even scream.

“You’ve not been claimed by the Bear clan lord yet and you think you are suddenly something.” He spat.

“There are thousands of you out there, begging to breed my children. And your only saving grace is the Bear clan.” He pushed me away while the other snickered.

I didn’t react even after they left. It’s been such a long time since I felt such powerlessness. Yes, men were jerks everywhere and I met my own share of trouble, but I ran as far as I could and never looked back but this just reminded me of the kind of world I found myself.

In the next hour, I changed into more than twenty clothes. Some I needed help with but refused to call on anyone again. And some I didn’t bother putting on when I realized how difficult it was going to be. I just claimed not to like it.

When we were done, I breathed out in relief, till another assistant handed me the under wears.

“Change quickly, and come, shall we?” Llyod clapped his hand, urging me to move faster. I frowned at the things in my hand and the men standing around, waiting for me to give them a fashion show. The guy from earlier smirked when I met his eyes and some openly grinned.

I turned to Avery but she looked comfortable, smiling at something Llyod said like this was normal.

In this world, it probably was.

I walked back into the dressing room, making sure to lock the door and changed into the first. With straps on my thighs and around my tiny waist. I still couldn’t get used to this body or face. It was so beautiful and in shape, like something that could not exist.

I changed into the second, and third, refusing to go out and show them anything till I finally got to the last. It barely covered my ass cheeks, and the bra top was more straps than a topping.

“I like this one better.” A voice suddenly came from behind me. My heart skipped. A man was standing cross legs in the opposite direction with a smile on his face and a look in his eyes that I couldn’t quite decipher. He wasn’t one of the attendants. And honestly looked too good for the store with how he was dressed but he remained there like he owned the place.

Not just the place.

His eyes ran through my body like it belonged to him. Then he licked his lips and I found myself strangely drawn to it then to his face.

He was tall with fair skin and bright red hair and a face meant to induce a heart attack for being overwhelmingly beautiful. But more than that, it was his eyes.

Sharp green eyes with specks of gold. They were the most beautiful eyes I had ever seen and they held me in place till I was drowning in it, unable to pull away.

It was like I had been hypnotized.