Taming the Beast World with a Frying Pan-Chapter 218: The Worst Possible Time for a Meet-and-Greet
Ren began panicking instantly.
"Altair!" Ren hissed, waving her hands frantically like a malfunctioning windmill. "Kael is on his way up! Right now! He’s climbing the tree!"
The magnificent bird beastman paused his careful arrangement of a particularly fluffy fox pelt. He blinked his silver eyes at her, utterly failing to share even a fraction of her world-ending concern.
"Oh," Altair said simply.
Then, he turned around and went right back to patting down the center of his circular love-nest.
Ren’s brain started to spiral out of control. "How?!" she whisper-yelled, her voice cracking. "Why are you so calm?!"
Altair didn’t say anything in response. He just smoothed out a wrinkle in a deer hide, looking completely at peace with the universe.
Ren combed her trembling fingers through her messy red hair, tugging at the roots a bit as she paced near the main entryway. She didn’t dare peek over the edge to try to see where Kael had reached.
Even if she possessed the courage to look down the dizzying drop, she wouldn’t be able to see a thing. It was incredibly dark down there; the thick canopy of the giant tree blocked most of the moonlight from reaching the ground, instead acting like a natural spotlight that focused the silver beams directly into the tree hut.
’I didn’t think this through,’ Ren agonized, her pacing becoming more frantic. ’I should have gone back down already. I should have been diligently waiting for Kael in the tree hollow cave like a good, normal, non-suspicious wife. But no!’
[System: Host, I highly advise you to stop spiraling. You look incredibly guilty.]
’I am guilty!’ Ren confessed, her chest heaving. ’I am alone with a sexy, practically naked bird beastman, high up in a secluded tree, standing next to a freshly built mating nest! Kael will automatically assume I was having an affair!’
And the absolute worst part? She sort of was!
Ren needed to get rid of Altair. Fast.
She lunged forward, grabbing Altair by his muscular forearm, and yanked him away from the nest he was still meticulously working on despite her ongoing panic attack. She dragged him toward the opposite end of the square hut, where a secondary, smaller entryway led out into the branches.
"Shift," Ren ordered, pointing furiously at the open night sky. "Shift into a bird right now."
Altair looked down at her, tilting his head to the side with that inquisitive, avian grace.
"I cannot speak when I am in my beast form," Altair stated.
"You don’t need to speak!" Ren whisper-yelled, her eyes wide with desperation. "You need to shift and fly away from here! Shoo! Fly!"
She stepped behind him and placed her small hands flat against his wide, muscular back, pushing with all her might. It was like trying to push a solid brick wall. Altair didn’t budge an inch. Her bare feet literally slid backward on the wooden floorboards from the exertion.
Altair glanced over his shoulder at her struggling form.
"I want to talk to your White Tiger mate," Altair said calmly.
Ren’s eyes widened to the size of saucers. Pure, unadulterated panic quickened the pacing of her heart to a lethal rhythm.
"Talk to him about what?!" Ren whisper-yelled, her voice a pitchy squeak.
The sound of a grunt echoed from the main entryway.
Ren spun around instantly, a sheen of cold sweat forming on her skin despite the cool night air.
Two massive hands gripped the edge of the wooden floorboards, and Kael hoisted his massive frame up into the tree hut.
He had clearly just finished washing off the elk’s blood at the waterhole. Kael’s white hair was still slightly damp, clinging to his forehead, and his flawless, bronze-tan skin was still glistening in the moonlight with fresh water droplets. He looked like a feral, breathtaking god emerging from a mythical spring.
Kael stood up to his full, towering height. His golden eyes swept the room and instantly locked onto Ren. They immediately softened with profound relief at seeing her safe.
Then, his gaze shifted slightly to the left.
His thick brows furrowed deeply when he saw the incredibly handsome, golden-haired bird beastman standing right behind her.
The temperature in the room plummeted.
Kael’s golden eyes narrowed into dangerous slits. He looked around the room, taking in the cleaned space, before his gaze locked onto the undeniably cozy, perfectly constructed nest of pelts sitting in the center of the floor. Finally, his eyes settled back on the two of them.
Ren couldn’t read his expression. It was dangerously blank.
She gulped the dry, jagged lump in her throat. She was practically radiating guilt, feeling exactly like a cheating spouse caught in the act at a cheap motel, even though she and Altair weren’t technically doing anything wrong.
Before Ren could open her mouth in a desperate attempt to explain herself, Altair stepped around her.
Ren reached out, wanting to pull him back by his newly-fitted loincloth, but she was too late. He was already standing directly in front of Kael.
Ren’s heart hammered against her ribcage like a trapped bird. The two Adonises stared at each other. The White Tiger and the Golden Eagle. The tension was so thick you could carve it with a meat cleaver.
Kael was the first to speak. The hostility was thick and clear in his deep voice.
"Who are you?" Kael demanded.
Altair didn’t look phased by the Tiger’s hostility in the slightest. His flawless face remained a statue of perfect, infuriating indifference.
"I am Ren’s friend," Altair said simply.
Ren released a massive, shuddering sigh of relief. ’Oh, thank God,’ she thought. ’He said friend. Good bird. Smart bird.’
Seeing the opening, Ren took the opportunity to immediately interject and do some desperate damage control.
"He is!" Ren blurted out, stepping up beside Altair. "He’s my friend! Kael, this is Altair. When I was lost in the forest looking for this tree, I was attacked by a massive, terrifying feral bear. Altair is the one who swooped down and rescued me! He saved my life!"
Kael’s rigid posture relaxed just a fraction. His piercing gaze softened a bit when he heard the words ’rescued’ and ’bear.’ To a Beastman, saving a mate’s life was a debt of the highest honor.
Kael looked at Altair, the murderous glint fading from his gold eyes.
"You saved my mate," Kael said, his voice losing its sharp edge. He gave a single, respectful nod. "I thank you. I have lost my title for now, but I will reward you properly when I am in a better position."
Ren felt a surge of joyous relief.
But then...
Altair tilted his head slightly.
"Can I choose my reward?" Altair asked.
Kael folded his massive, muscular arms across his glistening chest. He nodded confidently.
"If it is within my power to give, I will give you the reward you want," Kael promised solemnly.
A sharp, agonizing pain from pure stress struck Ren’s temples. She knew. She knew exactly what the bird was going to say.
Altair’s intense silver eyes never left Kael’s gold ones. He stood tall, his expression completely serious.
"I want to mate with your female," Altair said in a clear, even voice. "I want to be one of her mates."
