Harem King's Collection: Turning Beastkins Into Desperate Wives!-Chapter 86: It’s Alright

By the time Aster had realized what he had done, it was already too late. For some reason, he didn’t even fully understand himself. It was what the big cat has said that have kicked his senses back to reality. But, it seemed he’d taking it the wrong way.

He had left himself vulnerable to the tiger in the midst of his torment. A beast who wouldn’t hesitate to cut him down when they had the chance.

As the human quickly pulled away, his face blushed deeply as he rapidly sucked in a hollow gasp. The prior turgid storm of emotions had almost dissipated entirely, replaced by fresh waves of embarrassment, appreciation, and confusion.

Sulking on the shoulders of your enemy had it own way of making one feel stupid.

Oust only remained silent with his eyes cast to the side. His ears were still pressed flat against his head, and a rumble of his own feelings stirred within his heart where he had long since buried any such concept of friendship, of longing for a shred of camaraderie from anyone in this world.

Aster may have been regretting it as he came to his senses, but surprisingly enough, Oust wasn’t certain he himself did. Despite the beating he had endured for the sudden change in his understanding of the human’s turmoils, this was the first time something good actually came after someone’s anger towards him.

It was the human who broke the unbearably awkward silence between them as he stood, dismounting the tiger’s wide torso.

"... Sorry... If your father wins the crown, you can execute me for it then... And thank you, Oust... For letting me win..."

Oust had even more questions after that statement but found himself incapable of asking a single one at that moment.

Without another word (or even mustering up enough courage to simply look at the tiger again,) Aster made his leave, heading back towards the village. Somehow, the boy was feeling lighter than before, despite both his regret at losing his temper and an entirely new problem weighing heavily on his mind.

He felt stupid.

Oust could only lay in the dirt and watch the human leave in thoughtful silence. Of all the things he had imagined, that runt giving him a reality check like he had certainly was nowhere near what he had prepared himself for through years of both training his body for a single purpose, and of building that seemingly impenetrable armor around his heart.

His father had burned the tenderness of having any form of ties with others completely out of him. He taught him not to rely on others. That only weak people do. And that affection becomes a weak point, a vulnerability one’s enemies could exploit in order to get to them.

The tiger was still trying to process it all, but he was certainly a bit scared by the way the runt had just put a crack into that well-forged protection of his.

When Oust finally did gather himself a bit, he found almost all of the frustration he had been feeling during his training under Sir Corper had vanished near entirely.

His problems didn’t seem quite so isolating to the beast anymore. Without a sound, the tiger quickly pulled his legs up, and kicked himself back to his feet with one powerful motion before he made his way back to the bear, eager to give his training another chance with a renewed sense of worth... With even a touch of peace for his troubled mind.

When Aster had made it back to the village, he saw his wolf already heading his way with that usual fanged smile, and another fresh pang of shame stabbed his heart from his self perceived stupidity.

When the noble wolf caught a look at her mate in his exhausted and dirty state, a frown replaced her smile, and she quickly hurried over to ask what had happened.

Aster paused for a long while, finding himself too shy to look his mate in the eyes when he finally did speak.

"I kind of blew up on Oust... We got into a fight."

Stahl felt her own temper flare at the news, and she quickly assumed the worst as she started going off about all the detailed and colorful variety of ways she would kill that damned tiger.

Aster finally managed to get another word in a short while later between her cursing.

"No! It... It wasn’t his fault, Stahl... I started it... I initiated ALL of it... I had some stuff on my mind, and I was just so angry about it that I charged him when I saw him... I took it out on him. We fought for a bit, and I knocked him to the ground. I kept hitting him for a while... Then... I... I..."

Aster was clearly struggling to put it into words. Stahl could only smile kindly at her mate, and then she drew him in close with her signature embrace while she softly reassured him.

"Shhh. It’s ok, Aster. Whatever happened that you’re embarrassed about, as long as you’re alright, it will be alright. We will figure it o-"

Aster took a step back, cutting off his wolf and pulling from the embrace as his embarrassment flared. Perhaps it wasn’t a big deal, but to avail himself as easy prey to a predator, one that hated him, went against all that Stahl had thought him during their training.

Aster finally looked into his wolf’s caring eyes then and shouted far louder than he had intended to.

"I WAS SO VULNERABLE, STAHL... It’s not alright. I WAS STUPID AND PATHETIC! He could have killed me while he had the chance... I’m a terrible student, I know... I... All that you taught me, and I let my guard down like that... I mean, I’m still in one piece, but I... I can’t stop feeling stupid about it am..."

Aster cast his eyes down immediately in his guilt, waiting for his wolf and mentor to get angry and scold him, to tell him how horrible of a student he was like he deserved...

It never came, and Aster was simply pulled back into that intimate embrace a moment later, completely taken off guard. Stahl chuckled a bit before she gave her answer in that softer voice she found herself using exclusively for her mate these days.

"Whatever happened, I’m just glad you got some of that heavy stuff off of your chest. You seem a lot better than you were a while ago... You’re not a terrible student Aster, everyone have moments when they are at their lowest, and although it is most definitely silly to be disarmed like that in front of an enemy, you wouldn’t still be alive if something hadn’t changed in Oust at that moment. It’s alright.

"You have a lot of good in that heart of yours, and I think you’ve once again changed someone like you did me... If you need to express that goodness sometimes in ways you don’t believe is entirely safe, that’s alright too, just be a bit careful. You’re still very new to all this. You’re still figuring it out. WE are still figuring it out. I’m not mad... Definitely surprised you went soft on Oust of all beasts and still walked away with your life...

"But I’m not mad, and you shouldn’t beat yourself up over it... I’m ok with your sometimes weird and slightly stupid ways of expressing your emotions in the most absurd situations, Aster, as long as I still get to hold you like this... You haven’t been long exposed to the complications of camaraderie, after all... You deserve to experience everything you can... Everything that was always out of reach for you before. I have told you countless times that I will love you regardless, Aster Venatus."

Aster buried his face into his wolf’s soft bosom once more as he simply basked in her gratitude, his guilt finally fading. He didn’t know what he EVER did to deserve such an amazing mate, but he found himself in awe of that luck daily.

Stahl never ceased to amaze him with her understanding. Aster felt some of the awkward feeling of embarrasment leave him at last as she simply held him against that comforting body a while longer. Stahl really did always seem to know just what to say to make him feel better...

Stahl, in reality, was simply looking forward with an unreadable look on her face as she held her mate in that moment. Stahl was suddenly afraid of losing Aster. Both her own calmness and possessiveness surprised her in that moment, and she felt her own inner monster stir beneath the moon...

Stahl felt she needed to be careful not to let that monster out again. All the while, her stony-faced expression remained far hidden from Aster’s view as the boy accepted the comfort she was still providing.

___

Sir Corper wasn’t exactly sure what had happened during the tiger’s short break, nor why he suddenly had as many injuries as he did, but the tiger had certainly made a drastic leap of improvement.

That self-loathing that lurked just behind his eyes had all but crumbled away. The cub was finally calm at last, and his movements seemed lighter than ever as the bear stood beside him, and they went through the steps, still knee deep in the river.

Sir Corper had started his tutelage with having the tiger mimic him, explaining the most important part was keeping a clear and calm head. To move WITH the flow of both his emotions and of the water instead of fighting either.

The tiger hadn’t really grasped a single thing the bear had tried to teach him up to that point, but somehow, the young beast had finally begun connecting to what Sir Corper had been saying.

Oust wasn’t striking just to try and hit a target anymore. He was striking because that’s the way his body flowed in that moment.

His jagged strikes that only limited his motions before were becoming more smooth and polished, reducing the time it took the cub to launch another strike behind it.

The student was learning to keep a cool head. The tiger was getting faster. The teacher spoke.

"Good. You actually reigned in that temper, young one. You’ve broken a few of those chains, haven’t you? You’re now ready for the next part... Forget ALL of the movements I have showed you so far."

***