The Villainess Winning Back Her Beast Husbands-Chapter 117: I Still Like You Best Like This

Evangeline turned to Nix, gently tickling his palm with her fingertip. Her eyes curved into a smile. "Nix, you can control plants, so I’ll have to ask for your help."

As she spoke, her gaze shifted. She took Bunny back from the crook of Caden Albright’s arm and placed the sleeping little one on the bamboo bed. As she lowered her eyes to tuck in Bunny’s swaddle, Nix’s violet pupils darkened behind her.

He withdrew his gaze. When his violet pupils turned to Lachlan, a dark, inscrutable glimmer flashed in his lifeless eyes.

Nix turned and left, his curly purple hair slicing a sharp arc through the damp air.

Caden Albright slowly rose. In the instant he brushed past Lachlan, the corners of his long, narrow eyes lifted slightly.

Outside, Thorne was saying goodbye to Orion.

Thorne’s dark green eyes held a complex emotion. "The rainy season is dangerous. Be careful on your way back."

Orion, shouldering his kill, flashed a smile on his jaunty and carefree face. He freed a hand to pat Thorne’s shoulder. "You came out just to tell me this?"

He then said nonchalantly, "You don’t need to worry about me. You, on the other hand... you have a bad temper. When you’re around Evangeline... around the female master, you need to learn to be a little softer if you want to win her favor."

Thorne’s sharp, chiseled features looked particularly cutting in the darkness, a layer of grimness settled between his handsome brows.

He stared at Orion, his throat bobbing. The question he truly wanted to ask was stuck in his throat.

He and Orion had grown up together. How could Orion not see what was on his mind?

He didn’t want anyone else vying for Eva’s attention, but if it had to be someone, and that someone was Orion...

Thorne’s lowered lashes cast heavy shadows in his eye sockets. His voice was slightly hoarse. "Miss this chance," he said, his dark green, slitted pupils swirling with emotion, "and there might not be a next time."

Although Thorne hadn’t said it outright, Orion understood his meaning in an instant.

His fingertips tightened. He glanced at the kill on his shoulder, and a short breath escaped as his throat worked. "I have a duty to the Sky-Rend Tribe. And there are too many dangerous people around her."

He paused, then suddenly chuckled, a hint of his usual carefree air returning. "Besides, she doesn’t even like me."

Just then, Nix and Caden Albright walked out of the bamboo house, one after the other.

Orion glanced up and said to Thorne, "I’m off."

The words had barely left his lips when he transformed into a massive Wyvern. His Bone Wings tore through the curtain of rain as he soared toward the horizon.

Thorne watched Orion’s figure disappear over the horizon. He turned to go back into the bamboo house but was stopped by Caden Albright.

"Eva has something to discuss with Lachlan," Caden Albright said, his voice carrying an air that brooked no refusal.

"What could they possibly have to say that can’t be said in front of us?" Thorne’s dark green eyes filled with a cold, hostile energy. ’I’m not done with Lachlan yet. He shouldn’t think that just because we found Eva, the matter of breaking our bond can be swept under the rug!’

Caden Albright gave him a cool glance. "It was Eva’s idea. Are you going to go in?"

Thorne fell silent. He looked up at the closed door of the bamboo house, veins snaking across the back of his hand.

"Let’s go. We’ll find some bamboo." He paused, his gaze sweeping over the exquisite bamboo house behind him, and added calmly, "We’ll build a few new ones. It’s not right for us all to stay in Loras’s place."

Compared to a cave den, a bamboo house was much more to his liking—refreshing and clean.

"Nix."

Nix glanced back at the two of them, a chilling coldness swirling in his violet pupils. The corners of his crimson lips curled into a sneer. "I am Nix, not that crybaby weakling. Don’t get it wrong again."

Caden Albright’s long, narrow eyes narrowed slightly. He thoughtfully scanned the Star Pattern on Nix’s forehead, a dark understanding dawning in his eyes. He had likely figured out the difference between Nix and Loras.

Vines sprouted from Nix’s long, slender fingertips, weaving themselves into an umbrella in the downpour.

He elegantly held the umbrella and was the first to walk toward the bamboo forest. As his long purple hair flew about, a faint, dark fragrance drifted in the air.

He couldn’t possibly let so many males occupy the home he shared with Evie.

"Nix? So he and Loras... aren’t the same person?" Thorne stared at Nix’s back, his brows tightly furrowed.

He had met Loras before, so he knew the latter’s disposition. The person before him now was like a completely different man.

Caden Albright watched silently for a moment before looking away.

A faint smile played on his beautiful, almost decadent face. "Whether he’s Loras or Nix, what does it matter?"

Caden Albright gazed at the swaying bamboo forest in the distance and stepped into the curtain of rain. His silver-white hair was swept up by the wind, tracing a cold arc of light against the darkening sky. "Eva’s feelings are what’s most important."

’If we build the bamboo houses exquisitely, hang some Bone Bells, and place some wildflowers around, maybe she’ll be willing to stay a few more days.’

Thorne’s fingertips gently rubbed the bone knife at his waist. He stared at Caden Albright. ’That sly fox, his mind really does work fast.’

He turned to look at the swaying green bamboo. ’I’ll have to pick ones without any borer insects or cracks.’

’But what style should I build? What kind of bamboo house would Eva like?’

*

With Caden Albright and Nix gone, the bamboo house suddenly fell silent.

Lachlan’s tightened knuckles turned white. His Adam’s apple bobbed up and down. His usually cool and languid eyes now reflected Evangeline’s back, flickering with an unreadable emotion.

Evangeline settled Bunny down and turned to face him.

She walked toward him slowly, her gaze falling on his drenched beast skin. His flaxen hair was still dripping, creating a dark puddle at his feet.

Evangeline took his hand and led him to the table. His long-fingered hand was tense, his palm chillingly cold.

She had him sit down in a chair, took out a towel, and began to dry his soaking wet hair.

Her slender fingertips paused when they brushed the side of his neck. She gently pushed aside a corner of his beast skin, and her long, narrow eyes blinked as she saw the gruesome wound, washed pale by the torrential rain.

Although the edges of the wound were festering, one could still make out the shape of a coiled fox.

Lachlan’s body suddenly went rigid, as if he’d stopped breathing. He was stiff all over, completely motionless.

"Does it hurt?" Evangeline’s fingertips gently traced the gruesome, fox-shaped wound. She leaned closer, her warm breath caressing the wound that stung to the point of numbness. Her charming voice was soft and light.

Lachlan’s body grew even tenser, but he didn’t shrink away like he used to.

He looked up at her, his gray-brown eyes turning scarlet, as if from pain, or perhaps something else.

His Adam’s apple bobbed violently. The shadow cast by his brow ridge concealed the turmoil in his eyes. His thin lips trembled, and his voice was so hoarse it was barely a sound. "N-No, it doesn’t hurt."

As he spoke, a drop of water from his hair slid down his jaw and landed on the back of Evangeline’s hand.

Evangeline lowered her gaze to the drop of water spreading on the back of her hand, the corner of her lips lifting in a barely-there smile.

She moved behind Lachlan and began to gently comb his flaxen hair. It was dull and dry from malnutrition and hunger back in the tribe, not to mention the days of non-stop travel.

"Lachlan, I don’t blame you."

"I know you like Galen. We’ve already broken our bond, so why did you still come?"

Evangeline’s voice was very soft, not an accusation, but a simple question.

"I don’t..." Lachlan began to explain instinctively, his clear, ethereal voice laced with anxiety.

He was about to turn around when he suddenly heard Evangeline say, "Don’t move."

Evangeline gathered a lock of Lachlan’s hair with her fingertips. With a flick of her wrist, she produced a hair ornament made of white jade.

The white jade was smooth and warm. Jade Pearls dangled from its silken tassels, chiming softly against each other with her movements. The sound was as crisp and clear as a mountain spring, and it was clearly a far better accessory than a Bone Ornament.

"Galen is just a tribesman. Nothing more."

"I... I’m sorry. When I rescued him, I just saw him as a fellow tribesman. I wasn’t thinking of anything else."

"...I’m sorry."

He murmured to himself, his brow low.

He was never one for many words, and now, at such a crucial moment, all he could manage were these few, halting explanations, repeating himself.

Evangeline threaded the ornament through his long hair. The Jade Pearls slid down, swaying gently at the nape of his neck.

"I still like you best like this..." With a flick of Evangeline’s fingertip, the Jade Pearls swung by his ear, creating a delicate, clear melody that was lovely to hear.

"When you tilt your head, and the ornament in your hair chimes..."

Evangeline’s voice suddenly dropped, turning into a soft chuckle. "It suits you."

At her words, the tips of Lachlan’s ears flushed a sudden, blood-red that spread down the side of his neck.