”Go wait inside, the hawthorns are almost ready.” After hanging the laundry, Wayne guided Euphoria back into the house and set a handful of fruit before her.
“Have a few of these first.”
As Wayne stepped back out to stoke the fire and roast the rest of the hawthorns, Euphoria watched him, feeling a sudden wave of envy for the women of this world.
Every woman dreams of being cherished and protected by a devoted partner.
In the modern world, that level of selfless pampering is a rarity, but here, it was the baseline for every female.
While she had no desire for a harem, she did appreciate the idea of finding someone truly wholeheartedly committed to her.
Wayne’s appetite was far more robust than hers.
Along with the roasted fruit, he polished off the leftover wild boar from the previous night until he was stuffed.
”Euphoria, I saw a massive gathering of ghost beasts in the woods today,” Wayne said, gnawing on a bone.
“Mating season is right around the corner and they’re getting restless.
You have to stay inside as much as possible.”
Euphoria recalled the savage invasion she had witnessed before.
Those creatures were driven by pure, violent instinct and were a legitimate threat to everyone’s survival.
”I understand.
I’ll be careful,” she promised.
Wayne nodded, quickly finishing his meal.
“I need to speak with the chief.
Head back to the stone house once you’re done eating.”
”Go ahead,” she smiled.
Wayne gave her a lingering, tender look before shifting into his lion form and bolting toward the center of the village.
She was beginning to find that look of his quite familiar.
From their conversations, Euphoria knew Wayne’s tribe was the smallest in the region, making them a prime target for both ghost beasts and rival tribes.
A large-scale raid could be catastrophic, and if the females were abducted, their lives would be effectively over.
I can’t just sit here, she thought, a determined smile tugging at her lips.
She lacked claws and fangs, but she had a tactical mind and hands trained in every form of weaponry.
Euphoria then laid out her plan, and Wayne immediately set out to scavenge the supplies she needed: bamboo, flexible vines, and animal sinews.
It took Wayne three trips to haul everything back.
Under Euphoria’s direction, he extracted the sinews from his recent kills, washing and laying them out to dry.
Meanwhile, she began constructing the frames for various traps.
Once the components were ready, they went to see Chief Hal.
The chief was momentarily stunned by Euphoria’s natural beauty, but as she explained her defensive strategies, his surprise turned into genuine admiration.
He gave her the green light to proceed.
The next day, Hal assigned a dozen of the tribe’s strongest warriors to assist her.
These orcs had heard rumors of Wayne’s female, but seeing her in person left them speechless.
Wayne immediately bared his fangs, letting out a low, warning growl that snapped the men out of their trance.
Euphoria found Wayne’s protectiveness endearing.
With a smile that seemed to warm the air like sunlight after a storm, she addressed the group.
“This will be hard work, but I appreciate your help over the next few days.”
Flattered, the orcs insisted they were happy to labor for the safety of the tribe.
Euphoria quickly organized them into teams: some braided heavy vine ropes, while others whittled bamboo into lethal spikes.
She led them to the tribe’s entrance to construct the centerpiece of their defense.
They dug a massive pit, lined the bottom with sharpened bamboo, and covered it with wooden planks camouflaged with soil.
She designed a trigger mechanism using the vine ropes that would drop the floor from beneath an intruder’s feet.
After testing the pit trap until it was seamless, she moved them to the surrounding forest.
There, they set up hidden bamboo “rafts” and trip-wire arrows.
These concealed traps were designed to be triggered by movement, dealing far more precise damage than a simple pit.
The orcs were visibly impressed by the ingenuity of her designs.
Chief Hal then led a walkthrough for the entire tribe to ensure no one accidentally triggered the defenses.
By sunset, Euphoria was exhausted.
Wayne offered to catch her a fresh fish, but she opted for simple roasted meat so they could rest together.
Wayne had been working overtime that day—not just on the traps, but as a sentry.
He spent the entire day glaring at any male who so much as glanced at Euphoria.
He was a whirlwind of jealousy, constantly interrupting her conversations if he thought another male was lingering too long.
Euphoria realized that Wayne was a classic possessive partner, though it seemed typical of the culture; the other females in the tribe rarely interacted with males outside their own pairings. Read the latest chapters at g.com.
The following morning, Euphoria set to work on a personal project.
Using the dried animal sinews and leftover bamboo, she began crafting bows and arrows.
The sinews Wayne had found were remarkably strong and elastic, surpassing her expectations.
Drawing on her marksmanship training from the military, she spent the morning practicing until she was hitting targets with pinpoint accuracy.
Wayne was fascinated.
He tried it himself and quickly learned that while the bow was easy to pull, hitting a specific mark was an entirely different skill.
While orcs still preferred their own natural weapons, Euphoria finished five bows, hoping they would provide a tactical advantage if things turned sour.
However, Euphoria’s recent contributions had unintended consequences: she gained a swarm of suitors.
As the only unattached adult female in the tribe, the bachelors were relentless.
Even though she was living with Wayne, the other males could tell by her scent that they hadn’t mated yet.
They also viewed Wayne, a Level 1 beast, as an insufficient protector for someone so valuable.
Wayne fought them off with everything he had.
He could bully the weaker ones, but even when outclassed by higher-level orcs, he refused to back down, often getting into scrap after scrap.
Because Euphoria clearly favored Wayne, the others didn’t dare kill him, but the tension was constant.
Most males eventually took the hint after being rejected, except for a persistent Level 2 leopard beastman named Klen.
He challenged Wayne almost daily, usually leaving both of them bruised and bloodied.
Klen eventually learned Wayne’s hunting schedule and started visiting when Wayne was away, only for Euphoria to firmly turn him away herself.
As the weeks passed, a series of heavy rainstorms rolled in, cooling the air but signaling the start of the females’ estrus cycles.
To Euphoria’s chagrin, her own period returned right on schedule.
By her count, it had been a month since she fled from Luce.
She felt a wave of relief, assuming the serpent had finally moved on.
However, life with Wayne was becoming chaotic.
The moment he caught her “heat” scent, he went into a frenzy of care, treating her with the delicate intensity usually reserved for a pregnant woman.
He hovered constantly, washing her clothes and bringing her endless berries.
As the torrential rain turned the sky into a gray curtain, the temperature dropped, but the atmosphere within the tribe grew heavy with the palpable, primal energy of the mating season.