Villainess is being pampered by her beast husbands

Chapter 481 --481

"Take her. Leave the others. They are not our concern."’Damn it’, veer gritted his teeth.

"No!" Veer’s voice, hoarse and desperate. "Don’t you dare—"

But strong hands were already lifting Kaya, pulling her away from her companions. She struggled weakly, but her body wouldn’t cooperate, wouldn’t respond to her commands.

"Kaya!" Cutie’s voice, high and panicked. "Kaya, no!"

She tried to call back to them, tried to tell them she’d find a way back, tried to say anything, but the darkness was closing in.

The last thing she saw before unconsciousness claimed her was Veer’s amber eyes, filled with fury and helplessness, as the eagle beastmen carried her away into the storm.

---

Warmth.

That was the first thing Kaya registered as consciousness slowly returned.

Warmth and softness beneath her. And the faint scent of... incense? Something herbal and pleasant.

Her eyes opened slowly, reluctantly.

The ceiling above her was stone, but not rough cave stone. This was smooth, carefully shaped, with crystalline formations that caught light and refracted it in gentle, multi-colored patterns across the surface.

She wasn’t in a cave.

Or rather, she was, but not like any cave she’d ever seen.

Kaya sat up carefully, her body protesting the movement. Pain lanced through her shoulder and back where she’d hit the ground, but nothing felt broken. Bruised, definitely. But functional.

She was lying on a bed. An actual bed, with a frame of polished dark wood and a mattress stuffed with something soft. The blankets covering her were woven fabric, finely made, in shades of cream and gold.

The room around her was large—maybe twenty feet across—carved from the living stone of the cave but finished with obvious care. The walls were smooth, decorated with hanging tapestries depicting eagles in flight. Luminescent crystals embedded in the ceiling provided soft, steady light.

There was furniture. A desk with a chair. A wardrobe. A small table with a basin and pitcher of water.

It looked like a bedroom. A luxurious bedroom hidden inside a mountain.

"What the hell?" Kaya muttered, swinging her legs over the edge of the bed.

She was still wearing her own clothes—damp and dirty, smelling of creek water and smoke—but someone had removed her boots and her knife.

Her knife.

Kaya’s hand went to her belt, finding the sheath empty. Her gun was also gone, not that it would have worked anyway.

She was unarmed in an unknown location, held by people who had kidnapped her.

Not ideal.

Kaya stood carefully, testing her balance. Her legs held, though everything ached. She moved to the door—a heavy wooden thing with metal reinforcement—and tried the handle.

Locked. Of course.

She moved to the wardrobe and opened it. Inside were clothes—not hers. Tunics and pants in soft fabrics, boots that looked her size. All well-made, all clean.

Like someone had prepared this room for her.

The thought made her skin crawl.

A soft knock on the door made her spin around.

"Kaya?" A female voice, gentle, from the other side. "Are you awake? May I come in?"

Kaya didn’t answer, just positioned herself beside the door, ready to attack whoever entered with her bare hands if needed.

The lock clicked. The door opened slowly.

A woman entered—eagle beastman, clearly, though in human form. She was tall, with long dark hair and those same striking amber eyes. She wore simple robes in shades of gray and white, and carried a tray with food and drink.

She saw Kaya’s defensive position and stopped, not entering fully.

"I mean you no harm," she said calmly. "I brought food. You must be hungry."

"Where am I?" Kaya demanded.

"The Eyrie. The home of the eagle clans, high in the northern mountains."

"Why am I here?"

"Because you are important. Because the world is changing, and you are at the center of that change." The woman set the tray on the table, careful movements, non-threatening. "My name is Sera. I am a healer here."

"I don’t need a healer."

"Your shoulder says otherwise. And your back. You took quite a fall."

Kaya’s jaw tightened. "My companions. The vulture, the rabbit, the wolf. Where are they?"

"Released, as promised. They were seen leaving the crash site heading east, toward Nikala tribal lands. The vulture was injured but mobile. The wolf was still unconscious but stable."

Relief flooded through Kaya, so intense it made her knees weak. They were alive. They’d gotten away.

"Why let them go?" she asked suspiciously.

"Because we have no quarrel with them. Only with you." Sera smiled slightly at Kaya’s expression. "That came out wrong. What I mean is—we need you. Specifically you. The others were irrelevant to our purpose."

"And what purpose is that?"

"That," Sera said, "is something Lord Kael will explain. When you’re ready to listen."

"Lord Kael?"

"The leader of our clan. The one who ordered your... retrieval." Sera gestured to the tray. "Please. Eat. Recover your strength. Then, if you wish, we can arrange for you to speak with him."

"And if I don’t wish?"

Sera’s expression remained patient. "Then you can stay in this room, comfortable but imprisoned, until you change your mind. Or—" Her tone became slightly sharper. "—you can hear what we have to say, learn why you were brought here, and make an informed decision about what comes next."

Kaya stared at the woman, trying to read her intentions.

Finally, she said, "My friends. If I cooperate, if I listen to what this Lord Kael has to say—you’ll let me leave? Let me find them?"

"That depends on what you decide after hearing him out." Sera moved toward the door. "But I can promise you this: we are not your enemies. The Snake Lord is. And what he wants with you is far worse than anything we would ask."

She paused at the doorway, looking back.

"Think about it. Eat. Rest. When you’re ready, knock on the door. Someone will come." She hesitated, then added softly, "I know you don’t trust us. I wouldn’t either, in your position. But please believe this: we brought you here to save your life. Not end it."

Then she was gone, the door closing and locking behind her.

Kaya stood alone in the luxurious cave room, staring at the tray of food, her mind racing.

The Snake Lord. Prophecies. Eagle clans. Purpose.

She was so tired of not understanding. So tired of being pulled into things beyond her control.

But Sera had been right about one thing: she needed to know what was happening. Needed to understand the game being played with her life as the stakes.

And she couldn’t do that locked in this room, no matter how comfortable.

Kaya moved to the table and picked up a piece of fruit from the tray. She bit into it, tasting sweetness and tart juice, her empty stomach reminding her how long it had been since their fish breakfast by the creek.

She ate. Because she needed strength.

She would listen. Because she needed information.

And then—once she understood what the hell was going on—she would decide what to do next.

Find her friends. Survive. Get answers.

Maybe not in that order.

But all three, eventually.

One way or another.