Asher and Jeffrey left to search for Danny, leaving only Joshua and Devin behind with Hannah.

Feeling the weight of their gazes on her, Hannah found herself growing uneasy. She turned away and used the chance to quietly inspect the place.

Life in this primitive world was far from comfortable. The entrance had been carefully reinforced with thick branches woven together with vines, creating a barrier that kept out most of the harsh, cutting wind.

Years of wear had smoothed the walls, while the ground was covered in a thick bed of dried grass. Scattered across it were at least seven hides from different beasts, layered together to provide comfort.

Every bit of this had been arranged by Hannah's father.

He spent most of the year away from home, but he had poured all his care and affection into raising Hannah.

More than twenty carefully preserved hides were stacked neatly along one side of the cave. A few steps away, rough stone shelves had been filled with stored food. Rows of dried meat strips stretched across part of the wall, while baskets overflowing with wild fruits still carried tiny beads of morning dew.

Hannah approached a large clay jar brimming with clear water. She leaned over the surface and froze for a moment, captivated by the reflection staring back at her.

It belonged to a young female with long, curling purple hair and features so delicate that they seemed almost unreal. Her deep-set eyes shimmered like they held the distant glow of countless stars.

She had never imagined this body would be so breathtakingly beautiful. The contrast was almost impossible to reconcile with the cruel, twisted personality of its former owner.

She had already made her decision. The five males bound to her were none other than the ruthless villains from the novel. Remaining by their side would only bring her death. Her only chance of surviving was finding her father.

He was the only one who had ever loved her without conditions, and with his S-rank power, he was already strong enough to protect her. If she could reach him before he ran into danger and break the bonds tying her to these mates, she might still be able to save her life.

But this was the werecreature universe—a brutal world where danger lurked everywhere and powerful beasts ruled the wild. A female who lacked both combat strength and a beast form like her had no hope of surviving alone. Without strong males to shield her, she wouldn't be able to go and find her father.

In this world, females were a rare treasure. Because of that, it was common for one female to have several mates bound to her.

Only the combined protection of multiple powerful mates could keep a female safe in such a dangerous world.

"Are you thinking about a new way to torture us?" Joshua's voice broke the quiet at that moment, his usually pleasant tone carrying a sharp edge of ridicule.

Hannah slowly turned around, only to find Joshua tracing the scar across his face with one finger. The firelight flickered against his pale green eyes, casting them in a chilling, unreadable glow.

Nearby, Devin kept his gaze lowered, his long silver-white hair falling forward to conceal most of his expression. The only sign of the emotions he was struggling to suppress was the way his hands had curled into tight fists. There was no mistaking it—they both believed she was plotting some new way to torment them.

Hannah felt a bit resigned. "You'll understand soon enough."

Before she could say anything more, the sound of heavy footsteps came from the entrance.

A moment later, Asher and Jeffrey appeared, carrying a wooden tub that reached nearly to their waists. The container was filled with clear creek water, and resting inside it was Danny, his body partially submerged.

Hannah's breath caught at the scene before her.

Danny's soft, wavy light-blue hair was soaked through and plastered against his cheeks and neck. The wet strands only served to make his already delicate face look ethereal.

His eyes remained half-open, long lashes weighed down by tiny beads of water. There was no trace of life in his gaze.

What truly shocked Hannah was his tail. It was supposed to be covered in delicate, shimmering scales. Instead, all that remained was torn, exposed flesh soaked in blood. The clear water around him had turned into a pool of crimson.

Even after he had endured such suffering, his features were still impossibly refined. The sharp bridge of his nose, the full curve of his lips, and the elegant line of his jaw gave him a beauty that surpassed that of most females.

Yet that breathtaking appearance had been swallowed by a sense of emptiness—the kind left behind only by unbearable pain and complete despair.

The sight struck Hannah like a blade straight through her chest.

Only then did she understand why these five males would rather gamble their lives against the backlash of breaking their bonds than continue carrying the mate beast marks that tied them to her.

The original Hannah had not merely tormented their bodies day after day; she had also stripped away their dignity.

Asher lowered the tub to the ground. His expression remained cold, his voice empty of any trace of emotion. "Are you satisfied now? Does watching him suffer like this amuse you even more than seeing me burned with a heated stick yesterday?"

At the side, Jeffrey's icy blue eyes burned with rage, yet the bond's restraint made him unable to act on the fury raging inside him.

His hands curled into fists until his knuckles turned white and gave a sharp crack. The force of his grip tore open the old wound along his arm, and fresh droplets of blood slowly emerged from the broken skin.

Beneath the strands of his silver-white hair, Devin's lashes trembled. For the first time, his amber eyes revealed raw, unmistakable pain.

He and Danny had always been the closest among the five. They were also the ones who had suffered the most under the original Hannah's cruelty.

The sneer on Joshua's lips faded the second Danny came into view. His fingers moved on instinct, brushing over the scar on his cheek as he stared at the wooden tub. Anger flashed across his expression.

The bitterness in her throat made Hannah's chest tighten, but she forced herself to take a steadying breath. "I know you all despise me. I never wanted to force any of you into bonding with me in the first place. I'll set you free."

The contempt in Asher's gaze sharpened, his eyes never leaving hers. "You actually think we'd be foolish enough to believe that?"

"There's a condition for that," Hannah replied, her voice calm and unwavering. "I need to find my father before the rainy season arrives. Until then, you'll have to protect me. In exchange, whenever one of you proves useful, I'll give him a drop of my blood."

Her words crashed through the place with the force of a sudden storm. Shock flashed across the males' faces as their pupils tightened.

"You'll give us your blood?" A tremor of disbelief slipped into Asher's voice as his gaze stayed locked on Hannah.

His hand moved before he could stop it, rising to press against the scorpion beast mark that represented the bond tying him to her.

In the werecreature universe, where females were overwhelmingly rare compared to males, females held unquestionably high status. A mate bond with a female was established through two separate steps.

The first was the blood bond. The female would place a single drop of her blood onto the male's forehead. With that, a beast mark carrying the symbol of the female's bloodline would emerge on his body, even though the females themselves had no beast form.

Since Hannah's father was a scorpion beast, her beast mark had taken the shape of a scorpion.

The second step was carried out through physical intimacy. Only after the two had had sex would the male's mate beast mark appear on the female, signifying that the bond had been fully completed.

The original Hannah had hated the mates her father had selected for her, so she had never gone beyond the first step.

At this stage, a female could sever the bond by applying her own blood to the male's mate beast mark. After repeating the process ten times, the mark would completely disappear.

However, the female had to cut her own finger each time, and there was another crucial condition—the act had to come entirely from her own will. Because of that, most females were never willing to hurt themselves ten times to sever a bond.

And no matter which stage of the bond had been completed, the moment a female's beast mark appeared on a male, he was forbidden from harming her. Any attempt to do so would cause the mark to unleash unbearable agony upon him—pain that was even worse than death.

Some males, pushed beyond their limits by a female's cruelty, had chosen to cut the beast mark from their own flesh. Yet the chance of surviving such an act was frighteningly slim.

Even so, males had no way to avoid seeking out females. Once they reached adulthood, they would enter rut several times a year. During those periods, if no female was present to soothe the turmoil within their bodies, their disordered pheromones would spiral out of control and drive them into a violent frenzy. And if they remained like that for too long, their bodies would eventually collapse from within, ending their lives.

Devin's downcast lashes quivered. Half-hidden beneath strands of silver-white hair, his amber eyes betrayed their first hint of emotion.

"If that were really what you wanted, you could've broken the bond ages ago. So why wait until now? This is just another one of your tricks, isn't it?"

Unlike Hannah's other mates, Devin hadn't been seized and brought to her by her father. He had come to her on his own.

Apparently, he and the original Hannah had known each other since childhood. But whether he had entered the bond willingly was impossible to tell from the memories Hannah had inherited.

His tone now, however, made one thing clear—he wanted the bond severed every bit as badly as the rest of them.

Hannah studied the male fated to become a villain of terrifying power. "I've already explained what I want. All of you are coming with me to find my father."

Her gaze shifted to Danny, who hovered on the edge of consciousness. After a beat, she added, "Devin, heal his injuries with your spiritual power, and I'll give you a drop of my blood right after."

As a priest, Devin wielded spiritual power capable of healing wounds. Yet Hannah had always forbidden him from using it, even on himself.

But now, she was commanding him to heal Danny—and promising him her blood to loosen the bond in return?

Devin didn't believe Hannah at all. Still, Danny was badly wounded, and Devin wanted to see what game Hannah was playing. With a clipped nod, he moved closer to Danny.

A faint white radiance gathered around his fingertips—the spiritual power of a D-rank priest.

Carefully, he hovered one hand over Danny's merman tail. The gentle glow sank into the torn flesh, staunching the blood as the mangled wound sealed beneath a fresh layer of scab right before their eyes.

Relief flickered through Danny's violet gaze. The tension slowly eased from his body, and a faint trace of color returned to his face.

Devin pulled his hand away, his breathing slightly labored from the spiritual power drain. A fine sheen of sweat glistened across his brow.

He lifted his gaze to Hannah, studying her with open suspicion. He clearly didn't think she would honor her promise.

Hannah unclasped the necklace from around her neck. Hanging from it was a razor-edged ornament no larger than a finger joint, fashioned from some unidentifiable material. Her father had stumbled upon it years ago and polished it into a protective charm for her.

Curling her fingers around the charm, she steadied herself with a deep breath, then dragged its sharp edge across her fingertip.

Pain bit into her skin, and a vivid bead of blood rose from the cut.

She walked over to Devin, held her hand above his chest, and allowed the crimson drop to land directly on his beast mark.

The instant her blood struck the beast mark, the color began to thin as though something had washed through it, its edges blurring.

The mark remained, yet it had faded enough for everyone to see the difference.

Absolute silence swallowed the place.

Devin's eyes widened in shock. His hand rose on instinct, fingertips pressing against the faint warmth lingering on his skin. With the residual heat and the visibly paler beast mark, there was no denying what had just happened.

Asher's gaze locked on the beast mark branded across Devin's chest. His pupils constricted, and he swallowed hard instinctively.

Never in his life had he heard of a female surrendering her blood willingly to weaken a bond, much less witnessed a beast mark lose its color before his eyes.

Every trace of ridicule vanished from Joshua's face. Stunned, he reached for the beast mark on his own body without thinking.

Jeffrey's breaths turned ragged as disbelief flashed through his eyes. His gaze darted between Devin's faded beast mark and the blood beading on Hannah's fingertip. He was momentarily speechless.

From inside the water-filled tub, Danny fought to push himself upright. His violet eyes locked on the pale beast mark across Devin's chest, and for the first time, the hatred in them gave way to something else—a fragile spark of hope.

"Do you believe me now?" Hannah asked.

All five males stared without a word, turbulent emotions churning in their chests.

Their doubt hadn't vanished, but now, it collided with the first delicate stirrings of hope.

The transformation in the beast mark was impossible to deny. After witnessing it themselves, they could no longer deny the truth.

Devin was the first to regain his composure. His gaze dropped to the blood still welling from Hannah's fingertip. His throat bobbed as if words had risen to his lips, but after a tense pause, he still remained silent.

Asher pulled in a slow breath, forcing down the shock still pounding through him. When he looked at Hannah again, his eyes had turned solemn. "You want us to take you to find your father?"

After a pause, he voiced the most pressing problem. "But we have no idea where he went."

Her father was a rogue beast, his whereabouts uncertain. This time, he had left without revealing his destination, leaving them with nothing to follow.

Searching her memory of the novel's plot, Hannah said, "He should be heading to the wereagle's territory. Before he left, he mentioned capturing one of their males and bringing him back to become my next mate."

Devin considered her answer before his brows drew together. "The wereagle's territory is at the border of the Shadow Forest. The journey will take no less than seven days."

"We will head there first." Hannah's voice was firm, leaving no room for argument.

The decision had been made.

She took in the wariness in their eyes. "I'm tired. I need some rest. You should all... make whatever preparations you need. We will leave first thing tomorrow morning."

Asher studied her for a long moment, his expression impossible to decipher, then turned and left without a word.

Devin went after him. As he walked past Hannah, his stride paused ever so slightly, though he never glanced her way.

Joshua's gaze dropped to the blood beading on her fingertip. One corner of his mouth curled, but whether it was because of mockery or something far more complicated, she couldn't tell. Then he, too, walked away.

After one final look at Danny in the tub, Jeffrey left.

Soon, Hannah and Danny were the only ones left.

Curiosity stirred in Danny's eyes, but he kept his questions to himself and silently observed Hannah from the water.

Hannah crossed the cave to the bed cushioned with thick layers of dried grass and dropped onto it, releasing a long breath.

As she leaned against the cool stone wall, the tension wound through her nerves finally began to loosen.

For now, she had given her mates a sliver of hope—enough to keep the situation under control.

But it was far from enough.

She understood that the promise to sever the bonds could never undo the deep hatred the original Hannah had planted in them.

For now, the males protected her only because she held the key to their freedom.

But once those bonds were broken and the beast marks no longer held them back, they would not let her off. After they had endured years of torment, their loathing for her ran bone-deep. Nothing would stop them from killing her then.

Finding her father was merely the first step.

Before that, she had to prove she wasn't the monster they believed her to be.

At the very least, she needed to dull the hatred that had sunk so deeply inside them.

Once the hostility between them faded, she could end their bonds peacefully. After that, she would be free to choose a few males who genuinely appealed to her and forge new bonds with them.

The males in the werecreature universe were ridiculously handsome. If she had no choice but to live here, she might as well claim a few for herself.

As Hannah was lost in thought, soft footsteps echoed from the entrance.

Joshua appeared with a wide green leaf in his hands, several pieces of roasted meat on it.

The edges had been lightly browned, releasing a mouthwatering aroma, while careful roasting had left each piece crisp outside and tender within.

Joshua approached Hannah but left several feet between them. Even at that distance, his towering silhouette swallowed Hannah beneath its shadow.

A mesmerizing smile curved his lips as he extended the wide leaf toward her. His voice dropped into a rich, velvety murmur. "Hungry? Care for a bite?"

Hannah believed that he wouldn't show her such kindness without hidden intentions.

Was he planning to poison her?

She studied the dangerously charming werefox with guarded eyes. Then, he added, "If you eat the meat... will you spare a drop of blood for me, too?"