71 Bird Mountain Reunion
Amber woke up and was greeted by the sound of birds chirping. She knew she was back in the beast world. She was on Bird Mountain again in Tom's old nest. She looked around and could see signs of recent meals. Feathers and bones were piled on one side of the cave.
She was about to get up and go search for her mates when she saw a giant eagle. He landed quickly and transformed into his beastman form. Amber recognized her mate and called out, "Tyler, I'm back!"
Tyler and Tom had stayed on Bird Mountain after Amber disappeared. Eli, Barry, and Fred took the cubs back to the Beast City. Tyler had felt his mate's presence and was closest to her location. He hurriedly went to Amber and picked her up as he spun her around in his arms.
He was stunned for a moment and couldn't believe his mate was finally back. It had been over a year this time. He didn't know if it was due to the way she disappeared last time, but he was happy she had returned.
Tyler was almost a five-striped beastman now. He had been trying to upgrade since she left. He could feel he was close to a breakthrough. He hugged Amber and started to kiss her all over her face. Amber was caught off guard and forgot to ask about the others.
Soon, she was overwhelmed with his kisses and began to melt in his arms. Tyler didn't want to speak in case this was a dream or an illusion. He quickly, but gently undressed Amber and laid her down on the soft feather nest. Tyler kissed her all over until she couldn't think of anything else other than that moment.
After a steamy session, Amber felt tired and took a nap. Tyler gently cleaned her up with warm water from the hot springs. Tom came back to his nest to see a sleeping Amber. Tyler made a quiet gesture with his finger.
Tom was a little stunned to see his mate back in this world. He didn't want to wake her up, but he missed her so much. He went to her side and lay next to her. He hugged her gently, but Amber felt the warmth and turned to hug him.
She woke up to see a pair of black eyes tenderly staring at her. She smiled at him and hugged him. "Hello Tom, I'm back." Tom knew she was tired from her mating session with Tyler, so he controlled his urges and just hugged her.
Amber placed her head on his tan chest and asked, "Where are the others? How are you all doing here? What happened after I left?"
Tyler went to get something for Amber to eat as Tom answered her questions. Amber thought about Nick and he was summoned back to this world. He nodded at Tyler and hugged Amber from behind.
Amber chuckled at his clingyness. It had only been a few hours for him, but he acted like he had not seen her in a year. She tried to focus on what Tyler was saying.
"After you and Blue Tang disappeared, Gennita went back to the sea with her mates and Mermen. She sends out patrols every month to see if you have returned. She is still holding a grudge for the Mermen who died in the Beast City.
It has been over a year since you left and she is not planning to stop searching for you until she dies. Tyler and I decided to stay here to wait for your return. Eli and Barry took the cubs back to the Beast City for their protection. Fred found a female fox from another tribe and became her mate. He was sure you were not going to come back, but I never gave up hope."
Amber was a little sad to hear about Fred but was happy for him. She hoped his mate was kind to him. He was such a kind beastman. She hoped he didn't turn out like Ray and become bitter towards her for not becoming mates with him.
She was still not completely used to having multiple mates. In her world, it was only one mate for life. She had six mates and she felt this was plenty. She could not imagine having any more. She was glad that Fred found a female mate.
Thinking about her other mates, she started to miss them and the kids. She asked, "When can we go back? I miss the others so much. How are my cubs?"
Tyler came back with some roasted bird meat and berries for Amber. She accepted the berries on a leaf and Nick shredded the meat for her. He fed her small pieces in between the berries. They tasted like cranberries. It reminded her of Thanksgiving even though it was in the middle of spring.
Tyler responded, "We can go back to the Beast City whenever you are ready. We will meet up with Oliver and Barry with the cubs. Eli has grown into his beastman form and is now living alone in the Beast City."
Amber was surprised to hear that Eli had transformed into a beastman. She knew that beastmen grew up quickly, but she hoped to have him for a little while longer. Once they transformed into their beastman form, they were considered adults and started to level up to attract a mate.
He would be considered a bachelor now and they usually did not live with their mothers after they grew up. The exceptions were for royal families. Technically, Amber was a Cheetah Queen, so if she wanted her male offspring to live with her she could make them.
Amber was torn between being a good mother and helping him succeed in this beast world. She would think about it more once they reached the Beast City. While she was having an internal debate, a Merman scout noticed she had returned and left to inform his queen immediately.
He was only a 2 striped Merman and could not defeat Amber's mates. She had a 5 striped Cheetah King and two 4 striped flying beastmen with her. He left to get back up from the other Mermen.
Tom noticed the Merman with his hawk vision. He informed the others, "There was a Merman spy. He will inform Gennita of Amber's return." Tyler was ready to fly off and kill him, but Amber stopped him. "It's time to make a peace treaty with the Mermaid Queen. It will take some time for him to return to the sea, let's go back to the Beast City and we will be ready when they come."
She hoped Gennita would accept her peace treaty, if not, her mates would kill the entire Merfolk race. She didn't want to be responsible for genocide. Peace was the better option. This was the reason Blue Tang stayed back in her world. She quickly thought of her cubs to prevent accidentally summoning him to this world.
Her cute little cubs were still breastfeeding when she left, she asked "How are the cubs? Did they find a substitute mother to get milk? Are they eating meat now?" Tyler responded, "We did as Nick told us and captured a wild cheetah that was nursing her cubs. They were able to ween quickly and started to eat meat. They have grown to almost full size now and are very strong."
Nick was proud to hear his cubs were strong. Of course, his offspring would be strong. He was the Cheetah King. Then, he remembered how they took Amber's attention and started to regret coming back to this world. Hopefully, now that they were weaned from her milk, they would not take as much of her time.
Amber's eyes watered at the thought of her poor cubs having to nurse from a surrogate mother and wanted to see them as soon as possible. "Let's go back now, I'm ready."
Tyler offered to carry Amber since he was the biggest and fastest. She nodded and asked if Nick wanted a ride with Tom. Nick still had his dignity. "I will check on the Cheetah Village first, you can summon me when you arrive at the Beast City."
She nodded and climbed on Tyler's back. Tom flew behind them and looked out for potential dangers. He was halfway leveled up to 5 stripes. He had not been fighting as much as Tyler, but still trying to level up quickly.
Tyler was happy to show off for his mate and flew as fast as he could until Amber patted his back and asked him to slow down. She was still not used to flying with nothing to hold on to but his feathers. She hugged his back tightly and held on to anything she could without making it difficult for him to fly.
They reached the Beast City in under an hour and Amber noticed the Cheetah castle had grown some vines on the sides. It looked a little different from the last time, but still familiar.
