The Ugly Duckling Of The Tiger Tribe-Chapter 203: I... I tried to be gentle

The morning sun filtered through the tent flaps in soft, golden needles, but for me, the light was far too bright. So annoying.

I wanted to sleep more and let my tired body enjoy the serenity in my dreams, but even that was impossible. I tried to roll onto my side, but a sharp pain that cut through from my hips and lower back made me gasp. Every muscle I possessed felt like it had been stretched, used, and then turned to lead.

"Ngh... ouch," I groaned into the furs, my voice a dry, scratchy rasp. It was even worse than after my heat. No, maybe it was the same, but this one felt like I had been greatly manhandled. "Ouch, dammit, it hurts..."

The sound was like an alarm bell for the three predators surrounding me. Immediately, the heat bag beside me shifted.

"Arinya?" Fenric called, having lain next to me the whole time. He sat up, his massive chest bare and marked with faint scratches from the night before. He looked down at me with a mix of fear and worry. "Are you in pain? Where does it hurt?"

"Everywhere," I muttered, my face contorting to the discomfort I felt. "My hips... my legs... I think I’ve been dismantled."

"Dis-mantled?" Fenric looked puzzled, but he didn’t need to know the meaning to understand what I was saying. "You must be very uncomfortable."

"I am." I groaned, the dull ache in my neck throbbing a steady rhythm.

"You were very busy," Noah’s voice came from my other side, sounding way too smug for someone who had just woken up. He looked remarkably refreshed, his dark hair a messy halo cascading over his shoulders. He leaned over and pressed a kiss to my bare shoulder and I flinched. "But look at your skin. You’re glowing," he grinned. "So cool to touch."

What was he up to now?

I swatted his hand before he could touch me and he backed off with a low chuckle. But he was telling the truth. The frantic, burning ’thirst’ that had been consuming me was replaced by a deep, heavy sense of physical satiation, despite the aches all over.

"Does it matter if the fever is gone if I can’t walk?" I complained, though my tone lacked any real bite as I sighed. I flinched as I tried to stretch my legs. "Damar... your hands are cold. Please."

Damar, who had been silently watching me from the front, having woken up first, moved with his usual fluid grace. He reached out and wrapped his slender, cool fingers around my ankles, gently massaging the strained muscles.

"I told you the pup and the cub were too rough," Damar murmured, his emerald eyes flickering with a quiet, satisfied light. It’s not like he gave a warning out loud, but even if he had, who would listen in the heat of the moment? "I tried to be the gentle one."

"Gentle?" I huffed, finally pushing myself up into a sitting position with Fenric’s help. "You were the one who finished me off! I feel like a well-used glove."

He didn’t deny it. And I saw the flush on his ear. He may not know what a glove or a well-used one meant, but he definitely understood the part where he finished me off.

"I... I tried to be gentle," he rephrased his words.

Yeah, he did try, and at the start it was gentle with his whispers of love replaying over and over like a broken recording, masking the moans that flew out of my mouth and the rasp grunts coming from his throat... He did try.

The three of them shared a look—a genuine, brief moment of silent camaraderie that would have been impossible twenty-four hours ago, no, even six hours ago. The hostility hadn’t vanished completely—they were still three dominant males and two were still keeping an eye on the last—but the ’link’ they formed while acting on their desire over me called a temporary truce.

"I’ll go get water so we can ’cook’ more of that rice, and hunt too," Fenric said, standing up and stretching his massive frame, his muscles rippling.

I stared, nearly drooling. I just can’t get used to the godly sight no matter how many times I see it.

"You need to eat to regain your strength," he said.

"And I’ll find some herbs for the soreness," Damar added, rising as well. He paused, looking at Noah. "Are you going to help, or just sit there and be lazy?"

Noah grinned, leaning back on his elbows. "I’m the guard. Someone has to make sure our mate doesn’t need to stress herself if she needs something."

They gave him a quick and short glare. The word ’our mate’ spiked something in them, but it was an irrefutable truth.

"Ari," Damar spoke as he turned his head, "prefers it when we call her our wife instead of our mate, so... Don’t do something that would upset her."

After giving that warning, he glided away. I didn’t expect Damar to give him the info. And though I wasn’t totally against being called mate, I much preferred to be called a wife... Their wife. My face blushed and I muttered,

"Gosh. He’s got me blushing first thing in the morning."

Noah watched this and laughed.

"What’s funny?" I asked him.

"Well, it’s just that you’re super cute, beautiful, and..." He reached his hand towards my face, caressing my jawline. "Very knowledgeable. It makes me wonder... Who are you?"

I nearly flinched but I stayed still. I couldn’t let his words rattle me just like that. There was no way for him to guess I was from another world anyway, so why bother giving away some sort of awkwardness?

"Hm, who am I, you say?" I repeated, my eyes lazily falling from him. "It’s the first time someone has asked me that question, actually. Not what is my name or where do I come from but..." I rolled my eyes back to him, a little sharply. "Who am I?"

"You make it sound like there’s some mystery behind you."

"No, I think you’re the one making it sound like there’s a mystery," I said as I then dropped my head on his shoulder. "Did you ask that question because you want to get to know me better, or does your ego, filled with curiosity, just want to dismantle the truth?"

"How about both?" He smirked.

"Greedy bastard," I mumbled. "Anyway, I’m not one of importance. I’m just a regular female who grew up ignored, maltreated by the world, and wished to be loved. And right now, my wish has come true. Noah, the only thing you need to know about me now is that I am your wife. Isn’t that enough?"