Chapter Five - I'm willing
Lin Wan told herself it was purely practical. She was in a world she did not know, her body that was on a life count down, and this man was the only living being within visible distance who had not tried to drag her to the bottom of a pool. Those were not high standards but they were the standards Lin Wan had available right now and she was working with what she had.
Wang walked through the open land, the dark hide around his waist shifted with each long stride and the three stripes on his upper arm caught the afternoon light and Lin Wan watched them while she followed behind.
Today was genuinely the worst day Lin Wan had ever had and she had once spent six hours stuck in an elevator with her crush.
"Weiwei," Lin Wan said under her breath.
"Yes Host!"
"The mate bond. Walk me through exactly what it involves. Every detail."
"Of course! The initial stage of a mate bond requires the male to mark his chosen female. The mark is applied through a bite, typically placed on the neck, and leaves a permanent pattern on the female's skin that corresponds to the male's lineage markings. Once the mark is placed, Host will carry Wang's scent and will be recognised by all beastmen as a Wang's claimed female. This initiates the bond and begins the process of Host's body adapting to the Beast Continent atmosphere, which will pause the countdown deterioration."
Lin Wan processed that.
Permanent.
The word sat in her chest and did not move.
"What if Wang rejects me," Lin Wan said.
"Host's body will continue rejecting the atmospheric conditions. After the countdown reaches zero the deterioration will accelerate significantly. The symptoms will be very unpleasant and will escalate quickly from there."
"How quickly."
A pause that was slightly too short for comfort. "Very quickly, Host."
Lin Wan looked at her countdown.
02:22:13
Right.
Lin Wan looked at Wang's back.
"Hey," Lin Wan said.
Wang stopped walking.
He turned. That same flat direct expression, patient in the particular way of someone who did not need things explained twice and was simply waiting for Lin Wan to get to the point.
Lin Wan got to the point.
" You haven't given me a response, are you willing to be my beasthusband, if you don't want to, tell me now so I can be on my way, it's okay if you don. . ."
" Yes I am willing." Wang's voice cuts her off
" t like me. . . Wait, what did you just say."
"I said I want to be your beasthusband"
"Really?. I don't want to force you into doing what you don't want."
"I'm not doing anything I don't want, moreover how could a little female like you force me into doing something." Wang teased.
Seeing the ever cold faced Wang smiling, made Lin wan's heart start thumping furiously, she was entranced by how good looking he was.
"You said unclaimed females are not safe here," Lin Wan changed the topic.
"You said you would be willing to claim me. I need to understand what that actually means before I agree to anything. What exactly are you offering." They say once bitten, twice shy, she needed to know what she was getting into from the onset.
Wang looked at Lin Wan for a moment. "I will speak plainly," he said.
"Please," Lin Wan said. "I would appreciate that very much."
" You are alone with no tribe. Any unmated male who encounters you before you are claimed will want to court you. Some will not be polite about it. You would have no protection and no standing to refuse them."
Lin Wan's stomach turned over quietly at that.
"I am a three stripe warrior," Wang continued, delivering this information with the same energy someone might use to read out a list of ingredients. "Three stripes mark the third highest combat rank among my beastmen.
In the Leopard tribe I hold the position of second ranked fighter beneath the tribe chief. I live alone. My dwelling sits apart from the main settlement. I hunt well. You will not go hungry, you will not lack anything that other females have, my life will belong to you."
He paused for a moment and let the words sink in.
Lin Wan looked at him. he wasn't selling himself. That was the strange thing about it. There was no warmth in it, no attempt to be appealing, no performance of any kind. He was just presenting facts about himself.
It was possibly the least romantic thing Lin Wan had ever experienced and yet somehow it was more honest than anything Chen Wei had said to her in the past
Lin Wan looked at her countdown.
02:18:44
"Your home is far from the main settlement," Lin Wan said. "You live alone."
"Yes."
"If I accept your claim, you would not bring other females into our home."
Something moved across Wang's face. Fast and controlled. "I would never do that," he said, and for the first time there was something underneath the flat practicality of his voice, something quieter and more certain that had edges Lin Wan could not fully see yet. "A claim from me is not a partial claim, I fully intend to keep my words to you"
Lin Wan held his gaze.
She thought about the countdown. She thought about any other alternative, but there was none.
She thought about Chen Wei.
There were so many fishes in the river.
And this fish had just pulled her out of a pool and offered her protection and was patiently waiting for her answer, although it had been her that asked first, he was allowing her time to think things through.
Lin Wan lifted her chin.
"I accept," Lin Wan said.
Wang looked at Lin Wan for one long moment. The kind of moment that felt like it was measuring more than just the words.
Then nodded
"Then it is done," Wang said.
It was then that Lin realised what done means in the Wang's world.
It meant right now.