Author's Note: Thank you all so much for helping me reach 2k reads!! And 180 votes! I'm still hardly able to believe these numbers for my very first story. I promise I'll keep writing and do my best not to disappoint! In the meantime, please enjoy an extra-long chapter to celebrate!

It was difficult to tell the difference between the small amount of daylight pouring into the tunnel and the light from the luminous pearl, but the males could easily hear the noises of the morning coming from outside and they started waking up. Samantha had been victim of both the males' opposing pulls and her own tossing and turning, and the position she fell asleep in didn't even resemble the one she woke up in. Their attempts to hold more of the female's smaller body had brought Spencer and St. Benjamin physically closer than they were comfortable with, but Spencer was completely unwilling to relinquish his hold over Samantha's a*s and thighs and St. Benjamin had wrapped his arms around Samantha's upper torso, her head leaning against him and her breasts pushed into his own chest. She had drooled a little bit in her sleep, but she had also wrapped both of her arms around him in return and St. Benjamin was more than satisfied. Samantha's legs were wrapped around one of Spencer's hind legs, his other leg draped possessively over the cushion provided by her hips.

Although neither male wanted to move, both for the sake of holding Samantha's naked body as long as they could and also to hide the extent of the arousal they felt from doing so, she was beginning to stir as well and they had no choice but to release her. Their eyes met and they tacitly agreed to roll her onto her back, moving her limbs to their default positions. Neither of them said a word, hoping she would stay asleep until they were less easily incriminated by their desire to keep their sleeping partner close in every way. They watched breathlessly as the sudden cold hardened her nipples into pearls and tightened the large, rose-colored areolas that surrounded them. Her breasts had already jiggled enticingly as they moved Samantha into place, and this new phenomenon was just further proof that the mammary glands of females were examples of everyday magic.

Oblivious to the thoughts and actions of her male companions, Samantha stretched her arms outward as she woke, narrowly avoiding punching both of the males who had leaned in to observe her. She curved her back to each side to stretch that next, her elbows bending into acute angles to give her a more thorough stretch. Seeing a purple mark on her left wrist, St. Benjamin reached across her and grabbed it. "Where is your mate?" he asked her. Surprised at being stopped so suddenly, Samantha looked at St. Benjamin wordlessly. "Whose spousal mark is this?" he asked with increased intensity. Her sleepy brain finally worked out what he was looking at, and she replied, "This is a tattoo. I paid someone to inject ink into my skin in this shape with needles, and when it healed, it looked like this. It doesn't belong to anybody except me, but it reminds me of my pet cats, and I got it to remind myself that when I have nothing else to live for, I will live for them. It has nothing to do with a mate or a spouse," she said, irritated. "Have you ever seen a purple cat with a fox tail?" Spencer added, "We may not have 'tattoo', but we don't have creatures like this, either."

Ending her stretching early, she snatched her arm back from St. Benjamin and quickly left the cave. She had missed her cats so much since her previous life ended, and she had been quietly reminding herself that they were surely being taken care of by someone who loved them. Samantha wasn't ready to think about how much more she would have done for them, or how abandoned they must feel without her. She felt the sun shine on her face as she held back tears, feeling nauseous again for the first time since consuming the emerald spar. Feeling a headache coming on, Samantha made her way toward the stream to wash up and hopefully prevent dehydration from making her headache worse. Sticking her hands in the cold water to scoop up some fresh drinking water, Samantha was beginning to miss the comforts of home as well as her precious cats. A cup to drink from seemed worlds away from this forest, lovely though it was. Thankful that the water this morning was at least slightly warmer, she repeated last night's abbreviated bath, finishing by rinsing out her mouth as best she could.

Returning to camp, she found St. Benjamin waiting for her alone, last night's deer pelt held folded in front of him. He seemed remorseful, but said nothing, only holding the deer pelt out to her as a peace offering. "You can make clothes from it now, if you want," he began, "I treated it to make it stronger and preserve it. It's my gift to you." His eyes moved downward and to the side, avoiding Samantha as though he expected her to refuse the spotted pelt. "Thank you," she said gratefully, "It's lovely. I'll make some clothing from it right away; it'll be nice to fit in here a little better." Making a mental note to teach her friend about apologies at a later date, Samantha reached out to take the pelt from him. He looked at her with a face full of mixed emotions; she could see sadness and confusion, but also a budding sense of hope and belonging. She gave him an encouraging smile as she reached her arms under the pelt next to his own, and moved away with the pelt. She unfolded it and spread it on the ground with the fur facing upward, looking at it for a long time.

St. Benjamin could still feel electric tingles where her arms had brushed along his, and he could hardly believe their interaction had gone so smoothly. He had expected anger from her and a dismissal of his offering, but instead he had a strong sense that Samantha understood him even if she didn't necessarily approve of him. Vowing to better himself for her, he began to build a new fire that would be burning strongly by the time Spencer returned with their breakfast. Although Samantha smiled at him whenever he crossed her path, he could tell that her mind was focused on the gift he had given her. This evidence that she truly valued it and was actually planning to use it sent his mood soaring, and not even that fox could bring it down. In fact, after the events of this morning, he was beginning to wonder if Spencer might not be easier to get along with than he had assumed before.

Spencer returned with another deer, which were apparently more than plentiful in this forest, and rabbits to be roasted over this morning's fire. He was surprised to see Samantha playing with the pelt from the deer he had killed for them the previous night; she lifted it, draped it around herself, put it back down, made noises at it and muttered under her breath, and repeated the cycle using a different part of her body. To say he was curious would be an understatement, but he smelled St. Benjamin on the fur and guessed that he had treated it for Samantha while he was away and also built the campfire by himself. Though still suspicious of the scorpion's motives, he was pleased that Samantha had not helped him; her hands still needed to heal, and he hoped that the scorpion was in agreement with him that she should use them as little as possible.

The two males prepared the prey to be cooked while they watched Samantha's mysterious dance with the fur, and they finished in time to accompany the cheerful female while the meats cooked. Noticing their presence, Samantha happily explained her plan to Spencer, who was displeased that she had accepted an offering from a male other than himself but still found that this worked to his advantage. "I was thinking that we should move to the Beast City soon so that you can see how our world works for yourself," he said to her, "Having animal skin clothing will help you blend in much better, even if it's only deer skin." St. Benajamin's anger was palpable. "And where are all the high-quality furs you've offered her?" he interjected. "Technically," Spencer said with satisfaction, "this fur was originally from me. You just tanned it before I was able to."

"That's enough out of you two," Samantha said forcefully, "I like this fur very much, it will suit my needs exactly, and I am very much looking forward to wearing the clothing made from it. But I need help measuring and cutting it, so if the two of you could stop arguing for long enough to give me a hand, that would be wonderful." Immediately, the fox and the scorpion fell into line and began to follow Samantha's instructions, with one of them checking on their breakfast from time to time. With her clothing creation well underway, Samantha began to question the males intermittently. "So, what exactly is a mate? Is it like a life partner? St. Benjamin made it sound like beastmen don't practice monogamy, so how does all that work?" "A mate," St. Benjamin responded, "is a male's partner for life. A male can only have one female as his mate, but a female may have as many mates as she chooses. It's called mating because the bond between male and female is solidified after the pair copulates and the female bears the spousal mark of the male."

Still paying attention to her second lecture from the pair while simultaneously instructing the males in cutting up the pelt, Samantha asked, "What's a spousal mark, then?" Spencer decided to answer this question, lest Samantha think that only St. Benjamin was interested in obtaining a mate, and more specifically, mating with Samantha. "A spousal mark is like your 'tattoo' except that it represents the male you have mated with," he explained. "Usually, it is the face of your mate's beast form, and it appears on a female's body in accordance with how she feels about her male at the time of their mating," he continued, blushing. "The most treasured location for a spousal mark by any male is close to their female's heart. This means that she cares deeply for him, or even loves him," he finished, too flustered to continue. Samantha picked up the first finished garment, a skirt made from the midsection of the deer pelt, and tied it around her waist. The fur at her left side was from the deer's back and had darker fur, which became lighter as it curved around her, and finished at the sides where the white belly of the deer was cut into ties, which Samantha used to fasten the skirt firmly from her hips to the middle of her thighs.

St. Benjamin, returning from the fire where he had placed the finished rabbit meat to cool, added to Spencer's explanation. "If a female touches one of her spousal marks, she can summon that particular male as well as borrow some of his power for a short time, like I told you before," he said smugly. "Every female has multiple spouses because every area of the continent suffers from an extreme shortage of females; the most favorable birth rates are one female birth out of every five births. Again, only one female can be born at a time, whereas a litter of males can vary from twins to hundreds of young." Samantha, who had sat down to assemble her hide shoes, said, "I remember," as she doubled up the neck pieces and scraps of hide to form the soles, tying them to the additional pieces of midsection left over from her skirt that would make up the sides of her boots. "But," she added with hesitation, "what if a female can't find a mate? Like, what if she belongs to a species that might not be able to procreate with beastmen?"

Even St. Benjamin could tell that Samantha was referring to herself. For the first time, instead of telling her the truth, that that female would likely die, he came up with another fact to tell her. "There has never been a species that has been unable to bear beastman young," he said, trying to sound comforting. Spencer piped in, "I agree, and I've seen races of females that you would never believe existed. You'll learn more when we go to the Beast City, but it's extremely rare that a female is undesired by anyone. Especially a female like you," he finished smoothly, causing both Samantha and himself to blush. Having finished her boots, Samantha stood to test them out and was pleased with the results, and was also relieved to have an excuse not to meet Spencer's eyes. She reached for her newly crafted top, wrapping the fur from one hind leg of the deer behind her back and using it to support her breast, until she had run out of pelt and needed assistance. "St. Benjamin," she asked shyly, "can you bring me the deer tail and help me tie this in place?" He gladly agreed, tying the lush fur decoratively around the halter top Samantha was securing herself into. "Do you want to go to the Beast City, St. Benjamin?" she asked him, knowing his face was too close to hers for him to get away with a single lie.

"I am a scorpion, and I am not welcome there," he told her, going to fetch the strips they had cut earlier to extend the top long enough to reach around Samantha's neck. "How will they know you're a scorpion? Can you stay in your beastman form?" Samantha asked insistently, not wanting to have to choose between accompanying only one of her friends. "Even his name is a dead giveaway of his race," Spencer cut in lazily, having now removed the venison from the flames as well. "We could call him something else," Samantha countered, entrenching herself in the idea of the three of them traveling together. St. Benjamin had returned to complete her top, and she asked him, "Could I call you Benji? As a nickname? Would that help you go unrecognized?" He focused on tying the sections of her neck strap together to avoid blushing as he replied, "You can call me whatever you like," in his amazingly deep voice.

Spencer snatched the other strap from the unsuspecting scorpion and began to copy his movements. "All right, Benji," he mocked, earning him a smack on the hand from Samantha. "You can call me Benjamin," the scorpion said, pleased that Samantha had stuck up for him in her harmless little way. This female was only becoming more interesting to him, and he would follow her to the Beast City and further just to stay by her side, fox beastman be damned. "So you'll come with us?" Samantha called to him delightedly as he tied her top behind her tantalyzingly sensual neck. "Absolutely," he practically purred, as much as a scorpion could. "Well if that's settled," Spencer interrupted crankily, "let's eat breakfast and set out. We have a long way to travel to get to the City of Beasts." Samantha gave St. Benjamin an enormous grin, and he couldn't help but return it. She picked up the last element of her new outfit, a headband made from the front quarters of the deer pelt, tied it around her head, and joined the males around the fire to eat.

Author's Note: Here's a sketch of Samantha's new outfit done by plankset of spacenoodlesoup! Samantha's headband goes under her hair, but you can see the headband better this way! Editing to put this in on May 18 2021!