Wanderlust Beastkin, Beauty and the Beastkin-Chapter 88: Reunion

I woke up next to my Fluffy, his tail curled around me and his arm draped over my waist. A wave of contentment washed over me as I gazed at his stunning face; he looked almost unreal with his snow-white hair and those adorable fox ears perched on his head. His long, white eyelashes fanned out against his cheekbones, a soft blush coloring his cheeks, and a gentle smile gracing his lips. I gently brushed some hair away from his face, and he let out a blissful sigh. My eyes fell on the little paw print on his neck, surprisingly healed despite my earlier roughness. Joy bubbled up inside me as I reached out to trace my finger over his new marking. We had traveled all day and part of the night, covered in scent-blocking spray. Milo had used a blanket to tie me to him so I could rest while he ran. Apparently, male beastkin don’t need as much rest as human women do... Actually, I guess I’m not human anymore, which is so strange.

Then, a startling thought struck me, and my eyes widened as I played with Milo’s hair. My hand froze, and my heart began to race in my ears. I’m not human. "I’m not human," I whispered, my mind racing to my birth control pills. Why hadn’t I thought of this sooner? Probably because the idea of no longer being human was still so mind-boggling. Would birth control designed for humans even work on me now? Would it be effective for a mermaid? What about beastkin? The thought of having children right now sent a shiver down my spine. I don’t have a proper home for my future kids, and I’m not even sure I’m ready to care for babies. At least I wouldn’t be a mother with an absent baby daddy who won’t help with our little ones. I’m not sure what being a good parent looks like, but I definitely won’t treat my kids the way my parents treated me. I sat there, toying with Fluffy’s hair, wondering if I might already be pregnant. I guess if I were, I’d lay eggs. Then I pondered how many eggs fish usually lay.

"Sweetheart," Milo said, slowly opening his light blue eyes and flashing me a dazzling smile. But after a moment of looking at me, his smile faded, replaced by a gentle frown. "What’s wrong, Sweetheart?"

I hesitated, nibbling on my lower lip. "If I were pregnant, would that be okay? I’m not sure if the medicine I’m taking to prevent pregnancy is still effective after my first shift. It’s a special kind of medicine from my tribe."

He stared at me, his eyes wide and shocked, not making a sound or even blinking. "Why would your tribe have special contraception that only works for females who haven’t shifted?"

"I meant that I’m not sure that it works on shifted mermaids."

He blinked in astonishment. "That certainly makes sense. You would require something unique for a Legendary-type female, as they can conceive much more easily." He turned a deep shade of red, "Not to mention that your kind possesses two wombs, or at least that’s what I’ve heard. It’s fortunate too, since mermaids are significantly rarer than other types of females, and mer-people typically show little interest in other types of females, given that a mermaid seldom gives birth to another mer-person if she’s mated with a different type of male."

"I suppose the wisest course of action is to refrain from mating with anyone else until you’re certain, and to stop taking your pills until you find out if you’re expecting, to ensure that whatever you’re consuming won’t harm it. I’ve sold numerous contraceptives that have been approved for general female use by a healer, but I’ve never encountered anything like what you’re describing. I do know that some of them can be harmful to a female who is pregnant or nursing. Most females simply consume clear crystals, which are safe for unborn and nursing babies in moderation. If you don’t mind me asking, is it possible that I could have made you pregnant?"

I gazed at my clasped hands, feeling restless. "This was the second time I had been intimate with a male." A wave of nausea and fear washed over me. How could I have overlooked the reality that I wasn’t human and not considered that my birth control might not be effective anymore? Mermaids are clearly not humans, and my contraceptive has definitely not been tested on mermaids.

"Do you have any idea how many eggs a mermaid usually lays?" The thought of laying a thousand eggs at once sent a chill down my spine.

"Usually, a mermaid can lay up to twenty eggs in one batch, but if the father is a land beastkin, the litters are typically those of land beastkin, which are usually around one to five."

"So it’s possible that I could have ten babies in one go?" My voice involuntarily went up a few octaves at the end while imagining being buried alive under a pile of crying babies, and I could feel sweat trickling down my face.

"Yes, but it’s doubtful, and even if you do, it would be your male’s job and honor to look after and provide for the little ones."

"But what’s this about having two uteruses?"

"Mermaids possess two cervixes positioned side by side, which lead to two uteruses. This feature allows them to conceive while already pregnant, provided it occurs before they grow too large and obstruct the other cervix. This situation arises once the babies become visibly apparent. Other beastkin females exhibit similar traits, including kangaroo females, rodents, rabbits, possums, and Tasmanian devils, among others. Notably, a female weasel can bear cubs from different fathers within the same litter, as she has the ability to delay the implantation of her fertilized eggs in the uterus for several months, allowing her to decide the timing of her birth. Males often learn about these exceptional females from their fathers, enabling them to seek out high-quality mates capable of producing healthy offspring. However, this knowledge can intensify competition, especially if the female openly identifies her beastkin type. Many females make their type known, as competition helps ensure they attract strong males."

"Females with two uteruses are undoubtedly highly sought after, but those with a strong aura and legendary status are even more coveted. This is because any cub conceived with such a female is more likely to be powerful, given their access to high-quality mana even before the female lays her eggs. This advantage significantly increases the chances of producing stronger offspring compared to the average male, leading to early growth and greater potential."

"That makes more sense why Pamela was so popular with males, even though her personality left much to be desired. She could give every one of her mates a cub in the same batch if she wanted, as long as her body kept on dropping eggs to be fertilized."

"I’m not sure who this Pamela is, but it wouldn’t be wise for her to have too many eggs in one litter. The unhatched offspring would need to share the mother’s available mana, which means smaller batches usually result in stronger babies. However, if multiple males are consistently providing mana crystals and channeling mana into her womb to support her, that could change things. There’s even a risk of her dying from mana exhaustion, or in some cases, from the hungry babies if they belong to certain aggressive beastkin breeds and the mother has insufficient mana to nourish them."

Thinking about that, it made more sense why she had so many males surrounding her and why she wanted Titus so badly to join their ranks; he had a high level of mana, which would help ensure her safety. That still didn’t give her an excuse to treat everyone around her like dirt, though. If she’d been nice to Sam and Oliver, I wouldn’t have had to make Sam my mate in the first place. I could have quietly gotten a guide back to Duarte Village, and that would have been that without any need for added drama and fuss. So even with her reasons, I still don’t like her.

"Basically, she was an awful weasel female that I ended up disagreeing with because she gave away a male to me and then wanted him back after I’d already marked him. She has a terrible temper and tried to have her males attack me; it was a whole mess, but I was able to leave without injury thanks to them."

"Those males that you mentioned earlier who had been bitten by that spider male when you were taken?"

"That’s right," I’m worried about them."

"There’s no need to worry since I caught a slight scent of that Titus you mentioned, the Nemean lion has a very distinctive scent which he isn’t attempting to hide. I believe he’s projecting his scent in order to lead you back to him, though he likely is going to cause quite a stir by projecting his scent like that, causing other females to track him and other alpha-type males to want to challenge him. We have to be careful while approaching him for that reason, to make sure that we don’t bump into one of the other beastkin who are tracking him, too. It could be extremely dangerous depending on what kinds of beastkin are tracking him. Surely he is desperate to find you again or he wouldn’t resort to such drastic measures."

"What? For how long has this been going on?"

"Not for long, I just didn’t mention it before because I wanted to be sure what was going on before I told you. I need you to be clear about what types of danger this could pose and that I will do everything in my power to protect you, but there are certain types of males whom I would have no hope of fighting and I would have to have your word that you wouldn’t argue or cause a fuss if I insisted that we would need to run from a situation immediately or you would have to run by yourself if I’m needed to hold an enemy back. If you can’t give your word, then I refuse to put you in such a dangerous environment in the first place. "

~~~

We travelled for quite some time, mostly because we were going to carefully and slowly, mostly travelling below ground. It was exhausting to stop and listen constantly and be covered in scent-masking spray. It felt a bit extreme but after what I’ve already been through since coming here, I wasn’t going to question it.

Finally, finally! We popped up out of the ground, and right in front of us was Titus, crouched down in his giant golden lion form, staring at the hole that I’d just popped out from. His bright golden eyes glistened with joy, and he leaned forward and sort of ruined the moment by licking my face from chin to forehead with his giant and rough tongue that rubbed my face raw and covered me in slobber. He was lucky that I was so happy to see him or he’d have gotten a good smack just then. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

Instead, I reached around his neck as best I could, given his massive size, and buried my face in his glowing golden fur that seemed like it was made from fiber optics, radiating a massive amount of mana. I breathed his scent in, like warm sunlight and peaches.

Fluffy came out of the hole next, and I heard and felt a deep and dangerous rumble come from Titus. I pet him comfortingly and held him tightly. "It’s alright, this is Fluffy...I mean Milo. He’s also a part of our family; he’d been with me when I was in Duarte Village with General Kai. He found me where the spider beastkin was keeping me and snuck me out."

Titus transformed into his beastkin form and stood up, holding me in a princess carry against his chest. I could feel my face flush while thinking that he’s currently naked and a certain part is just below where he’s holding me.

"Pardon my rude reception, we’ve been on high alert and anxious to find Perla ever since we were surprise-attacked and she was stolen from us. It’s our shame that she was taken. Thank you for bringing her back, and of course, you are welcome in our family, but we need to leave now that we have Perla back, as I’m sure you’re aware, I blasted my aura hoping to locate her or the spider who took her, since I’d lost her scent, now that we have her back we need to get far away from the area, who knows who may show up.

Coming Next Time: A Rumble in the Jungle