Odian carried Nina into the tent and gently set her down. With a flick of his hand, he raised a soundproof barrier—then leaned in and claimed her lips...

Sashes loosened, fabric slipped free, and the air within the tent slowly warmed, thick with breath and unspoken longing...

. . .

After washing up, Sal went looking for Nina, but she was nowhere to be found.

He found Aviel instead. "Where’s Nina? Have you seen her?"

Aviel looked around. "No. I was just about to look for her myself."

Ridan passed by, looking slightly guilty.

The High Priest already carried Lady Nina off...

"Ridan," Sal called, stopping him. "Have you seen Nina?"

Ridan shook his head quickly. "No, I haven’t seen her."

He had no idea where his High Priest had taken her, and he wasn’t about to say anything.

Just then, Ghost Wolf walked over, and Sal turned to him. "Have you seen Nina?"

"Lady Nina seemed to be with Lord Odian just now," Ghost Wolf replied.

"Where did they go?" Sal asked.

Ghost Wolf pointed in a direction. "Over there."

Without another word, Sal and Aviel headed off.

They followed the path all the way to a tent. As they approached, they saw shadows shifting within, silhouettes moving in the dim light.

Their expressions darkened.

That damned phoenix! It was not fair that he got to her first without even playing.

They lifted the curtain and stepped inside. The heat within was even more intense...

***

The next morning.

Yanai got up early again to gather wildflowers, but after searching for a long time, he couldn’t find a single one that looked good.

Confusion crept in.

Where did all the flowers go? Not even one left?

Reluctantly, he ventured farther out.

After a long search, he finally found a handful that satisfied him. Quickly gathering them, he hurried back, eager to give them to Nina.

Inside the tent, Nina had just woken up.

Odian had already left at dawn, full of energy, to continue setting up the array.

Sal leaned down and kissed her cheek. "Nina, you’re up?"

His large hand began to wander, but Nina caught it, her expression still drowsy. "Don’t start. I need to get up."

A trace of regret flickered through Sal’s eyes, but he helped her sit up, letting her rest against his chest as he gently massaged her waist.

Aviel rose as well, helping her dress.

Once everything was settled, Sal carried Nina back toward the cave.

Just as they reached the entrance, Lex hurried over, holding out a beautifully arranged bouquet of wildflowers.

"Nina, I picked these this morning—for you."

He had spent the entire night carefully selecting them. Surely they were even prettier than what that wolf had brought yesterday.

Thankfully, Dian had told him to go early—otherwise, he wouldn’t have secured so many good ones.

Lex glanced around, but there was no sign of Yanai.

Looks like that wolf didn’t find any flowers this morning.

Before Nina could respond, Setan stepped forward, quickly offering his own bouquet. "Nina, I picked some too. These are for you."

He had fought hard to get them. If he hadn’t gone early enough, he wouldn’t have found any either.

Then Finch approached. "Nina, we gathered some as well. Take a look."

He shot Sal a look. Understanding immediately, Sal carried Nina inside the cave.

And there, Nina saw it—the entire cave was filled with flowers.

She couldn’t help but laugh softly, torn between amusement and disbelief. Had they stripped every flower from the surrounding area?

Just then, Yanai finally arrived. Holding his bouquet, he stopped when he saw Lex and Setan already presenting theirs.

His brows drew together slightly. Then he stepped into the cave and saw the overwhelming sea of flowers inside.

Yanai clenched his jaw. No wonder he couldn’t find any flowers this morning––they were all here.

He cast a glance at Finch and the others.

These jealous fools have truly lost their minds.

He tightened his grip on the flowers in his hands. Looks like... he wouldn’t be giving them to her today after all.

The beast husbands shot Yanai smug looks.

Let’s see how you try to win Nina over now, wolf.

Nina looked at the mountain of flowers and sighed helplessly. "Thank you for the flowers, but... don’t bring me any more in the future."

At this rate, they were going to become the greatest destroyers of nature.

She glanced at the males again, inwardly exasperated.

Why were they all so jealous?

The males obediently nodded.

The most frustrated of all was Yanai. He had finally found a good way to please Nina, only for those jealous fools to ruin it completely.

This teleportation route was especially long, and Odian estimated the array would take another full day to complete, so Nina and the others decided to rest there for one more day.

Looking at the enormous pile of flowers filling the cave, Nina felt it would be wasteful to throw them away. She had the males dry some of them into preserved flowers, and she used others to make flower crowns for the children.

The little ones absolutely adored them, running around everywhere with flower wreaths perched on their heads.

Watching the children dart through the cave, Nina suddenly felt inspired and took out several small toys to entertain them.

The moment the toys appeared, the children’s eyes lit up.

Nina held a cat teaser wand in one hand and a dog teaser wand in the other, swaying them playfully before the little ones.

Yinny and Sunny bounced after the cat teaser, leaping excitedly through the air. Didi and Shushu chased after the dog teaser, while Linny and Momo flew wildly back and forth without any pattern at all.

Meanwhile, Mimi splashed happily in a basin of water with Lex and Dian, playing with little rubber ducks and soft toy balls.

Watching the teasing wand sway back and forth, Sal and Mino both felt an itch of nostalgia.

It had been a long time since Nina had played with them like this.

The two exchanged a glance, then instantly shifted into their cub forms and joined the children.

When Nina saw the two little "kittens" trot over, she laughed and took out another teaser wand just for them.

Sal and Mino enthusiastically played along, clearly having the time of their lives.

Kith, Aviel, and Finch stared in disbelief. Those two had actually transformed into cubs just to play with Nina?

Was that allowed?

After a brief hesitation, Kith also transformed into a tiny tiger cub and padded over to Nina.

Not willing to fall behind, Aviel and Finch both shifted into their younger forms as well.

There was no way they were losing to that leopard and cat.

With several more furry little beasts suddenly crowding around her, Nina found herself almost unable to keep up.

Laughing, she took out a few additional toys and let the children entertain themselves for a while.

Shushu and Sunny chased after an electronic ball, while the others hugged their favorite toys and played happily nearby.

Nina continued teasing the beast husbands instead.

Her gaze landed on Aviel.

Now, how exactly was she supposed to play with a dragon?

Linny usually liked glowing, shiny things... so perhaps Aviel did too?

With that thought, she pulled out a glowing teaser toy.

Aviel’s eyes immediately brightened, and he eagerly joined in the game with her.

Lex and Dian looked a little dejected. This was one game they couldn’t really participate in.

Outside the cave, Idir watched quietly, envy flickering in his eyes. If Nina liked it, he could play with her like that too.

Ming and the others were utterly stunned watching the beast husbands transform into cubs just to play with Nina.

Honestly, these males were going all out for affection.

They had lived for so many years, and ever since reaching adulthood, most of them had practically never shifted into their juvenile forms again.

Viann and the others were equally dumbfounded.

The beast husbands truly had no shame left.

This was the first time they had ever seen males playing with their female like this.

But the longer they watched, the more tempted some of the other males became.

...it actually looked really fun.

Their shock slowly turned into envy.

Yanai rubbed his fingertips together restlessly. He wanted to join too. But remembering how he had been rejected before, he hesitated.

Setan stood frozen nearby, his worldview thoroughly shaken.

These males were actually turning into cubs just to compete for affection... and allowing themselves to be teased like this?

Raised from childhood with the ideals of a proud, iron-blooded male, Setan found the entire concept almost unimaginable.

And yet, seeing the others make Nina smile so happily, he couldn’t help feeling that he couldn’t afford to fall behind.

Truthfully, he wanted to get closer to her too.

But transforming into a cub...

The thought alone made him burn with embarrassment.

Setan bit his lower lip, caught in a fierce internal struggle.