The Beginning of the End

So, this new dude strolls in kinda like he owns the place and starts looking around. For now, I remain on the sidelines and observe our new guest while trying to stay out of sight. I'm curious what his first move will be and I'm ready to intercept the quite unusual client at a moment's notice.

Our slightly plump guy strokes his chin while making slow spins with his cane, clearly enjoying being in the spotlight. His quite unfazed gaze roams over the main lobby without stopping at anything in particular.

I catch him slowing down when his eyes move over the multiple beauties tending to our other patrons but that it itself isn't anything new, honestly. The girls do get a few spectators now and then, coming here just for the eye candy. There certainly is a thing or two to admire here.

Seemingly finished with taking in the sights, he continues his parade forward while still peeking to the sides. Some of our guests nod at the newcomer politely but he ignores the gestures completely. It doesn't really get to them and they return to enjoying their time with the beautiful ladies, delicious food, and the highest quality drinks.

Since I have a pretty good grasp of his character just from the few short minutes I've observed the guy, I sweep in before he makes it to the reception. I'd rather not have him spoil Elise's good mood. She is having a very nice day with many customers chatting her up and praising her help in the selection of available goods.

Trying not to insert myself too abruptly, I cross the white suit's path.

"Welcome, traveller, to our humble establishment. My name is Alastair and it would be my honour to guide you through the pleasures of the perfect Utopia," I say with a melodic tone and make a small bow.

He stops his little trek and raises a brow at me.

"Oh, what an honour, the owner himself has shown up to greet me!" He guffaws heartily. "You do know how to approach your valued customers, young man, I can commend you for that."

I smile a little wryly at his reply. Maybe there's something wrong with my eyesight but he doesn't look older than fucking thirty-something. I smell a superiority complex. And boy, it does not smell nice.

"But, of course, dear sir. I believe myself to be in possession of a quite decent insight as someone who has to run this place and my eyes would be considered flawed if I didn't notice such a captivating presence." I decide to play along for now.

"Very good, very good. I agree that you do seem to have eyes for a thing or two. I'm positively surprised. Being able to find something at least somewhat visually pleasing amongst those monsters is certainly a talent. Looking at all the slaves here I can almost fully forget what they are. That's an achievement, and surely explains how your business has gained such a following."

Well, thank you very much, you twat, but I'm pretty sure it's because people actually are into those monsters and not just plain, boring Humans.

"I'm very pleased to hear that, Mister…" I keep my thoughts to myself and smile at the man kindly.

"Duke Gloomveil," he replies with a little twirl of his cane.

"Oh. A nobility. It's certainly an honour." I nod politely again.

The Duke raises a brow at me. "Not really. It's a title. Haven't you heard of me?"

And how the fuck am I supposed to know that, my dude? You certainly emanate an aura of a noble asshole. But, if our quite dignified guest isn't, then I'm pretty sure there's only one other option considering that he knows who I am.

"With all due respect, I'm quite fresh in the field. I'm afraid I'm not yet acquainted with everyone around here, especially since I had a lot of errands to run outside of the capital, leaving the management to my second in command. Am I correct to assume that I have the pleasure of speaking to a member of the association?"

"Right. It's not unexpected. The meeting happens tomorrow so it's not that surprising." The man sniffs and scrunches his nose. "Yes, I'm the Fifth Seat of the association. I thought it would be a good idea to meet our new potential member before gathering. I'm sure you would find it easier to fit in with a hint or two from a senior. First impressions matter a lot."

Ah. I see. Someone is trying to get a headstart. It looks like this association doesn't have that much of a friendly and supportive environment but it was to be expected. I can only imagine how many secret alliances have been formed under the guise of normal cooperation inside their little union. And I might be right in front of one that could potentially decide my fate.

The good old 'I'll help you in and you become my bitch'. I'm surprised he is the only one who has approached us. He must either have quite the standing in the association or… considering the number of his seat… close to none. It would be only natural for him to assert dominance over the newbie so that his own rank rises instead of being threatened.

Well, sure, I'm game. For now, at least.

"I agree and appreciate the offer greatly. Honestly, I don't even know how many establishments the association is made up of."

"Oh, it's just all the most respectable establishments here, not much else. There are currently five of us working together under the oath of camaraderie. As you can imagine, that entails a lot of support where everyone shares their ideas, strategies, plans, and resources. Nothing but benefits. Not everyone has the privilege to call themselves a respected member of the association."

I chuckle inwardly. I bet the Fifth Seat does not mean that he is on the top of the pyramid. My bet would be on the complete opposite. And that reinforces my earlier belief. Someone is attempting not to be pushed even further down.

Plus, all that mutual sharing? Yeah, for sure. I can already sense the 'we are one big family here' slogan as everyone politely demands to know what exactly we have been doing to rise in popularity that fast while what they share back isn't of any value.

"Sounds quite nice. I'm sure that our little brothel could learn a lot from the more experienced establishments. I'm very grateful for the invitation and surely will do my best to show up," I say with another respectful bow.

"Definitely. It would be unwise to ignore the President's generous offer. There's nothing to lose, only to gain." He chuckles and spins his cane once more. "And, you know, it wouldn't be impossible for me to whisper a good word or two about what I've seen here to the President. Of course, I would need to take a closer look at something more than just this beautiful main hall."

His eyes wander to the big painting above the reception and I smirk to myself. It looks like even the owners of the other brothels aren't immune to Neira's powerful painting technique. I'm pretty sure I know what he would like to look at. Perhaps having some fun for free isn't the only objective here. I could see it being an attempt to snoop for some of our secrets on the side, trying to interrogate the girls under the guise of a fun time.

But, I'm not really worried about that part. The last person who tried fucking with us later needed the cooperation of the biggest alchemical brains of the kingdom to save his ass. Or dick. The only thing the respected Duke Gloomveil will learn if he comes up with any funny business is the date of his own death if he is lucky. And I better make sure he is aware of that.

I show him my best business smile and gesture toward the reception.

"That can be arranged, honoured customer. I'm sure we have something that will catch your eye. Shall we see what the store has for us at the current moment?"

"Lead the way, then." He grins at me, visibly happy for the given opportunity, and most likely for me taking the bait.

We stroll together towards Elise and I exchange a few glances with the cute receptionist. I was going to instruct her mentally since we do share the connection but the visible spark in her eyes tells me that she has figured things out and knows exactly what to do.

Cute and smart, what a deadly combination.

She shows her sweetest smile and curtsies at the man. "Welcome, dear sir. My name is Elise. How can I help you tonight?"

"For starters, why don't we take a peek at the menu?" I ask and Elise promptly extends the decorative card to the Duke.

He begins to enthusiastically flip through while I carefully observe his reactions. Some pages he quickly skips past and I catch why. It looks like our crafty friend isn't into more monstrous girls but that has to be expected after his initial comment. His gaze lingers the longest over those who don't differ much from Humans.

Naturally, that ends up being our freshly settled Wood Elves and quite popular already half-blood Beastkin residents. In the end, it seems that his choice falls onto the latter as his eyes move between Hari and Feriha, out of which, only the former's portrait isn't greyed out due to a currently ongoing service.

"Hari, is it? She seems like the perfect girl," he comments after reading through her short bio and the bullet-point list of what she likes and dislikes.

"Well then, I'm sure you two can have a good time if so." I nod at Elise and she slips in a sheet of fancy paper. "All we need to do now is just to familiarise ourselves with the rules, sign them, and the doors to this paradise will stand open before us."

"Sign?" His brow rises again.

Our professional receptionist takes it on herself before I answer.

"We value our employees just as much as we value our customers, dear sir, aiming to offer only the best to our patrons. I have no doubt that you sir don't mean any harm but this allows us to legally void the service with anyone who causes trouble for them. It's mostly a safety measure. Do be sure to read carefully, especially the section regarding mutual in-service communication and signalling," she explains with an upbeat tone.

I wait for a moment to see if this evokes any negative reactions from the guy as he goes through the list. Ain't no way I'm letting him any close to anyone if I see him hesitate or gloss over even one of the points. It's him who should feel lucky to be here, not the other way. But, if he behaves, we might be able to use him as a stepping stone.

Thankfully, even if the idea confused him initially, he doesn't seem to give off any worrisome signals and signs the rules with his super fancy and complex signature, using a beautiful, very overblown ink pen. No surprises here.

Our High Elf beauty escorts him to the room as I follow them with my gaze until they disappear behind a corner. We share a glance with Elise and I nod at her appreciatively for all the good work she's been putting in tonight. A faint flush covers her adorable cheeks and she smiles back brightly.

Then, we continue with our lives. I remain at the reception and help her out a little with the other guests. They certainly appreciate the chance to speak with both of us but I can see that most are much more eager to share a conversation with the dazzling receptionist.

I'm fairly sure our Elise stole quite a few hearts already with her cheerful and bright attitude. All that experience from the Adventurer's Guild is coming in with a clutch. Plus, I'm quite inclined to believe that some of the customers are adventurers, perhaps even ones she has guided in the past.

Oh, boy. They sure are going to love our new cosplay service. The cute receptionist might be off-limits but there will be plenty of those available soon, rivalling Elise's charm and beauty. We just need to get everything rolling and the costumes will start piling up in no time. Mari will certainly take care of that.

Thus, leaving the side of our younger receptionist so that the smitten boys can admire their little crush without another guy in the picture, letting her sweet talk them into then releasing their pent-up frustrations with a girl she personally chooses for them, I begin to wander around the lobby.

It's kind of funny seeing her being fully aware of their infatuation and taking full advantage of it. I wonder how many of them have her in their minds during those sweet moments instead of focusing on their actual partner. The selected women almost always end up being quite close in terms of personality and charm to our prized Elise.

Then, out of nowhere, a shiver runs down my spine and a feeling of dread pierces into my mind from the back of my head.

~Alp—~

A voice I very much recognize comes through the bond and I don't even let it finish. In an instant, everything turns silent and slows down as heat surges from my very core. Even before my brain fully registers the short call, my body is already long in motion and I see myself dashing forward straight through everyone on my path. My mind doesn't yet know where to, but my heart has taken the reins and doesn't have the slightest intention to be a second too late.

I stop in front of the door to a seemingly random room and smash my foot into it with all I have. It bursts wide open with a loud bang and some splinters of wood fly into the air from the obliterated frame.

My eyes immediately fall onto the bed in the middle of the room. Hari lies on her back with the fat fuck over her, with both of his hands clenched tightly around her neck. She's turned pale, much more than she usually is, as she tries her best to claw at her blocked throat.

Her ears twitch at the noise I've made and she slowly tilts her head towards me. No, I'm pretty sure it snaps in my direction but things are still at a slightly different pace from all the adrenaline rushing through my veins.

Her terrified, tear-stained face meets mine and we lock gazes. I stare deep into her wide eyes as one of her hands reaches towards me with her lips beginning to move silently. I don't need my talent to read the single word rolling off them in terror.

Help.

My vision flashes red and a deafening, sharp noise assaults my ears. With a loud roar, my right arm flies to the side and my hand slams into the nearby wall with unimaginable strength. The decorative wooden panel covering it explodes into splinters as my fingers dig deep into the hard surface behind it.

Five dark purple chains shoot out of the wall and rush forward like ravenous snakes. The ominous metal has a much more sinister shade and many more deadly spikes protruding from the links than usual. They reach their target in a blink and wrap themselves around the man's ankles, wrists, and neck.

He doesn't even get enough time to gasp before he crashes into the wall, getting pinned to it by the tight restraints, with his limbs spread towards the ceiling and the floor.

"Guah! What the fu—"

I ignore him completely and hastily jump to the bed, where Hari repeatedly wheezes for air and coughs violently in turns, holding her sore throat with her delicate hands. My fingers find hers and I tear them away quickly, pressing my palms into her reddened neck and activating Rejuvenate at full power.

Her eyes dart to mine again and it feels like someone drives a spike right into my heart when I meet her hurt gaze.

"It's okay… Everything is fine… I'm here and no one is going to hurt you anymore…" I whisper in the most calming and reassuring tone I can muster.

A strained smile curves her small lips a little bit and more tears start escaping the corners of her charming eyes. Her hand reaches to my cheek as if to make sure that it's real and I kiss the inner side of her palm gently and affectionately, still staring deep into her eyes.

"The fuck have you done, you birdbrain?! Argh! It hurts!" The guy whines behind my back with a furious tone. "Do you know who I am?! Untie me at this moment or I'm going to turn this place into ruins! You think you can offend me?!"

Getting a little better, Hari still coughs some more as she tries raising herself on her elbows.

"Cough, cough, cough. I'm… so… rry… I—" She struggles to bring out her hoarse voice and I hastily silence her.

"Shhhhh. Don't say anything for now. Just nod or tilt your head. Safe word?"

She nods faintly and a certain word appears in my head.

"Safe gesture?"

Another nod and an image of a certain action is conveyed to me.

I lean forward and place a delicate kiss on her forehead. "Give me just a minute and I'll be back with you. Breathe slowly. Your throat is still not healed up."

Standing up with a soft smile as she follows my face with her gaze, I drop it in an instant after turning around. The fucker hangs plastered to the wall by the chains seeping with violet darkness. Blood drips down his ankles, wrists, and neck as they cut into his skin painfully.

"Get this off me! You still may have a chance to save your pathetic life if you do it fast! What do you even—"

"Silence."

A single word leaves my lips but it's enough to make him shiver and completely shut up. I slowly walk closer to the sorry excuse of a man and stop right in front of his face. His eyes widen as my own drill into his with murderous intensity.

"Did you forget to establish the safe word like the rules state?" I ask with a sharp tone.

"I… She didn't speak—hiiiiiiiiiii!"

I grab his balls and give them a good squeeze, evoking a pained squeal from the fat pig. Loosening my grip a little, I let him get enough air to talk further.

"The safety gesture for the lack of vocal communication. What is it?"

His eyes widen even more than I thought they could and they jump between me and Hari. He opens his mouth a few times but not a single word leaves his lips.

And no more ever will.

I let go of his sack and reach to the side. The draconic hilt materialises in my hand, quickly assuming the shape of a serrated shortsword. His head snaps towards it and he starts trembling in fear, shaking it violently to the sides.

"No, no, no, no…" he begs as I draw the sword back. "You can't kill me! You don't know who I am!"

"Mas… ter…"

Hari's weak voice reaches my ears from behind my back and I glance at her over my shoulder. She looks at me with a worried expression, still lightly clutching her throat. My grip tightens around the pommel but my mind clears up just a little bit after I stare into her anxious eyes.

Taking a deep breath, I turn to the front, glare at the guy, and thrust forward.

He shrieks in fear as my blade lunges at his neck but comes to a stop after realising that it has sunk into the wall right by his throat with a soft thud, barely grazing his skin. He opens his eyes and shudders, finding my forehead pressed right into his as I firmly hold onto the blade.

"I. Don't. Want. To. See. You. Any. Close. To. My. Girls. Ever. Again." I spell it for him slowly. "Understood?"

He starts nodding like mad, creating more wounds on the side of his neck in the process as the sharp teeth of my weapon are still pressing into it. I draw it and myself back before he cuts a major artery like that and dismiss the chains.

As he falls to the ground with a groan, I kick him towards the door with enough strength to slam his body into another wall and glance up at Teffith standing in the doorway.

"Escort our guest outside and give him his money back. I don't want his filthy coin to stain our coffers."

She nods obediently and grabs the guy by his hair, dragging him away without the tiniest issue. She has been strong before but having the support of my stats certainly helps make it much easier than it has to be.

A few of the girls still stand in the corridor, peeking inside at the commotion, but they all lower their heads apologetically after meeting my gaze.

"Tell Elise we are closing. Everyone out. Don't disturb the customers already in the middle of service. Apologise politely for the trouble and hand out free vouchers to the guests."

They hastily nod and scurry away. With no one present in the hallway anymore, I turn back to Hari. She observes me carefully with those pretty eyes of hers and her ears lying submissively atop her head.

"Master… You don't… have to…"

"I said don't speak yet." I remind her calmly as I come closer.

Summoning a decanter of water and a small glass, I quickly pour some of it over and help her take a few very small sips. Rubbing her back gently as she lets out a few coughs afterwards, I wave my hand once more and bring out a big towel.

I delicately wrap it around Hari's petite body to cover her figure and pick her up into my arms. She leans her head on my shoulder and I place a tiny kiss on her forehead before walking outside. Elea and a few of her friends are already there to clean the room up a little bit and I nod at them gratefully.

Taking the shortest route to my chamber, I use the stairs in the main hall, passing by the guests who are slowly leaving the establishment after the recent announcement. I don't really pay attention to their words at this moment and just walk ahead. I'll deal with the aftermath later.

We reach my room and I bring Hari to my bed, sitting her on my lap after I plop myself down on the edge. She stops nuzzling her face to my neck and raises her gaze up to meet mine. Some red marks are still visible around her soft neck so I immediately get to treating her, borrowing Healing Magic from Elea this time.

She lets out some quiet purrs and sighs in the process as the warm energy relaxes and treats her hurt muscles. I keep affectionately brushing through her hair with my other hand until we are fully done.

"Thank you, Alpha." Hari smiles at me weakly and places a small peck on my cheek.

"Hari, I'm so sorry for letting—"

She places a finger over my lips and continues to smile for a moment longer as her tail makes enchanting dances behind her back. Then, she turns a little sour and looks down.

"Please, don't apologise… It's my fault for being too weak to bear with it… You had to offend someone important because of m—"

I swat her hand away and gently grab her wrist.

"Gods, Hari, no. You did nothing wrong and you certainly aren't weak. No one is allowed to go this far ever. It's all on me for even letting him come anywhere near you."

"You couldn't know, Alpha." She shakes her head.

"I had a feeling he was a dick but not like this. I don't know how to apologise for letting him hurt you so much."

Hari giggles a little and strokes my cheeks with her hands. "It was nothing compared to what Micah did to us in the past. But… I'm happy you came to save me again…"

I brush over her palm with mine. "Of course. I always will, no matter how far you are and what happens. I'm your Alpha, right? All of you are under my protection."

She smiles sweetly and her eyes skip a few times to my lips. Putting my own hand under her chin, I pull Hari into a gentle kiss. She is going to receive all the delicate affection she needs and wants after what she has gone through. I do my best to convey my words through the tame pecks, as far from anything carnal as they can be.

"We really are blessed with the best Alpha…" she whispers as we finally break the kiss.

"How are you feeling?" I ask quietly.

"I'm okay. Just a little sore. You don't need to care for me so much, Alpha. I'm not even amongst your—"

"Sorry, not sorry," I say while standing up with her in a princess carry, evoking a cute yelp from the adorable Catkin. "It doesn't matter what you are or are not. You are an important member of my family and that's enough. A very lewd and perverted one, but one nevertheless. Now, you are getting a bath and a massage before obediently going to sleep with me. And I do mean sleep."

She blushes faintly and makes a tiny nod. Just as I said, I bring my precious catgirl to the baths and start gently taking care of her. She will feel much better after getting all cleaned up from what she has experienced. Stepping into the hot pool, I shove my clothes into my ring and leave just my underwear on to spare her from the additional sights.

But, Hari quickly tears it off me saying that seeing my strong manhood only makes her more at ease and that we are now technically after work so I have to be naked according to the bet.

Who am I to argue?

For the next half an hour, I wash all of her with utmost care and attention, spending a lot of time on her ears, tail, hair, and of course her precious place. As usual, my worries and efforts to not make it too sexual are thrown out of the window as she uses my firm fingers to get herself off while I'm delicately cleaning her girly parts, gripping my handle to assist herself with stability.

It doesn't evolve into anything more as Hari can clearly sense me trying to be considerate and I can feel her appreciation through our bond. I don't really blame her for being playful even now. That's just how she is and I'm glad she can relax more.

Afterwards, I bring her back to my room and head to bed. Gently tucking us under the covers, I embrace Hari from behind as she curls herself in while holding my hands to her petite chest. I keep lovingly kissing the nape of her neck until her breathing grows soft and slow, signalling that she has fallen asleep. Thinking about all of the things that have been set in motion, I doze off shortly after her.

Kind of just like I expected, I wake up to a hot and wet sensation in my nether regions. Opening my eyes, I notice that it's early morning, meaning that we haven't really slept that much. The second thing that captures my attention is how the covers seem to be jumping up and down by themselves.

Raising them with a hand, I reveal the perpetrator greedily bobbing her head up and down my erect cock.

"Mwhomnig, Ahfa," Hari slurs with my member between her lips.

I sigh softly and smile at her. "Seriously… You catgirls are insatiable…"

Feeling myself being pretty close as she has certainly been at it for a moment, I let my high slowly build up and Hari pulls me deep into her throat after sensing me twitching. After happily devouring my load, she draws her pretty lips back and crawls up my chest to rub her face into my neck.

"Your seed is the most delicious breakfast any female could have, Alpha," she purrs coyly.

"If you say so," I reply with a chuckle. "How was the night?"

"Very comfortable. Thank you for caring so much for me even with how annoying I've been to you all the time."

"Hey, hey, I love that side of you, Hari. It's quite unique. And you know that I just don't indulge in you if I'm busy or something. I enjoy seeing you come up with all those elaborate ploys on how to place yourself in embarrassing positions all around the mansion to seduce me into mating with you in the open," I admit as I stroke her cute ears.

"Really?" She asks quietly.

"Yes, really."

Her purrs grow a bit louder as she rubs her face into me even stronger, making it a tad ticklish. Soon, she stops and sits up over my waist, placing her hands on my abdomen. I brush her slim sides gently as she stares down at me with a wide, happy smile.

"You are the best Alpha I could have dreamed of. I'm too having a lot of fun. It's always a challenge. Beastkin would immediately jump at me each time I exposed myself but it's more enjoyable failing repeatedly until you finally can't resist shoving your thick cock into my tight, naughty pussy. Thank you so much, Alpha."

I chuckle again and sit up too. "No, thank you. And sorry again for yesterday."

She daintily pecks my cheek. "It's nothing. You've healed my body, and my heart, Alpha. But… I still feel bad about it…"

As she drops her gaze a bit, I ruffle her ears a bit more. "Don't. I should have cut that bastard into pieces right in front of you. But, he is more useful alive. And I promise you I will make him suffer."

Hari tilts her head at me adorably. "Useful?"

"Well, firstly, I didn't kill him since it would surely be bad to have someone die inside our walls. Certainly, even if we covered everything up, and involved the King, things wouldn't end there. Someone surely knows where he has gone for the night. But that isn't all that there is to it."

"What else is there, then?" Her ears twitch charmingly.

"He certainly ran back to his association and started feeding them lies about his treatment here. I already had a hunch that they aren't good guys and planned to take them down from the inside but now, if they openly show hostility towards us, I will have all the reason to take action without worrying about consequences," I explain. "Plus, many people saw what happened, how he was literally kicked out in full nude, how I delicately carried you away afterwards, and so on. We have quite a few witnesses who should be quite eager to lend us a hand if any trouble arises. They definitely will spread counter-rumours if they hear any lies coming from the guy."

"Ohhhhhhhhh. You are so smart, Alpha." Hari giggles cheerfully. "I really pity your enemies."

"They shouldn't have touched you."

"Oh, Alpha…" Hari bites down her lower lip with a sultry look. "I'm so happy to be in your pack…"

"And I'm happy to have you." I give her a gentle peck. "Now, gotta get up. I have a lot of work to do, quite a lot of places to destroy and lives to ruin. It's time people learned that you don't fuck with our girls."

Hari lets out another playful snicker and her entire small frame bounces cutely from it.

"Isn't that what people come here for, though?"

I chuckle with her and shake my head.

"Not like this. Certainly not like this."