He looked around at the gathered crowd, playing to them like an actor on a stage.
"After all, it's only fair, isn't it? A female blessed with such divine favor shouldn't be claimed by just ONE male. Think of the potential." His grin widened. "Her womb must be incredibly fertile with the gods' blessing. Each member of our tribe should have a chance to—"
Faelyn's stomach lurched violently.
'Did he just. Did he just suggest I should be passed around like some kind of breeding stock?!'
'I'm going to be SICK.'
[Oh GROSS,] even Puffball sounded disgusted. [That's NOT how mate bonds work! That's NOT how ANY of this works!]
Nyx's eyes flashed dangerously red, and the temperature around him seemed to drop several degrees.
Nyx's mind: ฅᨐฅ'He thinks she's. He wants to. I'm going to KILL him. I'm going to shift right here and tear him limb from limb and scatter his remains across—'ฅᨐฅ
But underneath the rage, Faelyn caught something else in Nyx's thoughts.
Nyx's mind: ฅᨐฅ'I thought they were different. I thought the Sunpelt Leopards were soft. Weak. Too pampered and peaceful to be a real threat. But this. This rot exists in every clan. Even ones that preach peace and cooperation. If THIS is what she'd face in Roshan's village, I can't. I CAN'T leave her here.'ฅᨐฅ
"That's ENOUGH," Roshan snarled, and for the first time since Faelyn had met him, he looked genuinely furious. "Darius, you will show respect to our guest, or I will have you removed from this village."
"Removed?" Darius's eyebrows shot up. "By what authority, Chief? Last I checked, I've served this clan for two hundred and sixty years. I've fought in wars you weren't even alive to remember. I've earned my place here." He stepped closer to Roshan, voice dropping to something cold. "Unlike some who inherited their position because Daddy was too soft to choose a REAL successor."
The crowd gasped.
Roshan's mind: ฅᨐฅ'He's challenging me. Publicly. In front of the clan. If I back down now, I lose their respect. But if I fight him, Faelyn could get hurt in the crossfire and—'ฅᨐฅ
"And besides," Darius continued, turning back to Faelyn with that awful grin, "I'm not suggesting anything improper. Simply that a female of such clear divine blessing should be appreciated by the WHOLE clan. Shared, as it were. After all, unmated females belong to the strongest, and I don't see any marks on her pretty neck claiming otherwise."
He took another step toward her.
Roshan moved to block him again.
And Nyx's control finally snapped.
He crossed the distance between them in half a second, moving with predatory speed that made several of the watching leopards jump back.
One moment he was standing at the edge of the crowd.
The next he was directly between Darius and Faelyn, red eyes blazing with barely contained violence.
"Touch her," Nyx said, voice dropping to a lethal growl that made the hair on Faelyn's arms stand up, "and you die."
The entire clearing went completely silent.
Even the wind seemed to hold its breath.
Darius's grin somehow widened further, like this was exactly what he'd been hoping for.
"My, my," he said slowly, looking between Nyx and Roshan. "How interesting. The Panther Chief defending a Leopard Clan female with such passion. Almost like he's already claimed her himself."
His gaze slid to Roshan. "Or perhaps our benevolent Chief has decided to SHARE after all? How very progressive. How very... weak."
Roshan's mind: ฅᨐฅ'He's trying to start a war. Right here. Right now. Using her as the excuse. If I don't handle this perfectly, everything falls apart.'ฅᨐฅ
Nyx's mind: ฅᨐฅ'I don't care about the truce anymore. I don't care about politics. I don't care about ANYTHING except getting her away from this piece of filth who thinks he can talk about her like she's property.'ฅᨐฅ
"Is that a challenge, Panther Chief?" Darius asked, voice carrying across the silent clearing. "Because if you're going to threaten me on Leopard territory, you'd better be prepared to back it up."
The air crackled with tension.
Nyx's hands curled into fists, and Faelyn watched his body start to shimmer with that same dark energy she'd seen before the bear fight.
'He's going to shift. He's actually going to shift and fight this guy and then everything is going to explode and—'
Faelyn's mind raced.
'I need to do something. Say something. Anything.'
But what could she possibly say that would defuse a situation between three apex predators arguing over her like she was a prize to be won?
Elder Mira stepped forward, her small frame somehow commanding despite being dwarfed by every male present.
"Darius," she said, voice sharp as a blade. "You forget yourself."
"Do I, Elder?" Darius didn't even look at her, eyes still locked on Nyx. "I'm simply stating facts. The female is unmarked. Unclaimed. And blessed by the gods. Surely you, of all people, understand what that means."
Mira's expression darkened.
And Faelyn realized with dawning horror that Darius wasn't going to back down.
That Nyx was about two seconds from attacking.
That Roshan was caught between protecting her and protecting his clan's fragile peace.
And that she, somehow, was at the center of a political powder keg that was about to explode.
Darius took one more step toward her, reaching out like he was actually going to TOUCH her.
Both Nyx and Roshan moved at the exact same time.
Nyx reached Darius first, covering the distance with predatory speed that made several onlookers flinch. His hand shot out and caught Darius's wrist mid-reach, fingers wrapping around it with enough force that Faelyn heard bones creak.
Roshan was there half a heartbeat later, positioning himself as a living wall between all three men and Faelyn.
The crowd erupted into chaos.
"The Panther Chief just grabbed Darius!"
"Someone's going to die!"
"Get the Elder Council!"
"This is Leopard territory, he has no right—"
Faelyn could barely hear any of it over the overwhelming flood of thoughts crashing through her skull.
Nyx's mind: ฅᨐฅ'Mine. She's MINE. He doesn't get to touch her. No one touches her without permission. I'll break every bone in his hand if he tries again. I'll rip his arm clean off—'ฅᨐฅ
Roshan's mind: ฅᨐฅ'Get her out of here. I need to get her OUT of here before this turns into a bloodbath. Nyx is going to kill him. I might help him. But the clan is watching. I have to control this. I have to—'ฅᨐฅ
'Okay. Okay. This is bad. This is very bad. I've seen this before. Dominant males fighting over territory. Over resources. Over mates.'
Faelyn's brain kicked into overdrive, running through every protocol she'd ever learned about de-escalating aggressive animal behavior.
'Step one: Assess the threat level. Step two: Avoid direct eye contact if dealing with predators—it can be seen as a challenge. Step three: Make yourself non-threatening—don't run, don't freeze, move slowly and deliberately. Step four: Redirect the aggression away from yourself and onto something neutral. Step five: Create distance gradually while maintaining awareness.'
Except she couldn't do any of that.
Because if she ran, running would absolutely trigger every predatory instinct in this clearing. If she avoided eye contact, it would look like submission to the wrong person. If she stayed frozen, the fight would escalate. And if she waited for them to calm down, someone was definitely getting mauled.
'New plan. Terrible plan. Goes against every zookeeper protocol I know. Probably going to regret this plan.'
'But desperate times call for stupid decisions.'
ฅᨐฅ ⚞ • ⚟ ฅᨐฅ
Author's Note (つ≧▽≦)つ
What stupid decision(s) do you think Faelyn's about to do?