The Ugly Duckling Of The Tiger Tribe-Chapter 159: I have a very jealous wife
The warmth evaporated as my eyes drifted to the side, where a group of female rabbits had gathered. They were whispering, chuckling, and looking at Fenric with eyes that were way too wide and admiring.
My smile fell and my brows tilted down, replaced with a heavy frown.
What the heck?!
I watched as one particular female—her long ears groomed to a shine—stepped forward. She had her hands tucked shyly behind her back, her little nose twitching as her face turned a bright shade of pink while she tried to strike up a conversation with my mate.
MY HUSBAND!
Damar stepped up beside me, he saw the scene and then glanced down at my face. He didn’t say anything, but I could feel his curiosity as he watched the literal flame of jealousy ignite around me.
What were they talking about?
To me, it sure looked like she was confessing her feelings to him, but he wasn’t buying it, having a straight face on and listening.
Why was he even listening?
He spoke, said something I couldn’t hear from that distance but it only made her chuckle, like he had cracked a funny joke.
This made me burn even more.
Just then, the kids got down and began scrambling down from Fenric, scurrying around his feet in a game of tag.
One of them ’accidentally’ knocked into the shy female, sending her stumbling forward. She fell perfectly into Fenric’s waiting arms.
To anyone else, it might have looked like an accident. To me? It looked like a staged play. And she was taking full advantage of the ’fall,’ her hands lingering and stroking Fenric’s hard, bare abs as she ’regained her balance.’
I didn’t think. I didn’t plan. I just saw red.
I stomped over there, my feet thudding heavily against the grass. Before Fenric could even offer the polite ’are you okay,’ as they normally do in scripts I reached out and grabbed both of the female rabbit’s long ears right from the base.
"Oh, did you trip?" I asked, my voice dripping with a sweetness that was deadlier than a blade. "Why don’t I make you fall again, straight to hell this time?"
Fenric’s eyes lit up in excitement as he looked at me.
"Ari, you’re awake!"
He didn’t look like he had just been caught ’cheating’, but rather an excited look to finally see my face.
Was he not humoring her or does he not understand the gravity of what just happened?
Either way, I don’t like it.
"I am definitely awake, Fenric," I snapped, giving the rabbit’s ears a firm but controlled tug to pull her away from his stomach. "And it looks like I woke up just in time." I glared at her. "I’d very much like to know why there’s a female throwing herself at you."
She began to squeal in pain, but Fenric did not stop me.
Instead, he stood there with a proud grin and I narrowed my eyes, wondering what he was playing at.
Only when he spoke did I understand what had been going on.
"I told you," he said, his voice smooth and utterly unbothered. "I have a very jealous wife."
It was clear now. He hadn’t been encouraging her; he’d been trying to ward her off like a gentleman and not be rough with her, but she had been using the kids and her ’clumsiness’ as an excuse to cling even closer.
But as soon as the words ’jealous wife’ left his mouth, the female rabbit’s fear turned into a sharp, piercing shriek. She struggled against my hold, her little paws flailing.
"Save me! Someone save me from this monster!" she wailed, pointing a trembling finger right at my face. "Look at its face! It’s hideous! She’s a monster."
This sent a strong chill into the air.
Did this bitch just call me a... Monster?
The air around us went deathly still.
The kids, who had been giggling a moment ago, froze. Dani’s ears dropped flat against his head. My grip on the girl’s ears tightened just a fraction, my knuckles turning white.
I knew I had green herb paste smeared all over my face to hide my identity and heal my scratches, but being called a ’hideous monster’ by the very person who was just trying to feel up my husband was a step too far.
Beside me, the playful amusement vanished from Fenric’s eyes. He stood up slowly, his massive shadow looming over the girl like a mountain about to crumble. The ’kind giant’ who had been letting kits choke him was gone, replaced by a cold, ruby-eyed predator.
"What did you just call her?" Fenric’s voice wasn’t a roar; it was a low, vibrating growl that made the grass beneath our feet tremble.
Damar, who had been watching from a distance, suddenly appeared at my side. His emerald eyes were no longer calm. They were slits of cold green fire. The porcelain beauty of his face had sharpened into something lethal.
"It seems," Damar said, his voice like cracking ice, "...that some folks in this village have very short memories. We saved your burrows last night, and you thank the female who helped you by calling her a monster?"
The female rabbit stopped screaming, her breath hitching as she realized she had just insulted the one thing keeping the two most dangerous males in the forest from snapping.
She looked from Fenric’s bared fangs to Damar’s chilling gaze, and finally back to me.
I leaned down, my face inches from hers, the green paste making my eyes look even more intensely golden.
"You think I’m a monster?" I whispered, a dark, jagged smile pulling at my lips. "Then maybe I should start acting like one. I wonder how many ’pretty ladies’ it takes to fill a tiger’s stomach, huh? Why don’t we find out together?"
The female rabbit looked at me with eyes filled with horror, and cold sweat rolled down her face, but the only words that could escape her trembling lips were the soft, muffled cry for help.
"H-help me,"
