Reborn as a Side Character in the Beastworld

Chapter Six

The expressions on Parker's and Curtis' faces became darker. I was taking too long to reply to their precious Snow. I'd better say something before they bit my head off. Parker figuratively, Curtis literally. It was one of the reasons Mr. Snakey was not my bias. His homicidal tendencies extended to cubs if they were annoying enough.

Pulling all three cubs into my lap protectively, I finally responded. "Hello, Qingqing. I'm Bailey and this is my mate, Winston."

My words must have been too kind because her face lit up. "Bailey. That's a pretty name. Do you mind if I sit with you? There aren't any more unclaimed fires. I haven't been in the city that long either and don't know many people."

Ah. This was my fault. Novel version me had chosen a mate from the contestants earlier in the day and probably would have been sitting with his family, but wolfy, knowing I wouldn't want to join someone else's fire, had saved the last one for me. Qingqing, showing up fashionably late, had come to the only fire that wasn't crowded with people. In typical teenage fashion she naively attempted to use our new kids on the block circumstances to relate to me and 'make friends'.

I really wanted to say 'no'. I didn't hate Qingqing. She made stupid choices at times, but she was young. Born and raised in an Eastern culture, she had different ideas about how people should act. She really struggled with culture shock and never quite adapted to this world. I couldn't blame her. Hell, I even sympathized at times. But everywhere she went, trouble followed. Such is the fate of any main character. Without drama, the consumer will get bored.

I resisted the urge to sigh. "I don't mind." I lied. "Have a seat." I then looked over to wolfy. "Take your nephews back." I ordered, pushing the pups in his direction. I didn't want them to get caught up in a plot point. With two tetra marked beasts around, wolfy was simply outclassed, so he obediently took the pups and left my fire. Qingqing looked a little disappointed that she hadn't gotten the chance to play with the cuties.

She sat down and Parker, noticing her disappointment sat next to her and tried to comfort her. "Don't worry Qing Qing! Our cubs will be even cuter!"

Of course, Bai, being who she was turned bright red "Parker! You can't say things like that!"

Parker pouted and Curtis moved to sit behind Qingqing, wrapping his tail around her waist possessively. Winston hadn't reacted much to this whole situation except to watch the trio cautiously. His tail had found its way to my lap, replacing the pups, and giving me continuously reassuring pats.

"Sorry about him." She said. The comment Parker had made wasn't offensive in this world, but it might have been in hers. I couldn't remember well, but I didn't think she'd mated with the leopard yet at this point. Despite her protests, she was acting like she had, apologizing for him and all.

I waved off her apology. "He isn't completely wrong. If they take after their parents, your leopard cubs will be very cute indeed." Both Parker's and Bai's faces turned red. Curtis glowered. I ignored their reactions and started munching on a pear. Parker busied himself by putting together a plate of meat and fruit for Bai.

"Winston. You should eat too." I said, leaning forward so he could shift. He did and threw on the skirt he had brought with him. He piled a broadleaf high with the choicest cuts of the short bird and brought it over to me. He fed me a piece before taking one for himself. Parker, seeing the intimate action, copied it. Qingqing became embarrassed yet again and she quarreled with Parker, the two fools not realizing they'd gone off into their own little world.

I relaxed into Winston's side and enjoyed the feast.

"Would you look at that. Two ugly females taking my castoffs. How funny." Said a voice. I didn't even need to look up to see who that arrogant attitude belonged to. Rosa, Winston's niece had rode up on her triple marked wolf mate, Bart. I was expecting a confrontation of sorts this evening. She had wanted Winston for his power and his emerald. But now that I had both, she was going to try and knock me down a peg.

Parker reacted first. "You're the ugly one! My Qingqing is the prettiest female in the whole city!" He proudly proclaimed in childish fashion.

"Watch your words, Rosa. I won't tolerate any disrespect towards my mate." Winston chastised his niece like the cub she was.

"Hmmph! What do you mean by 'mate'. She hasn't even accepted you yet. She has no mark." She shot back haughtily with her chin in the air. "Don't worry Winston. I'll allow you to be my guardian if you give me your emerald."

"Rosa was it? I apologize for the confusion, but I believe I've already eaten the emerald you speak of. Winston gave it to me after his mark settled here." I turned my back so she could see it clearly. Her expression was turning livid, but I continued before she could interrupt. "Don't be too upset. You appear to have strong mates yourself. Your wolf mate is only one stripe away before he can take on a female Colossus."

"Why would you eat an emerald?" Qingqing whispered her question to Parker, but all of us had heard it.

Rosa shot her a bewildered look. "Did you grow up under a rock? How stupid can you be?"

In an attempt to keep things civil, I explained. "Emeralds are valuable because ingesting them maintains your youth. But they can only be harvested after killing a female Colossus. So far, I've only heard of tetra marked males being strong enough to defeat one. Your snake mate might manage if you desired it."

Curtis puffed up at that. "I can get you as many as you want, Snow." He said affectionately putting her hair behind her ear.

"I don't need it. It sounds too dangerous." She said, gazing at Curtis with worry. Again, Qingqing and her males were once again in their own world.

Rosa grimaced at the scene and turned back to Winston. "You will regret not having come to me. I guess since this ugly female has decided to keep you, you'll need to find your own den. Leave the Tiger king's castle. Tonight. Let's go Bart." With that she was gone.

The confrontation hadn't been as bad as I'd expected. I thought Rosa would be more childish and throw a fit, but I suppose since I mated with Winston right away, there wasn't much else she could do. Her other target, Parker, was so obviously head over heels for Qingqing that there was no point trying to convince him to become her mate instead. Maintaining a civil attitude had de-escalated what could have been a battle of elementary level insults between the two.

I sighed.

Winston, noticing my obvious relief at Rosa's departure, hung his head. "I'm sorry. Rosa is my brother's, the Tiger King's cub. She'd been spoiled since she was little. He does whatever she asks. I'll try and find us a place to stay the night."

Qingqing looked at our mates pleadingly. "We have enough room. They can stay the night at our place. Can't they?"

At her words, I was seriously debating if it would be better to take on that single striped wolf over spending a single night at Qingqing's. I didn't have any other acquaintances in the city and no tiger would risk Rosa's ire by sheltering us. But I wasn't sure how much I could trust the wolf. The Wolf King was under the Ape King's thumbs and Winston was a threat to his power base. He tried to kill Winston on multiple occasions in the novel. If he couldn't kill Winston, then he'd try to get rid of me to make Winston leave the city.

"If that's what you want." Curtis told her while placing a hand on her head. He shot both me and Winston a warning glare. It was clear that one night was all he would allow.

Rock meet hard place.

In the end it was decided that we would take Qingqing up on her offer. I didn't want to take a second mate for such a silly reason. But, it was too late at night and Winston couldn't very well leave me by myself to look for a place. So after eating our fill, our group of five took the long trek to Qingqing's house on the outer border of the city.