"Astri, what did I do? Let me in." Dieg speaks, almost whining like a hurt dog.
"I won't explain again. Go sleep somewhere else."
"Don't be angry. I need to stay to protect you."
"GO AWAY!"
"Please, Astri.. You don't have to accept Lee if you don't want to. I was just saying it would be better if you did."
"If you keep talking I'll leave this tribe forever. And alone!" She says louder. Dieg shuts his mouth and whines.
He shifts to his wolf form and lays down in front of the door.
"Astri is a female that chooses males by heart. I shouldn't have told her to accept Lee… And I sounded like I was not capable of protecting her too. Why would she trust someone who wants to rely on stronger males? I'm an idiot!!" Dieg speaks in his mind, hating himself. He whines. "I don't want to lose her. I'm already in love with her and wouldn't handle being without her anymore." He whines.
Astri hears his whines, she sighs rolling her eyes. She imagines his puppy eyes and her heart aches. She's angry but she knows that there's a cultural difference between her and everyone else there. But she has her principles and she needs to make it clear to him and Wayde what those principles are.
—--
Next morning, she wakes up wanting to go to pee. She opens the door and she sees the big black and brown wolf sleeping at the front. He stayed there all night and it was a cold night. She decides to jump the window to not wake him up, then she goes to the sandbox.
He wakes up and sees that the door is open but doesn't see her inside. The first thing he thought was that she left the village. He stands up and runs to the back of the cabin following her scent, but then he sees her leaving the toilet. He runs to her and whines rubbing his face on her.
'I thought you left me. I'm sorry, Astri. I won't meddle on who you need to choose as your mate. Just let me still be your mate. I promise I'll protect you with my life and I'll get stronger and be more reliable.' He cries in his wolf form. She didn't understand what he was saying but she could feel he was apologizing.
She smiles and hugs his fluffy neck.
"We're OK." She says, rubbing his face and neck.
He wags his tail happily and licks her face. She giggles cleaning her face, he shifts to human form and hugs her close.
"I will never again meddle about who you should choose as your mates. Just let me be with you."
"Thank you. Now put on some clothes." She says, looking away and moving her body away from his thing.
She stays inside the cabin planning what to do with the cabin, and when Claud appears he gives her more ideas and how to do it.
While she is talking to Claud in her mind and working on her plantation, Lee arrives flying and she looks at his large red wings closing and then hiding in his body.
"Did you like what you saw? "Lee asks, with a proud smile.
"Good morning to you too." She says, going back to work.
"Who is this?" Claud asks.
"An eagle beastman. Lee Braze. Leader of the Red Eagle Tribe. The tribe Shung is trying to build a partnership." Astri answers in her mind.
"I know him. I never saw him, but I heard of him. He has a powerful tribe. Shung is audacious in trying to have his partnership, but Stone Moon Tribe has a good strategic location."
"Good morning. What are you doing?" Lee asks her.
"Growing herbs for winter." She answers.
"You know how to create fire and roast meat. Know medicine and farming. You have unique abilities for a female." Lee speaks.
"He's smart like you." Claud says.
"Well, you're not entirely wrong." Astri answers, smiling.
"Where are you from? You might want to trick me, but I visited many places and I know what abilities they have. So I know that no doctor taught you about roasting meat." Lee speaks.
Astri chuckles.
"Smart. But I don't know the answer to your question. I'm just a weird female without memories of where she's from." She answers.
Lee could sense she was telling the truth.
"Really, don't try to understand me. Even I don't." She affirms.
Lee hated to hear that because he felt sadness in her voice. Who wouldn't be sad not knowing anything about their past?
"I can try to help you find out where you come from." Lee softly says.
"Is he courting you?" Claud asks, curious.
"I think so."
"Don't have to. It's useless worrying about that now." Astri answers.
"Why?" Lee asks.
She sighs and cleans her hands.
"There's a say. Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is a mystery. And today is a gift, that's why it's called present." She says, and smiles to Lee. Her smile made his heart jump. "I'll just enjoy every day and the answers will come when it's time."
Claud smiles. Even if she gets sad talking about her, she prefers not to focus on that and just wait. She's mature, but she was also someone who couldn't actually enjoy life, so she decided that now was a good time for that.
'I understand." Lee is more attracted to that beautiful female, who also has an energy that feels more powerful than she looks like. "I decided to move my tribe to that forest." Lee says, pointing to the forest behind her cabin. "I'll go tomorrow to tell my tribe about this decision."
"Good. Hope you will be happy with your decision." She says and goes back to work.
"I will." He answers, very sure of that. "Why don't you ask someone else to do this? You're hurting your beautiful hands."
"I like doing this. It's a great way to pass the time."
"That wolf let you by yourself again. You can spend your time with me. "Lee says.
"He went hunting. And he knows I like to be by myself in the morning. This is a meditation for me." She says. Actually, it's her time to talk to Claud. For some reason, it becomes a routine to talk to him every morning.
"All right. I won't disturb you. I'll wait then." Lee says walking to the cabin and then sitting near the door.
She rolls her eyes and keeps working.
"Good luck with him. He has the character of not accepting a "no" as an answer." Claud mocks her.
"Shut up. As long as he doesn't force me. He will leave tomorrow too and will probably be back after winter." She says in her mind.
"Maybe." Claud giggles.
Lee spent the whole day there, ate the food she cooked, and smelled her freshly clean after she bathed. He could imagine him doing that every day of his life.
Next day morning, Astri was eating fruit during breakfast.
"Dieg?"
"Yes?"
"Different beasts shift in different ways? Like, is it the same process?" She asks.
"Yes. Wolves learn to shift by sensing their parents or older companions doing it. Birds learn by flying on their parent's backs. Tigers are similar to wolves. We actually shift two times, we're born in beast forms and when we're around 4 years old we shift naturally to human form. Females shift earlier, to be easier to protect. Then we learn shifting back to beast form as we grow." He explains.
"Interesting. So, if I'm a bird, maybe I need help from a feather beastman."
"It would help, but it's not necessary. Shifting is instinctive, or else orphans would never be capable of shifting. You didn't shift because you didn't have to somehow, so that's why you don't have the instinct active inside of you. But you can learn with time. I said I could help you with that." Dieg says.
"Thank you. But if I had help from a feather beastmen we would have an idea of where to go. I could ask Lee, but the guy is smart and will use it to bargain me."
"It's true. And a female is not an option too. They will want to kill you for not having a competition to have Lee."
"Even mated ones?"
"Not sure.. Maybe."
"Well, let's see in the future when they arrive here."
When Dieg opens the door to bring the dishes outside to wash, Lee lands in front of the cabin with another beastmen with brown hair and blue eyes.
He has tanned skin like Lee but doesn't dress as fancy as Lee. Lee walks past Dieg, and enters the cabin, he looks around and gets curious about the closets and table, but he hates that the place is so cheap for his female.
"I'll be leaving now. I came here to show two things." He tells her.
He gives her his hand to help her stand up and then brings her outside. He points to the other beastman.
"That is Fletcher. He has five marks and will be guarding you while I'm out. He will also lead the beastmen that will be building our homes. Ask him if you need anything." Lee tells her.
"All right." She softly says.
"Is he mated?" Dieg asks.
"Yes. Of course." Lee answers, like Dieg asked the most obvious question.
"Can I ask him to teach me something?" Astri asks, having an idea. A mated male wouldn't be a danger for her.
"Teach what?" Lee asks.
"Doesn't matter. I'm just asking."
"Depends. He can't touch you, unless it's for protection."
"Why not?"
"Because I'll kill him if he does."
"Me too." Dieg says.
Astri rolls her eyes.
"What do you want him to teach you?" Lee asks, actually jealous.
She sighs without patience already. She pushes Lee and Dieg inside and closes the door and windows.
"Why didn't you help me? It was my chance! He was a mated male! "Astri says in a low voice to Dieg.
"But Astri, I can't let you ride on him. Would be a disrespect towards his mate. Females only ride on their mates, unless the female is sick or wounded." Dieg says.
"Oh…" Astri realized what was happening.
"Why do you want to ride him? Do you think he's better than me?" Lee asks, still jealous.
"No! It's not that. I just wanted help with something and I thought it wouldn't be a problem, but in the end, it would be." She answers.
Lee takes a more relaxed breath, letting the jealousy fade.
"What did you want him to teach you?"
"Can I trust that you will never tell anyone? If you do, I will curse you forever!" She says.
"I'm your male. Of course, you can trust me." Lee answers.
"You're not my male."
"Yet. Believe me. I will be. Now tell me what is bothering you."
She sighs again. Men there are hard to deal with, they're more thick-headed than human men.
She explains about not knowing her beast form and that she never shifted, that she wears winter clothes to hide that her beast mark is still concealed.
Since everyone always thinks she's a bird, she wants help from a feather beastmen to show her how to shift. People can't know that she's not capable of shifting.
Lee didn't imagine that her past would be so complicated. Where she was being kept for never shifting and never needing to shift? And why was she being kept away from people? She has knowledge but she doesn't know the common culture of living between beastmen. He has a lot more to know about his female.
"I will help you when I'm back. But under some conditions." Lee says.
"What?" She crosses her arms.
"You will never ride on another feather beastmen or unmated male. Unless it's a dangerous situation."
"Right."
"And you will use this." He says, showing her his earring feather.
"Will be too long on me."
He braids it on her hair and smiles proudly.
"Beautiful. Then it's done. I'll be back in 20 days. Wait for me." He says proudly.
He walks outside not giving her time to answer anything and then he flies away quickly.
"Do you know what that feather means?" Dieg asks Astri.
"No. What does it mean?"
"Feather beastmen give their feathers to their females. It means you accepted him as his mate."
"WHAT? That bastard. He knew I didn't know about that."
"Well, we males do what we can to mark our territory." Dieg giggles.
"He braided this too tightly!" She mumbles trying to remove his feather from her hair.
"Let it be. It looks beautiful on you. And it doesn't mean that you will be his mate. Will be only official if you actually mate with him."
It's true, and that calmed her a bit.