Page 45 of I Married A Catman

My eyes flicked to the other young males who were trickling in. I caught myself assessing the competition that Kazaer might face, although he clearly had a great head start on the others. Quite a few of the hopefuls had great potential. Throughout the night, our females would talk with the ones who piqued their interest to evaluate them. Those who successfully passed the personality test with enough females would be invited to return over the next few days to pass some skill tests. This not only involved their ability to fight wild beasts, but also their trade and crafting competences.

With everyone now gathered around the bonfire, the festivities began with a brief speech by the Head Matriarch welcoming everyone and reminding them that any misbehavior—especially from the visitors—would be met with a swift and harsh response.

And then our younglings took the central area to present their own performance, the show including a mix of dance and battle choreographies. Although fascinated, my mate seemed confused by the intensity of some parts of that spectacle. It didn’t take a genius to see it went beyond mere artistic expression. But she didn’t understand the purpose.

I leaned in to whisper to her. “Males are not the only ones having to sell their worth. Our females must also demonstrate the quality of their Pride. This first part is to show what strong and healthy offspring they can birth, what great mothers they are, and the excellence of the education and training they can provide. At the end of the evening, you do not want a prime male to walk away to seek a different Pride because they were not impressed enough by what we have to offer.”

Ophelia’s eyes widened at this revelation. She had not considered that aspect. It wasn’t surprising considering most ofwhat she had heard and seen about us so far presented the males as being completely voiceless and helpless in all of this. While we undeniably enjoyed far less rights and opportunities, we were not entirely deprived of choices.

The cubs concluded their performance under loud cheers as their mothers—and the few sires still among us—puffed out their chests with good reason. For all my gripes with our Pride, I could never take away the great care and devotion every female showed the younglings. They were happy, healthy, and given all the tools they required for a bright future based on what our society deemed ideal—flawed though it was.

A few of the elder females herded the younglings back to the sidelines, a handful running back directly to their parents. Simultaneously, the Queens and huntresses—Ylis and Oluina included—took the stage. The tension Moriak failed to hide as Oluina made her way towards us gave me no small amount of malicious glee.

The rhythm of the drums and haunting melody of the flutes filled the air as the females launched into their own version of the dance and combat choreographies. It had an undeniably more sensuous and erotic edge to it as the females flaunted their assets. My joy at seeing Ylis exclusively perform in front of my brother was quickly dampened by Oluina nearly shoving Ylis out of the way so that she could dance in front of Kazaer and me.

Gasps and shocked murmurs reached my ears despite the loud music. As outraged as I felt by such shameless behavior, it pleased me that so many noticed and disapproved of such disrespect, especially towards my mate and me. Making a seductive spectacle in front of me implied that she did not recognize or respect my formal union with Ophelia. Doing the same in front of Kazaer was a bit more questionable.

The Queens and huntresses usually showed unspoken deference to each other by not pursuing a male one of themalready clearly expressed her interest for, unless that male didn’t reciprocate—which made him fair game again. Anyone with eyes could see that something was brewing between Ylis and Kazaer. In fact, quite a few of the Queens cast envious glances in my brother’s direction but kept their distance as he had undeniably been claimed, and he gladly welcomed it. Oluina should set her sights elsewhere unless Kazaer blatantly rejected her cousin.

On top of that, the age gap was significant enough to raise eyebrows in a negative way. At thirty-four, Oluina was fifteen years older than my brother. So long as the youngest party had reached maturity, such a pairing was not forbidden. But as the general guidance recommended a gap no greater than five years, this specific instance stirred many disapproving frowns.

To my delight, although knowing that Oluina was the Head Huntress—Kazaer made it a point to ignore her. He ostensibly turned his body sideways to face Ylis. She had been forced to move slightly to the right to make room for her cousin rather than openly fighting Oluina over such rudeness. Most males would be beside themselves with excitement to have caught the eye of the Head Huntress. Unless they committed some kind of unforgivable blunder, winning her favors pretty much guaranteed their acceptance into a Pride.

Not wanting to grant her the attention she absolutely did not deserve from me either, I made a show of also turning away from Oluina to stare at my mate. She smiled at me in that way I was quickly growing addicted to, her green eyes flicking between mine. I smiled back and caressed her lips with my thumb before leaning down and kissing her. I didn’t know if my aggravation with the wretched Head Huntress had dulled the extreme sensitivity of my whiskers, but this time, no itching or tickling ruined the moment.

Yes, my wife’s lips felt wondrous against mine. I could get used to this and even crave it. I broke the kiss only to haveOphelia’s gaze flick towards my nose. When it didn’t twitch, her smile broadened even as her eyes widened in joyous surprise. I chuckled then leaned forward to rub my temple against hers, marking her with my scent. She beamed at me and then snuggled against my side. I wrap my arms around her, drawing her closer even as I wrapped my tail possessively around her waist.

An angry hiss reclaimed my attention. Her eyes throwing daggers at us, Oluina turned away in anger before stomping to another area where more of the young visitors were gathered as they enjoyed the show. Although I initially meant ignoring her as a clear message, kissing my mate had genuinely wiped Oluina from my thoughts. I could only hope, for her sake, that she would soon come to terms with the fact that whatever had existed between us was long dead and would never return.

As strange and mostly unappealing as I initially found Ophelia, I no longer doubted that she was my soulmate. The speed at which she had me melting for her was mind-boggling but also incredibly thrilling. I was falling for her, and finally seeing her beauty despite our differences.

With the females’ dance finally ending, it was now the males’ turn to prove their worth. Their performance had a clear battle focus to it. It was mainly a show of dexterity, strength, flexibility, and speed.

The young visitors couldn’t have gotten up quickly enough, many of them making a beeline for the females who had caught their attention the most. Despite how she had shamed herself, Oluina still had a respectable number of candidates crowding in front of her to try and gain her favor. Yet it remained far less than how many her cousin attracted. Older males, already members of our Pride, but who feared imminent expulsion, also joined the dance to prove that they compared and maybe even surpassed some of the newcomers.

For all that, Kazaer crushed any potential competition. He was so insanely impressive that even Ophelia gaped at him in awe. The silly insecure part of me almost regretted not taking part in it to show off my own skills to her. But it might have sent the wrong signal that I was open to other females’ attentions, which would have been a slap to my mate.

“He’s magnificent, don’t you agree?” Ophelia asked Ylis, who was all but drooling at my brother.

A silly grin settled on my lips when the young huntress nodded vigorously.

“The best we’ve seen since I’ve been old enough to actually care,” she admitted sheepishly.

It was a relief considering how many other males came around where we sat to try and catch Ylis’s attention. But she only had eyes for my brother. Moriak was livid. A part of me was surprised he chose not to perform, especially seeing how Oluina was openly expressing her willingness to pair with someone else. At the same time, considering the fitness level of the new candidates—particularly my brother—the Alpha would have been put to shame. The last thing he needed was to further draw attention to the fact that he was no longer in his prime, by Nazhral standards.

With the last dance concluded, food was finally served during which males and females mingled and engaged in discussions that could lead to some formal invitations.

“I’ll be right back, my mate,” I said, caressing her cheek before heading towards the table near the spits where meat was being cut off the Sikkals.

I grabbed one large piece from it, and a raw steak from the bowl of pre-cut Padag. After rubbing some spices on the latter, I brought them over to one of the skillets sitting near the multiple small cooking pits. People could use them to sear some of the seafood and other slabs of meat for a few seconds beforeconsumption. Seeing me slap the ‘already cooked’ Sikkal steaks drew countless bewildered stares my way.

My ears flicked this way and that to better listen to the growing murmurs around me. I repressed a smile at the countless dismayed whispers as people wondered if I had lost my mind. When they saw me put the steaks on the plate and proudly stroll back to my mate, their disbelief cranked up another notch.

Kazaer frowned as he looked at the contents of the plate before gaping back at me.

“Isn’t that a little burnt, Brother?” he asked cautiously.

“It appears Gaelec is trying to murder his human mate!” Moriak exclaimed loudly enough for all to hear, before I could answer.

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