Chapter 1 The Only Option

A hard kick to the back of Elyse Foster's knee sent her kneeling on the icy mud.

"How dare you cry, Elyse? You scored zero on your full-moon fertility test! You've brought shame on all the wererabbits!"

Lifting her head, Elyse saw dozens of people staring at her, their expressions filled with open disgust and contempt.

Her head was still spinning. Moments earlier, she had been fighting on a battlefield during the apocalypse when a zombie ripped out her throat. Somehow, she had ended up in an unfamiliar world called Planet Feratia.

She hadn't even begun to make sense of the strange memories pouring into her head when Julia Foster, the original Elyse's younger sister, looked down at her and spat, saying, "Elyse, an infertile female on Planet Feratia has less value than even the lowest aberrant beast. You're only wasting the pack's food by staying alive. If I were in your position, I would've killed myself long ago!"

All around Elyse, the wererabbits hurled insults and pointed accusing fingers, their voices rising into an overwhelming chorus of abuse.

"Julia's right! How could Roderick possibly have fathered such a worthless, barren daughter?"

"Get rid of her! Send her into the tainted woods and let the aberrant beasts eat her! We can't have her misfortune spreading through our pack!"

The original Elyse's parents made no effort to defend her. Instead, her father, Roderick Foster, waved his hand indifferently and said, "Get her out of here. As far as I'm concerned, she's no longer my daughter!"

Just then, a clear ding sounded inside Elyse's head. "Congratulations, Host! The system has successfully assigned you four elite male mates! You must establish the mate bonds within three months."

However, the robotic announcement wasn't confined to Elyse's mind. Every werecreature nearby could hear it as well.

The crowd went completely quiet for a brief moment before erupting into even louder ridicule.

"Elite males matched with her? That system has obviously malfunctioned! Once those powerful figures discover they've been paired with a useless, infertile female, they'll make the entire wererabbit species pay for it!"

The wererabbit chief, Arthur Murray, went pale.

"Hurry!" he shouted. "Throw her into the level 3 tainted woods before those powerful males arrive to punish us! We'll tell them an aberrant beast killed her!"

Before Elyse could put up a fight, several heavily built males seized her and hurled her into the depths of the ancient forest.

A foul, damp smell rose from the decaying leaves. Elyse had only just managed to push herself out of the mud when the system's piercing warning rang through her head. "Alert! A level 3 tainted aberrant beast, identified as a tusk boar, is approaching from your front left!"

Elyse swore quietly. The wererabbit body she now occupied was ridiculously frail. She could barely manage a run, much less defend herself.

She immediately threw herself into the thick undergrowth and rolled aside, only to collide with something hard and cold. Behind her, an enormous serpent covered in black scales lay coiled in a muddy hollow. Its body was as wide as a bucket and soaked in blood.

Without warning, the tusk boar burst through the vegetation. Its bloodstained jaws opened wide as it charged directly toward Elyse.

At that instant, the enormous serpent's eyes flew open, revealing dark golden irises with narrow vertical pupils. Its powerful black tail shot forward and drove straight through the boar's skull with a sickening crunch.

The huge aberrant beast dropped to the ground with a resounding thud.

Unfortunately, Elyse was still far from safe.

The giant serpent's esper energy abruptly became unstable, surging beyond its control. A tortured hiss escaped its mouth as its enormous body twisted and thrashed through the mud.

Acting on its instinct to survive, the severely injured creature swung its tail toward Elyse and wrapped it firmly around her, trapping her against its body.

"Argh!" The crushing pressure immediately lifted Elyse off her feet. The serpent's icy scales tightened around her like a steel trap, squeezing until her bones began to groan under the strain.

Every last breath was driven from her lungs, leaving her struggling desperately for air.

There was no mistaking what was happening. The serpent was going to crush her to death.

At that moment, the system spoke again in its mechanical voice. "Beep! A male werecreature has been detected experiencing a complete esper energy rampage. Host, he is constricting you while unconscious. Your vital signs are declining rapidly."

"How... can I survive this..." Elyse could barely force the question past her clenched teeth as darkness crept into her vision.

The system answered, "Your only option is to activate your system privileges and forcibly establish a mate bond with him! The spiritual soothing ability of a female can restore his consciousness. Without it, neither of you will survive."

The serpent's freezing coils squeezed even tighter. One of Elyse's ribs broke under the pressure, sending an excruciating burst of pain through her chest.