Beauty in the beast world

Lyra woke up quite groggily. Her entire body ached, the good kind of ache that one gets after working out. And working out she did, with her mate. Her golden boy....her beautiful mate... Kyrell gave her a workout that she would never forget in her life.

Those raunchy thoughts aside, Lyra felt like she had become a new person. Her heart felt like it was full, was she lactating even before giving birth? That made her laugh, "Ha...ha.." She chided her silliness before getting up from the bed. Her bare body slipped out of the warm fur blanket making her shiver due to the sudden cold air. Kyrell had washed her after their session, so she wasn't feeling very sticky or sluggish, but her breath did stink.

This was the case every time she woke up from her sleep. She couldn't understand how those heroines in books and movies woke up kissing their boyfriends without brushing their teeth first. Wouldn't their breath stink? Or was she the only dirty one?

Covering herself with one of Kyrell's robes she walked towards the bathhouse. Her dress? She vaguely remembered Kyrell tearing it apart and it probably would be still too wet to wear. It was not like her mate would mind her borrowing his clothes; in fact, he would keep the robe she was wearing now as something precious; she was sure of it.

When she reached the bathhouse, instead of going to the bathing area, she went to the small stream that would suffice for her just brushing her teeth. Once again, she was in wonder about the Lion Palace's grandiosity. Back in the Rose palace, her mates had to fetch water for every other purpose but here? The castle was designed in a way so that a natural water stream would meet their every need. Lyra had heard about her late father-in-law being good with architecture and building things. Noah always said that after his father came to power, the castle, as well as their tribe, improved drastically. She once again felt her heart clench for her mate, how much stress he must be under to be as good as his father in ruling the tribe? The entire Lion clan was looking up at him to prove himself, which would burden even the strong.

That made her scared for tonight's banquet. It was more like a dueling banquet where any Beastman who wished to challenge Noah's claim would enter the fighting arena. Her mate must accept every challenge be it from one or from thousands. He must defeat them all and only then will he be considered worthy to the throne.

The Beastworld was not an absolute monarchy. Yes, many other tribes followed the Hereditary monarchy but not the Lion tribe. Here, the power of the ruler mattered more than anything else. The offspring of the King were preferred as the next ruler because it was believed that they would be just as strong as their sire. If no other beastmen were as powerful as the chosen heir, then him becoming the next King was a given.

But this was not so easy in Noah's case. The late Lion King died very early, and Noah has still not crossed the Five-marked stage which was desired in a king by the tribesmen. Her mate was a four-star marked beastman; he was able to achieve this at his young age with sheer determination and hard work. If only he had more time, he would have crossed onto Five marked, and none of this would have mattered. Lyra hated seeing her mates get hurt, but she would die before she stopped them from doing what they wanted to. She didn't want to hinder them from reaching their full potential and taking what was theirs. That was also why she had stayed silent whenever they returned injured after their gruesome training.

A sigh left her lips as she balanced herself on the stone slab. She took the neem twig on the counter and mixed it with the charcoal before putting it inside her mouth. This was the best method she found after many trials and errors to clean her teeth. Initially, she used only charcoal but never felt fully satisfied with the result, so she shifted towards her mate's suggestion and used many other things but none worked. Now, she finally stopped her experiment on Neem twigs mixed with charcoal. It left her breath so fresh, on par with commercial toothpaste back in the earth.

After washing her face, she returned to the room and found Kyrell searching for her with a warm soup in his hands. Her sweet mate had brought her something to eat. Well, she was feeling famished anyway.

"Sweetheart?" Lyra called, gaining his attention and making him look at her.

Kyrell chuckled seeing her wearing his robe. It was way too big on her and she was disappearing inside it. It was adorable. When he entered the room, he couldn't pinpoint his mate's location, and that made him uneasy. Her scent was rubbed all over his room. Although it made him happy to have her scent so potent inside his resting chamber, at some point he panicked not seeing her. He thought she had woken up and had left leaving her scent behind.

Lyra walked to him and looked inside the cup to find hot meat soup. Its aroma hit her nose, and thankfully, she didn't find it repulsing. She would feel bad if she couldn't eat what her mate brought with care. He must have told the kitchen to cook something that she loved. The kitchen of the Lion tribe knew her well. She liked soups more than many other things. Tomato soup, mushroom soup, chicken soup, mutton soup....you name it, she liked it. It gave her a hearty and cozy feeling and reminded her of her mates.

"Did you eat something?" Lyra asked as she started to sip in the soup. Kyrell stared at her adoringly as she ate.

"I'll eat afterwards"

Lyra frowned and offered, "Here, have some with me"

Kyrell shook his head, "This is for you"

"But I'll feel bad if only I eat"

He was conflicted. He wanted her to eat all of it so that she would recover her energy, but he also didn't want to make his mate sad.

"One sip then," he compromised, and in return, his mate gave him a bright smile before feeding him soup. She ate one time while he did another time. The bowl became empty in a time, and Kyrell took it outside to hand it over to the servants while Lyra asked one of the servants to bring the dress that she was going to wear during tonight' duel. She would look her best so that Noah would be more motivated in his fight.