A clattering sound echoed outside the cave entrance. Kaelen looked up from the pages of his book, looking toward the tall, muscular beastman standing at the door. This person usually walked without making a sound; perhaps because he had accidentally injured Kaelen last time, this time Sane deliberately kicked the loose gravel under his feet so Kaelen could hear him.
Sane glanced at Kaelen, then turned around and pulled the wooden door to cover the cave entrance. The flickering torchlight inside was immediately blocked, not a single bit escaping outside.
"Why aren't you asleep yet?"
It was already very late, and Sane had just finished changing his guard shift. Returning home, he lay there for a long time but couldn't sleep, so he decided to sneak over to Kaelen's place to check on Kaelen for a bit. Sane didn't know what was wrong with himself; he seemed to be addicted to this sub-beast. If Sane couldn't hold Kaelen or smell the scent on Kaelen's body, Sane couldn't sleep.
Kaelen waved his hands: [Reading a book. I was too focused, so I lost track of time.]
The High Priest had instructed Kaelen on many things related to pregnancy, and even gave Kaelen several parchment books regarding precautions during pregnancy and childcare for various races. Kaelen had been reading from dusk until now. Besides, he didn't know if Sane would come tonight, so he decided to sit a little longer to wait. He hadn't expected Sane to actually show up.
Sane walked up beside him, looked down at the book, and saw that the page was turned to the section on caring for Leopard tribe cubs.
"Your friend hasn't even officially mated yet, and you're already worrying about taking care of children? You're thinking too far ahead."
His tone was very calm, without any sarcastic intent, just a casual observation. Kaelen didn't explain either; Sane could understand it however Sane wanted.
Sane bent down, slid his arms to lift Kaelen up, and placed him on the bed. As usual, he leaned in to kiss Kaelen, his tongue sweeping through the oral cavity, capturing the sweet nectar within Kaelen's mouth before burying his head in the crook of Kaelen's neck, inhaling the faint citrus scent mingled with Kaelen's own unique fragrance.
His lower part was already rock-hard to the point of pain, but he could only hold it in, waiting until later to soak in the stream and resolve it himself.
Kaelen really couldn't understand why this person tortured himself like this. Every time Sane came to his place, Sane had to leave in discomfort; Kaelen didn't know what Sane was persisting for.
Thinking of Nyx's instructions, Kaelen bit his lip and made a decision. The hand gripping Sane's solid arm slowly slid down, touching that rigid shaft. Sane jolted and grabbed Kaelen's wrist, his breathing gradually becoming heavy.
He lifted his head to look at Kaelen. Under the dim light of the torch, Sane's eyes were unusually bright.
"Do you know what you're doing?"
Kaelen blinked, craning his neck slightly to touch his lips to Sane's. The string of Sane's rationality snapped. He slid his hand behind the back of Kaelen's neck, forcing Kaelen to tilt his head up, and a highly invasive kiss enveloped him. Layers of animal-skin skirts were stripped away, and two naked bodies intertwined; heavy panting merged with sweet moans, echoing throughout the cave.
A gentle breeze blew past from somewhere, flipping the parchment book on the table to the side. Under the flickering torchlight, the lines of symbols seemed to have a life of their own, dancing incessantly.
*During the first four months of pregnancy, a sub-beast needs to be comforted by the pheromones present in the beastman's body through physical contact or by staying together for a certain amount of time. Therefore, during the time a sub-beast is pregnant, the beastman cannot leave the sub-beast for more than three days.*
*A sub-beast who is not comforted by their mate will fall into a state of insecurity and their emotions will become negative, leading to a very high risk of premature birth. In more severe cases, it can even lead to the death of the sub-beast themselves.*
*For a sub-beast paired with a warrior beastman, the energy required by the cub is twice that of a normal one, so mere superficial contact is completely insufficient. The most direct method of replenishment: mating.*
---
"Sane, pay attention!"
A loud shout pulled Sane, whose mind was wandering in the clouds, back to reality; Zale's wind-tearing fist had already lunged at him. Sane leaned his body to dodge purely on reflex; however, he couldn't dodge Zale's back kick in time, immediately getting kicked and sprawling flat on the ground.
Puzzled, Zale retracted his leg and quickly walked over to Sane to check the situation. Seeing that Sane was unharmed, Zale breathed a sigh of relief. Zale sat down next to Sane and patted his shoulder:
"Hey, what's wrong with you today? You look like you've lost your soul."
Sane reached out, plucked a blade of foxtail grass, and placed it in his mouth. He looked up at the clouds floating in the clear blue sky and didn't speak for a long time. It wasn't until Zale had rested enough and was about to run off to continue training that Sane suddenly spoke up:
"Zale, if you constantly think about a sub-beast, and can't sleep without seeing him, what does that mean?"
Zale's eyes lit up, and he couldn't help but lean in closer:
"It means you like that sub-beast, what else! Do you have a sub-beast you like? Hurry up and tell your brothers who you've set your sights on. Is it Rylan? Or Yinda?"
Sane's action of chewing the foxtail grass paused slightly. Like? Sane let out a laugh: "There isn't anyone, I was just asking randomly. I won't like any sub-beast."
Zale pursed his lips, completely disbelieving. However, he also knew Sane's background. Sane's Papa had abandoned Sane and his Daddy to be with a Lion tribe beastman from the Cipher tribe. Sane's Daddy was unwilling to accept this, and despite being heavily injured, he charged forward to fight that beastman. As a result, he was torn into three pieces by that beastman, dying without an intact corpse.
Sane's Papa even showed extreme disgust and revulsion towards the father and son. This caused Sane to always hold a negative view of sub-beasts; according to what the tribe leader said, Sane would rather mate with a demon bear than ever take a sub-beast as a mate!
Perhaps Sane really did have someone he liked, but perhaps he would never take things further with that sub-beast. As a brother and a comrade-in-arms, Zale respected his friend's decision. He sighed and patted Sane's shoulder comfortingly, then left Sane lying there and went to find some other companions to train with.
After finishing the last gathering period of the year, they still had to continue hunting more magic beasts to stockpile for winter. It didn't snow where they were during winter, but it did in the Magic Beast Forest; at that time, it would be difficult to hunt prey.
The wind blew across the prairie, rippling the grass into waves, and the clouds in the sky gradually formed Kaelen's silhouette. Sane stretched out his arm wanting to grasp it, but only grasped thin air. He stared at his hand, an indescribable sense of helplessness surging in his heart.
Yesterday, after they had been intimate with each other, Kaelen had asked him if he could be Kaelen's mate. If it were the Sane from before, he would have coldly scolded Kaelen and then turned his back and walked away. But last night, Sane hadn't said anything at all - neither agreeing nor denying it. He only used his actions to pull Kaelen into a pool of lust, so Kaelen wouldn't ask him about that matter anymore.
He was attached to Kaelen, yet didn't dare to give Kaelen a promise. What should he do so that it would be good for both of them?