Beast World: They Hated Me, Then I Cooked Them Dinner

Terra’s eyes snapped open, but she could not drag a single breath of air into her lungs. A crushing, icy pressure locked around her throat. Her hands instantly flew up, her fingers desperately clawing at the thing strangling her. It was not a human hand. Under her frantic nails, she felt thick, overlapping scales. They were smooth, freezing cold, and hard as titanium armor. "Give me one reason," a voice hissed. The sound vibrated right next to Terra’s ear. It was a deep, gravelly male voice, heavy with a lethal, suffocating hatred. Terra’s vision blurred. Black spots danced at the edges of her sight. Through the dim, flickering neon light of the cramped room, she saw him. A man. No, not entirely a man. He had broad, muscular human shoulders, pale skin that looked like it had not seen the sun in years, and sharp, violently handsome facial features. But his lower half was a massive, coiled serpent tail, covered in pitch-black scales that shimmered with a sickly green iridescence. Zev Kagan. The name exploded in Terra’s mind, followed instantly by a massive, agonizing flood of memories that did not belong to her. Her head pounded as if someone had slammed a hammer into her skull. The pain made her stomach churn. Terra realized she was not in her cheap, cramped studio apartment on Earth anymore. She was Terra Mason. But not the Terra Mason she knew. She had transmigrated into the body of the most notorious, despised socialite in this dystopian corporate enclave. In this world, females were incredibly rare. They were the absolute top of the social hierarchy. The air and water here were saturated with volatile energy. Males, who possessed heavy combat bio-forms—like the massive serpent currently choking the life out of Terra—absorbed that chaotic energy to fight and survive. Their bodies, however, could not process it alone. They needed the unique, stable biological frequency of a female to act as a catalyst. Without a female's touch, without her energy, male bio-forms would eventually suffer a mental breakdown, which they called the frenzy. They would turn into mindless, rabid beasts. Because of this biological absolute, females held all the power. And the original owner of this body had abused that power to an extreme, sickening degree. She had used her wealth and status as the CEO's daughter to forcefully kidnap high-level, high-potential males from the lower sectors. She had locked them in coercive bio-contracts. A bio-contract was not a piece of paper. It was a one-way life bind, stamped directly into the male's energy core, anchored to the female's life force. Terra gagged. Her lungs burned like they were filled with acid. Zev’s pupils were not human. They were vertical, golden slits, narrowed into slivers of pure, unadulterated murder. He was one of her victims. The original Terra had drugged him, dragged him to this filthy safehouse outside the inner enclave, and forced the contract on him. Zev was going to kill Terra. Right now. "You ruined my life," Zev whispered. His breath smelled like ozone and cold rage. The thick coils of his tail tightened around Terra’s legs, pinning her completely to the rusted metal bedframe. "I should snap your neck right here." Terra’s heart hammered so hard against her ribs she thought her chest would crack open. She needed to speak. She needed to breathe. Terra kicked her legs, but kicking a massive serpent tail was like kicking a concrete wall. Her toes went numb. Terra forced her hands up, grabbing Zev's wrists. His skin was freezing. She dug her nails into his flesh, trying to find a gap in the scales covering his forearms. "Con... tract..." Terra choked out. The word tore her vocal cords. It tasted like blood. Zev’s golden eyes flickered. His grip loosened by a fraction of a millimeter. Just enough for a tiny sliver of oxygen to hit Terra’s burning lungs. Terra coughed violently, her chest heaving. Sweat dripped down her forehead, stinging her eyes. "If you kill me..." Terra wheezed, her voice sounding like broken glass. She stared directly into Zev’s terrifying, inhuman eyes. "The bio-contract... kills you." It was the absolute law of this world. The Beast Mark—the bio-contract. Because it was anchored to the female's life force, if the female died, the energy feedback loop would instantly detonate the bio-cores of every male contracted to her. If Zev crushed Terra’s throat, his own heart would explode three seconds later. Zev’s jaw clenched so hard Terra heard his teeth grind together. The muscles in his neck strained. Zev knew it. Of course, he knew it. That was the only reason Terra's head was still attached to her body. "I don't care," Zev said. His voice was flat, devoid of any hope. "Dying is better than being a corporate slave to a sadistic bitch like you." Zev shifted his weight. His massive tail slid against the metal bedframe, making a horrific scraping sound. The pressure around Terra’s throat began to increase again. He was serious. Zev was actually going to drag them both to hell. Panic, cold and sharp, spiked through Terra’s veins. "Wait!" Terra rasped. She slammed her palms flat against Zev’s chest. His muscles were rock hard. "I'll let you go!" Zev froze. The room went completely silent. The only sound was Terra’s rapid, shallow breathing and the low, mechanical hum of the neon light outside the dirty window. "What did you say?" Zev asked. His voice dropped an octave, dripping with deep, toxic suspicion. "I said... I will void the contract," Terra forced the words out, her throat throbbing with every syllable. "I will break the bio-bind. You walk away. Free." Zev stared at Terra. His golden slits scanned her face, searching for the lie. The original Terra Mason would never let a high-value asset go. She viewed males as property. Toys to be broken. "You're lying," Zev stated. His grip on Terra’s neck did not loosen. "I'm not," Terra gasped. She squeezed her eyes shut against the pain, then opened them again, maintaining direct eye contact. "I'll do it. Just... let me breathe." Before Zev could respond, a massive crash shook the safehouse. The heavy metal door of the room dented inward. Someone was trying to break it down. "Open the door, Mason!" a muffled, aggressive voice shouted from the hallway. "The Enclave Board has issued the decree! Your assets are being seized, and your citizenship is revoked!" Terra’s stomach dropped. The original Terra's crimes had caught up to her. Her father, the CEO, had been ousted in a corporate coup yesterday. Without his protection, her political enemies had immediately moved in to crush her. They were here to exile Terra. In this world, being exiled from the corporate enclave meant being thrown into the wasteland. The wasteland was filled with high-level mutated beasts and toxic energy storms. For a frail female without a military escort, exile was an instant, brutal death sentence. Zev’s lips curled into a slow, cruel sneer. The golden slits of his eyes widened with cold satisfaction. "Looks like your little empire just burned down, princess," Zev whispered. He suddenly released Terra’s throat. Terra collapsed onto the thin mattress, gasping desperately for air. Her lungs expanded violently, pulling in the stale, metallic air of the room. She grabbed her throat, feeling the deep, bruised indentations Zev's fingers had left behind. "Get up," Zev commanded. His serpent tail shifted, smoothly transforming. Terra watched in shock as the heavy black scales retracted into his skin. The massive tail split, reforming into two long, muscular human legs. Zev stood over Terra, fully human now, towering and imposing. "You wanted to void the contract?" Zev crossed his arms over his chest. He looked at the dented door, then back down at Terra. "Do it now. Then you can go out there and face them alone."