The return of villainess

Lisa stared at Alec as they sat on a rock by the side of a road.

She looked at the road, then back at him, insecurity plain on her face.

"Relax" he said. "If you follow what I told you, there's no way this can go wrong."

They were still in the forest. The road beside them was nothing more than a trail used for years that had eventually widened into something resembling a road. According to Alec, from time to time, a beastman would pass through it.

For her plan to work, at least one of them had to pass through there.

Lisa didn't know how to feel about this plan. Alec had promised to find males for her, and that was what he was doing.

But it didn't make sense to Lisa, none of it did.

She had only known him for a couple of days, but all this goodwill seemed suspicious. It didn't seem like he'd go to such lengths just to help someone. Not without gaining something in return.

He sighed, noticing her suspicious look. She pointed at the road, shook her head, then crossed her arms, hoping the gesture was enough to show her reluctance.

Lisa was not in the best of moods.

After taking a bath, she thought she'd finally have some peace, but she had spent the entire night being eaten alive by insects. Her skin itched, and her eyes were dry from a restless sleep. All of this just to be dragged by Alec to who knows where with a less-than-genius plan in the early hours of the morning.

Yes, she was not in a good mood.

According to Alec, he would find a strong male for her as promised. All he wanted in return was for her to go to the road and attract said male. How she would attract him, however, was the problematic part. Alec wanted her to play the damsel in distress.

"Trust me, any male will help when they see you."

Lisa tried not to cry as Alec approached her with his prey. This was the worst part of the plan. The blood.

Alec held a poor dead monkey in his hands. After killing the creature, he made a cut and approached Lisa with it.

Lisa turned her face away, looking displeased.

She wasn't going to do this.

"Come on, female" Alec coaxed. "If you smell like prey, this will all be faster."

She didn't want to smell like prey to attract someone, thank you very much.

"Think about it. You're alone here. Where are your other males? Don't you want protection?"

Lisa simply pointed at him in response. Hadn't he been protecting her so far? Although he wasn't very trustworthy.

"Female" he continued, a bit more gently "I already have my Genevive. I can't be your male."

Lisa gave him a sour look. When had she asked him to be her male? This was all a misunderstanding!

He misinterpreted her angry face.

"Don't be mad" he tried to soothe her. "I promised that even though I can't stay with you, I'd find you strong males, didn't I? So that's what i'm doing now."

But why? What would he gain from this? Lisa still thought the whole situation was suspicious, but she finally sighed, extending her arms toward him. It was true that she needed powerful males now. Especially if she wanted to get out of here or, at the very least, communicate.

Lisa knew from the book that the connection between the protagonist and her bonded males was so strong that she could communicate with them through thoughts over long distances. Since Lisa herself couldn't shift into her animal form, communicating through the marks would be a great alternative.

She nodded, still somewhat reluctant.

Alec smiled, handing the dead monkey to her, and Lisa shuddered as drops of blood dripped from the animal's body onto her skin. She had just felt clean, and now she was getting dirty again. Alec had even given her a new set of clothes, a kind of dress made of animal skins, that was now ruined.

Lisa tried not to vomit as Alec smeared more of the liquid onto her hands and stomach.

"All set. Don't be afraid. we'll be watching from here."

We.

How could Lisa forget? She and Alec were not alone. All the rabbit men from the camp were also there, well hidden among the vegetation in their animal forms.

Lisa thought it was overkill. Surely it wasn't that dangerous, right?

Swallowing hard, she stepped out from under the tree cover and onto the road, then sat there, feeling ridiculous.

Alec believed that any beastman passing by and seeing her wounded would rescue her, or kidnap her.

So she lay down and closed her eyes, ready for what would be a long wait.

It wasn't a long wait.

Less than half an hour after arriving, Lisa felt a movement beside her, like fur brushing against her legs. Shortly after, she heard breathing close to her face.

Lisa opened her eyes, dazed, only to come face to face with a snout and a pair of pale eyes. Lisa screamed. The sound came out hoarse and strange from her mouth.

It was a giant wolf. The animal recoiled, startled by the noise. Then, with a contortion of muscles and fur, it was no longer an animal but a man.

"Calm down, calm down, female!" he said, raising his hands in a placating gesture.

Lisa backed away, scrambling in the dirt to distance herself from the man, still somewhat scared.

"I'm not going to hurt you" he said, slowly and non-threateningly. "I'm not going to hurt you."

Lisa stopped, panting. That had been a huge scare. She couldn't believe Alec's plan had worked. But thinking about it, in a land with so few women, few men would leave one behind.

He relaxed when he saw her breathing steady.

"Are you alone? Where are your males?"

Lisa grimaced. That was a horrible way to start a conversation with someone.

"Are you hurt?" he asked, concerned at the sight of blood on her arms and clothes.

Lisa shook her head. The male was tall and strong, with bronzed skin, and had two stripes on his neck. He was reasonably strong by this world's standards. Many females would love to have him as a mate. But Lisa wasn't sure if she wanted him. Maybe her sense of strength was a bit skewed, given that the protagonist's males were all super strong.

Well, she wasn't in much of a position to be choosy, after all. But even if she wanted this male, what would she do next?

Suddenly, Lisa felt embarrassed. She tried to get up.

"Don't move!" said the male, approaching her. "You might be hurt..."

That was the last thing he said.

Everything happened so fast.

One moment, the male was right in front of her, extending his hands to help her. The next, he was dead.

Dozens of rabbits burst out of the surrounding forest, leaping onto the man, cutting, scratching, and biting. The male barely had time to look surprised before his throat was seized by a massive black rabbit. The creature clung to him, swinging back and forth as the man thrashed.

Lisa screamed, horrified by the scene. The man gave her a terrified look before shifting.

A huge wolf appeared amidst the rabbits, biting, scratching, and killing those closest to his jaws. But he was outnumbered.

Lisa cried as she saw the animal whimper, buried under the mass of hopping herbivores.

Blood splattered everywhere as the rabbits continued digging and clawing into the wolf. He collapsed to the ground, weakened by blood loss, and looked at Lisa, who was crying less than a meter away from the entire scene.

She stood there, frozen and trembling, holding the animal's gaze until he took his last breath.

The male was dead.

Slowly, the rabbits began to shift back, until a group of men surrounded the corpse, and she just stared at them, too stunned to keep crying.

Why had they done this?

The sound of clapping startled Lisa. She looked toward the noise, surprised to see Alec emerging from his hiding place, walking toward the chaos.

He clapped.

"Great work" he said, in a celebratory tone, looking entirely unfazed by what had just happened. "Didn't I tell you guys the female would be useful?"