Shelly looked at Harvey and saw the reluctance in his eyes, but she knew Winston was a very important part of her plans to better her life and this world. "Yes please" I told him and he shifted into his leopard form to carry her. As they walked through the City beastmen were staring at the largest white tiger that Shelly had ever seen. The females were scared and their mates were angry at Winston for scaring them. I thought, it's not his fault. He didn't do anything to scare them. They are just too sheltered and shallow to be scared by a face scar. As an Esthetician, Shelly had seen so many different skin conditions and scars that people wanted to get rid of. She knew first hand that with the correct treatments the scars can fade. She had gone through multiple chemical peels, and microdermabrasion facials to achieve her clear skin. She thought to herself, I will help improve his reputation and self esteem starting with his scar.
Shelly was thinking about using lemon juice for the chemical peel and maybe sand for microdermabrasion. Her eyes met Winston's silver eyes and she looked happy to see him. He was not used to that expression and stared a few seconds longer at her eyes before moving forward. He had a fox female on his back and there were 4 other females riding on top of other beastmen. They walked up to the platform where the 4 kings were waiting and let the females slide off of their backs. The females huddled together in fear. The Ape king approached the center and said, "Welcome back, your trade was very successful in bringing back 5 females to the City of Beasts. The fox female was saved from scorpions by Winston and he has the right to court her. Winston transformed into his 2 legged form and walked towards the fox female. He asked her as softly as he could, " Can I be your male?" She looked terrified and hid behind the other females. She shouted, "No!" The rest of the beastmen laughed and Winston lowered his head in shame. The Ape king noticed Shelly in the crowd and told Winston, "While you were away, a new female came to the City of Beasts and asked for you." He looked at Shelly and asked, "Shelly would you still like to accept Winston?" I looked him right in the eyes and said, "Of Course I would!" He looked surprised. Winston froze for a moment in disbelief that a female actually wanted him. Harvey brought Shelly to the platform and she got off his back. I walked up to Winston and he broke out of his thoughts. "Hi, my name is Shelly, would you like to be part of my family?" He nodded his head and said, "Yes." I went up to him and took his hand for him to follow me. He followed in stunned silence. The rest of the beastmen were shocked. I ignored them. They were all idiots to not see his worth!
I brought Winston back to my den and Harvey followed. The 2 males knew each other because Harvey trained in the City of Beasts to become a doctor. I showed Winston around my home and showed him some of the things we found earlier that day. He nodded and observed everything in disbelief. Finally I told him, "Winston, I need to tell you something before you agree to anything. I am infertile. I cannot give you cubs, but I have knowledge to offer." He looked from me to Harvey and Harvey nodded. He said, "I examined her myself and she is indeed infertile, but she has shown me more things in the last few days that I have ever known!" Winston considered it for a little bit and asked, " Where are you from and how did you become infertile?" I told him, "I am from a far away tribe. I had a mate before, but I couldn't find him when I woke up in the forest. I was rescued from wolves and then brought to the City of Beasts by Harvey. As for the infertility, I was sick and the doctor had to remove my womb to save my life." He nodded and took in the information I told him. He held out a green emerald and said, "Here, take this. It will help to heal sickness." I tried to protest, but he slipped it into my mouth and the gem dissolved as soon as it touched my tongue. I felt warm and all the pain in my body disappeared! My nearsightedness improved better than 20/20. I could see further than I ever thought humanly possible. I looked at Winston in disbelief and asked, "Why did you give me that?" He looked at me and said, "I accept your invitation to be a part of your family. As my mate, everything I own is now yours." I looked flabbergasted for a second and asked in a shy voice," Umm, Winston, is there any way to wait to mate. I recently lost my mate and I am not ready to get a new one yet." He nodded his head and said, "Of course, I will wait until you are ready to mate. Until then, I will be your beast guardian." I sighed in relief and so did Harvey.
I kinda forgot Harvey was still there for a moment, but then he smiled at me. He asked me, "would you like some fruit before the banquet?" I told him, "I'm ok for now, when will the banquet start?" He looked up at the sky to gauge the sun and said, "about an hour." I nodded and then started to show Winston some of the plants we had found earlier. I picked up a lemon and said, "Winston, I believe you are a good beast man , but others are scared of your scar." He looked sad and asked, "Does my scar scare you? I saw you when I returned and you did not seem afraid like all the other females." I shook my head and told him, " I used to have scars all over my face, but I learned how to get rid of them. It will take a while, but I can help you too." He looked shocked at my words. He lifted his hand to my face and brushed his fingers across my smooth skin. He asked, " You used to have scars? From what?" He started to get angry thinking something had scarred me like his scar. I placed my hand on top of his and said, "It was part of my sickness that caused my infertility. I learned many techniques to help heal the skin." He seemed to pacify his anger and looked a little hopeful at my words. He asked "how did you get rid of them?" I held up the lemon and said, "I washed my face with strong sour juice like in this fruit and used rough sand to scrub at my scars gently. I did a little at a time and the scars slowly faded. He looked excited to try it. I asked him, "would you like me to show you?" He nodded and Harvey watched me with interest.
I asked Harvey to get some clean water in a bowl for me and had Winston take a bath first. After his bath, I had him lay on the fur in the bedroom. I squeezed a little of the juice from the lemon and rubbed it onto his skin, careful not to get it in his eyes, nose or mouth. I massaged the juice around his scar. He was so relaxed that he started to purr. After about 10 minutes, I removed the lemon juice with a fur cloth and water. Next I asked Harvey to slice off a piece of Aloe Vera. I scooped out some gel, careful not to scratch myself on the spikes. I massaged the Aloe Vera into his face and the extra went to his shoulders for a little massage. When he got up, his skin was glowing! Harvey was very surprised and told Winston, " The scar is still there, but your skin looks better." Winston looked at his reflection in the bowl of water and touched his skin. It felt softer. He was very touched. Not only did his female not fear his scar, but she had touched him and helped improve his skin. He was the luckiest male ever!
I told him, " We can do that a couple times a week to see how long it will take to improve. How are you feeling?" He was on cloud 9 and looked at Shelly like she was the rarest treasure on the planet. "I feel so lucky to have a wonderful female. Thank you! How can I repay you?" I looked at him and told him, "You are part of my family now. I will help you and you will protect me. That's what family is for."