Chapter 55 - He doesn’t Have It As Bad As Vick, At Least

Chapter 55: 55 - He doesn’t Have It As Bad As Vick, At Least

(Moyu’s POV)

Instead of feeling embarrassed about her "wrong" assumptions, she simply passed me by and continued on her way. "Is that so? You don’t like me at all?"

I still had some pride left, and I wasn’t about to let her see how much she got under my skin. She didn’t need to know that her words made my heart flutter either. "The cores...they won’t bring the death back..."

I tried to blame her for the death of beastmen. Did she think that the cores would compensate for the lives lost? That it was a fair trade? It wasn’t.

"And?" she asked, unfazed. "The beastmen use weak lures to hunt primals, so why can’t I use them as lures to hunt primals as well?"

"They were not lures...lures agree to be lures."

Cutting all paths in life but one was the same as no choice. I knew the lures wouldn’t choose to be one if there was a better option, and I wished she would give a similar excuse, or anything that would make her seem less cruel to me.

Instead, her response was colder than the chilling wind that bit my skin. "If you want to chase me for my crimes, I won’t stop you. But if you try to claim me as your mate, I will gut you like a chicken."

What was I hoping for? That she would change her mind and welcome me into her life? Or that I would change mine and leave her alone?

She didn’t defend or justify her actions. She just accepted the label of a murderer and moved on. As if what I thought of her didn’t matter, as long as I left her alone.

"Don’t flatter yourself. You are not that appealing." I forced myself to stand up, to look her in the eye and see her as my enemy. "I will follow you, and when you cross the line, you will be dealt with. Just like any other vileborn female who thought she was above the law."

I’ve done it before. I’d dealt with corrupted females in the Beast Kingdom before. I could do it again. Twist their reputation, make them lose their worth, so that only the low-ranked males would take them as mates.

The female chuckled, and it was more frightening than her glare. It was a dark, mocking sound that promised pain. "A weakling like you? You won’t be able to get near me, let alone stop me."

A tiny grudge grew in my chest as she insulted my abilities. I wanted to make her regret underestimating me, and I was willing to spend a lifetime doing it.

"Well," Vick lifted me off the ground and threw me over his shoulder. "I guess we’re adopting another stray."

He dodged the pebble she threw at him and carried me along the path she’d taken.

[Thank you,] I mumbled. Having to depend on a cold-blooded to stay close to a female... I had fallen so low.

[You’re welcome,] Vick replied. [Now, don’t give up on me. You are my ticket back to Precious’ good graces.]

[She will never accept me as her mate,] I said. [I don’t know what you are planning, but I’m done courting her. Just being near her is enough for me.]

[Is that so?] Vick sounded amused. [I thought you would be more greedy than that.]

[There is a limit to how much rejection I can take,] I sighed, and he laughed, which made me want to push him off a cliff. [I’m not like you. I don’t enjoy being treated like dirt.]

[...] Vick didn’t respond, but the way he let a pebble hit me in the back of the head told me to watch my mouth.

The only person who could insult Vick was the female, and he would tolerate no less.

Vick had his own motives, but for now, he was my only gate to her. I was used to seeing competitive behavior between males, and I was never interested in partaking in it. Fighting over a female like Kurus did feel undignified.

I already fought at the fronts. I didn’t need to fight on home ground, either.

I shut up and focused on recovering as much energy as I could. I still had to show him that I was useful, or he might change his mind about keeping me around.

The only comforting thought was that she treated him worse than she did me. And that eased the sting of rejection... I didn’t have it as bad as Vick.

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The rain had raised the water, turning the path into a swamp and making their travel even harder.

"It’s only going to get worse," Kurus hissed, scanning the surroundings. "We need to find higher ground."

No higher ground was in sight, only trees and more trees. The Lowland forest was flat here, and the only mountain in the vicinity, about a day’s flight away, lay in the opposite direction they were heading.

I recovered enough to walk on my own and climb a tree to avoid being swept away by the water, which was already up to our knees.

We found a tree with a hollow large enough for all of us. The patrols often build these resting places to have a safe place to spend the night or when the weather got bad.

Vick squeezed himself next to her. I took the opportunity and sat on her other side, while Kurus slithered under her, seating her on his lap.

She was forced to tolerate us, but she was not forced to like it. And she made it clear by ignoring us completely.

The three gasums were with us too, squeezed between our bodies. We would rather not have her start another pheromone storm in this confined space and were ready to squeeze them at a moment’s notice.

"What are you doing, Noodle?"

"Removing your clothes, mate." Kurus was trying to peel off the wet clothes from her body. "I will dry them on the branch."

He held up a stick for her to see, which she pretended not to see.

"You two strip as well." He pointed the stick at Vick and me. "I will dry your clothes too, so you can warm up the hollow for me and mate."

"..."

"..."

"..."