Ai o Ataeru Kemono-tachi

[Douglas] “How long should I wait for you, by the way?”

Looking over my shoulder at the voice, Douglas-san stood with his arms crossed at the entrance of the tent, staring at us.
When Gail-san noticed his gaze, he jerked up stiffly.

[Chika] “Do… Douglas-san, welcome back! There’s an explanation for this.”

[Douglas] “Yeah, I’ve heard about it from Glenn.
It’s a good thing that you seem to have overcome your resistance towards beast form.
Aside from that, I am quite pissed at Gail who’s stealing a march on you.”

Douglas-san continued glaring at Gail-san with a scornful glare.

[Douglas] “Well, it was okay until the point where you stopped Glenn, but what about what happened afterward? Didn’t we decide to show him our beast form together? Gail, do you have any excuses?”

[Gail] “Tha… that’s uh… I just went with the flow of the situation, or rather it’s something I should do…”

[Glenn] “Hoho… alright, go on.”

I wondered what it was, Douglas-san was quiet, but I could feel a tremendous amount of anger from him.

[Chika] “Douglas-san, it’s not Gail-san’s fault.
I told him that I was a little frightened when I saw Glenn’s beastly form, and maybe that’s why Gail–”

[Douglas] “Chika, yeah, yeah, I get it.
I’ll hear what you have to say later.
And I’m sorry, Chika, but could you please go to Glenn? I think I need to have a chat with this bad bear.”

Douglas-san, who was looking at me, had a huge smile on his face, but his eyes were not smiling at all.
On the other side, I felt that Gail was trembling slightly.

[Chika] “Um, Douglas-sa─”

[Douglas] “Hmm? Chika is a good kid, so you’ll listen to what I say, right? Hey! Glenn, you’re there, right? Take Chika with you!”

As soon as his voice rang out, the human form of Glenn-san appeared at great speed.
My hand was pulled tightly behind my back and I was taken away from the scene.

“Glenn-san! If we left them like that, Gale-san will-”

“It’s useless.
When the branch manager becomes like that he cannot be stopped.
Assistant Gail will be okay, he should do well… Probably.”

I was worried about Gail-san, but Glenn-san wouldn’t let me go, so I quietly waited for them in the next tent.

“They’ve known each other for a long time, so I’m sure they’ll be fine.”

“Are you sure it’s okay? What if they get into a fight or something?”

“That’s …… something I don’t even want to think about.”

Since I could only wait, I thought of asking Glenn-san some questions.

“Glenn-san, may I ask you a few questions about the beast-men beast appearance, or beast form, if you don’t mind?”

“Yeah, I will answer anything I know about it.
But, I’m not as good as Mintz at explaining things.”

“No, that’s not true.
So, first of all, can anyone who is a beast-man change into a beast form?”

“No, everyone is in their beast form when they are born.
Whether or not they can turn into a beast even after growing up depends on their traits.
Ah, Chika-kun, you’re cold, aren’t you?”

Glenn-san took the form of a wolf again and wrapped me around.

“Thank you, it’s really warm.”

“It’s nothing.
Anyway, when it comes to the nature of each person, it’s important to know whether or not they’ve inherited any of the characteristics of their race.
You can’t see it at a glance, and often the person themselves doesn’t even realize it.”

“Regarding the nature of each race, do beast-men have special abilities that are different from those of humans like me?”

When I scratched the base of Glenn-san’s throat, he purred with a pleasing sound.
Here? Is this a good spot?

“Think of it, it depends on the race, but for example, I have pretty good hearing among beast-men.
And I never lose my sense of direction in the forest.”

“I see, so you’re saying that those beast-men who have inherited such special abilities can turn into their beast form.”

“Well, that’s the gist of it.”

Next was a massage at the base of the forefoot.
After caressing the paws for a little, I massaged while applying pressure in the area around the base.

“Ooh, Chika-kun.
That feels really good!”

“By the way, can Mintz-san and Paris-san turn into their beast form?”

“Mintz can, but Paris can’t.
It’s not just Paris, but it seems that bird-type beast-men can’t change into a beast form.
Well, they can’t fly even if they can turn into beasts, so it doesn’t seem to matter much.
By the way, Mintz’s beast form is much smaller than his normal body and it’s really cute.
I hope he lets you see it next time.”

Glenn was happy to tell me something that Mintz was going to get mad about again.

I wanted to see it so badly, but it was hard to ask when I thought of the disaster that would befall Glenn-san afterward.

We continued chatting like this for about an hour.

“Oh, sorry to keep you waiting.”

Douglas-san came back with his usual expression.
And behind him was the haggard Gail-san who looked as if all the life had been sucked out of him.

Just what …… what happened in the tent next to me?

When I glanced on my side, Glenn seemed to be thinking the same thing.

“[The discussion] ended safely.
Chika, it’s now my turn, and we’re going to sleep together!”

Without waiting for my reply, Douglas-san quickly carried me up and took me to the next tent.
I glanced at the two of them, but they averted their gaze.

T/N: Chika glanced at Glenn and Gail.

“That darned Gail stealing a march from me.
Even I want to ‘mumble mumble mumble’ with Chika…”

Douglas-san is venting his frustration with great intensity.
It’s not that I meant to, but I guess I was relying on Gail-san a little too much.

“I’m sorry if I made you feel bad, Douglas-san.
I’ll be careful in the future, so please don’t blame Gail-san too much.”

“Oh, no, no, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to make you feel uncomfortable too, Chika.
It’s just, I’m aware of my own jealousy, so I was a bit angry.
Anyway, will you take a look at my beast form?”

“Yes, of course.
And I’m sorry, I didn’t realize that I was making you feel bad.”

“Don’t be so quick to blame yourself, we did it on our own.”

When he said that, Douglas-san stripped naked and winked at me.
Just like the others, his body glowed for a moment, then twisted and the light disappeared.

What appeared was a golden lion with a splendid mane.

How could I describe it?

The size, the mane, the big ears, the face, the limbs, all of it gave me a sense of the magnificence of a lion, the pinnacle of predators.

It was not that I’m afraid, but I was overwhelmed by his power.

“What’s wrong? Are you okay, Chika?”

His usual baritone voice sounded even more austere, and I felt as if my ears were being raped.

“I’m fine, I was just a little surprised at how dignified and powerful you are.”

Mr.
Douglas flicked his tongue out and licked his lips, then slowly approached me.

“Well, even though I’m rotten, I’m still a member of the lion race royalty.
So I have to maintain a certain amount of dignity.
Lions are predators, after all.
And my prey is you, Chika.”

He said that and licked his lips again.

The expression on his face was light, but the tone of his voice and his whole body was that of a predator.

I sat down on the ground with a sigh.

I did that and Douglas-san leaned in close to me.

“Hahaha, sorry, did I scare you a little too much? I can’t help but feel that my lion instincts are getting stronger in this body.
Seems that I can’t endure it in front of my lovely prey that I let out all sorts of things.”

The aura of a predator seemed to have weakened as Douglas licked my neck and face while saying this.

This much is okay.

I leaned in close to Douglas and stroked his mane, face, and ears, and kissed his face.

“I understand a little bit what it’s like to be preyed upon by a predator.
But I wouldn’t mind being eaten by you, Douglas-san.
I’d be happy to be eaten by someone I love.”

“Ugh… Chika, don’t stir things up too much! I didn’t plan to embrace you on this trip.
I have to desperately try to hold back.”

“I’ve been threatened a bit, so I just returning the favor.”

“You’ll regret this when we reach the Capital.
Bad children need to be punished, and my punishments are so severe.
I won’t stop even if you cry.”

Douglas-san also gave me a light kiss on the cheek.

“So, should we go to bed now?”

“You’re right.
Um, don’t we need to call Gail-san and the others?”

“Today, that guy and Glenn will be sleeping in the other tent, so it’s okay.”

I’m sure that was also forcibly decided in the ‘discussion’.

“Umm, Douglas-san, are you going to rest like this?”

“Yeah, Glenn told me you were a little cold.
I think my fur isn’t too bad.

Then, Douglas-san laid down and made room for me between his stomach and chest, just like Glenn-san had done.

I wrapped myself in a blanket and settled in there.

Douglas-san’s body bends tightly, and one arm wraps around me.

The softness of the fur and the warmth of his body are very comfortable.

“Hey Chika, are you in pain?”

“I’m a little too happy to be in agony, but I’m fine.”

“Well, that’s good, but we’re going to be on a hard march tomorrow, so make sure you rest properly.”

I was so happy to sleep wrapped in fluff.
And that fluff was my beloved.

I wondered if there was any other happiness like this.
I’m sure that this is how I would be sleeping with Gail-san tomorrow.
I’m really looking forward to it.

“Good night, Douglas-san.”

“Good night, Chika.
Have a good rest.”

TL: Kurokami Anko, Sarachicle