Early morning outside the small wooden cabin.
A tall male sat upright by the door, his yellow hair damp with dew.
Dark circles ringed his eyes as he sat in silence, holding a broken branch and staring blankly ahead.
“Zor, let’s just forget it.
Reya is guarding the place too tightly; we’ll never get in,” a dark-skinned male said, rubbing his ear.
“Coward.
My brother said that a little female in heat is the easiest to impregnate.
Besides, Misha is so beautiful.
Even if it kills me, I want a taste.” Zor’s bloodshot eyes locked onto the cabin door as if he were possessed.
He had been lurking outside for three days, ever since Misha went into heat.
He knew perfectly well that Reya was already at his absolute limit.
With just one final push, he could pull the most beautiful female in the tribe into his arms.
“Listen to me…” Zor’s eyes darted around as he discussed a strategy in a hushed voice with the three males beside him.
Thus, two of the males launched a frontal assault on Reya, gradually drawing him away from the cabin door.
Zor took the opportunity to sneak toward the entrance.
By the time Reya realized what was happening, it was too late.
He was helplessly pinned down by the two attackers, unable to break free.
Just as Zor was about to approach the door, a massive yellow-furred dog rushed out from the shadows.
Zor was tackled to the ground by the beast, which bared its fangs and glared at him fiercely.
“Cae—Caesar, let me go!
I won’t do it again!” Zor paled in terror.
Meanwhile, Reya made quick work of the other two males.
Radiating a murderous aura, he marched over and hauled Zor up by the throat.
His large hand shifted into deadly claws, squeezing tighter and tighter.
Zor’s face flushed a deep, suffocating red as he cast a pleading look at Caesar.
Caesar took his sweet time enjoying the male’s desperate pleas for help before finally shifting into his human form.
He rested a large hand on Reya’s shoulder.
His voice flowed as smoothly as a warm mountain spring.
“Reya, he knows he was wrong.
Let him go.”
Reya’s eyes were bloodshot with rage.
“Anyone who dares to hurt Misha dies!”
Caesar’s heart skipped a beat, and his expression turned serious.
“Reya, you know this is just a normal biological reaction for males.
If you kill him, what will the rest of the tribe think of Misha?”
Hearing Misha’s name brought a sliver of reason back to Reya.
He cast a look of utter disgust at the male in his grasp before violently hurling him to the dirt.
“Scram!”
Having narrowly escaped death, Zor scrambled away, covered in dirt and disgrace.
Reya turned his icy, piercing gaze toward Caesar.
“What are you doing here?”
Caesar acutely sensed Reya’s vigilance.
“Misha is in heat.
I was a bit worried, so I came to help you.”
“I don’t need it,” Reya replied coldly.
“Leave.”
Clutching his wounds, Reya trudged back toward the door.
He had pushed his body to its absolute limit for far too long, and it was finally giving out.
Suddenly, his vision went black.
He staggered, his body swaying dangerously as he pitched toward the ground.
Caesar caught him with lightning-fast reflexes.
He let out a long sigh.
“Reya, I know you blame me.
You blame me for targeting you…
“Actually, I only did that out of jealousy,” Caesar continued, his cheeks flushing slightly.
He rubbed his nose, his voice betraying a hint of awkwardness.
“From the very first moment I laid eyes on Misha, I fell in love with her.
I was jealous of you—jealous that you get to stay by her side, and jealous that she always protects you.”
Reya looked as if he’d been struck by lightning.
His eyes widened in disbelief.
“H-How could that be?”
He couldn’t believe that the famously arrogant Caesar had actually fallen for Misha.
Caesar offered a sheepish smile.
“It’s true.
You know we all have a fated mate—a little female we can recognize with just one glance.
I didn’t fall for her just because she became beautiful.
“Everything I did before to hurt you was purely out of jealousy.
Reya, I apologize.
Please, let me help you protect Misha.
Will you?” The ever-proud Caesar lowered his head, his words steeped in sincerity.
Reya was about to reply when Misha appeared at the cabin door.
“Let him stay,” she said.
She had watched everything unfold from inside.
Reya couldn’t push himself any further; having Caesar share the burden of guarding her wouldn’t be a bad idea.
Of course, she wasn’t foolish enough to believe Caesar truly liked her.
There was likely some ulterior motive behind his sudden change of heart.
But with Caesar keeping watch, Reya could finally get a good night’s sleep.
By the fifth day, Misha’s period finally ended.
What followed was an endless parade of single males swarming the cabin to court her, with Caesar dutifully reporting for guard duty every day.
At first, Misha would step outside to reject one or two of them, but as the crowd grew, she simply stopped wasting her breath.
However, with all these males constantly hovering around day and night, Misha hadn’t even been able to begin her childbearing plans.
It was infuriating!
So, the next day, Misha set up an arena right outside her cabin.
Naturally, the eager males rubbed their hands together in anticipation.
But after two Yellow-tier males were utterly thrashed, the rest immediately caught cold feet.
Misha was absolutely ruthless.
She specifically aimed for their faces, beating perfectly handsome features into swollen, bruised pulps.
If a male couldn’t even beat a little female, he wouldn’t just lose out on a mate—he’d lose all his dignity.
Finally taking the hint, the tribe’s single males dispersed.
Dora, watching from the sidelines, felt a mix of joy and anger.
She was happy that these males were finally no longer swarming Misha, but furious because she didn’t want the rejects that even Misha looked down upon.
Misha, however, couldn’t care less about what Dora thought.
She was already busy planning her big event for the evening.
That evening, just as Reya returned to the tribe, he was intercepted by Caesar, who had been waiting for him at the entrance.
“Reya, I picked these fruits for Misha.
Little females love them,” Caesar said, his eyes brimming with affection.
Reya’s expression darkened, and his voice was stiff.
“Give them to her yourself.”
Caesar looked defeated and let out a heavy sigh.
“You know she won’t accept anything from me.”
No matter how relentlessly Caesar pursued her, Misha’s attitude remained cold and indifferent.
“Reya, please just help me out.
If Misha and I become mates and have cubs, you won’t have to worry about the rumors anymore.
You’ll be able to mate with her too.
“We’re brothers.
I would never stop her from becoming mates with you.
Misha has high standards.
If she ends up choosing another powerful male, he might not be so willing to let you join them.”
Ever since she set up the arena, Reya knew that Misha’s future mates would definitely be far stronger than a Yellow-tier.
Caesar’s words made him waver.
He was genuinely terrified that Misha would come to despise him for his weakness.
In the end, Reya didn’t agree to deliver the fruit for Caesar.
Looking lost and despondent, he shouldered his prey and trudged back to the cabin.
The cabin before him was pitch black.
A sudden wave of panic washed over him.
Dropping the deer meat from his shoulder, he shoved the door open and rushed inside.
“Mi—”
There was no one inside.
He lowered his head, his chest throbbing with an agonizing pain, as if his very heart had been gouged out.
Falling to his knees, a bitter sorrow spread from his chest to his eyes, and a single tear shattered against the floorboards.
Right at that moment, a sweet, fragrant scent enveloped him.
It was the scent of his little female.
“Mi—”
Before he could finish her name, a pair of soft lips pressed against his own, silencing him.
“MMPH—”