Thorne was so exasperated he almost laughed, but his gaze softened as he looked down at Evangeline, and he swallowed his anger.

He slowly knelt, resting on one knee. He gently pressed his cheek against her lower abdomen and carefully stroked it. His voice softened considerably. "Is the cub behaving? Have they been giving you any trouble?"

He didn’t dare to dwell on what happened at the tribal trading assembly. With a bone knife having pierced her heart, it was highly likely the cub hadn’t survived.

At the time, he had thought that as long as Eva was alright, it didn’t matter if the cub was lost. They could always have another.

"They haven’t been troubling you, have they?" Thorne asked again softly. His Adam’s apple bobbed, tracing a sharp line along his throat.

Caden Albright’s gaze swept slowly past the Beast Spirit Flower on Evangeline’s forehead before settling on her lower abdomen, his eyes darkening slightly.

’A knife through the heart... the cub most likely wouldn’t have survived. Besides, if the cub were still there—no matter whose it was—she should be showing by now. But as it was...’

As for whose cub was in her womb now, the answer was perfectly clear.

Lachlan’s gaze also fell on Evangeline’s abdomen. His fingertips trembled almost imperceptibly, and a flicker of pain crossed his gray-brown eyes. He suddenly spoke, his ethereal voice a bit hoarser than usual. "Eva, you must be hungry. I’ll go make you something to eat."

With that, he quickly left the bamboo house.

Caden Albright watched Lachlan’s retreating figure, then looked away. "He’s blaming himself," he said quietly.

Thorne’s expression was sharp as he snorted. "It was his fault."

Evangeline raised a hand to gently caress Thorne’s cheek. His skin was cool to the touch, like cold jade.

She said softly, "Lachlan didn’t want this to happen. He did everything he could to protect me. I was the one who overestimated myself, grew too arrogant, and let down my guard. This incident has taught me a lesson."

Thorne’s Adam’s apple bobbed violently, his dark green eyes churning with residual fear and heartache.

Evangeline looked down with a faint smile, her pale hand resting gently on her abdomen. "There’s something I think I should tell you both."

Hearing this, Caden Albright paused. He set Bunny down from his lap, and the little one immediately darted out of the bamboo house like a happy little butterfly, fluttering off to play on the grass.

He walked over to Evangeline. His amber eyes swept gently over her abdomen as he said softly, "Go on."

Evangeline’s eyelashes fluttered, and a gentle smile graced her lips.

With a flip of her wrist, a brightly colored, rainbow-like egg appeared in her arms. The shell was soft and as thin as a cicada’s wing. A small figure could be seen squirming inside, looking as if it would hatch at any moment.

Thorne’s pupils contracted into slits. He stared at the egg in her arms, utterly shocked, his breath catching in his throat.

Caden Albright’s eyes flickered, a hint of surprise flashing within them.

After a moment, he spoke in a low voice. "This cub... is it The Everwake’s?"

Thorne also snapped out of it, his gaze shifting back and forth between the Beast Spirit Flower on Evangeline’s forehead and the rainbow-hued eggshell.

A moment later, the corner of his mouth twitched. His expression was incredibly complex, a mask of disbelief. "So, after all my hard work, I lost to a little butterfly?"

Evangeline blinked, cupping Thorne’s face in her hands. "You didn’t lose. The Everwake played a trick, remember?"

Thorne froze. He recalled The Swarm’s unorthodox mating methods, and his tense jawline relaxed slightly. But as his gaze fell upon the shimmering, iridescent egg, it still held a dangerous, dark glint.

’If this little thing hadn’t come from Eva,’ he thought, ’it would have already been corroded to nothing by my venom.’

The next moment, as if remembering something, Thorne looked toward Evangeline’s abdomen and frowned.

"So, besides The Everwake, Danton got ahead of me too?"

Dark emotions churned in Thorne’s dark green, slitted pupils. "Female master, do you remember what you promised me?"

Evangeline coughed lightly, her gaze darting toward Caden Albright.

Caden Albright let out a low chuckle, a helpless but amused expression on his handsome face.

However, seeing that Thorne was about to press her again, Caden’s heart softened. He placed a hand on Thorne’s shoulder and pushed him back gently.

The corners of his eyes tilted up in a devilish curve, his voice low and bewitching. "Thorne, Eva may have promised you, but with this sort of thing... a female’s promise isn’t what makes it happen. Ultimately, it comes down to the male’s skill."

He finished with a slight shrug, his every word a dagger to the heart. "And clearly, in that regard, The Everwake came out on top."

Hearing this, the color drained from Thorne’s face, then flooded back in a furious flush.

’He was right,’ Thorne thought. ’During her heat, I couldn’t force a female to mate only with me. Everyone had the same opportunity, and I just failed to seize it. As for Danton... who can I blame but his good luck for getting to spend so much time alone with the female master?’

’Come to think of it, out of all of them, I had a chance to be alone with Eva, too.’

’In fact, I could have been the first to claim her, the first to become a father.’

’But back then, all I could think about was sharpening my bone knife and how I was going to slit "Evangeline’s" throat.’

At the thought, Thorne’s knuckles cracked, his expression flickering between dark and stormy.

Evangeline couldn’t help but laugh, her fingertips gently tracing Thorne’s tense jawline. "Alright now, stop being angry, okay?"

She leaned close to his ear and whispered, "I promise, next time—next time, we’ll have a whole clutch of snake eggs! We won’t compete with them over who’s first. We’ll beat them with numbers! Hmm?"

At her words, Thorne’s dark green, slitted pupils suddenly brightened.

Caden Albright chuckled, giving Thorne a slow, deliberate glance. "Eva, a promise like that..."

As he spoke, his amber eyes lingered meaningfully on the rainbow-hued eggshell in Evangeline’s arms.

’The Swarm is famous for being prolific,’ he thought. ’Even The Everwake only produced one cub. What makes Thorne think he can win with numbers?’

Sure enough, the light in Thorne’s eyes instantly dimmed.

A vein throbbed in Evangeline’s temple. She shot Caden Albright an exasperated look. ’This fox really has a venomous tongue.’

Caden Albright’s lips curved into a smile. He leaned down and kissed her between the eyebrows. "The truth can be harsh."

Evangeline stroked Thorne’s lips. "My Thorne will have the most cubs, I’m sure of it."

Thorne’s Adam’s apple bobbed. He suddenly cupped the back of Evangeline’s neck, his long, curled lashes brushing against her eyes as he kissed her crimson lips. When they parted, he shot a defiant look at Caden Albright. "That’s right!"

Caden Albright raised an eyebrow, shrugged nonchalantly, and said, "Eva, do you want to go check on Loras? We may not have come out on top, but he took quite a beating. Don’t you think he might be hiding somewhere crying?"

Evangeline blinked. ’Now that I think about it, that’s entirely possible.’

She nodded, put away the rainbow egg, and stood to leave.

The moment Evangeline was gone, Thorne sneered and shot Caden Albright a sideways glance. "What, you don’t want to work with me anymore? Planning to team up with that coward instead?"

Caden Albright shook his head. Sunlight filtered through the gaps in the window lattice, casting dappled light across his striking face.

"Eva is trying to make up for the past. You, me, Loras—we’re all important to her."

"I don’t know why, but given Eva’s abilities, there’s probably something in all this that’s vital to her. Since we’re her Beast Husbands, we should be helping her, not bickering out of jealousy at a time like this."

"Loras needs some reassurance."