The Villainess Winning Back Her Beast Husbands-Chapter 94: The Beast God Has Long Since Abandoned Us
Caden Albright’s gaze was ardent as he watched her. His Adam’s apple bobbed, and he nodded softly. "Alright."
Evangeline let her gaze drift over to the pale-faced Thorne.
She suddenly leaned forward, her slender fingers pinching his chin. Her sly eyes curved as she gave him a mischievous smile. "Be good now, don’t be angry. When I get back, we’ll have a whole litter of cubs together, hm?"
The upward lilt of her voice was like a hook, causing Thorne’s dark-green pupils to instantly contract. His entire body felt as if it had been struck by a powerful electric current, and a faint blush crept over his handsome features, even coloring the tips of his ears.
Evangeline was delighted by his reaction and laughed until she swayed.
With a flick of her fingers, she tied a storage bag embroidered with a large snake to Thorne’s waist.
The black snake was coiled lazily, its crimson tongue half-extended. Its scales gleamed with a dark light, exuding an untamable arrogance.
Ever since the prey in The Larder Cave had rotted, she had been preparing for this.
Natural disasters plagued the Beastman Continent, and food was a lifeline. She couldn’t stay with them forever, which made the storage bag’s importance self-evident. The space inside was not large, but it was incredibly precious.
She never favored one over the other, and to tell the bags apart, she had specially embroidered their respective beast forms on them.
Thorne looked down at the small bag on his waist, embroidered with his beast form. The giant python on it reared its head, its tongue flicking out, and each of its scales shimmered with a subtle, dark glint. His fingertips brushed over the embroidered python, and a ripple of emotion stirred in his eyes.
A faint smile touched Evangeline’s lips. "You can think of this as a small Illusion Realm. Prey placed inside won’t spoil. There’s Spirit Rice and prey in there, so you’ll have no problem getting through the rainy season."
Watching the smile on Evangeline’s lips, Thorne’s heart suddenly ached.
’She was always like this, taking everything into consideration for them.’
"Come back soon. Bunny and I will be waiting for you." Caden Albright gazed gently at Evangeline, his voice soft.
"I’m off," Evangeline said, no longer hesitating. Her gaze swept over the raging torrent below. With a light tap of her toes, her slender figure transformed into a streak of light, shooting off in the direction of the Frost-plain Tribe.
’The terrain there was high, blocked off by cliffs. It wouldn’t be swallowed by the flood right away.’
’I still have time. I can make it.’
The moment Evangeline left, the smile on Caden Albright’s lips vanished, his exquisite face filled with a cold indifference.
Thorne let out a low growl, his body stretching as he transformed into his beast form and coiled on the mountaintop. His dark green, slitted pupils held a cold light as he watched the surrounding Wild Beasts seeking shelter, flicking his tongue in and out.
Caden Albright turned to look at the coiled python, his amber eyes darkening slightly. He suddenly asked, "How much do you know about Eva’s other Beast Husbands?"
His tone was soft and slow, yet it made the very air around them seem to freeze for a few breaths.
Thorne slowly raised his head, his gaze settling leisurely on Caden Albright. "What do you mean?"
Caden Albright lowered his lashes, looking at the sleeping Bunny in his arms. His fingertips gently stroked the cub’s soft fur.
His voice was low, laced with a strange intimacy, yet every word was clear. "You and I both know that we won’t be the only males by Eva’s side."
As he spoke, his long lashes cast a dark shadow under his eyes.
He suddenly let out a soft chuckle and raised his eyes to Thorne, his tone bewitching. "How about we... join forces?"
Thorne’s eyes narrowed. He stared at Caden Albright for a long moment before furrowing his brow and sneering, "A fox through and through."
*
Evangeline sped onward, finally spotting the snowfields at dusk.
However, the sight before her made her brow tighten.
It had only been half a month since her last visit to the Frost-plain Tribe to deal with the plague, but the place was already completely transformed.
Rain poured down in torrents. The once-pristine white snow had long since melted, and the exposed permafrost, washed away by the rain, had become a muddy mess. It was as if the entire snowfield was silently disintegrating.
The floodwaters surged onward, crashing down at the cliffs in a thunderous waterfall, narrowly missing the highest part of the snowfields.
Evangeline hovered in the air, watching the broken log bridge bob up and down in the torrent.
Her lips pressed into a thin line. Like a swift skimming over water, she gracefully crossed the chasm and sped towards the Frost-plain Tribe.
At her waist, Lachlan’s Contract Mark was silent and still, having grown almost ice-cold.
Evangeline flew over several mountain ridges and finally saw the outline of the Frost-plain Tribe.
Under the assault of the storm, the entire tribe was shrouded in a desolate grey. Although the floodwaters had been blocked by the cliffs, the melting snow and ice from the rainy season’s arrival had still submerged more than half the tribe. The beast skin tents were long gone, replaced by churning, muddy currents everywhere.
Everything was quiet.
The Beastmen had all taken shelter in caves carved into the mountainside.
"Brother Lachlan..." Galen’s cry was choked in her throat. Her usually cheerful voice was now hoarse and broken.
She knelt by a pile of dry grass, looking at Lachlan, who lay quietly, his breathing growing fainter. A sharp pain stabbed at her chest. She covered her mouth, her body wracked with near-convulsive sobs.
Beside Lachlan, an elderly female held a bone shard polished smooth with use, gently combing his dry, flaxen hair. The strands were dull and lifeless, like faded hay.
The ends of his hair were unadorned, with neither Bone Ornaments nor braided cords.
"Lachlan always loved to be clean... When he returns to the embrace of The Beast God, he should be clean then, too." Gamar’s voice was as hoarse as if it were ground from gravel. Her movements were gentle, but her withered knuckles trembled uncontrollably.
A few broken strands of hair drifted down like dying weeds.
Gamar stared at the broken strands and suddenly froze, a pained whimper escaping her throat.
The Beastmen of the Frost-plain Tribe watched this scene, their eyes numb and cold.
The sound of whimpering rose and fell, echoing off the damp cave walls and mixing with the rain outside. A few Beastmen ground their fangs, the twisting cramps in their empty stomachs making them increasingly impatient.
Just then, a cold sneer came from beside the bonfire.
A young male Beastman spat. "He’s dying anyway, what’s there to cry about?"
"If he hadn’t provoked that Virago from the Oasis Tribe, would our Frost-plain Tribe have ended up like this? The rainy season isn’t over, there’s no prey, and we’re all going to die—"
The sobbing stopped abruptly.
Gamar’s back went rigid, and she hugged Lachlan, her hands trembling.
Galen whipped her head around to glare at the Beastman who had spoken, her eyes bloodshot and her voice trembling with rage. "Titus! If Brother Lachlan hadn’t invited the Witch, you all would have died from the plague!
"It was him who saved his own rations for you, even if it meant starving himself!
"If it wasn’t for that... he wouldn’t be... he wouldn’t..."
At this, Galen couldn’t help but choke up. "Brother Lachlan is dying, and you all actually..."
Titus sneered. "If Lachlan hadn’t offended the Yak Tribe, causing them to drive all the prey from our Frost-plain Tribe’s territory into their own before the rainy season, would we be starving now?"
As he spoke, he ground his teeth, staring at Lachlan with a predatory gaze. "Since Lachlan’s dying anyway," he said suddenly, "and our people are starving, he should be willing to... dedicate himself to the tribe, right?"
As his words fell, the bonfire crackled loudly. Inside the cave, the Beastmen turned in unison to look at the dying Lachlan, the firelight stretching their shadows long behind them.
Low rumbles rolled in the Beastmen’s throats, their bone-white fangs glinting in the firelight.
Galen’s face changed drastically; she was utterly terrified.
She suddenly saw it clearly—the hungry, green light glinting in the eyes of her tribesmen.
Gamar suddenly threw herself over Lachlan, spreading her arms to shield him. She said nothing, but her bony back was drawn as taut as a fully strung bow.
Titus’s Beast Eyes narrowed into slits. He muttered, "One more... even better."
Galen screamed, "You’re insane! Cannibalism! The wrath of The Beast God will bring down the entire tribe—"
"Shut up!" Titus roared. The shadows around him twisted as his bones cracked and popped. Fur rippled over his skin as he transformed into a gaunt Snow Leopard, so emaciated it was clear he had been starving for a long time.
It leaped forward, sending a shower of sparks from the bonfire.
Titus advanced on Lachlan, saliva dripping from his menacing fangs. "The Beast God," he growled, "abandoned us long ago."
