Gentle Beast

The raging fire lit up the surrounding darkness and the dim shadows of the trees were pulled long, extending to the cave entrance.

. . .

In the cave.

Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu was sitting gingerly in Ryan’s arms because she had been mercilessly tossed against the wall all afternoon. She was just let off a little while ago and she was somewhat embarrassed to be unable to distinguish between day and night.

Her lower abdomen moved a little and there was a warm liquid flowing down her leg.

Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu’s body trembled lightly and her tender fingers clutched at Ryan’s chest. Her voice was week with supplication, “Ryan, I’m hungry. . .”

She worried about staying there, whether Ryan would do that to her again, but her body couldn’t handle it again.

And. . . she was really hungry.

Ryan was satisfied enough and his nature was very agreeable. He bowed his head to lick the tears from her eyes and carried her out of the cave.

Dozens of beastmen sat in the woods in front of them and a bonfire was in the middle, the fire roasting several wild boars.

Seeing Ryan holding the female, several spontaneously shifted to the sides and gave their chief the center-most seat.

Ryan calmly sat down with Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu in his lap and took a sharp stone knife from Winter. Then he cut a piece of barbecue and held her waist, feeding it to her.

Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu didn’t open her mouth but stretched her arm to Ryan’s neck and buried her face in his shoulder.

“Not hungry?” Ryan inquired in a whisper.

“. . .” Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu did not expect him to bring her to a place with so many beastmen. In the cave during the day, she didn’t hold back her voice and had cried out. The soundproofing of the cave wasn’t good and there must have been many leopards that heard.

Where did she have the nerve to appear before them? Couldn’t he take her somewhere with less people?

Ryan seemed to have guessed her thoughts and freed one hand to caress the back of her head, appeasing her, “Rest assured, they didn’t hear.”

Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu was sullen and asked in a voice that only the two of them could hear, “How do you know?”

Ryan whispered, “Whoever heard will have cut off his ears.”

So the beastmen who listened to the chief and his little female immediately sat upright.

Then, listening to their chief, Ryan slowly said, “If anyone dared to peep, they’ll pluck their eyeballs out.”

. . .

The rest of the beastman were quick to take their eyes back.

Everyone looked at their noses and put their attention on the barbecue.

Only the images in their mind could not be erased anymore. . .

The petite female sat on their chief’s leg, her cheeks blushed red. Her eyes were inflamed and her pink lips were slightly bitten, and teardrops still hung on her eyelashes.

Her dark eyes were covered in a layer of mist, and her eyes were somewhat confused, as if she wasn’t fully awake yet.

Her exposed neck was slender and white. Under the blaze of the fire, there were a few dark purple marks printed against it.

One look was all it took to see it was badly ruined.

Their chief didn’t know how to control himself. . . the leopards all thought as one.

Such a charming little female, it was only fun to play with slowly. It would be pity to break her all at once.

Of course, Ryan didn’t think about it.

After the fire had been extinguished, Ryan took the sleeping Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu back to the cave and didn’t toss with her again.

*

The next morning, Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu woke up and Ryan had left to hunt again.

Although a lot of prey was hunted yesterday, it wasn’t enough to maintain the entire race through the winter.

Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu stripped off the blanket and shifted a little, feeling sticky and uncomfortable all over.

Yesterday, Ryan had done the same with her again and she hadn’t had a chance to clean her body. Now, she had reached the limit of patience, and she just wanted a bath.

And. . . she should think of a very serious problem.

All along, Ryan hadn’t taken any protective measures.

Where were no contraceptives in the beast world. The entire purpose of mating was to procreate.

So several times, she had told him to pull out and he hadn’t listened to her. . .

If this continued to go on for a long time, she didn’t know how long it would take to get her pregnant. . .

She was a sophomore and didn’t want to have a baby so early. . .

And she wasn’t prepared to take care of a beast child. If her mother and father knew she was pregnant with a leopard child, they would be scared to death.

Just. . . she didn’t know what her and Ryan’s children would be like?

A leopard or human?

Like her or Ryan?

Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu had listened to Eric when he said there wasn’t any reproductive isolation here, that the different races could produce offspring.

But the offspring would come with great uncertainty, just like when close relatives had children.

. . . What if she and Ryan produced a defective child?

Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu thought it over and over again, her thoughts in chaos.

Finally she jolted awake, her cheeks red. How come she was thinking about having a baby so fast? Ah, ah, she didn’t want to give birth to a leopard offspring, ah. . .

Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu distressed for a while then finally sat up from the skins and used the water stored in her space to wash it, wanting to go out and look for a stream.

The guard outside the cave still refused to let her go out.

Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu spoke with him using the leopard tongue, but he still refused.

She had no choice but to take out the taser and stun him.

. . .

Behind the cave was a clear stream. It was late autumn and the water was cold, so she couldn’t get in to bathe.

Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu had to find a secluded place and take a bucket of water from the stream. She used a stove to boil it to the right temperature then took the bucket and hid in her space with it to bathe.

Luckily, she had plenty of things this time, shampoo, shower gel, bath towel, toothbrush and toothpaste, facial cleanser. . . everything.

After a comfortable bath in her space, Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu finally washed off the scent of sex on her body. She changed into clean clothes and left her space, intending to take advantage of the fact Ryan hadn’t returned to go back and sleep in the cave.

But she took a step and Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu saw the hunting beastmen had returned and were settling the prey they had hunted.

Her heart skipped a beat and she subconsciously looked towards the cave entrance.

——She saw Ryan standing there with is back to her standing in front of the beastman that was lying on the ground, electrocuted by her taser.

*

“Ryan. . .”

Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu trotted over to stand behind Ryan.

Her legs were sore so she couldn’t walk much faster, and Ryan’s legs were long enough to leave her behind.

Since he had come back and saw no one in the cave, and the guard outside in a coma, he had had this reaction.

Just like that day in the deer clan, his indifference was somewhat inhuman.

Didn’t she leave for just a little while? Why was he so angry?

Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu was annoyed but still panted as she tried to keep up with him.

How had she not seen before that his character was so troublesome? She didn’t know how many times she had promised him that she would never leave him, but he still refused to believe her.

Seeing Ryan go farther and farther away, Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu was a little worried and hurriedly followed, “Hey, Ryan, wait for me. . .”

Carelessly, her foot slid against a protuding stone and she lost balance, tipping towards the ground.

When she fell over, a beastman at the side held her shoulders and kept her steady.

Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu calmed her mind and looked at him. He was a stranger with semicircular ears and amber ears. He looked about sixteen years old.

Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu smiled slightly at him, “Thank you.”

The other immediately turned red and his tail involuntarily twitched. He said nothing.

The leopard wanted to speak to her, but when he looked up, he meat their distant chief’s gaze.

Ryan didn’t know when her footsteps had stopped but his eyes fell on the claw on her shoulder.

There was a danger hard to fathom.

The youth immediately retracted his hands and greeted her as he ran away.

Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu: “. . .”

Ryan’s gaze shifted to her and after a long time, said, “Come here.”

Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu flattened her mouth and slowly moved towards him. Even though the teenager had helped her in time, she had twisted her ankle and the pain stung. By the time she reached Ryan, her eyes were red.

The girl’s watery eyes looked at him and were surrounded in red, like a stream without impurities leaking rouge.

Her mouth was tilted downward and her tiny nose twitched slightly, airing her grievances.

Anyone who saw couldn’t help but be soft-hearted.

Ryan sighed a little impatiently and leaned over, picking her up.

With a strong jump, he climbed to the top of the mountain.

The mountain peak towered high and there was a waterfall behind it.

The water flowed over the cliff and poured down in great waves.

Ryan carried her over to sit on a rock next to the waterfall and raised his finger to wipe the tears on her lashes, “Why are you crying?”

Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu sniffled and complained, “Why’d you ignore me?”

Ryan was silent then asked, “Why did you leave the cave?”

“. . . I wanted to take a shower, I hadn’t bathed for several days.”

Ryan reminded, “You could wait until I came back.”

“How do I know when you’ll be back? What if you came back after two days and two nights like last time?” Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu looked at him, wondering, “And, Ryan. . . you can’t always keep me tied up in the cave forever. If I wanted to leave, it wouldn’t matter what you do. . .”

Ryan held her arm tightly, the veins along the back of his hand pulsing, and he bared his teeth, “You dare. . .”

“But I won’t.” Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu interrupted him. She straightened her upper body and held her small hands to his face, looking at his blue eyes, “Since I promised to be your spouse, I wouldn’t leave you.”

The girl’s eyes were serious, and the black pupils reflected Ryan’s face.

For a long time, Ryan held her waist and his voice was rough with imperceptible longing, “My spouse can only stay with me forever.”

Jǐ Xiǎo Ōu stalled then her arms wrapped around his neck and she nodded where he couldn’t see, “En.”

. . .

. . .

A young girl sat by the waterfall on a boulder, the sock and shoe on her left foot had been thrown aside, exposing her white foot. The ankle was layered in red and by then had swollen up.

A tall figure was squatted at her foot, a broad palm holding her calf, and the other gently held her foot. He slowly turned it and calmly asked, “Still hurts?”

The girl nodded, her voice shaking, “Hurts. . .”

The beastman’s lowered the pressure and moved it slightly, “So?”

“Still hurts. . .”

“Does this hurt?”

“Hey, Ryan, a little lighter. . .”

|  | >>>

Hallelujah , maybe we’ve finally gotten over the abandonment drama issues. Six chapters to go~!