That somehow made it sadder.

Swanly stopped.

The cubs looked up quickly.

The smallest whispered, "Papa move."

The second whispered, "Mama chase?"

The eldest whispered, "Mama fast?"

Swanly glanced down. "I am not chasing anyone."

Then she looked at Kael again.

"Stop moving back. I am not going to bite you."

Kael’s eyes darkened.

The cubs all went stiff.

The smallest gasped. "Mama no bite Papa!"

The second cub nodded so fast his tiny ears flopped. "No bite! Papa good!"

The eldest stood in front of Kael’s foot, looking extremely determined to protect his enormous father from one snow fox woman who had just discovered her own tail that morning.

Swanly stared at them.

"I was joking."

The cubs blinked.

Kael did not blink.

That was when Swanly realized beast people might take biting a little too seriously.

She sighed. "Fine. I am not going to bite him unless he wants me to."

Kael’s pupils thinned.

The cave became silent.

The three cubs stared at her.

The smallest slowly opened his mouth. "Papa want bite?"

"No!" Swanly nearly choked. "Nobody wants biting. Forget I said anything. All of you erase that."

The eldest looked deeply troubled. "Can no erase."

The second cub whispered, "Mama said bite."

The smallest looked up at Kael, very worried. "Papa, hide arm."

Swanly closed her eyes.

This family was going to kill her.

She opened her eyes again and walked closer before the conversation turned even worse. This time Kael did not retreat. He only watched her with that sharp, guarded expression, as if he expected her to turn cruel the moment he relaxed.

Swanly stopped in front of him and reached for his arm.

His whole body went tense.

She felt it beneath her hands.

Hard muscle shifted under warm skin, and for one stupid second, her fingers forgot why they had come there. His biceps were thick, firm, and scarred in a way that made him look even more unreal. She was trying to handle a serious emotional conversation, but the man’s arm felt like it had been carved by a god with a grudge against female sanity.

Swanly forced herself to focus.

"You are my mate," she said carefully.

Kael’s breathing changed.

The cubs perked up.

Swanly continued, thinking she was being very responsible and mature. "I am your mate. I accept you. I accept that this is confusing, and I accept that I apparently had a life here before I woke up, even if I don’t remember all of it properly. I am not going to push you away for no reason, and I am not going to be cruel to the cubs. From now on, we will all try to survive together."

There.

Good.

Clear.

A simple alliance speech.

A survival speech.

A normal speech.

Except Kael’s entire body had gone still in a way that did not feel normal at all.

His ears tilted back slightly. His tail moved once behind him, slow and dangerous. Heat rose under his skin, darkening the tips of his ears, and his golden eyes locked on her with an intensity that made her fingers tighten around his arm.

The cubs looked up at him.

Then at Swanly.

Then back at him.

Even they seemed to understand that something had changed, though they did not know why.

Kael suddenly took a step towards her and his voice came out rough.

"I am a beast, Swanly."

Swanly blinked and forced herself to stand in place even though she was suddenly intimidated. "I noticed."

His jaw flexed.

"You cannot tease me like that."

Her brain stopped.

Then restarted incorrectly.

"I was not teasing you."

His gaze dropped briefly to her hands on his arm.

Swanly looked too.

Her hands were still holding him.

She released him as if his skin had burned her.

"Oh."

Kael stepped closer.

Not much.

Only one step.

But the cave suddenly felt smaller.

The waterfall sounded farther away.

His body leaned into her space, tall and warm and predatory in a way that made every new instinct inside Swanly’s snow fox body scream at once.

Step back.

Hide.

Run.

Stay.

Her tail puffed behind her without permission.

Kael’s eyes moved to it.

The corner of his mouth almost moved.

Almost.

Swanly’s face heated.

"Do not look at my tail."

His gaze returned to her face. "It shows your fear."

"It shows betrayal. It is betraying me."

He lowered his head slightly, his voice rougher. "You accepted me."

"I accepted a survival arrangement."

"You said you are my mate."

"Because you keep saying it."

"You said you accept me."

"To stop you from looking like someone kicked your soul."

Kael’s eyes burned.

"You cannot speak words like that to a beast male and expect him not to hear them."

Swanly’s breath caught.

For one second, it was not funny anymore.

For one second, all she could see was him. The wet hair against his jaw. The scars across his chest. The tension in his shoulders. The hunger in his eyes, not just physical, but old and starved and wounded, as if he had been waiting outside a closed door for so long that he no longer knew what to do when it opened.

Then Swanly’s gaze dropped to his arm.

Her blood went cold.

There, near the curve of his forearm, was a bite mark.

Not a scratch.

Not a scrape.

A bite.

The skin around it was red and swollen, with dark blood dried along the edge. Four deep punctures sank into his flesh, and the shape of it was jagged enough to make Swanly’s stomach twist.

She immediately took hurried steps back.

Her hand shook as she pointed.

"What is that?"

Kael followed her gaze.

His expression changed.

Too quickly.

Swanly saw it.

She saw the brief pause. The guarded look. The way his fingers flexed as if he wanted to hide the wound and chose not to.

The cave turned cold around her.

Outside, the prehistoric forest groaned in the wind, broad leaves scraping against one another like claws against bone. Somewhere beyond the waterfall, a deep bird cry split the air and faded into the green distance.

Swanly’s voice dropped. "What bit you?"

The cubs stopped moving.

The eldest looked at Kael’s arm and whimpered softly.

The second pressed closer to Swanly’s leg.

The smallest’s eyes became huge. "Papa hurt?"

Kael’s mouth tightened. "It is nothing."

Swanly’s heart pounded.

That was exactly what people said when it was something.

Her mind flashed back.

A man hiding his wrist under his sleeve.

A woman saying she only scratched herself on broken glass.

A boy smiling with blood between his teeth while his eyes slowly went wrong.

Infected bites always began with denial.

Always.