Reborn as a Side Character in the Beastworld

Chapter Fourteen

It wasn't necessary for Winston to hunt every day now that they had managed to preserve meat by smoking it. He still had an entire doe left in the smoke shack, but he knew Bailey would want some time alone before she asked Harvey to be her mate. And so, he had gone out hunting. He had managed to catch a couple short birds for dinner. Bailey liked to cook them in a stew with yellow root and stone fruit. He was working on building a coop so they could raise their own short birds and have fresh eggs.

Winston arrived at the healer's hut and opened the door without knocking. It had become so routine for him to pick Bailey up at this time, that neither male felt it necessary for him to announce his arrival. When he opened the door, he saw Harvey checking the pulse of a female he recognized. It was the female who had lent them the hut. The hut's true owner, the leopard prince Parker was standing nearby, glaring at the healer for every brush of skin.

The one person he didn't see was Bailey.

"Where is she?" He asked without preamble.

"Hey! Don't interrupt. Harvey was helping my Qingqing first." The leopard prince said haughtily. Winston ignored him.

Harvey looked at Winston from his crouching position next to the female but addressed her first. "Your health is good and the eggs are developing at a normal pace. I recommend adding goats' milk to your diet." He stood up and walked closer to Winston. "Bailey left not too long ago. She said she wanted to go home and get the hut ready for Qingqing's and Parker's visit."

"And you let her go alone?" he asked incredulously.

"She insisted that she would be fine. Is something wrong?"

Yes. Something was very wrong. No matter how much Bailey insisted, as one of her suitors, he should have found a way to stay by her side. Unless of course he wasn't one.

"Did she not say anything else?"

Harvey thought for a minute. "Nothing specific. She did say she wanted to talk about something but then after Qingqing and Parker arrived, she said she forgot what it was and that it probably wasn't anything important."

Why? Why would Bailey have phrased it that way just because their conversation had been interrupted? Did she change her mind? What would make her do that?

"Harvey, is everything ok?" The female's voice interrupted his thoughts.

With a gentle expression, the healer turned to answer the female. "There's nothing to worry about, Qingqing. Males tend to be overly cautious when it comes to their mates as you know. I'm sure everything is fine."

In Winston's head, the pieces all clicked into place. The expression the healer had just shown the female was more than just professional courtesy. If Bailey had seen that, she might have decided to give up. Especially if she thought Harvey was in love with someone else. Bailey was a very considerate soul, even though she pretended not to be. She would have put the healer's feelings before her own.

As the picture became clearer, Winston became angrier. How dare the healer allow his mate to become so close to him when he already loved someone else?!

Winston's beast aura slowly filled the room. The female shivered and cowered away from pressure.

"STOP IT! You're scaring Qinging!" yelled Parker as he leapt to confront the tiger. Winston deflected the attack with one arm and threw the leopard into the wall as though he was swatting a fly.

"Winston, calm down. I'm sure Bailey is just fine." Harvey said, putting himself between Bai and the tetra marked beastman.

Winston grabbed Harvey by the throat and lifted him off the ground. "How DARE you even say her name! Do you have ANY idea what you've done?! My mate came here today to offer you a place at her side, but you were too busy making passes at that female to notice!"

Harvey's face drained of blood and the whites of his eyes were clearly visible as comprehension devolved into shock. "What?" He managed to croak out.

"You heard me." Winston growled, lowering the healer's face closer to his own. "You've just missed the greatest opportunity of your life." He let go of Harvey and the healer collapsed to the floor.

Harvey sat there staring into space. "She...she was really going to ask me to be her mate?" The question was barely audible.

Winston snorted with derision. "Pathetic." He said. "You'd better hope that female there takes you in. I don't want to see you anywhere near MY mate again."

With that last remark, Winston stormed out of the hut. Forgetting the short birds, he shifted and sprinted home to comfort his mate.