Reborn as a Side Character in the Beastworld

Chapter Sixteen

For the next week after Bai left, I stayed quietly at home. Winston went out occasionally but only for less than an hour at a time. He was already looking for our next home, not wanting to stay in this hut any longer than was necessary. He was notably uncomfortable with having any more association with Qingqing and her males.

My stomach, which had only looked chubby before, now looked like I had eaten a watermelon whole. My feet were always swollen, and it was getting harder to sleep comfortably. Since I had nowhere to go and I couldn't walk much anyway, I spent my time crafting. I finished making a couple versions of a cub basket and hide diapers fit for a fox kit. My sewing skills had improved a little and I was currently working on a mattress made from all the deer and rabbit pelts Winston had hunted. He had finished making the short bird coop and I was thinking of stuffing the mattress with the feathers over time.

I played with the idea of someday having a flying mate just so I could have easy access to tons of feathers. Unfortunately, I still hadn't found anyone in this village who appealed to me. I was starting to question if my standards were just ridiculously too high at this point, but I also didn't have the constitution lately to really go out searching.

I sighed and put down the two rabbit pelts I was stitching together. I would have to talk to Winston today. He didn't want Harvey anywhere near me, but I needed the healer to get through this. I'd been spotting a bit of blood today and wanted his reassurance that everything was still ok. I told myself I was fine with just being Harvey's sometime friend and I needed to convince Winston of that too.

Speaking of the tiger, Winston had come home. He had a small sack full of various vegetables. Since we didn't have Harvey providing us with greens and things any longer, Winston would go out and bring back anything he could find, and I would sort through it to see what was edible.

He immediately put the sack down and came over to where I was sitting on the bed. "How are you feeling?" He asked. It was the same question he asked every day the moment he came home.

"I'm alright, but I'm glad you're home. I need to talk with you about something."

He sat down crossed legged, giving me his full attention. "What is it? Did someone bother you while I was gone?"

"No. Nothing like that. No one came. I wanted to talk to you about Harvey." His expression darkened at the name.

"What about him?"

"We can't keep avoiding him like this. I need to meet him."

His expression went from disgruntled to panicked. "Why? Is it the cub? Is something wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong. Probably. But I want his help when it's time for the cub to come. I'm too scared to do it without him." I said honestly.

"What do you mean by 'probably'?"

A soft knock sounded at the door, cutting off my response.

I started to get up, but Winston put a hand on my shoulder. "I'll get it."

He answered the door and a female's voice floated over to me. "Hello. Is Bailey home?"

"I'm here, Eve. Come in." I called and Winston turned to the side, so she had room to do just that.

She came over to me and looked like she wanted to say something but was too nervous to start. After a minute of watching her shuffle her feet, I started the conversation for her.

"Eve, you came here for a reason. What is it?"

A completely unexpected question came out of her mouth. "Bailey...Did something happen between you and Harvey?"

"Nothing major. Why do you ask?"

"Well... No one has seen Harvey come out of his hut for a week and we've all noticed you haven't been going over there. So, we thought...that maybe something happened between the two of you."

"Harvey hasn't been doing his rounds?" The idea of the dedicated healer not working was so foreign to me that I had to ask to be sure I'd heard correctly.

She shook her head. "He won't even answer the door."

That was extremely worrisome. What the hell had happened? I looked over at Winston, searching for some kind of revelation. What I found there was the face of cat who knew he'd done something wrong. I slowly turned back to Eve.

"Thank you for letting me know Eve. I'll go check on him." I smiled reassuringly.

The tension in her body relaxed and she seemed relieved. "Thank you, Bailey. Sorry to have bothered you."

I waved off her thanks and she went home with a smile.

I gave my mate a hard stare. "What did you say to Harvey?"

He looked ashamed. "Winston?" I prodded.

He slumped knowing I would pester him until he told me. "I told him you were going to ask him to be your mate, but he'd ruined his chances by fawning over that feral's female."

"You told him?!" My voice rose louder than I'd intended, and Winston flinched like I had hit him. I was understandably upset. I hadn't wanted Harvey to know of my intentions that day. There was no point in making our relationship more awkward than it needed to be. No wonder the sensitive healer was MIA. He was probably on a guilt trip for 'leading me on'.

I started to get up. Winston rushed over to me.

"What are you doing?" he asked worriedly.

"What does it look like? I'm going to see Harvey to clear up this misunderstanding." I managed to fumble to my feet.

Winston's straight posture exuded frustration. "What misunderstanding? He deserves to feel bad for having gotten so close to you despite liking another female! He was deceiving you!"

"I already knew about it!" I yelled back.

Silence.

"What?" He finally asked quietly.

I replied just as quietly. "I said, I already knew he liked Qingqing. I just didn't think it was more than a crush. I thought maybe he might like me more than her. It was my own self-delusion."

He didn't respond to that. Something I hadn't ever wanted to see on my mate's face was carved into his features. Pity.

"Don't look at me like that. Are you going to help me get there or do I need to walk there myself?" I asked while leaning heavily against a wall.

Without another word, he picked me up and carried me out the door.