Fannie's POV
I widened my eyes, staring at the giant gray rat in front of me. My mind went completely blank, as if a thunderbolt exploded beside my ears, splitting my whole body apart.
This disgusting, ugly thing… could it be planning to mate with me in beast form?
No! Absolutely not!
My heart filled with fear and disgust. I instinctively wanted to escape, but I was surrounded by rat-headed men with no way out.
As the giant rat stepped closer and closer, my heartbeat grew faster and almost leapt out of my throat. My emotions collapsed completely. I squeezed my eyes shut and screamed with all my strength, "Help! Somebody, please help me!!"
Seconds passed.
One second, two seconds, three seconds…
I thought I would suffer a horrible violation, but unexpectedly, nothing happened.
Hesitantly, I opened my eyes. What I saw shocked me—those giant gray rats were panicking and running in all directions as if they had encountered something terrifying.
"What's going on?"
I sat on the ground in confusion, my face showing disbelief. I muttered, "Did they really get scared away by my scream?"
Only when the last gray rat vanished without a trace did I breathe out a long sigh of relief.
But I still worried they might return. Fear and unease filled my heart.
Time was running out. I couldn't care about my exhaustion and pain. I had to find a safe and reliable shelter before the sun set, or the night would bring an even greater danger I couldn't imagine.
Just as I was about to take a step forward, a faint sound came from behind me. It felt like some mysterious creature was silently approaching.
In an instant, a cold chill rushed up my spine. The hair on my body stood on end, my heart pounded wildly, and it felt like an invisible giant hand was squeezing my chest, making it almost impossible to breathe.
"Heaven, Buddha, Bodhisattva, please bless me… maybe I'm just imagining things…"
I prayed silently, swallowed hard, and slowly turned around.
When I saw what was behind me, I froze like lightning struck me. A large male leopard with a strong build and dazzling golden fur stood before me.
What terrified me even more were its icy blue eyes, sharp and cold, staring straight at me.
I suddenly understood.
The rats hadn't run because of my scream. The real reason they fled was this majestic golden leopard in front of me.
I locked eyes with the golden leopard, and my mind went completely blank again, as if the whole world had stopped.
My feet felt nailed to the ground. I didn't dare to move even an inch, like a delicate statue abandoned in the forest.
My heartbeat roared like thunder.
It wasn't that I didn't want to run—it was that I didn't dare.
Everyone knew how fast leopards were. If I moved, the next second I could be torn apart.
All I could do was keep my eyes wide open as the strong leopard slowly approached me, circling me and sniffing my scent.
The close contact terrified me even more. Sweat poured down like rain, and my body trembled violently without control.
I didn't want to die. I gathered my courage and whispered carefully, "Big Brother Leopard, since I was a child I grew up eating chemical additives. My meat is poisonous. If you eat me, you'll get poisoned too…"
Third Person Pov
The golden leopard stopped right in front of Fannie.
When it looked at Fannie, its icy blue eyes were filled with a strong desire that only appeared during mating season. Its clear, warm voice carried a hint of unquestionable authority: "My name is Alessio. I just saved you. How will you repay me?"
Fannie had thought only two-legged beastmen could speak human language. She didn't expect a four-legged leopard to talk too, and she couldn't help but feel excited.
Since they could communicate, that meant she still had hope to survive. She quickly replied, "As long as Big Brother Leopard doesn't eat me, I'll do anything you want!"
Alessio was a seventh-rank leopard beastman. Normally, his mating season was still a month away. But after smelling the unique scent on Fannie, it suddenly came early.
Alessio didn't know why this was happening, but one thing was certain—he liked this small-sized female stray beast. He wanted the female in front of him to be his mate. Word by word, he said, "Be my mate!"
Alessio's tone didn't sound like he was asking for Fannie's opinion. It was more like he was informing her.
Fannie broke down inside!
That disgusting rat wanted to mate with her, and she could still understand it, since it was almost evolving into a human.
But this golden leopard—from head to tail, from tail to legs—was nothing but a beast. If she agreed to be Alessio's mate, a human and a beast together, she couldn't even imagine what that would look like.
"If I don't agree, will you eat me?"
"You guess?"
"I'm not saying I don't want to be your mate, but I'm human, you're a beast. We're not suitable."
Fannie was close to tears.
Even though she was terrified, she didn't want to give in so easily.
She tried hard to persuade Alessio to give up the idea of a human and beast pairing, speaking softly: "You should find one of your own kind. Only with them can you have little leopards."
In the leopard tribe, Alessio was very popular with the female leopards. If he wanted, he could have many female mates and many little leopards.
But once he saw Fannie, his eyes were completely drawn to her. His whole leopard heart was set on her alone. He only wanted Fannie as his mate. He asked seriously, "If I were like you, a beastman, would you agree to be my mate?"
After seeing that rat-headed man with a duck neck, Fannie had stopped being picky.
No matter what the other looked like, as long as they evolved into a human form, she could accept it. Looking at the golden leopard in front of her, Fannie nodded heavily and said, "Yes!"
Before the last sound of her voice faded, her eyes suddenly blurred.
The four-legged golden leopard turned into a two-legged naked man in the blink of an eye.
He had a very young face, golden slightly curly long hair, and delicate features. His height was about one meter eighty to one meter ninety.
His skin was pale, his muscles smooth and well-defined, and his abs clearly visible.
With such looks and such a body, he was simply a peerless treasure!
Fannie couldn't help but meet his icy blue eyes, and in that instant, she froze. She stared blankly for several seconds before she finally snapped back to her senses.
When she woke up, her gaze slowly moved downward.
The moment she saw the huge thing hanging beneath the man's lower abdomen, her heartbeat suddenly sped up, and her cheeks instantly turned bright red.