My Three Beautiful Vampire Wives can hear my Inner Thoughts-Chapter 107: Contracted

For a long moment, Zenaya simply stood there, unable to breathe properly.

Did she really just do it?

Did she truly form a contract with a beast?

A beast.

Not a borrowed one. Not one handed to her under special protection. Not one forced into submission by some outside power.

A beast that answered her.

Her fingers trembled faintly as the reality settled in. Through the bond, she could feel it clearly, a deep, steady presence resting in the back of her mind like a mountain sleeping beneath clouds. Its thoughts were not words, not in the way humans spoke, but they carried weight and texture. A quiet awareness. A living will.

Her chest tightened.

I did it.

And just like that, her thoughts were no longer in the present.

They drifted back.

She saw herself as a child again, standing in the courtyard of the Moonshade Family estate, her hands small and her eyes bright with a kind of fire that only children possess. The banners of the Moonshade Family fluttered above her head, marked with the ancient crest of their bloodline, a sigil that symbolized harmony between humans and blood beasts.

Her father had stood before her that day.

Tall. Calm. Famous.

The greatest beast tamer of the Moonshade Family.

"Zenaya," he had said, crouching down to meet her eyes. "Do you know why our family is respected?"

"Because we are strong," she had answered proudly.

He laughed softly and shook his head. "Strength alone is nothing. We are respected because we understand beasts. We do not force them. We do not enslave them. We walk with them."

She had nodded eagerly. "I will walk with them too."

He placed his large hand on her head, warm and steady. "You will become greater than me."

Her small hands had clenched into fists. "I will become the greatest Moonshade family tamer!"

He smiled in a way that made her feel like the world was simple and safe.

That promise had burned in her heart for years.

Until the day she realized something was wrong.

She remembered her first attempt at the elder training grounds.

She was older then, perhaps sixteen, standing in the wide stone arena where young talents proved themselves. Around her stood other heirs and promising disciples. The air had been thick with expectation.

A mid-tier blood fox had been brought forward, bound by formation chains but still fierce, its crimson fur gleaming under the sun.

Zenaya had stepped forward confidently.

"I will form the contract," she had declared.

There had been whispers in the crowd.

"Of course she will."

"She is the daughter of that man."

"She must have inherited everything."

She remembered drawing her first serious taming circle, her hands shaking only slightly as she pressed it toward the fox’s head.

The fox had snarled.

The circle cracked.

She tried again.

And again.

And again.

Each time the fox resisted with increasing violence until it broke free of the circle and lunged forward, forcing the supervising elder to step in and restrain it.

Silence had filled the arena.

She remembered the way her ears rang.

Someone had laughed.

"Maybe she is not as talented as we thought."

Another voice, softer but sharper, had followed. "Are we sure she is truly his daughter?"

She had turned toward the sound.

A young man from a branch family stood there with a smirk on his face.

"What did you say?" she demanded, her voice trembling.

He shrugged. "I just said what others are thinking. If she cannot even tame a fox, how can she be the blood of the greatest beast tamer?"

A few others chuckled.

"Maybe she was switched at birth."

"Maybe her father is not as great as the stories say."

"Maybe she’s not her fathers!"

"Hahaha! That would explain it."

The words felt like knives.

She remembered stepping forward, fury in her eyes. "Say that again."

The young man folded his arms. "Maybe you are not his blood."

The elder overseeing the ground had barked, "Enough."

But the damage was done.

She could still feel the heat in her face that day. The humiliation. The shame that crawled up her spine and refused to leave.

She went home that evening with clenched teeth.

Her father had been waiting.

"You failed," he had said gently.

She could not hold it in. "They said I am not your blood."

His eyes darkened.

"Who said that?"

"It does not matter," she whispered.

He walked closer and placed both hands on her shoulders.

"Listen to me carefully, Zenaya. Talent can grow. Affinity can awaken. But blood does not lie. You are my daughter."

Her eyes filled with tears. "Then why can I not do it?"

He pulled her into an embrace.

"Because sometimes," he said quietly, "the path to your strength is longer."

She clung to that sentence for years.

She tried again and again.

Different beasts.

Different methods.

Different techniques.

She endured more failures, more whispers, more polite smiles that hid doubt.

Then came the news.

Her father had died in a territorial war.

The message arrived at dawn. A sealed letter delivered by a trembling messenger.

She remembered the way her hands shook as she opened it.

She remembered reading the words twice before they made sense.

Fell in battle.

Protecting allied clans.

No body returned.

The world felt empty after that.

She did not scream. She did not collapse.

She simply stopped trying.

Days turned into months.

Months turned into years.

She no longer entered the training grounds. 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

She no longer drew taming circles.

But she still studied beasts. She still read about their habits, their instincts, their strengths. She could not cut that part out of herself.

She only stopped believing it was meant for her.

And now...

Now she stood here with a bond in her mind that was real.

Her throat tightened.

"I... did it," she whispered under her breath.

Her gaze slowly moved to Cain.

Cain.

She remembered him clearly from the years before. The so-called useless husband of Faith, Cornelia, and Ivira. The man whispered about behind sleeves. The puppet groom who had married into power without earning it.

She remembered seeing him in family gatherings, standing slightly behind his wives while others looked at him with faint amusement or open scorn.

"He is just decoration."

"He is lucky."

"He has no real strength."

She had not paid much attention to him back then.

But now...

He ordered an untamed beast to kneel.

He guided her without drawing attention.

If the clan knew, their eyes would change.

She was still lost in those thoughts when Cain’s voice reached her.

"Congratulations, Elder Zenaya," he said warmly. "Your dream to become a blood beast tamer has come true."

She looked at him, and for a moment her eyes softened.

"Thank you," she said sincerely.

Inside his mind, however, his laughter echoed.

Haha. I did not expect she would make it. I had many fake compliments ready. Who knew she could really do it despite having no talent. But whatever. It works out perfectly.

Suddenly, hearing these, her expression froze.

Immediately, the warmth drained so fast from her eyes.

Her forehead began to burn with anger, and before she could stop herself, tears gathered at the corners of her eyes.

Inside his head, Cain laughed harder.

Is she really crying? What a cute little lady.

Outwardly he nodded approvingly. "Truly good. Truly good."

This made her knuckles tightened until her bones cracked loudly.

For one second she almost stepped forward.

Then she felt something tug gently at her mind.

The owl.

She turned her head and saw its golden eyes staring at her with what almost felt like judgment.

Do not attack him.

The meaning entered her mind clearly through the bond.

She blinked.

"You..." she muttered.

It blinked slowly.

And then she felt something else.

Not judgment.

Not pride.

Fear.

Her breath caught.

Through the connection she sensed a heavy tension inside the beast. A pressure that did not come from her. It was not directed at her either.

It was directed at Cain.

Her heart began to beat faster.

Why... is it feeling... afraid?

She slowly stepped closer to the owl. Its massive feathered chest rose and fell with steady breaths, yet beneath that calm exterior there was a deep unease.

Zenaya raised her hand hesitantly and placed her palm against its chest.

The feathers were thick and warm beneath her fingers.

She closed her eyes.

The bond opened wider.

She let her consciousness sink deeper into the connection.

At once she felt it more clearly.

Power.

Not ordinary strength.

Not something shallow.

This beast was far beyond what she had first assumed.

Its bloodline was deep. Its core burned with dense energy. The formation inside it was complete and stable.

Her mind trembled.

Core Blood Formation realm.

At least that level.

Maybe higher.

Her fingers twitched against the feathers.

How strong is this thing?

And yet...

It was afraid.

The fear was not of her.

It was not of the forest.

It was not of the clan.

It was of Cain.

She pulled her hand back slowly, her eyes widening.

Why would such a beast fear him?

Her gaze moved toward Cain again, studying him more carefully this time.

He stood casually, hands behind his back, looking almost bored.

Overgod.

The word floated up in her memory.

She had heard it faintly before. From the owl’s instinctive thoughts. From the beast’s reaction.

Overgod.

What is that?

Is that why it fears him?

Her curiosity began to overpower her anger.

She cleared her throat gently.

"Cain," she said.

He looked at her. "Yes, Elder?"

She hesitated for a brief moment, weighing her words.

"What is an Overgod?"

For a second, everything went still.

Cain’s relaxed posture froze.

The faint smile on his lips disappeared.

His eyes, which had been playful and bright, grew dark.

Silence spread outward like a wave.

Zenaya felt the air grow heavy.

Cain slowly turned his head toward her.

"Where," he asked quietly, "did you hear that word?"

Her heart thudded.

"It is... just something I sensed," she said carefully.

He stared at her.

The playful man from earlier seemed gone.

In his place stood something else.

Something unknown.

The pressure in the air deepened.

Suddenly, Cain’s eyes blazed in red.

"What did you say?"