Page 75 of I Married A Catman

Her dreamy smile faded to give way to complete shock and wonder as she took in the appearance of our village. Her companions, all young huntresses in their early twenties, looked just as stupefied. I didn’t need to look at our males to know they were bubbling with excitement.

“By the Gods, Gaelec! This is incredible!” Ylis whispered, transfixed as she closed the distance between us.

“Thank you, Ylis. And welcome to Gyota Village,” I said, my tone friendly although a little guarded.

She immediately picked up on my reservation, subtle though it was. Her gaze flicked back to me, ending her mesmerized examination of our surroundings. A sliver of worry flitted over her lovely features as she studied me.

“Are we… welcome?” she asked in a soft voice.

“Of course you are!” Kazaer exclaimed as if she had said something silly.

When she continued to stare at me, my brother turned his attention to me, his brow creased in a frown.

“Gaelec, tell her!” he said, looking confused.

“You are always welcome to visit. But am I to understand you and your companions are thinking of something a bit more permanent?” I asked in a gentle tone.

The females shifted uneasily on their paws, their eyes flicking towards Ylis before eyeing me warily. I hated to put them in the same type of uncertainty Rozel subjected me to when I first returned. However, even though I didn’t plan on dragging this on unnecessarily, I needed to make sure we were all on the same wavelength before opening the door to what could spell disaster down the road.

“Yes, we would be interested in something more permanent, or at least temporary,” she added, glancing at her companions.

“I’m listening,” I said, intrigued.

“Things are a complete mess back home… or rather what used to be our home,” Ylis explained. “You probably heard what a tragedy that mission turned out to be. Arys and Izana both lost the visiting males they’d hoped to pair with to that raid,” she added, waving at two of the young huntresses. “And Andrane is one of the young Queens who was supposed to leave with someof her sisters in two years from now to form their own Pride. But none of us wish to remain under Rozel’s tyranny.”

“Tyranny?” I repeated, shocked by that extreme choice of word.

“There are a lot of people talking about leaving. After what happened, when she blatantly ignored the warnings that you gave and that many of us told her to heed, the Queens and huntresses asked Rozel to step down as Head Matriarch and to let my mother take over. Naturally, Rozel refused. She even refused to depose Moriak. Unfortunately, you know the rule. None of the younger females can issue a challenge to the Head Matriarch unless she be labeled a pariah. The only people who can are the other two Matriarchs, meaning my mother and my aunt.”

“Pria and Jilam will never challenge their sister to a duel,” I said with conviction.

“Exactly. Which means we either accept it or leave. We have chosen to leave,” Ylis said, before running a frustrated hand through her mane. “A third of our males have left.”

“WHAT?!” I exclaimed, my shock reflected on every face.

“The younger ones are looking for a new Pride to join with a more reasonable Head Matriarch,” she continued grimly. “Some of the others are roaming together while trying to assess what their next move will be. And then you have a few more who are considering joining you, if you will have them. They’re waiting to see whether we will be welcome before taking their chances.”

“Why would they want to wait after you tried? You are females, they are males. The criteria for acceptance are extremely different,” I said, baffled.

“They figure if you refuse the person you treated like your baby sister since you joined us, then they will not stand a chance,” she said with a shrug.

Her pretend nonchalance didn’t fool me. I could feel her underlying tension. “That is a completely flawed assumption. The bar for a male joining us is much lower than for females.”

She instantly stiffened, as did the others, my brother included. I gave her a reassuring smile.

“I explained my rules to you before I left. Like you said, you’ve been like a little sister to me from the moment we met. And now, you could officially be one,” I continued, gesturing at my brother with my chin. “Nothing would make me happier, so long as you understand that no female will come here to dominate and rule the males.”

She gave me a firm nod, as did the other three females. “We fully understand. I made sure to explain it to them, and we’re all in agreement. Arys and Izana are looking for a permanent home with all of you, as am I. Andrane wants to keep her options open. Her sisters, with whom she was meant to start her own Pride, are still uncertain as to what they want to do. But they definitely don’t want to repeat the disaster that Rozel made of Nevian, and they don’t want to see more young males meeting the fate of their young brother. Living among you with this new structure would be a great experience allowing her to see if this is something they could implement in their own Pride.”

“That seems like a good idea,” Ophelia said timidly.

I glanced at her and found her staring at me with almost pleading eyes. I smiled and caressed her cheek.

“Yes, it does seem like a good idea. It is wise to try things first when given the opportunity before making a permanent commitment. Therefore, unless anyone else objects, I’m happy to welcome all four of you to the Gyota Pride.”

“Fuck yeah!” Kazaer exclaimed, making us all laugh.

He scooped Ylis into his arms, effortlessly lifting her, and twirled while she laughed.

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