Chapter Eleven: In Just One day
The crowd went back to their homes after they realised they were not getting any share of the goodies.
Liya lingered as long as she could before reluctantly leaving, although with every few steps she took, she looked back to know if Lin Wan would call her back.
Leaving Lin Wan amused at her antics.
Wang came inside and sat on the cave floor across from the hide platform, back against the wall, facing the entrance the way he always did. He looked at the dying embers for a moment, then at the wall.
Lost in his thoughts,
"Wang, is there any problem." Lin Wan asked
"No"
"Are you sure about that, if you have anything you want to say or ask me, you can. . ."
Wang scratched his hair, looking sheepish
" I just never asked you your name and we are mates now, it feels. . . "
He had barely finished speaking when Lin Wan burst out laughing so hard that tears dropped from the corner of her eyes,
Ever since their meeting, Wang had always been somewhat of a Cold CEO, and now seeing him being so sheepish was really funny to her.
The more she laughed the more embarrassed Wang was, his whole body went tense.
" Why are you laughing at me, did I say anything funny."
"No. No. . . Hahahah. . . It's just that you look really cute when you said that."
" I'm glad I was able to make you laugh." He said, looking very serious.
"Ah!. . . It's okay. I guess." Lin Wan said her laughter dying out.
"Mmm." He hummed eyes still on Lin Wan waiting for her to answer him.
"Uhmn. . . My name is Lin Wan, "Lin like jade and Wan like graceful, So call me Wan'er." Lin Wan's face was beet red, it was unknown if it was from lack of oxygen while laughing or because of how intense Wang was staring at her.
" Wan'er." Wang called out
" Mmm, that's me." Lin Wan responded to his calling.
The fire had burned down to almost nothing.
The temperature in the cave was cooler now. Lin Wan pulled the hide tighter around her shoulders and looked at the last piece of cooked meat sitting on the flat rock. There was enough for one more portion.
She picked it up and held it out toward Wang.
It was just food. The natural thing to do when you were sitting beside someone at the end of a long day.
Wang looked at her hand. Then at her face. Then he reached out and took it.
Lin Wan watched him eat. He was more settled about it this time. Less caught off guard. Eating slowly.
When he finished he went quiet again, not that he didn't want to talk, but because he didn't know how to bring up the topic, so he kept quiet outwardly, but inwardly he was formulating so many scenarios of how to bring up the most natural occurrence between a newly mated male and his female.
After having calmed down and also not knowing what to say to the man next to her, Lin Wan looked at the entrance and thought about Liya's eyes going wide at the smell of cooked food. She thought about Susu at the eastern wall, thin and watchful, too cautious to come closer. She thought about the females she had seen moving along the edges of the settlement when Wang first brought her through. How they stayed near walls. How they moved carefully. How none of them had the easy confidence of the males around them.
And the only female in this entire tribe who actually looked healthy was Mei Xiu. Who had smiled at Lin Wan tonight with eyes that said it wasn't over.
"Wang," Lin Wan said.
"Yes."
"The female that came later, Mei Xiu. Tell me everything. What's she like"
Wang looked at her. "Female Mei Xiu does not accept that anything significant happening in the tribe doesn't revolve around her," he said. "From what I've noticed about her she is very patient and cunning, and having been the most sort out female in the tribe." He paused. "And you, not even up to a day and the tribe is already talking about you and not fawning over her, am sure she must be seething now."
Lin Wan nodded slowly.
"It is not just about you," Wang continued, which surprised her because he rarely spoke more than he was required to say.
"Mei Xiu has spent years building her position here. Her power. Her standing. She worked for it ." Another pause.
"And anyone she perceives as a danger to her, she'll definitely do something about it, so please if am not home, do not leave the house, even if you have to, please be very careful, I'll talk to some people that owes me favor, to have them look after you, I won't have anything happening to you."
Lin Wan was quiet for a moment.
" Is she that powerful?"
" Compared to other females, Yes she's stronger."
Recalling the desparity between Mei Xiu and the other females in the tribe, She looked more healthy.
" Mei Xiu is an Orange colour ranked female, that's why."
"Orange coloured female?" Confusion was written all over Lin wan's face
" Us beastmen are ranked by our colours, from the lowest to the highest: Orange, Red, Yellow, Green, Blue and Purple, but around here the most powerful beastman's colour is Green, which is the tribe leaders rank, a four striped beastman." Wang explained
Remembering the stripes she saw on Wang's body, now it all makes sense.
" You are a Yellow colour rank beastman, making you a three striped beastman." Lin Wan butted in, her face beaming with a smile.
" That's right, your mate is a three striped beastman, you don't have to worry about anything, when am around" Wang said confidently, not forgetting to add a little touch to it. " Even the tribe leader has to give me face."
It's always good to show your female your strengths.
" Yes, my man is very powerful." Wan'er said, giving Wang the thumbs up.
Although the gesture was foreign to him, he still understood what it meant, causing his heart to bloom with happiness.
"So Mei Xiu developed her power herself," Lin Wan said, diffusing the situation, it wasn't bad to be curious about what you don't know.
Wang looked at her. "Most females here do not have power. Mei Xiu is different. How she became different is something she has never explained to anyone."
Lin Wan thought about that. A female in a tribe that told its females to sit still and be protected, quietly deciding not to sit still. Building something the culture said she should not have. Using it to carve out a position in the only way available to her.
Lin Wan understood that more than she was going to say out loud.
"One more thing," Lin Wan said. " Can Liya come back?."
Wang looked at her for a moment. "Yes, she can, female Liya is not a threat,and she can be someone you can talk to if you're bored."
Lin Wan nodded and looked at the embers, having settled one problem, she had others to talk about.
She thought about Susu and the cub she lost last season. She thought about Liya eating cooked food for the first time tonight, not that she's so compassionate, but it's always okay for everyone to have, so when she brings anything strange and someone sees it mistakenly, she could have an excuse.
Avoiding being burnt alive is the priority.
But she was not going to solve anything tonight.
It was better to take her time, and do whatever she wants to do, after planning.
That was what she would do.
Outside the cave, somewhere between Wang's dwelling and the main settlement, a figure stood in the dark.. The firelight from inside was almost gone now but Mei Xiu had not moved since the tribe dispersed.
She was looking at Wang's cave entrance, with a calculated gaze.
One day.
This girl had been here one day and already the females were eating from her hands, even the tribe chief's mate had asked her that afternoon what she thought of Wang's new female,
It was obvious the chief already had his thoughts about her.
And all these happened in just one day
Mei Xiu looked at the dark cave entrance for a long moment.
Then she turned and walked back toward the settlement.
She had time.
She was going to make use of it properly.