The Ugly Duckling Of The Tiger Tribe-Chapter 267: I have a secret

"Little tiger, do you have secrets?"

I blinked, my heart skipping a beat. I stayed silent. Why did he ask such a question at a time like this?

"I have already told you all my secrets," Noah said with a solemn tone. "So, I have no worries crossing this valley. But for anyone who has a secret hidden in their heart, this place—the Whispering Valley—will expose them. It does not ask permission. It simply pulls the truth out of your throat."

I looked into the dark forest, my heart thumping heavily, gradually.

What in the world?!

As I looked deeper into the dense forest that tried to swallow my thoughts, I saw a shimmering, golden pollen drift between the trunks like a ghost, an illusion.

My throat went dry in an instant.

I have a secret.

Yes, I definitely have a secret. A very big secret that I planned to take to my grave.

I clutched my chest, biting my lips.

Noah looked down at me and so did the others. They watched my unease, watched as I stared at the dense forest like it was alive and threatening to eat me.

"Little tiger?" Noah asked but I couldn’t respond.

I was lost in my own thoughts, lost in my own. ’what if?’ scenario.

What if the forest doesn’t pull the secret from my soul but from just my body?

No, that doesn’t make sense.

I had a secret that was budding in my heart so much that I feared my husbands would not want me again once they heard it.

"Ari," Damar dropped a hand on my shoulder and I jolted out of my thoughts.

I was holding my breath this whole time and didn’t even know it.

"Are you okay?" Fenric asked and I looked at them, my eyes darting from one to the other.

I don’t want them to judge me.

I don’t want them to look at me differently.

What do I do?

"Do you want us to find another route?" Noah suddenly asked and I looked up at him, hopeful.

"There’s another route?"

He looked at the desperation in my eyes and knew for sure that something was up.

"No," he answered and my hope fell. "Not at the moment, but we can find one. We just need time."

But time was something we did not have.

I bit my lip.

What do I do? What do we do?

"Little tiger, do you have secrets?" Noah asked once again and I nodded.

"If I didn’t have secrets, would I be acting this way?" I asked. "I’m worried," I clenched the fabric against my chest, feeling my heart drumming so loud that even my own ears could hear it.

"Are you afraid, Arinya?" Fenric asked. "Whatever you’re hiding... it can’t be that bad. You’re our wife and the mother of our cubs. You’re a beast we’ve lived with for a long time, so I don’t think whatever you’re hiding will hurt us in any way."

I forced a smile, but my heart was doing a frantic rhythm against my ribs. If only you knew.

Yes, it wouldn’t hurt them directly but it would feel like betrayal no matter how I looked at it.

"I have a secret," I said, taking in deep breaths and out. "And it’s a secret that might very well change the way you look at me."

"I don’t believe there’s any secret that can make me look at you differently, Ari," Damar said and I looked at him, feeling thankful. But even he doesn’t know that.

There’s no way they could imagine the kind of secret I was going to blurt out.

It was otherworldly... Crazy and impossible. 𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖

"Noah," I called.

"Yeah?"

"Will the secret no longer be a secret if I say it now?"

My heart just wouldn’t stop pounding and my limbs felt weak. The reality of what I was going to say was making me go limp with tiredness. Just thinking about it made me exhausted.

"Yes," he answered, and I clasped my hands together, pressed them to my chin, and thought deeply.

I always thought of this before. I didn’t want anyone to find out I wasn’t the real Arinya and that I was an outsider.

I didn’t want them to know that this world was just a replica of the world I had created with a pen and book during my lonely high school days.

I wanted to take it all to my grave. But at some point, I did wonder. Will they still love me if they knew my soul was different from who I claimed I was?

Would they still love me if they found out I was an outsider?

Of course, I met them all after my transmigration, so I didn’t deceive them too much. The me they know and knew is the me that possessed this body and not the original Arinya.

My palms were sweaty and my heart was racing

They all looked at me, waiting for my confession.

It was hard, making up my mind to confess and actually doing the confession. It was so damn hard.

"Before I say anything, can you promise me something?" I asked with a silent voice.

"What is it?"

"Promise me," my eyes grew teary. "Promise me you will never leave me. Promise me you’ll keep loving me, even though you find out I... I might not be the beast you believe me to be?"

They all looked at me, speechless.

What could it be? Their expressions read. What could it be that I was about to say that made me so worried? So anxious?

"I promise." Damar did not hesitate to lay down his promise. "Like I said before. I do not believe there is anything that will make me look at you or love you differently."

I sniffed.

"Thank you."

"I promise as well," Fenric said. "In my eyes you’re you. Even if you’re a villain or a witch, it honestly doesn’t matter to me. I’ll still take your side and never look at you differently." I nodded, brushing my palm over my cheek to wipe the tears that were silently rolling down.

Now, it was just Noah left. He stared at me with his arms folded and his head tilted.

"I can’t picture it." He said. "I can’t picture getting mad at you, not to mention hating you. So, I definitely can’t see you any other way."