CHAPTER 269: CHAPTER-269.

Shouting at the healer, Veer completely forgot to look at Kaya.

Kaya’s gaze drifted to the open door. Without a word, she slipped outside.

By the time Veer realized, she was already gone. Panic shot through him as he rushed after her—only to freeze in shock.

Kaya was no longer staggering. Her posture was straight, steady. Her eyes had lost all warmth, turned cold and unyielding. Her focus locked on the vulture-trapsmen who were lounging around, laughing and talking idly as if nothing mattered.

She strode straight to one of them—Veer’s cousin.

"Kaya—" Veer started, but the word caught in his throat.

Kaya placed her hand on the man’s shoulder, almost gently, then patted his cheek. As he turned toward her with confusion, she seized his arm and swung him down hard against the rough ground. The crack of impact echoed, and blood streaked across his temple.

He shuddered, his eyes flaring brown, body tense as if to spring back up. But before he could move, Kaya drove her foot into him, the force ruthless.

She loomed over him, her voice sharp and merciless.

"Being a soldier, and you’re lazing around here? Hah. Who will train you? Your father?"

Veer’s cousin lay stunned on the ground, blood streaking his temple. The other trapsmen froze, staring at Kaya in shock and simmering anger.

One of them finally gathered the courage and rushed toward her, his mouth opening to shout—

But then his eyes met Veer’s.

Veer was already glaring at him, his gaze sharp, filled with murderous intent. The man stopped dead in his tracks, his words dying in his throat.

Silence weighed heavy over the yard.

Veer walked slowly to Kaya, his expression shifting—anger melting into something softer, though his eyes still burned with warning for the others. A faint smile tugged at his lips as he stopped beside her.

"Sweetheart," he said, his tone deceptively gentle. "What were you doing?"

Kaya didn’t even glance at Veer. Her eyes remained fixed on the men before her, sharp and unyielding. The chill in her voice cut through the silence.

"What was I doing?" she echoed, her tone flat. "Teaching your cousin what it means to wear the name of a soldier."

Her gaze swept over the rest of the trapsmen, each of them stiff under her stare.

"You sit here laughing, wasting time. Do you expect discipline to fall from the sky? Or will your fathers rise from their graves to train you?"

Veer’s smile didn’t falter, but his eyes flickered with unease as he watched her. He knew this wasn’t drunken playfulness anymore—this was something else entirely.

Kaya’s eyes locked on the man standing in front of her. From his stance, from the fire in his eyes, she knew he was ready to fight.

"Why stop?" she asked coldly. "Aren’t you going to do something?"

The man clenched his teeth, fury trembling in his jaw—but then his gaze flicked to Veer’s murderous eyes. His resolve crumbled, and he lowered his head.

Kaya turned to Veer. "You. Out." She pointed toward the healer’s house.

Veer gave her a small smile, shaking his head. "Wait a minute. You don’t look well. How about resting?"

Her gaze cut straight through him. "Look well?"

Before he could blink, she grabbed his collar, swung him over her shoulder, and slammed him onto the ground.

The soldiers gasped in shock. Veer groaned, pain ripping through his body—yet when he looked up at her, there was still a faint smile tugging at his lips.

"Sweetheart," he breathed, "are you okay? You didn’t sprain your wrist, right?"

Kaya’s glare was sharp enough to cut through steel. "Didn’t I tell you not to call me those idiotic names?"

The atmosphere cracked as a furious voice thundered across the courtyard.

"How dare you?"

Veer’s father and brother appeared, their presence filling the space like a storm. His father’s face was twisted with hatred as he glared at Kaya. "How dare you touch my son?"

Kaya released Veer and turned her head slowly, her lips curling. "Ugh. Old man, huh?"

Veer’s father strode toward her, his eyes burning brown with rage. "How dare you touch my son in my own area?"

Groaning, Veer pushed himself upright and staggered between them. His amber eyes shone coldly as he faced his father. "Dad. Don’t you dare. She’s not okay right now."

His father’s lip curled in disgust. "You’ve become a spineless bastard. Didn’t you see how she treated you?"

Suddenly Kaya’s hand shot out. She pulled Veer behind her, her expression cutting like a blade. "From the look in your eyes... it seems you really want to kill me, huh?"

Veer’s father growled, his teeth bared. "Good. So you do have a brain after all."

The healer stood trembling at the side, his hands clammy. He had heard the rumors—that a mixture of those herbs could sometimes drag out a person’s true nature. But never, not once, had he imagined that a woman’s "true self" could be this.

Fearless.

Not only had she floored the leader’s nephew without hesitation, she had also slammed down his youngest and most beloved son. And now—now she stood, eyes cold, daring to challenge the leader himself.

The healer’s throat went dry. What kind of woman had he just witnessed? And what kind of beastman’s blood could give someone such terrifying courage—to defy power in its very own territory

No matter how many times Veer tried to stop them, that day Kaya and his father had already decided—there would be a one-on-one fight.

For Kaya’s safety, Veer made one condition: neither of them could shift into their beast forms. He knew his father—once the man lost control, he would destroy everything in his path. Still, bitterness weighed on Veer’s heart.

His father scoffed at Kaya, calling her weak, saying she was nothing more than a woman from a chimpanzee tribe. In his eyes, that was as low as one could be. And he was confident—he was strong enough to knock her down easily.