“So… Can I cover my junk already or do I have to remain like this for the rest of our stay here?” I ask after a few moments of rest.

A cute giggle reaches my ears and I stop leaning my head over the backrest to look at a certain dwarf smiling at me while snuggled to my left side.

I squint my eyes at her. “Don’t you think it’s unfair for Astrea to be the only one naked?”

Sirgia’s cheeks flush with red and she escapes my gaze. I chuckle and pat her head, turning to look down at Astrea, who again got herself into lying on my lap, now on her back while glancing at me from below; her delicate figure and petite chest are just so charming I subconsciously start to graze my fingers over the skin of her exposed belly.

Astrea closes her eyes to enjoy the pleasant rubs that are rewarded with delightful purring. She opens them soon after and our gazes connect.

“You can do anything you want. There’s no need to worry about it. It might actually be a good idea to cover yourself. The sight might be distracting for females, especially those who witnessed the ritual.”

I shake my head with a wry smile. “Good. I can think of at least one person that fits the description.”

“Her name is Hari.”

“The Pantherkin girl?” I ask to confirm that our thoughts align.

“Mhm.”

Switching to scratching behind Astrea’s ear, I move my gaze slightly to the side, onto the group of five Beastkin women. The person in question is the only one lying on her side with plenty of liquid escaping her mouth; both the one at the top and bottom. She has clearly climaxed at least a few times.

“She has quite innocent looks but I guess it's just a huge deception. Is she always like that?” I ask.

“She loves when her partner treats her like a toy while they mate, preferably in front of other females. She enjoys making them envious by showing how good she feels from it. I’m fairly sure she was imagining herself in my place during the ritual.”

“Great… A complete freak that gets off to people watching her getting violated…”

“But not the way Micah did it. Even Vii, who likes to do it rough, hated the previous alpha for how much he hit the females while mating. You saw it yourself. None of them could stand his abuse. That’s why I always made Micah swear that he wouldn’t call for them after our duels.”

I move my palm to hold it by her cheek and smile at Astrea warmly. “Not all heroes wear capes, huh…”

She tilts her head as one of her ears twitches curiously. 

“Pay it no mind. You are amazing, that’s all. I really admire you.”

“That’s right,” Sirgia joins in.

Astrea looks between us for a brief moment. “It’s the responsibility of the strong to protect the weak. I haven’t done anything special. Strong should fight strong and weak should fight weak. Strong shouldn’t bully the weak.”

I hold my hand in front of her to clearly convey my intentions and Astrea raises herself up with its help. Pulling her closer, I start affectionately rubbing my face into her cheek to show her my appreciation. It looks slightly comical from the outsider’s perspective, but who cares.

“Alright. I think we’ve rested enough,” I say after pulling away slightly; Astrea now sits on my thighs while facing me. “First things first. I assume it is, but is it alright for a Human to be the alpha?”

“Your assumption is correct,” a familiar voice answers and I notice the three elders coming closer. It’s the woman who speaks. “This is not an enclosed clan or tribe but an open Community. The pillar of its creation was to grant shelter to anyone who requires it. And the leadership always belonged to the strongest person. We, Beastkin, respect strength above almost all else, as you already know.”

“Unfortunately, there are some that abuse that power, like Micah,” the Bearkin man continues. “Usually, if the alpha loses their respect through their wrongdoings, people gather together and stand up against them. But, Micah was a smart man and managed to bring most of the strongest warriors to his side, either with bribes or threats. We should remember that the Community was built for the weak to gather around and support each other.”

“Mighty warriors like him and Astrea rarely appear and stay here since they would have no issues surviving on their own, even without being able to get back to their tribe if the rules stated that captives would be never welcomed again,” the other man takes over. “And Astrea was the only one who could directly confront the previous alpha. We’ve been watching their challenges with great hope, but the result always stayed the same. That is until today.”

Astrea turns around, sitting cross-legged on my lap, and nods her head at the elders.

“It’s all thanks to Alastair. Without his help, him finding me on the surface, accepting me as his sworn mate, I wouldn’t be able to grow this strong. I’m now sure that if I got close enough to threaten Micah’s life, he would have used some dirty means to kill me since it would get too dangerous to leave me alive. That would also get rid of the only person able to properly challenge him so there would be no repercussions from his actions.”

The elders nod somberly, realizing the truth behind her words.

“But things will now change. The Community will revert back onto its rightful course. I won’t let anyone be further abused. We won’t let anyone be further abused, as from now, the two of us will share the authority equally, as you have seen from our ritual.” She leans back onto my chest and I wrap my arms around her waist. “One of us is alpha, and the two of us are one. Therefore, both of us are alpha.”

The elders’ eyes shine in understanding after Astrea’s statement. I can’t help but chuckle internally at her clever play on words to explain the existence of two alphas. Damn, she is just so amazing.

The old trio bows and scurries away, most likely to pass the message onto the others. Astrea tilts her head to the back and begins licking my neck, causing me to giggle a little. I rub my hand over her side.

From the corner of my eye, I spot Taro coming our way next. I turn my head a little down to whisper into Astrea’s ear.

“Can he be trusted?”

“Taro is a good man. He’s also a friend and someone who was opposing Micah. He must have finally surrendered under a strong enough threat. Maybe towards his mate.”

“We have to somehow deal with those that willingly followed him or even courted favour,” I think out loud.

“They will be killed. Or banished. I know the characters of people in the Community well. Depending on the history of their deeds, they might be spared. Are you okay with that, Alastair?” Astrea glances up at me.

“This is your home, your small kingdom. I’m just an outsider. I don’t know these people. But, I do know you. If you deem someone irredeemable, I’ll trust your judgement.”

“An outsider’s view should be good too. Isn’t the reason behind two people ruling together to have them watch over each other? You are smart, Alastair. Can you watch over me?”

I chuckle. “I guess you are right. Let’s both watch over each other and do things together. You are no less smart than me, my lovely mate.”

Astrea lets out a few more purrs before Taro stops in front of us and bows respectfully.

“Alpha Male, Alpha Female. I’ve come to give my greetings.”

“Be at ease. No need to be so stiff.” I wave at him and Taro raises his gaze.

Astrea opens her eyes and turns to him. “Capture everyone from Micah’s supporters and underlings and lock them up in the prison chamber. You are now promoted to the leader of Peacekeepers. I’ll take care of them myself later.”

“Yes, Alpha Female.” He bows again and walks away in a hurry.

“I hope he does have more forces to spare since quite a bit of his people are still… entangled with other tasks…” I smile wryly while sweeping my gaze over the hall.

“They will stop when he orders them. But, you will have to get used to it, Alastair. Humans don’t like to mate around others, right?”

“Well, there are some that definitely do.” I chuckle again. “Okay. I guess it’s now my turn.”

Since still around one-third of the chamber is busy with their business, which makes the place anything but silent, I raise my right hand into the air and start filling my fingers with mana. After gathering enough of it in their tips, I make a powerful snap, sending out a loud sound that overshadows the plethora of yelps and moans. Everyone instantly turns to look at me, no matter how deep they are in their activities.

“Per my first decree as the alpha, I render the following orders void—stopping people from leaving the Community, pursuing the escapees and bringing them back by force, punishing those who haven’t managed to contribute anything during the monthly gatherings.”

I stop for my voice to reach everyone. Astrea whispers a few things to my ear in the meanwhile and I continue.

“From this point, whoever wishes to leave, is free to do so without any repercussions. The Community’s Sentinels will escort them through the sewers to the outside of the city if it will be necessary. After that, you are on your own. Of course, no one is prohibited from returning.”

Again, I wait for a moment for people to grasp the meaning behind my words.

“As for the issue of contributions, I will share the details about that and other matters at a later date. Possibly, still today. There will be changes, but they won’t be drastic. The weak or impaired do not have to worry.” I sweep over the chamber with my gaze once more and then nod. “Now, share that news with everyone. And bring me someone with insight into the Community’s inner workings. You are free to resume your activities.”

There’s a wave of cheers, shouts, howls and growls that makes the place rumble a bit, and it gets almost instantly overtaken by yelps and moans again a moment later, much more intense and energetic than before. Looks like they got a little bit enthusiastic.

Sighing, I rub my forehead. “This will take a while to get used to…”

Sirgia giggles by my side. “The echo always responds to the call.”

I squint my eyes at her again, causing my cute dwarf to playfully hide her face in my shoulder, peeking out with one eye. I really need a good, long talk with Cornelia. Preferably with some chains included.

Two people show up in front of the sofa, most likely after heeding my request—a male half-blood Owlkin and a female pure-blood Squirrelkin. They bow their heads at the same time and stay like that.

“No need to bow so much. You can let others know too. As for your tasks, I want reports on the situation of clothing, supplies, medicines, weapons, armour and other things that you think might be important. Also about sick, injured and the poorest members.”

The man raises his gaze. “I’ll begin immediately, Alpha Male.”

As he leaves, the woman also lifts her eyes and I turn to her. “Gather a few people and go around the place. Ask those who have not even a single piece of material to cover their bodies if they would like to receive some. Don’t force the unwilling to accept. They can stay naked if it's their own choice. Approach half-bloods first. They suffer the most from the stone floor.”

The corners of her mouth twitch in a motion preceding a growing smile but she quickly tames it down to retain a calm and respectful expression. “With pleasure, Alpha Male.” She bows even lower than before and almost breaks into a run after taking a few steps aside.

I release another sigh and rest my head over the backrest. Hearing Astrea shuffle on my lap, I groan quietly and take a look. She is now sitting on her knees on my side, partially turned to me but mostly towards the front. Brushing my fingers over her beautiful back, I notice her friends approaching us this time.

「Ugh, this little… I haven’t picked my underwear up yet because she was covering most of my privates but you can’t convince me she moved away exactly at this moment for no reason...」

The five women stop in front of the sofa and respectfully nod their heads. Well, at least four of them do. A certain pantherkin is too busy staring right into my uncovered crotch to realize that they have reached their destination.

“Greetings, Alpha Male, Alpha Female,” they speak in unison, except for the distracted one, still lost in her own world of fantasies. She’s starting to salivate now… And I’m not even hard…

I sigh openly.「I knew it would be like that...」

~Can you let her?~ Astrea’s voice resounds in my head.

~Let her what?~ I ask back, moving my gaze onto her.

~Mate with you.~

~Are you serious?! I was supposed to teach her a lesson, not fuel her fetishes! How many more times am I going to have to fuck today?!~

Astrea doesn’t move her eyes from mine. Although it doesn’t show, I can tell that she is pleading with me.

~She will listen to your every command afterwards. I promise you. She is very submissive towards the person she finds the most attractive. And who treats her well.~

I groan mentally and roll my eyes. The four girls are looking between themselves, unable to witness our secret conversation but aware that we must be somehow communicating. That oblivious one naturally notices nothing.

~Fine. You are not going to make me fuck all of them in the open next, right?~

~No…~

I almost roll my eyes again at her weak reply. I mean, I can understand the other motive behind this besides taming her frisky friend, which is showing to everyone that the alpha favours them so that their standing rises, but if they are going to follow us back home then it’s certain that we’ll have sex at some point later anyway. But, alright, let’s make it quick.

Agreeing to Astrea’s request, I move my gaze to the other side to look at Sirgia, who smiles at me softly and nods, clearly figuring out the situation without me having to explain. What have I done to deserve such cute and understanding women?

I move my eyes to the girls at the front next, nonchalantly taking in the sight of their gorgeous bodies, especially the wolfkin and foxkin as I don’t get that many chances to appreciate that beautiful short fur. Something that might change soon.

The way they are different from Humans or half-bloods just makes them kind of sexier just because of that contrast. This appealing display of huge variety quickly brings me to full mast when I don’t control my thoughts properly. Even more saliva starts dripping from a certain pantherkin’s mouth as the tower rises.

I cross my legs in front of me by putting my left ankle on my right thigh and throw my arms to the back, behind the backrest.

“You there,” I call to the daydreaming girl while staring at her intently.

But, there’s no response. Null. Nothing. Not even a cute twitch of her ear.

“Hari,” I call to her again, remembering the pantherkin’s name.

Same reaction. Or rather the lack of it. Vii releases a heavy sigh and slaps her friend hard in the back of the head. This finally returns Hari to the lands of the conscious and she meets my eyes.

“Greetings, Alpha Male, Alpha Female!”

The wolfkin and leopardkin snicker at their comrade’s late greeting. They stop immediately when I glance at them. I return my focus to the troublesome girl, who is trying to act proper but her gaze repeatedly jumps down to my crotch.

“Hari,” I repeat and she focuses more on my eyes. “What do you think is the price of this disrespect you have shown by ignoring two of my calls and not even greeting me properly alongside your friends?”

Her eyes widen a little and she glances back at the rest of the girls. They all nod at her repeatedly with serious faces. She turns back to me with a slightly anxious expression, avoiding my gaze a bit to the side.

I extend my hand forward, palm up. “Do it yourself.”

She stares at it in confusion. After a moment, her eyes flash in understanding and her cheeks flush slightly. Taking it up, she steps closer and climbs onto my lap, staring at my face to make sure that she’s not misunderstanding things.

Fully convinced that it’s really what she thinks it is, she lowers herself onto me while releasing a dreamy sigh as I fill up her snug insides, leaning onto my chest.

“And keep your voice down. We are going to talk here.”

She nods and hides her face in my neck, beginning to lick it in an attempt to muffle out her moans. With a soft sigh, I move my gaze back onto the other girls as Hari lazily moves her waist up and down, tickling my neck with some faint vibrations of her voice now and then.

“So, are the clothes that I’ve given you still in one piece or...?”

“They should be. Micah’s men pulled them off us and threw them onto the floor before dragging us here. People in that chamber should already have heard about you becoming the alpha so even if they took those, they have surely returned them to the previous place,” Vii answers.

“Alright.” I snap my fingers and a person quickly comes to my side. “Collect them and bring them here.” They bow and walk away with a hurried step. “Sorry, but I don’t have much more clothing in my ring right now. I guess I need to prepare better for the future.”

The other half-blood feline—the Catkin girl—shakes her head with a warm smile. “It’s okay, Alpha Male. We don’t mind showing our bodies. Especially to you.”

“But we appreciate you giving us these clothes,” the wolfkin adds with a nod.

“Nhhnnn~”

“I can still hear you,” I say in a cold tone after Hari fails to completely mute her quiet cry of pleasure.

Her friends snicker and Vii glances at me. “I never imagined I would see Hari being punished so smartly. She loves showing off in front of others but she can’t do it properly with her mouth sealed. To dispense both a reward and a punishment at the same time, what a truly fearsome alpha.”

I chuckle at her. “Thank you for the compliment. Now, would you like to tell me your names? We haven't had a chance to introduce ourselves properly yet.”

The foxkin bows first. “Naturally. Where are our manners? I’m Vii the Foxkin. Thank you a lot for healing me back then. I truly appreciate it.”

“Don’t mind it. Anything for Astrea’s friends.” I move one hand to my cute catgirl’s hair and brush through it for a brief moment, making her close her eyes and enjoy the touch.

Vii chuckles softly. “And you seem to have tamed the Silver Tempest too. That’s an achievement worthy of a true alpha. She wouldn’t let any male near her except when in heat. Only the bravest would approach Astrea, fully prepared to have their finger bitten off. If nothing else.”

“Vii.” Astrea opens one eye and turns it to the Foxkin lady, making her chuckle again.

I give her some scratches behind the ear. “She’s just a real beast.” Astrea moves that eye onto me, we stare at each other for a while as I smile at her, and she turns to the front again, closing it.

“Completely tamed, fufufu~”

Vii then glances at the pure-blood wolfkin.

“My name is Zehra the Wolfkin. Thank you two for getting rid of Micah. He was a real jerk. I’m ashamed to be of a subrace with ancestry connected to his own. Even the strongest people in my clan weren’t so abusive towards others, and they are leagues above him.”

She then turns to the pure-blood leopardkin. “I’m Yudie. Pleased to meet you. I actually have a question.”

“Go on.”

“Considering that Astrea is not in heat, which means that she is not in perfect control of her fertility, and that she is your sworn mate, which means that her body has fully accepted you with its desire to be bred, and that you released your seed inside her so many times, are you two having kittens soon?”

It’s the first time I feel Astrea being slightly flustered over our bond. Her cheeks show a rare tinge of rosiness, even though she doesn’t open her eyes again. So, a female becoming a male’s sworn mate is like her saying that she is ready to bear their kids, huh? Another thing the books won’t tell you.

I chuckle lightly while still caressing Astrea’s hair. “Fortunately, I’m in perfect control of my own fertility, not just the time of my release, so no, I don’t think so. I can fill her up as much as she desires it, outside of her heat, with completely no risk.”

“Nhh! Nhh! Nhh! Nhh!”

Hari’s cries grow louder again after my statement and she begins shaking her hips much more vigorously. I quickly realize why and grab her by the nape of her neck, pulling it back, at the same time, pushing her whole body down, impaling the horny pantherkin on my rod as much as possible.

“Nyaaaaaaaahhhhhnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn~”

Without her means to cover the moans, Hari reaches her peak with a loud scream while hot liquid fills up her depths. Her tongue shoots out of her mouth and her face twists in pure ecstasy as her whole frame shivers repeatedly.

She falls onto my chest afterwards, panting erratically. It takes her a moment to regain composure and she shakily sits straight, staring at my face while still breathing roughly.

“Haaah… Haaah… I’m Haaari… I’m sorry for being rude… And for raising my hand… I’m really sorry… I just couldn’t hold back… But I’m better now… I promise to listen attentively… And thank you...”

“So, did the prospect of getting filled with loads and loads of cum at any given moment turn you on so much that you almost came?” I ask with a smirk.

She bashfully looks away. “Yes… I imagined how you would just grab me randomly when passing by, like every day, satiating your rampant desire and leaving me somewhere in the corridor with an overflowing load of seed…”

「This girl...」

I shake my head and reach for the empty glass of water standing on a small stool by the side of the sofa and raise it up. The man with the jug quickly walks closer and fills it. I let Hari take a few sips while she stares at me appreciatively.

Then, I move my gaze onto the last member of the female squad—the half-blood catkin. She’s a girl of similar height as Hari, with long, bronze hair and fur over her ears and tail, currently looking at me with a warm and curious smile.

“I’m Feriha. Thank you for helping us. And for becoming Astrea’s mate. I’m really happy she found a great partner like you. I was a little worried seeing that you are a Human, but I don’t have any doubts anymore.”

I nod at her and help Hari step down from my lap after she has rested enough. With a quick brush of my fingers, I clean her up so that she doesn’t leave a trail and she giggles adorably after noticing the magic trick.

“Alright. Thank you for introducing yourselves. I’m Alastair. Nice to meet you all. Feel free to act casually. You are Astrea’s friends and that means I consider you friends too. Also, while I look like a Human, some of you might have noticed that I don’t really smell like one, right?”

Literally, all of them nod.

“Well, that’s because I’m actually a Primordial.”

“A Primordial?” Zehra tilts her head.

“Do you mean like… that race from the legends?” Vii’s eyes shine with curiosity.

“I’m not sure about your legends, but possibly?”

“All Beastkin originate from a Primordial, so yes, Alastair is like our distant ancestors,” Astrea adds.

“Woah… I mated with someone so important…” Hari marvels.

I chuckle. “It’s just a race. I’m not really that old. My circumstances are quite difficult to explain, but I’m most likely younger than most if not all of you. I’m twenty-eight currently. Anyway, I just wanted to let you know to get rid of the confusion.”

“You have really found an extraordinary mate, Astrea…” Zehra smiles at my cute catgirl.

She opens both of her eyes this time and leans into my side with Hari finally gone.

“He can be your mate too if you want,” she says nonchalantly.

“Huh?” most of them exclaim in surprise.

“And that brings us to the main topic we have to discuss. If you remember, Astrea mentioned earlier taking you five to a better place,” I begin explaining.

“Right. There was something like that after she cursed Micah,” Yudie confirms.

“Let me ask you this question then. Knowing that the rules in the Community will be corrected so it doesn’t stay as unfair as under Micah’s leadership, would you want to remain here or perhaps return with me and Astrea to the surface to live with us in my mansion.”

“You are going to leave after becoming the alpha?” Zehra asks. “After gaining rule over all of the Beastkin here? With your strength and character, you could have any female here willingly now, not like that jerk, forcefully taking others.”

“Alastair is an important person on the surface. Even the Human King listens to him. But, I’m sorry, I can’t tell you everything. I promised,” Astrea answers her and they all glance at me curiously. “And he already has many mates, not just Beastkin. He can get any female from any race he wants.”

「Oi, oi. That’s an exaggeration. About both things.」

“How many?” Yudie asks.

“Ummm…” Astrea glances at Sirgia.

“Six sworn mates and twelve casual mates,” she informs them. “And I’m one of the sworn mates. I’m Sirgia the Dwarf. Master’s cook and artificer.”

Feriha whistles. “That’s certainly quite a few. But, after seeing his ritual, and Hari’s punishment, I’m sure he can manage.”

Astrea nods at Sirgia as thanks and turns to the women again. “Before we came here, I asked Alastair if he would allow you to come and live with us in his mansion. He is letting females of all races take shelter there. And during the night, it serves as a brothel. Those who don’t mind can repay the gratitude by working, but they don’t have to. There are also baths and serving as maids. But, I told him you wouldn’t mind. Would you?”

They look between each other for a brief moment.

“I mean… If Astrea loves that place so much, it already says something about it, right?” Feriha comments.

“It’s really amazing. And I’m sure Alastair wouldn’t mind taking care of your heat for you. Or even if you aren’t in heat, right?” Astrea glances at me.

I smile at her and rub her back. “Of course. I promised you that I would take good care of your friends, didn’t I?”

“Personally, I would love to come if we can mate from time to time…” Hari blushes a little.

“I assume that the Humans that come there are different than usual, right?” Vii asks next.

“Yes. People who come there don’t hate other races,” Sirgia takes it upon herself to answer. “They are often very respectful. Master wouldn’t let bad people hurt anyone. He is very protective of the girls.”

They all exchange glances again and then nod at each other. Vii turns to me.

“Then I think we all are curious about it. And if it’s just mating then we don’t mind doing it with Humans if they don’t have malicious intentions towards us. But… What about the Community?”

As she speaks, the man I sent for the clothes finally returns with all of them collected. I nod at the girls and they pick up a piece or two. Zehra covers her charms with sportslike underwear, Vii and Yudie take a t-shirt and shorts each, while the half-blood felines are left with just big, oversized shirts for now. I’ll ask them to gear up properly before we begin our journey back.

“As for the Community, we’ll figure something out. We’ll most likely choose a proxy to keep an eye on things while we are not present, and either Astrea or I—or both of us—will show up for the monthly gatherings. We just have to make sure that all the rules are in the correct place and it should work out somehow. As the elders said before, the Community was born from weak coming together and helping each other. There’s no need for an extremely strong individual to rule over them all the time and just checking if things are right should be enough.”

They nod after a moment and I let them sit on the sofa instead of standing. It’s quite wide and spacious. I finally dress up too and Astrea follows suit. She looks gorgeous naked, but her battle outfit hits just way differently. It suits her almost perfectly.

The people present in the hall have finally calmed down a little. Not everyone is finished with their fun times, but the vast majority are, and it’s easy to notice that some of them have already left, perhaps to help spread the word or to do whatever else they have to do in the Community. Or they were arrested by Taro.

Astrea and her friends give us a tour around the current gathering place and explain how the whole Community functions. At the same time, the three of us—Sirgia, Astrea and I—suggest the changes that should be introduced and Vii notes them down.

The whole nomadic tribe, if you can call them that, is quite decently equipped, if not for the fact that the previous alpha highly limited access to many commodities, reserving them for his own people. It’s clear that the Community isn’t lacking people who can actually think of organizing chambers, work and non-human resources.

I’m introduced to the two forces I’ve heard about earlier—the Peacekeepers and the Sentinels. The first is usually tasked with making sure that everyone abides by rules and common standards. If not for Micah putting pressure on them, the members would be also keeping an eye for any abuse and inappropriate behaviour amongst clansmen.

The Sentinels are the people who scout and watch over the sewers. They mostly find and report potential threats, escort to the Community people they stumble on and that require help, and generally patrol the underground. The whole pursuit of escapees was of course Micah’s idea.

Both forces will obviously be brought back to their proper state now. Astrea informs me that around one-third of each has been locked up since they were the people following Micah out of their own will or even supporting him openly while taking a good ride on the abuse train. Some might even lose their lives.

As we stroll through the chambers and corridors, many Beastkin bow to us or nod their heads. Looks like the news has spread pretty much everywhere already. I can also notice more people with something to cover themselves amongst the poorer ones I’ve seen before.

After the tour, we come to a meeting chamber—one that currently has a hole in two of its walls, through which Micah was launched by Astrea—and meet up with the two people I previously tasked with various things, and also with others, most likely the brains of the tribe.

They fill us up on the things I asked about. All in all, the situation of the Community is far better than I expected when having in mind the image of an underground hiding place where the members scavenge for everything and then share it with others. 

There are some healers amongst their ranks, even though purely magical Classes are quite rare amongst Beastkin, especially felines, canines, vulpines and similar kinds. But those related to more tame species do tend to receive less brawly Classes. I guess race can have some influence on it.

Thus, sick and injured aren’t really an issue. Medical supplies aren’t that great but they do exist in case of emergency. After the majority of them will be moved out of alpha’s personal stash and storages, of course, like plenty of other supplies, including food, clothing, weapons or armour.

All in all, after we bring things to proper distribution again, it will all be good. Naturally, we are not going to just throw freebies at people without any control. That would lead to disaster. With the elders and the intelligence squad present, we modify a little the rules changed by Micah, obviously dealing first with the punishments and obligatory contribution.

A new system is introduced where everyone is entitled to a certain amount of supplies, especially food, water and clothing. Previously, you could get more things only if you were strong enough to serve in the alpha’s forces or if traded with them. And since the weak were poor, they could only trade one thing most of the time—themselves.

But, there’s plenty of things to do in the Community. People will now be able to earn contribution points based on their input into its life. Something like getting paid and then buying things above necessities with money but without money and just being qualified to ask for them due to the accumulated merit.

And to earn those, people can do various jobs. For example, packing up the gathering place, helping move it, setting it up again. Previously, that was pretty much slave labour if we don’t sugarcoat things. And people helping with stuff while the tribe’s camp is unloaded will also get merit. Things like cooking, sewing, cleaning, weapon and armour maintenance, and so on.

I’ve been told that before Micah, the sharing of supplies and everything else amongst people mostly depended on how much who brought in. Therefore, we are of course leaving that method as one of many to earn contribution, even though we aren't going to force people to go to the surface to steal things against their will, as Micah did with all the quotas and stuff.

Additionally, to not make it look like the weak are starting to get more privileged than the strong, we of course have merit for all the things that Peacekeepers and Sentinels do, and for anyone else who would, for example, defeat some monsters or something, but I also pitched in with the idea of small challenge-like tournaments that would reward with merit. A good way to keep people in shape and let the fighters compete against each other. Of course, with proper leagues.

Pretty much all the suggestions and changes are taken positively by the elders and the intelligence team. As for the issue of the alpha—or alphas in our case—they aren’t exactly too happy about us not staying with them most of the time, but they are willing to try and restore the Community’s way of operating from the past.

Therefore, Taro becomes our proxy and main contact that will get in touch with us when we are not around if anything serious happens. Astrea knows the elders well, and some of the members of the intelligence squad too, so they will be partially authorized to make decisions by themselves. A quasi-democracy.

And if anyone is unhappy with the way things are being conducted, they can always challenge us for the position of the alpha during the monthly gatherings. But, considering the fact that they would need to beat us both—one at a time, of course—the chances that someone will attempt it are quite low. They would need to be really strong. And the two of us will continue growing too.

With all of that, we’ll see how things will go and make appropriate changes. I need to bring the topic of this Community to Ross. I’m sure he already knew about it for a long time since his reaction to my plans about this operation wasn’t that big. 

We just need to make sure that there are no secret plans to suddenly remove it or something. If so, he should be able to tip us off about any movements so that we remove it ourselves, without the sewer cleaners. I can imagine that he would have a hard time being publicly against getting rid of dangerous Beastkin scheming under the capital.

Since we are all quite tired after everything, we decide to take a rest in the alpha’s chambers before tending to all the remaining responsibilities and preparing to return home. They have somehow stolen a huge fucking king-size bed from I have no idea who, and it’s now part of the tribe’s furniture. These damn madmen. 

Anyhow, Astrea’s friends join us for the night—if it is night outside—and we all sprawl ourselves over the giant mattress, huddled up together, with Astrea on my chest and Sirgia on one of my sides. Vii takes up the other one and gives me the pleasure of snuggling to her soft, warm, furry body. Damn. Such a bliss.