Chapter 194: But Why Choose?

Ren’s face flushed a bright, tomato red at his compliment.

Butterflies—no, entire pterodactyls—erupted in her stomach as she met his adoring gaze. Kael didn’t pull away. Instead, he nuzzled his cheek against her dirty palms, closing his eyes and letting out a soft, vibrating purr. His long, striped tail swished gently behind him.

’He really is just like a cat,’ Ren thought, staring at him. ’A giant, muscular kitten who just wants head scratches.’

She let herself enjoy the moment for exactly five seconds before reality came crashing back in.

Ren’s expression turned somber. She chewed on the inside of her cheek.

“Kael,” she whispered, her voice small. “You… you aren’t upset with me?”

Kael opened one eye, the golden iris focusing on her. “Why would I be upset with you?”

Ren bit her bottom lip hard enough to turn it red. Her eyes flickered over Kael’s shoulder to the unconscious form of Syris, then back to the Tiger.

“You know,” Ren mumbled, stumbling over her words. “The… the whole… shared mate thing. Syris. That thing.”

Kael stopped purring.

He stopped nuzzling her palm.

He pulled back slowly, sitting up straight. The affectionate kitten vanished, replaced instantly by the White Tiger King.

“Oh,” Kael said.

That was it. Just “Oh.”

Ren stared at him. She searched his blank face, raising her eyebrows, waiting for him to say something else.

“Oh, what?” Ren urged, leaning forward.

Kael shook his head slowly. His expression was deadly serious.

“I will not share you with the Snake,” Kael stated calmly.

Ren’s shoulders slumped. “Kael, please…”

“You should agree with me,” Kael interrupted gently. He reached out, taking her muddy hands in his large, warm ones. “Think about it, Ren. You were happy when it was just the two of us. Just you, me, and the Clan. It was peaceful.”

His thumb rubbed her knuckles.

“I take responsibility,” Kael said, his voice thick with regret. “I didn’t listen to you back then. I abandoned you and the Clan to follow a fake lion scent, though you told me it was a trick. I was a fool.”

He looked down, his ears flattening against his head.

“I regret it every day,” he whispered. “I regret it every time I see you look at that cold-blooded reptile with adoring eyes. Those eyes were supposed to be meant for me. Only me.”

He looked up again, his gaze intense and pleading.

“I want the chance to start over, Ren. I want to fix things. And getting rid of the Snake is the first step. We can go back to how it was.”

Ren held his gaze. She felt her heart breaking a little.

He wasn’t angry. He was hurt. He was jealous. And in his beast logic, the solution was simple: Delete the competition, restore the happiness.

Ren squeezed his hands. She knew, with absolute certainty, that an emotional speech about “love is infinite” or “why can’t we all just get along” was going to fail harder than her first attempt to catch that pig.

She had tried that with Syris in the swamp. “I love him too!” didn’t work. It just made them want to kill each other faster to prove who was better.

’I need a lie,’ Ren realized, panic rising in her throat. ’I need a massive, structural, world-altering lie. Something so ridiculously extreme that it forces them to co-exist because they have no other choice.’

She lowered her head, feigning despair, while her brain went into overdrive.

’Okay, think, Ren. Think! Be creative!’

’I tell them my womb is a sentient being that demands variety. If I choose only one mate, my uterus will detach, sprout wings, and fly south for the winter, taking my fertility with it. That would definitely scare them, right?’

’Or…’ she continued. ’I tell them I’m actually a time traveler sent back to stop the apocalypse. And the apocalypse is triggered specifically by a Tiger and a Snake fighting. If they don’t hold hands and be nice to each other every day, a massive cyborg bear teleports into this world and eats us all.’

’No…too sci-fi. They won’t even know what I’m saying,’ Ren dismissed.

’I don’t know!’ Ren screamed internally. ’I am grasping at straws! I am a terrible liar when I’m under pressure!’

“Ren?” Kael asked softly, squeezing her hand. “Are you considering it?”

He leaned closer, his eyes full of hope.

Ren looked up at him. His eyes were practically begging her to say, “Yes, let’s dump the snake.”

Ren swallowed. She looked past Kael’s broad shoulder.

Viper was sitting by Syris’ side. He wasn’t applying herbs anymore. He was looking right at her.

The snake beastman’s eyes were wide and glossy. He was eavesdropping, clearly. And he was pleading with her, too.

’Please don’t,’ Viper’s eyes seemed to say. ’Please don’t throw away my King.’

Viper had served Syris his entire life basically. He had been there when Syris decided to challenge the previous Snake King. His King was ruthless, cold and had no weaknesses. Syris had never cared for a mate or even the act of mating though he had inherited the previous Snake King’s harem.

Viper had never seen Syris happy. Not until this strange female caught his attention.

If the female left him now, Viper knew the King wouldn’t just simply be sad. He would likely succumb to feral madness and butcher everything in the forest!

Ren looked back at Kael. Then at Syris. Then at Kael.

’I can’t choose,’ Ren thought stubbornly.

Back in her world, entertaining more than one man was called “being a slut”. But here? In the Beast World? It was normal.

Why would she limit herself to the customs of her world? It was selfish, but…

’I want both,’ Ren decided. ’And there’s nothing wrong with that! Polyamory isn’t crime!’

But she still had no idea what to say to the expectant Tiger in front of her.

“I…” Ren started, her mind blank. “I… think…”

Ding!

A familiar sound popped up in her mind, saving her from her own incompetence.

[System: I have an idea, Host.]

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