Mated To The Clan's Rejected Beast

Carin's eyes snapped open. The blinding light from the twin suns hit her retinas like a physical blow, forcing her to squint against the glare. Her chest felt like it was packed with broken glass. Every breath she took was a shallow, ragged gasp, and the sharp, stabbing pain told her at least two ribs were fractured.

She tried to push herself up, but her palm slipped on a thick, viscous puddle of green plant juice. The slimy texture made her stomach heave, and she collapsed back onto the muddy ground. Around her, the wreckage of her escape pod was nothing more than twisted, smoldering metal, half-swallowed by towering purple ferns that swayed in the dry, hot wind.

This wasn't Earth. This wasn't even a planet on any star chart she had ever seen.

Heavy footsteps crunched through the undergrowth, getting closer. Two figures loomed over her, their forms a terrifying blend of human and beast. They had the heads of wolves, with matted fur and yellow eyes that looked down at her with open disgust.

One of them reached down, his clawed hand grabbing the collar of her tattered spacesuit. He didn't ask if she was hurt. He didn't check for a pulse. He just yanked, the fabric tearing away from her shoulders and leaving her exposed in only a thin undershirt.

"Get up," he growled, his voice a low rumble in his throat.

Before Carin could even find her footing, the second guard shoved her hard from behind. She stumbled forward, her weak legs unable to keep her balance, and fell face-first into a line of other dazed and dirty beings. They were penned in by rough-hewn wooden stakes, a makeshift holding pen for the clan's lowest caste.

Carin didn't hesitate. She scrambled on her hands and knees, ignoring the flare of pain in her ribs. She scooped up a handful of the dark, foul-smelling mud and smeared it across her pale cheeks. She rubbed it into her arms, her neck, anywhere her skin was exposed. She dragged her tangled hair forward, using it to hide her face.

She had to be invisible. She had to be filthy. She had to be nothing.

A sharp, cruel laugh echoed from a raised wooden platform above the pen. Diann Fitzgerald stood there, draped in a luxurious snow-leopard pelt that emphasized her curvy figure and sharp features. Her leopard ears twitched with amusement as she looked down at the new arrivals.

"Well, what do we have here?" Diann's voice was loud and mocking. She pointed a long, manicured finger tipped with a claw at Carin. "Look at this one. No ears. No tail. It's a deformity."

The other females in the clan-those standing safely behind the fence, dressed in clean leathers-burst into laughter. They pointed and whispered, their eyes full of scorn for the creature that didn't belong.

Carin kept her head down. She hunched her shoulders, making herself as small as possible. She let her body tremble, playing the part