B+Bs: To Stand In A Beast's World

41. Leopard Village

I spent time alternating between various activities for the next two weeks. When I felt the stirring of excitement for the coming move, I embraced it wholly. Even when Shuu told me that Curtis's old scent was still in the area, I wasn't discouraged.

It turns out that staying in the city was stressing me out more than I realized. And with that realization, I doubled my efforts on several fronts.

For one, I cheered on Shuu and Harvey's training sessions that had moved to the wolf castle. The group sparring was really helping them, and Winston even squared off with the wolf king once.

It was a fight I wished I could see better, but they were both too fast for me. The match ended in a draw as neither side wanted to harm the other seriously. While I think Winston had the upper hand in terms of raw power, the wolf king had more battle experience and quicker reflexes.

I'm happy that they both knew when to draw the line and had no issue spectating the relatively bloodless match. The rest sparred with vigor and gusto. They were definitely trying to impress females.

I wasn't the only one there. The wolf queen sat with me and chatted about a lot of things. I took the golden opportunity and asked her how to weave and take care of wolf pups. She took this as flattery for her skills and interest in bearing her son's cubs and gladly taught me.

And so, news of these non-deadly duels spread, garnering attention from other clans and other females. The ape king promoted this sparring as a means of getting single males the attention of females and promoting family growth.

I learned a fair bit about the wolf queen, Holly, during this time. Although she was shallow, obtuse, and fairly lazy, she was the opposite when it came to raising cubs. She took her motherly duties seriously and did not mind them at all. She even introduced me to her youngest cubs which were four 9-year-olds.

My growing number of visits to the wolf castle allowed Winston to leave and help Harvey build a new cabin. Winston and Shuu both agreed that Harvey's cabin was unsuitable. And with my suggestion to build on higher ground to escape the worst of flooding during the rainy season, they started building into one of the humps that the valley got its name from.

I debated bringing up the topic of volcanoes but figured they'd have me across the continent before I could blink if I said something. I didn't plan to keep this to myself, but I didn't want to say it now. I was hoping Muir would come back soon and we could all talk about it.

I did, however, mention mudslides which had them selecting the location meticulously and slowly. However, the actual building didn't take too long once Winston got involved.

While they did their work, I bettered my weaving and idle chattering skills. I repaid the wolf queen by teaching her and two of her mates how to carve some small furniture pieces.

This was received very well, especially when I carved designs on the small box I made. Drawing/carving lessons ensued from then on, and I enjoyed it. Really, it was nice.

During the nights, I found myself busier than the day. Winston and Shuu rarely let me rest, but I never complained. Their skills were improving every day and so were mine. I can say that I truly do not miss the days when I found mating to be a chore or duty.

Another thing I could say, having a mark really helps with recovery. And I felt stronger for it. I'm not sure when the change happened, but I didn't tire out nearly so quickly or find certain positions—cough—so difficult to hold.

Aside from the waking moments of those nights, my dreams also kept me busy. I had several nightmares, most about ferals kidnapping me and me being forced to kill them. A haunting reminder of what I'd already done.