16 Make Him Desire To Come Home Faster

"Good morning." She says.

"Good morning." Both answer with smiles on their faces.

"Did you have breakfast? This is so pretty and looks so good. I don't want to eat alone."

They join her to eat, but just a little, they want her to eat more. Wayde and Dieg spent the day rebuilding what was broken. Claud was mad that Astri was bullied, but he's proud Astri beat up Ana.

Claud saw in Astri's memories she had to deal with drunk men at the bar where she worked. Sometimes they were violent, sometimes they were just perverts, but she knew how to protect herself. Also, she took some self-defense classes.

At night, Wayde walks to Dieg, who is washing the dishes.

"Sleep somewhere else. Tomorrow I'll leave and I want to spend the night with her alone." Wayde didn't ask, he just stated. Dieg sighs and nods.

Wayde goes inside the cabin, and Astri is trying to fix her books. He sits behind her and hugs her between his legs.

"What are you doing?"

"Book pages are sewn together. I'm trying to sew back the pages I glued together." She answers.

"Can I ask you something?"

"Sure."

"Why did you decide to live alone for so long?"

".. I never felt like I belonged anywhere." She answers.

"I see... I think I understand that. Now do you feel you belong here?"

She stops and looks up to think. She must admit that she feels more like herself in this world. She feels like she lives around people like her somehow, but not entirely because she was raised differently.

"I'm not unhappy here. But I don't feel like I belong here." She answers.

"And where do you think you would be happy?"

She looks at him.

"It's not only a matter of place, but with whom. I belong with you, I'm happy with you. So as long as we're together, I'm happy anywhere."

His heart jumped and he lost his breath. He kisses her with a passion he can't hold in.

"Correction!" She says between their kisses. He stops and looks at her. "Not anywhere. I can't be happy living where there's poop and pee around." He giggles and goes back kissing her.

He rolls together with her to bed making her giggle. They make love almost all night, and Wayde tries to fix this memory with her in his mind so he travels faster and returns faster.

Astri wakes up sore. The tiger has a stamina she didn't imagine he had, but she wants to make his breakfast since he would be leaving that morning.

Wayde wakes up shortly after her. He soon noticed the warmth of her body was missing. She was at the stove cooking and preparing breakfast. He stands up and dresses himself, then goes to her.

"Good morning." He says hugging her from behind.

"Good morning, handsome. You woke up early, I'm almost done here.' She answers, then kisses his chin.

"Let me finish this for you." He tries taking the kitchen supplies from her hand, but she moves her hands away.

"No. I want to make breakfast for you. I don't know when I'll be able to spoil you. Eating my good food now will make you remember to come back fast." She says.

He smiles and stays hugging her from behind.

"So this is the meaning of her love.. I'm the luckiest man alive." He thinks.

They eat breakfast together. She feeds him in his mouth, but he prefers putting the piece of fruit in her mouth and then stealing it with a kiss.

"This way I'm not leaving even for 10 bales of salt." Wayde says.

She giggles and then the Chief, Dieg, and two more beastmen arrive.

Wayde sighs internally, sad that he needs to go. He looks to Astri again.

"Stay in the cabin and only leave with Dieg. He won't be taking night patrols while I'm out, and there will be guards around the cabin all the time." He tells her looking deeply into her eyes. She nods, smiling.

"Don't worry. Be careful and come back safe."

"I will."

They kiss and then Wayde goes to the males outside. Dieg gives Wayde a leather pouch he already knew what it was. Wayde leaves with the other beastmen, and Dieg goes to Astri's side.

"I came here to apologize for my daughter's behavior, miss Astri." Dieg's father says.

"You didn't have to." Astri speaks.

"Dieg told me that the things Ana destroyed were very precious to you and rare to find. If there's anything I can do to try repaying for it, please tell me."

"No, sir. Thank you. Besides, she's a grown woman with mates. If I want any repayment I'll ask them, not you."

"You're a fair female, miss Astri. Maybe that's why my son likes you so much." When he said that she blushed. Dieg smiles when he notices her blushed face.

Dieg's father looks at the plantation of vegetables and flowers around the cabin. The stove and bathtub outside.

"Is there something wrong?" Astri asks.

"No. I was just curious. What is all this?" Shung asks, pointing to the stove.

"It's where we make our food. Astri can't eat raw meat, so we cook with the pot and fire."

Dieg explains everything he learned from Astri to his father.

Astri smiles looking at the father and son, they look a lot alike. They start to talk about what Dieg discovered from Astri about the diseases females get from their wastes, they plan to teach males to build sandboxes like Astri's.

Astri only listens to them talking at the table, then she brings them a plate of meat and a jar of water. Dieg and Shung were impressed, they didn't notice her doing that. She was trying to be quiet and not disturb their conversation.

"No, you eat, Astri." Dieg says.

"I did. Don't worry, this is for you. You were talking about improving the village, I didn't want to disturb you. You had great plans. Eating helps you think better." She tells them holding Dieg's shoulder.

Dieg's heart melts. He pulls her to sit on his side and kisses her head.

"Thank you for your kindness. And for teaching me all this." Dieg speaks.

"May I ask where you learned all this, miss Astri?" Shung asks.

"In a city, a doctor told me about it." She makes up an excuse.

"Good morning, Astri." Astri hears.

"Good morning. Just a moment." She says in her mind.

"Excuse me. I'll try to cook something else now. Take your time, you two." - She tells to Dieg and Shung.

Dieg saw that she was staying at the stove and on his eyesight, so he let her be.

"She's very caring. Did she accept you entirely?" Shung asks Dieg in a low voice.

"I didn't have the opportunity to talk to her, but now that she's healthy she became Wayde's mate, so I think soon we will talk about that." Dieg answers in the same volume of voice.

"Looks like she cares for you. I think she will accept you."

"I would be the luckiest. She's amazing."

Astri is taking some roots that look a lot like potatoes, but each one has different colors.

"What are these, Claud All Mighty?" Astri asks in her mind. Claud chuckles.

No one ever talks to him like she does. Even knowing his identity, she never changes the way she talks to him. And that warms his heart more than a summer breeze.

"Rock Roots. They're edible but taste horrible. They're very nutritious, though." 

"They look like potatoes from the other world. I'll try some things with this and taste after. So! How was your day yesterday?"

Claud and Astri talk a lot about their days, even if Claud doesn't talk about her past, who she is, or about his beast form, but he tells her all about his life in the temple.

He tells his worries about some council members of the Great Wall City. This council is composed of the leaders of the most powerful beast cities of the continent.

Claud knows some leaders are joining forces with monster beasts, which are beasts who sell their beast souls to demons.

Most monster beasts were already born this way because they know that to have more power than beastmen they need more of them in numbers. So they often steal females to increase their numbers.

"I see. You're not sure if they're plotting anything or you think they're being forced to do this?" She asks.

"It could be both. There are many beastmen who would love to take me out of power. However, my powers are related to nature itself and the Beast Gods, taking it away will make the world unbalanced and chaos would take the peace away. They're smart, they don't come near me because they know I can read their minds. Just fearing me reading their minds is already suspicious, don't you think?" 

"It sure is. You don't have to read their minds to know what they're doing. There are other ways to understand their movements." 

"What do you mean?" 

"They for sure have spies near you to keep them informed about your movements. This way they can avoid having a front meeting with you. They wouldn't be capable of avoiding you for so long if they didn't know where you are." She explains.

That made him have an idea.

"It's true. I just have to find who the spies are and learn from them about the traitors." 

"Exactly. Play dumb until you have enough information and proof." 

"You gave me a great idea, Astri. Thank you. You would be a great priest." 

"Pff. The best I would bless is my food! Look! The pasta idea worked! The fried potato too! Now I have more kinds of food to eat." She says happily.

"You're a glutton. Do you know that?" 

"A smart glutton. Sue me." She jokes, making him chuckle.

"I hope that I don't have to wait too long to eat your food." He actually wants to see her and talk to her freely, instead of a mind link.

"Who is the glutton now?~" 

"Idiot. Have to go now." 

"OK. Have a nice day and be careful." 

She makes him feel like he has a family when he talks to her. He smiles and thanks her, wishing the same.

Astri called Dieg and Shung to taste the spaghetti with meatballs and fries. They're impressed with that, it's very tasty and looks nutritious.

"It's made with Rock Roots." She says.

"Really?! No one likes those things. We only eat it during winter when we don't find prey to eat." Dieg says.

"Well, I can teach you to prepare it. The pasta can be stocked with smoked meat for a long time. It might help everyone endure the winter." She softly says.

"Would you do that?!" Dieg asks, excited.

"Of course. Why wouldn't I help who is helping me?"

Dieg hugs her happily.

"You're amazing. I'm the luckiest!"

Shung smiles, but deep inside he's now even more worried. Astri already calls attention enough for being a beautiful female, if she's smart like that it's because she must have come from somewhere with a more powerful background.

She must have fled from where she was and now is hiding with them, it doesn't matter, but she will be aimed first when enemies see her.

"Protect your female, Dieg. Don't forget that the Red Eagle Tribe will come to visit us in four days. You as the next leader need to be present." Shung speaks.

"Sure."

"Bring Miss Astri too." Shung smiles, and leaves to go back to the tribe village.

Dieg spends the rest of the day learning how to prepare pasta and smoked meat to teach others another day. At night, he prepares Astri's bath and he waits for her to finish outside the cabin, imagining if she would accept him that night.