Reborn as a Side Character in the Beastworld

Shapely Lemons

*I do not own this art. I combined two images I found on Pinterest to make this. All credits to original artist.

A couple days after giving birth, we moved into Harvey's hut. My recovery was fast as, unlike with human babies, I had no tearing or muscle weakness. Even so, my mates would not let me go anywhere or do anything they would consider strenuous for a female. Winston and Harvey had done an amazing job at remodeling and cleaning the hut. Harvey had helped me finish the thin mattress I had been making and Winston caught a variety of birds for us to eat so we could use the down feathers after washing and drying them. The mattress was where I spent most of my nursing days.

Kit grew quickly. Way too quickly. In just a couple weeks, his gray baby fuzz was turning into tufts of orange. He went from being the size of a pineapple to the size of a melon. He still hadn't opened his eyes, but he was voracious and energetic. He never stayed still for long, always exploring his environment by wobbly crawling around on his tiny legs. Since beastmen don't get their names until they mature, we simply continued to call him Kit.

The thing I was most grateful for was that I never had to deal with the dirty diapers. Either Winston or Harvey took care of it. Both had learned what my standard of clean was and had no problems implementing it into our daily life.

The one downside to being treated like glass, was being bored out of my mind. With no such things as books and movies, the only thing I could spend my time doing, was sleeping, nursing and sewing. I almost went mad to the point that I envied Qingqing's cooking and creating abilities. So, I began to teach. I taught my males both basic arithmetic and basic letters. They respectfully didn't ask where I had gained such knowledge, but they were both diligent students. Besides studying and cub care, Harvey continued to work and Winston kept busy by frequently patrolling the borders of the village.

After the beginning of the third week, I decided it was time. Harvey bent over backwards to keep me happy and though Winston was still disgruntled with the leopard, they worked well together and never argued. At least not where I could see. I refused to be the type of female that would use a male that cared for her but then drew a line at intimacy. I cared for Harvey and was attracted to him. There was no reason to wait any longer.

That evening, after I'd fed Kit and both males where home, I handed the cub over to Winston, "Winston, can you watch Kit for a while?"

He looked at me with one eyebrow raised as he took Kit from me.

"I'm going to mate with Harvey." I said bluntly. I shuddered on the inside at how bold those words were. But as a beast in a beastworld, blunt was best.

A crashing sound followed my words. Harvey had dropped a basket full of something in the other room.

Unsurprising, Winston looked put off by my declaration. I leaned closer to him. I looked down at Kit in his arms and then to Winston's face. Using my right hand, I stroked his cheek along his scar. I let all the love I felt for him fill my eyes before standing on my toes and kissing him softly on the lips.

There was nothing I could say to make him feel happy about the situation. We all desire to keep the one we love to ourselves. In another world where there were just as many women as men, he might have been able to monopolize his mate's affections. But in this world, such a thing was tantamount to the female's death sentence. Here, we were fewer, weaker and entirely reliant. The only thing I could do was show him he would never lose his place in my heart. I would prove to each of my future mates that I had the capacity to love each of them. As individuals.

I pulled away and Winston nodded in acceptance. Without another word, he left.

When Harvey didn't come into the bedroom, after waiting ten minutes, I poked my head out. He had his back to me and was fiddling with his herb collection.