Seeing the males in the tribe all opposing and urging him to act fairly, he didn't have time to discuss with his son and had to speak to Lex first.
"Lex, you know the rules of this beast continent. Not only in our dinosaur tribe, but in every tribe, females are shared."
When the chief spoke, the surrounding males stopped arguing and listened carefully.
They all thought, if the chief sided with his son, they would unite against him. One or two could not beat the chief, but together they might. If needed, they could later choose a stronger chief in the tribe.
"How can our tribe continue if you act selfishly? If this female is pregnant, she can temporarily avoid pairing with other males. No one will oppose that."
Carbon looked at the other males, and they all nodded in agreement.
"But after this female gives birth, she must be shared with all the males on the grassland. Otherwise, even I as the chief won't be able to stay here…"
"The chief is right. We support the chief!"
"We support the chief. What the chief says is correct!"
Knowing Carbon's stance, the other males were satisfied and any selfish thoughts disappeared.
"Father, I can agree to anything, but I cannot share Zoey. She is my only female, and she is already carrying my child!"
"What? She is already pregnant!"
Hearing this, Carbon forgot all about sharing. How long had it been since the grassland had a new life? His son was fifteen years old, fifteen years without a new cub. Carbon had even thought he might never see a cub before his own life ended.
Overjoyed, he ignored everything and tried to rush into the cave, but Lex quickly stopped him.
"Father! She is resting. Don't disturb her!"
"I… I made her too tired just now…"
Lex said, looking embarrassed. Remembering what had just happened in the cave, his own desire was stirring again.
"Oh, yes, yes…" Carbon realized it. His son was in heat, and they had worked her too hard. He quickly nodded and then sent the other males away.
"Everyone, go back for now. Forget what happened earlier. There is a new cub in the tribe—this is the most important thing. Nothing else matters more."
"After she gives birth, we will decide everything properly. Don't worry! I, as the chief, will follow the rules and won't let you down!"
Hearing this, the males all nodded. They trusted the chief, and since the female was pregnant, there was no point arguing now. They all knew a female cannot pair while pregnant. They would wait until after she gave birth.
Although the males left one by one, several females remained at the cave entrance. They had quickly reached a shared opinion.
"Why are you all still here? Why haven't you left?"
Tanku looked at the female dinosaurs. Their heads were full of nonsense, fighting and biting all day. They weren't even as capable as an outsider female!
"Leader, we still have something to say to you."
Tanku stared at them, unsure what they wanted to say. Then one of them spoke:
"Leader, since this female got pregnant so easily, it shows that Lex is strong. We want to pair with Lex!"
"Yes, I also…"
Before they could finish, Tanku shouted loudly, "Nonsense!"
A male can only be loyal to one female for life. Females can have many partners, but males cannot.
Asking Lex to betray his female is like asking him to risk his child's life.
He really didn't understand what these females were thinking. If it weren't for the fact that the number of dinosaurs in the tribe was decreasing, and they hoped these females could have a few children in their lifetime, he would have driven them off the grassland long ago.
"This rule is strict, Leader. In other tribes, there are many of the same kind. Look, our tribe only has so few left!"
"Yes, if we don't have more babies soon, our tribe will only have the low-level herbivores behind the mountains!"
Because these females were rare in the tribe, the leader did not dare to drive them away, so they were still trying to persuade Tanku.
"Don't think that just because you are rare females, I won't drive you off the grassland. You're risking my son's life!"
Anyone who knew Tanku knew he was already very angry. If he weren't worried about disturbing the females in the cave, he would have roared loudly by now.
"The rule is strict, and no male has tried this before. Why don't we try?"
"Yes! Lex is so powerful. If he's with us, he will definitely help us have babies!"
"Right, we should get pregnant first. Lex contributes to the grassland. He would be happy to help!"
"I won't agree!"
Lex didn't want to talk to them at all. But they wouldn't leave, and his father was taking too long to handle it.
The females kept chattering. If this continued, they would definitely wake up Zoey.
"You three, leave immediately! Don't disturb my female! Or don't blame me for being harsh!"
Lex transformed back into his beast form, looking ready to tear them apart.
"Lex, you can't be selfish. You have to agree for the sake of our tribe!"
"Yes! We are so few, and the low-level herbivores are many times more than us. Should we just let them take over the grassland?"
"Lex, agree for the sake of the grassland and our tribe. Your female will also understand!"
The females kept persuading Lex. At the same time, they all transformed into their beast forms too and stepped a few paces away, afraid of being attacked. They spoke carefully while watching Lex's reaction.
Finally, a voice came from the cave:
"I don't agree!"
Zoey stepped out of the cave in her beast form.
Looking up at the huge dinosaurs in front of her, she felt speechless.
They were so enormous, standing there without moving, as if they hadn't heard her at all.
Looking at these huge creatures, Zoey knew they really hadn't heard her, and they hadn't even seen her. She had to shout again,
"I don't agree!"
"I don't agree!"
The big dinosaurs were deaf and blind to her.
There was no choice. No matter how much she cared about her transformation pill, Zoey had to turn back into her beast form for now. Otherwise, if they didn't hear her, they might accidentally step on her…
When she changed back to her beast form, the dinosaurs finally noticed her. But each of them stared fixedly at her back.
She had already heard from Lex that a female with wings on her back meant something important.
When they saw the wings, their expressions were full of surprise. Zoey realized her imagination hadn't been enough to picture this.
"You actually have two wings?!"
One female reacted first and shouted loudly.
The males who had just left heard the shout and ran back. They surrounded Zoey, staring at her like she was performing a show.
Zoey didn't hold back. She spread her wings wide so they could see clearly.
Seeing more and more males gathering, Lex spoke up,
"My female is pregnant and cannot be tired. You should leave and let her rest."
But the males did not leave. They all stared at Zoey.
In each male's mind, they all decided that after Zoey had her baby, they would try to become her mate.
"Zoey, just change back. I'll handle this!"
Seeing that the males had no intention of leaving, Lex quickly suggested to Zoey again. He felt uncomfortable with them staring at her wings.
"No need, Lex. I came out to tell them that I don't agree with their proposal."
She said this to Lex, but also to the females.
The females immediately objected,
"Why don't you agree? Lex is such a strong male. How can you claim him all for yourself?"
"Yes! You're an outsider. You got pregnant thanks to Lex. If he paired with us, we would have had babies too!"
"You may ignore the other males in the tribe, but Lex must be given to us. You can't refuse!"
Zoey listened calmly and slowly said,
"Then let's fight. Whoever wins decides."
She even deliberately showed her wings. The females had already been measured by the system. Her talent and skills were far above theirs. Even if three attacked together, she might get a few scratches at most. She was immortal anyway.
Even if she couldn't kill them, she could still wear them out.
The females got excited when they heard about the fight. Before Lex could speak, the tribe leader, Sinek, quickly stopped them,
"No! Absolutely not! The female is pregnant. If you dare harm her or her baby, no matter how valuable you are in this grassland, I will not forgive you!"
The clan leader, Tan Ku, finished speaking, and the male members around him responded one by one.
"Yes, the clan leader is right! We won't let this go easily!"
"If anyone dares to hurt this female or the baby in her womb, we'll kick them out of the grassland immediately!"
"Agreed! Or we could all tear them apart and eat them!"
"Agreed!"
"..."
They agreed with the clan leader not just because of him, but also because they didn't want Zoey to get hurt.
A female this beautiful, with wings no less, hadn't appeared in their clan in over a hundred years. Everyone wanted her to give birth safely so they could have a chance to pair with her.
The other female members heard the clan leader and the males all agreeing, so they didn't dare to say anything more. If they tried to resist, these few females would never stand a chance against the males.
Zoey spoke again:
"If you're not satisfied, we can fight after I give birth. Then we can settle things with strength.
But before that, don't even think about hurting Lex, and don't have any bad intentions toward him.
As for me, during my pregnancy, I won't form a bond with any other male, so don't think about that either."
Zoey deliberately didn't explain everything because she just wanted a peaceful pregnancy. She would deal with the rest later.
Lex felt a little awkward hearing this. He thought she meant she wouldn't bond with another male during pregnancy, but it might change after giving birth. His expression became serious, and he felt uneasy. The other males misunderstood her words too.
Everyone fully supported what Zoey said. The few females didn't dare to speak up, pretending to accept it, and left quietly.
With nothing left to worry about, the males also left, and soon only Lex, his father, and Zoey remained at the cave entrance.
The three squatted there, staring at each other, and the atmosphere was awkward.
"Ahem! Come inside. We can talk there," the clan leader, Tan Ku, finally broke the silence. He looked at them carefully, satisfied, and went into the cave first.
The female his son brought back understood the situation and spoke reasonably. She was much stronger than his son. This gave hope for the future of their dinosaur clan. He hoped he could live another ten or twenty years to see his three grandchildren.
Seeing his father go inside, Lex turned to Zoey, his expression soft but with a hint of complaint.
"You said I'm your only one, and we belong only to each other. Then why did you say those things just now? Do the males in the clan seem smarter or stronger than me?"
Seeing Lex getting more upset, Zoey gently reassured him:
"Lex, I always keep my word. I just want some peace during my pregnancy and don't want to be disturbed. You have to trust me and remember, you're the best on this grassland!"
By now, they had been here a long time, and after Lex's sudden emotional outburst, Zoey had used a lot of energy. She was getting hungry and didn't want to spend more effort calming him. She was the one pregnant and needed care.
After hearing her explanation, Lex immediately smiled foolishly. He knew Zoey would never lie to him.