Hours had passed since Samantha had begun sobbing into Benjamin's unfaltering embrace, but nothing had changed regarding Spencer's mysterious abduction. If the foxes who took him hadn't left his belongings behind, there would be little evidence to prove he had lived in the house for any period of time at all, much less one that hadn't even lasted for a week. As Samantha cried, Benjamin found himself stroking her tear-soaked, tangled hair away from her face and even comforting her with occasional murmurs just to remind her that he was still there. The thunderstorm that had lasted for hours began to fade as Samantha's tears ran out, and the quiet falling outside meant that the growls from the pair of empty stomachs inside were that much harder to ignore. "I'll go hunt," Benjamin said, slowly releasing Samantha from his arms. With his hands still on her upper arms, he told her, "You go across the street and see if you can stay with Jewel until I return. It isn't safe to leave you alone here, and she has enough males to protect you both as long as she doesn't mind. I'll do my best to hurry back, but it's getting late and there may not be much running around after that storm." Samantha looked like she might protest, but thought the better of it and acquiesced. "Please hurry," she said, repeating his words. "If you can't find any meat, I can eat other things too, you know. I'd just rather you came back sooner," she said quietly. Benjamin tried his best to ignore her last sentence as they stood up and he walked her across the street to the home of their nearest friend.

Benjamin gestured for Samantha to knock, remembering Jewel's previous reaction to Spencer's assertiveness. Hesitantly raising her closed fist, Samantha sought a look of approval from the scorpion before actually knocking on the door. Within seconds, the door flew open; a bird beastman had answered Samantha's knock, and Jewel's voice echoed from inside. "Samantha? Is that you? What happened over there? Come in, come in!" the bear female's voice boomed. Samantha was quickly ushered inside while Benjamin waited at the door. "You can go about your business," Jewel's mate told him flatly, and closed the door in his face. Samantha's mouth dropped in shock, but luckily, she kept any of the words that came to her mind exactly where they were. This wasn't her house, and she still had to get used to the customs of this world; this, she assumed, was one of them. Before she had the chance to form another thought, she found herself in the warm, comforting embrace of her friend while her legs were warmed up by Bub's fur as he wound himself tightly around them. "What are you doing here so late?" Jewel asked her, her voice full of concern. "And what happened at your house earlier? We weren't able to see much from over here, but it looked like something was the matter with your fox mate. We saw him being carried away. Are you all right? Come sit down and we'll talk," she said as she ushered Samantha to a comfortable-looking arrangement of stone chairs covered in thick furs. "Tommy," she added, "bring us some water; Samantha looks like she could use some. And these sons of yours are always thirsty, too!" The bear beastman whose head had barely poked around the corner of the room nodded, and he turned around to retrieve the items his mate had requested.

"Thank you so much," Samantha told her. "Benjamin needed to go out hunting, but he didn't want to leave me alone in the house now that Spencer is gone, so he brought me over here to visit while he's away" she explained as the remainder of her tears flowed down from her eyes. "At least that male has a modicum of sense," Jewel huffed, though Samantha could tell she approved of his actions even if she didn't approve of Benjamin himself. "But what about the other one? Why is he 'gone'? He's a four-stripe beastman, isn't he? There isn't much that could have taken him out," the bear female wondered aloud. "That's the thing; we have no idea," Samantha explained. "We had just mated-" she began, and Jewel cut her off before she could continue, saying, "Oh, honey, we all know that! You didn't cancel your spousal contract, did you?" Samantha blushed and muttered, "No," at the ground; she suddenly regretted the abandon with which she had thrown herself into mating with Spencer, even if most of her neighbors would have heard them no matter how quiet they had tried to be. "Even if you had," Jewel carried on, ignoring Samantha's embarrassment, "that shouldn't have been enough to injure him like that."

Samantha turned to face Jewel and looked around to make sure they were at least somewhat alone. "I think it has something to do with this," she whispered sadly as she closed her eyes and pulled at her top to reveal her blank spousal mark. "What in the name of the Beast Deity..." she heard Jewel gasp, obviously confounded as well. Samantha covered herself back up quickly before any of the ears possessed by the walls of Jewel's home grew eyes as well. "I don't know why it looks like this," Samantha said worriedly. "I've never had a mate before Spencer; could I be defective? Do you think there could be something wrong with our spousal contract? When I woke up, he was completely unresponsive, and neither Benjamin nor I could stop those foxes that showed up from taking him away to the Fox Tribe," she said hurriedly. "It's not you, sweetheart," Jewel reassured her. "I'm not sure what's happening either, but it isn't because of you. You'll see – the next mates you take will prove it to you," Jewel said confidently as she smirked, smoothing back her short, black hair with her long-nailed fingertips. "Next mates?!" Samantha gasped, nearly falling off her chair. "I- I couldn't bring myself to mate with anybody else. I don't even know anybody else! What if they got hurt too? I would never be able to forgive myself," she said in a panic.

"I'd be willing to take that risk," someone drawled from behind Samantha. She jumped in her chair, and Jewel chuckled. "I didn't mean right this second," the dry, straightforward voice continued, and Samantha had to remind herself to keep breathing. "Timothy!" Jewel exclaimed in amusement. "Who let you in here? Was it Tommy? He should know better," she grumbled as said mate rounded the corner with curled leaves full of water in his hands. "He was just worried about our cub," Tommy said, trying to placate the female. "I was just going to let him pop in to see the little one was safe, and then be on his way. He's been looking for our son since he went missing, after all, and I didn't want him to worry now that he's back home," he explained, and Jewel sighed, knowing Tommy was only trying to do what she would have told him to do anyway. "Samantha, this is Timothy; he's one of Tommy's brothers from the bear tribe. Although they were born in the same litter, Timothy is the eldest, and he's always been very protective of his family. When we sent word back that our cub had gone missing, Timothy dropped everything to track him. I'm surprised you two never ran into each other, seeing as you carried our son all the way here with your males." Realizing that Samantha wasn't about to turn around and look at him, Timothy crossed into her field of vision. "You mean you're the one that found this li'l guy?" he said quizzically, nearly forcing her to look at him.

Like his brother, Tommy, Timothy had light olive skin and blond hair, which he kept short in what must be the Beast World version of a buzz cut. He had heavy stubble covering his upper lip, cheeks, and chin, and he looked like he could use a bath. The dark circles under his eyes made it clear to Samantha that Timothy really had been searching nonstop for his nephew. His huge figure loomed over Samantha as he spoke to her; although he was not as muscular as King Scott, he had extremely defined, large muscles. He was probably the tallest person in Jewel's house, although Samantha recalled she had yet to formally meet all of Jewel's males. Timothy raised an eyebrow at Samantha, then asked Jewel, "Does she talk? It's not like I'm gonna bite her. Actually, I kinda like her." Samantha wondered if her face would ever adapt to all the blushing she was doing in this world while Jewel responded, "You know she talks, you heard her as soon as you walked in the door! And what's this about you liking a female? What happened to 'You're not gonna catch me settling down' and all that nonsense?" Ignoring Jewel's good-natured ribbing, Timothy sat on his heels in front of Samantha, his large green eyes studying her unabashedly. "I like this one," he responded simply. "She's a little quiet, but I got a feeling that won't last long. And," he paused, trying to think of the right words to continue with, "she's good. I just got a feeling about it, and I know I'm not wrong."

Jewel laughed again, playfully swatting Timothy's arm with her elegant hand. "You aren't wrong, but you are gonna scare her away if you don't back off. Let me tell you about how she rescued this little cub here," she said as she pulled Bub into her lap. Samantha felt the lump that had been blocking her throat begin to dissolve, and she continued to study Timothy discreetly. She was still processing everything he had said since they first met; he was unlike any other beastman she had met so far. He was honest, but he still seemed kind. His intentions toward her were clearly spoken, or at least mostly so, yet he managed not to nauseate her and didn't seem clingy. But as soon as the thought that she might like to get to know him entered her mind, a massive wave of guilt washed over her. Spencer had just been taken from her, and she was sitting here with an interested male as though her mate had never existed. Bub had just brought out his stuffed bear for Timothy to admire when Samantha stood up to leave. "I'm sorry," she stammered, "I need to go home. I'm just feeling a little overwhelmed right now, but I'll wait for Benjamin there. I'm so sorry to trouble you." Jewel's face turned stern as she said, "You can't wait there by yourself. It's not safe, and you know it. At least let Timothy wait with you; you might be surprised to hear it, but he isn't bad company. And I won't let you leave without at least one male to guard you. Timothy is a strong, three-striped bear beastman, but I can send more of my weaker partners with you if you'd prefer that."

Defeated, Samantha gave in to Jewel's demands and brought a confused but earnest Timothy across the street into her darkened house. "I'm sorry the accommodations aren't better, but we'd just moved in when whatever happened to my mate took place. We don't have any furniture to speak of, but my guardian beast, Benjamin, will be back soon with whatever food he can find," she told him as she started to ramble. "No worries," Timothy said lightly. "Let's start a fire; we can't have you getting cold, and we can cut down on the work your Benjamin will need to do later," he added practically. The pair headed into the kitchen and stumbled to find old firewood and flint. "What are you doing?" Timothy asked. "You sit down, I'll take care of this. I may not be your male, but you're obviously going through some shit. Let me take care of you, okay?" The tone of his voice grew gentle, and Samantha felt the fight leave her as if his words were a balm to the ache in her soul. "Thank you," she said quietly as she sat down, watching him work. His every movement was precise and calculated, and she couldn't help but admire his expertise in something so simple as building a fire. Before she knew it, the room filled with light and smoke poured up toward the chimney. Timothy covered her in a fur and shoved a cone of water into her hands while they waited for Benjamin to return home.