The Ugly Duckling Of The Tiger Tribe-Chapter 307: Thalor will sleep outside

The fire crackled and laughed in the quiet that followed his words. I never thought of it that way, but just as the mer-folks ate their kind—fishes—we also ate our kind, because we are beasts as well, only we have better rationality and the ability to shift into human form.

"You’re right, Thalor. That might’ve been rude of me, I’ll apologize," I said, feeling a flush of genuine sheepishness. It’s funny how you can live your whole life thinking one way until a half-naked prince from the abyss points out your hypocrisy while chewing on a rib.

Thalor shook his head, a stray piece of grilled fat glistening on his lip. "There is no need for apology, Arinya. The land and the sea have different laws, but hunger... hunger is the same language."

"Hunger is a language he’s speaking very fluently," Fenric muttered, crossing his arms as he watched Thalor reach for a third portion. "If he keeps this up, we’re going to need a bigger grill."

Now, there was one more big mouth to feed. Where does all that food even go? They have this flat belly that shows their packs so damn well that you’ll never know if they’ve eaten or not.

I’m the one who has to worry that I’ll gain weight or get a bloated belly if I eat too much. I envy them.

Noah leaned back, his tanned, long legs stretched out toward the fire. He was watching Thalor with a calculated stillness, and then he asked,

"Since you’ve enjoyed our ’beast-meat’ so much, Prince, perhaps you can tell us: does the sea provide a place for a guest to sleep? Or does the ’Tidal Debt’ require a bed of furs?"

The air suddenly got colder than the night breeze. There it was. The million-dollar question.

Thalor paused, a piece of meat halfway to his mouth. He looked at the cozy, glowing interior of our tent, then out toward the dark, crashing waves of the coastline.

"I can return to the currents," he said softly, though he didn’t look particularly thrilled about the idea. "The water is my cradle. But..."

He glanced at my wrist. The blue crest was still glowing, a soft pulse that seemed to sync with the rhythm of the waves.

"The mark is fresh," Thalor continued, his voice dropping to a low melody. "Until the bond settles, being too far from my anchor will cause the cold to set in. For Arinya’s sake, I should remain within the scent of her fire."

"For her sake, or yours?" Damar asked, his voice a low, dangerous hiss. He hadn’t touched a single piece of meat, despite this being his favorite palette. He was still watching Thalor like a predator watching a particularly colorful bird.

It was as if he were announcing that he was throwing a tantrum, and I should comfort him.

"Both," Thalor answered simply.

I felt the three pairs of eyes—four, counting Thalor—land on me. This was my call. My tent was already getting crowded with three husbands and three cubs. Adding a merman who didn’t understand how pants worked was a recipe for a very long night.

Besides, it would look strange if I let a man into the house to sleep next to us.

I wouldn’t even let it happen if I were in their shoes.

"He can stay," I said, and I heard a collective sharp intake of breath from the ’Husband Committee.’ "But! He stays outside the tent. Since he says he has to be near, he can light a fire. Noah, give him some extra furs. I can’t have him freezing to death on his first night."

Noah sighed, but he didn’t argue. He knew that tone of voice.

"Fine. But if I hear a single ’sea-song’ tonight, I’m turning him into sushi."

Ah, it was almost like Noah read the future. Not the sushi part, but the sea song. But let’s not get to that yet.

The tension of the day began to fade as we made our way back to the tent and Fenric fastened the flap to make sure Thalor did not magically appear by my side in the middle of the night. This was after I convinced and pet my darling Damar to eat, of course. He was more than happy to have me feed him. So adorable.

It was a treat for being such a great babysitter.

Then, without realizing it, the atmosphere shifted into something far more domestic—and dangerously concentrated.

The cubs were breathing softly in their corner, tucked away behind a partition of heavy pelts so they wouldn’t catch a cold.

Outside, the occasional crackle of Thalor’s fire reminded us he was there, but inside, the air was thick with the scent of woodsmoke, musk, and the lingering heat of three possessive predators who had spent the last several hours sharing their wife with a prince.

I was reaching for a fresh tunic to change into when a hand caught my wrist—my left wrist, right over the glowing blue crest.

"This is still pulsing," Noah murmured, pulling me back toward the center of the furs. He didn’t let go. His thumb traced the coral crown, his touch firm, as if he were trying to overwrite the merman’s magic with his own scent. "I don’t like it, Little Tiger. It’s too bright. It reminds me that I wasn’t the one who caught you when you fell."

"It’s just a debt," I breathed, but my heart started to skip. Why though? It was as if I was feeling... guilty.

Fenric appeared on my other side, his movements fluid and silent. He reached out, his fingers brushing the hair away from the back of my neck, his touch sending a shiver straight down my spine.

"You spent a lot of time looking at him today, Arinya," he whispered, his breath hot against my ear. "Watching him work. Watching him eat. You even patted his back. You touched him."

"Come on. He was choking, Fenric! What was I supposed to do, let him die at dinner?" I tried to sound indignant, but my voice wavered.

"I would have preferred it," Fenric growled softly, his teeth grazing the top of my ear and I winced. "But since he’s still breathing, I think you owe us for the restraint we showed."

Why was this even happening right now?

Damar didn’t say a word. He simply moved to sit behind me, his long, cool limbs wrapping around my waist like a coil of silk. He rested his chin on my shoulder, his emerald eyes dark and heavy with a silent demand. His tongue flicked out, a lightning-fast graze against my collarbone that made my toes curl.

"Noah..." I started, but the ’King’ wasn’t planning to listen to excuses either.

He pulled me down onto the thick pile of furs, his body weight pressing me into the softness. He didn’t pin me down roughly; he just loomed over me, his golden eyes glowing in the dim light of the single oil lamp.

"The merman gave you his life," Noah said, his voice dropping into that low, vibrating bass that usually signaled the end of my willpower. "And I understand the circumstances behind it, but what I do not want to understand is how you are the one who has to manage his heart. Tonight, I think we need to remind you whose mark matters most."

He leaned down, his lips claiming mine in a kiss that tasted of the barbecue we’d just eaten and a hunger that was far more ancient. It was deep, territorial, and possessive.

At the same time, I felt Fenric’s hands slide under the hem of my top, his palms rough and warm against my ribs, moving upward with a slow, agonizing deliberation until he grabbed one of my breasts and I flinched, a silent whimper escaping my lips as I trembled.

Damar’s hands stayed at my waist, his fingers digging in just enough to keep me steady, his cool skin a sharp, intoxicating contrast to the heat of the other two.

"You’re shaking," Fenric hummed against my skin, his lips moving down to the sensitive dip of my throat. "Is it the cold from the mark, or is it us?"

"You know exactly what it is," I gasped, my head falling back as he gripped harder on my nipples till it felt like I was leaking breastmilk, and Noah moved his kiss to the line of my jaw.

The tent felt smaller, the space between us disappearing until I couldn’t tell where I ended, and they began.

The presence of Thalor just a few feet away, separated only by a layer of hide, seemed to heighten everything. It was as if they were determined to drown out the memory of the sea with the sheer force of the land.

Noah’s hand slid from my wrist to my waist, his fingers tangling with Damar’s as they worked together to pull my top over my head and get rid of it. The cool air hit my skin for a split second, and I felt bare.

My nipples were dripping breastmilk, all thanks to someone, and it seemed to invite them even more.

Then, someone pushed their body over mine and breathed in my ear. It was Noah.

"Tonight," He whispered, bringing his lips down to mine, and continued as his hand slid down to the curve of my hip, "We’re going to punish you, Little Tiger."

A bolt of electricity ran down my spine and every vein in my body, causing the hair on my body and tail to stand. Just now... that definitely turned me on.