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

73. Discipline

Mitchell had no trouble adapting himself to the castle. He was so quick and casual about treating the place as his own home that only one word came to mind when the guards described him: audacious. But since neither their king nor queen punished the scorpion male, they could only bear his brazen attitude.

Mitchell was on his best behavior and didn't try to pick a single fight. He even went out of his way to seek guidance from Harvey so that he could better fit in. For example, he didn't know how he was supposed to treat Grace's cubs or the female guest. Should he avoid them? Support them somehow? Be friendly? What is friendly exactly, and how should he do it?

He was serious about not messing up this time, but he just didn't have the knowledge he needed.

Harvey was more than happy to help in this regard. Teaching seemed to be a strong suit of his, although he would have never thought his first students would be older and more powerful males like Curtis and Mitchell. But in the name of peaceful relations, Harvey obliged.

While Harvey and Mitchell did their thing, Shuu supervised the cubs. He would teach his cubs that being wary and careful could save their lives in the future. It would take more than one time of going over this, but he needed to start somewhere.

Winston, Muir, and Grace went to the coffers with their hauls to determine how much belonged to the tiger clan and how much to their family.

After some debate between the three of us, it was determined that 30 of the crystals Muir and the hunting party brought back belonged to the tiger castle. I kept 27 for us making my stash 36 strong.

I had Mitchell's pouch which contained two pure transparent crystals and thirty-one mined ones. The less pure ones will be saved for emergencies or for my spouses if they want to level up that way.

So I had 38 pure transparent crystals, 31 impure ones, and 1 emerald. That was a good amount.

Muir waited stiffly, hoping for some praise. He tried hard to bring her back as much as possible.

Winston felt satisfied with that amount. It wasn't a lot for a castle's coffers, but it was far better than none.

"This is really good," I said with enthusiasm. I would start taking crystals to boost my strength soon. And once I get my second mark, I won't feel so crunched. But I can't leave my family out either. I plan to ask Harvey and Winston if they want to take a couple themselves.

Muir smiled, happy that he was able to support his mate. Since she seemed so happy, he swept her into a hug.

I returned the hug and gave Muir a pat on the back. No matter what he got up to while he was gone, he really did bring a great haul back to us. "Thanks, Muir. We can do so much more now that we have this."

Muir's cheeks colored pink as his heart soared. He was useful. He did good. And most importantly, Grace was happy.

Muir nuzzled into Grace's neck and kissed the spot where her heartbeat could be felt the strongest. When Grace shivered but did not refuse him, he left a trail of light kisses down her neck.

Winston was not obtuse and saw where this was going. He quickly packed away the crystals that belonged to the castle in the stone box and took his mate's share with him as he left.

I didn't let Muir have his way for very long. At least, I hadn't intended to. But the evening came around quicker than I thought. I called it quits, much to Muir's disappointment.

"Hey now. Don't give me that," I said playfully. "Or are you not happy with me?"

"No!" Muir blurted out, missing the hints that Grace was only joking. "I am always happy when I'm with you, Grace." His panicky voice tried to convey what he felt, but he wasn't sure it reached.