It was again the end of another day and Bree was exhausted. All day she'd been hauling firewood, moving rocks, gathering fruit, and hauling water for the females of the tribe. She hadn't been left alone for even a moment as she'd been followed around by a quiet and expressionless grizzly male. She'd taken a rest by the shore, trying to catch her breath, when she'd unexpectedly fallen asleep. She was covered in bruises and exhausted, but that didn't stop the continuous overflowing of unreasonable requests bombarding her.
Bree suddenly awoke with a jolt when she was thrown through the air and landed heavily on her hay pile in the cage. She was dazed and exhausted feeling the aftereffects of being forced to constantly cater to thirty spoiled and entitled females. She felt as cool fingers pried her lips open and a hard material, like a large faceted gem, was shoved down her throat. Her throat was blocked and her airways. Her lungs fluttered, trying to force her to breathe, and started burning. Her body started shaking uncontrollably. She had no control over her body and could only hope that she could ride this out somehow and not die.
She looked over to see three of the elders of the tribe standing next to that babysitter who always followed her around. Two of the elders had stern looks on their wrinkled faces. One of the elders, an elderly female Persian, had a look of worry in her eyes. Her big blue eyes looked concerned while she tightly held her hands together. She was wearing a mauve wrap dress and standing next to an old lion shifter. His golden eyes looked calculating and cold as he looked at Bree.
He reached over and took the elderly female's hand. "This had to be done, or we'd have to wait a full five years before she would be ready to breed."
"I know, I just had no idea that this little girl would have to suffer so harshly."
"This is a means to an end. She is, after all, only a prey shifter. She should feel grateful enough that she hasn't been eaten."
Bree watched as the elderly cat shifter buried her face into the lion shifter's chest and loudly wept. The lion shifter glared over at Bree, making his threat clear. He wanted Bree to pretend that she wasn't in agony because it was upsetting his mate. Bree glared back with all the hatred she could muster as their eyes locked in a silent battle of wills.
She felt the blockage start to dissolve and with it came relief and air finally rushed into her burning lungs. Just when Bree was starting to feel relieved, the effects of the medicine they forced on her started to take hold. Her body felt like it was on fire as her second and third shifts were forced upon her, far too soon. This pain was like nothing she had experienced in either this life or the previous one. She found herself wishing for a quick death if only to escape this overwhelming torment. Every time she came close to passing out, she was sharply stabbed in the side to keep her awake. Passing out would prevent the transformation from being complete.
The only relief she felt in any of this was that there was purpose in screaming. Usually, she held back, but not this time. Bree locked her eyes with the elderly lion shifter and
let out an ear-piercingly shrill scream. The woman in his arms shook and he gave Bree a death glare. This was the only little bit of revenge that she could execute for now, but there would be more. There would be a price to pay for their selfishness.
After another hour when the elders knew the medicine was properly taking hold, they yawned and happily walked off. The elderly female looked back once, but also left with the lion male, contentedly leaning onto his side while being led away. Bree rubbed her face on the cool surface of the cage with her jaw clenched angrily. Some day they would pay for this outrage, one way or another.
There were only thirty females in the whole tribe of one thousand. Meaning, that for every female, there were thirty-three males. This was fairly typical in smaller tribes that didn't have an abundance of resources. Females were drawn to comfort and so, some tribes catered to female's comfort in an attempt to attract a higher ratio of females. This also attracted nomadic tribes and feral beastmen who would happily kidnap females, if given the opportunity.
Some types and strength of shifter beastmen were so rarely seen, that they were considered a rare prize. If they wanted to not be forced into becoming a female's mate, they would purposely keep to themselves. This was the case with any Legendary Shifter types such as the dragon, phoenix, nine-tailed fox, griffin, alicorn, muse, and lamia. The merpeople are also considered a legendary type, but since they started to trade with the land shifters, they became more commonplace. Although many land shifter females had tried to mate with one, few succeeded since they were known to be quite picky.
Ekpen Village's lack of females caused them to feel the need to take desperate measures by using the harsh treatment and difficult obtaining medicine to force Bree's shifts to come early. Shifter Beastmen had five shifts before they were adults and were of breeding age. The first shift occurred around the six-week-old mark and gave the shifter the appearance of a five-year-old.
The second shift usually happened around the six-month mark and gave the appearance of an adolescent. With the second shift, the shifter's magic ability was unlocked and they could begin to cultivate.
The third shift usually happened around the one-year mark and gave the shifter a preteen appearance. Their pre-marking ability would unlock at this time. When she had the intention of making a beastman her own, her left palm would glow blue for the first time and she could draw the pattern of her choosing. After that, whenever that female shifter was interested in a beastman, she could press her glowing symbol onto them and that shifter would wear her light gray pre-marker symbol until he chose to reject or accept her.
After that, there were two more shifts, while the last one made the shifter a breed-able adult.
Bree felt hot all over with a sickeningly slick sheen of sweat covering her body. She was feverish as her body rapidly grew, pushing past her second shift and rushing into her third shift. Throughout the night, her body rapidly grew and changed until in the early hours of the new morning, she pushed through her fourth shift and gained the appearance of an eighteen-year-old girl, on the verge of her fifth shift, but not quite there yet. She was now capable of marking a male if she chose. If he accepted her marking, he would immediately become her mate and protector, but she couldn't produce any eggs until after her fifth shift. This dark gray mark would be darker than any pre-marker, but not black like an accepted marking.
Bree heard a beeping in her ear and slowly opened her eyes to a new morning.
Her eyes widened at what she saw. There appeared to be a thin glowing blue neon frame around the outside edges of her vision. In floating glowing blue words she could read, 'Otome Gamer' ability unlocked. Congratulations on completing your fourth shift! Points available for distribution.
Then a bright light glowed and in its place, was a little black kitten with purple bat wings and emerald green eyes. "I'm your menu assistant, you can ask me any questions that come to mind, but don't expect that I'll feel like answering." The kitten shrugged at Bree and then started filing its claws and ignoring her existence.