Through the haze, Lily heard soft, enticing breaths—one after another.
Which heavenly man was this? How could someone breathe like that?
It was downright… suggestive.
Her vision slowly cleared, and a strikingly handsome man came into view. His long silver hair cascaded down his back, and though he wore nothing but the hide of some unknown beast, he was still impossibly captivating—impossible to look away from.
Leaning against a stone wall, the man panted heavily. His entire body was slick with a fine sheen of sweat, veins standing out along his neck. He looked as though he were in immense discomfort.
Before Lily could take in more, the man suddenly raised a bone knife from nowhere and drove it viciously into his thigh.
Crimson blood seeped along the blade, trailing down his leg and pooling on the ground.
Lily stared, stunned. She hadn't expected him to be so ruthless with himself. Just as she was about to speak, a flood of someone else's memories surged into her mind.
What the hell—she had actually transmigrated?!
Just a moment ago, she had been shoved down a flight of stairs by a stranger—an irate parent who had pretended it was an accident, all because the handmade gift she'd made for her nephew was too eye-catching. The next moment, she had landed inside a beast-world novel she'd once read.
If she had to transmigrate––fine, but why into a minor cannon-fodder character who shared her exact name and died early?!
Back when she'd read the novel, Lily had even mocked this character, thinking the original host was a fool. With an incredibly powerful eight-star beastman father and five exceptional, high-potential beast husbands, she had everything—yet she didn't cherish any of it, instead obsessing over the scumbag male lead.
In the end, she drove her beast husbands into madness, and they reduced her to ashes.
Just thinking about that fate sent a chill down Lily's spine.
No matter what, she couldn't let that ending repeat itself. She had to find a way to survive.
A sharp wave of pain briefly snapped the man back to awareness—only for his consciousness to be swallowed again moments later.
"Hot… so hot…"
He tore at the animal hide on his body, unable to control himself. His originally handsome face flushed a deep red as he struggled to endure, veins bulging along his neck as if, without release, he might explode from the strain.
Lily looked at him and recognized him at once—Dallan, the original host's nine-tailed fox beast husband.
In the novel, Dallan was the only one of her husbands with whom the original host had ever been intimate. Not because she liked him, but because of her father, who had been desperate to secure the best future for his daughter.
Though the five beast husbands had already formed blood contracts with her, without completing the final ritual, they could still withdraw. Only by consummating the bond would they truly be bound.
But the original host disdained all of them. Left with no choice, her father had secretly hidden a love-inducing flower in her stone dwelling.
And on that day, everyone else had gone out—leaving only Dallan behind…
Lily remembered what came next. Because of that night, the original host had been furious. She began tormenting Dallan relentlessly. Later, when Hoan casually expressed interest in Dallan's fox tails, she didn't hesitate—she cut off all nine of them and sent them over to him.
Just like that, Dallan became a crippled beast, reduced to utter uselessness.
In the beast world, a male's strength determined his status. Once crippled, unless he had made extraordinary contributions to the city, he would be cast out of Ten Thousand Beasts City. And exile had only one ending: death.
After Dallan was crippled, not only did the original host despise him, but so did the others. In the end, he descended completely into darkness, willing to die alongside her if it meant killing her.
Looking at him now, Lily couldn't comprehend how the original host's mind had worked. With such a stunning, powerful husband at her side, she had thrown it all away to chase after the male lead like a fool.
But… that just meant a bargain for her.
Rising to her feet, Lily walked toward Dallan. His reason had already been devoured by desire; his gaze fixed on her, dazed and unfocused. To him, Lily now held a fatal allure.
"Dallan, you…"
Before Lily could finish her sentence, he strode toward her in long, urgent steps and bent down to claim her lips.
She froze for a heartbeat—then her delight broke through, impossible to suppress.
In her entire life—over twenty years—she hadn't even held a man's hand. And now, after transmigrating, she'd skipped straight to this…
So this was what it meant to finally get a taste of meat.
Seeing that she didn't resist, Dallan abandoned the last of his restraint. He swept her up into his arms and carried her toward the stone bed.
"Dallan… slow down. I'm scared…"
She might not have experienced it herself, but she'd heard enough from her friends—your first time could hurt. The thought left her both nervous and strangely expectant.
Perhaps it was because the small female in his arms seemed so delicate, but even though he was at the edge of his control, Dallan's movements softened, becoming more careful, more restrained.
The storm that followed was long and consuming.
By the time it ended, Lily was utterly spent, slipping into unconsciousness. Just before she lost awareness, a final thought drifted through her mind—were beastmen all this formidable?
It was a good thing that only Dallan had been affected. If all five of her beast husbands had been there…
She might not have survived that stone bed.
***
The next morning.
Soft rays of dawn filtered through the window. Dallan gazed at the sleeping Lily in his arms, his emotions tangled and heavy.
How had he lost control like that… and truly taken her?
His gaze dropped to his chest, where a white mark had appeared—a vivid, lifelike emblem of a rabbit, soft and almost downy in appearance.
Then his eyes shifted to Lily's smooth skin. At her collarbone, the once dull, gray imprint of the nine-tailed fox had now taken on color—his mark, fully awakened. The other four marks remained lifeless and gray.
So… that had been her first time?
Dallan's thin lips pressed into a tight line, something unnameable stirring in his chest.
By all rights, now that their bond had been completed, he belonged to her—bound for life, to stay by her side and care for her. But when he thought of what the other four had endured, unease crept in.
They had all said Lily only cared for Hoan. If she blamed him for taking her first time, then his fate…
It was easy to imagine.
But no matter what, what was done was done. There was no turning back now.
And besides… last night, he had clearly caught the scent of the love flower. Lily had never liked the beast husbands the City Lord had brought her—so why would such a thing appear in her chamber?
Carefully, Dallan eased himself out of bed and stepped outside—only to come face-to-face with two figures approaching.
"Dallan, you—"
Gian stared at him in disbelief. The lingering scent of the female clung heavily to him, and the traces in the air made it all too obvious what had happened the night before.
"The love flower?"
Alast's gaze fell to the bloom in Dallan's hand, his brows knitting together.
The love flower typically affected only males, leaving females untouched. If it had been found in her room, then…
"That vicious female actually used that on you?" Gian's eyes widened, his voice rising despite himself. "But didn't she say Hoan would be her first?"
Dallan shook his head. He didn't understand it either.
"Unless… she wasn't the one who placed it there." Alast spoke coldly.
Dallan considered it for a while. "Perhaps… The City Lord?"
Alast was about to respond when a voice drifted out from inside the room—
Lily had awakened.
Dallan tensed instantly.
That vicious female… was awake. What now?