Rycksyn's behavior did not improve. Andi went back to the elder council, who immediately arranged for her to live in a halfway house with Penelope while they found her a new mate. Given that Andi had, in this new history, been traded for, the elders continued to treat her as merely property. She was allowed no say in where she went. All she could do was hope that they found someone good for her.
After a few weeks, a representative from the council came to get Andi and Penelope. He informed her of all that had gone on while she was there. Rycksyn had been tried, stripped of his fatherhood, and banned from having a mate again. He was banished from the town to live in the woods alone.
Andi felt relief at the news. But when she was told her new fate, she became nervous again. The representative told her that she had been auctioned off to the wealthiest faun in town, a descendant of royalty. His name was Duke Julius. Apparently, Duke Julius was enamored by Andi's curves. And her fertility. He wanted to sire children with her immediately.
They arrived at a mansion, where the representative knocked on the door. Holding her daughter in her arms, Andi prepared herself to see her new mate.