Reborn as a Side Character in the Beastworld

Chapter Seven

We arrived at Qing qing's house. 

Excited that she had made a friend, she immediately had Parker build a small fire and sat me down to chat. Curtis stayed close to her like a shadow. Winston sat down on my other side.

"Thank you for putting us up for the night, Qingqing. Females like you are rare. It is very kind of you to let me into your den, especially when you don't know me that well. I assure you that we will not overstay our welcome." I praised her, more for her Parker's and Curtis' sake than hers. I needed them to know I would behave and not stay long.

"You got that right female. Our Qingqing is the best, so you better be grateful. If you do anything to upset her, I'll throw you out!" Declared Parker.

Before Winston could get upset over the threat, I patted his hand. Ever since meeting Rosa, he had been closely observing my mood and must have noticed I wasn't bothered by the bravado. He let the comment slide with only a stern look at the leopard.

This situation wasn't normal for any of the males. Women didn't usually get along well enough to have sleepovers. The only reason they were allowing it was firstly, they liked seeing Qingqing happy and secondly, since Winston and I were already mated, we were no major threat.

I was about to make myself even more vulnerable by trusting what I knew of their characters and sending my only mate away. Doing so would solidify their perception of me as having no ulterior motives.

I looked confidently at my mate. "Winston, you'll need to move your things from the Tiger King's castle, right? I left my rabbit skin clothes there as well. Can you find a safe place for them before Rosa does something to them?"

"...I can, but will you be ok here by yourself?" He seemed extremely nervous about leaving me alone.

I looked over at Qingqing questioningly. Eager to assuage any doubts I may have, she said, "Don't worry. You'll be safe here. We won't let any harm come to her. Right, Parker? Curtis?" They both nodded to please her.

I turned back to Winston. "Be quick and be careful. I'll be alright." I gave him a quick peck on his cheek. Qingqing blushed. Oh, sweet summer child.

Winston, stuffing down his concerns, agreed to do what I asked and left.

Left alone, I tried to ignore the two males as much as possible and made small talk with Qingqing. I asked about her collection of herbs, and she graciously explained how she used them in cooking. I was a horrible cook in my last life. It was the one things I appreciated about Parkers character. He took the time to get better at cooking the way Qingqing wanted. He had a talent for it, one that she never really acknowledge him for.

I noticed her fish baskets and made a passing comment which led to her teaching me how to make one. I kept our conversation pleasant and didn't ask about her past or her mates. I wish she had done the same.

She wanted to know about my first meeting with Winston, when he rescued me from the scorpions. To her it probably seemed like a great knight-in-shining-armor slash damsel-in-distress moment. For me, it was forcing me to relive a traumatic experience. I wanted to scream at her that she was poking at my still healing wounds. But I was in too vulnerable a position to chastise her in front of her males. So, trying to be neither cold nor overly emotional, I told her what she'd already heard. My mate and I were attacked by scorpions on our way to the city. He was killed. Winston saved me. The End.

I must have let something of what I was feeling slip because she looked a bit guilty at having asked. I took a couple deep breaths and redirected the conversation to her snakeskin clothes. Happy to have something else to talk about, she gushed over how versatile and comfortable they were. She really enjoyed the opportunity to show someone Curtis' good sides. She bragged about Curtis' hair being usable as strong thread and how his scales could be used for cooking since they were so sharp. Once she started, she couldn't stop trying to convince me that ferals were not as bad as everyone thought.