Maya's POV
I scramble backward so fast I slam into the cave wall, ignoring the sharp rocks digging into my spine. The man—no, the thing—blocking the cave entrance is massive. At least six and a half feet of pure muscle and murder.
"Answer me, Lila." His voice drops lower, more dangerous. "How are you alive?"
My mouth opens but nothing comes out. My brain is screaming a thousand questions at once. Who's Lila? Why does he think I'm her? And why does the glowing blue screen say he murdered her?
He takes one step into the cave, and moonlight hits his face.
I forget how to breathe.
He's beautiful in the way a winter storm is beautiful—deadly and impossible to look away from. Sharp cheekbones, a strong jaw covered in dark stubble, and those ice-blue eyes that seem to glow from within. His silver-white hair falls past his shoulders, wild and untamed.
But it's the rage on his face that freezes me in place.
"Three days," he says, moving closer. "I buried you three days ago with my own hands. I felt your body go cold. I heard your heart stop."
The blue screen flashes in front of my eyes:
[ACCESSING VESSEL MEMORIES...]
[WARNING: CONTENT MAY BE DISTURBING]
Then the memories hit me like a tsunami.
I'm running through dark woods, branches tearing at my skin. Behind me, something huge crashes through the trees—a wolf the size of a horse with glowing blue eyes. I'm Lila, and I'm terrified because I refused to accept more mates. I told Kael I wanted only him, and he said I was selfish, defective, broken.
"You'll obey our laws or you'll die!" he roars.
I keep running, but he's faster. His massive paw slams into my back. I hit the ground hard. When I roll over, he's shifted back to human form, naked and furious.
"I gave you everything," Kael snarls, his hand wrapping around my throat. "And you spit on our ways. You're not worthy of being a Frostclaw mate."
He squeezes. I claw at his hands, begging, crying. But his eyes are empty. Cold. Done with me.
Everything goes dark.
I gasp, yanking myself out of the memory. My hands fly to my throat, expecting to feel bruises. The skin is smooth, but I can still feel his fingers crushing my windpipe.
This man murdered the woman whose body I'm wearing.
And according to that insane system, he's my "fated mate."
"You're not Lila," Kael says suddenly. He's close now, so close I can see the confusion replacing some of the anger in his eyes. "Your scent is different. Your eyes—they were brown. Now they're..." He leans in, studying me. "Purple?"
The system said my eyes changed. Great. Just great.
"I'm not Lila," I manage to croak out. My voice sounds wrong—higher, softer than my real voice. "My name is Maya. I don't know how I got here or what's happening, but I'm not whoever you think I am."
His hand shoots out and grabs my chin, tilting my face toward the moonlight. His touch burns like ice, and weirdly, the spot on my neck where that "mate mark" appeared throbs with warmth.
"You're in her body," he says, eyes narrowing. "But you're someone else. How?"
"I died!" The words burst out of me. "I took a bullet saving a kid, and then some robot voice said I was 'chosen' and shoved me into this body without asking. I didn't want this!"
For the first time, something flickers in his cold expression. Uncertainty maybe?
The blue screen pops up again:
[EMERGENCY QUEST ACTIVATED]
[QUEST: SURVIVE THE NIGHT]
[YOUR MATE BOND WITH KAEL IS UNSTABLE. HE WILL KILL YOU IF HE BELIEVES YOU'RE A THREAT.]
[OBJECTIVE: CONVINCE HIM TO LET YOU LIVE]
[TIME LIMIT: 5 MINUTES]
[REWARD: BASIC HEALING SKILL]
[FAILURE: DEATH (PERMANENT THIS TIME)]
A timer appears in the corner of my vision, counting down. 4:58... 4:57...
Panic claws up my throat. "Look, I know you killed Lila. I saw the memory. And yeah, that makes you a complete monster, but I'm not her!" I point at the glowing screen hovering between us. "Can you see this? The blue writing?"
He glances where I'm pointing and frowns. "There's nothing there."
Of course he can't see it. Why would anything about this nightmare make sense?
"There's a system. It's in my head. It says I'm supposed to..." I swallow hard. "It says you're my fated mate and we have a bond and—"
"The mate bond activated when you woke up." His voice is flat. "I felt it burn onto my skin." He releases my chin and yanks down the collar of his shirt.
There, on his neck just above his collarbone, is a silver crescent moon mark. It's glowing faintly, pulsing like a heartbeat.
I touch my own neck and feel the same raised symbol on my skin.
"This is insane," I whisper.
"Agreed." Kael straightens up, crossing his arms. "But it doesn't change facts. You're in my dead mate's body. The bond says you're mine now. And I don't trust you."
3:47... 3:46...
"Then what are you going to do?" I ask, even though I'm terrified of the answer. "Kill me again?"
Something dark crosses his face. "I killed Lila because she defied our laws. Every female must accept multiple mates—it's how we survive. She refused. She chose death over duty."
The timer is at three minutes.
My nurse brain kicks in despite my terror. I need to de-escalate. I need to make him see me as human—well, whatever counts as human here.
"That's a terrible law," I say quietly. "Where I come from, women get to choose who they love. Forcing someone to accept multiple partners against their will is—"
"Is survival," he cuts me off coldly. "Females are rare here. One female needs three to five mates to protect her, provide for her, give her strong children. It's always been this way."
"That doesn't make it right."
We stare at each other, and I see something flicker in his eyes. Doubt? Curiosity?
The timer hits two minutes.
"Please," I say, hating how desperate I sound. "I saved a kid's life, and this system dragged me here as some kind of reward. I don't understand any of this. But I'm a healer—I'm a nurse. I save lives. Just... just give me a chance to prove I'm not a threat."
Kael is silent for a long moment. Then: "If you're truly not Lila, prove it. Tell me something she would never say."
The timer: 1:23... 1:22...
My mind races. What would the woman who refused multiple mates never say?
"I'll accept the bond," I blurt out. "If that's what keeps me alive, I'll follow your laws. I'll do whatever it takes to survive here."
It's a lie. Kind of. But I need to live long enough to figure out what's happening.
Kael's eyes widen slightly. "You'd submit? Accept me as your mate?"
"I'd accept not dying," I correct. "There's a difference."
The corner of his mouth twitches. Is that... almost a smile?
0:15... 0:14...
"You have nerve, I'll give you that." He crouches down to my eye level. "Fine. I won't kill you tonight. But tomorrow, Maya-who-is-not-Lila, you'll explain everything about this 'system' and why you're really here."
[QUEST COMPLETE!]
[REWARD: BASIC HEALING SKILL UNLOCKED]
[WARNING: ALPHA KAEL DOES NOT TRUST YOU. BOND LEVEL: 1%]
[NEXT QUEST LOADING...]
Relief floods through me so hard I almost cry.
Then Kael stands and walks toward the cave entrance. "Don't try to run. I'll know if you leave. The bond connects us now—I can sense you within a mile radius."
He pauses at the opening and looks back, his expression unreadable.
"Welcome to the Beastworld, Maya. Try not to die before sunrise."
He shifts then—his body rippling and changing into that massive white wolf from Lila's memories. He's enormous, terrifying, beautiful. Then he's gone, disappearing into the night.
I'm alone.
I survived.
The blue screen flashes one more time:
[NEW QUEST: DISCOVER WHY LILA WAS REALLY KILLED]
[HINT: YOUR MATE IS LYING ABOUT SOMETHING]
My blood runs cold.
What else is Kael hiding?