Beast World: They Hated Me, Then I Cooked Them Dinner

Terra's eyes snapped open, but she could not drag a single breath of air into her lungs. A crushing, icy pressure locked around her throat. Her hands instantly flew up, her fingers desperately clawing at the thing strangling her. It was not a human hand. Under her frantic nails, she felt thick, overlapping scales. They were smooth, freezing cold, and hard as titanium armor.

"Give me one reason," a voice hissed. The sound vibrated right next to Terra's ear. It was a deep, gravelly male voice, heavy with a lethal, suffocating hatred.

Terra's vision blurred. Black spots danced at the edges of her sight. Through the dim, flickering neon light of the cramped room, she saw him. A man. No, not entirely a man. He had broad, muscular human shoulders, pale skin that looked like it had not seen the sun in years, and sharp, violently handsome facial features. But his lower half was a massive, coiled serpent tail, covered in pitch-black scales that shimmered with a sickly green iridescence.

Zev Kagan. The name exploded in Terra's mind, followed instantly by a massive, agonizing flood of memories that did not belong to her. Her head pounded as if someone had slammed a hammer into her skull. The pain made her stomach churn.

Terra realized she was not in her cheap, cramped studio apartment on Earth anymore. She was Terra Mason. But not the Terra Mason she knew. She had transmigrated into the body of the most notorious, despised socialite in this dystopian corporate enclave.

In this world, females were incredibly rare. They were the absolute top of the social hierarchy. The air and water here were saturated with volatile energy. Males, who possessed heavy combat bio-forms-like the massive serpent currently choking the life out of Terra-absorbed that chaotic energy to fight and survive. Their bodies, however, could not process it alone. They needed the unique, stable biological frequency of a female to act as a catalyst. Without a female's touch, without her energy, male bio-forms would eventually suffer a mental breakdown, which they called the frenzy. They would turn into mindless, rabid beasts.

Because of this biological absolute, females held all the power. And the original owner of this body had abused that power to an extreme, sickening degree. She had used her wealth and status as the CEO's daughter to forcefully kidnap high-level, high-potential males from the lower sectors. She had locked them in coercive bio-contracts. A bio-contract was not a piece of paper. It was a one-way life bind, stamped directly into the male's energy core, anchored to the female's life force.

Terra gagged. Her lungs burned like they were filled with acid. Zev's pupils were not human. They were vertical, golden slits, narrowed into slivers of pure, unadulterated murder. He was one of her victims. The original Terra had drugged him, dragged him to this filthy safehouse outside the inner enclave, and forced the contract on him. Zev was going to kill Terra. Right now.

"You ruined my life," Zev whispered. His breath smelled like ozone and cold rage. The thick coils of his tail tightened around Terra's legs, pinning her completely to the rusted metal bedframe. "I should snap your neck right here."

Terra's heart hammered so hard against her ribs she thought her chest would crack open. She needed to speak. She needed to breathe. Terra kicked her legs, but kicking a massive serpent tail was like kicking a concrete wall. Her toes went numb. Terra forced her hands up, grabbing Zev's wrists. His skin was freezing. She dug her nails into his flesh, trying to find a gap in the scales covering his forearms.

"Con... tract..." Terra choked out. The word tore her vocal cords. It tasted like blood.

Zev's golden eyes flickered. His grip loosened by a fraction of a millimeter. Just enough for a tiny sliver of oxygen to hit Terra's burning lungs. Terra coughed violently, her chest heaving. Sweat dripped down her forehead, stinging her eyes.

"If you kill me..." Terra wheezed, her voice sounding like broken glass. She stared directly into Zev's terrifying, inhuman eyes. "The bio-contract... kills you."

It was the absolute law of this world. The Beast Mark-the bio-contract. Because it was anchored to the female's life force, if the female died, the energy feedback loop would instantly detonate the bio-cores of every male contracted to her. If Zev crushed Terra's throat, his own heart would explode three seconds later.

Zev's jaw clenched so hard Terra heard his teeth grind together. The muscles in his neck strained. Zev knew it. Of course, he knew it. That was the only reason Terra's head was still attached to her body.

"I don't care," Zev said. His voice was flat, devoid of any hope. "Dying is better than being a corporate slave to a sadistic bitch like you."

Zev shifted his weight. His massive tail slid against the metal bedframe, making a horrific scraping sound. The pressure around Terra's throat began to increase again. He was serious. Zev was actually going to drag them both to hell.

Panic, cold and sharp, spiked through Terra's veins. "Wait!" Terra rasped. She slammed her palms flat against Zev's chest. His muscles were rock hard. "I'll let you go!"

Zev froze. The room went completely silent. The only sound was Terra's rapid, shallow breathing and the low, mechanical hum of the neon light outside the dirty window.

"What did you say?" Zev asked. His voice dropped an octave, dripping with deep, toxic suspicion.

"I said... I will void the contract," Terra forced the words out, her throat throbbing with every syllable. "I will break the bio-bind. You walk away. Free."

Zev stared at Terra. His golden slits scanned her face, searching for the lie. The original Terra Mason would never let a high-value asset go. She viewed males as property. Toys to be broken.

"You're lying," Zev stated. His grip on Terra's neck did not loosen.

"I'm not," Terra gasped. She squeezed her eyes shut against the pain, then opened them again, maintaining direct eye contact. "I'll do it. Just... let me breathe."

Before Zev could respond, a massive crash shook the safehouse. The heavy metal door of the room dented inward. Someone was trying to break it down.

"Open the door, Mason!" a muffled, aggressive voice shouted from the hallway. "The Enclave Board has issued the decree! Your assets are being seized, and your citizenship is revoked!"

Terra's stomach dropped. The original Terra's crimes had caught up to her. Her father, the CEO, had been ousted in a corporate coup yesterday. Without his protection, her political enemies had immediately moved in to crush her. They were here to exile Terra. In this world, being exiled from the corporate enclave meant being thrown into the wasteland. The wasteland was filled with high-level mutated beasts and toxic energy storms. For a frail female without a military escort, exile was an instant, brutal death sentence.

Zev's lips curled into a slow, cruel sneer. The golden slits of his eyes widened with cold satisfaction. "Looks like your little empire just burned down, princess," Zev whispered.

He suddenly released Terra's throat. Terra collapsed onto the thin mattress, gasping desperately for air. Her lungs expanded violently, pulling in the stale, metallic air of the room. She grabbed her throat, feeling the deep, bruised indentations Zev's fingers had left behind.

"Get up," Zev commanded. His serpent tail shifted, smoothly transforming. Terra watched in shock as the heavy black scales retracted into his skin. The massive tail split, reforming into two long, muscular human legs. Zev stood over Terra, fully human now, towering and imposing.

"You wanted to void the contract?" Zev crossed his arms over his chest. He looked at the dented door, then back down at Terra. "Do it now. Then you can go out there and face them alone."

Terra's throat felt like it was packed with crushed glass. Every breath she took scraped against her windpipe. She stayed on the mattress, her knees pulled tightly to her chest. Her fingers traced the raised, angry bruises Zev had just painted onto her neck.

"I can't void it right now," Terra said. Her voice was a hoarse, ugly croak.

Zev's expression did not change, but the temperature in the room seemed to drop ten degrees. His eyes, completely human in shape now but still glowing with a faint, unnatural gold, locked onto hers.

"You lied," Zev stated. It wasn't a question. Zev took a slow, deliberate step toward the bed.

"I didn't lie!" Terra forced the words out faster, her hands pressing flat against the dirty mattress to push herself backward. "I will void it. I swear. But if I break the bond now, I die."

"That sounds like a personal problem," Zev said, his voice completely devoid of empathy.

Zev was right. It was Terra's problem. But she needed it to be his problem, or she was not going to survive the next ten minutes.

The heavy metal door groaned. Another massive impact hit it from the outside. The reinforced hinges shrieked in protest. Dust fell from the ceiling.

"They are going to exile me," Terra said, pointing a shaking finger at the door. "If they throw me into the wasteland without an escort, a mutant beast will rip my head off before nightfall."

"I know," Zev replied. He leaned against the concrete wall, crossing his arms. Zev looked entirely too relaxed for a man standing in a room about to be breached. "I plan to watch from the wall."

"If I die out there, the contract detonates your core anyway!" Terra yelled, her voice cracking at the end.

Zev narrowed his eyes. "If they exile you, they will forcefully sever the contracts before you leave the gates. The Enclave doesn't waste high-level military assets. They will reassign me to a new female."

Zev had an answer for everything. He had been calculating Terra's death for weeks.

Terra had to find leverage. Fast. She dug through the chaotic, fragmented memories of the original Terra Mason. What did she have? Nothing. Her father was ousted. Her bank accounts were frozen. Her reputation was garbage. But Terra wasn't the original Terra. She was a survivor from a totally different world.

What was the most valuable resource in this dystopian hellscape, aside from a female's bio-energy? Food. Specifically, untainted food. The memories supplied the data instantly. The ambient energy of this world mutated everything. The plants, the animals, the soil. Males hunted magic beasts-mutants-to harvest their energy cores, but eating the mutant meat was dangerous. It was packed with chaotic radiation. It tasted like battery acid and caused severe internal organ degradation over time. The only safe food was highly processed synthetic nutrient paste. It was expensive, it tasted like chalk, and it provided zero psychological comfort. Real, safe, untainted biological food was an extreme luxury. Only the highest echelon of the Board could afford genetically purified vegetables and lab-grown clean meat.

"I know how to cook untainted food," Terra blurted out.

Zev paused. His right eyebrow twitched upward, just a fraction of an inch.

"You're desperate," Zev said, his tone dripping with disgust. "You don't even know how to boil water. I've watched your servants feed you."

"I know how to neutralize the chaotic energy in mutant meat," Terra insisted, forcing her gaze to remain steady. She did not actually know the science behind it yet, but she knew her transmigration had to come with some sort of advantage. It always did. She just needed time to figure it out. "I can extract the toxins. I can make it safe. Real meat. Hot meals. Not that chemical sludge you get in tubes."

Zev stared at Terra. For a second, the image of a hot, heavily seasoned, perfectly cooked steak flashed in Terra's mind, and she saw his throat swallow hard. These males lived on the edge of biological frenzy every single day. Their bodies burned thousands of calories in combat. They craved real sustenance with a desperate, animalistic hunger.

"If you let them take me, you go back to the military barracks," Terra pressed her advantage, speaking rapidly. "You'll get reassigned to another rich socialite who will treat you like a guard dog. You'll eat nutrient paste for the rest of your life. But if you back me up right now-if you get us out of this-I will cook for you. Real food. And when I am safe, I will legally void the contract."

Zev pushed himself off the wall. He walked toward Terra until the tips of his heavy combat boots touched the edge of the mattress. Zev leaned down. He was so close Terra could feel the heat radiating from his skin. The faint smell of ozone and rain surrounded him.

"If you are lying about the food," Zev whispered, his voice low and dangerous, "I won't wait for the contract to kill me. I will tear your throat out with my teeth."

Before Terra could nod, the metal door finally gave way. With a deafening crash, the door ripped off its hinges and slammed onto the concrete floor. Three Enclave Enforcers stormed into the room. They wore heavy, matte-black tactical armor. Their visors were pulled down, hiding their faces.

"Terra Mason," the lead Enforcer barked. He raised a heavy energy rifle and pointed it directly at Terra's chest. "By order of the Enclave Board, your citizenship is revoked. Stand up and submit to contract severance."

Terra's heart stopped. She looked up at Zev. Zev did not move away from Terra. Instead, he slowly turned his head to look at the Enforcers. Zev stepped directly in front of the bed, placing his large body between Terra and the rifle.

"Lower the weapon," Zev said. His voice was no longer the hateful hiss he used with Terra. It was the cold, authoritative bark of a high-level military asset.

The Enforcer hesitated. He recognized Zev. A Level 6 combat male was not someone a low-level guard wanted to provoke.

"Kagan," the Enforcer said, his tone slightly more cautious. "Step aside. She's being exiled. We need to sever your bind."

"My bind is stable," Zev lied smoothly, not breaking eye contact with the guard. "My female has not committed any crime that warrants immediate seizure of military assets. Her father's corporate failures do not invalidate our private bio-contract."

"The Board issued the order!" the Enforcer argued, taking a step forward.

Suddenly, Zev's right arm shifted. In a fraction of a second, his human arm dissolved and reformed into a massive, thick serpent tail covered in razor-sharp black scales. He slammed the tail onto the concrete floor. The impact cracked the floorboards. The entire room shook.

"I said," Zev growled, his golden eyes flashing violently in the dim light. "Lower the weapon."

The Enforcer flinched, instinctively taking a half-step back. The heavy energy rifle in his hands wavered. The sheer physical presence of a Level 6 male dropping a partial bio-form transformation in a confined space was suffocating. The air pressure in the room literally changed. Terra's ears popped.

"This is a direct violation of Board protocol, Kagan," the lead Enforcer warned. His voice sounded tight, leaking fear through the external speaker of his helmet. "If you protect her, you forfeit your military rank."

"My rank is tied to my combat output, not corporate politics," Zev replied coldly. His massive, scaled arm remained resting against the cracked concrete floor, a clear, lethal threat. "The law clearly states a female cannot be exiled without a full tribunal if she has active, high-level contracts. Go back and tell the Board to schedule a hearing."

Zev was using the legal loopholes of this dystopian society. Because females were the ultimate resource, the laws surrounding their "ownership" of males were incredibly complex and heavily weighted in their favor. The Enforcers looked at each other. They were grunts, sent to do the dirty work quickly before the public caught on. They were not equipped to handle a tribunal or a violent confrontation with a Level 6 serpent beast.

"Fine," the lead Enforcer spat. He lowered his rifle. "But her bank accounts are zeroed. Her property is seized. You're living in the slums now, princess. Let's see how long you last without Daddy's credits."

The Enforcer gestured aggressively to his men. They turned and marched out, the heavy thud of their boots echoing down the filthy hallway. The moment they were out of sight, Zev's scaled arm shifted back into smooth, pale human flesh. Zev didn't look at Terra. He just stared at the empty doorway.

"They're gone," Terra whispered, the adrenaline slowly leaving her system, leaving her shaking and weak.

Zev turned his head. His golden eyes locked onto Terra's face. The brief moment of protective energy vanished, replaced instantly by his signature, terrifying coldness. "Get up," Zev ordered.

Terra pushed herself off the mattress. Her legs felt like jelly. She stumbled slightly, catching herself on the rusted bedpost. As Terra stood up, she caught a glimpse of herself in a cracked, filthy mirror leaning against the far wall. She gasped. The original Terra Mason had completely ruined this body. Her hair was dyed a toxic, neon pink, slicked back with cheap gels. Her face was heavily caked with thick, waterproof synthetic makeup-a stark white foundation with harsh, black lines drawn aggressively around her eyes. She looked like a deranged clown.

Worse than the aesthetic disaster was the physical feeling. Terra's skin felt suffocated. Her pores were screaming under the heavy chemical paste. Her stomach cramped, a dull, throbbing pain radiating through her abdomen. This body was severely malnourished. The original Terra had likely survived on expensive recreational stimulants and diet pills to maintain an unnaturally thin figure. She was weak. Pathologically weak.

Terra rubbed her forehead, her fingers coming away coated in greasy white makeup. "I need to wash this off," Terra muttered, mostly to herself. "I need to detox."

Zev let out a short, harsh breath through his nose. It was a sound of pure disdain. "There is no running water in this sector," Zev informed Terra. "The pipes were shut off when your father's company lost the grid contract. If you want water, you go to the filtration river at the edge of the slums."

Terra looked at Zev. He was not going to help her. He had fulfilled his part of their desperate bargain-he had stopped the Enforcers. Now, he was waiting for her to fulfill hers. He was waiting for the food. And he was waiting for his freedom.

"Take me to the river," Terra said, trying to keep her voice steady. "I can't walk through the slums looking like this. I'm a walking target."

"You are a target," Zev corrected coldly. "But you have my mark on you. The low-level thugs won't touch you. They can smell a Level 6 contract."

Zev was right. As Terra focused, she felt a strange, heavy warmth sitting right below her collarbone. It felt like a small, burning ember buried under her skin. That was his Beast Mark. His life bound to hers.

"I'm not voiding the contract today," Terra stated clearly.

Zev's jaw tightened. His hands balled into massive fists at his sides. Terra saw the veins bulge in his forearms. "You promised," Zev took a step toward Terra, his voice dropping to a dangerous growl.

"I promised I would void it," Terra held her ground, forcing herself not to back away. "And I will. But if I break it right now, I have zero protection. You just heard them. I have no money. No home. I need time to stabilize. A few days. Just give me a few days."

Zev stared at Terra. He was calculating the odds. If he killed Terra now, he died. If he waited, he might get his freedom.

"Three days," Zev said. The words cut through the air like a knife. "You have three days to cook this miracle food. You have three days to figure out your survival. After that, you sever the bond, or I will drag you to the Enclave borders myself and throw you into the wasteland."

Zev turned his back on Terra and walked out the broken doorway. "Follow me to the river," he tossed the words over his shoulder without looking back. "Keep up. I won't wait if you fall."

Terra took a deep breath, fighting down the nausea in her stomach, and followed Zev out into the dystopian nightmare.