The World of Beasts: She's Got Their Hearts

Analise originally meant to ask why he wasn't changing into his clothes.

But thanks to the helpful misdirection from his friend earlier, Finlay thought Analise was asking him not to wear anything at all.

He tightened his grip on the bath towel. "Do you... Want to go straight to it? But..."

Analise stared at Finlay, watching how nervous he looked, and suddenly understood.

This guy... Did he really think "playing a game" meant "that" kind of game?

It was no wonder he went off to shower!

Now, even Analise felt a wave of nervous tension rising.

Technically speaking, she had already taken a Body Strengthening Pill, so it should be fine. But then she remembered what Echo had said about therian stamina, and she gulped quietly.

Especially now that Finlay was standing there in nothing but a towel. Well, that was basically full-on temptation.

After a moment's thought, Analise still chose to speak up, "I'll step outside. You get dressed and then come to my room."

As she turned to leave, she added, "Oh, and don't forget to download the game— Interstellar Heroes."

Yeah... She wasn't ready.

Analise sighed at her own cowardice. Lustful but gutless. She darted back to her room to cool off.

If this were still the human era, she might've just rolled with it. But Finlay was a therian. She didn't even know if their bodies were biologically compatible.

And now that the system was offline, she couldn't be sure whether that one pill had done enough to enhance her body...

Meanwhile, left standing alone in the room, Finlay was utterly confused.

Game? Interstellar Heroes?

So... It really was just a game?

He was mortified. After several seconds of stunned silence, he finally picked out some clean clothes and changed.

While downloading the game on his interface, he fired off a message to his buddy.

Ana's Wolfie: "It turns out 'playing a game' literally meant playing a game." Smarty: "?"

Smarty: "We're taking a one-minute friendship break. (Blocked.)"

Ana's Wolfie: "?? (Message not sent. You are no longer friends with this user.)"

Finlay was left speechless.

Five minutes later, Finlay walked into Analise's room.

"Ana, I downloaded it."

"Okay."

Neither of them brought up what had just happened. Silently, they both started playing the game.

They were still immersed in the game when Scott knocked and entered the room. Seeing the two of them lying side-by-side on the bed, operating their respective interfaces, Scott felt a familiar sting of inferiority.

Still, remembering the custom bow Analise had asked him to make, he spoke up.

"Ana, the bow you asked me to have custom-made-it's ready. Do you still want it?"

He already had a feeling what her answer would be.

"N—" Analise's words nearly slipped out, but she quickly corrected herself. "Yes. Did you bring it?"

Her instinctive refusal came from the fact that her Purification Bow had already been activated and seen by others.noveldrama

From now on, it would always look like that green, vine-wrapped version.

Still, she decided to keep this bow, One, so Scott wouldn't overthink things. And two, it would be useful for practicing her aim. After all, her archery skills weren't exactly stellar.

Seeing her suddenly change her answer, Scott froze for a moment, then nodded. "Yeah. I brought it with me."

"Okay. Once Finlay and I finish this round, take me to the training room so I can try it out. Finlay can make dinner."

Analise kept her eyes on the character on her interface screen, her fingers tapping skill keys quickly.

When the match ended, Analise followed Scott to the villa's training room.

Finlay headed off to the kitchen with a recipe in hand.

Thinking back to the time she hit

Sean square in the chest from 30 feet away—when his body had been controlled by Ophir-Analise comforted herself. Maybe she did have a bit of talent.

But then again, the target hadn't moved much, and it was only 30 feet away. If she'd missed even that, it'd mean she really had no talent for archery at all.

Analise took an arrow from Scott, nocked it to the bowstring, and aimed at the bullseye on the far wall.

The training room wasn't particularly large, so the distance was about 30 feet too.