Winston nodded and said, "It was all thanks to my mate. She taught us how to destroy them. As a thank you, would you allow us to enter your village and search for a female for our friend? My mate made a deal with this merman to find a suitable female to help him start his own merfolk tribe." The chief looked interested and said, "Of course! We have tried to trade females for salt from the mermen before but were told they did not interbreed with other races." Indigo said, "That was true in the past, but our mermaid went missing and if I can not find a suitable female we will go extinct. I am willing to look for a female with a good personality as well as beauty." The fox king nodded and thought about it. He said, "Follow me, I will show you where you can stay and I will hold a banquet tonight to introduce you to some of our tribe's females."
Shelly and her mates stayed in a hut near the chief's hut. Indigo found the nearby river and went to soak himself. He was drying out being out of the water. He thought, I never want to leave the water again! Later that night the fox Chief invited all the females and the new guests to a banquet. Indigo was introduced to the females and he found one he liked. She already had 2 male mates, but he figured they could come with her to the sea. He would find an island for the males to hunt and he could hunt in the sea. They could work together to take care of their mate and raise a family of merfolk. During the banquet Shelly noticed a strange smoke being burned from a fire. She started to feel hazy.
*Mature Content ahead
When she turned to ask the chief she noticed the male beasts were starting to get aroused. She realized this was an aphrodisiac smoke and started to worry. Her mates looked at her in lust and slight confusion. Winston was the first to snap out of it and thought to get Shelly away before she ended up with a bunch of fox mates. He told Albert, "Fly her somewhere safe." Albert had his lust glazed eyes from the smoke and agreed instantly. He transformed into his giant bird form and carried Shelly away. Shelly was half out of it and started to sing, "I'm like a bird, I always fly away. I just want to fly!" She laughed at her music mash up but no one else would know. Albert cawed into the air at her laughter and flew her towards a mountain a little far away. He didn't want to be interrupted during his alone time with his female.
When they got to the mountain, Albert found an empty cave facing away from the wind and gathered some soft hay for a bird's nest. Shelly was still a little loopy and humming to herself and dancing. Albert transformed into his 2 legged male form and started to dance with Shelly. He started to kiss her and soon they were doing a horizontal dance.
The next morning Shelly woke up sore and with a slight headache. She squinted her eyes at the Sun and tried to remember what happened last night. She looked down and saw a tan male arm around her keeping her warm. She looked back and Albert said, "Good morning mate." He kissed in between her shoulder blades where his mate mark was. She had a giant Albatross spread across her shoulders. He liked it and thought it would help to protect her back. Shelly sobered up a little and blushed when she remembered last night.
She knew Albert was a good guy and would not abandon him. She said, "Good morning." She remembered the strange smoke from last night and wondered what else happened. Albert said, "I will get you some fruits for breakfast and we can head back to the village." Shelly nodded and Albert took off in his bird form to hunt for breakfast. He came back a little later with some fruits and nuts. Shelly thanked him and ate her breakfast. It helped her headache go away.
They headed back to the fox village and Shelly found her mates. They each took turns to hug her and inspect her for any harm. They noticed the new bird mate mark on her back. Shelly looked at each of them to observe their reactions. They had already accepted Albert into their family and were just glad she didn't take any unknown fox beastmen as mates. Windows would have to warm the fox chief. Foxes were known to be sly and crafty but he had no idea they would have a drug that would cause females to want to mate.
Shelly was lucky she had a flying beastman last night. She didn't want to think about what would have happened if he didn't fly her away. They had already made the law of not abandoning mates and she wanted to lead by example. She didn't want to kill if it wasn't necessary. She remembered Indigo and asked, "What happened to Indigo after I left?" David said, "I saw him go back to the hut of a female. She has 2 fox males already that are 2 striped. Shelly was glad that he found a female and hoped everything would work out between them. She nodded and sighed. She said, "Let's head back today. I don't want any more surprises." They all agreed and packed up to leave.
She saw Indigo with his new mate before she left. She said, "Indigo, how are you doing today?" He smiled and said, "I'm good. I found a suitable female and she will go back to the sea with me and her mates." Shelly nodded and was happy that he was happy. She felt good that she was able to help her friend and the merfolk tribe. She smiled at the female and said, "Hi, my name is Shelly. I am the tiger queen of the Tiger village. I hope we can be friends in the future and trade with each other." The female looked excited and nodded, she said, "Hi, my name is Sheila. I would be happy to be your friend. Thank you for introducing me to Indigo. I have always wanted to go to the sea." Shelly liked this female and thought Indigo made a good choice. She was happy it worked out. She waved goodbye and they started to leave.
The fox chief came out to talk to them and try to convince them to stay. He was a little upset that his plan last night didn't work. He was hoping Shelly would take a few of the fox males with her and they could have an alliance between their tribes. Winston knew what he was thinking and gave a warning growl. He said, "I don't appreciate the drugs from last night. My mate will not take any males unless she chooses them." The fox king looked guilty for being found out. He apologized to Shelly and said, "I'm sorry for trying to trick you. I was hoping to form an alliance with your stronger village." Shelly said, "You don't have to trick us. We can have an alliance as king if you don't do that again. Our village has a law against rootless beasts and tricking females to mate might lead to the females abandoning them. It worked out this time, but I would hate to see it go wrong." The fox chief nodded his head and said, "I won't do it again. I promise!" Shelly nodded and they turned to leave. She was tired so Albert flew her back. She wanted to sleep in her comfortable bed at home. With Albert flying the trip only took one day. The rest of the mates were able to run faster as well without worrying about Shelly.
Albert beat the rest home by half a day and Shelly took a nap. This trip was tiring! She went to the Fox village to find a mate for Indigo. At least he found a good female mate. She wouldn't have to worry about him anymore and hopefully would have a good trading partner in the future. She could use seaweed and kelp to get marine collagen and use them in masks. She fell asleep thinking of new concoctions.
The guys returned and Winston went to work on the castle. It was almost finished and he wanted to move before the rainy and cold seasons. The tree house was not very well insulated. Shuu went to hunt food and David took a nap with Shelly. Harvey went to check up on the village patients. Albert guarded Shelly while she slept. He was happy to be her mate now. She was smart and pretty. He had fun dancing and listening to her sing. He smiled and was glad he made the right choice.