2/2 updates for August 14, 2022.

Once the heavy rains quit, the cooler weather started rolling in. Jenny eventually went back to an almost normal routine. Not. The men were too worried about her pregnancy for that, so Jenny created a new normal routine. It was too cold to bathe in the river, so water was brought to her and heated. Jenny didn't want a cold and Winston did not struggle with the weight of the bathtub filled with water, so she did not insist on anything else.

Her family tended to go overboard, so Jenny had to remind them that exercise was great for both her and her baby. She was no invalid and did not plan to sit around for the whole pregnancy. Still, the men rarely let her do work. They began their preparations for the cold season and Jenny resigned herself to some level of boredom.

Jenny glanced over at the sleeping Sieg and recalled how she this arrangement came about. Winston was on an extended hunt for energy crystals and Sieg was playing guardian. 'Playing' because he made no real promises other than sticking around. He slept in front of the fire most of the time. The colder weather was clearly getting to him.

Surprisingly, Jenny didn't mind that much. Sieg was the definition of laid back. She would even go so far as to call him lazy. He never picked fights or even responded to provocation. Unless someone attacked him, he pretty much ignored them. It was a wonder how he gained so many stripes with that cavalier attitude of his.

"Hmm?" Sieg lazily opened an eye and questioned her. Feeling emboldened by his mild demeanor, Jenny decided to ask.

"How did you gain your stripes?" Jenny asked. It wasn't a big deal if he didn't answer her, she was just curious.

"Fought and won," he mumbled and Jenny sighed.

"Yes, well... I hope you don't take this offensively, but you don't seem like someone looking for fights," Jenny added.

"I don't. They come to me," shrugged Sieg.

Jenny felt like rolling her eyes. Considering how he has acted up until now, Jenny could definitely see that. He goes where he pleases and doesn't care what others think of him. Thinking about it, he does act brazenly, but he was not mentioned in the novel.

"Have you been in the city for long?" Jenny was trying to make small talk while solving the small mystery. Mestor glanced at her and she lifted an eyebrow. He was practically their roommate and darn it, she was curious.

"No," Sieg said.

"Oh..." Jenny felt that this was hard. The guy clearly wasn't used to elaborating. "Where were you planning to go?" Jenny asked. She couldn't imagine him having plans to stay in the city, but maybe he did.

"Down the river. When it ends, find another river," Sieg said with a yawn.

"You were going to go after cold season?" Jenny pushed for a little more conversation.

"No," Sieg stared. "I would've been down river by now. Somewhere warmer where I do not need to hibernate as long."

Jenny thought about that. She didn't feel overwhelmingly guilty. Sieg stuck around on his own and could leave if he wanted to. She really didn't think he would do something if he really thought it was a hassle, but she wasn't someone who liked to use others either.

They spoke until Sieg quit responding. Jenny looked over to find him asleep. Jenny and Mestor spoke in hushed tones for awhile after. One thing they learned about the sleeping gator is that he could tune out most things.

Bai visited Jenny once the rains died down. They exchanged pleasantries, but did not speak for long. Curtis was not keen on having Bai anywhere near Sieg. "A lizard?" Curtis asked darkly. For once, Sieg did not totally ignore a stranger.

"Snake," greeted Sieg in a casual manner. Curtis hissed and Sieg actually did too, but his sounded more like a huff compared to Curtis's. They eyed each other warily, sizing up one another. Sieg made the mistake of glancing at Bai.

"My Snow," Curtis hissed threateningly. If it wasn't such a serious situation, Jenny would've laughed. Curtis was acting like a three-year-old who wouldn't let his sibling touch his toy. "Try if you dare."

Sieg chuckled at that, which royally pissed off Curtis. "Not interested," Sieg looked at Bai again with blatant indifference. "Too weak." Sieg frequented the waters of the city and he had come across the female at a distance. But he felt no draw towards her. He felt that the female called Snow would die quickly or give him a headache.

Apparently those were fighting words to Curtis's ears. Jenny swore the temperature dropped as Curtis glared at Sieg. The jade-haired man decided there was nothing worth his time here and went back to dozing in the sun, his one eye stayed open.

"Don't fight," Bai said as she placed a hand on Curtis's shoulder. Jenny thought it was a little late for that. She probably should've said that after the first hiss, but Jenny was judging.

Relaxing her stiffened muscles, Jenny diffused the situation by ignoring Curtis and speaking with Bai. Although Sieg was obviously more wary towards Curtis, he wasn't treating the snake male much differently than how he treated anyone else. She could've and maybe should've said something, but... She wanted to see how Sieg would react. If he was going to hang around her family, Jenny wanted to see where his bottom line reached to. Apparently, it extended to include Curtis's provocation. That was good.

"Jenny, did you... accept them?" Bai asked quietly, but every beast here could hear her.

Jenny smiled a little. She knew Bai was struggling with the concept of multiple spouses, but it didn't bother her much. Reciting in her head, 'I have nothing to feel sorry about,' Jenny answered her. "Yes. Mestor, Simon, and Winston," she said confidently.

Bai's mouth formed an 'o' and she took a moment to respond. "I- that's good," Bai said weakly. "And," Bai didn't continued, but motioned towards the sleeping Sieg.

Jenny thought about that. How would she introduce him? They weren't friends really, but they weren't lovers either. Jenny hadn't even asked her family about their thoughts on taking another mate. She thought she may need to look for one more, to be on the safe side. That being said, it wasn't easy to get married out of convenience and she wouldn't do that to anyone here.

Was Sieg a potential suitor or a passing beast to her? That she wasn't sure of. "That's Sieg and he's acting as a..." Jenny paused and caught his one eye on her. Jenny looked away and continued, "Pseudo-guardian."

"Pseudo?" Bai questioned.

Jenny didn't want to explain in detail. "Yes," she answered.

"I've met Simon and Mestor, but Winston sounds familiar..." Bai inquired while trying to keep the conversation flowing.

"Winston is a tiger beastman. He came back from the salt trade," Jenny said and noticed the recognition in Bai's eyes.

"Ah, the one who was..." Bai trailed off. She wasn't so uncouth as to say it. To her, it was a huge shame that that females here found Winston unattractive just because of a scar. She was secretly glad that someone accepted Winston, she just didn't expect it to be Jenny.

"On stage," Jenny said that more curtly than she planned to. Now that she knew Winston better and he was her spouse, the memories of that incident made her angry. Jenny buried the negative emotions and focused on something else. She placed her hand on her stomach while looking at Bai's.

The two girls spoke about their respective pregnancies. Curtis would only stop his glaring at Sieg to shoot a lovey-dovey expression at Bai here and there. Jenny bid them goodbye early since Curtis was stressing her out. She hoped that they wouldn't visit too often. The less the better.

Jenny used any nice days to go out and about. Spending all of her time cooped up inside sounded terrible. Mestor always made sure she had warm furs on when she went out. Jenny walked outside and took her time enjoying the sights. She hadn't appreciated the scenery nearly enough since coming to the world. The den had needed too much work and it kept her busy. Now, it was up to snuff and she had the time.

Jenny sunk her hand into Mestor's soft fur. It was the softest amongst the three of her spouses. It hadn't been a week since Winston left, but Jenny was starting to worry. 'No,' she thought, 'he is strong. Very strong. He can take care of himself.' Nodding her head to no one in particular, Jenny went back to nature watching.

Jenny met another female and recognized her from her description in the novel. Their eyes met and Jenny cursed in her head. 'What are the chances?' She asked rhetorically. The city isn't small, but she ran into one of the few females she did not want to.

Rosa only gave Jenny a passing glance before she went back to her ride through the area. She had no time for females and their jealously towards her. Finding wherever Winston ran off to was her priority for now.

Rosa rubbed her belly. It wasn't necessary to get Winston on her side since she would bear Bart's cubs, but she hated giving up. Winston could be her guardian and thank her for the honor or she would make sure he understood that she was rejecting him. If he did have an emerald like the rumors said, she might give him the privilege of being her mate.

Jenny watched Rosa disappear and sighed in relief. It was an anticlimactic encounter, but Jenny was glad for it. Continuing in the opposite direction of Rosa, Jenny took in the various beasts that she came across. Although she got used to seeing giant beasts running around, she still found them cool.

The eagles were all black and the leopards were all some shade of yellow. The tigers differed somewhat. Apparently, white tigers were not rare in this world. At least half of the tigers she saw were white. The other half came in various reds and oranges. The wolves had the most variety. They came in different color combinations, but the most common was solid black and solid grey.

The apes were odd since she never saw any. Jenny couldn't recall a description of them in the novel, but expected them to look like chimps. Unfortunately, or maybe fortunately, she did not see a single one in beast form. She asked Mestor about it. "What do ape beastmen look like transformed?"

Mestor thought about it and shifted. He'd only seen an ape beastman shift once. "Apes don't like to shift so I've only seen one in beast form before. They walk on two legs for the most part and their proportions are close to our current forms," Mestor motioned to Jenny and himself.

Jenny kept her eyes above a certain level and nodded. "Is there a reason?" Jenny questioned.

"The only reason I can think of... is that females find them ugly," Mestor replied. He smirked mischievously as he noticed Jenny's reluctance to look at his reproductive organ.

Jenny rolled her eyes. Of course, the answer is vanity related. Mestor turned for a moment and his tail hit her. Naturally, her eyes wandered until she caught a look at the ultra fluffy tail and the behind it was attached to. Feeling the heat in her face, Jenny turned away quickly.

Considering how smug Mestor looked, Jenny was certain that he did it on purpose. Although she had a slight urge to smack that perfect butt, she wouldn't. There was no way that could be anything less than sexual and they were far from the bedroom.

Snorting at his obvious provocation, Jenny ignored him in favor of walking again. After seeing the sights, they ended up back home. Mestor continued to try his luck, but Jenny was conscious of Sieg napping in their living room.

In the end, Jenny lost to the persistent fox and tried to ask him to step out. "Umm, Sieg." Suddenly feeling guilty, Jenny decided against it. It didn't feel fair to kick out the roommate so she could get intimate with her spouse.

"It would be best if you left for some time," Mestor added while trying to keep his anticipation under control.

Sieg sniffed the air and rolled over. "I'm a pseudo-guardian remember," he said with a smirk in his tone. He wasn't going to leave the warmth of the den and the fox could not make him. Of course, if they annoyed him about it, he would go. For now, he was going to stay and conveyed that in his body language. If they wanted to mate, they could do it with him here.

Jenny was ready to call it off, but Mestor wasn't so inclined. He wanted to chase off the male, but knew it would be difficult to do so. If he wanted to stay, then Mestor would make sure he worked for it.

Mestor ended up messing with Jenny until she was actually pretty aggravated. Their time together was rougher than usual and she gave him some hell for it. At least she wanted to, but she was cautious with her current state. When they were finished, Sieg was no longer in the den.

Sieg sent another young male flying away and grumbled under his breath. He didn't even need to shift for this. He didn't like being used for this kind of thing, but he assumed it was part of the duty he undertook. He reminded himself again that the food was worth it.

If Sieg was being candid, he liked the atmosphere of the den and it's family. To the point that he would even tolerate this inconvenience. While pressuring another male, Sieg's ears caught another moan from the den. It irritated him for reasons he was beginning to understand. When the wolf came back, Sieg pushed the guarding task on him. He wanted the warm fire.

Simon felt uneasy. It was weird to see the other male going back into Jenny's den as if it was natural, but Simon would accept the duty of guarding anyway. He chased off anymore males that approached.

Sieg laid in front of the fire, but couldn't nap. He was agitated and wanted something. His instincts were telling him something, but only now was he was listening. After identifying his source of unrest, Sieg said loudly, "Dinner." When the sounds did not stop berating him, he almost pulled down the curtain that separated the bedroom.

Only after the fox came out did Sieg settle back into his position by the fire. The smell of mating assaulted his senses and aroused him to a very uncomfortable point. Sieg got up, stepped back outside, and went to the river for a swim.

"I'm certain," Mestor stated as the other male disappeared.

"About?" Jenny asked in a snippy manner from her place in the room. She was feeling some shame over what just happened and wasn't ready to forgive herself or Mestor yet.

"That Sieg is interested in you as a female," Mestor said with mixed feelings.

Jenny dropped the clothes she was getting ready to put on and coughed. She was glad she was alone in the room right now since her face was probably on fire. Sure, Jenny did hear Mestor saying something about testing Sieg, but she wasn't really focusing on that plan. Her and Sieg had been in a strange sort of limbo. The pseudo-guardianship was just a flimsy cover to hide their lack of decision making.

If Mestor is right, then what they just did was a crappy thing to do. Jenny would have to make it up to the big guy, but hadn't figured out the 'how' part yet. She liked Sieg, sort of, but she felt unsure. Unlike the rest of the men in her life right now, Sieg didn't readily spill his intentions.

To Jenny, Sieg wasn't really... Inspiring? Was that the best word she could use? Jenny liked men who were go getters and he was, well, he was Sieg. Besides his stomach, there was little that could motivate him to do anything.

Still, Sieg was good in his own way. His feral status didn't get him down and he never used it as an excuse or shield for any of his actions. He was also easy to get along with. The men in her family didn't mind him much and he was far from aggressive.

Jenny didn't think she could mate with him any time soon, but she could at least think about it. Assuming Sieg wanted that. Jenny figured she was going to overthink it like everything else when all she had to do was ask.

Jenny dressed and pushed Mestor out of her way. Mestor found that little shove of hers cute, but kept that opinion to himself. He didn't want to actually see if she'd kick him out of the bedroom later. He did not want to sleep next to Sieg.

After a full week of Winston's absence, Jenny got a visitor. "Hello, it has been awhile. I have come to check on your pregnancy," stated Bard.

Jenny looked at the ape king quizzically and nodded. Putting aside how he knew of her pregnancy, Jenny allowed him to check her. Simon fidgeted nervously and Sieg lazily watched. Jenny felt like rolling her eyes. Why was Simon getting more nerve-wracked than her?

"Amazing!" The ape king exclaimed. "Your female child is very healthy and your fertility is great." After he was done gushing about it, Bard mumbled, "Two females in the city..."

The ape king mentioned something about Jenny taking more mates. Jenny played good speaker and talked her way out of it while thanking him for his concern. There was no point in shooting him down rudely when it wouldn't help her. According to their culture, only ferals will force themselves onto a pregnant female. In other words, Jenny would be free until she birthed and she would be long gone before Bard could dump any males on her.

"They can send you gifts and help you in the meanwhile," Bard insisted. The female in front of him had a tetra marked mate and a stronger feral guardian. Bard was not foolish enough to attack them head on. He wanted to take advantage of Jenny's incredible fertility while he could. In the meanwhile, he could build his forces so they will no longer be a threat to him.

Jenny's lip twitched, but she managed an amiable smile. "Thank you, but I wish to avoid any agitation." She rubbed her belly for emphasis.

"I understand. There will be no such occurrences of fighting around you. If you do not like any suitors, you can send them away. They will go without a fuss," stated Bard.

Jenny held back a sigh and nodded. Even if the ape king sends some, Sieg and Winston make very good deterrents. If one slips through, Jenny would make her disinterest clearly known.

After one last congratulations, the ape king left. Jenny did sigh in relief. She had a better feeling about him now. Not because she trusted him, no, quite the opposite. He may be a better actor than Simon, but he had nothing on Hollywood. It seemed like Bard wanted to keep her in his good graces and that's exactly where Jenny wanted to be.

The next day, Winston returned in the evening. Jenny welcomed him back with a large plate of food. He looked exhausted and it sent Jenny into caretaker mode. Jenny even fed him. Of course, Winston was over the moon with this kind of welcome.

After stuffing himself and making sure Jenny ate too, Winston handed her a pouch. Sieg glanced up from his food for only a second before getting back to his most important business. Simon and Mestor looked at the bag excitedly as Jenny opened it up. Her own anticipation was building wonder what the crystals would look like.

Out of the bag, spilled seven energy crystals of different sizes. "I will hunt more in the future," Winston said solemnly. He felt that what he had gathered was too little even though he gave it his all.