Falling in Love with the King of Beasts

READER SHOUT: Kathy_prewitt thank you for suggesting the names "Rawl" and "Elyn." And huge thank you to IrishJ_MJ and Janell_Apple for being top 3 Golden Ticket Supporters during September! There's a little surprise for both of you here. I wish I could see the names of EVERYONE who donated Golden Tickets so far this month. Me and other authors have put in a request to NovelFull so we can identify all of you! Until then, just know that I am so grateful!

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GAHRYE

He had just finished sweeping and was about to pull the dresser out from the cave wall to see what he would need to fix the leg when voices began to echo on the path outside. Moments later, five disformed walked into the cave, teasing and joking, then going still when they saw him there.

"Gahrye!? You're back!" Elyn leaped forward. The blonde equine was all legs and large smiles as she rushed forward. He only just made it to his feet before she hit his chest, hugging him and squealing about how good it was to see him.

"When did you get back?"

"Why didn't you tell us?"

"What was the human world like?"

His friends gathered around, calling questions over each other and for a minute he was smiling too, trying to answer their questions, but never getting one finished before another was thrown at him.

"Wait, you're cleaning?" Elyn said. She'd stepped out of his arms when the others got close, but she was scanning the cave.

"I just…" he scratched the back of his neck. "I was awake and didn't know what to do with myself. So I came here and… I don't know. I just thought we should clean it up a little. Maybe get some more furniture…"

"Who cares about the cave—what was the human world like?!" Jhanhel clasped her hands to her chest and bobbed on the balls of her feet. "Were any other Anima over there? Is the Queen safe? Why didn't you tell us you were back?!"

"I just got back last night," he said, uncertain where to begin about the other stuff. His friends had all heard about his yearning to visit the human world after the encouragement Elia had given him. He might have been guilty of planting the idea for the others as well. But perhaps that would work in his favor now.

"Then what are you doing here?" Rhawl asked. As an Amphine—and one of the rare frogs—his voice was deep and resonant, but his face was wide and open. His disformation didn't cause him issues with his own family group. There were so few of them, they didn't reject anyone. But the serpents who shared their tribe had gone with the wolves. Gahrye was eager to hear how his friend's family had fared during the war. But before he could ask, the others all crowded in again, babbling a ton of questions at him until he couldn't keep them straight.

In the end he raised his hands. "Look, why don't we sit down and talk. I need to start at the beginning, I think," he said. "I don't suppose anyone brought breakfast?"

"I've got some raisins," Ihrysh piped up from behind the others. She was small enough that he hadn't seen her behind Elyn and Rhawl's height. So he leaned around Elyn to smile at her.

"Then you can sit next to me," he said with a grin. "I'm starving and I can't be bothered going to the market."

They all ushered him over to the center of the cave where the single rug lay after he'd shaken it out, and pillows and a couple bags were sprawled. They all found a place to sit and Gahrye found himself sitting, facing the cave mouth, with his friends in a circle around him, all staring at him like he was an actual visitor from the human world. "So…" he said. "I'm not even sure where to start."

"Why are you here? Did the Queen kick you out?"

Gahrye spluttered. "No. No… I'm still her Advisor. Cohort. I just… it was so strange to be back, I needed some space and I figured this was a good place to see you all when the time came. Unless… haven't you been coming here? It seemed like it hadn't really been used."

"It was outside the first line of sentries when we were locked down," Ihrysh told him, her eyes big and round. "We weren't allowed to come until the last couple days and even then… most of us are still being careful. We aren't really sure how the wolves are going to react."

"The wolves are back in the Tree City?" Gahrye's eyebrows climbed almost to his hair.

The others talked over each other so much it was hard to follow, but in the end he got an idea of everything that had occurred in recent weeks—and the most recent days.

Elia was going to have kittens.

After he'd asked what the hell a mind meld was, and the others gave what little information they had, Jhanhel, who'd sat on the opposite side from Elyn, put a hand to his arm. "Are you okay?" she asked carefully. "You look like you've lost weight."

Had he? Probably. The human food wasn't great. "I've just been really busy and the food wasn't as good over there," he said, brushing it off.

He filled them in on the basics, as little as they would let him, playing down the stress of what they'd been through, and leaving out Elia's transformation. He figured she might want to share that with the people herself.

He also didn't mention that she was preparing to give birth less than four months after she'd gotten pregnant. None of them would have believed him anyway.

"So, what have you all been doing while all this was going on?" he asked.

All five of them rolled their eyes or shrugged. Ihrysh looked a little uncomfortable, but she didn't speak.

"We've been training when we could," Rhawl said carefully.

Jhanhel snorted. "Liar," she muttered, then looked at Gahrye. "Sometimes we couldn't' because there wasn't anywhere we could go to be private. And other times… everyone's just been a little stressed and stuff. Especially when the wolves actually attacked—they almost killed Behryn!"

Gahrye growled. Ihrysh's eyes went wide, but Elyn laughed. "You've been spending too much time with predators," she said.

Gahrye forced himself to laugh.

"So what are you going to do now?" Rhawl asked. "If you're still Advisor, why are you here?"

Gahrye thought for a minute. "I'll still be helping Elia a lot," he said carefully. "But… I learned a lot in the human world and I want to share it with you guys when there's time. There's just a lot to cover. I don't want people to miss out. Do you think it's too early to get everyone together? I mean, after yesterday?"

They all looked like he'd suggested a party.