Reborn as a Side Character in the Beastworld

Chapter Thirty-five

*Updates may be slow. A duck decided to abandon one of her sick ducklings on my front porch and it is keeping me busy trying to nurse it back to health.

I was thinking about what approach to take, the whiney bitch or the bitchy bitch or the sweet bitch, when we arrived at the gap in the castle's stone wall. I was still astride Winston, but it seemed like the two orange tiger guards didn't recognize him. They were too busy looking at me. Winston growled a 'keep your eyes to yourselves' warning. Sweet bitch it is. Gotta offset Winston's alpha aura. What was the term? Good cop bad cop?

I gave Winston a pat and the guards a polite smile as they made way and let us in. They both flushed red. Once inside the courtyard, most of the males wandering about got distracted by our presence and stopped whatever they were doing. This irritated Winston further and low growls continually emanated from his throat. No one stopped us. No one dared.

The last time I was here, I was a bit distracted and didn't get a good look at it. The castle itself was made from the same granite stones as the city homes but on a much larger scale. It had multiple levels and was spread out over an area the size of a football field. We didn't waste any time touring the place and headed straight for the King's throne room. Luckily the throne room was made to receive visitors so there was no need to wander the maze-like structure.

Once in front of the throne room, Winston shifted and put on the skirt I made him, complete with a hole for his tail, and held me with one arm.

"Notify the Tiger King that Winston and Bailey are here as requested." He told the guards at the door. One immediately ran off to do as he was told while the other let us into the room where we could wait for the king. It didn't take long.

Through a side door, the king, with his long black hair in a French braid and goatee, entered. The King had a great big smile on his face as though he were greeting his best friend. Looking like he wanted to give Winston a hug, he instead opted to sit on his throne because of my presence.

"Winston! It's so good to see you. First you went on that long caravan trip and then you got mated and left the city. I've missed you little brother. How have you been?"

The King almost looked sincere. I wasn't sure if he was genuine or a better liar than I'd realized. There hadn't been a lot of information on the Tiger King's personality that I could remember other than his relationship with Rosa.

Winston looked completely taciturn as usual. "Tiger King," he greeted, "This is my mate Bailey," his cold eyes grew softer as he introduced me and then grew hard again when he looked back, "Why have you called for us?"

He sighed and shook his head. "Stiff as always, I see. "I just thought it would be nice to welcome you and your mate back to the city. As your older brother I was concerned. I heard you found a den in the Wolf King's territory. Is it large enough? If you need something bigger, I can always help you find something in the Tiger territory." He seemed displeased that we weren't living under his thumb.

"Your concern is unnecessary. Our den is perfect thanks to my mate." Winston stood like a soldier. His tail didn't even flinch.

"Oh? Is she a skilled den-maker?" The king looked at me appraisingly. I flashed my professional smile. He flinched, not expecting a female to show confident courtesy.

"She is." My tiger said with pride.

"You are quite the lucky beast brother. I'm surprised." He turned to address me but obviously hadn't bothered to remember my name. "Female, I've heard you have taken a feral into your den as well. Does that not make things... uncomfortable?"

Ahh. There it was. The real reason he asked for us. He wanted to learn about Lance. The second snake feral to have moved into the city with a female. Something that had never happened historically. It must be like watching two cars crash into your house. But I doubt he'd be calling for help. He'd be more likely to call the cops and have us all arrested.