Nuan sat right back down on her stone, returning to her pottery with a satisfied smirk.

Koda let out a happy, incredibly proud puppy howl, his tail wagging so hard it shook his whole lower body. "Witch! That was a sharp hunt! I thought only the big bears and us wolves were good at catching those fast river swimmers!"

"Well, now you can consider me part of that elite fishing club," Nuan chuckled, molding the rim of her fourth clay bowl.

Aerin picked up the bleeding salmon lying at his feet, his golden eyes locked onto her with an entirely new level of profound respect.

"My apologies, Nuan. I severely underestimated your capabilities as a predator."

"Well, now you know what I’m capable of!" Nuan said, giving him a playful, competitive glare. "Don’t you dare challenge me. I can hunt flying birds in the sky too, just wait until I find the right materials to craft a bow and arrow!"

Aerin let out a genuinely amused, breathy smile. "To hunt across all three dominions... air, land, and sea. A true super-predator. Nuan... would you mind telling me how one goes about attracting your kind?"

The moment the word attracting left the eagle’s mouth, Koda’s puppy ears flattened, and he started growling aggressively again. Nuan just laughed, dipping her hand into the cool river water and using her wet fingers to pat Koda’s head to soothe him.

"Hm? Well... I don’t really know about other women back home, since I’m always told I’m way too wild," Nuan mused, tapping her chin with a clay-covered finger. "Though, if you’re asking about my personal logistics... my type has to be someone who can eat anything! Meat, fruits, insects, fish—a true fellow omnivore."

Aerin’s golden eyes saddened just a little bit, his wings lowered slightly. "I can eat almost everything... except fruits. My stomach doesn’t process them well."

"I know that, I’m just teasing," Nuan smiled, smoothing the clay. "And he should be reliable, highly protective, but absolutely not possessive."

"I am both reliable and protective," Aerin murmured softly, knowing his lack of fruit-eating capabilities already put him at a disadvantage.

Seeing the mighty Sky Tyrant looking all small, dejected, and sad, Nuan couldn’t help but throw him a bone. "He should also be strong, good-looking, well-spoken, and kind."

"I believe I fit that description," Aerin said, a small glimmer of hope returning to his handsome face.

"And lastly!" Nuan paused, starting on her final bowl for the morning. "He shouldn’t be a horny idiot who keeps insisting on mating and claiming me every five seconds."

"I would never do that," Aerin said instantly, giving a very pointed, elegant nod.

"Stay away from the Witch, you big, overgrown sparrow!" Koda suddenly snapped, stepping in front of Nuan’s pottery stash. "The Alpha has already claimed her!"

"I am away from her," Aerin pointed out with flawless, polite logic, gesturing to the literal six feet of rock and riverbed separating them.

Nuan checked her peripheral vision.

[ Countdown: 00:53:12 ]

After a few more minutes of seamless, master-level crafting, she successfully finished the last batch of bowls. "Pheww! Perfect. I’ll let these air-dry for now in camp. Once we’re done with the big game hunt later today, I’ll pit-fire them to harden the clay."

Suddenly, the thick treeline behind them rustled violently. Koda’s ears immediately flattened against his head, and the brave future alpha pair candidate instantly bolted, hiding his entire body behind Nuan’s small frame. 𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

Aerin stood up from his boulder, firmly gripping the salmon Nuan had caught. "I will consider this fish a generous gift of our friendship."

"Friendship?" Nuan blinked.

"Are we not friends?" he asked, tilting his head.

"Oh, well, yeah! A friend is a million times better than a mate in my book," Nuan smiled warmly.

"Well then, I shall take my leave, friend... before an early morning conflict arrives to ruin the peace."

​"Why are you not coming to watch me hunt later?" Nuan asked, tilting her head.

​"I already saw your hunting skills just now," Aerin replied, gesturing with the salmon. "I need no more proof of your capabilities as a predator."

​Nuan proudly puffed her chest out at the compliment. With a dramatic, powerful flap of his massive wings, Aerin launched himself high into the sky, disappearing into the clouds within seconds.

A moment later, the bushes exploded outward. Kael stepped into the clearing, his towering body radiating a terrifying, dark aura.

His golden eyes fiercely scanned the area, tracking Aerin’s fading scent in the air before locking a lethal death stare straight onto Koda.

He marched forward, his claws visibly extending.

"KAEL!" Nuan yelled, pointing her wooden spear directly at his chest. "One single step toward him, and I swear to God I will not come out to watch your big game hunt today!"

Kael froze, his upper lip curling into a furious snarl as he glared at the younger wolf trembling behind her. "But he rode you all the way out here! You rode another male!"

"I asked him to!" Nuan countered, completely unfazed by his alpha rage. "I didn’t want to wake you up from your sleep, and he was already awake. He helped me get down to the riverbank safely, or my ankle might have gotten way more swollen from walking. It was a logistical decision!"

Kael didn’t care about logistics. He stomped right past her spear, leaned down, and aggressively cupped Nuan’s cheeks in his massive hand, squishing her face together until her lips popped out.

"Wake me up next time!" Kael barked in absolute, possessive desperation, his chest heaving. "You will ride me! Only me!"

Well, that sounds incredibly wrong out of context, Nuan thought, her face completely squished, but I get what he means.

"Fine, fine! Let go of my cheeks!" Nuan muffled through her squished face. "I’ll wake you up next time, you giant overprotective puppy. Now let’s go, show me how an Alpha actually hunts out there in action!"