At first, the crowd was silent. Everyone was on edge and had firm expressions on their faces. This was before one of them spoke out and broke the silence.

"First you make us work then you accuse us of destroying the thing we worked for! And all for a fox who has a record of destroying things for FUN! That is unfair, mighty ruler, even for you!" The person barked. It was Yu Xuan.

Of course a council leader would be the first to challenge Ming Tao with a lash out, Mira thought.

Ming Tao’s fist clenched and the one wrapped around Mira drew a small circle on her shoulder like he was contemplating and judged himself for asking that.

"Yeah! We cheetahs have lived with and before you since you were young. You should know that we have always been united. Especially when it comes to keeping our offspring’s bellies full!" Another retorted. It was Shu Hua.

Mira rolled her eyes. Of course the disciple of the council leader who was sent to seduce her husband would follow suit, Mira said in her mind. These two were her greatest suspects but she could not say a word about that when there were no claims so Mira proceeded to stay quiet.

"If someone should be queried. It should not be any of us. It should be her!" A male yelled out. She waded through the crowd and made his way forward and pointed at the direction of Ming Tao, just not at Ming Tao, at his side. His stretched hand pointed at Mira. "She brought the idea of this farming. She was the one who sold the idea of us ending hunger! She was the one who made us labour and put our hopes and effort into something that we know very little about. And she was the last person to leave the farm after we all had gone. If anyone should be questioned, it should be her!" The man proclaimed. His voice was full of anger.

This statement of his made the beast people mumble amongst themselves and begin to talk. Mira smelled the ruse that was about to brew and it made her wary.

"For all we know, it could be another trap that SHE initiated! It IS NOT HER FIRST TIME!!" Another man shouted.

They were right. The old owner of this body had done terrible things to these people that fell along the lines of bringing hope all to snatch it away, it was no wonder why they blamed her. Every single thing pointed to Mira and Mira had begun to doubt herself.

"Where was she last night after we all left?" Yu Xuan asked.

Oh, you do not want to cross that boat, I am sure you do not want to know in the slightest, Mira said in her mind. She clutched onto Ming Tao’s body tightly as the chaos began to be directed at her.

"As far as we know, she is the only one with precise skills and knowledge to know exactly what seed to uproot. If anyone should be charged for this felony it should be her!! The demon of the forest!" A man barked from the crowd. This was someone Mira did not know at all not see. Everyone began to chant the same phrase reworded, blaming her for this mess.

"Yes! It must have been her!" A voice erupted out of the many. "THE DEMON OF THE FOREST!! SHE SHOULD BE CAST AWAY BEFORE SHE BRINGS A PLAGUE TO OUR CLAN WITH HER OWN HANDS!" This was a woman. What she said did not make any sense, Mira could not bring a plague, plagues do not work like that but these simpletons took her words for it and began to chant the same thing in unison. They wanted her gone. Soon, it seemed like a controlled riot with people shouting their thoughts wile being confident in their numbers.

"GET THE DEMON OUT OF OUR CLAN! She has done a terrible thing and wants to cause division among us!"

"The demon has bewitched our ruler! She needs to go!!" This one sounded like a woman but like before, the thunderous mixture of their voices made it hard to pin point who.

Mira began to get frightened. These people hated her to the bone and it seemed like they waited for an opportunity to arise to ensure she would leave and this was the perfect opportunity. Destroying the farm now seemed like a joint work by all of them rather than something done in private.

Mira’s fingers fastened onto Ming Tao’s coat, her brows furrowed with terror as she watched them be violent.

Ming Tao’s body stiffened. Veins popped out his neck and his claws dug into the flesh of his palm as he watched them. He felt the quickened heartbeat of the woman glued to his side and it heightened his rage. He was about to lose it. These people wanted to push him into a monster to them even though he tried so har to suppress it.

This was when Mira heard the cackling of bones. She faced the man at her side and knew he was about to shift when a roar broke through the scene.

A mighty roar. It shut every single cheetah up and made them redirect their attention somewhere else. Running through a far end of farm was a lion. One massive and huge with a frame that looked like it could make a sturdy building collapse. The lion made a long leap and jumped right in front of the beast people, looking at them with fierce eyes as it paraded in front of them. He roared again. This one mightier than the other, like a fierce thunder. "Say one more filthy thing about my wife and watch me rip every single one of you into pieces."

This made Mira’s heart skip a beat. Her body hair stood and her ears rang with the words that left the Lion’s mouth and echoed through the air.

’My wife’ Mira replayed in her head.

[Lion King Jia Hao has appeared in the cheetah clan and he is here to see you, host!] System chimed. 𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

Mira’s eyes widened and her lips dropped. The fierce male lion studied the crowd. They all shut up. The once running mouths of the people came to a halt. It seemed that despite their numbers, every beast people knew who to mess with and who to not. Mira swallowed.

Jia Hao turned his head back to face her and she noticed the end of his lips curl even in his lion form. He winked.

Even when consumed with rage, Jia Hao controlled his temper to her.

Another beast walked to Jia Hao’s side. A male cheetah, slender in size comparison but just as strong looking as Jia Hao. That was Ming Tao. The two of them faced the coalition and they did not look like animals who were there to play.

"I have warned you before and this will be the last warning. You will address my wife with respect or suffer the consequences of disobeying no matter what your rank within the clan may be." Ming Tao stated.

The entire crowd of cheetahs looked petrified.

[Not so confident look now, are they, host?] System giggled. Mira would have joined in the humour but now did not seem like the right time to laugh. The atmosphere was tense.

"Y. . ." Someone began, voice low and measured. "Yes, mighty ruler." The person added. "None of us will cross that line again." The woman who spoke walked in front of the rest of them. She turned to face Mira and fell to her knees. "Forgive me for I have overstepped." She said. It was Yu Xuan. She started the riot in the first place. Ever since Mira came to know that woman, she had always been contending whenever the case had Mira involved and it was new to see her not only apologise but bow with her face to the ground.

The rest of the cheetahs followed Yu Xuan’s example, each getting on their knees one after the other until all of them were bowed down and facing Mira. This made Mira feel uneasy. The only time these people ever paid her any respect was when her husbands were involved, outside the time she crashed out in the farm. She swallowed, she did not know what to do. They just had their heads to the ground, all facing her.

Ming Tao turned to face her. "Do you accept the apology or is this not enough? If you need more, demand it and they will do."

Oh. This was a ticket to more hate, Mira thought. She waved her hands in front of them can though she knew none of them could see her. "Please, get up, it is fine, really. I have no ill intentions towards any of you." Mira said. They still stayed on the ground. It was then Mira knew they wanted an order. This was so new to her. "Rise." She said.

And just like that. . . they did.