Surviving My Deadly Contract Beast Husbands

Kenzie dragged in a sharp, jagged breath, her lungs burning as if she had just inhaled broken glass.

Her eyes snapped open. The cold, unforgiving bite of a metal floor pressed against her cheek. Her chest heaved. The phantom sensation of rotting hands tearing at her clothes-the last memory of her death on Earth-still crawled across her skin.

A violent wave of nausea hit her. She pressed her palms against the floor, trying to push herself up, but a sudden, blinding pain split her skull.

Memories that didn't belong to her slammed into her brain. Extravagant parties. Cruel laughter. A high-society monster named Kenzie Banks. She gagged, her stomach twisting into a tight, agonizing knot.

A low, guttural snarl vibrated through the room. It was a sound born of pure, unadulterated murder.

Her head snapped up.

Through the dim, blue-tinted lighting of the massive bedroom, she saw him. He was chained to the far wall like a rabid animal. Heavy alloy restraints dug into his wrists and throat. His bare chest was a canvas of fresh, bleeding whip marks and dark bruises.

Josue.

His silver hair hung in his face, but it couldn't hide his eyes. They were a toxic, glowing green. He stared at her throat, his jaw clenched so tight she could hear his teeth grinding. He looked exactly like a man calculating how much force it would take to snap her neck.

She scrambled backward, her survival instincts taking over. Her spine slammed hard against the base of a massive bedpost.

Ding.

A sharp electronic chime pierced her brain.

"AI Sev activated," a lifeless, mechanical voice echoed inside her skull. "Warning. Current host possesses a critical negative reputation. According to the Interstellar Marriage Act, your contract beast-husbands possess the legal right to execute you at the end of the two-month trial period."

Her breath caught in her throat.

A glowing red holographic timer materialized in her line of sight. Sixty days. Counting down.

She tried to mentally scream at the AI, demanding to know how this was legal, but the numbers just kept ticking.

Josue saw her wide, terrified eyes. He mistook her panic for anticipation. He thought she was getting off on his pain.

He lunged forward.

The heavy alloy chains snapped taut with a deafening crack. The metal bit deep into his raw wounds. Fresh blood spilled down his pale skin, dripping onto the floor. He didn't even flinch. The murderous intent in his green eyes only burned hotter.

Her stomach plummeted. The memories of what the original Kenzie had done to him flooded her mind. The electroshocks. The starvation. The humiliation.

She needed a weapon. Now.

She closed her eyes and reached deep into her consciousness, searching for the subspace inventory she had relied on during the apocalypse on Earth.

"Access denied," Sev's cold voice chimed. "Host biological energy level is insufficient. Subspace locked."

Her eyes snapped open. Her hands shook. She was trapped in a weak, pampered body with absolutely nothing to defend herself against a man who wanted to wear her intestines as a necklace.

Josue let out a harsh, broken laugh. His voice was shredded, like he had been screaming for days.

"Do it," he rasped, spitting a wad of blood onto the floor. "Stop staring at me like a coward and pick up the whip, you piece of trash."

She didn't argue. She didn't defend herself. She forced her erratic breathing to slow down.

Her eyes landed on a small, sleek black remote resting on a glass table a few feet away. The collar control.

She gripped the bedpost and pulled herself up. Her legs trembled. This body was pathetic. She dragged her feet across the floor, closing the distance to the table.

Josue's muscles coiled. His silver wolf ears flattened flat against his skull. He was bracing for the pain.

She picked up the remote. She turned and walked straight toward him.

With every step she took, the growl in his chest grew louder, vibrating in the air between them.

When she was barely two feet away, he snapped. He threw his entire body weight forward, his jaw snapping inches from her face. The chains jerked him backward so violently he crashed onto the metal floor.

Her heart hammered against her ribs like a trapped bird. She stumbled back, her hands slick with cold sweat.

She swallowed the bile in her throat. She stepped forward again. She crouched down, bringing herself to his eye level.

She pointed the remote at the heavy collar around his neck.

Beep.

The solid red light on the collar flipped to green.

The magnetic locks disengaged with a heavy clunk. The thick alloy chains fell away, crashing onto the floor in a heap of useless metal.

Josue froze.

He stayed on his hands and knees, his chest heaving. His green eyes darted to the chains, then up to her face. Total, paralyzing shock radiated from him. He was waiting for the punchline. The hidden trap.

She tossed the remote onto the floor. She held both of her hands up, palms facing him.

"I'm tired," she said. Her voice was raspy, stripped of any emotion. "I don't want to play games today."

Josue slowly pushed himself up. He towered over her, a massive wall of scarred muscle and lethal intent. His claws slid out from his fingertips, scraping against his thighs.

She needed to prove she wasn't a threat.

She turned around. She put her back to him, exposing her spine and her neck completely.

The silence in the room was deafening. She could hear his ragged breathing right behind her. She waited for the claws to sink into her flesh.

Seconds dragged like hours.

Then, she heard the heavy, uneven thud of his footsteps backing away. The bedroom door slid open, then clicked shut.

Her knees gave out. She collapsed onto the floor, gasping for air, her hands shaking violently as she realized she had just survived her first ten minutes in this hell.