The snow didn't just fall. It attacked.
By nightfall, the Oakhaven Estate was besieged by a white curtain so thick it blotted out the treeline. The temperature plummeted, turning the mud in the yard to iron-hard ridges.
Inside the farmhouse, however, it was a different world.
The fireplace roared with the wood Caspian had scavenged from old fence posts and dead branches. In the center of the kitchen table sat a massive, steaming platter of roasted boar meat.
Valeria sat at the head of the table. She was exhausted. The last three hours had been a gruesome lesson in survival. She had stood in the kitchen reading aloud from "The Homesteader's Guide to Butchery" while Kael and Caspian dismantled the massive beast.
They had saved everything. The blood was drained for black pudding (Ignis claimed it was vital for iron). The intestines were cleaned for sausage casings. The hide was salted and rolled up in the corner, waiting for tanning.
Nothing was wasted.
"Eat," Valeria said, nodding at the platter.
It was the first real meal they had shared. Not scavenged yams, not broth, but meat. Rich, fatty, muscle-building meat.
Kael didn't wait. He used a knife to carve thick slabs, tossing them onto the wooden plates.
"The liver is for the bird," Kael grunted, sliding a plate toward Lucian. "Good for feathers."
Lucian blinked, looking at the Tiger with wide, watery eyes. "Thank you... Kael."
"And the heart for the Wolf," Kael continued, tossing the organ to Silas.
Silas caught it mid-air. He didn't devour it instantly like a beast. He held it in his hands, looking at it, then looked at Valeria. He tore it in half and placed the bigger half on her plate.
"Leader," Silas said, his voice guttural but clear. "Strength."
The table went silent.
Valeria looked at the raw heart on her plate. Her modern sensibilities revolted, but her survival instinct, and the memories of Elise's starving body, recognized the gesture for what it was. It was the highest tribute a Wolf could offer.
"Thank you, Silas," she said softly. She moved the raw meat to the side. "I'll... cook it a bit more. But I appreciate it."
Silas grinned, revealing sharp canines, and happily ate his half.
For an hour, the sounds of chewing and the crackling fire filled the room. The tension that usually vibrated between them relaxed. Their bellies were full. They were warm. They were safe.
Or so they thought.
Ignis, who had eaten with surprising dignity despite his hunger, wiped his mouth with a rag.
"The snow covers our tracks," the Dragon strategist noted. "Mara won't be able to return tonight. And the Garnetts won't survive the shed if they don't huddle together. We have a tactical advantage."
"We need to secure the windows tomorrow," Kael added. "If the snow piles up, we can use it as a wall."
Valeria listened to them plan. It was working. They were becoming a unit.
Then, the wind changed.
A high, shrill whistling sound cut through the chimney, echoing in the flue. It was just the storm squeezing through the masonry, a natural phenomenon.
But to Silas, it was something else.
The Wolf froze. His fork clattered to the floor. His ears pinned back against his skull, and the pupils of his eyes dilated until his irises were swallowed by blackness.
"No," Silas whispered. He began to shake. "No. Not the kennel. Not the box."
"Silas?" Valeria asked, sensing the shift in the air. "It's just the wind."
"They found us," Silas whimpered. He scrambled backward, his chair tipping over with a crash. He pressed his back against the wall, clawing at his own neck as if trying to rip off a collar that wasn't there. "The Whistle. The Master's Whistle."
"Silas, look at me," Kael barked, his voice commanding. "There is no Master here. You are with the Pack."
"No Pack!" Silas screamed. A pulse of chaotic grey mana exploded from his body, knocking the plates off the table. "Run! Run before he skins us! Run!"
He lunged for the back door.
"Stop him!" Valeria shouted. "If he runs into that storm, he'll die!"
Kael was already moving. He vaulted over the table, tackling Silas just as the Wolf's hand touched the latch.
The two beastmen crashed into the floor.
Silas wasn't fighting like a brother anymore. He was fighting like a trapped animal. He snarled, snapping his jaws inches from Kael's face, his claws raking across Kael's healed chest.
"Let me go! I have to draw them away!" Silas howled, tears streaming down his face even as he tried to kill his friend. "I'll be the bait! Don't let them take the Cub!"
The Cub? Valeria paused. Who is the Cub?
"Hold him!" Valeria ordered.
Caspian threw himself onto Silas's legs, using his massive weight to pin the Wolf's lower body. Ignis grabbed a blanket, trying to muffle the Wolf's flailing arms.
"He's having a Mana Break!" Ignis shouted. "His trauma is resonating with the storm! His core is going critical! We have to knock him out!"
"No!" Valeria said. "If you knock him out while his mana is surging, it will backfire and burn his brain. He'll wake up a vegetable."
She ran to the sewing kit Lucian had left on the mantle. She grabbed the case of needles.
"Hold his head still!" Valeria commanded, dropping to her knees beside the thrashing pile of limbs.
Kael gritted his teeth, enduring a bite to his forearm to clamp his hands on either side of Silas's head. "Do it! I can't hold him forever!"
Valeria closed her eyes for a split second.
Library. Search: Beastman Anatomy. Nerve clusters. Sedation.
A diagram flashed in her mind. The Occipital Node. Base of the skull. The Vagus Nerve junction.
She opened her eyes. The violet light of the Vespera bloodline flared, slowing her perception of time. She saw the chaotic flow of grey energy coursing through Silas's neck. It was blocked at the base of his skull, creating a pressure cooker effect.
"Lucian, light!"
The Phoenix scrambled over with a candle, holding it close.
Valeria took a long, steel needle. She didn't hesitate. She plunged it into the soft spot just behind Silas's ear.
Silas stiffened.
She inserted a second needle into the nape of his neck. A third into his shoulder.
"Release," Valeria whispered, twisting the needles slightly to disrupt the mana flow.
Silas let out a long, shuddering breath. The tension left his body instantly. His claws retracted. The blackness in his eyes receded, leaving them their natural, soft grey.
He slumped against the floor, panting.
Kael rolled off him, clutching his bleeding arm. Caspian sat back, wiping sweat from his forehead.
The room was silent, save for the howling wind outside.
Valeria checked Silas's pulse. It was fast, but steady.
"He's back," she said.
She leaned in to check the needle placement on his neck. As she brushed his matted hair aside, the candlelight revealed something she hadn't seen before.
It was a scar. Old and white. But it wasn't a whip mark. It was a brand.
It was the shape of a Crescent Moon bisected by a dagger.
Valeria's blood ran cold. She recognized that symbol from the novel.
[System Alert: Hidden Plotline Unlocked.]
[Target: Silas. Identity: The Lost Prince of the Silver Moon Clan.]
[Brand Identified: The Royal Hunter's Mark. Owner: The Imperial Beast Taming Guild.]
The Hunters weren't just poachers. They were the Emperor's personal supplier of exotic beasts. Silas wasn't just a stray dog Elise picked up; he was a political prisoner who had escaped, only to be caught by common trash.
"The Whistle," Silas mumbled, his eyes half-open, staring at the ceiling. "Do you hear it?"
"I hear it," Valeria lied gently, stroking his hair. "But I turned it off. It can't hurt you anymore."
Silas looked at her. "You... turned it off?"
"I'm a Librarian," Valeria said, as if that explained everything. "I know how to silence things."
Silas closed his eyes. "Okay. Leader is... strong."
He passed out into a natural sleep.
Valeria slowly removed the needles. She sat back on her heels, looking at Kael.
Kael was wrapping a rag around his bitten arm. He looked at the brand on Silas's neck, then at Valeria. He recognized it too.
"The Guild," Kael rumbled softly, so the others wouldn't hear. "If they find out he's here..."
"They won't," Valeria said, her voice hard. "Because if they come to Oakhaven, they won't be leaving."
She stood up. "Caspian, carry Silas to the rug by the fire. Ignis, check the windows again. Lucian, get the mop. We made a mess."
As the husbands moved to obey, Valeria walked to the window. She looked out at the white void of the storm.
The novel had described Silas as a "mad dog" who died early. It never mentioned he was a Prince. It never mentioned the Guild.
The plot has changed, she realized. By saving him, I've inherited his enemies.
She touched the cold glass.
"Let them come," she whispered. "I have a dragon, a tiger, a shark, a phoenix, and a wolf. And I have five thousand years of military history in my head."
She turned back to the room.
"Kael," she called out.
The Tiger looked up.
"Teach me how to use a knife," she said. "Properly."
Kael stared at her. A slow, predatory grin spread across his face. It was the first time he had smiled - really, truly smiled - at her.
"Tomorrow," Kael said. "At dawn."
The next morning, the storm had passed, leaving the world buried under three feet of pristine white powder.
The sun was blindingly bright.
Valeria stood in the barn. It was a structure that was barely standing, but cleared of snow. She held a short, iron dagger in a reverse grip.
Kael circled her. He moved silently, despite his size.
"You're thinking too much," Kael critiqued. "You're trying to remember diagrams. Fighting isn't reading. It's reacting."
He lunged.
Valeria flinched, raising her arm to block.
Kael swept her leg. She hit the straw with a thud.
"Dead," Kael said flatly. "If I had a blade, your femoral artery would be severed. You'd bleed out in ninety seconds."
Valeria groaned, pushing herself up. "I'm a scholar, Kael. Not a gladiator."
"You're the Leader," Kael stated, offering her a hand. "The Leader is the primary target. If you die, the pack shatters. Silas goes mad. Ignis gives up. Caspian dries out. And Lucian... Lucian dies of heartbreak."
He pulled her to her feet with effortless strength.
"Again."
They trained for an hour until Valeria's arms felt like jelly.
"Break," Kael called finally.
Valeria leaned against a wooden post, gasping for air. "Do I... have any talent?"
Kael looked at her. "No. You have terrible instincts. You hesitate."
Valeria scowled.
"But," Kael added, "you have eyes. You see things before they happen. You saw my leg moving before I swept you. Your body just was too slow to react. That can be fixed."
He walked over to a bucket of water and ladled some out for her.
"We need to talk about the Wolf," Kael said, his voice lowering.
"I saw the mark," Valeria said, taking the ladle.
"The Guild doesn't stop looking for Silver Moons," Kael said. "Their pelt is used for Emperor's robes. Their bones for wands. If Silas was a Prince... his price is a kingdom."
"Why didn't they find him?" Valeria asked. "He was with the Garnetts for a year."
"The Garnetts are idiots," Kael said. "They kept him chained in filth. The filth masked his scent. And his mana was dormant because of the starvation. But yesterday... you healed him. You fed him. His mana is returning. The signal will get stronger."
Valeria gripped the ladle. "So we need to mask him."
"We need a Suppressor," Kael said. "A magical collar. Or a potion. Something to hide his signature."
Valeria thought of the Library. Alchemy.
"I can make a potion," Valeria said. "I need ingredients. Shadow Moss. Moon Dust."
"We have neither," Kael said.
"Then we find them," Valeria said. "Or we buy them."
"With what money?"
Valeria smiled. It was a sharp, dangerous smile.
"I checked the Garnetts' room after they left," she said. "They took their clothes. They took the coins. But they left something under the floorboards."
Kael raised an eyebrow.
"A ledger," Valeria said. "A record of their illegal sales. They were selling the estate's timber to a black market lumberjack. That lumberjack owes them a final payment today."
She pushed off the post.
"The Garnetts aren't here to collect it," she said. "So I think we should go collect it for them."
Kael stared at her. Then, he threw his head back and laughed. It was a deep, booming sound that startled the birds in the rafters.
"You really are a villain," Kael said approvingly.
"I'm a pragmatic librarian," Valeria corrected. "Get the sled. We're going to collect a debt."