“No, I was just asking, considering everyone has that someone,” Sely said.
“Normally, yes, I would like to have some girls around me—at least before being here. Now? No. I wouldn’t even think of having children here. This place would just find a way of making them into monsters, killing others,” Rhys replied.
“Have you taught her to do hair?” Rhys asked Sely.
“No, but that’s good. It means she’s getting better; she will be fine in a year or so.”
“Just as Lycan said, then. Waiting until the building is done is enough time for her. Okay then, I’ll wait,” Rhys said, letting Cil take a bit more control of his head.
He woke up in the night only to eat, go back to sleep, and wake up the next day.
Well, the job was going forward without his supervision—perhaps because most of them didn’t like the idea of letting a human show that level of authority over them, or simply because they wanted to get it done with as soon as possible.
Setil, though, was stealing the show so much that Rhys decided to go think about the fish pond. He was thinking so hard that Mikok had to shake him.
“Oh, Mikok.”
“I was asking about the felids. They are digging fast. Do you think they should take a rest?”
“Oh, no, let them do their thing. So long as it was explained, everything should be fine,” Rhys replied. “What about you? Are you doing your part?”
“Yes, everyone is giving it their best.”
“Not everyone. Okay then, I’m joining.”
Rhys decided to go with Mikok, who tried making him change his mind, but it was too late. The moment he shortened his trousers, he was right in the mud.
That’s how the day shortened. Cil was with Sely, but she came over to Rhys, and it was playing time. Some canids weren't thrilled about it, but she was for Rhys—if you didn’t like them, you just stayed away.
The next few days were progressive and quick, as were the efforts of the felid slaves and the female canids, who did their gardening well, too.
More days flew by. Cil was advancing in height, making it a little harder to pick her up, but she still held his hand and slept next to him.
It wasn’t all workouts, though. Rhys would organize some breaks for chatting and other stuff. At this point, though he didn’t notice it, his influence was getting to the children and the young females. But he simply thought everyone was just starting to feel at home.
On another night walk—something that had become consistent, whether by the table or the bed—that slick taste came to his mouth again. It made the potion Sely gave him every five days feel unpleasant, even though this one was actually sweet.
This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.
“I’ve heard about this. I just thought I couldn’t find you today.”
“I like walking, the moonlight, the wall that’s being built, everyone feeling fine, smiling…”
“You are scared. I can see it. I can sense the fear.”
“Sense?”
“Smell.”
Damn, I forgot, canids have that dog inside them, with whatever this world adds to it, Rhys thought.
“Is that common, though? I mean, smelling fear?”
“Oh, no. I’m an alpha, remember? The more we stay, the……” Setil started, but then he remembered why he came. “You tried changing the story, so...”
“I want to learn....” Rhys interrupted, but Setil cut back in.
“So, why are you so scared?”
“I’m not scared…”
“You have no female. Not even the boy, that boy you’re always with.”
“Mikok?”
“Yes, he’s got a girl. Well, someone likes him…”
“Right now is not a good time…”
“You are scared…”
“Why do you insist on that?”
“Rhys, you said you would leave this place and there was no fear in leaving. But when we are building a home, you are scared?”
“Alpha Setil, I’m sorry, but—”
“You’re not leaving. Not even if it means beating you,” Setil said.
Rhys stayed quiet for a while.
“But I won’t, because the elders want to talk to you today, so go sleep,” Setil said, as the moon suggested the time was around 3:00 AM.
Neither Rhys nor Setil moved for a moment, waiting each other out. After a valiant try, Rhys decided to leave the big alpha be.
“And hey, stop these walks. You’re making the other alphas look lazy,” Setil said, watching Rhys wave away as he headed back to the house.
Not a good look. Today felt less like a conversation and more like being called into a teacher’s meeting.
' I thought the first question would be, "Why are you helping canids?" But damn, they’re asking me why I’m not looking for a girl,' Rhys thought.
“Do you know how many wives Setil has, boy?” one of them asked.
“Setil is married?”
“Five. And each of those wives is for a different canid group that was lost,” another replied. He had big, flat ears with grey hair in between.
“I’ll…”
“Even if you help build the united canids village, if you don’t have a wife...”
“A canid wife, not a felid wife.”
“Felid?”
“Don’t…”
“Uhh, Sely? She’s not a wife, just....”
“She looks after you, is beginning to cook for you, feeds you, sleeps in the same bed, would gratefully birth you, lie for you…”
“Kiss you…”
“I think you could even make that rotten heart of hers feel the tingle...”
“Not rotten,” Rhys said.
“See? The right words make you angry.”
“No, I just hate it when the right words are used for the wrong person,” Rhys replied.
“Is that so? Okay then, we won’t fight with you over that. We just need you to have....”
“I won’t stay here long,” Rhys said. “I can’t carry anyone out there. Sely and Cil might fight over it, but I don’t want to bring more people into harm’s way.”
“Why would you leave?”
“Because I had an old friend, a male Ravari elder. My comfort almost caused his death. If it didn’t, my… I can’t stay here long. Not when we are done and Cil is grown,” Rhys replied.
“Oh, the neutral city, I think. The inner one, considering the other one is now part of the human kingdoms,” one said.
" A normal human boy or male , especially at your age would jump from one female to the next, looking for a wife." Another said.
Two other nodding to the statement.
There were ten of them in total. It was hard to keep track, especially since most of them looked identical, different complexion but looked identical, worse they was all female.
“Please forgive us for making it look like you have another option,” one of them said.
“But you don’t. You will get married to them. Four of the girls, we have already chosen them.”
“But…”
“They don’t have to follow you. You can leave them, then come by to greet them…”
“Why not be like Setil…”
“He could have accepted already,” another interrupted.
“Please go get them, dear,” one of them said before another stood up.
She came back with four girls. One stood out the most—literally, she was taller than Rhys himself. The second was the next tallest, the third was shorter than Rhys, and the fourth matched his height. All of them were white in complexion, but had different touches to their hair and ears: one looked Asian-ish, another like a breed between Asian and blonde, and two had that pure, striking white look.