20. Bree's New Home

Bree reached out and pressed her hand gently against the side of Byron's face while looking into his eyes. Then while her heart threatened to beat out of her chest, she closed her eyes and pressed her lips against his. Her heart was in shreds, it had been ever since she had discovered that her parents hated her in her previous life. That's why she could recognize the broken part in his heart and feel connected to him. They were both very broken people, but maybe they could be broken together until they were both healed.

Bree felt her face heat up when she realized that he wasn't responding, he was holding perfectly still. When she leaned back, she looked at Byron and he was staring at her with wide open eyes and a flushed face. He was perfectly still like a statue and his lips were slightly parted. It was a pretty cute reaction considering that he almost always appeared to be serious. Bree gave him a half smile while her eyes crinkled in a cute way. Then she leaned forward and hugged him.

"Yeah, let's make a go of it. Life is hard enough without having to live alone. I've never been in a relationship before, so I might not be very good at it. If I do something that bothers you, don't be afraid to let me know. I'll try to be good to you, so long as you're good to me." Bree patted his shoulder and then stood up.

"I heard that you're having a bath filled for me? I'd like to get cleaned up before I meet anyone else," Bree said while looking down at herself and then pulled out a twig that was poking her in the scalp.

Bree held out her hand to Byron to give him a hand up, but he took her hand in both of his and then brought it to his nose to sniff. Then he rubbed her hand against his face and neck. Bree looked at him with a confused frown on her face and then pulled her hand back after he released her.

Byron looked a little sheepish when he noticed her frowning face. "Exchanging scents," he said, as if those two small words should have cleared up all of her confusion.

Although her mind was racing with questions, she really needed a bath more than anything else. She was past the point of annoyance with the filth covering her and her patience had come to its limits. Filth was something that she couldn't abide.

Bree turned around and started walking back across the bridge, she was certain that as soon as she started walking away, he would snap out of his daze, and so he did. She sensed him standing up and swiftly following after her more than she heard him. Really, someone who is as big as he is should make more noise while walking around than he does. What kind of beastman was he anyway? Some kind of predator surely. A cat maybe? He was in a cat village, but he could be something other than a cat. He said that he wasn't originally from the cat village and that his mate came to that village because she liked cat shifters. Bree felt awkward that she hadn't asked what kind of shifter he was before, but he was already her mate now. She bit her bottom lip and didn't bring up the subject just now, perhaps it would come out on its own while they ate.

She felt his warm and calloused hand slide into hers and then intertwine with her fingers. She was startled at first, but she didn't pull her hand away. It wasn't actually unpleasant, just surprised her. Anyway, this was what she had decided. If she's going to be "mated" to him. Just holding hands isn't all that big of a deal. She'll have to get used to his presence, aren't things going to have to advance much further between the two of them eventually? Flashes of embarrassing scenes that she's seen during movies go through her mind. OMG! Why is her mind going there? It's not like she hasn't had the urge to be with a guy ever before, but OMG! It's also not like she isn't attracted to Byron, she isn't dead! Well, not anymore in any case. Seriously, he's ridiculously hot! He looks like he's the result of a sexually repressed famous sculptor making a masterpiece. Is it even legal for someone to be that sexy? It seems completely unfair!

He walks a little bit ahead of her so that he can open the front door of the cabin for her. She looks down at his perfectly formed butt and feels her mouth go dry. Perhaps she's the one who's sexually repressed.

Byron looks back at her, because she hasn't come forward, and tilts his head to the side in question. Bree clears her throat and then quickly walks past him and into her new home and life.

Bree steps up two steps and then walks past a door made from a thick slab of solid wood and tied to the rest of the structure with a thick rope made from braided dried vines in the place of metal hinges. Inside, the cabin is made from thick trees slotted together into an old style log cabin. In between the logs, there's a light blue foam that fills in all of the cracks. Halfway up the side of the room, there's a loft and a staircase that connects the bottom floor with the top floor.

On the wall, opposite from the door is a large stone fireplace. Inside the fireplace, above the fire, is a shelf made from flat stones. Sitting on that shelf is a big ceramic pot bubbling from some savory smelling liquid boiling within it. In front of the fire is a crudely made couch and wide chair built from solid chunks of wood that has cushions made from animal furs and stuffed with clumps of wool.

On the left side of the large stone fireplace that leads all the way up past the loft, there is some shelving attached to the wall. On the shelving are more ceramic pots and in front of those is a small table. Near the small table is a trapdoor with a vine rope handle.

On the right side of the fireplace is more shelving full of more ceramic pots, but those have potted plants in them. On the other side of the couch, is a larger table made from slabs of wood, with several stumps for chairs that have more cushions on the top of them. The chairs kind of remind Bree of giant mushrooms.

On the far right side of the room, along the wall, are some solid wood stairs made from overly thick chunks of wood that looked like they were shaped using an axe and scratched up with huge claws. Along the side of the stairs, are stripped branches with roughly made fur blankets and leather hanging off of them. In front of the stairs is a curtain covering a doorway that leads to the right.

The whole house seemed to consist of one single main room, a loft, some sort of basement, and one other room. By modern standards, this house would be no more than a rough shack in the woods, but she wasn't in modern times anymore, and well, at least it was better than a large birdcage.

Bree took a deep breath and let it out in a sigh, it was warm and homey. She would make the most of it. Bree was looking around and taking in her new environment when the little bat girl who had grabbed her earlier came skipping in from behind the leather curtain near the foot of the stairs.

"Oh! You're finally here! Dad sure did take long enough to talk with you," Midori said while throwing her arms around Bree in a tight hug. She poked her head around the side of Bree so that she could look over at Byron and stick her tongue out at him. "He wants to hog you all to himself, but he's just going to have to learn how to share. Besides! now that I have such a pretty mom, it probably won't be much longer before I have even more Dad's and lots more siblings. It's going to be so much fun! Janice won't be able to brag about her pretty mom and strong dad's anymore. That and all of her brothers spoiling her, I'll have even more brothers than her. I know it!"

Bree can feel her face heating up while she sneaks a peak at Byron whose face is also bright red.

Midori stops hugging Bree and then steps back to look at her. She sticks out her lips in contemplation. "We just have to get you cleaned up, so you can bring all the really good males into our family. You're way too dirty right now to collect any male besides my dad cause he's a smart one. He has good eyes so he can see how awesome and pretty you are even when you're covered in sticks and mud. Some of the other guys are dumb so they can't see so well without you being clean and smelling pretty."

Midori starts pulling on Bree's hand while she continues to talk. "But not too dumb. I'll point out some of the good guys that you might want to bring home with you. Janice says those guys are going to become her new Dad's, but I'll show her! Yes I will! I'll show her real good who has the best mom!"

"Midori...," Byron says.

"No Dad, you can't come with us. I'm going to show mom where everything is in the bathing room," Midori says while pulling Bree past the curtain into the bathing room.