And Rhys got all that info because he was staring.
“See, he’s got that setil in him,” one of the grannies said.
“I think she’s young,” Rhys said, pointing at the short one.
“Ohh, yes, but we asked,” another granny chimed in. “If you want, you can ask them. Yes, they are looking down right now, but if any of them says that they don’t want you, we will remove them.”
'Figures,' Rhys thought.
“Now, may the fathers come in…”
'Don’t be kidding…'
“…the elders have done it.”
“I knew it. So, which one’s yours?” Rhys asked Setil.
“Mine’s the last one,” Setil said, pointing at the female who was the same height as Rhys. “And the one with the blue eyes is Vaikor’s. Lycan’s is the youngest one.”
“What about her…”
“Her father, Alpha Typholo, died in the neutral city war along with his wife,” Setil explained. “We wanted to give her to Setil, but he said no. It was surprising.”
“Yes, it was; even Vaikor was surprised,” Lycan added, stepping up from behind.
“Don’t worry, Rhys, we didn’t force them or threaten them,” Vaikor said. “Our wives wouldn’t let that happen. But they accepted, so please take care of them, even if you might not always be there.”
'My options of leaving are being limited,' Rhys thought.
“I’ll talk to them, each one by one. If they accept, they accept—it’s not like the elders give me another option.”
“We don’t. No alpha should be single.”
“Or marrying only one wife…”
“Rhys, we will be back,” Lycan and Vaikor said, leaving as the grannies shouted after them.
'So they’re in on it, too,' Rhys thought, realizing who was next in line for marriage.
“So, who are you talking to first?” one of the grannies asked.
“I’ll talk to them on my own time. Right now, I need to go do some stuff,” Rhys said, subtly stepping back.
“You can go, but if we—”
“I’ll talk to them, thank you,” Rhys interrupted, turning and walking away quickly.
He was finally out, but not for long. Soon, he found himself being called over toward the wall where development was well underway—lots of progress, and it was getting big.
He put in a solid day's work, not even noticing the hours fly by until it was already dawn. More importantly, he had a nagging feeling that someone was missing.
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'Uhh, damn it, it’s Cil. What has she been up to all this time?' Rhys asked himself. He caught a few waves as he walked by and returned them with a polite gesture.
He made his way through the rest of the settlement before finally reaching his house.
“I haven’t seen Cil all day,” Rhys said as he walked in.
“She’s playing with some female canids,” Sely replied. “The grannies and female alphas agreed that she should start playing with other girls her age, regardless of species.”
“Is that so? What about you? How’s your day been?”
“Nothing much, just like yesterday. Mikok passed through, though.”
“Was he looking for me?”
“No, he actually came to tell me that we can meet tomorrow.”
“You and him?” Rhys asked.
Sely caught the underlying question immediately. “Uhh, no, not like that! No, Mikok is way too young, and…”
“Just joking,” Rhys said with a smile.
Cil came back later, already full, and went straight to bed.
It was another familiar night—the second in a row—and he was out walking. It hadn’t rained, but tonight was cold. Luckily, he had managed to get his hands on a coat lined with animal fur. He had asked about where it came from, but Lycan and Vaikor had only blushed and brushed the question off.
By the time he woke up and finished dreaming the next morning, it was raining. The rest of the day was spent indoors spending time with Cil, who, for some reason, kept spamming Sely’s name while Rhys tried in vain to get her to say his.
The next day didn’t involve building the wall—it was a rest day. The felids were resting too when Rhys joined them.
“Morning, guys,” Rhys said, looking over at them.
“Oh, morning, Master…”
“Master?”
“Well, you do own us, don’t you?” one of them asked.
“Just call me Rhys, like everyone else,” he said.
A voice shouted from behind them. “He called you Alpha!”
“Canids are stubborn,” Rhys said with a faint smile, sitting down among the felids. “So, how many of you want to leave?”
“We are not done yet,” one of the oldest replied.
“Who even thinks of leaving?” Rhys asked. “I mean, I think there’s everything you need to stay here, isn’t there?”
“You look like you want to keep your word,” another commented.
“Do you remember what I said on the day they gave you to me?”
“No, we didn’t want to get involved.”
“Not even listening? Okay, then. As I said—or what I meant—the only way for you to be safe is to stay here. Out there, they will get you,” Rhys said. “I told you I can give you a place, food, and shelter over your heads, but you need to give your loyalty to the alphas. That’s all.”
He gestured around them. “And take a look. Okay, let me ask you a question: what have I said that hasn’t happened yet?”
They went quiet for a moment, until one of them broke the silence. “You said you would remove these chains.”
“I said that if you make this place better, help build it, then you get to choose what you want—stay or leave. That’s your freedom. But if you stay, you live like a canid,” Rhys replied. “It’s the only way to break this chain of torture and slavery against each other.”
“I don’t think you know torture,” came a sharp response.
Rhys stood up abruptly. “Forgive me. I need some time to myself,” he said, turning away.
“Apologize…”
“What…”
“He was suddenly holding back a tear—”
“Fucking apologize, fool! That’s an Alpha—”
“He’s gone,” one of them said, watching Rhys take a sharp turn.
“Next time keep your mouth shut. Now you’ve gotten us all in trouble,” a female felid snapped.
“Alpha!” a shout rang out, reaching Rhys just as he quickly swiped at his eyes.
“Yes?”
“Is everything okay? It looked like you were crying,” a canid asked, jogging closer.
“Uhh, it’s nothing. Just something went into my eyes,” Rhys replied.
“Oh, okay. I thought it was the felids.”
“No, no, just got something in my eye. Have you seen Setil?”
“Alpha Setil? No, but I heard you will be getting married! Most of us are getting prepared—”
“Rhys, come here,” a female voice called out, before quickly correcting herself, “Sorry, Alpha Rhys.”
“I hate this… uhh,” Rhys muttered, gesturing toward his collar.
“Yes, sorry, Alpha,” she replied.
“Who’s she?”
“She’s mostly with the grannies…”
At that, Rhys took off running.
“Alpha…!”
Those old ladies want to—
“Forgive me, Alpha, but you haven’t—”
Rhys gasped, startled as a figure appeared out of nowhere.
“Uhh, you scared me! How did you do that?” he asked, trying to calm his racing heart.
“Forgive me…”
“No, there’s nothing to forgive you for…”
“Lirea. That’s my name.”