Chapter 6

My mother.

Janice.

The current head of the White family and the most respected matriarch of the entire Forest Tiger Clan.

Her face was always stern. However, today, it was angrier than I had ever seen it.

"If I'd arrived one minute later...

"You would have forced the soul contract apart and, when the backlash hit, it would have torn your soul to pieces."

The moment I heard her say, "Simon."

My nose suddenly stung.

In this world... if there was anyone who loved me more than anyone else...

It was my mother.

My father died when I was still very young. For all those years, my mother had carried the entire White family on her shoulders while raising me from a tiger cub small enough to fit in the palm of her hand.

Centuries of responsibility had made her more commanding than any other tiger matriarch of her generation.

When she was young, her favorite place in the world was the Avalon Islands.

However, after inheriting the position of family head... she never left our territory again.

Over the years, there was one thing she always said.

"Simon, when are you going to give me a little tiger grandchild?

"The day you do... I'll hand the family over to you and spend the next few hundred years living in Avalon."

That was why I had been so determined. I had to have a real tiger child.

I had never hidden anything from my mother.

"Mom. Please, let me explain..."

Before I could finish, she raised a hand to stop me.

"I already know what happened on the way here."

"Simon. How did I raise you?

"No matter what species a child is... if it's your own flesh and blood, you treat them all the same. This is your child. You should be protecting him.

"Today... I'm truly disappointed in you."

I did not care what anyone else said. However, my mother's words... they cut into my heart like a knife.

The pain was so sharp I could barely breathe.

My voice trembled.

"Mom...

"That orange kitten... is he really my son?"

"If he isn't yours, whose would he be?" She let out a soft sigh. "Simon. There's something I've kept from you for many years.

"Your father... he wasn't a Forest Tiger. He was an ordinary orange cat. My tiger bloodline was simply powerful enough... that I gave birth to you.

"Even so... you still inherited half of your father's cat bloodline. So, the fact that your own child was born an orange cat... isn't strange at all."

My heart sank.

My father's grave lay in the birch grove behind the White family cemetery. When I was little, I held one of his fangs in my own hands. It had been a full three inches long, curved like a crescent moon. Only an adult Forest Tiger could possess fangs like that.

My mother would never have lied to me about something so important.

Which meant...

The "mother" standing before me...

Just then, Evelyn walked over. Her face was filled with concern.

"Mom. Simon didn't mean any of this.

"While I was pregnant... someone must have secretly done something to him.

"When we get home...we'll find whoever is behind this."

My mother nodded gently.

Then sighed.

"Evelyn... the way this child loves you... even I find myself a little jealous."

As she spoke, the two of them each took one of my arms.

One on my left and one on my right.

No matter how hard I struggled... I could not break free.

Then, as I lowered my head, something caught the corner of my eye.

My mother's left hand was wrapped tightly around my arm.

Five fingers.

Every one of them was intact. My mind went completely blank.

Three hundred years ago, my mother had hunted an Ancient Demon Bear in the Black Forest. They had battled for three days and three nights. In the end, the demon bear had died, but it had bitten off my mother's left little finger.

Even now, an oil painting of that battle hung in the White family memorial hall. In it, her left hand was unmistakably missing its little finger.

However, the "mother" holding me now... had all five fingers. Not one was missing.

Cold sweat broke out across my back.

She... was not my mother.

I gave a slow nod. Then, without the slightest warning, I lunged forward and sank my teeth into the hand gripping my arm.

"Ahhh!"

A piercing scream tore through the room. Blood flooded my mouth, but it was not tiger blood. It was cold, sickly sweet, and reeked of decay.

Snake blood.