Sarah trembled under Serena's cold gaze, too scared to utter a single word. No one had ever treated her like this and while anger had boiled her blood, fear quickly cooled it down.
Being in a life and death situation had Sarah somewhat regretting her actions. Who would've thought that Serena, the big pushover, would snap and attack her like this?
She just wanted this matter to be over. No matter what Serena asked for.
"W-what do you want?" Sarah asked weakly, finally able to find her voice somewhere amongst the wave of terror crashing through her.
"First I want you to bring the cubs that hurt Kiro." Serena stated. "They are to beg for forgiveness and I won't let you go until Kiro accepts their apology."
"Sister?" Kiro glanced up at her. "You…"
"It's okay Kiro." Serena murmured, looking back at him for a moment. "Demand whatever you want for all the trouble they caused you. Otherwise, they'll continue to be mean."
"O-okay." Kiro agreed quickly.
As much as he was worried about his older sister getting hurt, he also understood that she was giving him a once in a lifetime opportunity to settle the grudges within his little heart. So, he couldn't throw it away so easily.
Happy that Kiro understood what to do, Serena turned back to Sarah and said, "Second thing will be that you compensate us with five clear crystals and ten animal furs for all the trouble you caused."
For most families that would seem like a lot, but considering how much Sarah and her family had taken from her family, she wanted to settle the debt. The crystals and furs would help them settle down in the city.
"How dare you-" One of her beast husbands started, knowing it was a steep price to pay.
But Sarah yelled over him, "Get what she asked for now and bring the cubs here!"
Without another word, one ran off to do as their mate had commanded. They watched him go before Sarah turned her attention back to Serena and with a trembling voice asked, "A-anything else?"
"A vow to the Beast God that you, your mates and cubs, past, present and future ones, will not harm my brother and I or any of our family members in any way. Directly or indirectly." Serena answered. "Make that promise now and once the cubs have sorted their matter and I have my compensation I'll let you go."
The Beast God vow was insurance. She may have frightened Sarah to do as she commanded, however, she never knew when Sarah might seek revenge over this matter.
She had to make sure this never happened. Thus, she wanted Sarah to make the scare vow, knowing that if Sarah broke it, she would die.
"F-fine." Sarah murmured. "I-I'll do it."
The tribe chief stood there quietly with the other beastmen of the tribe, everyone shocked by Sarah's words. She was the most headstrong female in the tribe, no one could defeat her.
And yet today they were all watching Sarah wag her tail to everything Serena commanded her to do. It was absolutely frightening to them.
"Am I dreaming? Is Sarah really listening to that pushover?"
"Let me hit you then."
"Ouch! It's not a dream. She really is."
"So scary…"
"Hmph! About time someone taught her a lesson."
The last part was said by one of the many females bullied by Sarah. They were all watching the show, eating pieces of meat given to them by their beast husbands, and enjoying watching Sarah fall from her high horse.
They were tired of Sarah acting so high and mighty, glad someone had the guts to teach her some manners. She had been terrorising the females in the tribe for too long.
"I, Sarah of the Leopard Tribe, make a vow to the Beast God that I will not, in any way, harm Serena, her brother Kiro and any family members in any way, directly or indirectly. This vow also includes my mates and cubs." Sarah made the vow, trying to keep her tone even. "If I break this vow, may the Beast God strike me down where I stand."
Serena, happy with the words, then said, "I accept this vow."
With those words, the vow took place, her right wrist burning slightly as a snow leopard symbol appeared on her grimy skin, indicating that the vow had been formed. With this, Serena could let her guard down a little.
The mark soon disappeared as Sarah's beast husband returned with the goods and four snow leopard cubs running behind him.
"Here's your goods." The beastman grumbled in a harsh tone.
Serena raised an eyebrow before she said, "Kiro check them for me."
Kiro hurryingly did as his sister requested, Serena counting the goods as he looked over each item. Once it was clear that they weren't trying to cheat Serena, she said, "Kiro, tell the cubs what they must do to earn your forgiveness. Afterwards, I'll let their mother beast go."
The cubs whimpered at the sight of their mother beast in trouble, trembling at the problem they had caused. They had been scolded by the beast husband before they got to the scene and now were worried what Kiro wanted them to do.
Because they had done many bad things to him, hitting him for no reason, stealing his food and climbing it for themselves, even playing harmful pranks on him. There was no doubt Kiro had some major grudges against them.
And if he was anything like his crazy sister right now…
They all gulped at the thought, begging the Beast God for help. This was too much for them. They were never meant to be the ones taught a lesson.
Kiro looked at them and with a slightly uneven voice, declared, "I'll forgive you all if you return my necklace and apologize to me."
It took a moment for Serena to realize the necklace he was referring to was a necklace with a beast tooth from the first wild beast Kiro had hunted with their father. Their father had made it for him to remember his first hunt.
She couldn't believe she had forgotten about such an important thing. Good thing Kiro had demanded it back. The cubs quickly did as they were told, returning the necklace and even giving Kiro a few other things with an apology.
Kiro didn't care for the other objects, taking the necklace before he said, "I guess I forgive you then."
And with that Serena finally let go of Sarah, tossing her to her mates. They quickly made a grab for her, running off before Serena could do anything else.
Serena couldn't care less, picked up her compensation and headed back to her cave with Kiro to pack, leaving the rest of the tribe dumbfounded.