Chapter 2

2.

The mating contracts were finalized right then and there in front of the whole tribe.

In this primitive world, a female can have many consorts, but only the one she signs a contract with can live in her den.

The consorts are basically just side-pieces kept for fun.

The difference here is that having multiple guys is socially acceptable and encouraged.

If a female gets bored of a consort, she can just kick him to the curb.

In the last life, Chloe took full advantage of this.

Even though she knew the serpent-man was possessive and crazy, she still cheated with other males while he was hibernating.

She figured she'd just play around and dump them whenever she felt like it.

Too bad for her, she played with fire and got burned.

Female beastmen are incredibly rare. The males who finally got a taste of her weren't going to let her go easily.

When the serpent-man woke up from his winter sleep, he was met by a mob of angry males demanding answers.

Chloe had told them they couldn't be together because the serpent-man wouldn't allow it.

When he found out his mate had been busy with a whole crowd while he was out cold, he lost his mind.

After a brutal bloodbath with the other males, he dragged Chloe back into his dark, damp cave with a terrifying look on his face.

He spent his time making her life a living hell until she was pregnant.

Chloe spent the rest of her life forced to lay batch after batch of snake eggs.

She tried to escape and scream for help, but he never gave her the chance to step outside.

It wasn't until the day the wolf-man was being inaugurated as Chief that she finally got out. Every member of the tribe had to attend.

The ceremony was held on a cliff at the back of the mountain to be closer to the sky gods.

When she saw that I, the girl she always looked down on, had become the Chief's wife, she snapped.

While everyone was kneeling in prayer, she lunged at me and shoved me into the abyss.

"Linley Vance, you've been beneath me since we were kids. Why do you get to live a better life than me? Just go to hell!"

Our families were neighbors back in the day. My parents were actually better off than hers.

But after they died in a car accident, my greedy grandmother stole everything and gave it to my uncle's family.

They said I was just a girl, an outsider who didn't deserve my father's money.

Chloe's mother felt bad for me and sponsored my education.

Later, I regretted ever taking that money.

Chloe told everyone that her family was the reason I wasn't in an orphanage. She used it to keep me under her thumb.

I had to play the sidekick. If I got good grades, she got mad, so I had to fail on purpose.

She drove away all my friends. She even stole my boyfriend during college.

"Linley, don't be mad. I just wanted to test if he really loved you. I'm your best friend; I didn't want you to get hurt by a jerk."

"See? I proved he was trash. You should thank me."

I just smiled and thanked her like a fool.

I hated her. People like her are why the word "bestie" has such a bad reputation.

But her mother really did help me, and I didn't want to break her heart.

Well, that was the old life.

The moment Chloe pushed me off that cliff, my debt to her family was paid in full.