Run, Girl (If You Can) - Chapter 54 - This Was Where Their Paths Diverged

Elia is a poor university student until the night she’s taken to the world of the Anima—ruled by humans whose ancient hearts pulse with the blood of animals. There she’s forced into a battle to the death. But when Elia survives, and refuses to kill her final opponent, the King must either kill Elia himself, or take her as his mate.

Reth, the brutal King of the Beasts with the blood of lions, shocks everyone when he chooses the weak, human Elia to become his Queen. He promises her every comfort of his wealth and position—but he is clear: She will not warm his bed. He chose her to defeat those that were trying to corner him into blending his Leonine line with the Wolves.

Elia needs the help of the Anima to become stronger and rule them well. But the vengeful Wolves see only a weak human that brought them shame. As Elia and Reth grow closer, the wolves are determined to destroy her. Will Reth and Elia admit their feelings for each in time to fight for the Kingdom—and their lives—against the villainous wolf-tribe? Or will the wolves kill Elia and steal the throne?

[Mature content - no sexual violence]

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He stalked towards her, chin low so the shadow cast by his hard jaw cut across the thick fur collar of his vest. His hair had fallen over his eyes in the scuffle, so he peered at her through it like a lion in the grass. With each step, his graceful, rolling gait reminded her of a predator stalking its prey. Despite the forest floor littered in twigs and leaves, he didn’t make a sound.

“Wh-who are you?” Elia stammered, backing away, her hands up. He met her step for step until she came up hard against the tree behind her—and didn’t stop until he loomed over her, so broad his shoulders and chest made a wall in front of her. She could feel the heat rising off his skin in the cool, night air.

“I am the Leonine King.” His voice was a dark, husky gravel. Behind him a chorus of wheezes, howls, and chirps of agreement rose from the people watching. “And you are?”

“Elia,” she breathed.

“Elia,” he growled, leaning in closer, bringing with him the scent of pine and rain and the musk of something distinctly male. “I am Reth.” He said the name with a strange, guttural roll in his throat. “I am King of Beasts. I am Clan Leader, and I am Alpha of WildWood.” Several snarls rose from the crowds behind him then, but he ignored them.

Elia swallowed as he leaned in until the scruff on his jaw rasped her cheek. “I am the King,” he said, “And you will be my mate.”

The forest behind him erupted.

“The Fang family had two daughters. Their youngest daughter, Fang Yan, was known for her beauty. Rumor had it that she was indescribably beautiful. However, the eldest daughter of the Fang family, Fang Liu, had a low IQ since she was young and only started to speak when she was eight years old. Her parents regarded her as a burden while the outside world treated her as a laughing stock.

However, no one knew that Fang Liu was an ultimate prodigy whose intelligence merely developed late. Afterward, Fang Liu got pregnant for no reason. Four months into her pregnancy, her parents forced her to marry the richest man in South City, the Mo family. Rumors had it that her husband was an old man who had been paralyzed in bed since the age of seven. Unexpectedly, when Fang Liu married into the Mo family, she found out that not only was her husband not an old man, he was also extremely handsome.

He was the Young Master of the Mo family that everyone admired—Mo Yu! Moreover, Fang Liu’s child was not even Mo Yu’s, but Young Master Mo did not seem to mind? Mo Yu even declared in front of everyone, “”Although the child isn’t mine, the wife is mine!”” Everyone else, “”Young Master Mo is too honest!”” After Fang Liu got married, Young Master Mo doted on her so much that even she was moved. She had found a great stepfather for her child! A few months later, Fang Liu looked at her newborn’s face and it nearly felt like she was looking at a miniature version of Mo Yu. Fang Liu, “”Didn’t you claim that the child isn’t yours?”” Mo Yu shrugged. “”I was just spouting nonsense.”” It turned out that there was no such thing as the right person at the right time at the right place. It was all premeditated. “”It’s because I love you that I’ve tried everything I can; I endured all the criticism for my only wish is to have you as mine.

In my former life, I dedicated most of my adult life to achieving my goal of exploring the stars. Unfortunately, due to circumstances outside my control, my life abruptly ended leaving my dream unfulfilled. Thanks to the intervention of the Big Guy Upstairs, I was given a chance to achieve my dream though the one who reincarnated me screwed me over. Unlike the futuristic type of world I wanted to start in, I ended up being born in a medieval, magical world as the third son of a regional baron. All I can do now is Dungeon Crawl for ancient technology in the hopes that I find a ship or technology to get me off this damn world!

Toradora!’s story begins with the male protagonist Ryuji Takasu who is frustrated at trying to look his best as he enters his second year of high school. Despite his gentle personality, his eyes make him look like an intimidating delinquent so he is utterly hopeless about his chances of getting a girlfriend anytime soon, and does not have many close friends either. After being greeted by his hungover mother in the morning, Ryuji goes to school and is happy to find that he gets to be in the same class as his best friend Yusaku Kitamura and crush Minori Kushieda. However, it is then that he unexpectedly knocks into “the school’s most dangerous animal of the highest risk level” — Taiga Aisaka — who just happens to also be in his class, and is a good friend of Minori.

Taiga has a negative attitude towards others and will not hesitate to snap at people. After meeting Ryuji, she takes an instant dislike of him. Taiga comes from a rich family, though she moved out to live on her own due to family issues, and by coincidence is now living in an apartment next door to Ryuji. After Ryuji discovers that Taiga has a crush on Yusaku, and Taiga finds out about Ryuji’s affections towards Minori, Ryuji suggests that they cooperate so they can win the object of their affections. Ryuji says he will do anything to get closer to Minori, which Taiga exploits, making Ryuji her personal servant, and getting him to do household chores like cooking and cleaning for her. Taiga spends a lot of her time over at his house, so much so that she could almost be considered a member of his family. Since Ryuji spends a lot of time with Taiga, he is opened up to her world and to a side of her that most people do not see. The two also attempt to help each other in order to improve how people view them. Unknown to them, however, people they know from school start to become curious about their strange relationship together and rumors begin to spread about them.