Beastmen: She Tames the Land-Chapter 40: Resonance

Waking up, Visha expected to feel ashamed.

She expected to wake up with her mind feeling the weight of the decision she made. She expected herself to be worried about what was to come. Her thoughts of leaving and wanting to go home seemed to have vanished.

Instead, in their place was a stillness. A feeling of connection she had never felt before. It hummed in the air.

She lay between Uri and Xeno, the weight of them a reminder of last night. Xeno at her back and Uri in front. It felt...right.

A sense of satisfaction washed over her body. A keening growl left her lips.

You didn’t fight me, it murmured.

I didn’t want to, Visha replied.

She felt something settle in her soul. She could still talk to it, but she felt as though they were becoming one entity. She knew sooner or later, there might be a day she wouldn’t hear that voice again.

But she wasn’t panicked. It was her own voice. A part of her that had not been able to breathe for a long time. Now, in this world, it was able to integrate. Allowing her to be the purest form of herself.

She felt a hand stroking her thigh. Looking up, she saw Uri, eyes dark, looking down at her, searching her face. Her leg opened slightly as he touched her inner thigh, resting his hand there.

A kiss fell on her neck, and she turned to see Xeno awake.

"You’re awake," Xeno rumbled his voice thick with sleep.

"How are you feeling?" Uri asked, his tone softer than usual.

They waited for her response.

Visha felt Uri’s hand tighten on her thigh. Xeno’s arm around her waist gripped her tighter as well. They were hesitant. Waiting for her response.

Lying on her back, Visha smiled. A slow, genuine smile that made her entire face light up. "I feel...amazing. Like I’m coming home after a long journey." 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

Sitting up, she gestured for them to sit with her.

Their bodies were naked, but Visha no longer felt the shyness she would usually feel when seeing them. Instead, her eyes roamed their figures appreciatively. Lingering on the places she had marked.

"What happened last night...wasn’t a loss of control. It was fusion. When I woke up from accepting my priestess duties, there were changes in my body. I wasn’t able to explore them before," she smiled, speaking softly. "Apparently, I have a beast form."

The words shocked them. Visha could see their bodies going rigid. The shock was evident on their faces. Xeno opened his mouth to speak, but she stopped him.

"Wait, let me finish first," she said, placing a kiss on each of their lips. "We," she said, motioning among the three of them. "...have a bond. Something called a soul-bond. I’m not completely certain what it is yet, but I know the three of us are linked. You should have felt it last night when we kissed. Even now, the bond is still circling. It will only get stronger with time."

Visha stopped talking, letting them digest what she had said.

"I’ve heard of the soul-bond," Uri stated after a moment.

Visha turned to him, surprised. She watched as he smiled, gently.

"It’s a story told by the Snake tribe. A child’s fable. It’s said that couples used to have life or soul bonds. The beast form would feel the pull of their mate. That person is the person linked to you by the beast god. The deeper the bond, the closer the couple. They said some even had the ability to communicate through thought."

"Is this the reason the Snake tribe treats partners so seriously?" Visha asked.

"A part of it," Uri nodded. "Although most are solitary, who really wants to be alone all their lives? Having someone they can trust, even without a soul-bond, is what they aspire to."

"The Tiger tribe also has a story about the soul-bond. It isn’t like Uri told it. For the Tiger tribe, it is said to be a pact between a couple. They decide to live together as one, without taking other partners."

Visha nodded.

It seems that soul bonding is a legend afterall. But for the three of them, a soul-bond is very real.

"Well, now we are the stuff of legend," Visha said, grinning. "This bond, it doesn’t just affect us physically. It affects us emotionally. The closer we get, the more it might fundamentally change us. We are still separate people. But we are also one entity."

"I want to know something. Shasha," Xeno’s gaze lingered on her. "Can you control it? Your beast form?"

Visha lowered her eyes, "I can’t, not right now. But the bond helps. I didn’t grow up with this like you, so I have no idea how to control it." She looked up, her eyes firm, "So I need your help to do."

Xeno laughed, "Of course, we’ll help. You’re ours, Shasha. This means you can’t think about leaving anymore. You’re a priestess now, and we have a tribe. One day, we might even have a little one."

Visha’s hands flew to her belly. She remembered last night Uri had released inside her. Her eyes looked between both men. She wasn’t sure what to say. Panic was about to set in.

Uri touched her shoulder, "Do you not want to have children with us?" His voice sounded hoarse.

Visha looked between them, seeing the hurt expression on their faces. She realized she may have made them feel unhappy.

"No, that’s not it. I want to have children with you. I just don’t think now is a good time." She spoke quickly, trying to dispel their doubts.

Xeno wrapped her up in his arms, resting her on his lap. His eyes bore into her, "So you want to have our child?"

She nodded vigorously.

"How about we start now?" Xeno said teasingly.

Visha felt the slap of his dick against her bottom. She froze.

"Stop teasing her," Uri said, hitting Xeno on the shoulder.

"Who says I’m teasing. She wants our child; we can definitely try. Try multiple times a day." Xeno joked, pulling Uri into his arms as well.

"Sha’mīn, don’t listen to him. You can’t have children now. There are still more than ten years before children will come." Uri quipped, leaning into Xeno.

Visha was confused by the statement. "What do you mean by more than ten years?"

"You can’t have children until you become forty. Did you not learn this?"

Something exploded in Visha’s mind. What do they mean by forty? Since when did someone need to be forty to have a child? Her mind was reeling; she couldn’t understand.

"Remember, I told you that place is different from this one. Why do you only have children at forty here? In the place I left, women were able to have children as soon as they went through puberty. Granted, it wasn’t advised to have any until after eighteen." Her eyes were flicking back and forth between them.

"Sha’mīn, females are physically incapable of having children until they turn forty. Physical maturity at twenty and childbearing starts at forty." He held her gaze.

Visha felt her throat close up; she couldn’t let out a sound. What Uri said made no sense to her. Having children at forty is dangerous.

She looked at Xeno, "How old is your mother?"

"Ma? She’s seventy-two." Xeno replied calmly.

Visha choked on air.

The fuck do you mean seventy-two? Where is she seventy-two? If she’s seventy-two, how old are you? Did I just fuck someone old enough to be someone’s dad? Or grandpa?

"Then...," she asked timidly, "how old are both of you?"

Visha held her breath, afraid of the number she would hear. She had completely forgotten that Willa was Xeno’s mother, even after asking the question.

"Twenty-five," they answered together.

Visha released the breath she was holding. But then went rigid.

"Wait, then how does that work? Are we still classified as children or are we adults?" Visha scratched her head.

"Physical development means adulthood. So we are adults at twenty. Shasha has just become an adult." Xeno said playfully.

Visha took a moment. She needed to wrap her head around people having children at forty. She couldn’t help calling the system.

System, can I still have children now?

[No, after accessing your identity as a priestess, you no longer have a human body. Just like others of the Beast Continent, you will have children at forty. Your lifespan has also been lengthened. The average lifespan of the Beast continent is 420 years.]

Visha almost choked again.

This was something she didn’t know. She didn’t even think about asking whether they would live longer than her. She expected them to grow old together. It would seem their definition of old and hers are very different.

No, she thought. I’m the same as them now.

She realized she didn’t have to worry about aging. Even if she were, their bond would push her age to be similar to theirs.