Iris nervously sat in the chair as the first male came up to her. He had white hair and chocolate-brown eyes. He lowered to the ground on one knee and offered Iris a gift as he said
"I'm Greg from the snow leopard tribe. I'm a one-star celestial beastman with no element."
Iris awkwardly accepted his gift. Glancing down at it she found some delicate white flowers wrapped in a small white rabbit fur. Iris looked to Caspian, unsure of what she was doing.
"It's okay, I'm here. You can just hand me the gifts after you look them over and I'll put them away. You can just shake your head if you aren't interested. If anyone catches your eye or you have questions, let me know."
Iris was grateful as she heard Caspian's reassurances. She looked back at the male who was staring at her with a nervous expression as he waited for her answer. Iris felt guilty as she quickly shook her head.
The next to walk up was a slightly larger beast with reddish brown hair and brown eyes. He quickly kneeled before Iris and offered her his gift.
"Hello, I am Paul from the best tribe. I'm a two-star celestial beastman with no element."
Iris accepted his gift and opened the stone container to see honey wrapped in water-resistant leaves. Iris shook her head feeling bitter. It felt strange accepting this gift from other males when her heart was still dwelling on another.
Several more males came up one after another, each offering gifts. Surprisingly, a good number of the males who turned up were of a decent level. There were even a small handful who were three-starred beasts but did not have elements.
Iris hesitated on rejecting them as she felt she may not be able to find better here. However, her line was still quite long and she had only gone through a couple dozen beastmen.
Most beastmen offered Iris flowers, bone jewelry, furs, or foods they thought she might like. Iris began to feel numb and wanted to tune out their words when Caspian softly whispered
"I know it's a lot, but you should try to focus. These beastmen are offering to pledge their lives to you and it would be impolite to not give them your consideration."
Iris knew Caspian was right. Besides, she needed to find two new mates today. She could only be picky for so long and tuning out would not help matters.
Iris looked carefully at the next male to have arrived. This one had dirty blonde hair with green eyes. He thrust his hands forward, offering up his gift as he nervously said
"I'm Colton from the leopard tribe. I haven't awakened my beast yet....."
Iris looked at the grasses he had wrapped in a squirrel hide and quickly handed it off to Caspian. After nearly getting sick eating grass earlier, Iris didn't even want to look at grass anymore. Iris gave a brief shake of her head and the beastman quickly scampered away.
The deep and gravelly voice of the next beastman caught Iris's attention as he said
"Hello beautiful, my name is Ember. I am from the mighty Phoenix Tribe. I have five stars and the fire element."
As Iris took in Ember's golden blonde hair with red highlights and amber eyes like melted honey, she felt awe. This male looked quite proud and had an exotic air about him. Iris swallowed hard as she turned to Caspian.
"Yes, my little mate?"
Iris pointed to Ember as she said
"I think we should accept him."
Ember gave a warm chuckle as he went to stand beside Caspian.
"You haven't even opened my gift yet, love. Of course, I can understand why you'd want someone with my talents but it's quite unusual to not look at your admirer's gifts before accepting them into your family."
Caspian rolled his eyes. It seems Iris had chosen quite the troublemaker. One he'd have trouble controlling as well considering the difference in power.
Iris turned to open her gift. It was neatly wrapped in a beautiful black fox fur. Iris's heart ached as she was once again reminded of the one she really wished to see.
Within the fur was a beautiful golden crystal carved into the shape of a rose with thin strips of braided vine neatly strung through the bottom half. The details were very intricate on the rose and Iris knew it had to be worth a small fortune. Iris turned back to Ember as she quietly said
"Thank you, it's beautiful."
Iris happily put on the necklace. Ember smiled haughtily as he took in the crestfallen looks of many of the single males still in line. He was quite sure that no one else in this line would be able to match his gift for the little female.
Iris was half in a daze as many other beastmen filtered through the line. When the line began to grow short, Iris began to worry. She had gotten too caught up in her complicated feelings. Caspian leaned in towards Iris and quietly whispered
"He's here now. You'll only have to wait a short while longer."
Iris's brows furrowed in confusion. She looked up and scanned the crowd unsure of what Caspian could possibly be talking about. It wasn't until another dozen or so males presented their gifts that Iris saw the telltale sight of a black tail peeking out of the line.
Iris's heart ached as the line seemed to pass by painfully slow. Listening to each male introduce themselves and accepting their gifts seemed useless. Iris wanted to see the owner of the black fox tail and she wanted him now.
When the half-orc beastman finally stepped forward, the crowd began to murmur. It was a point of pride for male beastmen to be able to fully transform and no male would willingly remain in a half-orc form.
Thus, the crowd could only speculate that a weak half-orc male had gotten it into his head to pursue the beautiful female. The fact that so many other beasts who were of a decent level and were complete had failed, made the crowd worried they'd soon see a nasty scene. Surely the female would say harsh words as she firmly rejected him. Perhaps she would even refuse to accept his gift.
However, this black fox beastman showed no signs of shame as he stood proud and happily swayed his tail back and forth. When he got to Iris he kneeled down on the ground and said in a lighthearted tone
"I am the witch doctor Basil of the fox tribe. I am a four-star celestial beast with no element."
With a seductive grin, Basil handed Iris a rather familiar stone box. Iris already knew what was in it, but she had learned her lesson with Ember and quickly opened it. The familiar sight of the honey made Iris smile as tears began to stream down her face.
"I didn't think you would come."
Iris's pitiful tone made Basil frown. He wanted to come sooner, but he was a witch doctor and had to tend to patients. Besides, he had only recently overheard about a new beautiful complete female joining this year's lineup.
Basil had immediately thought of Iris and rushed over, but the line was already quite long. Still, there was no way he could say that. Basil just gave Iris an especially flirty grin as he brushed his tail against her hand.
"Of course, I would come for you. I just wonder if my efforts are enough?"
Iris smiled sadly as she looked at Caspian feeling guilty. She had seen how Caspian had acted around the fox previously and worried he would be upset. Caspian just gave her a gentle smile as he said
"If you want him, you're going to have to tell me with your words, little mate."
Iris nodded as she exclaimed
"I want him!"
Basil was overjoyed as he joined the others beside Iris. As Basil's tail once more brushed against her as he walked past, Iris's eyes lit up. Basil gave a light chuckle before bending down to whisper in a seductive voice
"You can play with it if you want. You'll just have to take responsibility for me from now on."
Iris's heart raced and she turned crimson. She was lost for words, but she really did want to touch his soft and fluffy tail. Basil stepped closer to Iris, curling his tail around her and resting it in her lap. Iris slowly began to stroke Basil's tail, reveling in its softness. However, soon it wasn't enough and she quickly brought it to her face and rubbed her cheek against it. Iris was in heaven and couldn't be happier as she finally got to enjoy Basil's soft tail.
Seeing how much Iris enjoyed the fox beast's tail, it finally clicked for them that perhaps the vixen wasn't a weak fool. Those who were left quickly shifted into their half-orc forms as well hoping to up their chances of becoming mates with Iris. However, it was hopeless as Iris no longer had an interest in anyone but Basil.
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