Chosen Mate Of The Beastmen Empire

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The iron door creaked shut, dimming the room even more. The hazy, hard-to-see vibe thrilled Randy. He slowed his steps on purpose, wanting to spook Nyx and make her scared. Doing bad stuff wasn't fun if the victim stayed too calm.

But it didn't go like he planned. Even as he got close, Nyx sat there, steady as ever. Randy got mad, muttering a curse. He crouched down to get a good look at her face.

The shift in angle finally brought Dark Fox into his view, Caught off guard, Randy stumbled back, nearly falling on his butt.

'What is that glowing-eyed thing? Whoa! A giant black rat?' he thought.

"What's up, Randy?" his pal asked, running over after locking the door to help him up.

They barely got steady when a black blur shot at them, too fast to track, claws glinting.

"Ah-!"

“AHHHHHHH!"

Screams echoed in the basement, but the locked door muffled them completely from the outside.

When the two finally crashed the door open, battered and bleeding, they

scrambled up the stairs, yelling to anyone they saw, "Rat! There's a rat! A huge rat!"

"Where's the rat?"

"In the basement? It attacks people?"

"How's there so much blood. Shouldn't you guys go to the hospital?"

"Holy crap, Randy, your neck's sliced open-go to the hospital!"

"Quick, quick! Check the basement!"

If two tough guys like them got mauled by a rat, a delicate girl like Nyx was probably dead already.noveldrama

A mob of brawny guys grabbed pitchforks and rushed to the basement. Even the kidnapper boss showed up, nervous as hell, terrified Nyx had been bitten to death by a rat. She was their ticket to billions in ransom.

They'd just gotten a reply to the ransom video-her people agreed to pay but wanted to call Nyx and hear her voice to make sure she was okay.

If she was hurt before the call, they wouldn't get cash-they'd get the cops' dragnet and the richest guy's no-holds-barred

revenge.

The boss hid behind his crew, using them as shields, peeking out to ask, "How's it look?"

A few guys swept the basement with flashlights but found no rat. "Can't find it, boss!"

Blood on the walls and floor, plus a stench in the air, proved a fight had gone down, but Nyx stood there fine, her face clean

-not a scratch on her.

The boss shoved through the crowd into the basement, looking around, baffled. After a long pause, he muttered, "This rat's got

weird taste."

It ignored the tender young lady to shred his two guys like that.

10:38 Thu, 20 Mar

1. AA.

☐ ☐☐ 87%

+63)

Good thing Nyx was okay. The boss went ahead and made the call Seafarion requested, putting it on speaker and watching Nyx closely so she wouldn't say anything off-script.

The call connected in a second. Nyx hadn't figured out how to calm her guys down yet. On the other end, hearing her breathing, the two guys called out eagerly, "Nyx!"

"Mm-hmm, I'm fine," Nyx said, wishing she could pat their heads through the phone, but she couldn't.

"Fine for now, huh," the boss cut in darkly from the side. "Call's done, you've confirmed what you needed. If we don't see the money soon, we won't be so nice to her.

"Got it? We've got a biting rat here that just half-killed two of my guys. So think hard before you act-Nyx's pretty face might not look so pretty if the rat gets her." Nyx was speechless. She glanced down at her slightly bulging jacket on the floor. The boss didn't notice, smugly sure his threat hit home. He laid out the deal. "No objections? Then do what I said-drop the money at the spot I gave you. We'll check it, and if it's good, we'll let her go."

As he moved to hang up, the other side stopped him. "Wait. What if you take the money and don't release her?"

Hearing the doubt, the kidnappers grumbled, insisting their boss was a man of his word, never going back on a deal.

The boss let them yap for a bit before waving them quiet. "So what do you want?"

Kai's low voice came through. "By the end of today, I'll come alone with the money to pick her up."

His tone carried a restless fury, firm and undeniable. Somehow, the boss got roped in and nodded along. After hanging up, it hit him. "Where's he picking her

up?"

The kidnappers looked at each other, panicking a little. "Did they figure out our location? So fast?"

The boss freaked out too but forced himself to stay cool, acting like he'd expected it. "They're rich-tons of tricks up their sleeves. Makes sense they found us."

"Relax, we've got the hostage-they won't call the cops. Didn't you hear? He said he'd come alone with the cash," he said, a ruthless glint in his eyes. "If they snitch, we'll kill her on the spot."

"Kill her?" The kidnappers' eyes flickered. They didn't really dare kill her. They just wanted big bucks for a lavish life-not to end up empty-handed, running from the law.

"What if they don't care that much about her and are just stalling to take us all down?" someone whispered.

"No way!" the boss shot back loudly. "I can tell if they're worried or faking it!" He sounded certain, but it was mostly to keep his crew steady.

Leaving the basement, he quietly grabbed his gun, tucking it close, waiting anxiously, ready to bolt if things went south.

On the crumbling wall of the rundown courtyard, someone perched with binoculars, scanning the road's end. Suddenly, they shouted, "They're here!"

"Huh?"

"Let me see!"

The lookouts crowded over, peering through the binoculars. Sure enough, a black car rolled their way.

"Whoa. That's an expensive ride-definitely here to pay up, no doubt!"

10:39 Thu, 20 Mar

"Make him leave the car with us!"

The boss hurried over, hiding behind the wall, squinting through the binoculars, one hand on his gun.

Once he confirmed it was just one car, no backups, and only one guy got out, unloading box after box of cash, he relaxed his grip, grinning. "He really came alone!"

His crew nodded excitedly, their nerves fading, chattering away.

"It's not Seafarion-it's Nyx's other boyfriend, that foreigner, Kai,”

"Thought he was just a freeloader pretty boy, but he's got guts-showing up solo like this.

With their hundred-plus crew, this pretty boy wouldn't dare try anything-he'd have to hand over the money and take her quietly.