Reborn as a Side Character in the Beastworld

Chapter Fifty-three

*What do you do when you have a bit of writer's block? Write from a different perspective.

With accurate precision, Bai Qingqing was tossed onto a stack of furs just before Parker dived inside their home like a baseball player. The sound of an explosion followed right after him as Curtis' large snake form collided with their front door and awning. The whole front of their house turned into ruins, creating a cloud of dust that choked Qingqing, making her cough.

"Hack! Hack! Curtis!" She made to run to him but Parker quickly stepped in front of her, preventing her from getting too close.

"You can't! It's too dangerous. Wait here. I'll do it." Parker checked to see that Qingqing was going to cooperate before moving to the feral and poking his red scales with one elongated and clawed finger. "Oi! You alive?"

Curtis let out a strained hiss before shifting his upper body into his much smaller half beastman form. When he did, a few stones that had been supported by his massive size, came free and fell around parker, one almost knocking him in the head. "Watch it!" Parker yelled.

The snake ignored the leopard and moved swiftly to his Snow. He gently touched her fear and concern filled face.

She took his hand in hers. "Curtis are you Ok?" She scanned him for injuries but besides a few bruises, couldn't immediately see anything.

"I'm fine. Are you alright Snow? You must have been startled. That stupid leopard wasn't too rough with you was he?" He did a scan of his own but couldn't find a single bruise on her. At least the stupid cat had been careful.

Qingqing nodded. "I'm also ok. Parker saved me. How was that green snake able to overpower you like that?"

A shadow darkened Curtis' eyes and a murderous aura surrounded him. "I'm not sure how, but he is stronger than I am. He may be a really old tetra-marked beast or a legendary penta-marked beastman."

"Penta-marked? I thought that was just a story." Piped in a curious leopard.

So had Curtis, before tonight. He had faced enemies stronger than himself and in greater numbers, earning him his stripes quickly. But this snake was far more powerful than he could have imagined. Even if he was a five stripe, he wasn't new to the power. That feral must have had such strength long enough to perfect it. He was a foe he would never be able to defeat unless he used some kind of scheme like an ape or fox. Worry for his Snow creased his brow. "If that snake is living in the city, then we should leave. He's too dangerous for you to be around." He said to Qingqing.

Qingqing looked down at the floor in disappointment. She mumbled, "But I don't want to leave. Where would we even go? Maybe I can talk with Bailey. We haven't been here very long, and we were going to start a family here." The thought of 'family' had her remembering something she couldn't believe she forgot. "Oh! What about the eggs! Are they ok? Did they hatch? Where are they?"

Slightly irritated that his mate was now looking around their stone cabin for the snakelings instead of worrying about herself, he snapped at the leopard who had just been standing idly by, listening in. "Make yourself useful and fix this mess." He then turned to his Snow. "They've all hatched. Stay here and I'll go get them." He picked her up and set her back down on the furs that had caught her fall earlier.

Parker, though not without complaint, fixed the house as best he could for the night. What followed was the first meeting between their mate and her first clutch.

***

"I hate her." Said a female voice filled with malice. Rosa sat in her large, elegantly decorated room on a bed of the softest furs while her males did everything they could to alleviate her soured mood. "How dare she tell me how to raise my cubs! If it wasn't for her, I would have been rid of Parker and his stupid female. I could have gotten her sold!"

Her two cubs sat cowering in the corner at their mother's anger, afraid of the physical form her disappointment might take on. Bart looked at them with pity and though he would never let it show, his own heart was torn. This night he had seen what it was to have a female that not only desired her males, but feared for them and defended them as well. He witnessed a female put a stranger's cubs before herself. The contrast between that female and his, shook him to the core. Even the Leopard Prince's strange female that cared for her feral mate, hadn't cared about the injured pups.

It was a relief for Bart to know that his softhearted little brother was the one watching his other two cubs this night. They would be safe and well cared for. But tonight was also a lesson for them. They had learned that they're own mother, who was the most desired female of the city, would not show them any mercy. If she was the standard, they would have learned that females would only show their favor to those that successfully followed through with any request and that any failure would be met with harsh consequences. They learned that males, due to their quantity were no more than tools for the precious few females.

Deep down he hoped that someday his cubs might find someone as unique as Winston's female or even Parker's, but realistically he knew it was not likely. So, he would need to teach them. Teach them to be stronger, more cunning, and teach them to never show weakness. Especially in front of a female.

"Are you listening to me?" Rosa's voice cut Bart off from his parenting plans and brought his attention back to his still fuming mate. "I want her sold or dead Bart. I'm going to talk to daddy in the morning and ask him to get rid of her. I can't stand the idea of living in the same city as her! First she takes Winston from me, then she interrupts me while I was trying to make Parker and his female pay for killing my mates, and finally, SHE SLAPPED ME!" The memory of the assault had her bringing her hand to her still red cheek. Then her eyes turned sharp and gold towards her mates. "And YOU! You all just stood there and let her!"

Her mates, terrified of being turned rootless by her, rushed to her side. They begged for forgiveness and fawned over her. They all promised they would do anything to make it up to her and that it would never happen again. All but Bart who stood with a straight back but with his head down in what looked to be silent self-reproach. When in reality, he just couldn't bring himself to kneel to his female that had chosen revenge over self-reflection.