"What a beautiful foot..."

Lol, what the fuck?

Rhea felt chills down her spine looking at the scene; the leopard-beast man healer had a delicate girl's foot in hand who had sprained her ankle. 

Waiting in line for the healer was awkward. Even more awkward was watching this healer become infatuated with his patient. Was that even legal?

Rhea and Curtis had come to the territory of the leopard tribe—Camel Hump Valley. She wondered if they had camel beastmen too; it would be strange to see a camel in this part of the world.

According to Curtis, Ferals were universally feared. Rhea didn't understand at first, but when they arrived at Camel Hump Valley, they were immediately ambushed by leopards, who assumed she must have been kidnapped. She had to clear up the situation quickly, stating they were only there for a healer. Now here she was, waiting for the healer.

This healer felt like a quack, but she kept her mouth shut.

The girl whose foot was in his hand had mud on her face, indicating she had likely been hunting or foraging.

"You're not from the leopard tribe, where are you from?" the girl asked Rhea.

Rhea looked at her, noting that she also wasn't from the leopard tribe. So why was she asking?

"Her tribe is far from here," Curtis replied antagonistically. He didn't have a good impression of the leopard tribe and would have gone on a rampage if Rhea hadn't stopped him. He decided to learn about medicinal herbs after this so they could be self-reliant.

"Watch your tone when speaking to my mate, Feral," the leopard with the girl hissed.

"Stop this nonsense, she only asked me a question," Rhea reprimanded Curtis. "Sorry about that. I am from the human tribe. You probably haven't heard of us."

"Really? I am also!" the girl said excitedly.

The two of them were silent for a moment. The girl looked around nervously, as if afraid to expose herself.

"It's fine. Curtis knows where I am from... the 21st century?"

"Yes!"

The others wouldn't understand what she meant by that, but the girl did.

"My name is Rhea; it's lovely to meet you."

"My name is Bai Qingqing."

"You're Chinese?"

"Yes!"

"That's nice..."

The healer, whose name was Harvey, coughed. He talked about fixing the girl's foot and then brought out... ginger?

"Is that ginger?" Rhea asked curiously.

"Ah, no, it's golden root," Harvey explained, his face flushed.

It was clearly ginger... Rhea looked up at Curtis.

"Is this the spice thing you were talking about?" Curtis asked.

Rhea nodded.

"Would you like some of these for your trip?" Harvey asked.

"Would that be possible? We will pay for it, if that's alright with you."

"Yes, of course. I find these everywhere, so I can always get more. But if you're leaving soon, you can have them." He pointed to a stash of spices—some she recognised, others she didn't.

"Thank you so much, Harvey!" Rhea was just happy to finally have edible food. She had been afraid she would just have to wait for her taste buds to die.

"Ah- No problem!" He was flustered, but she was too excited to notice.

Once Bai QingQing was sorted, her leopard took her away before they had a chance to talk properly.

Rhea didn't have much to say. If she was brought here all the way from China, which was on the other side of the world, then it seemed like this was just a random phenomenon. The chances of going back to Earth were slim already.

"How did you get all these scratches?" Harvey asked in shock after examining Rhea. He subconsciously glanced at Curtis, who glared back.

"I fell through a rabbit hole. I got scratched by the exposed roots."

"They're quite superficial... You are unmarked?"

"? What does that mean?" Rhea asked curiously.

"When a woman picks her mate and they consummate, she gets a mark on her body. The closer it is to her heart, the more she likes him, generally," Harvey explained patiently.

Rhea turned to Curtis, who only flushed. Was he embarrassed that he hadn't marked her? Or was he embarrassed at the thought of marking her?

"It is surprising you are still unmarked... Is he not your mate?" Harvey asked curiously.

"Ah, well... he is, but I like to know my mates before they mark me," she explained awkwardly. She didn't know how else to explain the three-date rule. Plus, the idea of having sex with a half animal felt really really weird. 

"Then are you still looking for mates?"

Curtis lunged at him, wanting to give him a good beating, but Rhea stopped him.

"Curtis. Don't be rude."

Harvey felt Curtis's bloodlust and shrank back.

"Do not have any ideas, healer. Do your job. We will pay," Curtis's tone dripped with menace.

"I'm sorry about him. Please carry on with the healing," Rhea apologised. Why was he acting out? Was a woman not allowed to have more than one mate?

"No, it's okay. You are a beautiful female. Many males will ask you to take them as a mate. It's just a matter of time..."

"? Females can have multiple mates?" That was a pleasant surprise; so this wasn't some weird omega verse.

"Did your Feral not tell you?"

Rhea glanced at Curtis, who looked guilty. How cute.

"So is that why you asked, Harvey? To be my mate?" Rhea asked with a teasing smile.

Harvey's face turned so red she could almost squeeze blood out of it. She laughed at his reaction. Even if it was normal, taking a mate was not that easy.

"Don't worry, I'm just teasing. Thanks for the check-up, Harvey!" She got off the stone table. "How do we pay you?"

"Ah, no, it's a gift."

"No gifts!" Curtis cut in. "Here." He handed over some clear crystals.

Harvey looked at the gems in his hand for a moment, then looked up at Rhea. "Are you not taking any mates?"

"Do you want to join me? Harvey, I plan to travel and not settle down for a while. You're a healer here; why would you give that up?"

She was right. Joining a stranger and a Feral sounded absurd.

"If we meet again and you feel the same way, then I'll consider it. Thank you, Harvey!"

With that, Rhea and Curtis left the healer's hut. 

.

"That healer; I should have just killed him, trying to snatch my female right under my nose!" Curtis said under his breath. Rhea merely laughed; he was very... beast-like? These were words she had never heard before so she found them entertaining. 

That night Rhea did the cooking; Curtis tried his best but he...struggled. 

She was pretty happy to finally have something edible so she got to work. It was her first time cooking rabbit so she tried to pay close attention to how she cooked it. The only thing she needed was salt; she made a mental list of what they needed to get. 

"Curtis, tomorrow we need to get salt and rice ok!" She said as she roasted the meat on a rock slab. 

"Ok" 

He watched her curiously but from a few feet away, it was really too hot to be near a flame. 

"Here, taste this.." She fed him a piece of meat. 

"This.. this is delicious!" That was the most emotion she had seen on his face. Was he just deprived of good food?

"It's even better with salt, rice and vegetables~" Truthfully, she hated vegetables but now dying of malnutrition had become a real concern so she had to suck it up. 

"Tomorrow, we will buy!" He said excitedly, he looked at her with wide eyes as if asking her to feed him again. 

She laughed and complied, spoiling your mate wasn't too bad. 

Did she just use the word mate unironically?

"Rhea, I know you said you wanted to wait but.. If you do not want to mate with me, I will not force you. You have been kind to me, but if you want, I will take you to a tribe with males who can take care of you." He said these words like he had been quietly contemplating them all day. 

"Why do you think you can't take care of me?" 

"Well, in winter I will have to hibernate, and then you will be all alone..." 

"So? Is that a bad thing?"

He looked really distressed. "If you are alone, who will protect you? Ferals kidnap women all the time, you will be in danger.." 

It was cute; he thought she would be in danger alone, but she figured it was a normal concern. 

Did she want to mate with him? She was unsure. What was the point of mating? She didn't really feel like it. But seeing him so insecure like this made her feel kindly towards him 

"Ok, maybe we will find one more, but I really do not want a lot of men.." 

He nodded, "I do not want a lot of men either! We need a powerful male like me to protect you so I can feel safe." 

Seeing him think of her made her heart warm. She didn't really understand the fuss but she personally was monogamous. Imagine two Curtis? Wouldn't they pick fights everywhere? Would she have a second of peace?

She snuggled into his tail; she felt better after eating today, it wasn't too bad, there weren't even mosquitoes; honestly, this wasn't so bad. 

"Hey Curtis, how is living here alone like? It must be lonely." If she hadn't met him, it would have been lonely for her too. 

"A little." 

"It's good then, at least we won't be lonely anymore." 

"Hmm."