Page 69 of I Married A Catman

Her palm pressed to her chest, Ophelia was staring at Ylis with a trembling smile filled with gratitude. The same affection shone in her eyes as we headed towards her.

Thankfully, as I returned to the Pride barely a month ago, I hadn’t had a chance to acquire too many new things beyond the personal belongings I brought back from the prison planet. Ophelia had the largest number of items, many of which we worked swiftly to organize in the original crates she brought them in. While the two females worked on that, I threw my own stuff into a separate bag.

“Why did you have to be so harsh?” Ylis asked, her voice filled with disapproval and confusion. “Why not keep the peace? She wouldn’t have cast you out. Too many of us had already voted in both your favor.”

“I won’t be a servant, Ylis,” I said firmly. “And I certainly will not tolerate my mate being constantly disrespected and facing intimidation attempts. And we both want younglings that we refuse to see treated the way they currently are in this Pride.”

“I get that, but you barely got here!” Ylis exclaimed as if she found me irrational. “You haven’t had a chance to get your bearings, and Ophelia still barely knows our world. Where will you go? You know they will try to exploit you in the city.”

I nodded and gave her a gentle smile while picking my weapons from the bottom drawer.

“Like I told Rozel, we’ve been planning for the eventuality that we would be kicked out. We already found a place. And it’s definitely not the city.”

Ylis perked up. “Oh? Where are you going? Are you planning to join the Osuan Pride?”

I snorted and shook my head. “Although I did consider it, and as much as I like the more modern approach that they’re taking with how they run their village, we have decided to start our own Pride, or rather camp, as that would be a more accurate term. We will settle in the Gyota Plateau.”

“The abandoned nomad camp?!”

I nodded. Her eyes flicked from side to side as she heavily reflected on the matter. She was likely cycling through what memories she had of the place and assessing its viability.

“It is a beautiful place with good hunting,” Ylis conceded carefully, “but it is pretty bare there. The infrastructure is super basic.”

I nodded again. “It is, but it also has a pretty good foundation for us to build on, and we already have quite a few things in motion that should have us in a great position fairly quickly.”

“I’m glad to hear it,” she said, her tone somewhat relieved despite the lingering uncertainty. “You will need help. A lot of the older males here have a great deal of respect for you. They would certainly be relieved to hear that there was a place that might welcome them when Rozel begins the evictions in the upcoming weeks.”

I snorted and smiled in a non-committal fashion. “The respect for them is mutual. So long as they were willing to abide by the rules we will set, I would be happy to have them.”

She smiled, looking further relieved. A part of me wanted to tell her that I already broached the topic with a few of those males who expressed their enthusiasm at tagging along. But now that this whole thing was becoming a reality, I had to account for the possibility that they might get nervous at the last minute and bow out. Outing them before they were fully committed didn’t feel right.

“Take Kazaer with you,” Ylis said in a tone that brooked no argument.

Ophelia’s face reflected the shock I felt upon hearing those words.

“Really?” my mate asked hesitantly. “You don’t want him to stay here? I doubt he’ll want to go anywhere that you’re not.”

Ylis’s face heated in the most adorable fashion, that instantly had some of my tension lessen. She gave her a timid but strained smile.

“Of course, I want him here. But this place is a complete mess right now. No one in their right mind should join us until all the internal conflicts are sorted out,” she said, looking dejected.

“Then maybe you should join us,” Ophelia said with a shameless grin.

“Ophelia!” I exclaimed in a disapproving tone.

“What?!” she asked with an exaggerated innocent expression. “You’re thinking it, too!”

“Be that as it may, we cannot put this kind of pressure on her,” I said in a chastising tone.

“It’s okay, Gaelec. Honestly, I would have been offended had neither of you offered,” Ylis said with a stiff smile. “But things are complicated. If I leave, many of the young females will want to follow. They do not want to be under Oluina’s lead.”

“That’s perfect!” Ophelia exclaimed, her excitement palpable.

I hated dampening her joy, but a few facts needed to be stated, and expectations properly managed to avoid future disappointments and conflicts.

“Ylis, do not doubt that I would love nothing more than to have you and some of the other females with us. But you must understand that we’renotbuilding another Nevian Pride. We are done being used and abused,” I explained gently but firmly. “Females who join us will not have dominion over us. Everyone will be treated as equals, and no one will live on borrowed time based on the whims of one group. That is the main reason we’re currently not looking at inviting females. Their expectations would be unrealistic, based on traditions.”

“Maybe some of them would agree to these new rules,” Ophelia offered gently. “It’s unfair to assume that none of them might be open to this. I think we should give them a chance to refuse, while hoping some would agree.”

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