Rebirth: Beasts Bound

"She’s... not pregnant." Dr. Elantra’s voice cut through the crowd, and I froze, staring at her in utter shock.

Did she just lie?

"Are you sure? Doctor, she has to be pregnant!" Elowen said, stepping forward, and my eyes immediately turned cold.

"I have to be pregnant? Elowen, are you trying to slander me? Or perhaps you want me dragged out and disgraced, don’t you?" I asked. She immediately realized her mistake and shut her mouth, but Bibi frowned. Stepping closer, she sneered.

"Your very words make it sound like you’re trying to frame Raven for being pregnant, or perhaps do something that would make it look like she’s pregnant! Oh, that’s why you chose her to be the second person checked, isn’t it?"

"Spill!" Bibi yelled when Elowen remained silent.

Elowen’s eyes darkened sadly. "You misunderstood me. I would never say something so evil about my sister," she said, lifting her head upward. Tears were already visible in her eyes.

"I simply thought she might be pregnant because she has four beast-men. Sleeping with each of them means she could get pregnant. If she isn’t, then maybe all her beast-men are impotent!"

The moment those words left her mouth, Thyrian snapped his fangs out, making her freeze.

"What did you just say?" Azrael asked, stepping forward. The anger in his eyes was clear, brutal, and terrifying, making Elowen stagger backward.

Her words had just slandered them as impotent and indirectly called me a slut for sleeping with all of them.

Azrael chuckled softly, and his eyes turned dark green. The second Elowen met his gaze, she froze as though she had been hypnotized, but I immediately held my stomach and stretched my hand forward.

"It’s okay. Forget her," I said, grabbing his wrist.

Azrael instantly stopped and looked at me.

Elowen gasped, breathing heavily in relief. She stared at him in fright, but then something flashed across her eyes. "Don’t you know harming a royal means death?" she snapped.

I sighed in disgust.

"Royal? Elowen, between you and me, I’m the royal. You’re just a simple commoner cousin. Don’t speak so highly of yourself. It doesn’t suit you." I said it bluntly before catching my breath, I was really exhausted.

"Since I’m done being checked, I am excused." Without waiting for Lysanadra’s permission, I turned and walked away with my beast-men.

I heard her scoff quietly under her breath. "Such ill manners."

I didn’t have the energy to care.

"Do you want to go back to your room?" Azrael asked, stepping forward and stopping me in my tracks.

I placed a hand on my head, the arena actually felt hot, and I felt too weak to even climb the stairs.

"How about somewhere quiet? But with lots of fresh air?" I asked.

His eyes brightened slightly.

He gently tucked a strand of hair behind my ear, causing the others to immediately lean closer.

"Azrael, are you perhaps getting gentler?" Thyrian asked softly.

Azrael froze. He nearly rolled his eyes before grunting in disapproval. "This way."

He didn’t bother answering, I laughed softly and followed behind him.

We passed through the flower garden, where thousands of flowers were blooming beautifully. I stopped and crouched slightly, taking in the scent of a nearby rose.

It smelled fresh and leafy.

"Does it smell nice?" Ryker asked, I turned and nodded.

"It’s weird. Don’t pregnant women usually throw up when they hate how things smell? I don’t feel like throwing up."

I sounded genuinely surprised, Ryker immediately laughed.

"Do you want to throw up?" Veyra asked, I quickly shook my head negatively.

"Then stop talking like you do." He laughed and shook his head.

Holding my stomach, I continued following Azrael deeper into the garden.

Eventually, we arrived at a quiet place surrounded by beautiful scenery. Everything looked colorful and peaceful, making my smile widen as I sat down on a nearby rock.

"Want to play a game?" Veyra asked, I shook my head negatively.

"Are you hungry?" Ryker asked, I giggled. "I’m really not." He smiled back.

I simply sat there, letting the cool breeze brush against my skin. It felt nice, and the wind kept blowing strands of hair across my face, forcing me to tuck them behind my ear repeatedly.

Veyra and Ryker eventually wandered off for a stroll, while Thyrian continued talking nonstop to Azrael, who still wore that permanently grumpy expression.

"Save me," Azrael muttered.

Thyrian laughed, yet he never stopped talking for even a second, making me shake my head in amusement. The atmosphere felt incredibly peaceful, and for the first time since discovering my pregnancy, I actually felt relaxed. Smiling softly, I closed my eyes and simply enjoyed the cool air brushing against my skin.

Then suddenly, something felt wrong, my eyes snapped open.

It was dark.

Huh? Wasn’t it bright afternoon just seconds ago?

Slowly standing up while holding my stomach, I looked around. "Azrael? Thyrian?" I called out, rooted to my spot, yet no response or any movement came.

"Where did they go?" I wondered off deeper into the woods, before immediately stopping myself, I shouldn’t wander too far.

This could be another one of Elowen’s tricks, I should contact the system.

"Cat?" I called out, but response came. I stiffened and bit down on my bottom lip. It felt as though my connection with both my beast-men and the system had been severed. Sighing softly, I looked around, my legs already hurt, gosh, It was only the first day, and I could already feel them going numb.

Was pregnancy really this draining?

Although I knew beast-man cubs were different from human babies and drained far more energy from the mother. Especially considering I was carrying triplets, there was no doubt I would become completely weak eventually.

Amidst my thoughts, a nearby tree branch suddenly snapped, my eyes widened, someone was here.

Before I could even turn around, a handkerchief was pressed tightly against my nose.

To tried desperately to push the person away, I struggled with everything I had, but nothing worked. The hand holding me was far too strong, far too tight.

The substance on the handkerchief smelled faintly of almonds. My eyelids immediately became heavy, the surroundings turned blurry and foggy, and before I could react....everything went black.

"Wake up!"

An angry voice echoed faintly through the darkness. My eyes slowly fluttered open, but everything remained blurry.

Where was I?

My lips parted, trying to speak, but no sound came out. Did I lose my voice? My eyes widened, then my vision finally cleared.

Rosy stood before me.She wore simple white trousers and a plain T-shirt. Her arms were folded beneath her chest, and her eyes were dark with resentment.

"So you’re finally awake."

My voice eventually returned. "Aren’t you supposed to be in the dungeon?" I asked.

She chuckled darkly. "I made a little deal with someone."

My eyes dimmed. "Who?" I asked.

She licked her lips. "You’ll never know." She snorted proudly, making me nearly roll my eyes.

"So Elowen or Darian? Which one is it this time?" I asked.

Her eyes widened. "How did you know?"

I didn’t answer, instead, I looked downward. The ground was several feet beneath me, then I noticed something else....My wrists hurt badly, looking up, I discovered my hands were chained above me to the ceiling.

"What do you want?" I asked, she didn’t answer, instead, heavy footsteps echoed from the shadows.

"We just want you to suffer." Darian’s cocky voice rang through the room, I frowned.

"Raven, Raven. You treated me like a dog..."

"Because you are," I cut in.

He immediately gritted his teeth. "Shut it!" He stormed forward.

SLAP!

His hand collided with my cheek.

My head snapped to the side, but I simply pushed my hair away from my face, completely ignoring the stinging sensation.

"What? The truth hurts, doesn’t it?" I asked, licking my lips.

POW!

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