Muir's insistence on treating me like fragile glass was starting to wear me thin. When he asked me to wear a veil, I faked a headache just to get him out of our way and look for a doctor. I figured he'd be busy enough telling Nivi we'd arrived, and maybe he'd realize he'd be better off with her. He was one of her 'book husbands,' after all, so I couldn't exactly tear him apart, much as I wanted to.

Vick practiced his most disarming smile in the reflection of the river's water, only to find it looked more like a grimace. "I think I might be less intimidating if I try not to smile at all," he muttered, deciding that looking perpetually emotionless might be less alarming, "What do you think, Precious?"

"Your smile could scare off the dead," I said. Honestly, Vick's intimidating presence was a good bug repellent when it came to keeping people at arm's length, "Why bother with pleasantries when your scowl can clear a room? There is no point in fixing what isn't broken, Vick."

Caught off guard, Vick instinctively covered his mouth and tilted his head away awkwardly.

Curtis, on the other hand, had a natural scowl that could freeze a raging river. He attempted to soften his expression, aiming for a look of gentle indifference.

The tactic where they tried to paint me as a nice girl had utterly failed, so their upcoming day's agenda was clear: keep a low profile to ensure smoother interaction between me and my potential suitors inside the leopard village.

"We should have been more aggressive," said Curtis, "forced that winged rat to bond with Yaya before he had the chance to meet Nivi."

With a wicked gleam in his eye, Vick's voice turned sinister, "Does he really think we'd let him see our Yaya's mouthwatering figure without a cost? Let's just get rid of him. It's time to cut our losses and his ties."

Curtis nodded, his expression hardening in agreement, "He should face a painful death."

I also nodded at their decision to get rid of Muir, "Took you both long enough to come to your senses."

"..." Both men turned to me, their expressions darkening with intentions that were anything but saintly. I quickly dodged the hand that tried to lift me by the waist and a tail that wanted to swoop me off my feet. But with their combined wits, they successfully captured me.

"Curtis, I hope you're not thinking of flipping to Team Nivi now that we're here, are you?" Vick asked, "Something about Nivi must be convincing you that Muir might have a change of heart."

Curtis recounted a memory. He talked about saving a woman from mermen once. He wanted to get to know her before marking her, but she ended up trying to kill him, just like I did. Ferals branded females with their marks, not out of love but for practicality, should they attempt to flee. What set me apart was how fiercely I protected Nivi, even ready to die for her.

"Nivi's smart," Curtis admitted, "She'll know how to survive with the help of her males. Yaya... I can't leave her. She's reckless. Stubborn. If I walked away, I'd always be thinking about her. Is she okay or not? Did someone hurt her? Did she need me? Is she even alive? It would drive me crazy. The only way for me to have peace is if I take her with me, keep her close. That is how I know she needs me, whether she likes it or not."

Vick never liked Nivi, especially after I requested him to never ever show himself before her, "You had the chance to know love, to be loved, Curtis. Nivi's strength and guidance could have transformed you into someone beyond your wildest dreams." He couldn't help but inject a note of sarcasm.

"Everyone else thought it was foolish for a female to have only one male, but Yaya didn't. She got it," Curtis said, a soft chuckle escaping his lips. "She didn't just agree with me ─ she saw the value in it when no one else did. Now she is teasing me for it...but I like that about her."

His gaze softened, his voice dropping a little lower, his words directed not at convincing Vick of his sincerity but at reassuring me, "What we have... it's carved its place in me. No one else, not even Nivi, could ever compare."

I raised an eyebrow at his expectant gaze. "It's a wonder you're still bold enough to ask for a kiss after everything I've put you through," I said, my lips parting ever so slightly, inviting yet provoking.

Instead of the deep, demanding kiss I'd expected, his lips found mine with a passion that wasn't soft, but still wasn't harsh. He kissed me deeply, his mouth pressing against mine in a slow rhythm, not rushing. There was no force, no need to dominate. He was just...enjoying me.

I matched Curtis's intensity, and Vick's reaction was immediate ─ he yanked Curtis away from me.

Curtis licked his lips, appearing quite pleased with the reaction he got out of Vick, probably no longer feeling like an underdog.

While tasting the aftermath of the kiss on my lips, I couldn't help but grin at the sight of Vick gritting his teeth as he carried me in his arms into the village, "How does it feel," I taunted, "to see the kissing techniques we've practiced on eachother being used on another? I have to admit, I'm not fond of this alliance you two have formed against me. It's making me want to pit you against each other until you're at each other's throats."

Feeling Vick's fingers digging into my skin in eerie silence, was all the answer I needed to better keep my rare moment of quiet docility. He knew my weakness for Nivi and never sought to exploit it, which helped to maintain the little respect I still held for him.

· · ─────── · ⊱❈⊰· ─────── · ·

Curtis and my scent should have been well-known within Camel Hump Valley, so we didn't expect a group of leopards to come sprinting out to welcome us, shouting from a distance.

"An ugly female's better than none!" Their attempts to outpace one another turned comical before they even reached us. The same leopards who had called me ugly now seemed to think that having an ugly female was better than having no female at all.

"She is a bit violent, but at least she smells good," one remarked, probably the one I punched the last time.

"I will be her mate!"

"No, I will! She will choose me!"

The chaos reached its peak until the tribe leader stepped in. "Enough!" he commanded, seeking to restore order. "Her appearance matters not. Our village is in dire need of females. You cannot afford to be selective!"

"Female! Your beauty may be lacking, but I will consider...," a leopard trailed off, unable to finish his bold words before a sea of other mateless leopards toppled over him.

The moment the leopards saw me again, a switch flipped. One minute, they were arguing like brutes, the next, they were wide-eyed and acting like...well, cats. They gawked and dripped their saliva as their tails twitched, not the one behind their backs but the one in front.

The noise quickly attracted attention, and soon, the whole village seemed to spill out of their homes.

The females wasted no time. Eyes narrowed, they wasted no words.

"Stop gawking at her like some lovesick cub! Have you no shame?!"

One of them slapped her partner's face, her voice a low snarl. "You'd better be looking at me like that, not her!"

The males were trapped, stammering out weak protests. "But I─ I didn't mean─"

"Shut up and look away!" another snapped, her gaze sharp.

Vick leaned in, his voice low, a smirk tugging at his lips. "Are you sure they're leopards and not kittens?"

Curtis stayed steady, blocking me from any rash moves. "They're all still cubs, except for the Leopard King's son ─ the one Nivi turned down. They'll be easy to handle."

I shot them a sideways glance as I walked toward Harvey's house. "You two sound pathetic," I muttered.

Just then, I spotted a leopard, urgency etched on his face, cradling a female in his arms as he hammered on Harvey's door.

"Harvey! Harvey! Are you there?!" he bellowed, panic lacing his voice, "My female sprained her ankle during the earlier commotion. I need you to help her relieve the pain!"

As the leopard's shouts for Harvey grew more desperate, he finally caught the scent of me, his expression morphing into one of fierce accusations. "Look what you've done!" he spat out, his voice harsh and blaming, "It's all because of you! My female sprained her ankle because everyone ran out to gawk at your spectacle. And in that madness, one of your mateless followers shoved past her, causing her fall. You're responsible for this mess and her pain!"

Parker's words were sharp, laced with anger, as if he were trying to pin the whole mess on me, accusing me of orchestrating it with malicious intent.

Well, I admit that I wanted to summon every mateless male ─ to make Curtis and Vick abandon their futile efforts ─ and let get this over with as soon as possible.

╔═══ Author's note ════╗

Look who we've got here. It seemed like someone had showed up in the village during Yaya's absence. 👀

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