"It looks like I'll have to feed you, is that okay?"
Kuro immediately glared and showed the captor her menacing white fangs.
Even if Vermeil had been kind to them so far it was probably all for this moment so that she could treat them like pets!
She just wanted to feel like she was superior to them, right?
Isn't that what all the races of light desire?!
Vermeil flinched when she saw the treatment she was getting and tried her best not to let it bother her.
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw that Kohaku had yet to take her eyes off of the pile of meat that was on the plate.
"Hehehe! It doesn't seem like you're very hungry, but your sister certainly seems to be." Vermeil joked.
Kuro immediately gave her gluttonous sister the stink eye, causing her to lower her head in shame.
"It's okay, don't be embarrassed!" Vermeil picked up a large chicken leg that the young girl had been eyeing and held it out in front of her. "This was the piece you wanted, right? Just go ahead and eat and I can get you more if you like."
Kohaku tried her hardest to resist.
She wanted to maintain her dignity as the bodyguard to the princess of the Garou!
'But it smells so good..!'
The scent of the flame roasted chicken was so tantalizing that Kohaku's pride was easily defeated by her hunger.
She leaned forward and took two quick bites in rapid succession and was elated to find out that the morsel in front of her was every bit as juicy and flavorful as she imagined it to be. The smoky flavor and the crispy skin made it so that it was more than worth the stink eye she was receiving from her younger sister.
Keran also watched as Kohaku tore into the chicken without any reservations and she suppressed the urge to ask for some as well.
The tiger twin continued to eat away at the chicken, barely even taking a moment to breathe.
"Slow down." Vermeil warned jokingly. "You might- Ow!"
In her haste to devour the chicken in front of her, Kohaku had accidentally bitten into the finger of the human girl that was feeding her.
The taste of blood filled her mouth and she parted her lips and began to offer her sincerest apologies.
But wait... they were supposed to be enemies, right?
So should she even feel bad for biting this human? If anything that was the natural order of things.
'I can't believe I almost felt bad for biting a human...' She was sure that Vermeil was about to reveal her true colors and lash out in retaliation.
Vermeil looked at the deep puncture marks on her thumb. "Ouch... I guess those teeth aren't just for show, huh?"
She took out another healing pill from her ring and popped it into her mouth.
Immediately she felt a warm current travel throughout her body and her hand healed up instantly.
"I don't know if I'll ever get used to all of this magic and cultivation stuff." Vermeil muttered as she looked at her hand that was now as good as new.
She turned back to Kohaku and resumed her same kind disposition. "I was going to warn you about choking but I guess I should've also been a bit wary of your fangs, huh?"
"You... are not upset?" Kohaku asked in shock.
"You talked! And your voice is so soothing!" Vermeil's eyes lit up like stars in the sky. "And no I'm not upset. It was just a small bite and you didn't mean to do it."
"How can you know that?" Keran suddenly asked suspiciously.
"Ah! You're talking too!!"
The werewolf ignored the girl's strange excitement and instead restated her previous question. "how can you know that she didn't mean to do it?"
Now even Kuro had stopped scowling and was only looking at the human with an expression of genuine curiosity.
"Hm? Uhh I guess if I had to say it's because even though she's a voracious eater she seems rather gentle."
Whether Kohaku blushed because she was called a voracious eater or gentle, Vermeil would never know.
Keran was staring at the human opposite her in utter disbelief.
Kohaku had killed over fifty men today!
Did the girl just not witness that spectacle?
Or did she still believe her to be gentle in spite of her incredible lethality?
Vermeil held out the remainder of the piece of chicken in front of Kohaku. "Eat a bit slower this time. I don't want you to choke or bite all of my digits off."
Kohaku listened and she ate much slower this time and after she finished, she said the words she'd been holding onto.
"I'm sorry for biting you..."
Vermeil smiled warmly. "I already told you it's fine. I know you must've been hungry."
She turned from the shocked looking Kohaku and smiled at the remaining two girls. "Now that you've seen that I have no ulterior motives, will you allow me to feed the both of you as well?"
The two girls looked at each other and then at the plate of food that still had waves of steam coming off of it.
They both nodded slowly and Vermeil smiled as she fed them both.
Throughout the entire exchange, no one spoke again.
Vermeil was honestly a bit disappointed, but she found satisfaction in knowing that she had been able to convince them to eat.
When all three girls were satisfied Vermeil finally laid back onto the ground.
Sensing curious gazes on her, Vermeil explained the reasoning behind her actions.
"I don't want any more creeps to try to bother you guys again so I'm going to stay here and make sure nothing funny happens." She would never be able to forgive herself if one of these girls were violated by another drunken soldier.
'I'll need to talk to Vance about this. There's no way he'd be okay knowing there's a damn rapist in his camp.'
The three women watched in disbelief as their supposed captor curled right up onto the ground and drifted off to sleep mere moments later.
'Even if we're chained, we can still kill you if you're this defenseless you know?' Keran thought as she stared at the sleeping human girl.
Everything that had happened just seemed like some sort of unbelievable dream.
She'd been saved and fed by this human and her motives seemed impossible to understand.
And that gentle smile she showed was unsettling for some reason to the werewolf.
It was at that moment that the girl remembered someone she normally tried her hardest not to think about.
'Indra... her smile is just as bright as yours used to be.'