Amber remembered a little from yesterday after she almost drowned. She remembered kissing Nick. She widened her eyes in the realization that it was not Nick she kissed but this new monkey beast man!
She checked her body and found a monkey mate mark on her hip. She was confused. She didn't know that she could have more than one mate mark. What about Nick?
As soon as she thought about him, she heard him roar outside the tree house. He yelled, "Who stole my mate? Bring her back to me!"
Amber tried to get up, but she was sore and moved slowly. Oliver hugged her and told her, "Stay here. I will go speak with him. We are mates now. I know he is your favorite, but we are family now. Please don't abandon me."
Amber was unsure what to do. She looked around for her dress and noticed it was hanging up on a tree branch. The healer came in to help her. He handed her some fruits. Amber took them and thanked him.
He was shocked that this pretty female thanked him. Females usually did not appreciate anything that was given to them. They just expected it. He was mesmerized by her smile.
Amber was too worried about Nick to notice the strange look this other beast man was giving her. She ate the fruit and got ready to leave.
Outside the tree house, Nick and Tom were both ready to fight. Oliver came out and Tom yelled, "He's the one who took her while I was fighting the crocodiles."
*Flashback*
Nick had come back from his hunting trip and was shocked to find Tom lying down beaten up with a bunch of dead crocodiles around him. Amber was missing! He could feel her through the mate mark, and she was getting further away.
He kicked Tom and yelled, "What happened?" Tom rolled over and held his side. One of the crocodiles had bitten him and Nick's kick had caused it to bleed again.
His voice was scratchy as he responded, "I was ambushed by many crocodiles, and while I was fighting them a monkey beast man carried her away!"
Nick looked shocked! The last time they thought a monkey might have stolen her they had divided up beast men into search parties. The search party that went to the Ape kingdom was beaten up badly and almost didn't make it back.
The Ape kingdom had monkeys, apes, and gorillas. The gorillas were their beast warriors and were very territorial. They did not appreciate a bunch of Cheetah beast men encroaching into their territory.
This time he would have to be smarter. She was his mate, and he was a Beast king himself. He would go to the Ape king and explain the situation.
Once he proved his mate's bond with her, the Ape king would have no choice but to release Amber to him. He waited until Tom was treated by Dr. Tony and they set off toward the Ape Kingdom the next morning.
As they flew towards the Ape kingdom, Nick got nervous. He could sense he was closer to his mate. He could also sense her confusion and discomfort.
He went to the Ape king's castle and demanded to speak to the Ape king. He was respected as a Beast king, and they informed the Ape king.
The Ape king looked like a Mandrill primate. In his beast man form he still had a red nose and 4 blue lines on his face. He approached the Cheetah king and held his fist to his chest in greeting.
They were not friends but respected each other's status. Nick stated, "Yesterday my mate was stolen by a monkey beast man. I can feel she is nearby. I demand you order the beast man to return my mate!"
The Ape king looked confused and responded, "One of my tribesmen rescued a female yesterday and due to the law of the jungle he was allowed to mate with her."
Nick was furious! He had never even met this beast man and now they shared his mate! He ran towards the treehouse and started to roar.
*End of Flashback*
Nick saw Oliver leaving the tree house. He looked like a Lesula monkey in his beast form. He was a medium-sized primate with a bright blue bottom.
He had human-looking brown eyes and light brown fur. He transformed into his beast man form to talk to Nick after he climbed down from the tree house.
Nick was furious that this 2-striped beast man had mated with his female without his permission first. He was the favorite mate as indicated by the mate mark. He knew it was ultimately up to the female who she decided to accept into the family, but he was very possessive of her.
He roared and narrowed his eyes ready to pounce on this monkey beast man. Oliver opened his mouth and called for backup from the Gorilla guards.
He didn't mind fighting for his place in the family, but he was very badly outmatched against Nick and wanted to say something before Nick killed him. There was a misunderstanding. He didn't steal the female. He rescued her!
Nick was still angry but paused. He couldn't take on all the gorillas at once. They were all 3-striped beast men, and the Ape king was also approaching. He would try to talk it out first.
The Ape king approached both beast men and tried to mediate the situation. He knew how messy it could be if they decided to fight. Nick was a 4-striped Beast king, but Oliver had the Gorilla Beast guards to back him up. If they fought it was unclear if either of them would survive.
Oliver stated, "I rescued the female from drowning yesterday while the bird beast guardian was downstream fighting off the crocodiles. Since I rescued her, she is my mate now as well."
Nick looked at Tom to confirm this was what happened. Tom nodded and looked at Oliver in jealousy. Tom was beaten up badly and almost eaten by the crocodiles and this monkey beast man got lucky with the female! Life is not fair!
Nick looked reluctant to accept this new information, but then he spotted Amber. She was trying to climb down from the tree house but was having difficulty. She was still a little weak from yesterday.
Oliver noticed her struggle and transformed into a monkey. He swung up the vines easily and grabbed Amber by the waist. He brought them both down gently.
Amber clung to his shoulders tightly so she would not fall. She looked down at Nick and smiled at him. She was happy to see him even if she felt guilty for being in the arms of another man.
Nick's felt conflicted in his heart. He was happy to see his mate was alive and well, but he did not like seeing her in the arms of another beast man. He had allowed Tom to be her beast guardian because he knew him.
He did not know this monkey beast man. When Amber's feet touched the ground, she left Oliver's embrace and ran towards Nick. Nick picked her up and swung her around. Her legs dangled in the air. She laughed and he smiled at her.
Then he noticed the new beast mark on her hip, and he could smell the monkey beast man's scent on her. He put her down and asked a little angrily, "Did he force you to mate with him? You can abandon him if he did."
Oliver was scared and spoke up, "I did not force her. I was resuscitating her, and she kissed me. It was mutual!" A beast man's greatest fear was being abandoned by his mate.
Death was a natural part of life, so they did not fear death. An abandoned male would be like a walking dead beast man. Once a beast man mated with his female and formed a bond a piece of his soul was attached to hers.
If she canceled the mate bond the soul would not return to the beast man. Many lesser beast men would die instantly while higher-level beast men could survive. They would be half alive with part of their soul missing. They would become bitter and angry at females.
It was like a tree without roots. It may look healthy on the outside, but inside it was slowly rotting. Their remaining soul would blacken and die leaving a husk of a beast man.
Amber saw the look of horror on Oliver's face, she responded to Nick's question with a downcast look. She shyly stated, "I thought it was you kissing me."
Oliver pleaded with Amber, "Please don't abandon me. I will be the best mate to you for the rest of my life! I will provide for you and protect you with my life."
He was genuinely terrified of being abandoned. He fell in love with this female at first sight and he didn't want to live in a world without her as his mate. Even if he wasn't her favorite mate. He wanted to be with her.