Page 80 of I Married A Catman

“Yes, you did,” Ylis interjected. “This was a murder attempt that nearly succeeded. She spilled blood after trespassing on another Pride’s lands. Based on our laws, her actions warrant her execution.”

“Maybe so, but ultimately, no one died,” I argued. “At the end of the day, I don’t want her blood on my hands. You’ve seen how the other huntresses and the two males who accompanied them looked at Oluina and Moriak. I may not be an expert in Prides,but I am certain these two will be demoted when they return home.”

“Moriak will be cast out,” Danel said with conviction. “He was defeated in thirty seconds and squealed like a swine for mercy. The huntresses will demand his removal and eviction.”

Ylis nodded. “Moriak is done for. As for Oluina, if Rozel doesn’t demote her, they will both fall.”

“Well, that’s no longer our problem. We have an amazing new home, and an even more amazing Pride. Let’s not give those idiots any more of our time,” I said.

After a few more cheers, everyone scattered to get back to their work, except for Faran and Kazaer who headed into the forest to make sure the intruders were indeed going back to their own village.

“Now let’s go patch you up,” I said, rubbing my nose against his.

It immediately began to twitch, his whiskers flailing as he fought the urge to sneeze. I burst out laughing before I kissed his lips.

Epilogue

Ophelia

That evening, as had become our habit, we settled around the bonfire on the beach where we held our communal meals. The females had made it a point of going back hunting for the best possible celebration feast tonight. Although I would stuff my face with my share of meat, I also prepared a small portion of salad for myself.

Being predominantly carnivores, the Nazhrals often only ate meat, which naturally didn’t meet my dietary needs. The occasional side dishes they had mostly consisted of starch and carbs. I needed my greens. Normally, I would steam some veggies in the kitchen or grill some of them next to the spit. But tonight, I was in the mood for something different.

I quickly whipped up a traditional chef salad with their equivalent of lettuce—although it was more like spinach—tomatoes, a purple thing that tasted like slightly sweet cucumber, grated carrots, and a few green olives from the stash I’d brought with me. To my delight, I found out I could get moreolives delivered to Melelyn, as they were not naturally produced here.

I hastened back to the beach. Before I even settled down next to Gaelec, every head turned my way, their nostrils flaring, and the oddest expression descending over their features.

I glanced down at myself, wondering if I had spilled something on me or was somehow suffering a wardrobe malfunction. But nothing looked out of place.

“What’s wrong?” I asked, baffled.

They sniffed the air, and Gaelec’s eyes darkened, looking slightly glazed over as he leaned towards my salad.

“What is that?” he asked, his voice dropping an octave.

“A salad?” I said, sounding both uncertain and as if it should be obvious.

“I’ve seen those vegetables before, but not those green things,” he said, looking a bit more restless.

“That?” I asked, pointing at one of the olives. “I’ve eaten them frequently at the house,” I said, still just as confused.

And then it dawned on me that I normally ate them during the day when he was off working.

“Do you want to try one, or does this smell bother you?”

“I would try one!”

The eagerness with which he replied threw me for a loop. Judging by their collective weird reaction, I had expected them to tell me to get rid of it, and that it smelled foul to their particularly sensitive noses. Relieved, I happily gave him one.

“I wouldn’t mind trying one as well,” Kazaer said, everyone else nodding with the same hopeful glances. “It smells amazing!”

Although stunned, I agreed and started spreading them around. Thankfully, as I previously cut them in half, there was just enough for everyone with a couple left in my bowl. But the spectacle that followed initially had me on the verge of panic before I ended up nearly laughing my ass off.

Their collective eyes glazed over, and they started moaning and purring, some of them even slightly twitching. I almost expected them to start rolling on the ground. To my shock, they didn’t flat out chew and swallow, but most of them were just sucking on the small piece, half chewing in that playful way one would pretend to bite someone else.

They all looked high…

However, and to my utter relief, it wasn’t in the scary way of a junkie or someone who got utterly wasted. They struck me more like someone having a nice buzz after a couple of drinks, but still very functional and aware.

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