"What the fuck," I muttered.
The blue-haired man's smirk widened as he stalked closer. I backed up instinctively until my thighs hit the massive bed. In one smooth motion he was over me, caging me in, his nose tracing from my neck down toward my inner thighs.
What the actual hell? I froze, every muscle locked so tight I thought I'd pull something. This was not normal greeting behavior.
Beep.
[Host is experiencing extreme confusion. Stabilizing… I am Zoey, your system assistant. You have transmigrated into the Beast World. Missions will be assigned to generate energy — also known as +SP. Warning: The system is currently glitching due to the transfer. Enjoy your new life!]
Enjoy?! Before I could even process that message, the world blurred.
Cold wetness slapped my back. I jerked upright. The luxurious bedroom was gone. I was back in the swampy forest, sticky honey-like goo dripping from the hive above and soaking the white negligee to my skin. The thin fabric clung obscenely. I frantically patted between my legs — thank god, there was something resembling a g-string, a catapult as I'd like to call it.
"Hey there, sexy."
A deep, guttural voice made me whip around. A towering, heavily muscled man with shimmering scales and a distinctly fish-like head stood a few feet away. His large, unblinking eyes fixed on me with unsettling intensity.
My stomach dropped. One of the mates? No, no, no.
I took a shaky step back. My bare feet sank into the muddy water. Before I could think, adrenaline took over. I bolted.
Big mistake.
I slammed forehead-first into a low-hanging branch. Pain exploded through my skull and I pitched forward into the stagnant green water.
The fish-man was on me instantly. Strong, scaly arms hauled me up as if I weighed nothing and pressed me against his surprisingly warm, solid chest.
"Oh God, please save me from this nightmare," I whimpered, tears stinging my eyes. "I'm sorry for every bad thing I've ever done—"
He started running, carrying me like a bride through the dense forest. The canopy blurred overhead. His fishy scent — strangely not as bad as I expected — surrounded me.
"You're acting strange, wifey," he rumbled, voice affectionate. "You told me yesterday you wanted to come out here for some 'nature.' Now you look at me like I'm going to eat you."
Wifey. The word made my brain short-circuit.
We burst into a small clearing with a simple thatched shelter. He gently set me down on a surprisingly soft bed of furs inside.
"Are you okay?" he asked, genuine worry in those wide eyes.
"No! I'm not okay!" I snapped, scrambling upright. A breeze blew through the open sides of the shelter, making the soaked negligee ride up my thighs. I yanked it down, face burning.
The fish-man stared for a beat… then burst into deep, rumbling laughter.
"You really are acting nuts today. You were never this shy before."
"Did you just call me nuts?" I shot back, irritation cutting through the fear. Being called crazy was somehow more offensive than the whole transmigration thing.
He tilted his head, still smiling with those thin lips. "Aquasteine said you froze when he entered your room this morning, then you just… vanished. Are you trying to run from us, little mate?"
My mouth fell open. Aquasteine. So the blue-haired one had a name. And this guy was clearly another of the four.
Before I could formulate a response, a monstrous voice growled from the treeline.
"Found you."
I spun around. The lizard-man from the first forest clearing stood there — seven feet of rippling muscle and glittering scales, amber eyes locked on me with raw hunger. My knees went weak.
Then something even worse slithered into view behind him. A hulking figure with a snail-like shell, wet tentacles reaching out.
Nope. Absolutely not.
The lizard-man moved like lightning. One second I was standing there, the next I was hauled onto his broad, scaled back as he sprinted deeper into the forest, away from the tentacled nightmare.
I clung to him, heart hammering against his back.
Oh, fuck me.