Page 42 of I Married A Catman

Gaelec burst out laughing. “Not at all. Those young Queens want nothing but the finest males to sire their first litters. Theolder males coming with them are usually their sires. It is the best possible situation for one of us to find ourselves in. The fathers of the Queens and Matriarchs of a new Pride usually get to stay with their daughters until their passing, unless they decide to leave to find themselves a new partner.”

“I see. So does that mean that pregnancies are a group decision among your females?” I asked, disturbed by that prospect.

He smiled and shook his head. “The huntresses and Queens are free to mate with who they want and have offspring whenever they want. It only becomes a group decision once they get close to maximum population, or if the population drops too low. Speaking of which, this is the school.”

“Theschool? As in there is only one school in the entire village?” I asked while eyeing the tall stone building, which appeared to have an impressive courtyard at the back.

He nodded. “There’s only one school where cubs of both genders study together until the age of ten. At that point, the males switch to learning crafts and trade, which they do directly through apprenticeships at the various specialized establishments.”

I barely repressed a frown and forced a neutral expression on my face. “And what of the girls?”

He smiled at my use of the word ‘girls’ as it specifically referred to young human females. But he understood my meaning well enough.

“Girlswill pursue more advanced education with regards to sciences like medicine, architecture, engineering, and general administration to make sure they will have the knowledge needed to keep their Pride prosperous and efficient. In both cases, males and females will also have hunting training in parallel.”

“I see,” I replied.

Although I understood their rationale for operating the way they did, it still troubled me how trapped and restricted their children were purely based on their genders.

“That said, some young males leave the Pride early,” Gaelec added, his expression hinting that my own was revealing my discomfort with their customs.

“Why?”

“If they show a strong passion or interest for trades we’re not specialized in, they will be redirected to other Prides who might be willing to take them in and teach them those trades,” he explained.

I recoiled at that thought. “And the mothers are fine with that?!”

I instantly kicked myself for my failure to rein in my stupid mouth. Although he tried to smile with a nonchalant expression, I didn’t miss the sad glimmer in his stunning blue eyes.

“Females do not get too attached to their sons. They treat us well and give us the best possible training before we set off. But as they know we will part ways sooner than later, never to see us again, there’s no point in forming strong bonds.”

“Never? You haven’t spoken or seen your mother since you left your Pride?” I asked in a gentle tone.

He shook his head. “My mother likely thinks I’m dead. My younger brother, who’s still with the Pride—at least he was when I last communicated with him—might have told her of my survival. But I somehow doubt it. As we usually have a short lifespan once we set off on our own, many prefer not to know what has befallen us. It’s easier for them to grieve our loss the very moment we leave.”

I stopped walking and turned to face him with a deep frown. He stopped as well and gave me an inquisitive look.

“The day I have children, I’ll want to keep my son for however long he wants to stay, and for him only to leave oncehe’s ready, not because some third party demands he does. I want my children to be able to come visit me whenever they want. We humans love and nurture all of our children. They’re our babies forever, even after they’re married and have a family of their own,” I said with far more passion than I expected.

He nodded, his expression serious but also unreadable. “So I have read. It is in part for this reason that it is best we delay having offspring until our situation is properly sorted, and we have a better understanding of the future we will have.”

I hated that his automatic response had not been to concur with me and clearly state that no one would force our children out of our home or prevent them from returning whenever they needed or wanted to. At the same time, I appreciated that he didn’t try to make promises he potentially couldn’t keep just to mollify me.

We resumed walking.

“With so many Queens going off to start their own Prides, don’t you guys run out of land?” I mused aloud.

Gaelec shook his head. “There is tons of unclaimed land. Some may be more challenging to develop than others, but I doubt we’ll ever run out. Keep in mind that not all new Prides survive. In fact, many fail due to poor management, power struggles, their inability to stave off local predators, or a variety of other issues. On rarer occasions, long-standing Prides will gradually die off as they exhaust the local resources or become too stale to draw in new blood. There’s a natural balance that occurs.”

As we approached the intersection, increasing noises in the distance hinted at some intense activity nearby. As soon as we cleared the corner building, a large park I hadn’t noticed upon our arrival opened before us. Multiple males moved about, setting things up as if in preparation for a concert or some sort of big outdoors event.

“They’re putting the final preparations for tonight’s feast. Within the next hour, they will start roasting three whole Sikkals to feed everyone, on top of a handful of other side dishes and meats,” Gaelec explained as I stared in awe at the whole setup.

However, the males’ serious—not to say grim—expressions clashed with the enthusiasm one would expect people to display when preparing for this type of festivities.

“Why do they all look so tense?” I asked as we kept walking past them.

“Because, as we speak, there are approximately thirty young males who have set up a camp at the edge of our territory with the intent of visiting us tonight,” Gaelec said, matter-of-factly.

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