Author's Note For people after 6/1/26 I updated this chapter to have the beastmarks. I've had this planned from the beginning, I don't know why I forgot to add it in. Later chapters have this discussed, so I came back to edit it in correctly. Sorry.
Chapter 75 — Soft Ears
Nia woke slowly beneath layers of warmth, surfacing through sleep in the gradual way that only happens when the body has nothing urgent to report—no cold, no discomfort, no reason to arrive quickly into consciousness.
For several long seconds she remained suspended between sleep and waking, aware only of heat gathered around her on all sides: the steady warmth of the vent stones beneath the floors, the thick furs tangled around her legs, the hearth warmth lingering through the walls from the night before, and the solid weight pressed close along her back, one arm resting heavily across her waist.
Then the arm tightened slightly.
Memory returned all at once.
Heat rushed straight into her face.
Nia buried herself deeper into the blankets.
Behind her, Kael made a quieter sound against the back of her shoulder.
It wasn't laughter. The sound was softer than that, something quieter that warmed against the back of her shoulder.
“You’re awake,” he murmured.
“I was resting quietly,” she mumbled into the bedding.
“Hm.”
His arm tightened slightly around her waist again.
Nia’s ears twitched beneath the blankets.
“…Don’t comment on that either.”
His mouth brushed slowly against the back of her shoulder.
The touch sent warmth through her immediately.
The storm still moved softly through the mountain outside. Pale gray morning light filtered faintly through the upper vent slit while the rear chamber remained warm beneath the heavier winter blankets and the steady vent heat gathered into the stone overnight.
Kael shifted behind her.
The movement pulled her more firmly back against his chest.
Nia became abruptly aware again that neither of them appeared particularly dressed beneath the blankets.
Heat climbed straight back into her face.
His hand moved slowly upward along her waist.
“Kael.”
“Hm.”
She pulled the blankets more firmly around herself.
Something soft brushed awkwardly against the side of her head beneath the fabric.
Nia froze.
Slowly, carefully, she reached upward beneath the blankets.
Her fingers brushed fur, and for a second her mind refused to process what she was feeling before realization caught up with her. Long ears, attached to her head.
For one long second she simply stared into the blankets.
“…I have rabbit ears,” she said faintly.
“Yes.”
Nia turned toward him immediately.
Kael was already staring at the top of her head with an intensity she hadn't seen a moment earlier.
“What?” she asked.
“You didn’t have those yesterday.”
Nia stared at him bewildered.
“I don’t know what to say…”
Kael pushed himself upright slightly behind her, attention still fixed on the ears visible through her curls.
His hand lifted carefully.
When his fingers brushed one ear, it twitched violently.
Heat rushed through her so fast she nearly dropped back beneath the blankets.
Kael went still.
His hand remained against the ear afterward.
His attention stayed fixed there several seconds longer than normal while Nia watched the surprise in his expression settle gradually into thoughtfulness instead of alarm.
“You really didn’t know,” he said quietly.
“I was human yesterday.”
Kael frowned slightly.
“What is a human?”
Nia opened her mouth.
Then stopped.
“A person,” she said slowly. “Just… regular. No animal traits. No tails. No instincts. Nothing like beastfolk.”
Kael stayed quiet.
Nia looked down at the blankets gathered around her hands.
“I woke up here, in this world,” she said more quietly. “This world is completely different from my own.”
The storm moved softly beyond the mountain walls.
Kael’s attention remained fixed on her now instead of the ears.
Then his gaze dropped briefly toward her chest.
Something about the shift made Nia look down as well.
"...Why do you keep looking there?"
Kael seemed mildly surprised.
"You haven't noticed?"
Nia frowned.
"Noticed what?"
Without warning he reached for the edge of the blankets.
She caught his wrist immediately.
"Kael."
"The mark."
Nia blinked.
"The what?"
His gaze dropped toward her chest again.
Curiosity won.
Slowly, she lowered the blankets enough to follow his line of sight.
Then froze.
Just above her heart rested a mark she knew hadn't been there yesterday.
A tiger's head.
The dark lines sat beneath her skin as naturally as if they had always belonged there.
Nia stared.
"...That definitely wasn't there before."
"No."
She touched it carefully.
The skin felt completely normal beneath her fingertips.
"What is it?"
"A bond mark."
Nia looked up immediately.
Kael pulled the blankets aside farther on his own side.
Her attention followed.
A second mark rested above his heart.
Not a tiger.
Not a rabbit.
An orchid.
For several seconds she simply stared.
"The tiger is because of you."
"Yes."
"And the orchid?"
Kael glanced down at it.
His expression shifted slightly.
"That part is unusual."
Nia blinked.
"What do you mean unusual?"
Kael rested one hand against the flower.
"If you were an ordinary rabbit beastwoman, I would have your mark."
"You do have my mark."
"No."
His thumb brushed lightly across one of the petals.
"I have this."
Nia looked again.
The flower suddenly seemed much more important.
"What should it be?"
"A rabbit."
She stared.
Kael continued calmly.
"Normally mates exchange species marks. Mine appears on you. Yours appears on me."
His gaze lowered to the orchid again.
"By every rule I know, this should have been a rabbit."
Nia touched the tiger over her own heart.
"And instead I got your tiger."
"And I got your flower."
The warmth of the rear chamber settled around them while snow continued falling beyond the mountain walls.
"What does it mean?"
"I don't know."
The admission came easily.
"Every completed mating bond leaves marks."
His hand remained over the orchid.
"This part isn't normal."
Nia found herself staring at the flower again.
The orchid wasn't a rabbit mark.
It wasn't any beast mark at all.
It was simply hers.
"Maybe being from another world broke something."
Kael's mouth shifted faintly.
"Possible."
"That is not reassuring."
"No."
His attention lifted toward her ears.
"Neither are those."
Nia groaned.
"Can we focus on one impossible thing at a time?"
The corner of Kael's mouth twitched.
"No."
Kael's attention lingered on the ears another moment.
"I thought you were a beastwoman without visible animal traits. Like a jellyfish or seal beastman."
Nia stared at him.
"That was an option this entire time?"
"It happens."
Nia lowered both hands slowly toward the ears again.
They were still there.
Soft.
Warm.
Very real.
Kael’s hand slid slowly downward along one ear.
“I didn’t know either that you weren’t a beastman,” Kael said. “Even if I did, I wouldn’t have known the bond would change you.”
The touch sent another strange twitch through the ear.
Nia looked at him immediately.
“That keeps happening,” she muttered.
Kael’s thumb brushed slowly along the base of the ear.
“You react with them now.”
Nia pulled the blankets higher over part of her face.
“That is not comforting.”
“The bond probably finished settling overnight,” he said. “Your body adjusted afterward.”
Nia touched one ear carefully.
The sensation still felt surreal.
“I went to sleep human.”
“You woke up mine.”
Nia looked at him without answering immediately.
Kael remained calm beneath the full weight of her stare, one hand still resting carefully against the side of her head.
The storm continued softly outside.
Nia’s ears twitched again, and the shift in Kael’s expression made it clear he had noticed.
Heat climbed back into her face.
“Oh no.”
Kael’s quieter almost-laugh warmed against her hair.
“They twitch when you like something.”
“I gathered that.”
His arms slid around her waist again and pulled her gently back against his chest beneath the blankets.
The warmth settled around her.
Vent heat drifted up through the stone beneath them while heavy winter furs and Kael’s body warmth closed around her from every direction.
Nia leaned back against him slowly while her ears rested awkwardly against his shoulder.
For a long moment neither of them spoke.
Kael’s hand moved once through her curls before settling again against the base of one ear.
The touch remained careful every time.
Outside, the storm continued softly against the mountain walls.
Nia remained quiet for a long moment afterward, one hand still resting carefully against the base of one ear while the unfamiliar fur brushed softly beneath her fingers.
The reality of rabbit ears attached to her body still felt impossible to fully process.
The thought still refused to settle properly inside her head.
Kael’s arms remained loosely around her waist beneath the blankets while the vent heat moved steadily through the floor beneath them.
“You said another world,” he said eventually.
Nia exhaled slowly.
“Yeah.”
The word came out softer than she intended.
She looked down at the blankets gathered around her lap.
“It wasn’t anything like this one.”
Kael stayed quiet.
Waiting.
“There weren’t beastfolk,” she said. “No instincts. No mating bonds. No territories inside mountains.” A small breath escaped her afterward. “No one had ears.”
Kael’s hand moved once along her waist.
Nia leaned back against him a little more.
“The world I came from was…” She stopped briefly, trying to find words that made sense outside her own head. “Louder. More crowded. There were cities everywhere. Metal buildings taller than cliffs. Lights that stayed on all night.”
Kael listened without interrupting.
“I worked with plants,” she said quietly. “That part wasn’t so different, I guess.”
His attention shifted slightly.
“Plants?”
“I studied them.”
Nia rubbed slowly at one ear between her fingers while she spoke.
“How they grow. What soil they need. How different species adapt to different climates.”
Kael’s hand stilled briefly at her waist.
“A scholar.”
Nia let out a small breath that almost became a laugh.
“Something close to that.”
The warmth inside the rear chamber pressed softly around them while the storm continued beyond the stone.
“I didn’t really have anyone there,” she admitted after a while.
The words came easier once she started speaking.
“I grew up in an orphanage mostly,” she admitted quietly. “I still visited all the time after I moved out. The younger kids there used to follow me around whenever I brought food or plants back with me.”
A smaller breath escaped her afterward.
“I had friends and work, and I moved around a lot after I left the orphanage,” she admitted quietly. “I always managed to build a life somewhere.” Her fingers tightened slightly in the blankets gathered across her lap. “But I never really had a place that felt permanent. Nobody who was waiting specifically for me at the end of the day.”
The quiet that followed settled gently around the rear chamber while the storm continued beyond the mountain walls.
Nia covered her eyes briefly with one hand before she could stop herself while tears slipped warm against her fingers.
“That sounds pathetic when I say it out loud.”
Kael’s arms tightened around her.
“No.”
The answer came without hesitation.
Nia pressed her lips together.
Another tear escaped anyway.
“I think…” She swallowed carefully. “I think part of me stopped expecting to belong anywhere a long time ago.”
Kael’s hand slid upward slowly until it rested flat against the center of her chest.
“You belong here.”
Nia covered her eyes again while fresh tears slipped between her fingers.
Kael stayed close behind her the entire time without pushing her to speak or interrupting while she cried, his arms remaining warm and steady around her beneath the blankets.
When she finally lowered her hand again, his mouth brushed once against the side of her temple.
“I’m glad you came here,” he said quietly.
Nia laughed weakly through the remaining tears.
“I almost died in your forest.”
“You survived.”
“That keeps being your answer to everything.”
“It’s still true.”
The simple steadiness of it pulled another softer laugh out of her.
Nia leaned back more fully against his chest afterward.
“I’m happy I met you,” she admitted quietly.
Kael’s arm tightened around her waist.
“And Shen,” she added after a moment.
“Hm.”
“And the mountain.”
Another quieter sound rumbled against the side of her head.
“You’re staying.”
It wasn’t phrased as a question.
Nia looked down at the blankets gathered around both of them while the vent heat moved steadily beneath the floors and Kael’s arms remained warm around her waist, the storm safely outside the mountain instead of around her.
Her rabbit ears twitched once beneath his hand.
“Yeah,” she said softly. “I think I am.”
Kael brushed slowly along one ear again.
“You should know some things now.”
Nia looked back at him more fully beneath the blankets.
“That’s probably necessary,” she admitted quietly.
Kael settled more comfortably against the furs before speaking.
“The continent is called Aurelith,” he said. “Most beastfolk territories belong to one of the Four Great Regions.”
Nia listened quietly.
“The mountain territories in the north survive through storage, trade routes, and winter preparation,” Kael continued. “Rabbit beastfolk usually live farther south where the winters are easier.”
Nia touched one ear again automatically.
“So I turned into a cold-weather rabbit by accident.”
Kael’s mouth shifted faintly.
“You woke up one.”
“I’m not sure how I feel about that yet.”
“Your instincts will settle gradually,” he said. “You’ll start understanding reactions before you think about them.”
Nia narrowed her eyes slightly.
“That’s going to take some getting used to.”
Kael’s hand brushed once more against the base of one ear.
The twitch that followed made heat rise instantly back into her face.
Kael looked entirely unsurprised.
Nia buried part of her face back into the blankets.
“This is going to ruin my life.”
“You’ll adapt.”
His hand remained warm against the side of her head.
Outside, the storm continued softly against the mountain while morning stretched slowly around the rear chamber beneath tangled blankets, steady vent heat, and the unfamiliar reality of rabbit ears that now twitched every time Kael touched them.
Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!
Use arrow keys (or A / D) to PREV/NEXT chapter