The return of villainess

Asher woke up earlier than he should have.

It was normal for him, as a snake beastman, to enter brumation to escape the cold. It had always been that way and always would be. Even after he found a mate for himself, that didn't change.

Asher had lived his whole life as a feral, so no matter how much he wanted to trust his mate's other partners to keep watch over him while he slept, he didn't dare. Old instincts made him hide, so he traveled far and concealed himself until the time to wake. His mate was the only one who knew his location, in case of an emergency.

He knew that if any other feral or even a typical beastman found him in a weakened state, they would try to kill him.

That's how the world worked. Ferals killed each other just as often as they killed other beastmen. He himself wouldn't have hesitated to kill or be killed until very recently.

Ferals or "civilized" beastmen alike, none would leave a snake man like him roaming free and alive if they had the chance. Ferals would try to kill him and take his soul strength for themselves, and beastmen who lived hidden in towns and villages wouldn't hesitate to eliminate the threat he posed.

Still, while the numbness of brumation was something familiar to him, waking up in the middle of it with a soul-tearing pain was not.

Asher woke disoriented and dizzy, dazed by the pain. His body burned. No, his soul burned.

His mate had died. He knew it instantly.

He tried to move, tried to go to her. He needed to reach her. But his body wouldn't respond. A monstrous fury overtook him. Every instinct in him screamed. He had to do something. The pain worsened, spreading through his entire body. It was unbearable, paralyzing. His very spirit seemed to be breaking, leaving his body and shattering.

I have to get to her, I have to save her, every part of him screamed.

But he already knew, with absolute certainty, what had happened.

She's dead, was his last thought.

---

Asher didn't know how much time had passed before he woke again. The feeling was gone, as if it had never been there. There was no pain, nothing felt different. Asher froze, dazed, trying to decide whether what he had felt before was real or not. It could very well have been a dream, an illusion, or a cruel nightmare brought on by being away from his mate.

But deep down, he knew it hadn't been an illusion. He was certain the pain he had felt was real.

Asher, who never got up before his time during cold seasons, shook off the numbness and sluggishness from his body and moved. In his snake form, he was enormous, and in the cramped, humid cave he had chosen precisely to throw off potential enemies, it should've been impossible to move quickly. But Asher moved faster than he ever had in his life. One moment he was a giant white snake coiled up and filling most of the cave, and the next he was a tall, pale man with long golden hair and black eyes.

He looked human, a being that carried no threat. No venom, no scales, no fangs, no massive size. Nothing about the beast he had been a moment ago remained in this appearance. That fragile and vulnerable form held none of the terror or menace his snake self carried. Yet this form was far more precious and valuable than the snake could ever be. It was this version of himself that could mate, and only this part of him could confirm whether his mate was alive or dead.

Wasting no time, he quickly looked at his forearm, searching for any change in his mating mark. He knew the marks would vanish if his mate died.

But they were still there, spiraling from his wrist to his elbow, the same deep red they had been since the day he first mated with her.

Was it all a misunderstanding? Had he been wrong?

There was nothing wrong with his mating mark, yet Asher still couldn't shake the unease he felt.

Lysa. That was his mate's name. Beautiful, perfect, cruel, and feminine, Lysa.

His partner.

Determined to investigate the situation further, Asher did something he never thought he would. He ignored the lingering sleep in his body and decided his rest would end early this season. He had slept enough.

Asher needed to find his mate.

Still naked, he moved quickly toward the cave's entrance. The poor visibility and sluggishness of his body, unaccustomed to waking this early, didn't matter. Asher could see in the dark, he could move even blind, and he had enough strength to be a threat even half-dead.

The glow of daylight was the first thing to greet him as he stepped outside the cave.

The snow was gone, and though the air was still cold, most of the forest around him was green and teeming with life. Weaker reptiles had been out and about for a long time already. The cold season had passed, and only remnants of it remained in the world.

Asher preferred it this way.

He cracked his neck side to side before turning his head in the direction his mate should be.

He was going to the fox city. His mate and her other male partners were likely there, safe and carefree. Probably nothing was wrong. But if something was…

With a twist of his muscles, his body shifted, stretching and expanding. Scales replaced his skin, and soon there was nothing human left in the creature he became, just a gigantic white snake with deep black eyes, devoid of emotion except for coldness and a massive killing intent.

Around him, the forest went silent. Birds scattered, flying away in a rush, and even the insects dared not make a sound.

A stronger, more dangerous being was among them.

Alec hissed, his forked tongue flicking out to taste the air.

He would find his mate, no matter where she was.

If anything had happened to her, he would simply kill everyone responsible.

One by one.