How Did I Go To the Beast World in My Pajamas?

Chapter 39: Let Me Take Care of You

Hours had passed since Samantha had begun sobbing into Benjamin's unfaltering embrace, but nothing had changed regarding Spencer's mysterious abduction. If the foxes who took him hadn't left his belongings behind, there would be little evidence to prove he had lived in the house for any period of time at all, much less one that hadn't even lasted for a week. As Samantha cried, Benjamin found himself stroking her tear-soaked, tangled hair away from her face and even comforting her with occasional murmurs just to remind her that he was still there. The thunderstorm that had lasted for hours began to fade as Samantha's tears ran out, and the quiet falling outside meant that the growls from the pair of empty stomachs inside were that much harder to ignore. "I'll go hunt," Benjamin said, slowly releasing Samantha from his arms. With his hands still on her upper arms, he told her, "You go across the street and see if you can stay with Jewel until I return. It isn't safe to leave you alone here, and she has enough males to protect you both as long as she doesn't mind. I'll do my best to hurry back, but it's getting late and there may not be much running around after that storm." Samantha looked like she might protest, but thought the better of it and acquiesced. "Please hurry," she said, repeating his words. "If you can't find any meat, I can eat other things too, you know. I'd just rather you came back sooner," she said quietly. Benjamin tried his best to ignore her last sentence as they stood up and he walked her across the street to the home of their nearest friend.

Benjamin gestured for Samantha to knock, remembering Jewel's previous reaction to Spencer's assertiveness. Hesitantly raising her closed fist, Samantha sought a look of approval from the scorpion before actually knocking on the door. Within seconds, the door flew open; a bird beastman had answered Samantha's knock, and Jewel's voice echoed from inside. "Samantha? Is that you? What happened over there? Come in, come in!" the bear female's voice boomed. Samantha was quickly ushered inside while Benjamin waited at the door. "You can go about your business," Jewel's mate told him flatly, and closed the door in his face. Samantha's mouth dropped in shock, but luckily, she kept any of the words that came to her mind exactly where they were. This wasn't her house, and she still had to get used to the customs of this world; this, she assumed, was one of them. Before she had the chance to form another thought, she found herself in the warm, comforting embrace of her friend while her legs were warmed up by Bub's fur as he wound himself tightly around them. "What are you doing here so late?" Jewel asked her, her voice full of concern. "And what happened at your house earlier? We weren't able to see much from over here, but it looked like something was the matter with your fox mate. We saw him being carried away. Are you all right? Come sit down and we'll talk," she said as she ushered Samantha to a comfortable-looking arrangement of stone chairs covered in thick furs. "Tommy," she added, "bring us some water; Samantha looks like she could use some. And these sons of yours are always thirsty, too!" The bear beastman whose head had barely poked around the corner of the room nodded, and he turned around to retrieve the items his mate had requested.

"Thank you so much," Samantha told her. "Benjamin needed to go out hunting, but he didn't want to leave me alone in the house now that Spencer is gone, so he brought me over here to visit while he's away" she explained as the remainder of her tears flowed down from her eyes. "At least that male has a modicum of sense," Jewel huffed, though Samantha could tell she approved of his actions even if she didn't approve of Benjamin himself. "But what about the other one? Why is he 'gone'? He's a four-stripe beastman, isn't he? There isn't much that could have taken him out," the bear female wondered aloud. "That's the thing; we have no idea," Samantha explained. "We had just mated-" she began, and Jewel cut her off before she could continue, saying, "Oh, honey, we all know that! You didn't cancel your spousal contract, did you?" Samantha blushed and muttered, "No," at the ground; she suddenly regretted the abandon with which she had thrown herself into mating with Spencer, even if most of her neighbors would have heard them no matter how quiet they had tried to be. "Even if you had," Jewel carried on, ignoring Samantha's embarrassment, "that shouldn't have been enough to injure him like that."