Bai Di noticed the pair of females being guarded by the snake male. Guarded was a good word for it, the snake was sending sharp looks and glares at every male that dared look at his mate and her friend. The female that he was now courting was fierce in the defence of her mate, but somehow gentle with the other female. Most females tended to not get along well, seeing each other as rivals in getting the best males. An odd trait, but not one that was bad he supposed.

Bai Di raised a hand in greeting as they walked by, gaining more that the females attention. He could feel the jealous looks sent his way by the countless males at the market. "Chi!" He called gently.

Chiaki lifted her hand in greeting back. Bai Di had noticed them almost right away. "Dee!' She called back.

The male who was trading with Bai Di shrunk back as Curtis neared with the two females. With a huff, Curtis turned his back to the male and Bai Di, intent on keeping the other males at a distance. It would be easier once they learned how strong a male he was. For now however he couldn't beat them into the ground to prove his place. Maybe the tiger would be stupid enough to start a fight with him and he could show off his prowess.

"Do you like these clothes?" Bai Di asked, gesturing towards the soft leather outfits being displayed.

Pausing to look them over Chiaki had to admit that the stitching was very well done. "These do seem to be well made."

The seller puffed out his chest with pride as his ears stood up on-top of his head. What a wonderful female! She liked his skills! Maybe she would like him too? "Thank you, pretty female." He complimented.

Bai Di wrapped an arm around her and gave a growl of warning to the wolf male. "This is the female I am courting! She shall be my mate!"

The wolf nodded. Of course she would be courted by such a strong male as Bai Di, the white tiger often came to their village to trade and was well known in the area. "I'm sure she would happily consider myself too, after all, she has complimented my sewing skills!"

Bai Di huffed. He had no saying on if Chiaki could consider the wolf. He had to hold his tongue. Instead he turned his attention back to the female. Chiaki was holding a striped horse hide dress. "Would you like that one?"

"Uh, oh, uh no..." Why did they keep trying to put her into Zebra stripes? Chiaki placed the garment back down. "Maybe you, Huanhuan?"

Huanhuan picked up the dress. "It's a bit big..."

"I traded with the seller enough hides to only get one completed outfit." Bai Di said carefully.

Chiaki raised an eyebrow. There had to be at least four or five unprocessed hides in the stack. She wasn't sure who was getting the bad end of the deal.

"I'll pay for it." Came a voice from behind the seller. The new voice caused Curtis to quickly turn to glare at the male. The male wolf was Duskmane, the one who had found Huanhuan and brought her to the village. He was holding a few clear spar in his hand. Agitated that a male had sneaked along the rock wall and gotten near his mate, Curtis hissed at him.

Chiaki picked up a few of the other outfits, settling on a white and tan deer hide dress. "I think this one will do."

Bai Di quickly agreed. "It will look beautiful on you!"

The wolf agreed also. "Would you like to try it on? I have a small alcove near the back."

Chiaki shook her head. "That's quite alright. I'm much more interested in seeing the rest of the market."

Let down, the wolf's ears drooped. He had too many wares left to trade and sell to pack up so early and follow the female around in hopes she would give him favour. But he cheered himself with the hope she would wander passed his spot again.

"Do you think you will be okay, Huanhuan?" Chiaki said, nodding to Duskmane.

Huanhuan raised a finger to her lips as she thought, contemplating how she'd been treated by the wolf male so far. "I think so, he doesn't seem like a bad person."

"Alright. I'll see you back at Langzhu's, okay?"

"Okay!" Huanhuan gave a little wave as Chiaki handed the now carefully folded hide dress to Bai Di to carry.

o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o

Chiaki sighed as she sat down on the edge of the bed she had been given in Langzhu's home. The elder healer had a whole room just for taking care of others and storing his healing plants. The wolf tribe had a lot of other types of beast men visiting to trade, some that she'd never seen before, like the herbivore beasts. "It's been a long afternoon."

"It has." Curtis agreed, settling at her feet and resting his head in her lap. It had been annoying. None of the males at the market had been present during his brief fight with the tiger, so they were relentless in their pursuit of his mates attention. "I would like to return to our home. I've found you safely and that is all I care about."

Chiaki glanced at Bai Di sitting with his back to the wall. "What of you, this is your home is it not?"

Bai Di shook his head. "The Rock Mountain belongs to the wolf tribes. I have friends here, but it isn't my home."

"Oh, where is your home?"

Bai Di looked away. How could he tell this female that he was a wanderer? He had little to offer, save his own talents. "I use to live with my family, but I'm an adult now and live on my own." He hedged around the question.

"Hm, true." Chiaki said, running her fingers through Curtis' hair. "I don't think I've seen families with adult children living with them."

"Just a female child until she takes her first mate and males tend to leave as soon as they can transform."

"If they're lucky." Curtis added.

"I think I agree with you Kurt, we should head home soon. Qianhuang and Kimba should be leaving the Winged Lion Village in a few days."

"Qianhuang? Kimba?" Bai Di questioned.

Chiaki showed him the winged lion mating mark. "Qianhuang is my other mate and Kimba is our son."

Bai Di blinked. A lion mate? She had another mate. He hadn't thought about that in a whole day... but she had kept saying 'her mates' when speaking. That meant he had another male to contend with for her attention. And she'd already given him a cub! Just a male, but still that meant that she favoured the lion over the snake, wouldn't it?

"And speaking of mates, I really shouldn't draw this out should I?" Chiaki shook her head. A third husband! "Kurt-" She looked at the red-eyed male. "You know what's going to happen, would you like to go hunting so you aren't hearing and smelling-" She said in a hush. "-everything."

Curtis glowered at Bai Di. It was inevitable. Chiaki would take another mate, another after that, and more as she desired. He could beat up males trying to get her attention, show her they were weak and not worth her time, but it would always come down to her choice. He nodded. "I'll go hunting, the prey is fat around here." With a fluid motion he was standing, then turning into his half transformed state, and finally out the door.

The door banged softly closed, leaving Bai Di alone in the room with Chiaki. He felt his nerves rise along with his desire to claim this female as his mate. His eyes roamed up her thin frame, not as small as Huanhuan, not as large as many of the wolf tribe females he'd seen. To his eyes she was perfect though. "Chiaki, I-" He was cut off by er sudden movement, as she was in front of him holding a finger to his lips. It had been in the blink of an eye.

"It's okay, you don't have to hold back. I wont break." Chiaki whispered in his ear, her breasts eye level to the white tiger male.

Bai Di's eyes sparkled as he cupped her breasts, pushing them up to the neckline of the leather wrap she wore. He tugged at the hem of the garment, then let Chaiki pull it over her head in one swift motion. She was in his lap, devoid of any shred of cloth to cover her from his eyes. He drank in the sight.