Beauty, the Beasts and Other

Chapter 26

Taking notice of my surroundings, I saw that we had arrived at the fox settlement. A beautiful female with long red hair was being held back by a male fox as she screamed and reached out for the cub in my arms.

The citizens seemed tense, perhaps due to Curtis' feral status, and a circle was formed around us, an indication that they were willing to fight.

Curtis lowered me closer to the floor and I released the fox cub, allowing him to run to his mother. Seeing that we meant no harm and simply wanted to return the cub, the circle slowly disbanded, the citizens mumbling amongst themselves and throwing weary looks at my scaled husband as they did.

Not long after, all that remained of the crowd was the fox's mother, the cub, what looked like some older brothers of his, four of them, and eight males. The other cubs were far bigger than the one we had found, and the female's mates consisted of four fox beasts, a bear, two tigers and a hawk. One of the foxes had four stripes, while another fox and the hawk had three. The other males had two stripes.

"Thank you so much for finding my cub and bringing him back. I was worried sick," the fox's mother spoke. "He is the only surviving cub of my most recent litter, they were all plagued with sickness. Everyone died except this little one."

A sad look crossed her features, "I know you saved him, so if-if you'd like to have him as your future mate, I understand."

My eyes widened at her words, what is it with these mothers trying to set me up with their babies?!

"No!" I cleared my throat and lowered my voice, "There's no need for that. I'm just glad we were able to find his family. No need to repay the favor."

The woman did nothing to hide her happy expression, "Really? Are you sure?"

I waved off her question, "Yes, I don't accept cubs."

The woman smiled, "Since that's the case, would you and your mates stay for dinner? I'd hate to just let you all leave like this; I must show my gratitude."

I wanted to refuse. She was offering food and it is highly likely that it would not be up to my standard, but for the first time since I've been in this world, I've met someone who genuinely seems nice, that I think I could get along with and that didn't want to fuck me.

My introverted nature was screaming at me to steer clear of unnecessary social interactions, but I couldn't reject her kindness. Not when she was looking at me with those big, hopeful brown eyes. Now I knew who her cub inherited that look from.

I sighed, feeling defeated. "Sure, I'll join," I said with a small smile.

Curtis and Winston walked alongside the female fox's mates. As I was being carried by Curtis, she rode the back of her tetra-striped fox beast and he walked at our pace. I learnt that the female fox's name was Talia.

When we got to her den, I saw that it was much like I was expecting it to look. The home didn't have as much comfort items as mine did. It was obvious that the primary focus was on functionality rather than comfort.