Beastmen Love-Chapter 173: Growing Slowly

As the days passed, the hospital center was built, and Claud and Zin started to work there. All of the females and children that were sick had the same issue as Kiara, lack of hygiene, so after telling all of them what to do, the movement there was lower, and Astri could start to work there too.

Her spouses didn’t want her dealing with dirt, afraid she would get sick too. She accepted because the strong bad smells were making her nauseous become unbearable.

What made her group angry was that whenever she was working, males would appear there to be treated by her. And that made females envious too, but Astri couldn’t care less.

Claud starts to teach more males to be doctors, so they have doctors when it’s time to go back home. The building of the walls was running smoothly, and rumors about it started to spread. When the walls were halfway finished, Astri’s belly was growing and making her even more beautiful.

It’s the first time Koa and Dieg see her pregnant, they’re even more in love with her than ever.

One night, they were having dinner together with the guards, Bono and Otto. They are discussing what they should do when the King decides to come.

"You need more males. Send messengers and invite smaller tribes to join yours." Tyr says to Bono.

"All right. They will want to join when they see the walls." Bono nods.

"However, all of them need to follow the rules you have set to keep everything clean, organized, and growing. Once you have several males, start with a probation period, where they will have to prove they can follow your rules before joining the tribe." Lee explains.

"Interesting.. Either way, we need someone stronger. Someone who will make a difference. The King is stronger than me, and he has a Monster King and several warriors as strong as me."

"Do you know anyone like that?" Wayde asks.

"No.." Otto and Bono answered softly, as they weren’t sure.

"How about Caris and Carist?" Astri asks from her seat.

"You mean Caris? He’s.. very complicated. He does not follow anyone and he.. I hate to say this because I was seen this way, but he’s not correct of his mind. He talks to himself. Sometimes he’s calm, and from nowhere he’s angry and wanting to attack someone. He’s strong, but not someone to rely on." Otto says.

"Hum.. I want to meet him. Tomorrow morning Leader Bono will take me to where they live."

"Why Bono?" Kangki asks, jealous.

"Yeah. Why only him? We need to protect you." Dieg asks.

"They’re the second part of our quest here. I need to help them too." Astri says.

"Why do you talk like it’s more than one beastman?" Claud asks.

"They’re a very rare kind of beastman. Rare as Unicorns. I need to go alone with Leader Bono to not anger or scare them. I’ll prove to them that Leader Bono can be trusted."

"We stay far, but let us accompany you. It’s risky." Beau says.

"Oh my loves.. I know you want to protect me, but this is necessary. I’ll be fine." Astri smiles and goes back to drink her lemon and mint juice.

None of her spouses or guards like that decision, and they’re glaring at her.

"You’re jealous, right?" Astri sighs.

"Of course we are." Lee says right after her.

"All right. You can come, but stay very far back. Very."

"Why is that?" Koa asks.

"Do you want Bono?" Lee asks.

Bono and the other unmated males are shocked by the question.

"Shut up, Lee." Cyprian warns Lee, who clicks his tongue as an answer.

Kangki and Claud read her mind and understand her thoughts. They hate the idea of leaving her alone with a male and also risking herself, but they have to agree with her thoughts.

"All right... Far back." Claud says.

The other spouses look at Claud and Kangki, who were quiet but clearly jealous too. Kangki’s eyes are going dark, showing he’s angry.

The others agree after seeing that Claud and Kangki are accepting those terms, and Astri raises her eyebrow, disappointed.

"I can see you trust Claud and Kangki more than me. I’m happy and disappointed at the same time." Astri says.

Their eyes widened in response, knowing that she was the angry one now.

"I’m sorry." They say in unison.

"Yeah. I know. Now you’re not even going to watch from far back. If I say that only Cyprian, Zin, Tyr and Wayde can come because they stayed quiet, will there be a reason for fighting?" She says all of them have so much to say but don’t say anything.

"I don’t agree with that. I don’t care about his feelings. The only thing I care about is you, and I won’t let you and our unborn litter get away from my sight." Kangki says to Astri.

"As much as I think it’s sexy the way you’re talking, it’s not about your feelings, love. It’s his feelings. I don’t let others see your not-so-strong side because I know it wouldn’t help you. What everyone needs to know is that everyone has a weak side and should not feel ashamed of it, however, it’s still their right to not feel exposed. I’m sure you wouldn’t like me exposing you."

He sighs, and his eyes go back to normal. He hates that she’s right. But either way, it hurts him knowing another male that wasn’t allowed by him to court her will be so close to her like that.

"None of you would like it, right? So, it’s decided. I’ll go with Leader Bono tomorrow and you all trust me that we won’t be in danger. I’m sure I’ll be very protected. Believe me, my pregnant instincts tell me a lot of things." She says, and they do not argue back. "Good. I’m happy you understand." She smiles.

While Bono was walking back home with Otto, he was thinking about why Astri wanted to be alone with him.

"You should take the chance and use it, Bono. If she likes you, you can become her male. There’s no bigger honor. Or at least take the opportunity to learn from her more. We’re learning very much from her spouses, but from her you will learn more precious teachings." Otto says.

"I don’t think she wants me as her male.. Why would she?" Bono asks himself, but in a loud voice so Otto hears.

"Lady Astri can see what we can’t, son. She has all kinds of males, why wouldn’t she have you?"

"I don’t know. It doesn’t make sense to me. Why would she want to make me King to take me away? You saw her other spouses, all of them left their Kingdoms for her."

"Hum.. That’s true. Either way, take the opportunity to learn from her."

Bono sighs, still confused.

For Astri’s spouses, it was a bitter night and Astri noticed that. After the children went to sleep, they walked outside to talk again.

"I love you all. Please trust me. I don’t want him as my male. I just need to help him see his potential. He doesn’t believe in himself." Astri says in a low voice.

"I sincerely don’t care.. but I understand that if he’s not the one, there will be no other like him. No other dinosaur has his mind." Kangki says in a low voice too.

They relax after hearing that.

"Who are these Caris and Carist?" Cyprian asks.

"Nature wants me to rescue them. You will meet them tomorrow. Imagine two souls in one body. That’s them." Astri says.

"I’m actually more confused now.." Dieg softly says.

"Me too. Is not possible to have two souls in one body. Is there a Monster inside of him?" Wayde asks.

"Like I said. You will meet them tomorrow. Be patient." She chuckles.

They sigh and go to sleep. Koa spoons her from and rubs his hand on her growing belly, hoping she’s carrying his eggs.

On the next day, Bono arrived early to take Astri, and after breakfast, everyone watched her with troubled hearts.

"I can go watch them. I can hide very well." Skalven says, worried.

"She will know and will be mad. Better not." Wayde sighs.

"Let’s trust her. She wouldn’t do something that it’s not highly necessary." Claud says and walks back inside.

"You will watch with your mind, right?" Kangki asks Claud.

"No. I won’t. I need to respect his privacy." Claud answers.

"What do you mean? It’s her safety too. If you can watch, why not?" Koa asks.

"Astri has the ability to heal hearts, and she healed every one of us. Would you like to know I went into your minds and watched your weak sides?"

Their silence was their answer. They wouldn’t like it, and Claud simply goes inside and goes back to work.

All of them had private time with her while they were getting to know each other, but all of them became her spouses, and they don’t want more spouses, even more a spouse who is bigger than all of them.

While Astri and Bono were walking, he felt anxious and awkward at the same time.

"Relax, Leader Bono. I don’t bite." She says, and he blushes a little.

He wouldn’t mind if she did, but that made him take his mind where it shouldn’t go.

"What did you mean about talking to Caris and not exposing his weak sides?" He asks.

"I wasn’t talking about them. I was talking about you."

"Me? My weak sides?" He asks confused, but then realizes things and feels pressured again. "You can feel I’m not good enough, right?"

"No. Not at all. I still think you’re the best."

"Really?"

"Yes. Imagine if you believed more in yourself. You would be even greater."

"If it wasn’t for you and your spouses I wouldn’t know even halfway how to take care of this tribe."

"Do you think you need to know the way to find your way?" She smiles.

"Well.. People normally need to know, right? Didn’t you know?"

"No. I didn’t." She laughs. "I wasn’t raised as a beastman. My father was attacked and on the verge of death. He used all his life force to send me away to protect me. I was sent somewhere that everything I am is not something good. I was raised thinking I was crazy or that I would never fit anywhere. There, females weren’t rare, and they were disposable, making me think I would never find true love. I needed the help of my spouses to become who I am today. Of course, most of my knowledge was from this other world, and I’m grateful for that. But most of my life, I didn’t know the way, and I still don’t know all the way. And I believe that’s awesome."

"So.. You were seen as crazy? And you didn’t know the way to become who you are? It was probably very hard." He softly says.

"It was. And I’m grateful for that. I learned a lot. But before I could open myself to understand who I was, I had to unchain my heart and not let fear say what I had to do. I had to learn to trust others again. Another thing I had to learn was that it doesn’t depend on anyone else to walk my path. It depends only on me. Did people do wrong things to me? Yes. But I am the one letting them stop my life, doubt myself, and love myself. I don’t need them to let me go forward. I don’t need their allowance. Neither their apologies. I need to learn from those mistakes, forgive them not for them but for myself, and move on."

Her words hit his heart deeply, and he now saw clearly that he was the one holding himself up to the idea he nurtured because of others.