Chapter 3

Elyse turned around and saw that it was Mirabel's foot that had hit her. Noticing that she'd turned to look at them, Marvin revealed his member to her while flashing her a sleazy grin.

"Sorry about that," he said.

Although it was dark in the cave, Elyse still had a clear view of the expression on Marvin's face. Nothing in it indicated he was sincere about his apology. On the contrary, it felt like he was secretly challenging her.

It was obvious his intentions were less than pure.

All around her were the caves of other beastfolk. At this late hour, nearly every cave was occupied with the making of little beastlings. It couldn't be helped. There was no other entertainment available. Once the sky turned dark, the only thing the beastfolk could do for fun was procreate.

Feeling rather frightened, Elyse headed toward a quieter area.

The sounds coming from the female cave grew louder and louder. It seemed like Mirabel and Marvin wouldn't be done anytime soon.

The Duskfall clan wasn't very large. Soon, Elyse reached the edge of the settlement. Suddenly, she noticed a fire flickering in one of the caves, and the smell of roasting meat drifted through the air.

Her stomach groaned. Having not eaten for nearly the entire day, she was starving. She followed the smell and arrived at the entrance of a cave. When she looked in, she noticed it was pretty small, but the space looked dry, clean, and quite comfortable.

A small fire had been built in the corner, and a piece of meat about the size of a basketball was roasting over it. That was the source of the delicious smell.

While Elyse stared at the meat, its owner was also looking at her.

Kieran Ashwing heard about the arrival of a new female at the clan. She'd caused such a scene by blinding Korr in one eye, so it was impossible for him not to hear about it.

Elyse's eyes were wide as she crouched by the entrance of his cave, staring fixedly at the rodent meat he was roasting. Though her face was dirty and her hair was a mess, it was still easy to tell that she was pretty attractive.

After just looking at her, Kieran felt a surge of heat rushing to his lower abdomen. He couldn't stop himself from asking, "Want some of the meat?"

Elyse was starved, to begin with. His question only made her gulp and nod earnestly. "I do!"

Hearing that, Kieran smiled faintly, his pretty lips curling. "If you want some, come in and get it yourself."

His deep, magnetic voice washed away all of Elyse's wariness. Right now, she only wanted to fill her stomach. She was too hungry and couldn't spare the energy to consider anything else. Mustering up her courage, she stepped into the cave and stared at the roasted meat with gleaming eyes.

Kieran took the meat off the fire and passed it to her. She grabbed it at once and began munching. The meat was chewy and tasted faintly of smoke. It was extremely delicious—far better than anything she'd ever eaten in the past.

Once she was full, she finally realized her jaw hurt from having chewed so hard. Her hands and mouth were covered in grease, too. She could only use the back of her hand to wipe the corners of her mouth out of habit.

"Thanks for the food."

Smiling, Kieran passed her a piece of cloth. "You're welcome."

He stood up and reached out to put an arm around her waist, but unexpectedly, he scared Elyse into backing away from him.

Staring at the handsome Kieran, she exclaimed in fright, "What are you doing?"

"I'm taking you out to get washed up, of course," Kieran patiently explained.

"Washed up for what?"

Elyse's mind froze. Although he seemed like a decent male, surely his kindness wouldn't extend to ensuring she was clean.

Kieran briefly wondered if Elyse was a little slow. But on account of her attractiveness and fairly good temper, he continued to explain patiently, "To go to bed, of course. It's so dirty to sleep without washing up first."

He reached out to touch her face, which was smeared with grease and dust. Alas, his actions made her heart clench. Panicking hard, she made a dash for the entrance. But as she turned around, he grabbed her wrist and pulled her into his arms.

"Since you ate my food, little female, that means you agree to mate with me. Are you trying to back out of it now? I'm not as dumb as Korr, you know!"

Frightened, Elyse glared at Kieran. Although he was handsome, it didn't mean he could get away with forcing himself on her. She wasn't in the habit of mating with someone so casually!

She struggled to free herself, but his grip was unyielding, and her wrist throbbed painfully.

Elyse genuinely didn't know about this custom Kieran talked about. She thought he was just taking pity on her. Who knew it would have such consequences?

"I'll compensate for the meat next time, so please let me go."

In her struggle, she suddenly felt a scorching heat pushing against her lower back. Her heart tightened in fear. Knowing what it was, she became so terrified that she dared not move.

Kieran had been doing his best to rein himself in. It was hard for him to restrain himself when she pressed her body against his while struggling in his arms, but he was still able to maintain some of his rationality.

"Fine, but you have to pick me as your mate tomorrow!"

Elyse could only focus on the present. She didn't have the presence of mind to think about what might happen tomorrow. Since he agreed to let her go, she fervently nodded, saying, "Alright. If you let me go now, I'll choose you tomorrow!"

After getting a promise out of her, Kieran released her. He had a feeling that if he didn't, he wouldn't be able to control himself. He would've wanted to mate with her right away!

The moment he let go, Elyse sprinted out of the cave, eventually stopping beneath a plum tree somewhere in the clan's settlement and exhaling in relief. With lingering dread, she turned her head and looked in the direction of the cave she could no longer see.

After two such encounters, despite having only transmigrated to this world for less than a day, she was on the verge of a breakdown. She dared not linger where she was either, for she could see Korr's cave from this spot.

Just the thought of the incident earlier today scared her.

"I don't want it anymore, please?"

"That won't do. Five of us are still waiting in line."

"That's right. We don't have any beastlings of our own yet. We've got to put our backs into it!"

The pleading voice of a female rang out from a nearby cave, and that filled Elyse with fear as well.

It seemed like all the beastfolk could think about was producing the next generation. Instead of enduring such torment, she'd much rather be killed by some wild beast. At the very least, it would be a quick death.

It wasn't the idea of having multiple mates that she couldn't accept. She just didn't like being forced into anything.

With that in mind, she quietly slipped into the dark forest. It was basically pitch black, but the light of the full moon shone through the canopy.

She followed a well-trodden hunting path used by the Duskfall clan, so it wasn't too difficult for her to make the journey. But soon, the path ended, and she was surrounded by tangled shrubs. All was silent, save for the sound of insects and birds.

It was the first time in her life she'd walked in the forest alone at night. Her heart raced with fear as she recalled all the ghost stories she'd been told as a kid.