Hu bcmans are born to serve. Beastmen are born to rule. Bc

Lyra Thorne, 22, has spent her life in the rural village of Ashveil, believing distance from the capital might spare her people from the cruelty of beastmen rule. She was wrong. When her village is razed for harboring "rebellious sentiment," Lyra is dragged in chains to the Grand Auction—where humans are sold like cattle to the beast elite.

Beneath the blinding lights, she watches her friends disappear into the claws of wolf lords and lion generals. Then he appears.

Cadeon Nightfang, the Shadow Panther—General of the Northern Legions, rumored kingslayer, and the beastman even other beasts fear. His golden eyes lock onto Lyra with an intensity that makes the auction hall fall silent. When he bids an obscene fortune for her, whispers erupt: Why would the Shadow Panther want a human slave? He's never taken one before.

Lyra expects torture. Degradation. Death.

Instead, she's taken to Nightfang Keep—a fortress of obsidian and thorns where no human has survived more than a year. Cadeon gives her an impossible offer: "Serve me for one year. If you survive, you'll have your freedom and enough gold to disappear forever. Refuse, and I'll return you to the auction."

But nothing about her captivity makes sense. She's not locked in the dungeons with other slaves—she has a room in the east wing, where only Cadeon's most trusted advisors reside. She's not beaten—she's *trained* in combat by his second-in-command. And most confusing of all, Cadeon never touches her, never forces her into his bed, though the mate bond between them—forbidden, impossible, illegal—burns hotter with each passing day.

Lyra soon discovers the horrifying truth: Cadeon didn't buy her to break her. He bought her to save her. She's the daughter of Elira Thorne, the legendary human rebel who nearly toppled the beast regime twenty years ago—before she was executed. The beast council believes Elira's bloodline died with her, but Cadeon recognized Lyra's eyes at the auction: the same silver-grey eyes that haunted him after he was *ordered* to kill Elira, the woman who showed him humans weren't animals.

He's been searching for Lyra for two decades. Now she's here, and the mate bond—a bond that should be *impossible* between human and beast—is undeniable.

But fate is a cruel master. As Lyra navigates assassination attempts from jealous beast nobles, political games in a court that wants her dead, and her growing, *forbidden* feelings for the monster who murdered her mother, she uncovers a conspiracy that reaches the throne itself:

The Beast King is dying. His heir, Prince Theron Bloodclaw, plans to use the king's death to pass the Purge Laws—legalizing the systematic extermination of all humans, replacing them with "more obedient" slave races.

Lyra has three choices:
- Escape with her freedom and let millions of humans die
- Stay silent and become Cadeon's willing prisoner, betraying her mother's legacy
- Ignite the rebellion her mother died for—even if it means losing the one beast who sees her as an equal

Because the heart doesn't recognize the difference between master and slave, human and beast, love and destruction. And Lyra is about to learn that some chains are forged not by collars and cages—but by choice.

 She came as his slave. She'll leave as his revolution.

"Clean this up," I ordered, staring at Seris's body. "And find out where that collar came from."


My guards moved quickly, removing the dead girl and the controlled woman who'd killed her. But the blood remained, staining the stone floor dark red.


Two bodies in two days. Both connected to Lyra.


This wasn't random. This was a message.


"Sir." Veron appeared at my elbow, his face pale. "We have a problem."


"Prince Theron is at the gates. He says he's here for a friendly visit." Veron's tone made it clear there was nothing friendly about it.


Perfect. Just perfect. A dead body in my fortress and the crown prince at my door.


I looked at Lyra, who stood frozen near the wall, her face white with shock. She'd just watched someone die. Someone who'd claimed to be part of the resistance. Someone who'd been controlled and killed like a puppet.


Chapter 12 - Prince Theron's Visit