Beastly

Chapter 2

"Oh wow..." was out of her mouth before she could stop it. Hariel would have berated herself given she felt the soft purr from Ren below her, but he had stopped atop a hill overlooking the City and it was picturesque. Though it might just be the thought of being able to sleep under a proper roof for the first time in over four months and being able to socialize.

Before she could step off Ren, he began moving again toward the city but at a more sedated pace. Enough for her to sit atop him comfortably – at least until other beastman took notice of them.

"Is that a panther?? I thought they were all dead.."

"Wow, she's so beautiful! He must have stolen her, no female that beautiful would ever be with a panther willingly."

"She looks so soft!"

"Wow, look at her eyes..."

"...feral, where are the tetra-marked beastmen?"

The whispers were numerous and while she expected the ones about herself, Hariel was honestly shocked to hear the ones about Ren. He had treated her well enough so far for a "feral" beastman, and what was wrong with panthers?

They managed to make it to what appeared to be the center of the city and were met with a wall of large wolf beastman and a bald old man behind them.

"What is a feral doing with a captured female in the City of Beasts?" the bald man demanded while the wolves let out ominous growls.

Ren stopped before them and nudged her off his back, "She wanted to live in the city, so I helped her here." Ren answered with a vicious looking smirk after he shifted to stand before them.

"I'm also not captured." Hariel said firmly, standing strong next to Ren. She might not want him as a mate, but no one could deny the clear 4 marks across his pectorals. He was willing to be her buffer against these beastmen, and she was happy to take advantage of it.

"Female, you need not lie, we can protect you here." The bald man said, but his voice was oily and reminded her too much of the creeps back home that claimed they were 'nice guys' when they treated women like toys and had insecurities up the wazoo.

"I'm not a liar," she snarled, "I'm going to find a house and live in the city; none of you need to do anything about it or even bother me. I just wanted to be closer to trade and civilization."

Her tone took a few of the beastmen back, but she wanted to sleep between four sturdy walls and a roof! A semblance of normalcy back into her life after living in the wilderness for so long.

"Of course, such a beautiful female has changed this feral." The bald-man said loudly, calming some of the beastmen that surrounded them, "Then it is just a matter of payment for the home in the city. A clear crystal will be enough." His voice was like that of a shady cars salesman, charming but wanting to scam you out of everything you had.

Hariel had nothing save the clothes on her back, let alone a crystal? Like a quartz or something?

Ren thankfully seemed to know exactly what the beastman was talking about, and reached into his hair pulling on one of the braids where a small crystal was tied around the strands. He removed it from its confines and threw it at the smarmy beastman with a feral looking grin.

"There, we have paid. Now, we will be on our way."

The bald-man looked to be fighting to keep his "pleasant" expression but pocketed the crystal nonetheless. "Perfect, then I as the Ape-King welcome you to the City of Beasts. I'm sure you will be happy here and there are plenty of males you can choose from who will bring you many offspring!"

Hariel struggled to keep the disgust she felt off her face simply moved toward where she had seen a river. Being close to a source of water would just make life easier for herself.

Ren followed her without prompting, snarling at any beastman that tried to get close enough to talk to her and deterring them from the thought. When the two got to some homes, Ren sniffed one out that was unoccupied. It was rough looking, and somewhat overgrown given that no one had lived in it for some time, but it had more than four walls and a roof and was a walkable distance from the river.

It was perfect.

"This will work." Hariel said mostly to herself with a smile.

"It is in good condition. I can get new bedding for today and fix the roof tomorrow." Ren commented, looking at the house analytically.

She paused in her self-celebration and turned to the panther beastman. "Ren....thank you. I wouldn't have been able to pay for the house without you."

Ren turned to smile brightly at her and stars he was ridiculously handsome. "I told you, I can and will take care of you." He said honestly, "I will clean up a bit and go hunting after for dinner."

She sighed softly, "We can clean up together and I can finish setting up while you hunt. I'm not going to sit idly and do nothing when I can work just as well as you can."

Once again, the panther looked taken aback at her response but smiled softly, "I would not be able to stop you either way, would I?"

That got a soft chuckle from her as she responded, "Now you're learning." When they moved into the house she saw that there was dirt practically caked into the stone floor, but the structure itself was rather sturdy looking. There were remnants of what appeared to be a straw bed littered at the center of the largest room, and what looked to be broken woven-baskets in the smaller side room, but beside the dirt and trash she felt utterly relieved.

Ren moved silently to the straw pile littering the floor and lifted it to throw outside. Surprisingly, they worked perfectly together and didn't get in each-others way as they cleaned the house. It was when Ren was working to create a makeshift broom from some foliage that she turned to him with a soft release of air.

"Hariel."

Ren's eyes widened as he snapped his head to look at her, "What...?"

"My name, it's Hariel."

His smile was beautiful and so genuine in its happiness, "Hariel....I will do everything I can to make you happy, this I swear to you."

The mood soured for her, but she held it in. Nothing she could say would change his mind, and as horrible as it was, she needed him around to stop other beastmen from taking advantage of her or use her. If anything, he could be an amazing friend to have in this world. Even so, those were all thoughts of the future she didn't really want to think about too deeply on. She would take things one day at a time, and maybe one day she would feel comfortable enough to call it home.