There was no one who had not witnessed Hana’s brilliance and not fallen into awe regarding it. It was as if there was a nature that had bewitched them into revering her. Because at the end of the day, she was no longer a mere human female. She was something else, she was extraordinary.

"W-wait," Ren called out, coming over with his sister. "I would like to thank you for your help in saving my sister." He said. "If not for you, things wouldn’t have been this easy."

Hana looked at him and asked, "And how do you plan to repay me?"

He lifted his head, his expression fierce and determined as he said, "My tribe may not come from much but we have resources. Whatever you demand, anything at all, just name it and we’ll hand it over to you."

Hana looked at him. Isn’t it a big deal for him to just make such a big decision right off the bat? But it did not bother her. Instead, she asked to confirm,

"Anything?"

"Anything," Ren repeated, his icy blue eyes locked onto hers with a fierce vulnerability that completely exposed how fast his savior complex had inverted into total devotion. "Whatever you ask of me, or my vanguard, it’s yours. Just give the word."

​Hana let out a short, quiet breath through her nose, her dark eyes narrowing as she ran a quick calculation through her head. She didn’t care about his sudden emotional attachment, but his willingness to put his clan’s infrastructure on the line was an asset she wasn’t about to waste.

​"I’ll hold you to that," Hana said, her voice dropping into its standard, clinical register. "Your tribe is sitting on a fractured sub-station. Aegis Bunker 05. You said it was in your territory, and unlike you, I know exactly how to open it. When I come to clear it out, you’re going to open the gates for me without a single delay. That’s your repayment."

​Ren blinked, his leopard ears twitching in surprise, but he didn’t hesitate for even a fraction of a second. He nodded fiercely, his black-striped tail sweeping through the gravel.

"If that is what you require, then the Frost-Claw territory is open to you. I will personally guide you to the broken structure whenever you are ready."

​From her side, Kulu let out a sharp, territorial growl, his crimson wings flaring out slightly as his steeled feathers scraped together like metallic knives.

The aggressive friction of the sound was an immediate, unyielding warning to the feline to watch his step. Hana casually reached out, her fingers brushing against the side of Kulu’s arm to signal him to stand down.

​"Keep your line secure until I get there," Hana added to Ren, completely ignoring the mounting tension between the beastmen. "And don’t touch any more canisters. You’ll just blow your own fingers off thinking you’re picking up a smoke grenade."

​Before Ren could say another word, a chaotic, loud commotion echoed from Bunker 03.

​"Let go of my tails, you overgrown lizard!" Raiden’s voice boomed outward, echoing off the empty concrete walls with a high-pitched, furious screech.

​"Then move your legs faster, you useless pink rat!" Caspian roared back, his deep, gravelly voice rattling the metal frame of the entrance.

​A second later, Caspian strode out into the bright morning sun, his massive chest puffed out with annoyance. He was practically dragging Raiden by the steel of his harness, while Raiden’s nine pink tails were flailing frantically in the air, trying to swat at the dragon’s face.

​"Hana! Look at what he’s doing to the harness you gave me!" Raiden complained instantly the moment his feet hit the gravel, his emerald eyes wide with theatrical offense as he dusted his shoulders. "I was just checking the corners to see if you missed any hidden compartments!" He pouted but that lie was so obvious.

"More like looking at your reflection in the shiny lockers." Hana muttered, rolling her eyes aside.

He definitely got lost in his own reflection that he forgot everything else. Typical of Raiden.

Hana looked down at her tablet screen. She opened the live surveillance feed and her dark eyes scanned the streaming layout—the automated perimeter grids were stable, the Boars and fox laborers were safely locked in their designated parameters, and the defense drones were humming perfectly in standby mode.

Everything was still in place. So... No rush. But it didn’t mean nothing could happen in the next second.

​She closed the security feed and rubbed the lower curve of her heavy belly, letting out a sharp, quiet breath. Making a massive, multi-range trek back to the home den just to rest, only to march all the way back out here later for the feline’s bunker, was a massive waste of time. It was bad management.

​She turned her sharp, unyielding gaze away from her screen and locked it directly onto the white-haired leopard leader.

​"We can’t stay here for too long," Hana said, her voice dropping into its flat, clinical business tone. "But making a long trip back to the den right now is an unnecessary expenditure of resources. Ren—I’ll come take my reward now. Lead the way to your territory."

​Ren’s icy blue eyes widened in sudden surprise, his white furred ears snapping entirely forward as his black-striped tail gave an excited, erratic twitch.

He hadn’t expected her to change her plans so quickly. "Right now? Yes—of course! The Frost-Claw path is already cleared. I will guide you straight to it."

​Hana gave a single, curt nod toward the steps where Lord Kaelen and the six red-tailed elders stood. The High Sovereign bowed his head in respectful silence, his eleven red-tipped tails lowering in a final sign of deference to the extraordinary female who had rewritten his court’s entire political balance in a single morning.

​Without another word, Hana turned her back on the grand platforms of the Crimson Court and marched toward the outer iron gates, her mates immediately falling into their tight, protective formation around her.

​But as they passed the palace gates and hit the steep, rugged mountain trail, a wave of deep, physical exhaustion finally caught up to Hana’s lower back.

The intense internal heat of her rapid pregnancy combined with the morning’s high-stakes drama was making her legs feel incredibly heavy. She stopped on the gravel path, her brows furrowing.

​"Caspian," Hana called out flatly. "Carry me. I want to reach the leopard’s territory before my energy drops any further and I’m forced into sleep."

​"With pleasure, mine," Caspian rumbled instantly, a low, prideful purr vibrating deep in his chest.

​He stepped forward, his massive arms reaching down to lift her with absolute, weightless precision. He adjusted her gently against his broad chest, ensuring his large, warm hands provided a steady, solid shelf beneath her thighs that completely avoided putting any pressure against her prominent belly.

​Seeing the pace being set, Ren quickly turned to his vanguard. He scooped up his sister Mina into his own arms, while the heavily built snow leopard warriors seamlessly lifted the remaining thirteen liberated females onto their shoulders.

​"Keep up!" Ren barked, his icy eyes flashing with a sudden, competitive spark as he looked at Hana’s protectors. "The Frost-Claw Vanguard doesn’t loiter on the ridges!"

​With a powerful, coordinated bounding stride, the snow leopards erupted into top speed.

They dashed across the jagged rocks and steep cliffs like white blurs, deliberately showing off their tribe’s prided, apex feline velocity as they kicked up a cloud of loose gravel in their wake.

​But Caspian merely let out a mocking, gravelly scoff through his nose, the orange glow at his throat flaring into a dangerous, competitive fire as he tightened his grip on Hana.