It's been so many days and Hu'er hasn't gotten her heat. It was normal. Females often get in heat on their birthday, some would have it much earlier and others will be late for ten to twenty days.
In the Fox tribe, a female did get her heat twenty days late. She is still fine and well. So getting the heat early, on time, or even late doesn't really matter that much.
Hu'er has already been informed about it to not make her nervous or worried if ever she got a late heat.
For all these days that Hu'er is spending the days with only Jiu Lin beside her, she went all around and explored her home. She even saw the storerooms and her future mates' rooms.
Some rooms can be seen as occupied. Like Ke Rin's big room. It was divided into two, one has a bed and a medium chest full of clothes and the larger part of the room is a big table in the middle, below it is full of the chest with so many different herbs inside. One small table in the corner with quite a lot of papers.
Another bigger room is Shun Su's room. There are tons of books and scrolls organized on newly made bookshelves and scroll drawers, and he made the big part of his room a working place.
Two more rooms were as big as their rooms but were unoccupied. According to Jiu Lin, those rooms will be for her future mates. Either they will be sharing the room or if their profession needs a bigger room like Shun Su and Ke Rin.
Jiu Lin and the rest only have a small room. It was half of the size of the big room. They only have a bed and a chest full of clothes.
Hu'er actually felt like her mates' place was so small. Especially, she has the plan to take more. However, because Jiu Lin told her that they only need room to sleep in on a normal day, they don't need big rooms. Also in winter, everyone will go to her house to guard her.
Winter seasons have always been hard and dangerous because their tribe was located in the middle of the forest, unlike some tribes. So Hu'er understands why they would go to her house. She doesn't mind either since her house is big.
The second and third floor of her mates' place is not yet done. There is no room or even a wall dividing anything. Hu'er didn't ask what it was for nor Jiu Lin told her. They just took a look and went down to go back to her home.
Hu'er and Jiu Lin have grown very close. She could now understand why a first mate needs to stay with her for a long time while they are waiting for her heat.
It's to have a bond with him, feel the closeness of their relationship, be accustomed to each other's presence, have a tacit understanding, and focus on themselves.
Both of them are happy. They feel like they have their own world, where it's just to them. It's a new experience and feeling. And they felt very peaceful.
Anyway, Hu'er just finished eating some meat and soup. She is now casually talking to Jiu Lin from time to time. In between the talk, she would be munching some dried fruits, and Jiu Lin would continue to read the books they collected for Hu'er to pass time.
They collected a lot of books ever since they got to know that Hu'er likes books. Then, invented bookshelves and scroll drawers to organize it. Ever since then, it is much easier for them to find the things they want to see.
Shun Su also applied to the tribe and got so many merit points. In Hu'er's family, only Ke Rin is still using chests. He is too busy creating medicine to even think of making scroll drawers that can be made of herb drawers and bookshelves.
But Hu'er did hear him say that he would make it when she got past her first heat.
Hu'er sighed, making Jiu Hu look at her. She then yawningly asked, "When are they going to live back in their rooms? I heard they are going to live in the students' room for now…"
Jiu Lin looks down and thought, 'Is Hu'er getting bored…?' Before answering, "For now, yes. They will, when you mate with them." He pursed his lips and calmed down.
"Ah?" Hu'er could feel that something was wrong.
She was about to ask him what was wrong when Jiu Lin thought that Hu'er was asking why they need to be mated. And so he informed her, "All of the houses inside your territory are off-limits to others until you get your first heat.
All the unmated will be out of our place. As long as they are fifty feet apart from you they will smell your first heat as long as they are out of it they won't be affected that much.
If they are very close or at most ten feet apart from you, they would also go into heat and most probably lose their rationality. They would only think of…"
Hu'er suddenly thought of something. Her eyes brightened and knew how to change his mood.
She poked his arms and teasingly looked at him while saying, "Doing me?"
Jiu Lin couldn't help but choke on his saliva and cough. His face turned red as he remembered such a word in the book Hu'er gave him.
It was that scene that he didn't immediately understand until the next page came. Remembering the 'What are you doing?' and 'I'm doing you.' made him tremble.
His reaction confirmed that Jiu Lin could remember what is in the book. Hu'er is smiling ear to ear, satisfied that she has teased him again. Successfully changing his mood even made it better.
She would never get tired of teasing Jiu Lin. He has been keeping his mature vibe for so long and his innocent side will always appear when Hu'er teases him, which made her amused and entertained. Now she used it to make him happy.
He coughed and looked away. Then Jiu Lin continued to tell her about it, "Ahm… You don't need to worry. Our Dads and the Patrols already know what to do. They will be spreading powder that could lessen the smell of the female's smell of heat.
It would at least let the others know that they need to go away."
Hu'er drew circles on the bed and muttered shyly, "So… You and I will live in this house for more than thirty days…"
Jiu Lin gulped, "Yeah…"