Chapter 3

Tyron held my hand and spoke in a voice dripping with false affection. "Seraphina, will you be my mate?"

Thunderous applause erupted all around. In the eyes of the other beastmen, Tyron's bloodline was noble, and with me, he was sure to produce high-tier offspring, maybe even a new Beast King. These years, the tribes had been torn by endless conflicts and wars. They desperately needed a new king to rise and unite the continent.

I was racking my brain for a way to turn him down without giving away that I'd lived this life before.

But before I could get a word out, Tyron shoved me away hard. He stared at me with pure disgust and spat out, "Filthy human woman. Even with a high-tier talent, I'd never take you."

The crowd erupted in chaos. They all turned to Tyron, demanding an explanation, because I was supposed to be Heaven's blessed vessel for new life.

Tyron looked down at me with utter contempt, even spat at my feet. Then he swept his gaze across the crowd and announced, in the tone of a judge passing sentence, "I carry the ancient Bloodline. I can see fragments of the future. The moment I touched Seraphina's hand, I saw it, she would birth nothing but lowborn beasts, worthless bloodlines, every single time. So there's no way I'm mating with her. She's a loose woman, unfaithful to her core. Any beastman who takes her is inviting shame into his home."

The alphas exchanged glances, faces full of disbelief.

Then Lily stepped up beside me, shaking her head like she was so disappointed she didn't even know what to say. She pointed at me, her voice dripping with performative heartbreak. "Seraphina, what am I supposed to do with you? Even after the system activated, you still can't change your old ways? Back in the day, you'd flirt with every stray mutt that walked past. How many times did I warn you? A girl needs dignity and restraint. How could you just forget all of that?"

I was about to explode. She was describing herself. I shouted back, "That's not true! I'm nothing like that. They're lying about me!"

But no one listened. Under the combined smear campaign from Tyron and Lily, I was swallowed whole by the mob's fury. They leered at me with revolted looks, hurling insults one after another.

"Wouldn't have guessed it. Looks so clean on the outside, but this dirty behind closed doors."

"What a waste of Heaven's gift. You think we beastmen don't have standards?"

"Since you love to play so much, maybe we'll throw you a beastmen party and you can perform for us in public."

My face went pale. My whole body was trembling. I'd come back for a second life, and the filth was coming at me even faster and harder than before.

And Tyron, the one who started all of this, couldn't care less about how I felt. He walked straight over to my sister Lily, grabbed her hand, and bent down to kiss it. "I may value bloodline," Tyron said, "but I value reputation more. I'll only take a clean, pure woman like Lily as my mate."

Lily looked flattered, her cheeks flushing pink with false modesty. Then she shot me a smug look and said, with meaning dripping from every word, "Dear sister, your turn to choose."

The watching alphas scattered like they were fleeing the plague, leaving a wide berth around me. In the end, only a handful of disgraced, lowlife beastmen remained in front of me.

Their eyes lit up, drool hanging from the corners of their mouths, calling out to me greedily.

"Seraphina, since the decent beastmen won't have you, come home with me."

"Don't let my snake form fool you. I've got skills that put any wolf to shame."

"I run an underground fighting pit. Come to me and I'll give you any kind of man you want."

My stomach churned. Their vile, leering faces were on full display right in front of me.

Even Tyron seemed a little uncomfortable, probably because he still remembered I'd once been his mate. He looked at me with contempt and said coldly, "Seraphina, if you can learn to be a little more restrained, I wouldn't mind taking you back as a servant girl."

Lily didn't like the sound of that at all. She hurriedly urged me, "Seraphina, just pick someone already! What's there to be picky about with a reputation like yours? It's already a miracle that anyone's even willing to take you. Just grab one quick, or you'll lose even that chance."

I ignored her completely. Instead, I lifted my gaze to the distant, towering peak of Fanghold Mountain.

The mate I wanted was up there.