August 5, 2022.

Jenny woke several times in the middle of the night to find herself being cuddled by Simon. She would push him off while getting all worked up and have a bear of a time falling back asleep. The process repeated until she was forced to use Mestor as her meat shield. She had gone to his other side after the third time of being assaulted by cuddles. She didn't dislike it necessarily, but it got her too worked up to sleep.

Despite her efforts, Simon found his way around to her and Jenny gave up. Resigning herself to a night of no sleep, Jenny found her eyes meeting amber ones. Of course she kept the others awake too. Although Jenny had just given up on the idea of having her body to herself, Mestor helped. He unwound Simon's arms from her torso and growled. Simon snapped out of his sleep haze and came to full attention. Words were exchanged and Simon left the bed. He shifted and curled up close by.

Jenny thanked them both, but had a new problem. Now it was just her and Mestor. Technically, Winston was still there, but he was furry and not jacking up her hormones. She wished she could say Mestor fixed everything, but Jenny was still feeling Simon's embrace.

Jenny didn't have that kind of experience and it was new to her. It got her excited and that was not helping her. She hadn't got to the part of having sex yet. Now that she had three men waiting for her to seal the deal, Jenny had to think about how to accomplish it. She just really didn't want to do that right now.

It was 03:34 according to her watch. Neither Mestor or Winston commented on it, but she was certain that Mestor was curious about the watch. Jenny tried to calm herself, but her watch kept reminding her that she was losing sleep. Sometime after 04:30, Jenny finally fell asleep.

Jenny woke up late the next morning and found her hand clutching fur. She hurriedly released Winston and apologized. She prayed that she didn't pull any hairs out. Winston shifted right there and announced his intent to hunt. Jenny caught an up close and personal shot of something she had rather not seen. Thank god Winston wasn't huge like a certain bear, but he was big enough to be intimidating.

Jenny whipped her head to the side and hurriedly agreed with him. Winston stared at her for a while before stepping out. Jenny stood up, let the flush on her cheeks cool, and went to wash the grime out of her eyes. Feeling like a zombie, Jenny dragged her tired self out of the den. The river was busier than usual, but Jenny didn't see the gator. She stripped down to her underwear and bra to bathe.

Jenny knew the storms would start soon and washed hurriedly. She had things to do before it started raining. She cursed her lack of planning. She had been too caught up in Winston's arrival. Jenny would need to dig or have one of the males dig a trench around her garden to offset the flow of water.

Washing quickly, Jenny decided to take care of her hair as fast as she could. It would be easy to collect water for a bath with all the rain, but she rather have it done and not think about it for a few days. Honestly, she was leaning towards cutting it off. It was mostly okay staying in the braid, but what was the point of having long hair if all she wanted to do was tie it back?

While lost in her thoughts, Jenny failed to see her less than favorite stranger approaching her. To her credit, she half expected this scenario. Or at least, she wasn't all too surprised by it. Her eyes met a green one. She mouthed a hello and tried to wave the scary gator off. If he would turn back human, Jenny was definitely going to tell him that watching women bathe is not okay.

Unfortunately, the gator either didn't get what she was asking for or didn't care. Jenny tried to give him a terribly unimpressed expression, but figured it would have little effect. To her surprise, the gator shifted. The much more human looking gator slowly raised his head out of the water.

Jenny was torn between chuckling and scowling. He looked creepy as hell in an obnoxious way. There was about twenty feet between the two, but he was quietly staring with a bored expression and most of his body still submerged. Feeling bold, Jenny decided to address the issue at hand. "It isn't appropriate to watch females bathe," she said quietly.

The male was somewhat surprised at being addressed. He nodded lazily and looked away. He didn't, however, leave.

Sighing, Jenny finished her awkward bath while the gator man floated along, completely unperturbed. As far as she could tell, he didn't peek at her. He was oddly good at listening, but not so much at reading the atmosphere.

Jenny finished and collected the fish. She cleaned them at the riverside and the male watched her. Unable to take it anymore, Jenny asked, "You aren't worried about being chased away?" Jenny felt like he wasting this too easy.

"They can try," the man shrugged. "They usually do." His lip quirked and fell.

"And it clearly doesn't bother you," Jenny went back to cleaning the fish. She was having an actual conversation with the man, even if it was about his infamy and feral status.

"It doesn't," he agreed and started swimming closer. Jenny gulped and forced her shoulders to relax. It only took one swish of his powerful tail to push him within five foot of her. "You seem bothered."

How was Jenny supposed to respond to that? Of course she was bothered. He was blatantly peeping on her and his situation was complicated. Who knew when the beasts would notice this guy and attack him? Jenny didn't want a front row seat to that.

"You know..." Jenny sighed. "You do stare a lot. It's not exactly comfortable for me."

The man looked up at her and retorted calmly, "I stopped." Jenny felt a small smile crack at that. It was true. He did stop after she asked. There might be hope for him yet.

"Yeah. But you stuck around..." Jenny realized this guy probably has zero common sense. Not even beastmen common sense. "It's not okay to be around while someone is bathing," she continued.

"You only said not to stare," the man said without blinking.

"Yeah," Jenny said weakly. He wasn't wrong and he seemed to be the literal type. "Sorry, I wasn't sure how to say it." Now she was the one feeling apologetic. That was backwards and she knew it.

The man blinked slowly in surprise. He had not met many females personally, but he listened to them whine from a distance. He didn't know they even knew how to apologize. Today, he learned that it was possible.

"Umm, my name is Jenny," she awkwardly introduced herself. It seemed like this gator was planning on sticking around. She might as well learn his name. He said nothing in response and Jenny probed, "You are?"

"Sieg," he responded after a moment. His eyes wandered briefly and caught amber ones looking back at him. He knew the fox had been there since the female came, but it wasn't interfering. Noticing a hawk in the distance, the male paid it little mind other than a fleeting glance.

Jenny wasn't sure what to say now. It was a cool sounding name, but she wasn't about to voice that opinion. It sounded like Siegfried, but shorter. Jenny was familiar with the legend of the dragon slayer, but didn't let her mind wander.

Sieg insisted on watching her filet her fish. Feeling angsty, she got up and loaded several of the traps with fish carcasses. She felt eyes on her the whole time and sighed. She failed to see what was so interesting about this. He'd already watched her before.

She hesitated to place the traps since that would put her back in the water with Sieg. Mestor showed up then and relieved her of the duty. She became aware that she wasn't completely clothed. She had been worrying about socializing with an odd beast and didn't think about it. Jenny suppressed a smirk. She always felt like the odd one out, but now there was someone else who could take that title from her.

With Mestor here, she felt more self-conscious and put on her shirt and skirt. Especially since he was staring at her kind of funny. Jenny eyed the two men curiously as she finished preparing the fish. Mestor seemed tense and Sieg didn't look like he gave a damn. Heck, he seemed to be ignoring Mestor. Without a goodbye, Sieg shifted and continued to float in his massive form. Several roars and growls were heard and Jenny rolled her eyes. He was blatantly daring them wasn't he? Jenny tossed the extra fish bones in the water and Sieg snapped them up.

Finding it both amusing and frightening to feed a giant gator, Jenny approved of her current adaption speed. The fact that she could find entertainment in something like this, gave her more hope. The surrounding beasts went after the gator, but he swam away too fast. Jenny couldn't even catch his movement. Only the wake he left behind. The water swelled and splashed against the bank and Mestor had to go back and fix the dislodged traps.

Some wolves came to her shortly after to question Jenny. Feeling like an eye witness at the scene of the crime, Jenny couldn't help her lips quirking upwards. A wolf walked up to them and the others lowered their heads. It was obvious who had the most power even without noticing the male's two stripes.

"Female," the male started in a cold tone, "this is a serious situation." Jenny figured her smirking left a poor impression. "You... your the female that went looking for a male at night. But... no, its nothing," he said, less coldly and more mildly. Jenny felt sweat drops forming on her skin. What a great way for her to be remembered.

"Yes," Jenny agreed without argument.

"My name is Shuu and I am investigating the feral who keeps appearing," Shuu said seriously.

Jenny froze up. She purposely had been avoiding staring too much, but now she gave him a good look over. He indeed looked as the book described him, but more fleshed out. Based on his expression, it was safe to say that Jenny wouldn't have any luck courting him even if she had wanted to. It was a good thing she didn't go to the bonfire. Apparently, she already had a bad report with him thanks to her search and rescue of Harvey.

Jenny preceded to explain that Sieg had not harmed her in any way. After some probing, Jenny learned that Sieg had only hurt males that attacked him. Feeling a little better about giving him some credibility, Jenny made sure to put in a good word to the police dog unit.

Suppressing a snicker, Jenny told them what she knew before returning home with Mestor and the fish filets. Feeling eyes on her, Jenny glanced back at some flowery wolves. Only Shuu wasn't looking at her. Turning away, Jenny felt she was getting better at ignoring attention. It wasn't like she got a ton, but she did have a handful of suitors that approached her before. Even if they didn't consider her attractive, she was still a female.

Jenny realized that her thoughts when she first came here were slightly off. Just because she was 'ugly' didn't mean she wouldn't have males interested in her. There just weren't enough females to go around and it was a given that she would have some suitors. According to Harvey, even if she was the ugliest female she could find mates. If she was both ugly and infertile, things would be different. Only the strongest males had better chances with attractive females, but all males expected females to birth offspring even if they weren't the father.

Jenny had reminded Harvey of his public announcement towards Bai which caused him to blush and defend himself. Harvey said he would be in a minority group that wouldn't mind if their loved female was infertile. He believed having a female period was a great thing by itself. Jenny liked that mindset, but also understood how important it was for beastmen to reproduce. They could even be declining right towards extinction. She would sed an actual census spanning many years to know for sure. Shaking her head, Jenny chided herself. There was no need to go there. Before she could get further distracted, Mestor brought her focus back.

Mestor asked her questions about Sieg and she answered everything honestly. It was clear that he wasn't very comfortable, but it wasn't like Jenny could hide in the house forever to avoid the other male.

He hadn't wronged or harmed them with the exception of threatening Simon. That did make her feel a little iffy, but not enough to hate the male. Simon had attacked first and Sieg handled it without wounding Simon. That counted for something. He did say those less than pleasant things about kidnapping females... Yeah, she wasn't going to think too hard on this now.

Jenny waited for Winston to come home and they all helped in some way to cook dinner. She felt like her own family was staring more now and it weirded her out. Simon might start worshipping her and even Mestor was suspiciously flowery. Winston was acting like a rusty cyborg, but he wasn't really good at social interaction. She would have to ask Harvey about them since he seemed to be the normal one.

Harvey got a patient that paid with a crystal, meaning tonight was the last time they would eat dinner like this. It wasn't like they couldn't eat together in the future, but it wouldn't be the same. Jenny would see if her the males were okay with him coming back over at some point. If they were uncomfortable with that, she could bring food to him.

Jenny cooked extra extravagantly, given what ingredients she had on hand. The meal was great and they all enjoyed it. Jenny took the opportunity to fill Winston in on her fertility. He had a right to know what he signed up for. She debated explaining her origin to him and Mestor while Harvey was still around. He was good at clarifying when she lacked the words to do so.

Winston seemed excited, but he wasn't as expressive about it. If it wasn't for his crazy tail and trembling ears, Jenny would've thought he was mostly unfazed. He assessed her full baskets of cotton and nodded. It would be enough until the next cotton season and then some.

Mestor brought up Sieg's presence and Jenny squirmed nervously. She could tell that the gator did not make anyone here comfortable. Since he was reasonable, she could ask him to go away. Even though it seemed like a rude thing to do, she didn't want everyone here agitated.

"Are you considering the feral?" Winston asked with some confusion.

Jenny balked and tried her best to explain herself. If she was being calculative about this, she should be considering him. He had four stripes and didn't seem like a terrible person. He was doing better than Oliver had, but that wasn't exactly a high hurdle to clear. Still, Sieg could be worth at least thinking about, assuming he was looking at her as a potential mate.

Feeling embarrassed Jenny shook her head. What was she doing thinking about another man when she had yet to give any of the men in front of her their part of the deal? Simon was getting clingier and was acting jumpier. Mestor didn't seem as impatient, but Jenny knew it wasn't fair to make him wait. Winston didn't mind waiting, but she didn't feel it was right to put it off for too long. Throwing another would-be spouse into the mix now felt wrong.

"I won't be taking any more males for now," Jenny declared. This was a time where she had to step up and settle the domestic affairs. If they were upset over this, it was probably her fault. She needed to fix this before she let herself get distracted by another guy.

Both Mestor and Simon relaxed. Winston appeared the same. Jenny changed the subject and asked about protecting the garden. Simon flung his body out of the den before she could discuss details. She peeked outside to watch dirt fly. Simon was already digging enthusiastically. Winston followed at a more reasonable pace and dug as well.

Harvey and Mestor kept her company and she decided to enlighten Mestor somewhat. "I'm not from here..." Jenny started. She didn't come right out and say it, but hinted frequently.

"That explains the things you have and your actions," Mestor's eyes shone and sparkled. He refrained from overwhelming Jenny with questions, but still let one slip here and there. Mestor knew of nowhere in this world that Jenny could live, unless it was a different continent all together.

Jenny answered Mestor's questions even after Winston and Simon came back in. They were filthy. Jenny thanked them before kicking them out. They needed to bathe first.

While they were out, it started raining hard. Winston set out the basin to collect water when he came back from bathing. Both him and Simon were drenched and Jenny handed them a fur. Simon smiled brightly, flashing his pearly whites and declined. Winston smiled softly and did the same.

Jenny turned around and went to her room. That was dangerous. She underestimated wet, handsome men who would give her those kind of looks. Since her psyche received a critical hit, Jenny failed to think properly. After some time, she collected herself and went back out to the main area of her den. She decided to talk with Harvey for a long time about anything.

Jenny listened to his plans and advice and gave her own. She was aware of the three men listening to them, but she wasn't saying anything that they couldn't overhear. Jenny decided to ask about the funny looks and Harvey told her happily that her scars had lightened a lot. They were still visible and some of the pits weren't likely to go away anytime soon. She was treating the scars prior to coming here and it looks like they were healing somewhat naturally.

Still, hearing Harvey comment on visible improvement excited Jenny. It wasn't like the emerald healed her overnight, but she figured it helped. In fact, she didn't feel as dry either. It was nice and she was glad for an improvement.

She stayed up later than usual, but slept surprisingly well. The rain helped lull her to sleep and kept her dreaming. Jenny had a several dreams that blurred together incoherently. She felt that they were interesting, but couldn't remember any of them when she woke up.

She wouldn't have gotten up if she hadn't felt a disturbance. Opening her eyes slowly, Jenny prepared herself for whatever it was. Since she felt nothing on her, she knew no one was cuddling her.

Nobody was, but Simon was very close to her. He was sleeping peacefully pinned under Winston's paw. Stifling a laugh, Jenny could imagine the scenario that led to this. Unlike her, Simon had no trouble sleeping deeply in most positions. She envied that.

Jenny watched his sleeping face for a minute before feeling embarrassed. No, she shouldn't feel like that. If she couldn't look at him, how could she expect to marry him? Jenny forced herself to stare at Simon's handsome face that deserved appreciation.

To her, he looked incredibly relaxed and calm. It was quite a difference from when he was awake. Most of the time, he was on edge. Jenny wondered if there was something she could do to help him relax. She knew he loved her cooking and that helped, but he couldn't always be eating. Picturing a very round, balloon shaped Simon made her giggle.