On the other side of the Beast World, Amber was blissfully unaware that her former family member was mated to the Mermaid Queen and coming to try and kill her mates as well as her. Amber was having fun with her cubs and Eli in the shallow hot springs.
The cubs got tired from running in the warm water and came to their mother for her to pick them up. They meowed and circled her. Amber was sitting in the warm water and picked them up onto her lap.
Eli was older and did not tire out as easily. He had a curious nature and loved to play. He started to explore the area nearby. Amber called to him, "Don't go too far. Take one of your uncles with you."
Tyler offered, "I will watch over him. Don't worry." Amber appreciated it and thanked him. Nick came over to Amber and hugged her from behind. It was a happy family moment. Father, Mother, and cubs.
Tom came to take the cubs so they could take a nap. Blue Tang was done with his soak and went to fish for lunch.
Nick enjoyed some alone time with his mate. They rarely got to be just the two of them together. He told her about the battle in the Beast City.
Amber was shocked at the amount of Mermen who died. Nick left out the gory details and told her not to worry. He could protect her against any amount of threats.
She knew he was powerful, but she had no idea how powerful. Not only Nick, but Blue Tang was also a level 5 Mermaid King. Her other mates were all level 3 and above.
Eli came back with some large bulbous roots attached to a leafy vine. They smelled sweet to him and he wanted to show it to his mother.
Amber was excited when she saw the sweet potatoes that Eli found. She called out to him, "My little man is so smart! He found sweet potatoes." Eli almost glowed with the praise from his mother.
He excitedly brought the vine and roots to her. She showed him how to separate the sweet potatoes from the vines and cleaned them in the warm water.
Nick took one and bit into it. It was hard and tasted like dirt to him. He did not understand why his mate liked to eat these things that grew in the ground.
Amber saw his expression and laughed, "You are not supposed to eat them raw. You can cook them in a lot of different ways. I like them roasted with honey and cinnamon the best."
Eli's eyes lit up when he heard his mother mention honey. He loved sweets almost as much as his mother did. He was excited to try this new sweet potato recipe.
Amber remembered sweet potato and pumpkin pies for Thanksgiving. It was close to Autumn in the Beast World, so Amber decided to try to make a sweet potato pie and teach them about Thanksgiving.
She thought it might help to uplift the spirits of the families in the Beast City after such a gruesome battle. Amber asked Nick, "When should we head back to the city?"
Nick was not in a hurry to return. He wanted to spend more time alone with his mate. He responded, "Let's wait here until the others arrive and tell us the city has been cleaned."
Amber felt a little guilty for not helping with the clean up, but she was getting used to her mates doing every thing for her. She was only expected to have fun and make babies.
*****
Speaking of making babies, Nick started to kiss Amber's back and neck. She let out a soft moan, but stopped him from advancing. "The next time I mate was supposed to be with Blue Tang. I still owe him a female to help the Merman Tribe."
Nick was a little upset thinking about Amber mating with Blue Tang, but he understood this is the way of the Beast World. If only those bird brains hadn't let Amber get "rescued" back by the sea!
Oh well, it was too late to regret it now. What was already done can not be changed. He would just endure and suppress his desires. Amber noticed his discomfort and felt guilty. She offered, "There is still a way I can help you without going all the way."
Nick was interested in this new knowledge that his beautiful mate possessed. She kissed him and helped him with her hand. At first, Nick was surprised. Unusually females did not help their mates with anything.
He knew his mate was different and she cared about him the most. He felt touched and loved.
Nick was on cloud nine afterwards.
*****
They washed up in the warm water and went back to the nest to cook dinner. Amber didn't have all of the herbs or the starter dough with her, so she planned to roast the sweet potatoes and hopefully add some honey.
Eli had gone with Tyler to collect honey when his mother mentioned it earlier. He didn't know how to get cinnamon, but his mother was still happy with the honey.
Nick started a fire and amber explained, "Use a sharp stick to skewer the sweet potatoes and roast them over the fire. We can rotate them to make sure they don't burn.
She showed them how to make a spit to roast the sweet potatoes out of sticks. They also roasted some birds that had been washed and gutted. Amber was very happy to have a complete meal!
She was worried she would only be eating meat or eggs since they were on the mountain. Amber decided to look for more herbs and vegetables tomorrow. She didn't know how long she would be staying on the mountain.
Eli loved the roasted sweet potatoes as well as Amber. The others tried it and thought they were ok, but still preferred meat. The cubs were still breast feeding and were not allowed to try the food.
Amber was afraid the cubs would get an upset stomach if they tried the food. She would wait until they began teething to give them real food.
It was a peaceful night on Bird Mountain. They spent time looking at the stars before going to sleep. Amber tried to find some constellations, but the sky was not the same as in her world.
She looked for shapes and explained to her mates how they used the stars to navigate in her world. Tom and Tyler were most experienced with the stars as flying beasts. They used to dream of flying at night with their mate under the starry sky.
They fell asleep peacefully unaware of the trouble headed their way.