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Trigger Warning: Graphic violence, torture, death, implied sexual threat, and emotional distress. _________________

Felix's massive tiger form lunged at the scorpion beast, his fangs sinking deep into the thick, armored flesh of its arm. A sickening crunch echoed as the beast howled in rage, its grip on me loosening. I stumbled back, my legs giving out beneath me as I crashed onto the blood-soaked ground. My whole body vibrated with pain, my arm throbbing from where the scorpion had grabbed me. My vision blurred for a moment. Felix was here.

No. Iker.

I pushed against the trembling earth, scrambling to my feet and rushing towards him. My stomach twisted violently as I reached his side. He was lying in a heap, his breaths shallow-too shallow. His arm, his chest-his whole body was coated in deep, oozing wounds. The venom was spreading, turning his skin an unnatural shade. My hands hovered over him, unsure where to touch, where to help.

"Don't... touch..." Iker's voice was barely above a whisper, his words forced through clenched teeth. His body jerked in pain. "Poison. Too much."

I choked on a sob. No. No. This isn't happening.

My hands curled into fists. I couldn't move him. I couldn't go fetch emeralds. I couldn't do anything.

The screams around us had faded-no, not faded. They had stopped. Because there was no one left to scream.

I forced myself to look.

The city was destroyed. Homes in flames, the air thick with smoke. Bodies-so many bodies-littered the ground. Blood painted the icy earth in rivers of red. I saw familiar faces among them, now nothing more than lifeless, broken husks. Nia. The healer's mate. That young girl who had smiled at me just days ago.

All gone. Snatched.

And worse-the ferals were done collecting their prizes.

Most of the females had been dragged away, their screams swallowed by the distance. Only I was left. The last one.

Three-no, four-ferals stalked towards me, eager to snatch the last remaining female. Their eyes gleamed with sick amusement, their expressions dark with hunger.

A distant snarl-Ace.

I turned just in time to see him, his wolf form tearing across the field. His eyes locked onto mine, burning with rage and desperation. He was too far. Too far.

Felix roared, swiping his claws at the scorpion beast. But then-a blur.

A massive snake feral slammed into him from behind.

"FELIX!"

The tiger crumpled under the force, his body skidding across the ground.

No. No. No.

I sucked in a sharp breath, my mind screaming. There was no way out.

Felix was down. Ace was still too far. Iker-Iker needed help. But no one was coming. No one could come.

I turned back to the ferals. Three. Four-stripes. Laughing. Smirking. Watching me break.

I felt something snap inside me.

I couldn't fight them. I couldn't save anyone. I couldn't stop this.

But there was one thing I could do.

My hands trembled, but I forced myself to step forward.

"I'll come to you willingly."

My voice rang out over the chaos.

The scorpion feral stilled.

Ace froze. Felix, still struggling to stand, let out a choked snarl.

Iker's bloodied eyes widened, lips parting in disbelief. "No-"

I stepped further away from them. Away from Iker. Away from my only chance of being saved.

"I said, I'll come willingly." I swallowed, forcing steel into my voice. "Just leave them. Let them live. And I'll go with you. No resistance."

The lead feral, the scorpion, tilted his head. Then, he grinned.

"Good girl."

The world had already ended.

This wasn't life. This wasn't survival. It was just the aftermath of something far worse.

The field reeked of death, the air thick with smoke, blood, and something even more putrid-despair.

The scorpion feral grinned at me, his dark, dead eyes gleaming as I took a step closer. One step closer to hell.

"I'll take you," I said, my voice steady even as my insides twisted. "Solely as my mate. I've accepted a snake feral before. I'll break my bond with him."

I reached up, grabbing the hem of my tattered shirt. Slowly, deliberately, I yanked it to the side, baring the soft flesh of my neck. The place where Allmer's mark lingered.

Iker let out a ragged, choked sound behind me.

Ace snarled.

"I'll break it," I continued. "I'll accept you as my mate willingly. I'll bear your children. Love you solely and never try to run away."

The words tasted like rot on my tongue, bile rising in my throat. I could feel my pulse hammering against my exposed skin. Could hear the way Ace's growls turned into something feral-broken.

I took another step.

"But," I added, my eyes locking onto the scorpion's, "give him the antidote in return."

The feral's laughter rang out like a death knell.

"Even with that, he won't survive," he said, amusement dripping from his tone.

Behind me, Iker screamed.

"NO!"

Ace-Ace was rushing towards me now, his movements wild, erratic. His body was drenched in blood-his? Someone else's? Too much. Too much blood.

Felix-Felix was still fighting. Still struggling against the snake feral, barely avoiding the deadly sting aimed at his back.

I was the only one who could end this.

Ace clawed at my feet, his nails raking against my skin, cutting. Blood pooled around us-his, mine, theirs. Our blood mixing. His chest heaved, his strength failing.

Too tired. Too weak.

He couldn't push me back. He couldn't stop me.

I looked down at him, my heart fracturing into a thousand pieces.

"It's fine," I whispered. Then louder, "If he dies, he dies. But I don't want his death on me."

He won't. Iker had survived ferals before. He would now too. There's over thousand emeralds Allmer left me. It'll be fine. He'll live. He will have to.

I turned back to the scorpion.

"Give him the antidote. And I'll come."

I took a step forward. One more.

The ferals behind him watched hungrily. Waiting.

"You all don't want to face the reinforcements that will come soon," I said. My voice was calm, level. "So let's make this deal."

The scorpion tilted his head.

Ace let out a low, broken snarl beneath me.

And then-

The scorpion laughed again.

Desperation clawed at my throat, raw and suffocating. Time's running out.

"Don’t you want a female who will love you?" My voice was cracked, frantic. "Who won’t take any other mate?"

Please. Please.

I wasn’t even sure who I was begging—him, fate, or the gods that had abandoned this place.

The scorpion feral just kept laughing. A slow, cruel sound that curdled my stomach.

Without even looking, he reached down and picked up something. Something small, dark. The antidote.

And then—he tossed it.

I watched in horror as it hit the ground near Iker, rolling in the dirt.

Iker—barely breathing, barely alive.

But before I could move, before Ace could move—

CRACK.

A single, brutal strike.

Ace was sent flying, his body slamming into a thick tree with a sickening thud. Bark cracked. Blood sprayed. He collapsed, motionless.

"ACE!"

I tried to run to him. Tried.

But cold, iron-like fingers closed around my arm.

I barely had time to scream before I was ripped from the ground, lifted into the air like I weighed nothing.

Blood. The smell was thick, suffocating. My own? Ace’s? Iker’s? Too much. Too much.

Felix was still fighting. I could hear his snarls, desperate, feral.

His claws tore at the snake feral keeping him away. But the snake was too strong, too fast. Felix was fighting just to keep from getting poisoned.

He was still okay. No poison yet.

But not for long.

The scorpion feral turned, his grip tightening around me.

"Iker—" My voice cracked. I wasn’t even sure if Felix could hear me anymore.

"If he dies—" I sucked in a ragged, broken breath. "I’ll hate you forever!"

And then—

Black, icy water swallowed me whole.

The last thing I saw before the river ripped me under was Felix—

The snake feral’s tail slamming into him.

His body crashing into the trees.

And then—nothing.