Ch3:Black Panther village

Looks like my bold proposal may have been too much for this male. Jason is looking at me with a shocked face and opens and closes his mouth a few times, like wanting to say something but can't figure out what? Then without any warning, he just hugs me.

"I will be your mate." He spoke with his deep voice in my ear, sending a shiver down my spine. He rubs his face a few times in the crook of my neck, his fluffy ears tickling me.

I can't help but want to touch them. I raised my hand and gave his head a pat. Soft. His shoulder-length hair is so soft and smooth.

I keep petting his head and I hear purring. Our sweet moment is interrupted by the loud growling of my stomach.

He pulls back, and I can see that he's face is red. Damn, he's cute.

"I'm sorry. I will bring you something to eat. Is rabbit meat good?"

I pat my warm checks, trying to cool them. "That's fine."

"I'll be back soon. Do you want some fruit until the meat is ready?"

"Oh, sure."

He goes out and come back with two weird looking fruits.

After that, I'm alone munching in silence. They are not bad. Sweet with an apple like texture and banana flavor. Odd combination. I enjoy my banana-apple and analyze what happened earlier. Seems like I got my first male. And a strong one too. In this world, the strength of a male can be determined by the number of stripes on their body. With no stripes as the weakest and four as the strongest. A three stripe male is a good enough addition, and maybe he could even gain his fourth one in the future. But it's difficult to gain a stripe. Most males gain stripes from fighting and surviving it. Some males remain, as stripeless, their whole lives. A four stripe male is extremely rare, and most of them are kings of their races. If a four stripe challenge a king in a fight and win, then he became the new king. But this is only works if they are from the same race. So yeah. She struck gold.

But only one male is not enough to keep a female save in this kind of world, so she needs to find herself a few more. Strong ones, preferably.

She sighs loudly and run a hand over her face.

She can do this. Even if she feels uncomfortable with the idea. This is normal here. So there's nothing wrong with getting herself a few more males. All females do it here. She needs to adapt. Otherwise, she may die. And she won't die. No. She'll do it. She will gather several strong males to protect and take care of her. But she won't mistreat herself. She'll only accept the ones that she likes.

Jason is strong and handsome and seems like a nice guy. And it's normal for female of this world to mate with whomever they want. No male can force a female to accept them. And if they force a female to mate with them, the female can remove their spousal mark, and that male will become a rootless beast. No male is stupid enough to do that. Maybe only the ferals. But anyway, a male will do anything to avoid having his mark removed, so the female here are all spoiled because of the males' attitude towards them. They can get away with almost anything. Even if they order their males to kill another male. The only time they are punished is if they harm another female, but even then, they only have their tongue cut and are sold out of their village. So yeah, it's pretty cool to be a female here.

To became mates one has to have sex, after that, a tattoo with the male's beast form will form on the female's body.

She only needs to have sex with Jason, and he'll become her mate. Easier said than done.

"Sera, here."

Jason brings me the cooked meat on a big leaf. It's roasted and in small bite pieces. It smells delicious. I grab the leaf and take a piece. Ha. It's kind of… how should I put it. Not bad but a bit flavorless. Seems like no condiment or even salt was used on it. But at least it's tender and well cooked. So this will do for now.

"Thank you." I remember to say after a few bites.

He seems a bit surprised, but a smile takes over immediately.

"You don't need to thank me. It's a male duty to take care of his female."

"But still, I want you to know that I am thankful for doing it." I respond with a small smile of my own. I might not be the nicest person, but it won't hurt to be nice to my future husband. He seems delighted with my answer. If all it takes to make him happy is a simple "Thank you" then it won't kill me to say it more often. I may only become mates with him because of my need for safety and comfort, but that doesn't mean that I will mistreat him. I don't love him. But I find him attractive, and his strength even more attractive. So that's good enough for me.

He takes my empty leaf plate and hands me some water in a bowl like hard fruit shell.

"Jason, where is my dress?" I remember that under the blanket, I'm still naked.

"I washed it and it's drying outside. But it's torn, since I was having a hard time taking it down. I'm sorry."

"Oh, it's alright then. Could you please give me something to wear?"

" I'll make you a new dress."

He brings me two pieces of fur to choose from. One is red, and the other is black. Both of them are very soft and fluffy. They feel nice.

"Can you make both of them into dresses?" It's difficult to decide. So why not have both?

"Alright."

Jason takes the fur and starts to cut them into appropriate shapes. Then sew them with a bone needle and thin tread made from some vine or something. I watch the whole process with interest. It's the first time seeing something like this. I would just buy whatever clothes I like before. Good thing he knows how to make clothes, and otherwise I would have to walk around with a fur wrapped around me. That sounds annoying. He is strong and handsome, can hunt and cook, wash and make clothes. Damn, what a lucky woman am I.

While I was lost in thoughts, Jason finished the first dress and hand it to me. It's from the black fur. A one piece strapless dress that reach my mid tight with a strap around the waist for better adjustments. It looks well-made.

"Can you turn around?"

Jason does as told, and I quickly put the dress on. It suits me perfectly. Its model accentuates my curvy shapes and makes my waist look thinner.

"You can turn around."

I stand with confidence in front of my future mate that seems to take in the sight before his eye. He seems pleased with his work. He guides me to sit back down with a worried look.

"Your feet are still hurt. I will take you to the healer to look at them again later."

Now that I'm reminded, it really is uncomfortable to stand. He continues his work while I ask him questions about this place.

So this is the Black Panther village and like in the name the majority of the population of this place are panthers. There are also a minority of other types of beasts, like some jaguars and bears. With only 12 females and around 500 males. It's not a big village and the strongest male has three stripes, with only Jason and the village chief being as one.

There are quite a few two stripes males, but the majority only has one stripe or none. I'm not interested in any of those weak males.

I would consider a two stripe with potential but nothing less. It's useless to have many weak males around that I would not care about.

I would rather have fewer but stronger ones. Damn, I'm already starting to think like a female of this world, maybe it would be easier to adapt than I initially thought.

Jason finishes his other work, a skirt and a tube top from the red fur. It's as well-made as the other. He then proposes to take me to the village healer and I accept since I'm quite curious about what the healers of this world are capable about.

Before having a chance to get up, I find myself in a pair of strong arms. He princess carry me outside. I want to protest, but I don't have shoes and my feet would hurt if I walk by myself, so I just adjust my position to lay more comfortable. He looks pleased that I am letting him carry me.