Improvements

After Nick's announcement, Amber noticed how much the other Cheetah beast men respected him. They all came up to her and swore their loyalty one after another. "Cheetah queen, I will protect you with my life!" She just nodded to them. She didn't know what to say.

She looked at Nick and he nodded at her in approval. She did the right thing. Beast men were not used to being treated nicely by females and if she did treat them nicely, they would think she wanted to accept them as her mates.

Nick was less hesitant about her taking additional mates now that he knew she wasn't from this world. He wanted to make sure she was always safe. A lot of beast men would rather be guardians than nothing at all. They could only hope to become mates one day.

Nick showed Amber around the village, and she noticed the simple designs of the homes. They were either stone caves with stone doors or wooden huts like Dr. Tony's with tree bark and vines holding them together. They had grass roofs. Most beast men used fur rugs as beds and some used grass.

The single-beast men were less picky than the females. The females would receive the best and softest furs. The village wasn't very big and there were no stores or community centers. Amber compared their village to her hometown.

She made a mental note to tell Nick about some of the things from her modern world. She would love to open a restaurant or bakery. She didn't know how they would make bread here. She had only had meat and berries.

Her sister had shown her how to make non-dairy ice cream from oat milk and coconut milk. If she could find some coconuts or oats, she could use them. But then the problem is how to freeze it. Oh well, just having some kind of milk would be nice.

Her sister told her about other uses for coconut milk and coconut oil. She hoped they had some coconut trees in this Beast world. She lived in a beach city that had palm trees, but it wasn't tropical enough for coconuts.

She asked Nick, "Do you have tall skinny trees with big leaves and round fruits with a hard shells nearby?" Nick had seen similar trees near the sea when he was hunting behemoths. He wondered how she knew of them.

He replied, "I have seen trees like your description near the sea. It is about a week's journey from our village. Would you like to go?" Amber thought about it and nodded. She responded, "We don't have to go today, but maybe a trip in the future would be nice."

Nick nodded and continued to show Amber around their village. They saw some young cubs playing near a cave. Amber thought they were so cute! She loved kittens and these looked like big spotted kittens. Two were play-fighting with each other and the third one was playing by himself with a stick.

Amber's eyes lit up and Nick noticed. He hugged her closer and whispered, "We can have our cubs if you like." She got excited and replied, "Yes, I would love to have some cute cubs like those!" She didn't know they were birthed by a female of the village. She thought they were wild cubs. She asked, "Are these strays?"

Just then a 1-Striped Cheetah beast man came out of the cave and greeted them. He bowed toward Nick and his mate. Nick replied to Amber's question, "These cubs belong to him and his mate. We can have our own soon." Amber got excited and Nick smiled at her excitement.

The Cheetah beast man addressed Amber, "My queen if you like my cubs, you may keep one." Nick raised his eyebrows; he didn't want Amber to take a mate that was too young. He would have to raise the cub first. For now, she needed grown beast men who could protect her and help provide for her. Amber replied, "It's ok, we can get our cubs. Thank you."

The beast man looked stunned for a second at how nice the female in front of him was. He shook his head and replied, "No need to thank me. You are the queen of our village. You can have anything you want." Amber just nodded and thought about what he told her.

There wasn't a lot for this village to offer. She needed to make some improvements to the village. They had a doctor, so that was one good thing. They needed some kind of trading system and a market. She also noticed how quiet it was and thought that the village could use some entertainment. Music or sports would be nice.

She heard a bird singing in the background and started to hum a tune. Nick was surprised to hear her hum. It sounded lovely and he hadn't heard anyone hum before. Mermaids were rumored to sing sirens songs and bird beast men could sing or whistle.

He was enthralled by her humming. She noticed his reaction and stopped humming. She asked, "What's wrong?" He responded, "I have never heard such a beautiful noise before. How do you do that?" Amber blushed and didn't know how to respond at first.

How do you explain humming to someone who doesn't know how? She replied, "It's like singing without opening your mouth." He looked even more excited and asked, "You can sing?"

She nodded embarrassed. She never sang by herself. She usually sang backup for her older sister or in the church choir. She had written a few songs and sang them when she was alone. She saw the hope in Nick's eyes and started to sing All I Have to Give by Backstreet Boys for him.

"But my love is all I have to give;

Without you, I don't think I could live.

I wish I could give the world to you,

but my love is all I have to give."

She hummed some more because she forgot the lyrics. Nick had never heard the song before, so he didn't know the song was incomplete. He thought it was the most beautiful thing he had ever heard and took it as her love confession to him.

He hugged her tightly and stated, "I will give you all my love and anything your heart desires. I can't live without you either." Amber blushed and didn't explain that those were lyrics to a song from her home world.

She saw how happy he was and just let him be happy. She did love him, but it was too soon for her. He had waited for a whole year for her, but to her, it had only been a day. She wondered how much time they had together in this dream.

There were no clocks in the beast world, so she could only guess the time based on the sun's position in the sky. They were surrounded by jungle, but the village was in a clearing with caves circling 2/3 of the village. They were at the base of a mountain.

Amber had gone hiking with her uncle and siblings when she was younger. She wondered what was at the top of the mountain. She asked, "What's up there?" Nick noticed her gazing up the mountain and responded, "The flying beast men live up there. We have a peace treaty between our tribes. They are the lookouts, and we are the ground patrol against threats."

A flying beast man had heard Amber's singing and was so dazed he flew into a tree branch. He was embarrassed when he let out an uncontrollable "Ugk!" Amber looked over to the large hawk and he slowly regained his senses. He shook out his wings and then transformed into a beast man. He had heard birds sing before, but none were like this female's singing. He walked up to her slowly.

He was a 3-striped flying beast man. He hadn't found a mate because they didn't interest him. He made fun of his brothers and friends who would devote their lives to a female who barely appreciated them.

Flying beast men were treated as transportation animals or for enjoyment. They were highly sought after, but rarely appreciated. He gazed at the beautiful female in front of him and suddenly felt that he could spend the rest of his life looking after her if it meant he could hear her sing again.

Nick cleared his throat, and the hawk beast man broke out of his daze. He approached Amber and bowed and spoke in a deep voice, "Forgive me for staring, but I have never seen a female as beautiful as you or heard such a beautiful voice before. I would gladly give my life to stay by your side." Amber didn't know how to respond to that! His sharp black eyes were gazing deeply into her big green eyes.