Amber was enjoying the berries and decided to ask Tony about the Cheetah village since she was their new queen. She wanted to know more about the village and if she had any new responsibilities that she was not aware of.
She was innocent of the ways of the beast world and didn't want to make any mistakes. She asked, "Tony, how has life been this past year?" Tony looked a little gloomy and replied, "Nick almost lost his mind when he could not find you. He left the village to hunt behemoths after our search parties could not find you. We sent search parties to the monkey tribe, bird tribes, and the Beast City. We could not find you anywhere. Where did you go?"
Amber did not want to risk too many people finding out her secrets. She could trust Nick since they were mates now, but Tony was still single. She responded, "I woke up in my home. I just found my way back here last night. Since Nick is the new Cheetah king, does that mean he has more responsibility for the village? What about me? Do I have any new responsibilities?"
Tony looked confused that she did not know these things, but then thought she was young and from a different tribe. Maybe the leopard tribe did things differently than the cheetah tribe. He thought of the nearby leopard tribes. They had searched all of them, but no one had heard of Amber or a female that matched her description. He thought she must be from a faraway village.
Leopards could live in many different areas around the beast world. Cheetahs were rarer than leopards and this was the only Cheetah village he knew of. He responded, "Nick has not had any additional responsibilities since he earned his fourth stripe. It is just a law of the beast world that once a beast man earns his fourth stripe, he can become a Beast king. Since there are no other Cheetah beast men with 4 stipes, he is the undisputed king. You also are not expected to have any additional responsibilities."
Amber nodded in understanding and asked, "Are there any Cheetah beast men with 3 stripes?" Tony looked embarrassed and replied, "I am the next strongest of the tribe and I am only halfway through the second level. I should be able to level up next year at this rate." Amber nodded. She didn't understand how their beast stripes worked but thought of it as levels in a game.
Her brother loved to play video games and would level up to the max. She asked, "Is a Beast king the highest level a beast man can be?" Tony replied, "There are stories about a fifth level, but no one has seen a beast man with 5 stripes." Amber nodded and kept eating her berries. They were delicious! She was starving after her workout last night.
Nick returned soon with some meat that he had already skinned and gutted. He kept the fur to make more clothes for Amber. He purposely hunted an animal with soft fur. It was a lynx. He thought the fur would look nice on Amber's fair skin.
He set the fur aside for now. He would tan the hide after breakfast. He rubbed some crushed herbs on the meat and roasted it over a campfire. Amber smelled the meat cooking and came outside to see where the alluring was sent coming from.
Nick greeted Amber and saw her berry-stained lips. He remembered their first kiss after she ate those berries and wanted to kiss her again. He went to her and hugged her around the waist, pulled her close, and sucked on her lips. Amber was embarrassed to kiss so passionately outside in front of Tony's hut.
She pulled away and shyly told him, "Not in front of others." Nick gave Tony a warning glare and Tony went back inside. He responded, "He is not here anymore, can I kiss you again?" Amber was still shy to kiss outside.
Tony lived close to the center of the village. She asked, "What if someone else sees us? Can you wait till tonight?" Nick was a little upset that he had to wait but understood his mate was shy. He thought I will kiss you all I wanted tonight!
He nodded and put his forehead against Amber's forehead. He told her, "I missed you." She laughed and replied, "I missed you too, but it wasn't too long. Tony let me eat some berries and I got some more herbs to try later."
Nick asked, "Do you want to try them now?" She shook her head and responded, "I'll try your creation first. I like to try new things." Nick was happy she wanted to try his new creation. He hoped she liked it.
Cooking with herbs and trying new varieties while he was hunting behemoths was one of the only things that kept him sane. He would remember how Amber had opened up his world to new flavors and how it improved the meat.
Cheetahs mostly ate meat. The females would snack on berries and nuts sometimes, but the main staple was meat. Males could eat raw meat, but females had to have cooked meat with salt to prevent them from getting sick.
Beast men could even eat other beast men if they had to but kept it a secret from the females. They didn't want to scare the females. Most animals or beast men were edible.
They could even eat bugs if they found them in the forest. The few exceptions included poisonous bugs or reptiles. Some animals didn't taste good like spiders or scorpions.
Nick had eaten most of the behemoths he killed over the last year and the herbs helped to change up the taste. He experimented with different herbs he found in different areas of the Beast World.
Behemoths traveled all over the Beast World, and he would usually pick off the slowest of the pack. He didn't want to risk taking on the entire pack by himself. He still had the advantage of speed if he got attacked by multiple behemoths at once. He had to run away from the Behemoth king once. It was exciting!
Nick thought about sharing his stories with Amber since she shared her secrets with him. He told her, "While you were away, I hunted behemoths all over the Beast World. I experimented with different herbs that I found. It was the only thing that kept me sane while you were gone. This is my favorite combination of herbs. I hope you like it."
Amber replied, "It smells delicious. I'm sure I will love it!" Nick smiled and held her with one hand and wrapped his tail around her waist. He used his other hand to rotate the meat to evenly heat it. He learned how to cook well over the last year!
Amber was impressed! She couldn't wait to try it. She felt bad that Nick had been alone for a year, but at least something good came out of it. When the meat was done, Nick tore off a piece and placed it on a clean banana leaf. He blew on it and handed it to Amber. She took a bite, and the juice ran down her chin.
She smiled and hummed with a mouthful of meat, "This is good!" Nick was happy. He licked the juice from her chin. She blushed and turned away to hide her blushing face. He hugged her from behind and whispered in her ear, "You don't have to be embarrassed. I am your mate. We share everything now."
Amber ate in silence and tried to be less messy. She enjoyed the meat. It tasted like he added thyme and rosemary to it. She loved those herbs and thought she could introduce him to garlic and ginger later. She would also keep an eye open for other herbs or plants that she recognized.
After breakfast, Nick finished the rest of the meal and went with Amber towards the lake. He let her wash her hands and face as he tanned the hide. He asked Amber, "Would you like to see the rest of the village today?" Amber nodded enthusiastically. She was their queen, after all, she should greet her subjects. She laughed at her inner dialogue. She doubted it would be like the queens she knew about in old European countries.
The beast world was not as formal as the Kingdoms in her history books. They had fewer rules and fewer clothes! She was excited to learn more about this place. Nick filled a water skin for Amber. She thanked him and he transformed into a cheetah. She rode on his back into the village.
When they got to the center of the village Nick roared loudly. All the beast men came out of their dens. They responded quickly to their king's roar. He transformed back and placed his loincloth on. He declared loudly in his king's voice, "This is my mate, Amber. She is your new queen. Protect her well!"
Amber was embarrassed to be the center of attention. All the beast men roared in approval and welcomed their new queen. They remembered searching for her over the last year and were happy that she had returned. Hopefully, their king would be in a better mood!