Dr. Mira Chen's POV
The gun goes off.
Draven moves like lightning, scales rippling across his skin as he takes the bullet meant for Kael. It bounces off with a metallic ping.
Dragon scales. Actual dragon scales.
Marcus stares in disbelief. Kael lunges with a roar. The bear warriors scatter, and suddenly I'm being lifted by Zephyr, who appeared from nowhere.
"Hold on," he hisses, and we're moving so fast the world blurs.
When we stop, we're far from battle. Zephyr sets me down carefully, his amber eyes scanning for injuries.
"You drugged me!" I shout, shoving him.
"I saved you." His jaw tightens. "Kael would have locked you away. I was going to give you a choice."
"By poisoning me?"
"I made a mistake." Shame crosses his face. "The curse makes me desperate. But I swear, I'd never truly hurt you."
Black veins pulse under his skin, spreading. He's dying.
"How long do you have?" I ask quietly.
"Days. Maybe a week."
A young woman appears—wolf ears, kind eyes. "The Blessed One," she breathes, then bows.
"Please don't," I say. "I'm just Mira."
She smiles. "I'm Maya. Kael's sister. He sent me to help you understand everything."
Zephyr disappears into shadows. Maya takes me to a clearing with a stream.
"Explain," I say. "All of it."
"The Beastworld exists alongside your world, separated by the Veil. It only opens one way during powerful magical surges. That's how you got here."
"Can I go back?"
Her expression saddens. "No one ever has."
My stomach drops. Never going home. Never seeing my family again.
"Females here are rare," Maya continues. "One per hundred males. Most males never find mates. So females are cherished, protected... fought over."
"I've noticed."
"It's worse for you. You're the Blessed One—the only person in a thousand years who can cure the Feral Curse. Thousands have died from it. Entire tribes destroyed. You represent hope."
The weight crushes my chest. "I'm one person."
"But you can try." Her eyes plead. "That's more than we've had in centuries."
"The marks on my wrist," I whisper. "Four mates?"
"Soul bonds. The rarest connection possible. Most females have two or three. But four? That's legendary. Each will love you differently. Together, they make you stronger."
"What if I don't want them?"
"The bond can't be forced. These marks appeared because part of you already accepted them."
A howl rises. Then another. Different tribes calling.
Maya's smile disappears. "They're gathering. Every tribe felt your power earlier. Hundreds, maybe thousands by tomorrow." She pulls me up. "We need to get you behind the village wards—"
A scream cuts the air.
We run toward it. A young woman with deer features is cornered by three panther-men.
"Let her go!" I shout.
The panthers turn. Their eyes widen. "The Blessed One."
They abandon the deer-woman and walk toward me instead. Not threatening, but determined. Hungry.
"Stay back," Maya warns.
"We just want to meet her," the largest says. "Lost brothers to the curse. Please."
More appear from the trees. Bears. Eagles. Wolves. Twenty. Thirty. More every second.
"Maya," I whisper, "what do I do?"
"Run!"
But I'm surrounded.
Then I see them.
Marcus and Lydia, standing at the back. She whispers something. He smiles that terrible smile.
The crowd parts for them.
"Hello again, Mira," Marcus calls. "Time for a proper conversation. About your future. About what you owe me."
"I owe you nothing."
"Oh, but you do." His smile widens. "I've made powerful friends here. They agree—you're too valuable to waste on these animals."
The beastmen growl. Some bears step forward to back Marcus up.
A new voice, young and gentle: "Mira."
Through the crowd walks a fox-man with bright red hair and kind eyes. My fourth mark burns warm.
"I'm Finn. I've been searching for you. Please, let me help."
"Another mate?" Marcus laughs. "Building a harem, Mira?"
"Shut up."
"Make me." He pulls out his gun. But this time, he aims it at me.
"You're coming with me. Quietly. Or I shoot somewhere non-lethal but painful. Your choice."
Chaos erupts. Beastmen charge. Bear warriors form a wall with more guns—where did they get guns?—and the clearing explodes into violence.
Finn grabs my hand. "Trust me." He pulls me toward the trees.
We run. Behind us, fighting. Screaming. Shooting. People dying because of me—
Finn stops suddenly, his body rigid.
I smell it. Something rotten and mad.
Feral beasts crash through trees. Not one. A whole pack, eyes glowing red.
"They were attracted by the chaos," Finn whispers. "Mira, run NOW!"
I'm frozen, staring.
Because I recognize one.
Even twisted by madness, I recognize the tattered remains of modern clothes. Clothes from my world.
This Feral beast was human once.
Someone from Earth was transported here. And the curse turned them into this.
"Oh my God," I breathe. "This is what happens to humans. We can become Feral too."
Finn's face confirms my worst fear.
If I stay in this world, eventually the curse will take me.
And I'll become the very monster I'm supposed to cure.