"HISSS..." The python flicked its tongue, following the scent as it slowly slithered to the other door.
It quietly raised its head and stared intently at the closed wooden door, its tail tensing and scraping against the ground.
The gentle sound of the female’s breathing, mingled with that of another male, reached its mind from inside the room.
"..." Its blood-red pupils contracted into needle-thin slits, and its gaze instantly turned sinister and brutal.
The Red Snake’s upper body transformed into that of a handsome man. His fingers touched the door as his hand slowly clenched into a fist. His pupils were constricted to such fine points that his irises were barely visible, and every breath he took betrayed his towering rage.
The moment he heard the door begin to open, his pupils constricted further. He swiftly reverted to his beast form and slithered back to his own room.
The cold season nights were dry and frigid. Two giant moons hung silently in the vast, dark sky, casting the landscape into silhouette.
Gusts of mountain wind would periodically sweep through, making the forest rustle as they scattered large patches of snow and revealed the withered, broken branches beneath.
Inside the wooden cabin, however, it was exceptionally warm and comfortable. The heat rising from the cellar was so intense that An Jin didn’t feel the least bit cold, even dressed in just a simple tube top and a short skirt.
After Ling Hong fell asleep, she tiptoed back to Mi Yin’s room. Pushing open the door, she saw the ten-meter-long, black-and-red python still coiled quietly in a corner.
The red membranes over its eyes were shut tight as it lay curled up all alone. A pang of guilt hit An Jin, and she instinctively climbed into the center of the python’s coils.
The serpentine body tightened, and the tip of its tail silently wrapped around her, pulling her a little closer.
’It seems afraid that I’ll leave again.’
"...I know you’re awake," An Jin said softly, stroking its serpentine body.
She was half-sprawled across the python, and she could feel its cool scales rubbing ever so slowly against her skin, making goosebumps break out instinctively.
But she wasn’t afraid, because she knew this ferocious snake would never harm her. "With the mate mark, we can sense each other’s presence. The closer we are, the more keenly we can feel each other’s emotional shifts..."
"I know you went to Ling Hong’s door."
Mi Yin finally stopped pretending to be asleep. His upper body shifted into human form, and his brutal, blood-red eyes stared at her coldly. "Jin’er, you know full well that I’m your mate, don’t you?"
’If that’s the case, shouldn’t she be spending her time with me?’
’I’m her mate!’
The man’s fury and jealousy washed over her like a tidal wave, threatening to drown her. He leaned in close, his long, cold fingers gripping her chin. His expression turned dangerous and grim.
It completely exposed the true nature of a Wandering Beast. His possessiveness was overwhelming, and he couldn’t bear the thought of his mate sharing her affection with any other male.
Her chin throbbed with pain from his grip. Involuntary tears welled in An Jin’s eyes, and she bit her lip so hard it started to bleed.
Seeing her fighting back tears, Mi Yin instantly came to his senses and let go. "Jin’er, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to. I’m just... scared..."
’Scared that if you have other males, you’ll pay less attention to me.’
’My species and my beast form aren’t exactly popular with females. My temper is awful—vile and cold-blooded, really. I was only pretending to be gentle for you.’
’I’m no good at all.’
’If you knew my true nature, you’d never like me the way you do now. Besides, that Wolf Beast is gentler and better at taking care of people than I am.’
’You haven’t even mated with that Wolf Beast, but you already favor him this much. You even sleep in his room at night.’
’Once you mate with the Wolf Beast, you’ll ignore me completely.’
It wasn’t that Mi Yin couldn’t accept her having other mates. What he couldn’t tolerate was having his share of her love stolen by another male. The rage made him want to kill someone just to vent.
An Jin naturally understood his terror. She hugged him, wrapping her arms around his neck. "I won’t."
She looked up and met his gaze. "I would never do that."
"Since I’ve acknowledged you as my mate, my feelings haven’t changed, and they won’t. I will do my best to be a good mate to you."
’At first, it’s true that I only accepted Mi Yin because the mate mark forced us together.’
’But after everything we’ve been through together, after all this time, what started as a sense of responsibility has long since blossomed into real affection.’
’I like Mi Yin very much. I’ll be very, very good to him, and I’ll never abandon or neglect him.’
’But I can’t hide my feelings for Ling Hong from him, either. That would be unfair to Ling Hong.’
’I was originally planning to tell him after he went into hibernation.’
"It’s not that I can’t accept him." To be honest, Mi Yin had long expected this day would come, and his voice turned flat and cold.