Chapter 6

In the White Tiger Tribe, the priest’s status was even higher than the chieftain’s.

The priest wasn’t just responsible for rituals and divinations or keeping the tribe’s ancient secrets; he was also the tribe’s sole healer. In a primitive society with almost no medical infrastructure, whether an injured beastman survived often depended entirely on the priest’s knowledge of medicine.

When the white tiger priest carried me back to his stone house, he carefully laid me down on a stone bed covered with animal pelts.

His piercing golden eyes fixed on me as he spoke gently, “Rest here for a moment. I’ll grab you an extra blanket.”

I nodded, watching as he rummaged through a wooden chest and pulled out a large, thick pelt.

But instead of covering me with it, he spread the blanket over the bed, layering it on top of the existing pelts.

After smoothing it out, he turned back to me, his gaze lingering on my exposed skin. “Your skin looks delicate. With this extra padding, you won’t feel the hardness of the stone bed.”

I couldn’t help but be surprised. For someone as strong and imposing as the white tiger priest, his attention to detail was unexpected.

“Thank you,” I said. “By the way, what’s your name? I’m Lily.”

“My name is Kaelan,” he replied. “If you need anything, just let me know.”

I nodded again. “Got it. Thanks, Kaelan. Now, I think I’ll get some sleep.”

Nicole and I had stumbled into this unrecorded, primitive tribe during a hiking trip in the mountains. By the time the beastmen from the White Tiger Tribe found us and brought us back to their village, we had already been hiking for nearly two hours.

I was completely drained.

Kaelan seemed to notice my exhaustion. As I lay down, his deep voice softened. “I won’t disturb you. I’ll go find you something to eat. What would you like for dinner?”

The thought of food in a primitive tribe sent a shiver through me. Quickly, I blurted out, “Some berries, please. And maybe some meat soup, but make sure the meat is cut into small pieces. I can’t chew big chunks.”

Beastmen could shift between their beast and human forms, and when in their beast forms, eating raw meat was completely normal for them.

In their human forms, however, they mostly cooked their food—boiling it into soups or roasting it over a fire.

The issue was that their sheer size made them cook everything in massive portions. The meat chunks were the size of my arm, and their bones were even longer than my forearm. For them, gnawing on these was effortless. For me? It was like trying to chew through a tire.

In my past life, I couldn’t adjust to their food and had to survive on berries alone. That led to severe malnutrition, and during a summer rainstorm, I fell sick and nearly died.

It was Kaelan’s medical skills that saved me. He brewed a foul-smelling herbal concoction that tasted awful but brought my fever down within hours.

Kaelan stared at me for a moment, then nodded seriously. “Understood. Rest now.”

“Okay,” I murmured, closing my eyes.

Exhausted from the day’s events, I quickly drifted off into a deep sleep.

When I woke up, the sky outside had already grown dark.

I sat up abruptly on the stone bed, startled by how much time had passed.

“Lily, you’re awake,” Kaelan’s deep voice rumbled from nearby. “You must be hungry. Come eat something.”

Rubbing my stomach, which was now uncomfortably empty, I got out of bed and walked over to the wooden table.

Two stone bowls were already set out. One was filled with steaming meat soup, and the other with a selection of unfamiliar berries.

“Did you eat already?” I asked as I sat down.

Kaelan nodded, his golden eyes locked onto my face. There was something uncomfortably intense about his gaze—warm, almost scorching, like an unspoken hunger simmering beneath the surface.

“I’ve eaten. Don’t worry about me. Eat up,” he said, his voice low and steady.

Gripping the wooden spoon tightly, I tried to ignore the tingling sensation his eyes sent down my spine. I knew then that Kaelan wasn’t going to let me off easily tonight.

I took a cautious sip of the soup.

To my surprise, Kaelan had gone above and beyond. The meat was cut into thin, tender strips and cooked to perfection—it practically melted in my mouth.

Though the soup was simply seasoned with salt, it was rich and flavorful, the natural taste of the meat shining through.

Before I knew it, I was halfway through the bowl.

But the portions were enormous, far more than I could handle. I set the spoon down, feeling full.

“I can’t eat anymore,” I said, pushing the bowl away.

Kaelan’s gaze flicked to my stomach, as if to confirm I’d eaten enough. After a moment, he nodded, satisfaction gleaming in his eyes.

“I’ll clean up,” he said, gathering the bowls. “There’s a hot spring in the back of the house. You can use it to wash up.”

A hot spring?

I couldn’t hide my excitement.

Most beastmen were rough and unbothered by hygiene, often bathing in rivers or streams. But for someone like me, accustomed to modern comforts, the idea of bathing in a river was out of the question.

With a hot spring in Kaelan’s home, I wouldn’t have to worry about that anymore.

As soon as Kaelan left with the bowls, I followed the dim light toward the part of the house he mentioned.

Sure enough, warm steam rose from a natural pool of water, filling the air with a soothing heat.

I wasted no time shedding my clothes and slipping into the water. The warmth enveloped me, easing the tension from my muscles.

Just as I was beginning to relax, the faint glow of firelight entered the room.

Kaelan stepped in, holding a torch in one hand. He mounted it on the wall before turning toward me.

His golden eyes burned with an intensity that made my breath hitch as he began walking toward me.

His towering frame loomed closer, his gaze hot enough to melt the water around me.

My body trembled involuntarily.

The werewolf from my past life was nowhere near Kaelan’s size or strength, and even then, I had barely survived the experience.

If Kaelan had his way with me, would I even make it out of this alive?

As my thoughts spiraled, Kaelan reached me, his arms wrapping around me with a possessive strength. His body heat radiated even hotter than the spring water.

I felt my legs go weak, my worries melting away as his steady heartbeat thudded against my back.