​Hana’s hand twitched against the side of her dress, her fingers dangerously close to her stun gun.

​Losing half a million points would instantly throw her right back into a catastrophic, life-threatening deficit when there was only 14 days left, wiping out every single bit of progress she had just earned at the Crimson Court.

There was no way to know if a reward like this could come again in the remaining 14 days.

And the physiological penalty? She was fifteen days pregnant. The absolute last thing her body could tolerate was twenty-four hours of explosive, agonizing gastrointestinal distress while trying to manage a mountain extraction.

​The math was undeniable. The fifty thousand point reward would launch her straight out of her forty-two thousand, eight hundred and eighty point debt and leave her with a positive balance.

It was a perfect, lucrative shortcut to get back into the green. It was just a highly annoying asset to acquire.

​"Is everything alright, Hana?" Ren asked, completely oblivious to the digital execution order hovering over his head.

He stepped half an inch closer, his white-furred ears twitching with an innocent, eager enthusiasm that only made Hana’s stomach twist further as she glared at him, making him anxious.

"You look... a bit terrifying right now." He stuttered, unsure if he had already done something to upset her.

​From her side, Caspian’s golden eyes slit into dangerous needles, his massive chest expanding as he caught the sudden spike of irritation in her scent.

"Hana? Did the cat offend you? Give the word. I’ll snap his spine before the chief can lift his cane."

​"No," Hana gritted out through her teeth, her voice dropping into a freezing, razor-thin register as she forced her face back into a rigid mask.

She had no choice but to accept the quest before the system could initiate the penalty countdown.

​She took a slow, deep breath, adjusting her tactical harness over her chest before looking up at the heavy, damaged alloy structure of the bunker ahead.

​"The cat didn’t do anything... yet," Hana muttered flatly, her dark eyes locking onto Ren with a cold, predatory focus that made his black-striped tail stiffen in sudden, nervous confusion. "Let’s go inside. I need to look at this breach, and then I have some discussion to carry out with you, Ren." She side eyed him as she turned around. "Be prepared."

Ren gulped. He did not know what it was but he was looking forward to it so much that his heart wouldn’t stop racing.

"Yes,"

Hana put away her tablet in her inventory, now able to walk around without that load, and walked towards the entrance of the bunker.

The snow leopard tribesmen trailed at a respectful distance, whispering anxiously among themselves. Some were highly skeptical, wondering if this hairless human female was just trying to show off to their Alpha, while others watched in hushed awe, waiting to see if she could truly break the centuries of silence binding the ancient shrine.

​As Hana approached the entrance of the bunker, the invisible blue system screen flickered tightly within her neural field of vision, projecting a sequence of automated diagnostics.

> ​[BIOMETRIC RECOGNITION TERMINAL DETECTED]

> Current Status: OFFLINE.

> System Log: Primary subterranean power grid for this sector is completely depleted. The terminal requires an immediate energy surge to reboot.

​Hana’s eyes narrowed into dark, icy slits as she stared at the dead glass pane of the scanner.

​> [MAINFRAME RECOMMENDATION]

> Host may purchase a [Portable Micro-Fusion Battery Pack] from the system Store to instantly power up the terminal grid.

> Item Cost: 5,000 Karmic Points.

> System Warning: Host is currently operating at a negative balance (-42,880). Financial liquidity is frozen until account balance returns to positive status.

​A sharp, internal curse echoed in Hana’s mind. The system had locked her down into an absolute corner.

She couldn’t spend points to force the doors open with technology because her account was in the red. The only available path to open the bunker was to clear her debt. In other words, she was to execute the bond quest right away.

​She had to let the cat mark her. She had to take him into her household right now, or the entire operation would stall out.

​Unbelievable, Hana thought, her jaw tightening with raw irritation. The system’s timing was flawless. It had engineered the perfect situation to force her compliance.

​She walked away from the entrance and then stopped right at the mouth of the breach, looking down at the dark, frozen wires inside before slowly turning back around to face the clearing.

Her deadpan expression remained entirely unreadable, but her voice carried a distinct, clinical exhaustion as she addressed the waiting crowd.

​"I’m tired," Hana announced flatly, her eyes sweeping over the anxious tribesmen. "My energy is running low, and I don’t feel like dealing with an ancient, dead machine on an empty stomach today. I’ll rest first. Tomorrow morning, I’ll open the doors."

Ren’s face lit up, a brilliant, blinding smile splitting across his handsome features. The fact that she planned to stay the night was such great news.

"Of course! You’ve traveled so far and done so much for us today. Chief, let’s prepare our best guest hut and a feast for our saviors!"

​The old chief nodded in deep agreement, gesturing for the tribespeople to clear a path. "The Frost-Claw hospitality is yours, Hana. Our warriors will guard your resting quarters with their lives."

​Hana didn’t answer. She didn’t need their warriors to guard her but she couldn’t say that because her mind was elsewhere.

Her mind was already working through what needed to happen before tomorrow morning. First, she needed to get a good meal into her system to keep her strength up for the baby.

Then, she would have to pull Ren aside for a private conversation, telling him straight up that he was leaving his tribe to come back to New Eden with her. It wasn’t going to be an easy thing to ask, considering he was the Alpha and the strongest warrior this tribe had to depend on, but she needed him to clear this quest.

​But even before dealing with the leopard, she had a more immediate problem. She looked over at her three mates.

Caspian, Kulu, and Raiden were still standing in a tight, protective circle, their faces dark and thoroughly venomous as they watched Ren hustle around like a joyful, devoted servant.

​She needed to speak with them immediately. If she didn’t lay the groundwork now and explain the situation, they would think Ren had somehow seduced her, and they would absolutely rip him to shreds the moment they caught his scent on her skin tomorrow.

​"Caspian, Kulu, Raiden," Hana murmured, her voice dropping into a low, private whisper meant only for them. "Once we get to the hut, we need to talk."

​Ren gulped nervously from a distance, sensing the sudden, suffocating wall of pressure radiating from the three apex beastmen, but his heart wouldn’t stop racing with anticipation.

Whatever discussion Hana had in store for him, he was ready to face it.