Bree was warm and comfortable. She stretched out her body and felt her back lightly pop. Her bed was so cushy and warm. For once, she wasn't in any pain. She just wanted to lay and bask in it, but there was an annoying beeping noise that reminded her of something, she just wasn't sure what it was. Then she heard an odd mechanical like voice following the beeps, "Loading...loading...loading."
"What?" Bree mumbled as she slowly lifted her eyelids.
Then her eyes were met with the sight of a large furry black rug that was radiating heat. Bree's brain was kind of half asleep, so she reached out her hand without thinking much of it. As soon as her hand touched the object, blue words appeared in front of her eyes like they had before.
"Congratulations! You've unlocked a Capture Target!" The robotic words said while they loaded onto her screen. "New Quest Available."
"Quest? Doesn't that concern Daisy? Daisy is my quest assistant, where is she?" said Bree.
"Daisy is currently unavailable, I am the stand in AI assistant. What would you like to call me?"
Bree answered without any hesitation, "A1." "Daisy! Daisy where are you? Stop shirking your duties and answer me right now."
Then there was a dark purple light and there appeared a grouchy little black cat with bat wings, holding onto the scruff of a little pouting white and yellow cat who had her cheeks full of air and her two front paws involuntarily lifted. She was absolutely indignant, but there wasn't a thing she could currently do about it.
Posh released her from his mouth, but kept Daisy tucked in close to him so that she couldn't run away. "I know that you're still angry with our master, but running away from your problems won't solve anything. It's not like you can avoid master forever. The only way to solve your issues it to talk it out and come to an understanding."
Daisy frowned, but soon took a deep breath and exhaled. "Fine, I get it." She looked up into Bree's eyes and opened her mouth.
"I'm sorry," Bree said.
"You...," said Daisy.
"I messed up, big time. I should have listened to everything that you had to say before I went ahead and made a decision. It was foolish of me and I've been regretting it ever since, especially after I came here and met the shifters that are going to be my new family. I've only been here for a week, but it's been wonderful."
Bree's face flushed and her eyes glittered before she continued. "Byron has been very sweet, although he's serious and reminds me of a military commander, he has some contradictory moments where he's unsure of himself and I can tell that he's worried about being rejected by me. Glen isn't my mate, but he's been very kind and attentive to my needs," Bree said more quietly.
"My new children have been so sweet and loving, much more than I could have hoped for. Even my new son has started to include me as one of the people he's protective of. Just thinking about what I did makes me feel sick, but I try to not let it eat at me and try to enjoy the present. Other than rejecting my family before I knew them, I've been wanting to tell you sorry too.
I know that my actions deeply hurt you and although I'm sure that there is deeper story behind your actions and hurt that day, I won't pry into them. I want you to know that you can tell me anything from now on and I will listen to whatever you have to say. Well, unless you want to embarrass me beyond all reason, if that's the case, I may have to beg Posh to come save me," Bree said.
"You were right and you're important to me, not just because you're an awesome assistant. I'd like to think that you and I are also friends," Bree said.
Daisy blinked her eyes in shock and let out the air she was holding in her cheeks. "Say that again."
"I'm sorry," Bree said.
"No, not that," Daisy said.
You're an awesome assistant?"
"Well don't go saying it like it's a question, but that's not what I wanted to hear again, even though it's true," Daisy proudly puffed out her chest while Posh rolled his eyes and released the proud little cat. She certainly won't run away now, not when she's being showered with praise.
"You were right?" Bree said.
"Bingo! I was right. Seee Posh, even Master admitted that I was right and I'm awesome. Eat that! I was riiight and you both knnnooooww it," Daisy sings triumphantly.
Bree nearly chokes on the laughter that she's trying to suppress and then she leans forward and throws her arms around Daisy in a tight hug. "I missed you so much. Don't ever leave me again, you bratty cat."
"This!" Daisy's face flushes and she pushes Bree's face away from hers while Bree peppers her fluffy cheeks with kisses. She was far more used to giving out affection and being rejected than she was receiving affection.
"Fine! I forgive you, I forgive you! So quickly release me! I'm not used to being smothered with love," Daisy grunts while pressing her paws roughly against Bree's face.
"Do you promise? Do I have to give you more kisses and cuddles to make sure?" said Bree.
"Yes. Yes! I promise. Now release me!" Daisy said.
"Good," Bree said and then let go of Daisy.
"So what's this new quest about?" said Bree.
Daisy brushed down her roughed up fur. "Hooligan," she said with a hint of a smile on her lips. "I'm also sorry," she said quietly. "I knew that you were feeling unsure and anxious and I should have told you the consequences of breaking a mate bond were before I told you how to get rid of one. You're new to this world and to find yourself suddenly essentially married to a stranger must have been a serious shock."
"It was," Bree said quietly. "I'll try to not take my actions so irresponsibly from now on though. I want to treasure this second life of mine and the ones who've become a part of my new life."
Daisy quickly rushed forward with a red face and put both of her paws over Bree's lips. "Alright, Alright! That's enough now, we've both spoken our peace. No hard feelings."
Then Daisy grinned and her tail waggled excitedly. You've unlocked a capture target, although I can't say that it's going to be much of a stretch, because the target seems to already be partially smitten with you.
Bree looked at the giant lump of fur and realized that it was breathing.
She was is in one of the six hanging beds that are on the second floor. It was round with leather around it like a teepee that was hanging in the air from a large beam. The walls and the floor of the hanging beds were lined with the insulating foam that was cushy like memory foam and prevented any sound from getting out. The floating bed was large enough that it could hold three king sized beds inside it. There was a round opening for a door that was big enough for a large boulder to fall out from it, but it had a thick insulated curtain covering the hole. There was a magic light hanging from the side of the hanging teepee. The walls had pockets along the sides, full of extra blankets and the clothes that Glen and Byron had made for her.
Byron hunted the prey that was going to be used for Bree's clothing and Glen designed and sewed the clothing. They were both such sweethearts. Although Glen and Byron both seemed a bit uncomfortable when Midori tried to talk Bree into going into town to 'capture' some more mates. It's not that Bree was against taking more mates, more that she already had her eyes on someone and that she wanted to get closer to the mate that she already had.
"Who? Who is that?" said Bree while pointing to the lump of fur.
Daisy grinned while her eyes glittered mischievously. "Just one of your biggest fans. Things have been kind of boring lately, but this silly boy was pretty tired last night and accidentally climbed into his old bed. He used to have the biggest bed, but he gave it to you since you're a female and he wanted to do something nice because his best friend got himself a new mate. Well, that and he thinks you're incredibly cute. So, what do you think of your new capture target? He's actually worth quite a bit of points because he's a Legendary shifter," said daisy.
Bree pulled her hand back while her eyes widened and she slowly slid back and away from the male shifter who had found his way into her floating bed. "Who is he? Who is that?"
"Who do you think it is?" said Daisy.
"I don't know. I don't know any Legendary Shifters," Bree whispered.
"So you don't want to go after him?" said Daisy.
"Why would I go after a random strange man?" said Bree.
"Because he's a Legendary Shifter?" said Daisy.
"Although the idea of getting a Legendary Shifter as a mate is extremely tempting, I would still want to know the guy first and have an idea that I'd like him and that we have some chemistry between us," said Bree.
"Oh, but you do know him," said Daisy with a grin on her face.
"I assure you that I do not and have no interest in a random male," said Bree. She was quietly slinking backwards and was just about to slip out from the round door in the floating bed when Daisy continued to talk.
"You're not even interested in getting another mate if the Legendary Shifter that I'm talking about is Glen?" said Daisy.
Bree stopped moving backwards and froze.
"Glen is a bear shifter. That's what Byron and everyone else said. I also saw Glen's ears and tail. They pop out when he's feeling flustered. He's obviously a Bear Shifter."
"Oh, he is. You're correct, he's definitely a type of Bear Shifter," said Daisy.
"Alright, well the last time I checked, bear shifters aren't a type of Legendary Shifter," said Bree.
"Well you aren't asking the right questions then, are you? You should be asking what kind of bear Glen is," said Daisy with a somewhat smug look on her face.
Bree swallowed nervously while she looked at the giant lump of sleeping fur that was taking up most of the space around her. She thought of the sheer size of the male when he wasn't even shifted. "What kind of bear shifter is he?"
"He's an Ursa Bear Shifter. Did you really think that a Muse shifter would take random typical male shifters as her mates so easily? No, her pride was far too big to have only mundane and typical shifters to enter her harem. That's good news for you though, that Ursa Bear has a little bit of a crush on you," said Daisy.