೯⠀⁺ ⠀ 𖥻 𝐇𝐄𝐑 𝐁𝐄𝐀𝐒𝐓 𝐌𝐀𝐓𝐄𝐒 | 𝐁𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝⠀ᰋ

╠20╣

"Mom?" Azura whispered to herself as she carefully unfolded the letter, her heart racing with anticipation.

She took her time reading the letter, savoring each word as curiosity washed over her. Asher and Noah, who were seated beside her, leaned in closer, their curiosity piqued. They couldn't resist the urge to glimpse the letter, their eyes wide with intrigue as they hummed quietly, eager for insights into its contents.

Meanwhile, Winston and Curtis lounged in the background, stretching lazily on the couch. They exchanged knowing glances, fully aware that Asher, with his boundless energy and penchant for dramatics, would inevitably leap at the chance to share the news. It was a well-known fact that this manchild had a tendency to overreact to even the smallest bits of news, so they settled back, prepared to indulge in whatever wild interpretation he might concoct.

After a moment of contemplation, Azura finally broke the silence, looking up from the letter with wide eyes. "Hmm... It looks like my mom and dad have invited us over for dinner tonight. Mom mentioned that there’s a specific reason for the invitation, but she promised to reveal it only after we’ve finished our meals. She also wants me to introduce my new males to her."

She summarized the contents of the letter to Winston and Curtis, who nodded in response, their expressions a mix of mild surprise and curiosity.

"So? Are we going?" she asked, her voice uncertain but tinged with excitement, directing the question to no one in particular, as if hoping someone would voice a strong opinion.

Curtis shrugged, a playful smile tugging at his lips. "Can't say no, can we?"

Winston chimed in with a chuckle, "No, we can’t."

And just like that, a sense of adventure filled the air as they began to prepare for the evening ahead, each of them wondering what surprises lay in store.

Azura happily ran and hugged her mother who was even more delighted to see her daughter , she was so happy to see her little girl back and happier to know that her once little girl had matured into a woman, with family now.

Leopard king , lante , Damien and Victor stood there as they admired the mother daughter moment , when their gazes landed on the four men standing behind azura who looked at her with the same loving eyes , they couldn't help but throw daggers at them , turns out Asher noticed them and smiled .

" Hello , it's been ages , right ? "
He voiced his greetings , mainly dedicated to Damien and leopard king who just gave him a glare.

" yes, right ! "
Damien said , he was totally not going to pretend that he was okay with those four men who took his daughter away from them .

" my , you're still sour about that. Come one , grow up sir. "
Asher said waving his hand in the air .

" can you all stop ! " leopard queen said and the glaring competition between the fathers and their sons-in-law ended immediately.

" it's been ages since I saw my daughter , let's go inside child , the food has been prepared. It's your favourite dish ,"
The leopard queen said as she took azura inside with her and the males just followed them quietly.

The whole family was seated comfortably, azura's parents and azura's males on either sides .

" how about you introduce them to us azura ? "
Lante said . He was impressed with azura's choice , it was obvious that she was biased towards strength, the looks were just complementary. After all the child was sheltered and grown up with love by all her strong fathers so it was obvious she'd look for men who were at least as strong as her fathers, though half of them were deceased now, lante was sure they must be just as pissed at those men for taking their daughrer away.

" yes ! "
Azura smiled brightly at lante and started introducing her males one by one .

" this is Asher, "
Azura said.

" Hello folks. "
Asher greeted .

" oh , how can we forget you ! "
Leopard king said sarcastically .

" onto the next one darling. "
Victor said and Asher's eyes narrowed , he definitely didn't like him calling azura that , but it was fine since victor was her father too .

" this is Winston, "
Azura said .

" Hello, it's nice to make an acquaintance. "
Winston awkwardly said .

" hmm , the tiger prince, I've heard a lot about you. "
Damien nodded.

" this is Noah. "
Azura continued.

" hi. "
Noah was the most anti-social among the group , azura was glad that he at least said something.

" hmm , a peacock , that too a rare one , not bad. "
Victor said smiling .

" and lastly, this is Curtis. "
Azura finally said .

" oh , a feral ? "
Lante raised a brow, he could only wonder why , how and when, when it came to Curtis. All the males were strong , but a feral ?

" he's a civilized one , it's rare. "
Leopard king said.

Curtis was even more anti-social than Noah so azura was happy that he even agreed to come .

He didn't even bother smiling. But azura was glad that he didn't make any sarcastic comment that could spoil the mood too.

" so , I can see all my daughter's males are strong ones , I'm glad ! "
Leopard queen said as she glanced fondly at her child who couldn't help but smile the whole time.

" me too mom..... "
Azura chuckled .

" come on , let's eat ! "
Damien said and the feast began .

The dinner went smoothly without anyone throwing glares and daggers at each other, mentally cursing was allowed.

Right now they were all in the supposed living room and chatting amongst themselves .

Lante was surprised to know that Noah was a healer and shared that he too ,was a healer. Damien and winston were talking about the city's foundation as they had managed to find a common ground. Asher and leopard king were throwing daggers at each other and talked sometimes about azura's life and Asher's awakening.

Curtis and Victor were around their respective females and listening to the mom daughter conversation and occasionally spoke in between when needed .

" so ! "
The leopard king cleared his throat , in a way asking for attention.

" oh , so we're finally moving to that part! "
Leopard queen sighed as she looked at her male .

" go on, "
Lante said and leopard king nodded .

" the reason why we assembled here tonight was not just to have dinner but also something else ."
He said and paused before he continued.

" it was to introduce some males to azura as per the customs . Though it is a bit late as this was supposed to be on her coming of age day but it was delayed because of some unfortunate circumstances. Then Asher showed up, at least one month was necessary to look for selected males and call them over and the males have finally arrived . "
Leopard king ended his words and Victor continued.

" and we got to know that azura has more males so all of them are here to evaluate whether or not the males selected by us are worthy to be with azura , but the final say will always belong to azura . Am I clear ? "
Victor said looking at azura's males who discussed something among themselves but nodded nonetheless.

" let us to to the sparring grounds then ,"

[ A/n : ya'll don't vote and comment and act like silent readers, you know I don't charge you if you comment anything , I won't bite you even if you comment something really *EheM* OK . So do leave comments and your opinion . Any request related to the fic is also welcomed , love . ]