Reborn as a Side Character in the Beastworld

Chapter Forty-four

Winston had very few beasts he trusted. However, there was a small group that had been with him on multiple caravan expeditions and would follow his orders. Two tiger beasts from that group had been the ones who had gone to Bailey's home village and investigated the cause of the illness at his request. He left his mate with her leopard at the clinic to reach out to them once again. Now that he knew about the tree, he wanted to make sure the Ape King couldn't accuse Bailey of being a liar nor get his hands on more poison.

He went to their dens personally and asked them to spread word about what they had seen at Bailey's village and what had happened at the Ape King's castle to both the tiger and leopard tribes. He also asked them to go back to Bailey's village and burn the dying tree to the ground.

He knew these two tigers would do as he asked but he also knew they would report this request to their king. That was fine with him. The more people who knew about the trees and the Ape King's possession of one, the safer Bailey would be. He even thought about poisoning someone and framing the Ape King, but such an indirect approach felt cowardly. His opinion of the Ape King was already low, but after learning he had used poison in the future Bailey saw, it dropped to rock bottom. He couldn't bring himself to use the same methods.

Once he was satisfied that his orders would be carried out, he walked slowly back home. The footwear his mate had made him protected his feet from the wet and cold. A feeling of pride swelled in his chest. She introduced new and amazing things to their lives daily and hardly ever complained about anything. She was always interesting to observe. At times she was quiet and lost in thought while other times she was playful and laughed easily. Most of her thoughts shone on her face and thankfully he could usually guess what she wanted from that.

But because she was so thoughtful and independent, he worried she would go somewhere he couldn't reach. Just like the time she had been swept away by the flood. He had felt so powerless then. What use was strength against a natural disaster? She had told him of the city's future and everything in his body screamed that they should leave now and get as far away from any danger as possible, but she didn't want to. She wanted to prevent the deaths she had predicted. No matter how tough and commanding she acted, her heart was softer than rabbit fur.

He loved that about her, but hated it as well. He felt nervous anytime he had to leave her side to hunt or train Kit. Her beauty already attracted beasts like flies to fruit and he spent many hours chasing away would be mates without her knowledge. He was grateful for the snake because he kept her safe and distracted while he was busy. He knew she would might take more mates in the future, but he couldn't trust anyone in this city. Males were normally loyal to their mates but the kings held great sway in the populace's opinions. Anyone living here might doubt her words or put a king's orders above hers thinking they were doing what was best for her.

And now with the Ape King's wolf laying in Harvey's clinic, he was even more nervous. Did he get those wounds from following Bailey's orders? Would he resent her for it? If so, should he just kill the wolf now to prevent future issues? But no, Bailey already felt guilty, and he was one of the lives she had wished to save.

He had heard their conversation last night from the front room where he lay with the sleeping Kit. Her anxiety over the burnt tree was palatable. Despite the confident mask she wore in public, she doubted herself behind closed doors. He was glad she could open up and talk about it to her mates but he didn't like seeing her put herself down. He wished she would rely on them more, not just as confidants but as protectors. If he could do things his way, against beasts, even kings, he would never allow her to get hurt. He knew even the snake wanted to simply destroy any beast that threatened her but held back because of her. It was so very frustrating. Her soft heart kept them all from crossing that line.

Winston sighed. He was overthinking again. It didn't matter. If she didn't want to kill anyone, he wouldn't. It made her happy and that was what mattered. So, he would simply continue to do everything else he could to keep her safe. It just meant he would have to use his brain more than his brawn just like today. Maybe his habit of overthinking would finally be useful.

He smirked a little self-deprecatingly and shook his head to clear away the clutter, resuming his walk back to his home. Back to her.

When he got back to the clinic, Bailey was in the back room discussing fever reducers with Harvey and Kit was in a play bow trying to get the young wolf to chase him. The wolf looked like he wanted to but was hesitating due to his leg.

"Kit." Winston's voice warned.

Kit looked over at his tiger papa and lowered his ears and tail in a pout. He couldn't understand why no one wanted to play with him.

"Come on. It's time for your training." Winston started taking off his boots, not wanted them to get ruined when he shifted. Then he noticed a certain wolf's ears and tail had perked up at the mention of training.

"...did you want to come? We'll be tracking arctic hares." Might as well take the wolf cub too so his mate and Harvey could focus on their work.

"Is that alright?" Oliver asked shyly.

"Come or not. Up to you." Winston replied shortly. The cub technically wasn't a cub any more since he had a name and could shift. He wasn't going to encourage the boy one way or the other.

The boy shifted into a sleek black wolf and though he limped, eagerly approached Winston and Kit. Winston nodded, shifted and led the two young things out the door for a hunt. Maybe they could get enough pelts to make Baily the hand warmer and hat set she had drawn the other day.