The golden leopard stopped right in front of Fannie.
When it looked at Fannie, its icy blue eyes were filled with a strong desire that only appeared during mating season. Its clear, warm voice carried a hint of unquestionable authority: "My name is Alessio. I just saved you. How will you repay me?"
Fannie had thought only two-legged beastmen could speak human language. She didn't expect a four-legged leopard to talk too, and she couldn't help but feel excited.
Since they could communicate, that meant she still had hope to survive. She quickly replied, "As long as Big Brother Leopard doesn't eat me, I'll do anything you want!"
Alessio was a seventh-rank leopard beastman. Normally, his mating season was still a month away. But after smelling the unique scent on Fannie, it suddenly came early.
Alessio didn't know why this was happening, but one thing was certain—he liked this small-sized female stray beast. He wanted the female in front of him to be his mate. Word by word, he said, "Be my mate!"
Alessio's tone didn't sound like he was asking for Fannie's opinion. It was more like he was informing her.
Fannie broke down inside!
That disgusting rat wanted to mate with her, and she could still understand it, since it was almost evolving into a human.
But this golden leopard—from head to tail, from tail to legs—was nothing but a beast. If she agreed to be Alessio's mate, a human and a beast together, she couldn't even imagine what that would look like.
"If I don't agree, will you eat me?"
"You guess?"
"I'm not saying I don't want to be your mate, but I'm human, you're a beast. We're not suitable."
Fannie was close to tears.
Even though she was terrified, she didn't want to give in so easily.
She tried hard to persuade Alessio to give up the idea of a human and beast pairing, speaking softly: "You should find one of your own kind. Only with them can you have little leopards."
In the leopard tribe, Alessio was very popular with the female leopards. If he wanted, he could have many female mates and many little leopards.
But once he saw Fannie, his eyes were completely drawn to her. His whole leopard heart was set on her alone. He only wanted Fannie as his mate. He asked seriously, "If I were like you, a beastman, would you agree to be my mate?"
After seeing that rat-headed man with a duck neck, Fannie had stopped being picky.
No matter what the other looked like, as long as they evolved into a human form, she could accept it. Looking at the golden leopard in front of her, Fannie nodded heavily and said, "Yes!"
Before the last sound of her voice faded, her eyes suddenly blurred.
The four-legged golden leopard turned into a two-legged naked man in the blink of an eye.
He had a very young face, golden slightly curly long hair, and delicate features. His height was about one meter eighty to one meter ninety.
His skin was pale, his muscles smooth and well-defined, and his abs clearly visible.
With such looks and such a body, he was simply a peerless treasure!
Fannie couldn't help but meet his icy blue eyes, and in that instant, she froze. She stared blankly for several seconds before she finally snapped back to her senses.
When she woke up, her gaze slowly moved downward.
The moment she saw the huge thing hanging beneath the man's lower abdomen, her heartbeat suddenly sped up, and her cheeks instantly turned bright red.
Fannie didn't know Alessio was not just an ordinary leopard beastman until she heard the orcs in the tribe call him "Lord." Only then did she realize Alessio was the leader of the whole tribe, and the land for hundreds of miles belonged to him.
Male beasts usually preferred to choose strong females as their mates.
Whether it was for hunting, fighting off enemies, or giving birth to new life, the stronger the female, the greater the advantage.
On the other hand, weak females found it very hard to attract males.
But Fannie was an exception.
Even though she was small and delicate, the moment she appeared in the leopard tribe, the unique scent from her body immediately caught the attention of many male leopard beastmen.
The orcs in the tribe wore clothes made from different animal skins, and many still had beast traits—some had ears, some had tails, some had claws, some had noses.
At one glance, it was clear what kind of beast they were.
But when they got close to Fannie and smelled Alessio's mark on her, they instantly gave up the idea of making her their mate.
To fight with the lord over a female wasn't foolish—it was suicide.
Since Fannie was favored by the male beastman, she naturally faced rejection from the female beastmen in the tribe.
Alessio was the leader of the tribe, and with his mating season approaching, the single female beastmen had all been waiting for this once-in-a-lifetime chance, hoping to be chosen as his mate.
But Fannie's appearance destroyed their hopes and fantasies.
Those female beastmen stared at her thin and weak body with unwilling eyes.
Even if her rank was higher than theirs, her body was too fragile. Any random leopard from the tribe could knock her flying.
Why would the lord choose such a weak female as his mate? Was he blind?
The female beastmen couldn't accept that their beloved lord hadn't chosen them.
But in front of Alessio, none of them dared to make things difficult for Fannie.
At most, when Alessio wasn't looking, they would use their eyes like knives to scratch her harmlessly.
After Alessio brought Fannie back to his cave, he returned to his human form.
As expected, he was once again completely naked.
Even though they had been intimate not long ago, the sight before her still made Fannie blush deeply.
She quickly turned her gaze away and looked around the living space to cover her embarrassment.
Even though she had prepared herself on the way, the sight still shocked her.
Every piece of "furniture" she saw was made of stone. Even the bed was a huge slab of stone, about four or five meters wide, shaped somewhat like a traditional kang bed.
The problem was, the "bed" had no padding at all.
Fannie could hardly imagine what it would feel like to sleep on hard, cold stone at night.
The thought of having to sleep on stone forever made her want to cry.
By this time, Alessio had already put on his beast skin clothes. The golden fur matched his beast form perfectly, and he also wore a pair of leather boots. He looked both handsome and powerful.
He gently held Fannie's hand and said softly, "From now on, you will live here with me, Brother Alessio, and the three of us together."
Hearing this, Fannie wanted to cry even more.
She respected the beastmen's way of living together, but she couldn't accept living with two male leopards at the same time.
There was no privacy, and at night they even had to sleep on the same stone bed.
How could anyone fall asleep like that? She definitely couldn't.
Her watery eyes blinked as she carefully asked, "Us three living together, isn't it a little inconvenient? How about you find me another place so I can live alone?"
Alessio pulled her into his arms, rubbing her cheek with affection. His voice was gentle but full of dominance: "You are my mate, of course you must live with me."
Fannie hesitated. "But…"
Alessio was very firm, leaving no room for discussion. His tone even sounded childish, "No buts! You must live with me! I will never allow another beastman to take advantage of you. You are my mate, you belong to me."
Fannie felt helpless, almost in tears.
He wouldn't let her live alone because he was afraid other beastmen might approach her, but wasn't he worried about Miliano himself?
She was new here, and she didn't know Miliano's temper. If she suddenly demanded that Miliano move out, and he turned out to be narrow-minded, he might see it as his territory being invaded and hold a grudge against her.
So, the only option left seemed to be for her and Alessio to give up this cave and find another place to live.
"If you don't want me to live alone, then why don't you move out with me?"
"You are my mate, Big Brother Miliano will accept you. This cave is big, and the bed is big enough for the three of us."
"What if Big Brother Miliano feels it's inconvenient?" Fannie still didn't give up, trying to argue again.
Was she really complaining about the bed size? No, she was afraid of being eaten alive at night by two big leopards.
Alessio, having grown up in the beastmen's world, knew nothing about modern human ways. Naturally, he didn't see anything wrong with this arrangement.
To him, her request to move out only meant she was afraid Miliano wouldn't accept her and might drive her out of the tribe.
"I am the tribe leader. Every beastman here must follow my orders. And you are my mate, no one can drive you out of the tribe. Rest easy, I will protect you."
"But I…"
"No more buts."
Alessio cut her off. He suddenly scooped her up by the waist and laid her down on the cold hard stone bed.
Lowering himself, he kissed her soft lips and whispered, "I don't even know your name. What beast are you? Did you run away on your own, or were you abandoned by your tribe?"
Again?
Pinned under Alessio's heavy body, Fannie felt miserable and on the verge of tears.
With no choice, she lowered herself and pleaded, "I'm so tired. Can you let me go today? I just want to take a bath and sleep."
Hearing her pitiful tone, Alessio felt a flicker of pity, but at the same time, his body was burning with uncontrollable desire.
He forced himself to resist, slowly lifting his head from her chest, and stared into her soft eyes. "Bath?"
After running through the jungle all day and fighting, Fannie felt filthy all over.
Only Alessio, this big leopard, didn't mind her smell and still wanted to kiss her. What she wanted most now was a hot bath, a good meal, and then to sleep peacefully until the next morning.
As night grew darker, the bright full moon hung in the sky, casting silver light across the forest.
Alessio carried Fannie to a clear little river.
Looking at the sparkling water, Fannie suddenly realized something.
So when Alessio said he would take her out to bathe, he actually meant for her to bathe directly in the river!
"We're here."
Alessio set Fannie down on the ground. "Take your time to wash. I'll stand guard nearby, no other male will peek at you."
Fannie looked at the glittering river in front of her, feeling bitter inside.
Who would ask a good girl to go into a river alone at midnight to bathe?
How deep was the river anyway?
What if she drowned?
It seemed Alessio really thought of her as a stray beast.
Fannie silently turned her gaze away from the river and looked straight at Alessio. "Do you have hot water?"
Alessio reached out his long fingers and lightly tapped her forehead, teasing her. "Are you silly? Only in the daytime, when the sun is strong, can water become warm from sunlight. At night, how could there be hot water? Everyone bathes with cold water. Don't you?"
Fannie instinctively answered, "If there's no hot water, you can heat it with fire."
Alessio looked confused. "What is fire?"
When his icy blue eyes locked tightly onto hers, Fannie suddenly realized a very serious problem. In this beast world, there was no such thing as fire!
Then what would she eat?
What would she drink?
In summer, maybe she could handle cold baths, but what about in winter?
She didn't have a thick coat of fur to keep her warm. Without fire to give her heat, how could she survive?
"You really don't know what 'fire' is?"
"Never heard of it, never seen it."
"Have you heard of making fire by rubbing wood?"
"What's that?"
Alessio heard the phrase "rubbing wood to make fire" for the first time, and his heart was full of curiosity and doubt.
This strange word made his mate's background even more mysterious, and he couldn't wait to uncover more secrets. "What can fire do? Fannie, you told me your name, but you haven't told me what beast you are."
"I…"
Fannie dragged her words out, then quickly changed the subject. "Let me wash first."
Even though it was summer, the river water was really cold.
Fannie couldn't swim, so she didn't dare to go into the river at night. She just crouched by the riverbank and cleaned herself a little.
Alessio waited on the shore for a long time, but when he saw she never went into the water, he became suspicious. "Didn't you say you wanted to bathe? Why aren't you going in?"
Fannie turned back with a pitiful look. "I can't swim."
When Alessio heard this, he smiled gently and comforted her. "It doesn't matter, I'm here." Then he quickly took off the animal skin he was wearing, stepped into the river without hesitation, and stretched out a hand to her with a smile. "Come here."
This was already the third time today that Fannie had seen Alessio's strong, bare body.
Every time, her face flushed red, her heart raced, and her eyes didn't know where to look. She could only shyly turn away, not daring to meet his gaze. "I'll just wait until tomorrow to bathe."