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

107. Nora

The village of 133 individuals was eager to be reassured that the promise of another chance was not a lie. Grace did her best, but results speak louder than words. Verbal promises were fine for the short term, but in the long run, not so much.

Still, they were placated for now and listened well to orders. The few troublemakers that cropped up here and there were put back in their places or driven away.

Those who remained aimed their hopes and expectations at the three females of the village. Grace, their leading female, was near impossible to approach, let alone court. Many were discouraged by this and turned their sights to a future more attainable.

Nora, the lion female, seemed like a good choice. She had no males, making it far wiser to approach her. But Nora was hostile to all advances and courtship making a future with her impossible. At least, for now.

Bai Qingqing became the most coveted of the three mature females for she was the most amiable to approaching males. Her guards, while fierce could not best all of them. Every now and then, one of them would make it through the guards long enough to talk to her.

Imagine their shock when the tiger queen stepped forward and gave them the oddest ultimatum. Bai Qingqing was under her protection until the start of the cold season. Anyone who wished for Qingqing to be their mate could only perform basic courtship—if Bai Qingqing approved—until then.

The second chance the majority wanted got farther away at every turn. Morale fell, but not far. There were still two other females. Although it would be many years till they matured, they would obviously need mates then. And if the males got strong enough to get emeralds in the meanwhile, they could be seen as desirable by the little females once they came of age.

It wasn't an unusual occurrence in this world for males to wait for young females to mature. As precious and scarce as females were, being patient but proactive was sometimes necessary. Wrong as it may seem to an outsider, that was simply the normal experience for most.

As for the thoughts and opinions of the three adult females in the village towards the many eager males...

Grace had no interest. Her family was large, strong, and reliable. Taking in another male would actually be more disadvantageous as she was already struggling with balancing her life.

She had to split her time between seven mates. Seven. That was no small number. On the topic of large numbers, she had nine children who also wanted to spend time with her. She felt the same. If Grace managed to eke out some free time, she had to divide it between hobbies, participating in running the village, rehabilitating the fiery and traumatized Nora, and stopping to give herself a rare breather.

There was no place for another man in Grace's heart or schedule. Just the idea gave her a headache.

Then there was Nora. After a hunger strike that was thwarted thanks to Grace's efforts, Nora turned her efforts towards growing her strength. Knowing that Grace had accomplished that much lit a fire in Nora's heart.

She never wanted to be taken advantage of again. She never wanted to rely on males again if it meant losing everything once more. Those feelings burned in her and drove the female to find a different way.

As for Bai Qingqing, she'd experienced her first love. But she wasn't a forward person, and he was serious to a fault, so their relationship did not go anywhere. And he, along with the rest of her guards, spent a lot of time thwarting her other suitors. She couldn't imagine what it would be like if she didn't have the four of them.

Other than her romantic woes, Qingqing had gotten a late start on doing—well, anything. Her cold persisted for four days after she arrived, and Grace hadn't come to give her directions or orders even after she got better. Once she realized it was up to her to start things, she reluctantly got to it.