Apocalypse Villainess Transmigrates Into The Beastworld With Debt

Chapter 140: She’s trying to steal our Alpha

Ren looked at them. It seemed that was the case, if not they would’ve been on his throat by now. But then... was the verdict? His heart was hammering frantically.

"They will also accept you." Hana said and it was as if a ray of sun suddenly shone before him and his hammering heart quieted down. "Now, I want my response. Are you establishing a bond with me and giving me your mark so you can join my household, or... not?"

Ren’s icy blue eyes locked onto Hana, wide and unblinking, as the weight of her final words settled over him. She had actually done it.

She had sat down with those three terrifying, monstrously powerful warriors and made them agree to let him in.

He glanced warily at Caspian and Kulu, who were currently staring at him like two apex predators waiting for a reason to break his neck, but the murderous aura was gone. It was just a tense, grudging tolerance.

Ren gripped the straps of his harness, his chest swelling with a sudden, overwhelming wave of emotion.

He was the Alpha warrior, a man who had never bowed his head to anyone but his chief, yet looking at Hana sitting there so small, vulnerable, and heavily pregnant, all he wanted was to throw his pride at her feet and serve her for the rest of his days.

Yes, that was his answer.

"Hana, I—"

Rip!

The heavy leather curtain of the hut was violently yanked aside, the cold mountain wind rushing into the cabin and causing the fire to snap and hiss.

"Chief, look! I told you! I told all of you!"

Brenda burst into the spacious cabin, her face flushed red with a mixture of tears and venomous triumph.

Right behind her, the old tribal chief stepped over the threshold, his expression deeply troubled as he leaned heavily on his wooden cane.

Behind them, a dense crowd of heavily built snow leopard warriors and anxious tribespeople packed near the entrance, peering into the warm room with wide, shocked eyes.

"She’s trying to steal our Alpha!" Brenda shrieked, pointing a trembling, clawed finger directly at Hana. "I heard it myself by the tree stumps! She used her strange magic to bewitch him, and now she’s demanding he abandon the Frost-Claw tribe to join her collection of males! She also wants to strip our shrine dry and leave us completely defenseless!"

A loud, collective gasp rippled through the tribesmen outside. Whispers broke out instantly, a wave of panic crashing over the crowd.

"Ren? Leave the tribe?"

"Without him, who will lead the vanguard against the wolves and the tigers?"

"We’ll be slaughtered!"

The old chief raised his cane, silencing the crowd with a sharp thump against the wood floor, though his dim eyes were fixed entirely on Ren.

"Alpha," the chief began, his raspy voice cracking with age and heavy sorrow. "Is what Brenda says true? Have you agreed to leave the people who depend on your claws?"

Ren’s face contorted with a mixture of intense embarrassment and growing fury. He took a sharp step toward the door, his black-striped tail thrashing violently. "Brenda, you miserable, gossiping—"

"Ren."

Hana’s flat, icy voice cut through the brewing drama like a scalpel. She didn’t get up from her pile of white furs. She didn’t even lift her hand from her belly. She just looked at the crowd at the door with a deadpan, entirely unbothered expression.

Beside her, the room suddenly became deathly hot. Caspian got up from the floor and stepped forward, his massive frame slightly eclipsing Ren as he stood between Hana and the intrusive crowd.

A low, tectonic growl rumbled deep in the dragon’s throat, and a thick trail of smoke began to drift past his nostrils. Kulu’s steeled feathers gave a deafening, metallic CLACK as they flared outward, the razor-sharp tips scraping against the wooden walls.

"You dare bring your screeching into my mate’s resting quarters?" Caspian hoarsely rumbled, his molten gold eyes drilling into the terrified tribesmen. "Step back before I turn this entire mountain into a graveyard."

The snow leopard warriors at the door instantly slammed their jaws shut, a collective shiver running down their spines as they instinctively gripped their spears, terrified but completely outclassed.

Hana calmly patted her belly and Caspian looked back to see her firm gaze locked on his. It was a simple signal for him to stand down just enough so she could speak. He huffed and stepped aside.

She looked past him, her dark eyes landing directly on the old chief and then back to Ren. Before anything she needed to know where Ren stood.

"Ren," she called calmly. "What is your answer?"

Ren looked at her. He had his answer already, but to say it in front of all of them, did she not feel the pressure? No—he looked into her eyes—those eyes were far from pressured.

"You just need to give your answer and Hana will take care of the rest." Raiden purred from the side, his tails fanning out beautifully.

"You see that?" Brenda pointed her finger at Raiden and surely Raiden didn’t appreciate being pointed at by anyone who wasn’t Hana. "The fox is helping her bewitch our Alpha. We must save him!" She screamed, her voice cracking as she tried to rally the terrified warriors behind her.

​Raiden didn’t lose his easy, predatory smile, but his green eyes turned instantly lethal.

One of his pink tails snapped out like a whip, the sheer gust of wind from the motion slapping Brenda’s pointing hand down so hard her wrist cracked. She shrieked, stumbling back into the chest of a startled snow leopard warrior.

​"Point that blunt claw at me again, little cat, and I’ll peel the skin from your fingers," Raiden purred, his voice dripping with a terrifying, silky malice. "Hana is speaking. Keep your screeching to yourself."

​The old chief thumped his cane onto the floorboards again, though his hands were visibly shaking now. He ignored the fox and kept his eyes fixed entirely on Ren.

"Ren... look at your people. Look at your sister. Are you truly going to turn your back on the Frost-Claw tribe for a stranger?"