By the time the evening came, Sydney had finished to tending to the severely sick strays. Not that she was a doctor but she had managed to identify some of the herbs and she had used them to the best of her ability.
She also cooked up some herbs where she wasn't sure whether it was poison or medicine but luckily, no one had died at her hands yet and some claimed to feel better.
Looks of astonishment were cast upon her. Boulevard was in awe as his eyes kept looking at the small male in praise. Though they were strays, Boulevard stood up and made everyone of them feel important. His female was killed accidentally in a stray raid leaving him and her other mates wild and unreasonable. It was the darkest phase of his life which took him quite a while to grow out of.
He along with the others chose to stick together and they create this colony. Every stray beast here was made to feel loved and important. They had tried to establish a real home and also snatched females but with different ideologies and approaches towards life, the few females that they had acquired were not treated well which ended up costing their lives.
They had no doctors to help which worsened the already bad situation. They continued to loose lives and sustain gruesome wounds whenever they went on raids where they tried to acquire females from smaller tribes.
It had not been easy and now with their colony, they had three females who were heavily guarded amidst the madness of the strays. It's he wrong to ascertain that all this was did out of love...no, it wasn't! Even Boulevard himself didn't know why. Maybe merely wanting to show dominance and all but he knew it wasn't love.
"You've done well! Our colony will forever remember your kindness." Boulevard was happy to see that this time round, they wouldn't be losing any more members.
"I only did what was in my means." Sydney smiled gently but she was utterly guarded. She had spent time with Boulevard and she learnt that his soft side was a means to have others let their guards down around him. He was hostile, brutal and ruthless to the tee and she needed to tread carefully lest she throws herself to the flames.
Boulevard who noticed that the young male was being guarded smiled with a crooked smile. "You seem tense. Is something the matter?!" he asked.
Sydney who was caught off guard cursed internally and tried to regulate her emotions. This man was extremely keen. "Hahah....it's my first time taking care of so many beastmen. I'm a bit worried how they'll turn up tomorrow morning. I just want them to be alright... that's why I'm tense." She patched up a lie as soon as possible and regulated her emotions too.
Oh...I see. I thought there's something you aren't telling me. It'd really hurt my feelings." he gave a harmless laugh.
Sydney's stomach dropped letting out a growl. She was in utter fear. 'Did this stray know something?!'
"I see you are hungry. Go home and rest. I'll have your brothers being your food over. If there's anything, let me know." he said and kept his penetrating gaze on her.
Sydney nodded and turned to leave but stopped. "Boulevard, I plan to stay here a little longer..." she begun and saw how happy Boulevard got. His suspicions of her disappeared immediately and looked at her in utter disbelief. "Really?!" he was elated.
She smiled." Mmm. I want to see to it that everyone is healthy and happy. But herbs are collected so early in the morning before the sun rises and I'll need to head out to collect them. Since the area around is your territory, I shouldn't worry about running into danger right?!" she asked cheerfully.
"Yeah..yeah....there are alot of herbs around the colony and if you wish to go further, I can take you there!" he said wishing to spend time with her alone with no one interrupting their time.
"There's no need to do so! One of my brothers can accompany me since they are more familiar with the herbs and can easily gather alot along the way. I just wanted to confirm with you that the place is safe." she said and looked at him with complete admiration. It was fake though since she needed to earn his trust.
Boulevard was extremely pleased but his possession to keep him here also consumed him. He wanted the little male to remain in his colony.
"Then it's settled. I'll bring you along when I'm restocking my special herbs. She promised and turned to walk away.
She walked around the colony and everyone greeted her with respect, some bringiover meat to get acquainted with her. She accepted everything and went back to her cave but before she could get to the entrance, she saw a young beastman standing there looking at her with angered dull orange eyes.
There was a trace of hostility dancing in his eyes and this was the first terrible expression Sydney had encountered since she came to the colony. She was a little spooked but tried to stay calm.
"I know your secret." A low broken voice broke from the male's pale and chapped lips. Sydney stopped her in her steps and a shiver ran down her spine. "What are you trying to imply?!" she asked but couldn't hide the shaking of her voice.
"You know what I mean. What you and your brothers know. I know it too!" he gritted his teeth. He had clearly overheard them talk about it and now she was playing dumb with him! How daring!!
Sydney's whole body shuddered. "What do you want?! In exchange for keeping this a secret...tell me what you want and i will do it." Sydney tried not to act out of line.
"Why did you lie?!" He asked.
"I want to go back to my family. They live in the city of beasts but I was separated from them for a long time now. With what I am, you know what can happen right?! I didn't have a choice but to lie." Sydney said the truth but didn't mention the fact that she was a female.
The orange colour eyed beastman looked at the small male in disbelief. City of beasts?!!! She was from such a huge city but there was no news of a female going missing!!! If her family is indeed from the city of beasts, does it mean that he could trade to keep her secret for being saved from this hell hole?!
"Who are your family?!" he asked breathlessly. He had made the right choice not to share this with Boulevard. She was his key to freedom.
Is there no one around us...I don't want to get into trouble." Sydney warned since they were in the open around the cave home area.
"Don't worry. Just keep speaking softly. So who is your family? Are they strong?!" he asked.
"They are very strong that even beasts in the city of beasts dare not cross them." Sydney assured.
"Good...so when are they coming to take you?! If you want to stay here safely, you must promise me that when they come to take you, you shall take me along to the city of beasts. If you plan to escape I should be part of the plan. Remember, I'm keeping an eye on you. If you try to run away, I'll tell everyone that you are a female from the city of beasts and you shall see just how had your life will get!" He threatened and Sydney sighed.
"I'll inform you of everything." Sydney assured.
Walking back into her cave, Sydney fell onto the bed and curled herself into a small ball and trembled. Things had gotten out of control now and she needed to leave. The least thing she needed was someone knowing that she was a female.
She now had to let the two brothers that they had to leave in the next two days. It had gotten out of control now, completely. While in her room, a sound of hissing came into her ears which jolted her up. There was a small green snake that was at the entrance of the cave and it kept observing her.
He was part of the group that was sent out by Titan to find a green eyed female and while he wanted to leave after staying in this colony for a while, he overheard these two talk and it came to him that this seemingly male could be a female, the female that belonged to their lord.
Told bad he wasn't a beastman and he couldn't communicate with her. Confirming that she was here, he slithered away to go and report the news as soon as possible.
Lots of love from litto-ways . I love you all