Caden Albright, Thorne, and Lachlan burst through the door. Inside the bamboo house, the sweet, cloying scent of a female had intensified severalfold.

Evangeline was sunk deep in the bedding, her red gauze robes in disarray. An unnatural flush colored her jade-like skin, the scarlet hue spreading from her collarbones to her ankles. A gasp escaped her throat, and fine beads of cold sweat dotted her forehead.

"Eva!"

Thorne, ever the most impetuous, saw something was wrong with Evangeline and darted forward to carry her away. But Nix’s arm barred his path, his violet eyes filled with iciness.

"Get out of my way!" Thorne’s fangs flashed, and hostility surged in his dark green eyes. "Her heat can kill her! If you can’t suppress her urges, then let someone else do it!"

"Thorne! Calm down! Don’t be impulsive!" Caden Albright stepped forward, reaching out to touch Evangeline’s flushed cheek.

"Calm down?!" Thorne’s eyes turned scarlet, his knuckles cracking as he clenched his fists. The words were practically squeezed from between his teeth. "Eva, she..." The rest caught in his throat, and the hostility in his expression only deepened.

Caden Albright turned to Nix, his gaze somber and his voice extremely low. "Nix, what happened to Eva?"

His long fingers tightened slightly as he spoke in a deep voice. "We are all her Beast Husbands, which means we’re not enemies. Tell us exactly what’s wrong with Eva. Don’t cause her harm by hiding the truth!"

Nix’s violet eyes hardened. Just as he was about to speak, Evangeline’s voice suddenly came from the bed.

"Cold water! Get me cold water!"

She pushed herself up, her knuckles turning white. Her voice was laced with ice, yet it held a barely suppressed tremor.

Lachlan’s normally cool and aloof expression was now tightly furrowed. Upon hearing Evangeline’s words, he said at once, "I’ll go!"

Before the words had even left his mouth, he was already striding swiftly out of the bamboo house.

Thorne’s knuckles went white from the force of his grip. "Eva!"

His voice was hoarse, anxiety churning in his dark green eyes. "What in the world is wrong with you? The heat... mating is supposed to relieve it, so why are you forcing yourself to endure this?"

Thorne suddenly reached out and seized her scorching wrist, only to freeze on contact, as if afraid he would hurt her. He snatched his hand back, his voice trembling with distress. "Are you trying to worry me to death?"

Evangeline’s damp lashes fluttered, and a suppressed gasp escaped her lips, but her voice was astonishingly cold.

"It’s an accessory gland from the Swarm."

The moment she finished speaking, a deathly silence fell over the bamboo house.

Thorne’s pupils constricted, and a terrifying, murderous aura erupted from him. "The! Ever! Wake!"

He practically spat the name from between his teeth, his eyes a sea of torrential fury. When he looked at Evangeline, his voice was on the verge of collapse. "He knew you were in your heat, and he still dared... He’s trying to kill you!"

Caden Albright’s brow was furrowed, his expression grave. "This isn’t the time to be assigning blame."

He paused briefly, his gaze shifting to the others. "All right, the Swarm’s accessory gland should fall off in two or three days. She’ll be fine after that. Right now, the most important thing is helping Eva alleviate the burning pain of her heat."

The Swarm’s accessory gland was a special organ. It was formed from a white, waxy substance secreted by the male during mating. Its primary function was to act as a "lock," preventing other males from mating with the female.

It was a unique mate-guarding strategy that had evolved as part of the Swarm’s reproductive cycle.

"The water is ready," Lachlan said, returning with a wooden tub, the water inside sloshing.

Caden Albright’s arms tightened as he scooped Evangeline up.

He stared at the cold water in the tub, his jaw tight. His Adam’s apple bobbed, and his expression was filled with anguish for her. But sensing the unnatural heat radiating from her body, he slowly lowered her into the water.

Evangeline shuddered, her brow knitting together. Droplets of water slid down the flushed column of her neck, soaking her sweat-dampened collarbones. Her fingers dug into the edge of the wooden tub, her knuckles turning white.

The next moment, she formed a seal with her fingers. A cold light flashed, and the water in the tub instantly froze solid.

A bone-chilling cold washed over her, making her whole body tremble. A nearly inaudible hiss escaped her lips as fine ice crystals crept up her strands of hair, branding her skin with frost.

"Damn that Everwake!" Thorne’s heart ached unbearably. He gritted his teeth, his eyes filled with murderous intent. 𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

Watching Evangeline tremble from the cold, his chest heaved violently, and the scent of blood seemed to tinge his very breath. He wished he could march out right now and snap The Everwake’s neck.

Nix’s violet eyes were filled with a sinister cold as he said coolly, "You won’t have to."

「The next two days were an ordeal for Evangeline, with each day feeling like a year.」

She had never suffered like this. Relief was within sight but just out of reach. All the while, she had to endure the torment of her heat. The burning sensation was like a maggot boring into her very bones, gnawing away at her sanity. Every moment seemed to stretch into infinity.

One moment she would be curled up and shivering in the ice water; the next, she would be biting her lip, unable to bear the pain.

The alternating extremes of ice and fire tormented her until her consciousness grew dim.

By the time Nix bent down to lift her from the icy water, Caden Albright and the other two had already silently withdrawn from the bamboo house.

Evangeline’s damp lashes brushed against Nix’s collarbone, and the tip of her tongue unconsciously darted out to lick his prominent Adam’s apple.

Nix’s steps faltered.

He lowered his gaze to her paper-white face, where a trace of blood still clung wetly to her lips.

Nix’s Adam’s apple bobbed violently, and a sudden, sharp pain lanced through his chest.

He suddenly lowered his head, pressing his lips to hers. Their lashes brushed, weaving an intimate shadow. Slowly, his tongue traced over her broken lip, inch by inch, drawing the taste of blood into his own mouth.

Nix’s movements were careful, almost reverent, as if he meant to devour her pain as well.

Evangeline’s long lashes fluttered, the corners of her eyes tinged with red. As she gazed up at him, her seductive voice was raspy. "You weren’t like this before. Can you stand it... without blood?"

Nix gently placed her on the bed, his long fingers parting her soaked, red gauze robes.

As he leaned over her, his violet eyes were as cold and dead as The Abyss, but they wavered slightly upon meeting her gaze. His voice was deep and husky. "Now... I’m the one who’s afraid of blood."

「On this day, a joyous event occurred in the bamboo house.」

The Star Pattern on Evangeline’s forehead once again bloomed into a Beast Spirit Flower, shimmering with magnificent splendor in the morning light.

This meant she was going to be a mother again. Only, the father of the new cub was...