P.S: I apologize for the sudden ti skip! I didn’t want to drag out anything and I was genuinely finding it difficult writing out the nitty gritty of how her and Qing Lin make up!
Thank you!
~
Three Weeks Later
The rhythmic, solid creak of the wooden bedfra was a sound Xin Yi was finally getting used to. It was a vast improvent from a pile of furs on a dirt floor, but right now, it was threatening to completely give way under the sheer, aggressive force of the Azure Snake King.
"Qing Lin—wait, ah!" Xin Yi gasped, her fingers digging into the broad, sweat-slicked expanse of his shoulders.
He didn’t wait. He drove into her with a desperate, heavy rhythm, his eyes glowing with a feral intensity in the dimly lit bedroom.
His fangs were fully descended, grazing dangerously against the sensitive skin of her neck, leaving a trail of hot, open-mouthed kisses and deep, bruised marks.
His long, dark green hair fell like a curtain around them, trapping her in a cocoon of his scent, now entirely overwheld by the heavy musk of his arousal.
This was their fifth ti since the city had officially been completed, and with every single encounter, Qing Lin had only grown more relentless. He was staking his claim. He possessed her body with a possessiveness that bordered on madness, his hands gripping her hips so tightly it would definitely leave bruises by morning.
"Mine," he hissed, his voice a raspy vibration against her collarbone as he thrust deep, making her arch her back off the woven cotton sheets with a high, broken moan. "Only mine. Tell you belong to , Xin Yi. Say it."
"I’m—ah! I’m yours, Qing Lin, slow down, please!"
But he couldn’t. He wouldn’t. The reason for his aggressive desperation wasn’t just lust, it was a furious, territorial panic that had been simring in his cold blood for the past seven days.
It was all Sha Chen’s fault.
A week ago, during a dinner in the newly constructed, fully civilized Neutral Zone dining hall, the Arctic Wolf Alpha had casually leaned back in his carved wooden chair, swirling a cup of fernted wine, and dropped a bomb that nearly started a second Beast War.
"Why are we still snapping at each other’s throats?" Sha Chen had drawled, his white eyes fixed on Xin Yi. "The city is built. The rules are set. We all want her. Let’s just share. , the snake, and the overgrown black panther. A formal mating pact. We rule the Neutral Zone together, and Xin Yi doesn’t have to choose."
When asked about Feng Huang, Sha Chen had simply scoffed and pointed out the window, where the Tiger Alpha was currently busy demonstrating "kissing techniques" to three giggling female wolves by the new water fountain.
Qing Lin had lost his absolute mind. He had shattered his clay cup, his lower half nearly shifting into his massive serpentine form right there in the dining hall, screaming that he would rather swallow the wolf whole than share his mate.
But the real damage, the thing that was currently driving Qing Lin to thoroughly wreck her on this mattress, was Xin Yi’s reaction.
She hadn’t imdiately said no.
Instead, she had looked at Sha Chen’s arrogant, handso smirk. She had looked at Hei Yan’s bulging muscles across the table.
She had looked at Qing Lin’s ethereal, dangerous beauty. And, in a mont of exhaustion from managing these overly-hormonal apex predators, she had genuinely thought: Hmm. Logically, it made sense! A political and romantic alliance would permanently stop the fighting.And, if she was being completely honest with herself......they were all ridiculously, illegally hot. Why should she have to give herself a migraine choosing just one when the Beast World apparently didn’t care about monogamy? She loved Qing Lin with all her heart, but.....
Qing Lin had seen that hesitation. He had seen the tiny spark in her eyes before she quickly masked it. He had been so incredibly hurt at first, his proud heart fracturing at the idea that she would even entertain taking another beast to her bed.
But that hurt had quickly morphed into a fierce, competitive overdrive. If she was even remotely considering a harem, Qing Lin was going to make sure she knew exactly who the primary, irreplaceable consort was.
"Look at ," Qing Lin growled, snapping her out of her daze. He captured her lips in a bruising kiss, stealing the breath from her lungs. He moved faster, hitting that one exact spot that made her vision go white.
"Qing Lin!" she cried out, her nails scratching down his back.
With a final, deep, guttural groan, he gave one last forceful thrust and stiffened against her. Xin Yi shattered around him, her body trembling violently as she rode out the intense, overwhelming wave of pleasure.
For a long ti, the only sound in the room was their ragged breathing. Qing Lin collapsed heavily against her, burying his face in the crook of her neck.
His skin, usually so cool to the touch, was radiating a furious heat. Slowly, the manic tension leaked out of his muscles, and he wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her against his chest in a protective cage.
"You are going to be the death of , little female," he murmured, pressing a soft, lingering kiss to the fading bite mark on her shoulder. "If that wolf even looks at you tomorrow, I am ripping his eyes out. Pact or no pact."
Xin Yi let out an exhausted, breathless laugh, too tired to argue. She simply stroked his damp green hair, staring up at the ceiling.
It really was a nice ceiling. Sturdy timber beams. No leaks. No bugs.
She turned her head slightly to look out the glass window, actual, real glass that they had managed to forge from the river sand.
Outside, the sun was shining over the paved stone streets of the Neutral Zone. She could hear the distinct, bubbly laughter of children. Peering down, she saw little Xiao Long, his tiny black snake tail swishing happily behind him, chasing after a woven rattan ball with Zhao Li. The two kids were giggling, entirely at peace.
Around them, beastn were walking upright. They were wearing proper linen tunics and leather pants.
There was no random brawling, no raw at being tossed around, and the scent of wild lavender soap, Xin Yi’s personal favorite recipe, wafted lightly through the air from the communal bathhouses.
They had done it. They were civilized.
Xin Yi let out a deep, contented sigh, lting into the mattress. "It is perfect," she whispered to herself. "The houses are built. The plumbing works. The tribes are getting along. My duty is finally done. I can just relax now. Maybe open a small bakery. Retire at twenty-two."
Ding!
The cheerful, synthetic chi echoed directly in the center of her brain, making her instantly stiffen.
[System Notice: Host’s delusional thoughts have been logged for codic value.]
Excuse ?! Xin Yi thought, her eyes going wide.
[Congratulations! The Neutral Zone (Phase 1) is 100% complete! The inhabitants are now officially classified as ’Slightly Less Feral.’]
[Current Overall Beast World Civilization Progress: 3.1%]
Xin Yi stopped breathing. Three... point one percent?! What do you an 3.1%?! I just spent the last month playing Bob the Builder with a bunch of overgrown animals! We have indoor plumbing!
[Did Host truly believe the entire Beast World consisted only of one swamp, one forest, and a snowy mountain? Oh, Host. You are so adorably naive. Please prepare for Phase 2: Continental Expansion.]
"What..." Xin Yi whimpered out loud, burying her face into her hands. "I can’t do this anymore. Just take back to my bathroom."
Qing Lin shifted, propping himself up on one elbow, his green eyes instantly narrowing with concern. "Xin Yi? What is it? Does sothing hurt? Did I push too hard?"
"My soul hurts, Qing Lin," she groaned, peeking out from between her fingers.
She stared at him for a long mont, the System’s ominous warning echoing in her head. If there were other tribes out there......she needed to know what she was dealing with next.
"Qing Lin," she asked. "Where exactly..... do the lions stay?"
The temperature in the room seed to instantly plumt.
Qing Lin froze entirely. The soft, post-coital warmth vanished from his face, replaced by a mask of horror.
"Lions?" Qing Lin repeated, his voice dangerously soft. "The Golden Mane Tribe?"
"Yes......them. Where are they?"
"Absolutely not," Qing Lin hissed, sitting up completely. "No. Not happening. We are not going near the savannas. Why are you asking about those aggressive, prideful, arrogant atheads?!"
"I am just asking—!"
"They sleep for twenty hours a day, Xin Yi! Twenty! And when they are awake, they do nothing but fight, eat, and try to steal other beastn’s females! They are nothing but glorified, oversized cats with a superiority complex!"
Before Xin Yi could even attempt to defend her sudden interest in geography, the heavy wooden door to their house practically exploded off its hinges.
"XIN YI!" Hei Yan roared, storming into the entryway. The massive Black Panther Alpha was shirtless, dripping wet, and pointing a furious, clawed finger behind him. "Tell the stupid wolf to stop using all the hot water! He used all the lavender soap again!"
Right behind him, Sha Chen strolled in, casually drying his hair with a towel. He didn’t look remotely apologetic.
"It is community soap, Panther. You need to learn the civilized concept of sharing."
Sha Chen paused, leaning against the doorfra as his white eyes landed on the bed. He took in the tangled sheets, Qing Lin’s murderous glare, and Xin Yi, who looked like she wanted the floor to swallow her whole.
Sha Chen smirked, that sa infuriating, arrogant smirk from a week ago. "Speaking of sharing......"
"GET OUT OF MY HOUSE!" Qing Lin roared, his fangs fully extending as he lunged out of the bed naked, throwing a wooden stool straight at the wolf’s head.
Xin Yi slowly reached down, grabbed the woven cotton blanket, and pulled it completely over her head.
Yep. She was definitely considering the harem.
At least then they would have to stop breaking her doors.
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