After the dragons left, the atmosphere inside the cottage had become stiffling, but not in a bad way.

Long Zhan had transformed. The stoic, distant Dragon Lord who had initially treated the Orycto tribe with cold indifference had vanished, replaced by a man whose every sense was tuned to the frequency of Lin Wan’s existence.

He didn’t just guard her; he hovered over her.

When she moved to pour water, his hand was already on the pitcher. When the morning breeze blew a bit too sharply through the window, he was there to shut it.

He moved around the small space like a great predator claiming a den, his eyes following her with a possessive heat that made Lin’s skin prickle.

"Long Zhan, I am fine," Lin Wan insisted for the third time that morning as she tried to reach for her wooden hairbrush, she got from Weiwei. "I am just pregnant, not made of glass."

Long Zhan didn’t argue. He simply picked up the brush and handed it to her, his fingers lingering against hers. "The Cubs drains your life essence Wanwan. And until my men return with the spiritual supplements you need, I am your strength, you do not need to do anything, reserve the little strength you have, I’ll handle the rest."

Lin sighed, feeling the weight of his "protection." It was clear that the news of her other mates hadn’t driven him away; it had triggered a primal competitive streak.

He wasn’t just guarding her; he was campaigning for a position in her heart that was already owned.

The quiet of the morning was first broken by a frantic scratching at the door. Lilly and Ember burst in, their arms full of soft furs and local berries.

"Wanwan! You’re awake! You’re really okay!" Lilly cried, rushing to the bedside. She stopped abruptly, her eyes wide as she took in the sight of the 7ft3 Dragon Lord standing over Lin Wan like a mountain. The sheer pressure of his presence made the two rabbit-girls stammer. "O-oh... Lord Zhan. We didn’t mean to intrude on you."

"You are not intruding," Lin said, grateful for the distraction. She threw a pointed look at Long Zhan, who stepped back into the corner, though his eyes remained fixed on them like a hawk.

Ember leaned in, whispering urgently. "Is it true? The herb doctor was shouting all the way to the Peacock border. You’re... with cub?"

Lin Wan nodded, a soft smile touching her lips. "Yes. I was trying to keep it a secret until I found my mates, but the little ones had other plans."

"Little ones?" Lilly gasped, her ears flopping with excitement. "Oh, Wanwan, that’s wonderful! But also so dangerous. You need to eat more. Here, we brought the best clover-root and sweet berries from the southern patch."

As the girls chattered, trying to distract Lin with tribe gossip and baby talk, Long Zhan remained a silent, looming shadow.

Every time Lilly reached out to touch Lin’s hand, his eyes narrowed. He looked less like a guest and more like a dragon guarding a pile of gold.

Eventually, the girls felt the invisible weight of his gaze and scurried out, promising to return with more supplies.

An hour later, the Chief arrived. He was alone, his silver ears twitching with a nervous energy. He had waited for Long Zhan to step outside before he entered the hut, leaning heavily on his wooden staff.

"Female Lin," the Chief began, his voice low and cautious. He sat on a small stool, looking at her with a mix of fatherly concern and tribal politics. "It is good to see color back in your face. The Dragon Lord... he is a powerful ally. A God among men."

"He saved my life, Chief," Lin said, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.

The Chief nodded slowly. "Indeed. But power like that... it is like the sun. It is beautiful to look at, but if you get too close, it burns. High-ranked beasts like the Dragons do not stay in the valleys for long. Their hearts belong to the peaks and the clouds. He is attentive now because you are a novelty, a treasure found in the mud. But what happens when the novelty wears off? Or when his own tribe calls him back to lead?"

Lin Wan frowned. "He won’t leave just like that, moreover he took a vow."

"A vow of protection is not a vow of the heart," the Chief countered, leaning in. "A female of your value, especially one who is bearing, needs someone she can rely on when the dragons fly away. You should consider the Orycto tribesmen as a beast guardian. Someone slightly weaker... someone you can control. A man who will stay in this hut, who will hunt for you every day without looking at the horizon. Bax, or perhaps one of the younger rhino warriors. They are steady. They are grounded. They wouldn’t treat you as a trophy to be guarded, but as a home to be cherished."

Lin Wan felt a flash of irritation at the chiefs intrusion. "Chief, I appreciate the concern, but my heart is already spoken for. And right now, I don’t need someone I can ’control.’ I need someone who can keep my children alive."

"Control is safety, Lin Wan," the Chief persisted, his voice turning firm. "The Dragon Lord is a predator. You are a female. In his world, you are a fragile thing. If you choose a guardian from our tribe, you will always be the master of your own house. With him... you are merely a guest in his shadow."

The air in the room suddenly turned freezing. The temperature didn’t just drop; it plummeted, and the wooden walls of the cottage began to groan under a sudden, invisible pressure.

’CRACK!’

The door didn’t just open; it exploded inward, hanging off one hinge.

Long Zhan stepped through the threshold. He had just returned from a brief hunt in the surrounding woods, a massive, bloodied forest stag slung over one shoulder as if it weighed nothing.

But he wasn’t looking at the meat. His face was a mask of cold, murderous fury. His violet eyes weren’t just glowing; they were burning with a lethal light that seemed to fill the entire room.

He dropped the stag, the heavy carcass hitting the floor with a thud that shook the foundations of the house.

"You’re suggesting she seek a ’weaker’ male?" Long Zhan’s voice was a low, terrifying rumble that sounded like the earth splitting open.

The Chief scrambled to his feet, his staff clattering to the floor. He looked at the Dragon Lord and saw death personified.

The aura emanating from Long Zhan was so thick it felt like physical weight pressing down on the Chief’s chest, making it impossible to breathe.

Long Zhan took a step forward, his shadow swallowing the elderly rabbit-man. "You open your mouth and you tell her I will lose interest? That I treat her as a trophy?"

"L-Lord Zhan... I only meant—" the Chief stammered, his knees shaking.

"You meant to undermine the vow I made to her," Long Zhan hissed, his hand moving to the hilt of his black blade. The room began to vibrate, the glow-stone flickering wildly.

"You think a ’steady’ rhino could provide the essence her body craves? You think a mere hunter could stand between her and the predators that will come to seek the light in her womb?"

Long Zhan moved so fast the Chief didn’t even see him. Suddenly, the Dragon Lord was inches away, his towering frame blotting out the sun. He reached out, his fingers hovering near the Chief’s throat, not touching, but the static energy from his hand made the Chief’s silver fur stand on end.

"If I hear you whispering of ’weaker’ males to her again," Long Zhan whispered, a sound more terrifying than his roar, "I will show you exactly how much attention a Dragon pays to those who try to steal what is his. I will flatten this valley until not even the grass remembers your tribe’s name."

"Long Zhan! Stop!" Lin Wan shouted, throwing herself off the bed. She grabbed his arm, her small hands looking like porcelain against his golden skin. "He’s just worried about me! He’s an old man, please!"

The touch of her hands acted like a dousing of ice water on his rage. Long Zhan froze, his chest heaving with a slow, controlled rhythm.

He didn’t look at the Chief. He looked down at Lin Wan, his eyes searching hers for any sign of fear. When he saw only concern, the murderous light in his eyes dimmed, though the darkness remained.

"Get out," Long Zhan commanded the Chief, not even sparing him a glance.

The Chief didn’t need to be told twice. He grabbed his staff and bolted through the broken door, his dignity forgotten as he fled toward the safety of his home.

The silence that followed was heavy with the scent of pine and fresh blood from the stag. Long Zhan stood still, his muscles coiled like a spring. He slowly turned his arm, his hand catching Lin Wan’s and pulling her closer until her forehead rested against his chest.

"He is right about one thing," Long Zhan murmured, his voice thick with a raw, unsettling honesty. "I am a predator. And a predator does not share its life-source."

Lin Wan looked up at him, her heart thudding. "Long Zhan, you can’t just threaten to kill the leader of the people who took me in, when I needed it the most, not just because of that, you can’t be threatening people like that, ."

"He suggested you replace me with a ’rhino beastman,’" Long Zhan spat the word like a curse. He reached down, his thumb tracing the line of her jaw, his touch possessive and lingering. "He thinks I will leave you and fly away. He thinks I am not steady."

He leaned down, his face inches from hers. "You already own me. I have vowed my life to you, So, Do not listen to the babbling of that puny rabbit, Lin Wan. You are under the shadow of the Dragon now. There is no going back to these ’weak mortals, it’s already had enough that you have males before me, I cannot handle anyone else, beside you’"

Lin Wan looked into those deep violet depths and realized that the "hyper-attentive" phase was only the beginning.

"Now," Long Zhan said, his voice returning to a calm, albeit intense, tone. "I have brought you meat from a stag that grazed on the peaks. It is rich in essence. You will eat, and then you will rest. I will go fix the door, right now, I apologize for breaking it."

He moved to the broken entrance, and with a single hand, he lifted the heavy timber door back into place, his strength making the repair look like child’s play. He was her pharmacy, her fortress, and her jailer, all wrapped in a gift box, with a bow tie on top.

Internal ranting Weiwei:

[Oooooh, Host! Did you see that? The jealousy levels just spiked off the charts! My sensors almost fried,] Weiwei chirped in her mind, sounding thoroughly entertained.

[The Chief really stepped in a landmine that time. But look on the bright side—the Dragon Lord just brought you a High-Essence Stag. That’s worth at least three days of stability for the cubs! Eat up, Host. The drama is only going to get tastier from here. Although, I’m very curious about how he found one, as such shouldn’t be possible to find around here, you need to find a way and get him to tell you, just in case he leaves, we’ll still be able to find some.]