Kaelith pulled gently on her hand and suddenly she stood directly in front of him.

Her arm pressed against her own stomach while their fingers kept intertwined.

Both of his hands settled around her waist. One strong arm wrapped tightly around her lower back, effectively trapping her against him.

His other hand rested possessively against her butt.

Somehow...

that didn’t bother her at all.

Around them, Beast males spun their females through the clearing while tails, hair, ribbons, and skirts flew wildly through the warm afternoon air. Laughter nearly drowned out the music itself.

Yet in the center of that storm of joy and movement stood a hyena and a lynx.

Still.

Two heartbeats moving to the same melody.

Kaelith’s eyes wandered slowly across Mirabelle’s face.

Hungry.

As though he simply could not get enough of looking at her.

Every tiny detail carved itself into his memory.

The curve of her eyelashes.

The shape of the markings along her cheeks.

The color of her lips.

The stars hidden inside her eyes.

Meanwhile Mirabelle studied him just as intensely.

Her chest rose and fell heavily while she tried desperately to recover the breath she had lost during the dancing.

She noticed the piercings reflecting sunlight from his ears and eyebrow. Her gaze caught on a tiny scar crossing the bridge of his nose and she found herself wondering where he had gotten it.

Then her eyes drifted lower.

Toward his lips.

Toward the metal ring piercing resting against them.

And suddenly she found herself wondering whether it would get in the way while kissing him.

The moment that thought entered her head, it became impossible to think about anything else.

Her mouth went dry.

She swallowed.

Her modern brain desperately tried to list at least a hundred reasons why kissing Kaelith right now would be a terrible idea.

But before those thoughts could fully block her courage—

she simply did it.

Mirabelle stretched upward onto her toes.

Slowly moving closer.

Kaelith, still entirely caught in the rhythm of the dance, reacted instantly to the signals of her body.

He pulled her closer against him.

One hand stabilized her waist while his head lowered toward hers.

And then—

their lips touched.

The kiss with Silas had been wild and instinctive.

The kiss with Lucien full of longing and desperate need.

But the kiss with Kaelith—

felt like fireworks.

The very second their lips met, something sparked violently between them.

A tiny sting of static electricity flashed across her skin before instantly dissolving beneath the soft warmth of his mouth.

The kiss tasted sweet.

Maybe from the glazed fruits they had eaten earlier.

Or maybe because it had taken so long for this moment to finally happen.

Around them, even the music seemed to hesitate for one suspended heartbeat.

Time stretched strangely.

The fireworks spreading slowly from Mirabelle’s lips downward through the rest of her body.

Kaelith didn’t dare move.

The entire kiss remained completely under Mirabelle’s control.

Her lips tasted like honey.

And when her tongue suddenly flicked forward to brush teasingly against his lower lip, Kaelith experienced for the first time what it truly meant for knees to go weak.

He held Mirabelle securely in his arms.

But —

he was also holding onto her for support.

For one terrifying moment, he felt as though he might completely lose himself inside this kiss.

Though ...

That might not even be such a terrible fate.

Every one of their senses felt unbearably sharp, causing those few short seconds to stretch endlessly longer.

When Mirabelle finally pulled away, both of them breathed heavily.

Their eyes remained locked together.

Both minds completely emptied by the explosion that had just happened between them.

Around them, nearby Beastfolk watched.

The females openly.

The males more discreetly.

The mated couples with knowing expressions.

The unmated males with longing and envy.

Kaelith’s voice finally broke through the haze surrounding them:

"That was not a good idea."

His words came out rough.

And slightly dazed.

As though part of him still hadn’t fully returned to reality yet.

Mirabelle slowly lowered herself back onto her heels.

"Why?" she asked. Not offended.

Genuinely curious.

Slowly, the familiar hyena grin returned to Kaelith’s lips.

"Because now I’m addicted." His voice lowered slightly. "And I don’t think I’ll ever be able to stop."

Then he suddenly leaned forward again.

At the same time, he lifted the arm whose fingers still remained tangled with hers. The movement forced Mirabelle back onto her toes once more.

The hyena Beastman stole another kiss.

Quick.

Light.

But the hunger flashing inside his eyes remained unmistakable.

Then he spun her suddenly back into the crowd and Mirabelle whirled once more among the other dancers while Kaelith’s laughter chased after her through the music.

After that, they kept dancing.

Sometimes close together.

Sometimes separated by spinning bodies and flashing fabrics before finding each other again instinctively within the moving crowd.

At some point Mirabelle stopped thinking entirely.

She simply laughed whenever Kaelith spun her too quickly or caught her against him again before she stumbled.

The music pulsed through her chest together with the warmth of his hands and the dizzying sweetness still lingering from their kiss.

Around them, the festival slowly transformed as evening approached.

Servants and merchants began lighting hanging lanterns one after another until warm golden light flickered beneath the giant tree canopy like captured stars.

More Beastfolk arrived from the upper levels of the tree city while the scent of grilled meat, incense, and sweet fruits thickened in the cooling air.

The musicians played louder now.

Children darted laughing through the crowd while mated couples leaned together beneath glowing lanterns and merchants shouted invitations toward wandering customers.

The entire market felt alive.

Breathing.

And Mirabelle felt strangely alive with it.

Because now there was no denying it anymore.

She had kissed Kaelith.

Not accidentally.

Not instinctively like with Silas.

Not overwhelmed by tension like with Lucien.

She had chosen it.

What exactly did that mean now?

For Kaelith.

For Silas.

For Lucien.

Mirabelle glanced sideways toward the laughing hyena Beastman beside her and her chest tightened again.

This was getting complicated far too quickly.

Eventually, Kaelith guided her away from the dancing crowd and toward the outer pathways surrounding the market.

Neither of them spoke much anymore.

The atmosphere between them had shifted too deeply for easy teasing.

And as Mirabelle disappeared deeper into the lantern-lit walkways beside him, heading back toward the castle and the coming trials, liquid silver eyes silently followed her until she vanished from the market entirely.

A/N: (⚆_⚆) 18 GOLDEN TICKETS?!?

mary_nelson... what exactly are you doing over there?

Now the Beast Goddess has a framed portrait of you above her altar and whispers your name lovingly before going to sleep.

Seriously though — thank you so, so much for supporting this story like this. That’s genuinely insane and unbelievably kind.

(⁄˘⁄ ⁄ ω⁄ ⁄ ˘⁄)

And of course thank you to EVERYONE sending golden tickets. ☆

I see every single one of them and the Beast Goddess is doing tiny celebratory dances on her altar every time another one appears.