Theo lay by the edge of the campfire, watching grumbily as some of the others spoke with the two leopard beastwomen. He wanted to be anywhere but there, however Richard was not having it.
Stupid old tiger. Theo huffed to himself, still licking his wounds from his recent defeat. One day I'm going to defeat you. Then you won't be able to order me around so easily.
But for now, he was stuck listening to this endless chatter. Thankfully though, he didn't have to participate and could just lay there in his beast form and drone out most of the conversation.
"Why did that female bring a cub with her?" One of the tiger beastmen suddenly asked, pulling him out of his thoughts for a moment. "She seems too young to have a cub of her own that old."
Another then chimed in and said, "It's not her cub. The cub is her brother."
"What?!" A third one exclaimed. "Why is he traveling with us then? We don't have supplies to spare for some cub. Do we have to give up some of our food-"
"Calm down all of you." Rex suddenly growled for his spot by the fire. "Serena, the female, has made it clear she'll split her own rations between the cub and her, so don't go causing problems."
"Hmph! I still don't see why she's bringing her brother to the city." The first tiger beastman muttered. "He's not her responsibility. Where are his parents?"
Theo shifted his body, a little curious about that too. He noticed the siblings seemed awfully close despite their huge age gap. Made him wonder if their parents were dead and the female was caring for the cub.
"Well, they did die in the recent landslide." One of the females jumped in, confirming his suspicions. "Serena also lost her mate too, so everyone said she became overprotective of her remaining family member."
"That's right…" The other female mused. "She is normally quite timid, but became so feral when she learnt Sarah was messing with Kiro."
"Hmmm. Everyone was so shocked with what she did yesterday." The first beastwoman stated. "Who knew someone so timid could threaten harm to another female. Makes me a little scared."
"Don't be scared!" One of the tiger beastman declared, taking this chance to score points with the beastwoman. "I'll protect you."
A few chimed in agreement before the other beastwoman added, "I don't think we have anything to worry about. Serena seems decent as long as you don't cross her."
"I guess so…" The first beastwoman mused. She looked like she was about to say something, but shook her head and asked instead, "So what is the city like? I heard it's quite big and has lots of beastmen…"
No longer interested in the topic, Theo tuned out the conversation and let his thoughts stew. He was surprised to learn that female was usually a timid person.
Is she really that overprotective? Theo mused to himself. Or maybe she's just hiding her true nature.
Those eyes he saw yesterday were something he couldn't forget so easily. They were the eyes of someone who fought for everything. A predator that would kill in an instant.
No way some ordinary female could have those eyes. At least from his knowledge.
There was definitely something up with her. Theo wasn't sure what, but he wanted to get to the bottom of it. Figure out what really was her true nature.
"Hey Theo!" Rex suddenly called out. "Go call the others to come get food. Make sure to get Serena first before everything's gone."
Theo let out a huff, but shifted into his male form and moved to do what the older male had asked. He headed to the cave first, quietening his footsteps when he heard voices.
"There's nothing wrong with you!" A young voice exclaimed, Theo guessing it was that cub speaking. "I… I mean… yesterday was strange… Y-you seem different Sister… Not that it's bad!"
So even the cub thinks his sister was acting strange. Theo paused, passing at the entrance of the cave to watch and listen in. There's definitely something up with her then…
"It's okay." The snow leopard beastwoman smiled at the cub, ruffling his hair. "I guess I was acting strangely yesterday… But after Old Mary slapped me… I realized I had to be stronger for us both. I didn't want us to get bullied anymore."
"T-then I'll get stronger too!" Kiro suddenly declared, standing up proudly. "I'm going to become the strongest out there so no one hurts us!"
Serena chuckled a little before giving him a small smile. "Sure. We can both get strong."
Theo watched the moment between the siblings when a pair of golden eyes unexpectedly met his with a cold look in them. He was surprised to see the beastwoman had noticed his presence so quickly.
He was sure he had masked his presence before he neared the cave. So, how had she spotted him so easily? Had he been too relaxed? No, it couldn't be…
The coldness in her eyes disappeared as she turned to her brother and murmured, "Looks like someone is here for us."
"Hmm?" The cub turned to the cave entrance and gazed at him blankly.
Meanwhile, Serena got up and walked over to him. When she closed the distance between them, brother behind her, she asked, "Are you here to tell us something?"
Theo suddenly recalled his reason for being there and coughed, "Ah… right. I'm here to tell you they're serving food. You should get your portion."
"I see." Serena nodded her head in understanding. "I guess we'll get going then. Come on Kiro."
She held out a hand for the cub to take and the two headed out the cave without another word. He watched them leave before going to call the others on patrol to get some food.
However, as he did so, one thing lingered on his mind - that beastwoman was definitely hiding something.