The Ugly Duckling Of The Tiger Tribe-Chapter 216: It made me feel good

I watched them get into position, ready to leave.

But before we took the first official step, I held up a hand.

"Wait."

They turned to me, looking surprised.

The snow could start falling any moment. And the wind was already so cold. Instead of delaying any longer, it was better to take out what I had prepared.

"Just hold on a bit. I’ll be back with something."

I walked over to the troller and pulled out three carefully folded bundles. Luckily, I didn’t forget and bury them too deeply.

I smiled, my hand brushing against the fabric.

These weren’t full, heavy coats like mine—mostly because these three were walking furnaces who would overheat the moment they started working—but it was still warm as I had designed something special for them.

They were custom tunic vests made of durable hide, lined with soft fur that focused on protecting the most vulnerable areas: the chest, the kidneys, and the neck. I had also crafted bracers—sturdy leather wraps for their forearms that ended in thick, furry cuffs at the wrists to keep the chill from creeping up their wrist vein.

As I handed them out, I couldn’t help but feel a little smug about the color coordination. I had chosen the pelts to match their disposition: a pure, shimmering white for Damar, a striking mix of white and black for Fenric, and a deep, midnight black for Noah.

And then there were the boots, which I had a hard time making for them as well. After successfully making mine, it got easier to make theirs, but it did take some time. I made just two pairs since Damar didn’t exactly need shoes.

"You made these... for us?" Fenric asked, his voice softening as he ran his fingers over the stitching.

He had helped me take the measurements when I asked, but he probably didn’t know what I was planning to do with them.

And here it was.

Fenric immediately started bragging, puffing his chest out and his nose pointing directly at the sky as he pulled the tunic on.

It clung to his body just right.

"I helped with the measurements, you know. And I made the bone needles. That’s why the fit is so perfect."

Noah snorted as he slid into his black tunic, the dark fur making his eyes look even more intense.

"You held a string and tried not to trip over your own paws, Fenric. Don’t take all the credit." He said with a mocking tone.

"I did more than that, ’Noah’!" Fenric barked back, but he was too busy admiring how the leather hugged his frame to stay mad.

He didn’t want to lunge at Noah and then ruin the gift.

And then there was Damar, whose face had gone red, looking down at the best that clung to his body, the fur over his neck, and how warm it felt.

He must admire it so much for him to be blushing silently in the corner.

It made me feel good.

The commotion from the other two made me chuckle though. They just couldn’t be quiet.

I stood back to inspect my handiwork, and my face heated up with a light blush and a proud smile.

I had asked them during the sewing process if they wanted the tunics to lace up all the way to the chin for maximum warmth. They had all given me the same look and a flat "no."

Looking at them then, I thought they just weren’t used to fully covering their chests and wanted to feel a little freer in whatever I was making.

I didn’t complain since then it would be easier to sew, but now, seeing them in it, I understand why they chose that.

The tunics were open at the collar, V-lining down to the middle of their chests. It provided enough warmth to keep their cores from freezing, but it left just enough of those sculpted, muscular pectorals visible to remind me exactly why I liked watching them work.

’Thankfully, it didn’t hide everything,’ I thought, biting my lip.

I knew their ’preferences’ by now. Damar and Fenric especially knew how much I liked to rest my hands—or my face—against their chests. They were basically offering up a ’touching zone’ even in the middle of winter.

Hm, I understand Fenric and Damar know what I like, but Noah also said no. Does that mean he figured out I liked chest or did he just not want to cover up?

"Is the view to your satisfaction, Arinya?" Damar asked, his emerald eyes glinting as he adjusted the fur on his throat with his face red.

I had a feeling that if I asked him why his face was red, he would say it was the cold.

"It’s... functional," I lied, clearing my throat and looking away. "The goal is warmth, remember?"

"Right. Warmth," Noah chuckled, adjusting the load on his shoulders. He looked like a dark shadow against the frost-covered trees. "Well, I’m plenty warm now. Especially with you looking at us like that."

"Let’s just go!" I huffed, waving my mittened hand toward the path. "Onward, my soldiers."

I whispered that last part, not wanting to get questioned about what a ’soldier’ is.

Fenric let out a triumphant roar—half-tiger, half-man—and leaned into the harness. The troller gave a heavy groan as it finally broke free of the mud it had been sitting on since it was made, and began to glide.

Damar’s muscles coiled with fluid strength as he pushed from behind, and Noah vanished into the treeline ahead, moving silently.

As I walked between them, the troller by my side and my eyes on our things wrapped in hide, the rhythmic crunch-crunch of our boots reminded me that winter was here and in no time... the snow would begin to fall.

The hour began smoothly and honestly, it was thrilling how, with my own eyes, I saw the forest that was a sea of deep green emerald turn into a sea of white...

It happened so fast... The days moved faster than we imagined and by the fourth day of our journey, while I was sitting on top of the troller, a single, icy crystal drifted down, landing right on the tip of my nose.

I stopped walking, my breath hitching as I raised my head. Within seconds, the single flake was joined by a thousand others, a silent rain of white that began to dust the furs of our clothes.

For some reason, it didn’t frighten me that the snow had caught up to us before we found the cave. Instead, I smiled. A warm bright pink hue plastered on my face.

The world was turning white, the wind was picking up, and the path ahead was uncertain. But I had no reason to be scared.