Fira lay on the ground, her chest and stomach heaving as she panted. Although her vision was blurry from exhaustion, her body coated in sweat, she still felt rejuvenated.

The dense fog which had been choking her mind was blown away. She turned her head towards the source of the wet squishing and moaning now filling the air.

It was the second time she had mated with Peter. And both times he had proceeded to then engage with both his primals afterwards.

A twinge of annoyance filled her. Was her performance so lackluster that it left him even more hungry? Or was he so full of vigor that no lone primal could sate him? As her vision refocused, she noticed that while Peter was enamored with his primals, both of them were shooting angry, possibly jealous glances at her; Kalista occasionally breaking focus to look at the trees. 

She was fairly certain that Peter never made that sort of expression while doing it with her. Perhaps she should be angry as well.

Peter only said one thing to her once he had finished with her. “We’ll talk more about your payment once I’m done with my primals.”

Fira could wait. Well, she had to. Without him, she wouldn’t be able to think any of these thoughts. Or worry about the second debt she now owed him. He bought her more time. At this point she would be willing to give up anything. Anything, except for her freedom.

For she had traveled very far to find it.

—

Kalista and Gaia were insatiable. For some reason, taming Fira always whipped them up into a frenzy. Did they enjoy watching him with others?

After an hour of venting their lust on each other, Kalista and Gaia were sandwiching Peter atop the grass.

Fira stepped into view, standing above him, her nethers bare. It was a testament to how spent Peter was that he didn’t grow erect from the sight.

“I carried the logs like you asked,” she said bitterly to Kalista. 

At one point Kalista had traded seats with Gaia atop Peter and proceeded to hack and slash at the trees nearby, carving them into smaller pieces before ordering Fira to carry them inside Shantee.

“Did, huh, did Rand say it’s enough?” Peter panted. 

“It’s enough,” a stern voice responded. Peter leaned up slightly to spot Rand approaching, a slightly disgusted look on his face. “This one was looking dangerously close to breaking this morning. See to it you do not delay in your responsibilities again. And do not ever,” he said while leaning toward Peter, “attempt to steal from the Tamer’s Guild again like you tried with her, do you understand?”

Peter only gave a nod, realizing it would be less dangerous to take the hit than to correct his misunderstanding.

“Good. Next you will retrieve water from the nearby river. Ruby will accompany you.”

‘Ruby’ must have been the name of Rand’s Centaur, who was standing nearby, carrying a stack of metal basins. 

“Later you will search for fruits and nuts within the forest. Once you have completed both these tasks you will be relieved. Dismissed.”

Rand didn’t waste time it seems.. 

“This way, tamer,” Ruby stated, and immediately began to walk towards the forest.

Nor did his primals.

Peter summoned as much energy as he could to stand up, then slowly stumbled behind Ruby. The group walked silently for a while. Peter thought of discussing things with Fira for a moment, but realized with the Centaur around it may not be wise.

“Scouting Report!” Ruby shouted.

Before Peter could even raise an eyebrow, a cheeky voice from the treetops responded. “No ferals here~”

Peter looked up to spot a primal perched on a large branch up above. If Peter was not mistaken, it was a Harpy. She had large black feathery wings attached to her arms. The lower parts of her legs were feathered similarly, giving way to menacing taloned feet.

Ruby gave a short nod.

“Only some frisky primals and their tamer~” the Harpy giggled, and Peter realized she was likely talking about him. Had she been watching them? Peter’s eyes widened. Did she hear them talking? Does that mean she knows-

“Hey, hey, listen!” the Harpy chuckled as she flew from tree to tree. “Isn’t Ruby so biiig?” She emphasized. “But the house is so smaaal. Ever wonder what kind of position she and Rand-”

Before even another syllable could make it out of the Harpy’s mouth, a glaive flies through the air and pierces the branch she was sitting on, the sharp tip splinters wood and stops a few inches away from the Harpy’s crotch.

“Eep!” the Harpy squeaked. 

“Not. Another. Word.” The Harpy let out a mischievous chuckle before flying away for good. Ruby let out an impatient-sounding sigh once she was gone.

Peter suddenly wondered if Rand was just in his shack fucking his all primals all day. The thought made him seem almost… human.

If Peter had to guess, the river was roughly a forty minute walk. The water was beautifully clear, and chilling to the touch. Ruby handed out the basins she had been carrying and everyone filled them as much as they could.

For the trip back, the Centaur was able to use a rope tied around the handles of the basins to carry them atop her back. She was able to carry four this way. Although she was visibly slower, her pride did not allow her face to display any struggle.

Kalista carried one while Gaia and Fira carried the other. Though that did not remain true for long. On the way back, Gaia had proposed she begin searching for the food that Rand had asked for. Although the pickings were likely lessened due to staying near the main path others took to the river, they found a decent enough amount that surely Rand would not complain. Had he asked any other tamer he would have likely gotten nothing, so he should be grateful for what they could find.

…And that Peter didn’t keep a bigger portion than he did.

When they turned their things in, Peter brought his group inside the rundown guild, upstairs to the designated medical area where they could be alone.

It was time to talk.