Free Web NovelChapter 2: Episode 002: Let me help you.
The cave went darker the further in she went.
Rue kept walking anyway. Her options were limited. Behind her was a swamp full of things that wanted to eat her. Ahead was darkness. Darkness felt manageable.
Until her beastly instincts kicked in and her feet started shaking without permission.
"Damn it, move, Rue. There is no enemy, just ignore death and get the fuck out of here first."
But she couldn’t stop quivering. Her fur stood on end, and it felt like the floor could just open and swallow her whole. And then, as if whatever caused the fear had noticed her, she froze.
Right in front of her, a pair of golden eyes blinked open.
Eyes so large that they illuminated the whole place.
"Argh!" Rue’s heart leapt to her throat, and she stopped breathing as she pressed her furry back to the wall, wishing she could squish into the wall. Her mouth gaped at the large, terrifying slit gaze that stared back at her.
Then her heart started throbbing painfully. Her stomach hurt. Her head ached.
Her body quivered, and her fur visibly ruffled, a sweet scent permeated the air, and yet Rue found herself still planted to the wall.
’I don’t feel so good...’ she noted down internally.
An ache so persistent bloomed down her abdomen, she wanted to shift to ease the discomfort, but she found herself frozen from fear.
Then the eyes suddenly shifted; she thought it had left and was about to be relieved when the whole place lit up, and she could finally see where she was.
A stone bed came into view immediately, and around the place were stone risings with green candles, and stone shelves where books were neatly stacked.
But the only presence that was too large to ignore was the serpent coiled on the stone bed.
Lower body coiled beneath him. Upper body like a man’s. Black hair. Golden eyes that caught the candlelight and held it.
He was looking at her like she was interesting.
Rue did not want to be interesting to a snake.
She also did not want to find him attractive, and yet here she was, doing exactly that. His face was unfairly put together for something that was three seconds away from eating her. The kind of face that made you forget you were supposed to be running.
Her eyes moved down before she could stop them.
Her brain caught up.
What am I doing?
She looked back at the ceiling. Then at the wall. Anywhere that was not him.
I am going insane, she decided.
"What’s a bunny in heat suddenly doing in my humble abode?" The snake hissed, and Rue sucked in a sharp breath again, the snake fucking smiled at her, and it was the scariest shit she had ever seen. His voice was so soft and sibilant that it was eerily pleasing to the ears.
It sounded fucking hot.
’Shit! I am going insane.’
I need to leave.
She thought immediately, as she eyed where she came from and made a sprint for it, but before she could even move, Mr Snake made a move; he closed in so fast that she hiccuped.
And with a poof, she was back in her human form.
"Please don’t hurt me, Mr Snake."
Her voice came out smaller than she intended. Which was very obvious by the pained whimper that came out next.
The snake beastman paused. He leaned back into his coils and looked at her the way someone looks at something they were not expecting to find and are not sure yet what to do with.
Caius was having a problem.
The bunny pressed against his wall was afraid of him. That was normal. Everything was afraid of him. What was not normal was that her fear smelled different from everyone else’s. It smelled like something underneath the fear. Something older and quieter that had nothing to do with him at all.
And that scent underneath was going to be a serious issue.
The candles he kept burning in his chamber were the only thing keeping his instincts at a reasonable distance. They were losing ground fast. Her heat was thickening the air by the second, and his self-control, which was considerable, was starting to have opinions about the situation.
He had not wanted anything in a very long time.
He did not appreciate starting now.
His eyes moved over her slowly. Snow white skin. Silver hair knotted from running. Pink eyes that were glazed and confused, and trying very hard to look unafraid and failing.
She was small. Unreasonably small. The kind of small that made something protective rise in him alongside everything else. freёweɓnovel.com
He leaned closer. Flicked his tongue out once to taste the air near her.
Rue’s expression did not change, but her ears went flat.
"Rue of the Rabbit Tribe," he said, his voice coming out lower than he intended. "What are you doing on such dangerous lands?"
Rue stopped shaking.
She frowned. He knows my name?
She pointed at herself to make sure she had heard correctly.
He rolled his eyes, "Don’t make me angry."
"Okay, fine, fine! I am..." Her breathing became labored, and her cheeks pinkened. Her gaze glossed over, and she found herself curling her hands and whimpering. The pain was becoming intense, as if a knot was building in her stomach.
"What is wrong with me?" She whispered. Right at this moment, she was behaving very odd, a second ago, the snake mentioned the bunny in heat. What does that mean?
Was she having her period?
What did he know?
She expected him to say something, but instead he tipped her chin and looked her directly into her eyes in suspicion, and she hated how good she felt with his hands on her.
She did not have a name for what was happening to her body. She had never needed one before.
She was starting to resent that.
Great. She was going to cry in front of a snake. ƒrēewebnoѵёl.cσm
Perfect.
Three years of holding it together in a hospital bed, and this was apparently where she fell apart. In a cave. In front of a predator. In a body that wasn’t hers.
Absolutely perfect.
She just wanted to rest in peace.
She didn’t want to find out, whatever the fuck, this system was trying to make her do, especially not right in front of a snake, a predator that could easily swallow her whole with a snap of its jaws.
[Male Identified]
[Mate within 24hrs]
But he was a snake, and I am a bunny!
His forked tongue slipped out and licked her face, and her skin crawled with revulsion. She wanted to scream, but only a whimper came out.
"You smell and taste so delicious." The snake purred, "Let me help you."
No.
