Chapter 3. New World
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"Who was that just now? Tigris took her to his cave!" A girl in a stitched animal skin quilt squealed, her long purple hair cascading down her waist.
"A new female? Does Tigris finally have his mate? Let's go to his cave and see," replied another girl, older, with dark green hair and a similar fur-lined outfit.
"What do you mean mate? Tigris is my mate! Let's go see who this ugly bitch thinks she is," the purple haired girl snarled, storming off.
The two girls stomped toward Tigris's cave, and three fluffy wolf cubs trotted silently behind them, their noses twitching.
"Hey! Is anybody home?!" the green haired girl called from the cave mouth, her voice echoing into the darkness.
I had been slumping on the fur pile, and I stood up with a jolt.
I was relieved to hear other women's voices, maybe I'd finally get some answers.
"Hello?" I called, stepping out into the sunlight.
"Hi there! We saw you arrive with Tigris. Where are you from?" the green-haired girl asked, her tone is kind.
I hesitated, still clinging to the last shred of my prank theory. "I… I'm Lily. I got lost in the woods, and Tigris saved me,"
"Tigris is mine!" The purple-haired girl cut me off, fists clenched.
"We're bound to be mates! Don't you dare try anything with him. I'm the chief's daughter!"
"Lola! He rejected you three times already. He'll skin you alive if he hears you say that," the green haired girl hissed, her voice sharp enough to cut through Lola's rage.
Lola's face turned crimson with fury. She glared daggers at Donna, then snapped her gaze to me, her eyes blazing with jealousy.
"This isn't over," she spat.
With one last, venomous look, she spun and stomped away, her foot kicking up dirt as she vanished into the trees, muttering angry curses under her breath.
The green-haired girl let out a long sigh, then turned back to me with a sheepish smile.
"My name is Donna, and that noisy beak is Lola. May I call you Lily?"
"Y,yes," I stammered, my head spinning.
"I'm so confused. I came from somewhere far away, across the ocean, I don't know anything about this place. What do you mean by 'mate'? Tigris just saved me, that's all, we're nothing."
Donna rolled her eyes.
"Ignore her. She's been chasing Tigris since we were cubs, refuses to accept he's not interested." She stepped closer, curiosity glinting in her eyes.
"Now, where were we? You said you're from across the ocean, Fishman Tribe? That'd explain your skin, so soft and pale!" Donna reached out to touch my arm, and I flinched back at once.
I pulled my arm close, shaking my head fast.
"No, not the Fishman Tribe. Can I ask you something? Why can everyone here shift into animals?"
Donna blinked, her tiger eyes wide, like the idea of not shifting was totally strange.
"Shifting's just shifting, like breathing. Beast passed down from our ancestors. How do you hunt for food, protect your family, if you don't shift?"
I stumbled over my words, scrambling to make up a reason that fit.
"Ah, my tribe doesn't shift much. Our beast forms aren't very strong, I guess. But we use our heads more. We plan, we make things, hunt with tricks instead of fangs. We get by that way."
I paused, a quick thought popping up, humans are primates, right? and bluffed on, nervous but determined.
Donna raised an eyebrow, curious.
"What kind of beast clan is that? Sounds like the Gorilla Tribe, they use their wits too, but even they shift to fight. Or the Monkey Clan? Smart, but weak, and you're too pretty to be one of them. What beast are you?"
"Human," I mumbled, unsure.
"I think we're related to monkeys and gorillas. Just… more delicate. Fainter beast blood, maybe." I'd never seen a gorilla or monkey beastman, but it made sense, those animals were the clever ones, like the humans I knew.
"Human?" Donna said the word slow, like it tasted new.
"Never heard of it. You must be from really far away." She shrugged off the confusion, grinning proudly, and puffed out her chest a little.
"I'm a tiger beastwoman, fierce blood. But I don't pick mates just from my clan, I chose them from all different ones, for their strength."
She nodded to the three cubs a little ways off, gnawing on a stick and swatting at each other with tiny paws.
"Those three are from my third husband, Grey wolf beastman. Strong, loyal, perfect for raising cubs. I have six husbands total, actually."
My eyes went huge, my mouth falling open. "Six?!"
Donna tilted her head, looking just as confused as I had a minute ago, like my shock was the weirdest thing she'd heard all day.
"Is that so strange? You've never had a mate before?"
"N,no!" I meekly stammered, heat rising to my cheeks.
"And Tigris isn't my mate, either. I don't even know him. I just want to go home."
Donna's smile softened, turning sympathetic.
"Going home isn't easy, little Lily. The nearest coast is a three month caravan journey away, full of catasthrope beast and rogue beastmen who'd kidnap a pretty female like you in a heartbeat. You'd never make it alone. You should stay here, our tribe will protect you."
She paused, then explained, her tone matter,of,fact.
"We don't have many females, you Female cubs are rare, and the wilds are dangerous for us. Males outnumber us by a lot, so it's normal for a female to take multiple mates. More mates mean more protectors, more cubs, a stronger tribe. Even egg laying beastmen, like the giant tortoise clan, can sire twenty or more at once, and every father helps raise the little ones. We females just get to sit back and rule the family."
My mind short circuited.
A reverse harem, this was the kind of ridiculous fantasy Mei Mei had drooled over, the exact reason she'd tricked me into coming on that 'vacation' to 'find hunks.'
That conniving bitch.
And here I was, stuck in the middle of it all, while Mei Mei was probably sipping cocktails on a beach back home.
Before I could spiral further, Donna grabbed my hand, her grip warm and firm.
"Come on, I'll introduce you to the tribe. You'll see, it's not so scary here."
I let myself be pulled out of the cave, and my jaw dropped.
The clearing beyond was bustling with beastmen, some in human form, some half,shifted, their animal traits peeking through, wolf ears twitching, tiger tails swishing, fox eyes glinting.
There were even a few rabbit beastmen, their legs powerful and long, hopping between the huts.
"Whoa," I breathed.
"There are so many different kinds. Are there a lot of beast races here?"
Donna chuckled, nodding toward the crowd.
"Not as many as there used to be. Most are from the feline or canine families, tigers, wolves, leopards. No lions, though, their clans are far to the south, and they don't mix with outsiders much. Beastmen usually follow the females they mate with, so we end up with a nice mix in the tribe."
My curiosity got the better of me. "What about pandas? Are there panda beastmen?"
Donna snickered. "Oh, they exist, up in the bamboo forests to the east. But they're not very popular. Low birth rate, and they don't have much drive to mate. Spend all their time eating bamboo and napping, if you ask me."
I stifled a laugh.
Of course, Pandas were the same everywhere, even in a beastman world, humans or beastmen had to practically play matchmaker to get them to breed.
I thought for a moment, then asked, "What about bigger animals? Elephants? Giraffes?"
Donna shook her head. "No, never seen one. Only smaller animals can shift into beastmen, evolution, I suppose. A baby elephant would be bigger than a full grown human female, we could never carry one to term. Smaller beasts, though? They can shift into bigger forms, like those rabbit beastmen you see? They're as big as kangaroos, and they eat meat, too. All beastmen are omnivores, really, we just prefer the foods our animal sides crave. Tigers like meat, rabbits like carrots, but we'll eat anything if we have to."
I stared, taking it all in, every tail, every claw, every strange, wonderful detail.
The tribe was chaotic, loud, and completely alien, but for the first time since I'd arrived, I didn't feel quite so alone.
Donna led me toward a group of female beastmen, who were weaving baskets under a tree, and called out,
"Girls! Look who I found, this is Lily, she's from across the ocean. Be nice to her!"
The women looked up, their faces lighting up with curiosity, and my heart fluttered, nervous, but not scared.
A fox beastwoman with a bushy red tail waved me over, patting the grass beside her. "Welcome, Lily! I'm Mara, don't mind the fur, it sheds like crazy in spring."
A rabbit beastwoman with soft brown ears leaned in, her eyes wide.
"Across the ocean? What's it like there? Are there beaches? Do you have fruits we've never tasted?"
I relaxed a little, answering their questions haltingly, talking about sandy shores, tropical fruits, and the noisy bustle of my city.
The women listened with wonder, gasping when I described skyscrapers and cars, which they called 'metal carriages that move without beasts'.
For a few minutes, the chaos of my transmigration faded, replaced by the simple joy of sharing stories.
Then, a commotion erupted at the edge of the clearing.
A group of male beastmen, half,shifted, their claws bared and fangs glinting, were shoving each other, growls rumbling in their throats.
A wolf beastman snapped at a leopard's shoulder, the leopard swiped back, his tail lashing with rage.
The crowd scattered, muttering nervously, and the female beastmen tensed, Mara's ears flattening against her head.
"What's going on?" I whispered, gripping Donna's arm.
Before Donna could answer, a voice cut through the noise, deep, gravelly, and unmistakable.
"Enough."
The growls died instantly.
The wolf and leopard froze, their heads snapping toward the entrance of the clearing.
Every eye in the tribe turned to the figure striding through the trees, and my blood ran cold.
It was Tigris.
His golden hair was matted with dirt, his bare chest streaked with with scratches.
But it was his eye that made my heart hammer, amber, glowing faintly, and sharp as a predator's.
He was in human form, but his steps were silent, his muscles coiled like a spring, and when he stopped in front of the fighting males, they shrank back, their tails tucked between their legs.
Tigris's gaze swept the crowd, hard and unyielding, until it landed on me.
Our eyes met.
For a heartbeat, the world went quiet.
The wind stopped blowing.
The cubs ceased their play and start running to their father.
Then, Tigris's lips parted. And in a voice that carried to every corner of the clearing, he said,
"She's mine."
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