Once every autumn, a massive trading festival market opened in the neutral, central lands managed by the herbivore beastman tribe.
Because the herbivores didn’t rely on meat to survive, they carried gentle, calm tempers and held a completely neutral standing among the warring clans.
Tradition dictated that only male beastman and tribal chiefs could participate in the trade gatherings.
Females were only brought along if they were meant to be bartered off, a fate that usually befell female who were chronically ill, infertile, or who had broken major tribal laws, just as Lola had.
Even then, the custom of this world dictated they be treated with basic courtesy akin to respected noble women.
Thanks to the deal I had struck earlier, Lola was safe from the trading block for the time being.
Still, my own curiosity burned bright.
I wanted to see this world’s version of a festival for myself.
With Tigris walking closely by my side, we set off to find the tribal chief, aiming to secure permission for me to tag along with the trade caravan next week.
We found the chief by the storage pits, stacking dried, cured meat onto heavy wooden racks.
He lifted his massive tiger head as we approached, his amber eyes tracking our movements.
“What brings you two over here?” the chief asked, wiping his paws.
“Need extra salt stored for the cold months ahead, Lily?”
“We actually came to ask for a favor,” I said, stepping forward.
“The autumn trade festival opens in seven days, and I want to travel with the trade caravan.”
The chief’s ears flattened in sheer shock.
He dropped a heavy slab of meat right back onto the rack.
“That cannot happen. The trade route is crawling with wandering rogue beasts and dangerous strangers. No females join the traveling party unless they are marked to be traded.”
Tigris immediately stepped forward.
His large, muscular tiger frame shifted smoothly, blocking the chief’s line of sight to me in an instinctively protective gesture.
“She will not be traded to anyone,” Tigris barked, his tone deadpan and firm.
“She only wishes to walk the market stalls and see goods from the distant tribes.”
The chief shook his head sharply, frustration edging into his gruff voice.
“Even with strong warriors guarding the pack, danger lurks everywhere. I cannot guarantee her safety. If harm finds a female outsider out there, the whole tribe will bear the blame.”
I tilted my chin up, refusing to back down.
“There is no safer place for me than beside my bonded mates. Tigris will be glued to my side every step of the way, and Jor is coming with us to stand guard.”
The chief blinked, processing my words.
The mere mention of Jor made his posture stiffen slightly.
“Jor? The giant serpent beast?” He let out a heavy, weary sigh.
Tigris rumbled low, a vibration I could feel straight through the paw he placed gently on my shoulder.
“We two will shield her from any trouble that rises on the road or inside the festival grounds. No harm will touch her while we draw breath, Chief.”
Looking between Tigris’s unyielding stare and my determined expression, the chief finally relented.
“Fine,” he grumbled, waving a dismissive paw.
“You may join the party. But you must never stray from our group, not even for a single stall. Understood?”
As we stepped away from the meat storage area and headed back toward our cave, I had to bite my lip to keep from grinning like a lunatic.
Word had spread through the camp that the panda beastman were setting up stalls at this year’s market.
Back on Earth, pandas were my absolute favorite animal.
The mere thought of meeting giant, fluffy panda beastmen made my chest light with excitement.
Tigris noticed me twisting my fingers restlessly.
He leaned his muzzle down, playfully nudging his warm nose against my cheek.
“Your heart is racing, my wife. Are you that eager to walk the market already?”
I let out a bright smile, no longer trying to hide my excitement.
“I heard panda beastman are coming to trade this year. I loved pandas more than any other animal back at the zoo. I can’t wait to see them!”
Tigris’s grip on my waist tightened, his large palm flaring with a sudden, possessive heat that pulled my hips flush against his side.
He didn’t chuckle this time.
Instead, a low, rumbling vibration vibrated deep in his chest, a warning sound he usually reserved for rival predators.
“A panda beastman?” Tigris muttered, his jaw tightening as his amber eyes narrowed.
“You are this excited to see a another male? Am I no longer enough to keep your eyes busy, my Lily?”
I paused, blinking up at my tiger husband.
His ears were slightly pulled back, a telltale sign of his simmering jealousy.
It was incredibly endearing how a fierce, peak rank four warrior could turn into a pouting, territorial cat the second I showed interest in another creature.
“It’s not like that, Tigris,” I murmured, reaching up to soothe the sharp line of his jaw.
“They’re just… an animal to see from my old tribe. I’ve never seen a real one though.”
Before Tigris could grumble another complaint, a cold, heavy shadow fell over us both.
Jor materialized from the nearby treeline, his movements so silent he didn’t even disturb the fallen autumn leaves.
My snake husband stood tall in his human form, his striking reptilian features utterly expressionless, but his slit pupil golden eyes locked onto me with an intense, unblinking focus.
Without a word, Jor reached out, his cool, smooth fingers wrapping firmly around my wrist, pulling my hand away from Tigris’s jaw and pressing it directly against his own chest.
“If my female wishes to see a panda, we will look at the panda,” Jor stated smoothly, his voice dropping to a dangerous, chilling register as he glanced at Tigris.
Tigris scoffed, but he didn’t argue with Jor’s overwhelming aura.
Instead, he leaned down, aggressively pressing his forehead against mine to block out the rest of the world, his breath warm against my skin.
“Fine. But I am carrying you through the panda stalls. If I see you smiling too brightly at them, I am taking you back to our cave.”
I swallowed hard, my heart hammering against my ribs.
Having two insanely powerful, fiercely protective husbands meant I was completely safe, but it also meant a simple trip to the market was going to be a battleground of possessive glances and tightly wrapped arms.
I was going to have to be very careful not to trigger their mating instincts in front of the entire festival.
At dawn the next morning, the male heads of each family clustered near the central storage hut.
They had gathered to decide what goods each household would chip in for the tribe’s shared trade stock.
I lingered on the edge of the crowd, listening to the rumbling voices of the men.
A gray wolf beastman stepped up to the wooden sorting table first, slamming down a small, glittering stone that looked like a rough diamond.
“Each household must donate one set of trade goods of their own choosing. The more valuable a family’s donation, the better quality goods that household gets to claim once we return.”
A broad brown bear beastman nodded, dragging a heavy stack of cured meat over to the table.
“Cultivated diamonds are top tier trade goods. They help male beastman break through rank barriers to grow stronger. Any clan warrior will give up piles of rare supplies for even a single small diamond shard.”
Seeing an opportunity to optimize their haul, I stepped out from the shadows and voiced my idea.
“If every family donates a mix of three specific things, our tribe’s overall bargaining power will be far stronger. We should require a balanced package from everyone: harvested potatoes, surplus cured meat, and one small cultivated diamond fragment per household.”
The crowd quieted, looking at me in surprise, but a stag beastman from an allied nearby tribe chimed in with a nod.
“That is a brilliant strategy. We can use a combined stock like that to negotiate for unbonded, fertile females from the neutral herbivore clans. Our numbers have shrunk thin these past two harsh winters. More females mean more cubs, more hunters, and a stronger tribe to survive the winter and monster attacks.”
The bear beastman grunted in full agreement.
“He speaks the plain truth. Diamonds, meat, and potatoes together will let us strike fair, peaceful trades for new female kin without starting unnecessary fights with foreign clans.”
Tigris stood tall beside me, letting out a low roar that demanded attention from every beastman present.
“This shared donation rule keeps every household’s contribution fair. No single family carries all the burden, and everyone reaps rewards matching what they give.”
The tribal chief leaned against the hut’s wooden post, nodding in approval.
“The female’s idea is sound. Spread word to every den at once. Each household must bring one bundle of potatoes, one stack of cured meat, and one cultivated diamond fragment to the storage hut by sunset tomorrow.”
The next seven days passed in a blur of packing, counting, and anticipation.
At first light on the festival’s opening day, our traveling group assembled at the tribe’s front wooden gate.
There were eight of us in total, myself, Tigris, Jor, the tribal chief, Mara’s eagle mate, Donna’s stag mate, and two of the tribe’s strongest warrior beastmen.
In this world, power scales capped at rank ten.
While Tigris held a highly respectable peak rank four power among native tribal beastman, Jor’s true strength sat terrifyingly far above the tenth rank, a literal force of nature walking in disguise.
Jor stood tall in his scaled human form, his cold, golden reptilian eyes sweeping over the line of warriors to check their guard formation.