Reborn As A Beast Queen with Too Many Husbands to Pet novel Chapter 14

Chapter 14 The Monster They Created

No one knew which family had left that shifter there when he was a child.

He was just an abandoned male, worth nothing in the eyes of the tribe.

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Everyone simply let him stay until he grew old enough for a matriarch to claim him. But whenever a female tried to bite his neck and form a bond, her spirit energy never took.

To the entire tribe, that made him useless.

The chief said, “First, he couldn’t mate with any female, so he couldn’t give the tribe children. Second, every male who reaches twenty–five without finding a female eventually loses his mind. Before dying, he’ll attack people in the tribe. So, of course, I couldn’t keep him here. That’s why I exiled him and sent mates to guard him day and night. After about a year, I thought he must’ve reached his limit. He was as good as dead, so I relaxed the watch.”

For the next fourteen years, nothing happened.

Everyone assumed he had died.

No one ever imagined that man would come back.

All the shifters agreed that the chief made sense. They believed she had only acted for the tribe’s sake.

Annelise raised another question. “Then why didn’t you kill him outright? Wouldn’t that have prevented all this?”

“I…”

Another shifter echoed her. “Yeah, Chief, why didn’t you kill him?”

“Right, why not?” others joined in.

Executions weren’t unheard of. Some male shifter cubs were born with defects–missing limbs, twisted legs. No female would ever claim them when they grew up, and letting them live meant risking a future rampage. Those males were always put down.

The chief swallowed hard. She had no answer.

Annelise said, “Was it because your mates couldn’t beat that male–the one with one horn and five tails?”

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Chapter 14 The Monster They Created

The chief’s middle–aged mates bristled instantly. “Ridiculous!”

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The chief stopped them with a look and said, “Fine. The truth is, I hesitated. I was soft. After so many years without news, I assumed he had turned into a monster. That’s why I thought of using a sacrifice. No male survives that long without a female. It had to be a punishment from the heavens. Now I plan to send my daughter Clara and her mates, along with Annelise and her mates, to hunt him together. What do you think? If that doesn’t work, we’ll consider the sacrifice again.”

Adrian understood and blurted out, “Why should Annelise join the hunt? She… She barely has any mates! How could she compare to the chief’s daughter? And the peacock has a broken leg -he can’t hunt at all!”

Clara said, “This is our tribe’s rule. Whoever questions the decision must join in. That way, everyone can supervise each other.”

Then she muttered under her breath, “Annelise didn’t trust my mother’s judgment, so she can see for herself.”

“That’s not fair to Annelise-” Adrian began.

But Annelise cut him off. “I accept.”

Clara stared at her, stunned.

The chief clapped Clara’s shoulder. “Good. Tonight works. You’ll go up the mountain with your mates, and she’ll take hers.”

When that man came down the mountain last time, the chief had calmed him with a bundle of chickens. She assumed he had gone back up again.

Everyone whispered that Annelise wouldn’t survive this.

Some said she did it for her mates.

Others scoffed. Annelise had broken her own mate’s leg–she was a bad female, they said.

Annelise ignored them. “If we’re done, I’m going home to rest.”

Many females thought she was just putting on a show–probably planning to shove her crippled peacock mate out the door that night.

Adrian sprinted after her, his long dark hair bouncing as his rabbit ears popped free.

“Hey! You really plan on hunting that creepy shifter?”

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Chapter 14 The Monster They Created

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“Sure,” she said. “I remember he looked pretty good–just covered in blood. I want to wipe his face and see if he looks better clean.”

What she truly wanted were those five huge tails. If she got to pet that shifter, wouldn’t that mean five times the joy?

Adrian stumbled, falling far behind, then ran to catch up. “Evan can’t hunt. I… I’m an herbivore, so I can’t hunt either. There’s only Hudson, and he’s just a regular shifter—not one of those high–ranking males serving the chief.”

Annelise patted his shoulder. “I’m glad you counted yourself in. But none of you have to go. I’ll handle it myself.”

Adrian swatted her hand away. “Who counted me in? I’m not your male. And going alone is suicide!”

But Annelise had already reached the slope leading to her house. She told him to stop talking before the fox overheard and worried. Then she said she needed a nap so she could be ready

for the hunt.

She left Adrian standing there, tugging at his own rabbit ears in pure panic.

When night fell, Annelise grabbed some antidote herbs and wild greens, then headed straight into the mountains.

Clara and her mates were nowhere in sight.

The entrance was lined with hanging venomous snakes.

Annelise exhaled slowly and muttered, “If the snakes are here, that means he’s close.”