Harem King's Collection: Turning Beastkins Into Desperate Wives!-Chapter 45: Nine Lives?!

Mollis’ whiskers twitched as she breathed him in—that impossibly warm scent that made her jaw ache with want.

She’d crept closer intentionally, close enough that her boobs nearly brushed his shirt, close enough to see the golden flecks trapped in his eyes like amber catching fire.

’Mom said rabbits are domestic,’ her mind chattered frantically, ’but Mom also said humans were ugly, brutish things, and this one...’

This one had skin like silk stretched over marble, olive-toned and flawless, and she found herself wondering what it would feel like under her teeth. Her ears flattened against her skull as the thought hit her, not gentle nibbles like she gave the clover in her garden, but something desperate, hungry, the kind of biting that left a hickey.

’Saints preserve me, I want to taste him.’ Her small hands trembled at her sides, fighting the urge to reach up and touch, to see if that perfect skin was as soft as it looked, if it would give under pressure, if he would make sounds when she—

Not that she didn’t know...

"You smell like honey and trouble," she whispered before she could stop herself, her voice barely audible but loaded with a heat that would have scandalized every proper rabbit in her village.

Her pupils dilated as she tilted her head back to meet his gaze, close enough now that his breath ghosted across her throat.

"Tell me, Aster... do you bite back?"

Aster’s eyebrows shot up, his mouth falling open slightly. The heat in her voice, the way she’d breathed his name like a prayer. Where had that come from? She was practically purring at him with eyes that held promises he wasn’t sure he understood.

"Huh?" The word escaped him before he could think of anything more eloquent.

Mollis blinked once, twice. Her ears perked up instantly, and suddenly, pink bloomed across her cheeks as her eyes went wide.

"Ah, nevermind that..." She smiled, sweet, innocent, like she’d never said anything more scandalous than asking about the weather. "Please continue..."

Aster stared at her for a long moment, his brain struggling to reconcile the brazen creature who’d just asked if he ’bit back’ with this demure little rabbit now batting her lashes at him.

The transformation was so seamless it left him wondering if he’d imagined the whole thing.

"Um, well... Cortist used one a long time ago. There was the smoky reaction, meaning I have no talent for any magic."

Aster could only smile awkwardly at the rabbit now, feeling he was missing something here. Mollis just tilted her head a bit in confusion and grabbed a hold of Aster’s wrist, pressing the stone into his hand and holding it in place as she stared into his eyes.

The human flinched at the soft touch. It felt... deliberate, like there was more intent there... Was... Was this rabbit making a pass at him? The human drew in a sharp breath at the though, and the rabbit moved her head forward just a bit closer, leaning in slowly...

And then the stone in Aster’s hand erupted into violent flames of shadow, licking at everything nearby, including the soft fur of the rabbit.

Aster took a staggering step back in shock as the flames circled around him, but Mollis expertly reacted, jumping back several paces with her powerful legs, out of range of the sudden assault with minimal injuries.

The storm of flames flared up heavier around the human, drawing in the attention of the entire camp as it encircled the trapped Aster, growing in size still. Aster was afraid, nothing even close to this had ever happened before...

What even was this... It was like... it was just like back at the Selection Grounds...

As if called forth by the very thought, the dark flames of the hefty sword once more pierced the veil between reality itself, slicing open a portal into the darkness.

Aster watched in horror as the same demon from the interrupted ceremony stepped before him from within the ’nothingness’ once more.

Mollis immediately went to launch an attack, but was forced back when the demon commanded a portion of the flames to push her away, separating the human from all of the beasts in the process by the wall of fire still spilling forth from the stone in his grasp.

’THE STONE!’ Aster’s mind raced to drop it, but found he couldn’t let go, the thing was trapped in his grip, seemingly intent on endlessly spewing forth more of the shadowy fire to trap him with this monster that was steadily approaching, unfazed by the storm.

Aster threw his shield up before him then and noticed the flames fanned away from it, as if in fear. So he dropped it and made an even bigger one, finally carving an opening through and preventing the demon from reaching him for the moment, at least.

His thoughts were interrupted by a hollow chuckle, right before the demon spoke to him.

"Hello, boy. Have you learned? No... Not yet... You will... Too Soon..."

The demon took another step forward, just inches from the shield. Aster braced for impact. He could hear shouting outside of the fiery pillar separating him from his comrades, but nothing legible made it through. Besides, all his attention was on the task before him.

If the demon was here... His father... His brothers...

Aster shook himself, focusing only on the monster ahead. The demon just chuckled hauntingly again and raised his sword. Aster watched with disbelief as the point was pressed into the golden alloy of his shield, and it pierced right through the previously unbroken barrier as if it was nothing more than parchment.

The golden light crumbled like shattered clay around the blade burning with the same shadowy flame that poured forth from the stone in Aster’s hand.

Stahl was screaming something at the human, but Aster was too stunned to hear it. He was too stunned to hear anything. His shield was shattered... What purpose did he have, if not that? What else did he have at his disposal, if not that? Even when the demon placed the blade at his throat, Aster didn’t move.

The demon held the sword steady with one arm, and used his other hand to grab a hold of the human’s own that was holding the stone, effortlessly prying it from his grasp, putting a stop to the rampaging flames at last as he easily crushed it into bits with his clenching fist.

Stahl was charging the monster immediately, running at full speed before all of the flames had even died out. Aster was finally drawn back from his shock as he saw the demon turn to intercept the she-wolf.

Without thinking, Aster did what he did best by instincts of late and protected the other warrior. He balled his fist tightly, and launched his shielded fist as hard as he could into the ’gut,’ of the demon, sending the same shockwave that had once grounded even Stahl into the monster’s torso. The demon was rocked backward just the same, allowing Stahl to reach Aster at last.

As other beasts made it to the scene, the demon held his sword in front of himself once again, slashing a tear through the very air between them, ensuring his escape route. He spoke again as he took one step inside the void, looking towards the growing crowd come to oppose him.

"If the shield falls, all fade with it. The moon’s favored will hear her soon. The stolen king must awaken. You must know soon... The mountain and the ocean stir. You must brace your shield, for the weight of the sky already descends upon it. Balance must return, forged as one, or through many. It is demanded. You must know soon..."

Suddenly, something shot from the darkness between the veil as the demon halfway submerged into it. The demon made no move, as the shabby figure darted past it and practically launched itself at Aster.

He had almost put his shield up before the thing flew past him and latched at the back of his legs, cowering in fear.

Aster was startled to say the least, but when he realized the impossible he was staring down at, his eyes immediately locked back on the demon in the void, right before it sank back into the shadow, and disappeared behind the scar without a trace, leaving behind a rather chilly final sentence that reverberated hollowly around the beasts in his absence.

"I leave that in your care, beast prince... Or should I say Beast King?"

Prince Tyfin froze in place as his mind registered what the monster was implying. ’Beast King?’

Aster quickly looked back down at the petite, ragged beast trembling around his legs, looking about warily with eyes wide in shock towards everyone nearby as it clung to him with sharp claws bared into his flesh.

It was Mollis who finally managed to squeak out some words through the disbelief, confirming that everyone else was seeing the same impossible thing after all.

"L- Lady Alice?"

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