Chapter 6

The females all shook their heads. They'd gathered in the square that morning to hang out with each other. No one saw any sign of Kieran.

"I figured you guys wouldn't know anyway," Irina remarked with a derisive snort before marching off.

Once she left, Mirabel leaned in close and whispered into Elyse's ear with a scoff, "She's trying to lay on the charm with Kieran again."

"That's right, and since Kieran's not here, I bet she's gone off to look for Bastian instead!"

Aurora Cloven, a plump female, rolled her eyes at Irina's retreating figure, saying, "Hah! She already has 20 mates, but she's still not satisfied!"

Elyse just let the words slide in one ear and out the other. She didn't recognize the names mentioned. None of this gossip had anything to do with her. Besides, she was new to the clan. Since she was unfamiliar with the natives and their situations, she couldn't pass judgment.

Just then, Korr walked past the females. The look in his eyes made Elyse shudder. Alarmed, she rushed to her feet, ready to flee at the slightest hint of danger.

Korr continued to glare balefully at Elyse, the ruthless female who'd attacked him. Whenever he saw her, he was reminded of how he was now blind in one eye.

Tavian had forbidden him from stirring up any more trouble. However, as long as Elyse remained in the Duskfall clan, sooner or later, Korr was going to find a way to get back at her.

Elyse watched in fright as Korr walked off, only exhaling in relief when he entered his cave. She bade goodbye to Mirabel and the other females before rushing back to Kieran's cave.

It was better if she stayed inside as much as possible. After seeing that look in Korr's eyes just now, she was certain he wanted to mess with her, and she didn't want to get caught up in any more trouble.

Mirabel and the others had seen Korr's ferocious glare, too. Even if Elyse still wanted to hang out with them, they would've insisted she head back. In a situation like this, it was better to have one's mate nearby to avoid getting hurt. Otherwise, it would be too late for regrets.

However, when Elyse got back to the cave and looked around, she felt uncomfortable all over. She kept getting the feeling that there were lice and fleas everywhere!

Thus, she walked up to the stone ledge that served as the bed and took off all the animal hides that lay on top of it. Then, she grabbed the pile of plant ash from the fire pit and hauled everything out to the riverbank.

Elyse began by rinsing the animal hides with the help of the plant ash. Then, she scrubbed them all one by one before hanging them up on the tree branches near the river to dry.

The beastfolk in the clan used the trees along the riverbank to dry their laundry. They weren't afraid of their things getting stolen either. Even after these hides had been washed, the scent of their owners would still linger on them. One sniff was all it took to identify the owner of every single item.

Summer cypress plants grew along the riverbank as well. These were usually harvested and used as brooms. Even though the current ones hadn't turned yellow yet, they were mature enough to be used for sweeping.

Elyse broke a few branches off and picked out the green leaves. Once she got back to the cave, she used a strip of animal hide to tie the branches together. It was a pretty rudimentary broom, but it worked pretty well. It was better than nothing for sure.

She splashed some water on the ground to prevent the dust from flying all around the cave before she started sweeping.

"Who are you?"

Elyse was hard at work cleaning up the cave when a harsh female voice rang out from the cave entrance.

She looked up and saw a familiar figure—it was Irina, the female who came around asking where Kieran was.

Since she wasn't familiar with Irina, it wasn't surprising that Irina didn't recognize her either. Smiling, she introduced herself, saying, "My name is Elyse Moore. And you are?"

Alas, the smile on her face was an eyesore to Irina, for she was standing inside Kieran's cave. Irina was certain that Elyse, the female of unknown origins, had come here to seduce him! Why else would she be cleaning up his cave?

Scoffing in contempt, Irina sauntered into the cave and bumped into Elyse's shoulder on purpose.

"All you're good enough to do is clean the place. I can't believe you have the nerve to try and seduce a male like that. You disgust me! Now get out!"

Elyse was utterly confused by Irina's behavior. "I'm—"

"What are you doing here?"

Elyse was about to explain herself when Kieran returned and greeted Irina with a faint smile.

Upon seeing Kieran, Irina rushed over and said with a wide grin, "I came over to tidy up the place for you, Kieran! What do you think? Doesn't the place look very clean now?"

Elyse was shocked to hear Kieran's name. She looked at the male standing at the entrance. He had long hair that draped behind his back, and he wore a dark hide skirt that covered his lower region. One look at his legs was all it took to know how strong they were.

So, his name was Kieran, huh?

It was a little neglectful of her not to know his name, even though she'd eaten two meals at his cave and even spent the night there.

But at the same time, it was obvious Irina had been trying to pick on her!

She'd thought that all the females in the beast realm would be similar to Mirabel. It turned out that she was wrong about that.

"That's right," Elyse piped up. "She said she'd swept the cave and even used a hide rag to scrub everything cleanly!"

Kieran had spotted the broom in Elyse's hand when he came back to the cave, so it was obvious to him that she'd done all of that. But he knew she wasn't the type to let others walk all over her. He figured that was why she chose not to expose Irina's deceit but went along with it instead.

Irina was put on the spot. She couldn't refute Elyse, not after what she'd claimed earlier, so she forced herself to smile and say, "Yeah, that's right."

She walked over to the corner and picked up a clean hide rag to start wiping the dust away.

Without missing a beat, Elyse walked over to the side as well. She pointed at the dust that had gathered in the corner and instructed Irina to carefully wipe the area clean.

Irina was outraged. She was the daughter of Wilda Crow, the priestess of the clan, which made her the future priestess as well. The fact that Elyse, an outsider, dared to boss her around thoroughly riled her up.

Elyse pointed at the corner behind the stone table and exclaimed, "Hey! That's not enough. You need to get on your knees in order to reach that spot and wipe it."

"Get on my knees?" Irina repeated.

Those words nearly made her explode.

Blinking her eyes innocently, Elyse replied, "That's right. You'll have to kneel so that your hand can reach over there."

Irina couldn't take it any longer. Couldn't that damned Elyse tell she was already extremely reluctant about doing such chores? How dare she continue to yap away in front of her, barking orders at her?

To make matters worse, she was expecting a future priestess like her to get on her knees! How outrageous!

Flinging the rag aside, Irina screamed, "Who the hell do you think you are? How dare you order me around? You're just some female from who knows where that nobody wants! What gives you the audacity to come into Kieran's cave? You're absolutely shameless!"

It was afternoon, and many of the males who went out hunting had returned, so things were quite lively outside. Even though Kieran's cave was in a more secluded section of the settlement, everyone heard Irina's furious shrieks anyway.

They all rushed over to see what was happening, curious to know who had the gall to compete with Irina for a male.

Among the Duskfall clan, Kieran wasn't considered strong by any means. He was a loner, too, and didn't interact much with the other males. Nevertheless, he was handsome, and Irina had taken a huge liking to him—though he had ignored her advances the whole time.

Actually, he ignored all of the females in the clan. However, based on what Irina just said, it sounded like a female had shown up in Kieran's cave!

What a shocking piece of news that was.