The Ugly Duckling Of The Tiger Tribe

Chapter 438: I hate this reality

Unlike the twins, this newborn didn’t have purple hair. He had a thick, silken shock of pure, silver hair that matched Damar’s exactly.

And when his tiny eyelids fluttered open, two fierce, glowing emerald-green eyes looked back at me—with the sharp, slit pupils of a serpent predator.

But while he fiercely resembled Damar, he didn’t have the pale, translucent skin like Lyra did. He had inherited my warm complexion. And as he squirmed against my warmth, a thick, beautifully striped tiger tail swished out from beneath the blanket, though his head was perfectly round with no tiger ears.

​A silver-scaled tiger in human form. A perfect blend of the jungle and the deep river.

​"He’s perfect, Damar," I breathed, my voice a tired whisper as I lightly stroked the baby’s soft silver hair.

​Damar lifted his head, his emerald eyes locked onto his son with an intensity that could have melted the winter ice outside.

His long, silver locks fell around us as he leaned down, his finger gently grazing the baby’s tiny, golden cheek. The baby instinctively turned toward the touch, his tiny hand grabbing onto Damar’s thumb.

​"Nadir," Damar murmured, his voice thick with an ancient, reverent devotion. "His name is Nadir. The rare one. The one who belongs to the heart of the storm."

​"Nadir," I tested the name, a soft smirk returning to my lips as the baby let out a tiny, contented huff. "I like it. It sounds much better than Etol, whatever that means."

We had been planning the baby’s name and Damar was going on about Etol but as if the name struck him the moment his eyes fell on the babies, he knew right away what the right fit for him was.

Nadir.

"Welcome to our family, Nadir." I whispered.

​Thalor and Fenric stepped closer, their expressions filled with a quiet, profound pride as they looked at the newest addition to our circus.

​I closed my eyes, leaning back into the mountain of furs, completely surrounded by the scents of cedar, mint, sea-salt, and the burning fire of the forge.

The blizzard could howl all it wanted. But this circus was warm, the roof was solid, and the Queen was finally ready to rest.

Rest? When I told myself I was ready to rest for a while, I meant a standard, well-deserved post-labor nap. I definitely did not mean waking up in a completely different dimension.

The transition wasn’t a gentle drift, either. It felt like someone violently yanked me out of a warm bath and threw me face-first into a pile of ice.

The first thing that clued me in was the smell. It didn’t smell like woodsmoke, cedar, or Damar. It smelled like bleach, floor wax, and misery.

The plush sheep-furs beneath me were gone, replaced by stiff, scratchy cotton sheets that had definitely been washed one too many times.

My eyes snapped open, but instead of the beautiful stone arches of my palace, I was staring at a drop-ceiling with water stains and a buzzing fluorescent light.

Where are they? Where is Nadir? My babies!

I tried to jump out of bed, but a brutal, blinding flash of pain shot straight up my left leg, pinning me to the mattress.

What...?

My body felt completely foreign. I didn’t feel like a powerful female tiger; I felt like a deflated balloon. My muscles were practically nonexistent.

Just what was going on? I feel like there’s a part of my memory missing and...

Beep... beep... beep...

The sound of a heart monitor chirping right next to my ear made my body stiffen for a second. The answer was right at the tip of my tongue but I didn’t want to admit it. I didn’t want to admit that I was...

No, this has got to be a dream.

I flipped my trembling left wrist over, looking for the glowing blue coral anchor crest but there was nothing. Just a nasty greenish bruise from an old IV line and a plastic hospital bracelet.

"No," I croaked. My voice didn’t sound clear. It sounded like I had mucus trapped in my throat. "No, no, no. This is a joke. Damar! Noah!" Where are they? "Fenric! Thalor!" I screamed.

The door flew open and a nurse in blue scrubs rushed in, her eyes wide. "Oh! She’s awake! Doctor, it seems she’s hallucinating!"

"Get off me!" I shrieked, clawing at the sheets as she tried to hold my shoulders down. The panic was so thick I could barely breathe. "Where are my kids?! Where is Raiden?!" This definitely could not be happening. "Phina! Lyra! Where are my twins? Kaito! Marina! Where is Nadir!" I shrieked, my throat burning as I forced the words out. "Let go of me. I have to go back!"

"Ms Stephanie, please, calm down. You’re in the hospital," the doctor said, his voice entirely too calm for the amount of structural damage my life had just taken.

I just couldn’t calm down, not when my life was just flashing before my eyes.

"I have to go back... my kids! My kingdom, my... my husbands!"

The Doctor looked at me with some sort of pity and then the nurse. "Severe post-coma disorientation. Sedate her."

"Get away from me! I am not Stephanie! I am Arinya! The Queen!" I screamed, and struggled but my withered muscles were no match for them.

As the sedative hit my system and I began to go under, the doctor’s voice started to fade but I could still hear him. "It’s a common side effect... fell off a cliff during a college camping trip two years ago... left leg was severely broken..."

A cliff. Two years... I know I feel off a cliff but you’re saying I’m back to this forsaken world and... two years later?

Are you freaking kidding me?

I was doing just fine as Arinya, just why? Why did I get brought back to this world where I was no different from a shadow in the corner?

This world that never treated me fairly... Why was I back?

If I fall asleep now, will I open my eyes to the stone ceilings and find my four husbands and six children surrounding me? Please, let it be that way. I want to go back.

But my desperate wishes were never answered, not in the past, and not now either.

I am cursed as Stepahine.

When I woke up again, the screaming phase was over, replaced by a numb, hollow sense of dread.