Beastmen: She Tames the Land-Chapter 122: Buying slaves

The journey back to the caldera was heavy with unspoken questions. Lyra walked silently behind them. Her head hung low. She hadn’t said anything since they left. And Visha wasn’t sure what she wanted to hear from her. She was still processing the kinship she felt for this woman.

She was also trying to process what happened when she growled earlier. She felt the beast surface. It told her to take care of Lyra. It also came when Gram tried to insult Uri and Xeno. But both of them were different. They gave a completely different feeling. She wasn’t sure how to describe it.

As they approached the main gate, they saw the entire pack gathered there. Willa and Chi stood at the front, their eyes etched with worry. The rest of the pack members stood behind them, their faces ranged from anxiety to confusion.

Willa stepped forward the moment they were close enough. "What happened? We felt something...a pulse." Her eyes raked over the three people trying to find any injuries or reason for the pack bond to have that kind of jolt.

Visha held up a hand. Reassuring them, she said, "It’s fine. Everyone is safe. There was a situation. We have handled it."

Her eyes scanned the crowd, landing on Cato, who looked like he had seen a ghost. His hand was pressed against his heart. Visha’s eyes narrowed. She was looking in the direction his gaze fell; he was looking at Lyra. His eyes were wide, and she could see that his breathing was heavier than it should be.

She turned to look at Lyra, who was standing there with her head down.

When Visha turned, that was when the others noticed her.

"Who’s this?" Chi asked, her head tilting to the side.

Visha pulled her to stand beside her. "This is Lyra. She’ll be staying with us for a while."

Visha didn’t say she would be a part of the pack. That was a choice Lyra would have to make. She made sure it was her own choice, mainly because she knew if they took her in, it would create a conflict with the Stonefang tribe. But she had a feeling they would be in conflict with them regardless.

Chi hummed, looking from Visha to Lyra. She didn’t say much as she turned to Krag.

"We need to head inside. We have a matter we need to let the pack know about." Uri said.

He ushered the pack inside, closing the gate.

"Willa," Uri called. "Help Lyra clean up, put on some warm clothes, and get her something to eat. Once she has it, meet us in the square. We need to have a meeting."

Will nodded, gently taking Lyra’s hand and steering her to her own home.

While everyone was gathered in the square, Krag and Chi came to Visha hoping to speak to her privately. Glancing at Uri and Xeno, they nodded, and she walked a distance away with the two.

"What I say may not make sense to you, but I need to say it." Krag’s eyes were hard as steel. "You need to control yourself. There are things you don’t understand yet. We won’t tell you what they are. I only hope you will learn to control it."

Visha observed both their expressions. Krag’s face was hard. Chi’s eyes were concerned. She stepped forward and held Visha’s hand. Her eyes were sad, and her voice was firm.

"He doesn’t know how to express himself. But he isn’t wrong. What happened out there, we know. While we can’t tell you the reason, we only hope you will be safe." 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎

The way Chi spoke to her was like a maternal figure. Chi had only spoken to her like this once before. And even then, she didn’t feel the maternal nature of it. Now, for some reason, she could notice it.

Visha pursed her lips, unsure of what to say. In the end, she only replied with okay and left it at that.

As soon as she replied, Chi went back to her usual carefree expression. The change was so quick, Visha wondered if she imagined it.

After their brief conversation, Willa came back, and Uri started the meeting.

"The female who came back with us...she is from the Stonefang Pack. From what we have gathered, she was to partner with the Tribe Leader’s son. She escaped. They caught up to her. The only reason they left was..." Uri didn’t continue.

Xeno took over the conversation. "They left because we were able to defend ourselves. However, now we may be enemies with them. We don’t have as many people as they do. There is no way we can fight them. So, for now, we need to avoid them."

"Kaelen, you are our only aerial patrol. That isn’t fair to you. We intend to visit the Fox clan. We have heard they trade in slaves. We hope to buy some."

The pack began to murmur.

Uri expressed their thoughts. "We are aware that slavery is not familiar to us. It is not a subject we thought we would touch on. However, we are small in number and need more people. This is the only way."

Visha chimed in, "If they prove themselves worthy, we can have them added to the pack. They do not have to be slaves forever."

"Stop!" Xeno’s voice cut through the muttering. "We need people. I’m sure there will be more uncomfortable things in the future. Your leader and priestess may not want to say this, but I will."

He continued. "Our pack is weak. We have nothing to offer. We may be happy now, but look at what has happened. We have offended the Stonefang pack, and we can only wait to die. We are nowhere close to being strong. The Condors. The Mommoths. The Panthers. You’ve never heard of them, have you?"

The pack shook their heads.

"That’s how long on the rung of strength we are. If the Stone-horn leader hadn’t told us about the ruling tribes, we would still be in the dark. We need to become strong. So strong that we don’t need to care about the ruling tribes."

"Xeno!" Uri interjected. Turning to the pack, he said, "There are many things we are only learning ourselves. The three ruling tribes. We will explain at another time. We also have questions. The only way to get the answers is to become stronger. Your leader spoke the way he did because he is worried."

"We aren’t asking you to like the idea. We are asking you to consider the possibility that we need help. And like they said, we do need to get stronger." Visha kept her voice neutral. "This is a reality."

The pack members didn’t argue. They saw their leaders and priestess trying to persuade them. They knew there was something they might not understand in all of this. Even if they were dissatisfied, they knew the leaders and priestess wouldn’t do something that wasn’t for their own good.

The rest of the meeting was them introducing the Stonefang Pack and asking them to be careful.

As the meeting dismissed, Visha called out to Cato. There was something she wanted to ask him.