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A Biography of a Human:

Chapter Thirty-Four:

“I, Concubinus"

I was convinced this was a trick of the eyes, it could not be real! This woman, Maria, she could not be real! It had to be a phantom of my memories creeping up and assuming form before me! I blinked, thinking it would cause this vision vanish but it did not, the figure of my past still stood there before me as real and clear as the sun!

“How can this be possible!? This can't be happening!" flashes of my last moments with her came to me. The market square, the slave pin, all the chimera walking about with the sound of a lively cityscape coming forth from the vast masses of them as they went about their shopping! Her kneeling before six year-old me, her teenage eyes flaming with strength and grit as she imparted me with resolve and words of comfort. The feeling of her nimble fingers touching the back of my neck as she clasped the amber eye pendant around my neck.

Then being dragged away from her, fully convinced I would never see her again as I was plopped into the paws of two waiting wolf sisters, my fate becoming the human of Gernan Koff! I could never forget such a moment but it all felt so different to me, like this was not even me and it was the life of a totally different human considering all I went through since that distant moment in time.

Though that moment was little over fifteen years ago, it felt more like a hundred in the grand scheme of it all!

And now she was standing before me after so much time and thinking I would never know what had become of her. She was now right there and I did not know what to even do or say. I felt so lost and astonished to a point of just being frozen in place, my mouth agape.

She meanwhile, seeing me just stand there wide awake and saying nothing was in a state of mental panic at what was going on. She dropped the tray, which hit the threshold of the doorway, spilling its contents as she fell to her knees, convinced she had offended a pampered member of the Alpha's harem and was about to receive a harsh punishment for her offense against me!

“Forgive me! Forgive me, I am but a stupid slave! Forgive me!" she chanted out while kowtowing frenziedly in a manner that looked as if any moment she would start bashing her head against the hard floor. It all made me think of the male hyenas again.

This scene caused me to break from my state of mind as well as causing Yosef to finally rouse himself and look on very confused at what was happening.

I could only cough out but one word.

“Maria!?" it was the only thing I could say, what else could I have said other than that? I said it again, this time louder and more clear and it got through to her, she stopped in mid-kowtow, frozen and still.

“Maria!?" I said it again a third and last time, she wanted to make sure she was hearing right since that was a name long unused with her. She looked up, eyes wide and full of confusion. She did not recognize me at all and I could tell that right away by that look on her face.

“…How…" it was only a whispered word but I heard it, “...how do you know my old name!? Who are you!?" she followed, her voice now more clear but still barely more than a breathy whisper, a voice filled with the intermixed emotions of deep confusion and awing revelation that standing before her was another from the Isle of Safehaven.

I was not surprised at all that she did not recognize me, even I would not have recognized myself if I were to have seen what I am now! A human dressed in a frilly costume and wearing a fine head-cloth around my head to hide my still regrowing hair. The last time Maria saw me, I was a whimpering child terrified of everything.

“Its me, Alexander! Alexander Kartanou!" instantly after saying that her eyes got even more wide, it clicked in her I could almost see the rush of memories that were now swamping her the moment that name went into her head. She was now going through the same feeling I was when I realized who she was.

She sprang up, still at a total loss for words! The same could be said for Yosef as well, who just took a seat and was as perplexed as ever at what was unfolding before his eyes. He really had no idea what he should do, if anything at all, so was just waiting and seeing if she made a move against me or something. For all he knew she could have been a spurned lover and was about to attack me or something along those lines.

“I…I…I can't believe it! Alex…ander! That son of a carpenter!?" Maria sputtered out, looking like she was almost tearing herself apart with stupefaction now knowing who I was!

“So, that was my pendant the Alpha was wearing," at first I was lost, then it came to me that she was talking about the eye charm, the image of a young Ulric in his sick bed with me leaning in to clasp the eye around his neck came to me.

“I thought I saw him wear it when I happened to catch a glimpse of him while doing my duties! I-I-I thought it was just a coincidence! How did you give it to him!? Where have you been!? How did you get here!? And how did you even meet the ALPHA!?"

I did not know whether to start laughing at such a question or groaning at the thought of all the explaining I would have to do to even answer that to begin with! I mean, after all that I have been through since then, it could fill up many pages of a book and it has, considering the mounting pile next to me as I write this; and I am only just nearing the halfway point with this memoir of mine.

I guided her over to sit down somewhere in my room, also explaining to Yosef that she was a person from my home who I thought I would never see again and to her that he was a friend I met in Afika.

“Maria, please don't ask yet, I will get to that point as well," I said to her before she could even voice her confusion. “Trust me, it will all make sense in the end but it's best to start with the beginning…"

So I began telling her what became of me, picking up the moment after she gave me her talisman and onward from that moment on. Gernan Koff, his first brush with death, his promotion to Prime Beta, the Tutelage of Prince Ulric, the riot, the Io scandal, and then the downfall before I went into the Afika saga, making sure to leave out certain elements at first as my dalliances with others was not something I wanted to have to throw around with someone I did not trust yet.

And being in the Harem, such info could result in some serious threats for me if it got in the wrong hands.

If anything, I was leaning that from example. Gao'ao herself, being a prime example of why you should think before opening one's maw!

Oh, Gao'ao, the only thing brilliant about her was her jewelry, beyond that she was quite dim and she would be proving that to me more and more, and I shall record that as well when it comes up. I am honestly surprised she even made it this long as Imperial Mate, then again her Uncle did head the Prime Delta office so it's not that surprising in retrospect…

“God! You went through all of that!?" Maria gasped, shocked at this up and down tale I had told her. I nodded, letting her know it was all true. Hearing it all myself even shocked me to a degree. It's only when you put such events in a single chain that one truly starts to see how eventful something like that is.

Now, another thing I did not mention to her was the death of my Master directly, it was still raw to me and going over it so soon at that time was not in my best interests. I did mention the attack, Gernan being injured, and being given his manor, but that was pretty much it. Maria was a smart woman, I knew she could put two and two together.

Now it was her turn to tell me what went on with her! She coyly shrugged, almost acting slightly embarrassed as if she felt what she would recount would not be as grand as what I had went through, I picked that up from her demeanor.

“Come now! You are acting like I lived some grand adventure, if anything it was more of a stress-filled nightmare!"

“Well…" she began trailing off into momentary silence, getting her thoughts in order before she started, “I ended up being bought by the palace functionary services right from the start and since then I have been living and working in the palace service compound. It's adjacent to the Armpit Palace in that area North of the East Palace."

I jumped, “It's the only place in the palace wards where male and female humans can work, if I am correct!"

“Oh, right, you just said you were in the Eastern Palace, you should know most of this!"

“Well, I am sure I'm not an expert in matters of the palace, plus I have spent seven years away from it all myself! Go on!"

“Well, there is not much else other than that, I have been there since and that's pretty much it. Just day in and day out, making sure this palace is kept running!" she rubbed her shoulder while looking at me rather sweetly.

Then her eyes widened, “Oh! Your linen, it's on the floor!" she shot up and quickly scrambled to collect it up, muttering about it getting dirty and wrinkled. After that, she turned to me and handed me the tray with the newly refolded stacks of white cloth, which I quickly set on the bed beside me for the moment.

“I work in the Textile Bureau, it would have been fun if I could've had the skills to be in the Embroidery Department, but I'm just in the Laundry Section, sadly. Even my husband gets more fun and he is just a clerk in the Cooking Bureau," she went on casually and it was now my turn to be shocked.

“ WHAT!?"

“You have a husband!?" I mean, looking back at it now, I should not have been that shocked. After all, when I last saw her she was in her teens and now she was a fully grown woman. Still, it was information I would have expected to hear in her story, so I was left stunned at having such a clearly important thing left out.

“You were going to leave that out?"

“It's not that big of a deal, I just have a husband, plus I have to worry about my supervisor when I get back after this much time, I can already imagine she is about to throw a fit, wondering if I'm slacking off!"

“You can tell her that I needed to talk to you. Now, tell me about this husband of yours!" I inquired eagerly.

“Well, its not much, he's just a member of the Cooking Bureau so spends his workday in the aromas of the imperial kitchens. Oh, and his name is-" she stopped off by the emergence of a new figure in the doorway: a young junior maid wolfess with a solemn manner, who wasted no time in stating her reasons for intruding even before I could inquire myself.

“Imperial Alpha Dowager Nu orders your summons immediately to her palace! Come with me!" she recited almost gravely, giving me an impression of deep foreboding and only one thought alone.

“_She didn't tell her mother-in law, did she?" t_hat and also that Nu must have found out her little daughter-in law's doings just this morn. I also wondered if Gao'ao was also called to answer for this as well? I wouldn't know since I had been inside this little closet of a bedroom since I woke up. Either way, I was going to have to be interviewed by her. At least I did not have to deal with her brother Titus, therefore it was better than that.

Maria excused herself, saying she had to get back to her supervisor before she risked even more of her wrath if she delayed any longer as it is. Yosef and myself followed. The wolf was so serious in her bearing that even her tail did not move as she walked ahead of us, guiding me out of the compound of the Imperial Mate and into the palace city's broad, paved alleyways which, unlike last night when I clandestinely was spirited away to this place, was now full of life.

More ursine eunuch guards were sporadically stationed about on the path we were treading now on the heels of this wolfess, passing by the servants and standard ursine eunuchs, some of them holding a fly-whisk across their folded bearish arms.

I could not help but wonder if one of them was Dillian. If he had been there, I would not be able to stop and talk, for I had a wolf matron to be interrogated by and furthermore, I felt I should not test the patience of that wolfess who was leading us there.

Yosef sprinted up to be even with my own pace and leaned into to my ear, “Xander? I'm starting to feel like this was a monumental mistake," he whispered nervously. It was all unsettling for him, being in the heart of the wolf empire and I could not fault him for feeling rather hesitant now.

“Yosef! Please not now! I am worried enough as it is, I don't need anymore right now, please!" I pleaded back in an anxious whisper back as my foot caught on something and I found myself tumbling forward!

Yosef caught me before I could even get close to the point of falling flat on my face thanks to him being so nearby. It was the damn dress I was wearing! I whispered a thanks to Yosef for his quick thinking and hitched up the excess folds of the wretched garment to assure there would not be a repeat of that.

“I miss just wearing pants!" I mused in growing annoyance at being subjected to wearing this dress.

Just then, after that moment, a litter passed by us heading down the opposite end that we were heading, I recognized its occupant straight away: it was Gao'ao and she had a sour look on her face and was muttering things I could not hear due to the distance between us. Her eyes caught mine and she did not look too surprised at seeing me heading to where she was just coming from herself.

All I could think about was why I couldn't ride in a litter like her; well, the answer was easy. I was a human Talent, the fifth level on the ranking of the concubines of the Alpha's Harem. Thus for the time being, travel within the boundaries of the Great Den was to be made on foot.

And I was still waking even after some minutes elapsed, _“How wide is this palace anyway!?" w_ere my exact thoughts. I would later find out that this horizontal avenue I was walking down was aptly named, “The Eternal Road," and it really did live up to that name, as I was experiencing now, passing by the walls of the other compounds.

I found myself wondering which one was Ulric's, I figured it had to be the largest one. Each time I thought I found the biggest roofed structure that perched over beyond the high, enclosing walls; but then I would end up seeing a bigger one a second later.

Just thinking of Ulric returned my spirits to a degree as I felt my anxious mood and unease lift itself, and was replaced by a tingling sensation that bounded itself down within my stomach. I knew that he would look out for me no matter what, but since it was so clear Gao'ao had left out mommy-in law from the knowing of her plans, I wondered if she did the same with Ulric.

I did not know the truth then of whether he knew I was here or not, but that was pretty much it, I was meant to be a surprise. Still, at the moment the thought of him not knowing if I was even here did not help the situation at all, for I could easily be done away with and my little wolf would be none the wiser of it. The sour frown on Gao'ao's muzzle did help this thought at all and I was now growing really afraid of what was to happen with me once I was in Nu's presence...

And then I was ushered into her presence after what seemed like a trek that felt like it would never end. A combination of my anxiety and the truly large scale of the palace city made it seem that way to me.

After being led into the courtyard of her own palace complex and up the stone terrace which her main hall rested upon, stopping just at the entrance of the wooden construction and its high overhanging eves on its corners were mounted with small chime bells that tinkled in the light breeze.

The she-wolf gestured me in with a whisper that Her Noble Highness was in the West sitting room. I nodded my head and stepped over the threshold, ready for my meeting, whatever it might entail for me. Yosef tried to follow, but was stopped by that strict wolfess, “Stop! Servants wait outside unless called for!"

Looking back, I saw that Yosef was taking great offense to both being referred as such and being disallowed from coming with me. His face was beginning to turn a harsh shade of red and he looked like he was about to start an argument. I gave him a sign to let it go and that I will be fine. It was for the best, breaches of palace protocol entailed harsh punishments for even the smallest offense.

I entered the semi-darkened interior, most of lamps were still unlit, being it was still morning and the staff had not gotten around to it. Still, the glow from the papered windows offered abundant amount of light but the further reaches of the room were shaded in slight twilight.

Walking to my left, only giving a slight glance around at the current room, the main hall in which Nu's ceremonial throne sat on a small platform underneath a resplendent canopy placed against the rearmost wall in the center of the space.

“Looks like I am not important enough to warrant an audience with Nu seated upon that grand thing…" I mused to myself as I nervously rang my hands, recalling the past moments I had with Ulric's mother in the past, the ways see seemed to make me feel vert uncomfortable in her words and bearing.

When I entered her sitting room, I kept my eyes cast down on the richly carpeted floor of swirling patterns and complimentary colors as I shuffled within. It made me feel even worse as it formed a sense of vertigo and nausea within me, causing more fears to come forth such as throwing up in her presence.

That worry, I shoved away quickly and promptly, for I was afraid if I thought about such a thing happening I would end up making it happen in reality and I did not want that to occur at all!

I fell into a state of full courtly protocol and etiquette so that I could make the best impression upon the now fully-in power Nu. She, no longer mere consort of the late Alpha, but Imperial Alpha Dowager and I was feeling the desire to make sure I make no mistake whatsoever and give her a reason to do away with me.

For she had that power…

“Peace upon you, royal matron, this low-some human bids his greetings to you!" I recited formally, giving every ounce of submissiveness I could muster forth from my body and mind, hoping that this would show her that I was not of any threat to her.

All I could see from my vantage was her legs, garbed in rich silk which laid an apron of winding clouds and birds done in multicolored thread resting over her dress that stopped short of her paws.

“I am pleased to see you show more respect to me than that indolent daughter-in law of mine! Now come closer, it's been many years since I last gazed upon your face," the whole time I did not look up, even after she beckoned me to come closer. I kept my head down and crawled to her on my knees until I reached her seated form resting on a couch in the rear of the chamber.

“How do you expect me to look at you when you have your head down like that? Now, look up so I can take a good look at you!" I did as she asked and slowly gazed up, my head going past the rest of her rich garments until I met her muzzled face, which looked down on me with eagerly with those blue eyes that Ulric inherited from her.

She then brought her paw to my face and moved it near the top of my head, with a single manicured claw Nu lifted up the brim of my head-covering, exposing the still-growing stubble beneath. Her eyes flickered with a sense of seeing something she had heard of before and was now having it confirmed to her in person.

“I heard you became a monk and shaved your head, I see that is true. Strange, it's not often you see a human who purposely cuts down his head-fur…very strange..." she spoke down to me from her now-matronly face, subtle signs of aging written across her muzzled face but nonetheless still looking like the Nu I had seen before, still making me feel unnerved with her words.

“Take your clothes off."

Those four words said in such a causal but imperious tone felt unreal to me, I could not tell if I had truly heard what I thought I heard. My face went cold and numb while my mind went into a momentary state of denial and just stayed there, hoping to be proven right about that.

She stared down at me in stony silence, waiting for me to act, her face changed and her patience wore off as she opened her maw to speak again.

“Take your clothes off!" hearing it again just proved that what she had said was not a flight of fancy brought about by fear and worry, but in fact a reality that at first my mind could not take it. Now I could not pretended that and if my face was cold and numb before, now it was as cold as ice and devoid of all feeling.

“P-p-pardon!?" stuttering out, voice and body shaking like a leaf assaulted by the wind. My fear was obvious but that cool matron Nu held her bearing as withdrawn and domineering as before, unmoved by my fear and embarrassment.

If anything, her lupine eyes betrayed a sense of amusement in seeing me like this and behind that, I swear I saw something more: lust or desire, subtle and hidden behind her orbs, a hunger; ravenous and demanding. I felt like a toy and it frightened me.

“Now, my dear human…my daughter-in law should abide by the harem rules. Having you ferried here with not even the most basic of examinations! Outrageous! I gave her a good stripping down, metaphorically of course…."

“But yours will be, lets say, more literal!"

Each of her words made my fear and embarrassment grow more and more until I was shaking so much it was visible even from a distance.

“Now, are you going to take your clothes off yourself…or do you need some assistance with it?" her voice dripped with sarcasm at the latter part of her words, she gestured over to another part of the room and I followed my gaze with it until it stopped at a gruff-looking, castrated ursine who stood in the corner of the room, his burly arms folded across his chest and looking quite imposing.

All I could do was swallow down a particularly troublesome gulp that seemed to get stuck in my throat, requiring more effort to get it down.

“No! No! I can do it!" exclaiming out, not wanting to wait any longer as to give that pillar of ursine might a chance to give me his help in undressing before his Imperial Mistress.

I slowly got up and backed up to be more in the center of the room, all the while Nu was looking eager and a sense of impatience growing within her snouted mien. My fingers quivering, I pulled on the string that held aloft the long skirt at my pectorals, it fell down to my feet in a dropping flurry, exposing my chest to the cold air that permeated the room.

“Now, your pants," Nu coldly demanded, tapping her claws on the rim of her day couch. Her face was now showing a smug expression of domineering power, an intoxication that I was quite literally being dressed down before her presence.

I pulled on the string, which was the only thing that held my simple pants up. They fell, so slowly in my eyes. I was fully exposed to her and everyone else in the chamber. Her eunuchs, her ladies-in-waiting, her maids, everyone!

“Come closer," I followed her command, stepping over my shed clothing and when I thought I was close enough and stopped, all she did was repeat her words to come closer. This went on until I was right before her and I could feel the warm exhale from her muzzle upon the nude skin of my exposed body. It was the only warmth I felt in this entire situation. Everything else was cold, ice cold.

“She did not even have your body fur expunged! My daughter-in law is much muddle-headed to think this would fly!" she remarked, finishing with a curt. “We will have this fixed!"

Then I felt something cold on my bare hip, it struck me so much that I gave a slight flinch. It was her paw, it was now resting on my side and slowly moving down to my thigh.

“What a nice body, you feel quite nice, even with the body fur cursing your form…" the whole time she was feeling me up she did not even look at what she was feeling, her eyes were firmly locked on my face and piercing into my eyes, taking in all my subtle expressions and reading me like a book.

The dread of it all was nothing compared to what followed…

A shock! A sensation that just about shattered my entire state of mind! I was grabbed! Warnings and fears exploded across my body and mind! Terror, all things bad, I was being violated!

My jewels, my orbs, they were in the clutches of the she-wolf! I felt them, the clawed digits curling around their forms. So much was going through my mind! I did not know what to even think of, much less what to even do! I could not scream, nor could I even cry. I could not back away or Canis forbid, swat her paw away like she were some handsy wolf wanting score a feel of some weak human!

No! I was stuck in a position where I could do nothing but stand there and let her have her bidding with me and only hope it would be over soon. That was it! I was paralyzed like a lost fawn, only able to just stand there and be in a state of solid anguished terror!

“I want to die!" That felt like it would have been a blessing compared to this wolfess, who now moved on from just entrapping them in her grip to fondling my spheres in her paws like toy balls.

The worst part of this whole ordeal was the fact that Nu kept her overbearing stare on my face, not once breaking it now that she was in possession of my most sensitive organs, her pin-prick pupils set in blue rimmed by kohl black ducts, continued is visual siege on my face, watching my eyes dart around and my face contorted by mortification of all that was happening.

She was breaking down my soul and I could feel pieces of it fall to the wayside…I feared I would soon collapse, my defenses decimated and my force of will sapped of all it could muster. It felt like this was going on for ages and every moment that it went on the more I felt I was failing.

This was comparable to being used by that lion, Weha'djet. I was fully sodomized then and it was horrific, but this, in someways this felt worse as strange as it sounds. There was not really a sexual act done on me but that almost made this feel worse. Regardless of what was worse for me, I was being used…

Again in my life I had been taken advantage of in this shameful way! But what was I to do? This assault upon me was by the paw of one of the most powerful she-wolves in the palace! Gao'ao!? For all her overtures of control and power were but vapor in the face of this real power figure I was being used by.

“We're done!" she pulled back her paws and folded them in her lap. “You may dress now," she concluded with a small twitch of her claw.

I stumbled backwards, as white as a sheet of pressed paper and shaking like one in the wind. I found my clothes behind me and began the slow and awkward process of putting everything back on, still being watched by everyone in the chamber. Part of me was happy this was over, the whole experience of her touching me like she did felt as if it had gone on for ages, but now all of the feeling of unease vanished with me now finally dressed.

Thinking I was all done here, I started the motion to turn and begin withdrawal from her presence, thankful and relieved that I would be out of this place. I wanted Yosef, I needed him.

“Wait! I did not dismiss you! I have more to ask of you, Xander…" instantly, all my meager attempts at moving to leave halted and I wanted to just turn around and burst out into wails, begging and pleading with her to please stop tormenting me! This, of course, I did not do, I kept my cool and turned around and fell back upon my knees, waiting with baited breath at what I would be subjected to next!

Would I be lead to her bed chamber so that she can examine me even closer? I had no knowing and I was fearing the worst.

“You can read and write, I take it?" she asked point-blank, highlighting an incredulous tone and waiting for me to say no to such a question. Nonetheless, I was thankful to every spirit and deity that she did not bring up more of what I feared she would do regarding my body.

“Yes, Alpha Dowager, I possess the ability to read and write the wolven characters," I looked up as I said this and was able to catch the glimmer of surprise upon her muzzled face.

“My Mast-" I stopped myself, I was not his slave anymore! I was his adopted son, his pup, and from then on I wanted to make sure I honored him as such! I cleared my throat and began again.

“My departed adoptive Father, Gernan, personally taught me them," I said, proudly gathering up strength in mentioning his name. I held my head high but not so much that it would be seen as an affront to Nu's perception.

“Ah! That is good! For a moment I was fearful you might be illiterate, that would sure make your rank as Talent quite cumbersome indeed…" now it was me once again confused and I had it written on my face clear to Nu.

“She did not inform you!?" Nu rolled her eyes and raised a single paw to the side of her muzzle, which she started rubbing.

“Inform me of what?"

“Your duties."

“Duties?" the regal wolf matron rolled her eyes again and I heard her groan in growing annoyance, which I felt was more directed at her daughter-in law rather than me, for she muttered something about that 'pea-brained girl' under her breath.

“Yes, duties! What do you think the harem is? A pleasure palace where you lay around all day waiting for my Imperial Pup to bestow his favor upon you?" I sat there in silence which gave her my answer loud and clear.

“No! You as a Talent, a fifth-raking human concubine, have administrative duties to fulfill!" she paused look at me intently with her blue eyes staring down at me.

“One, you oversee the ledger books of the harem; two, you keep the books on my pup's bedchamber; and three, you organize the changing of his clothing and bedsheets," she then gestured to a female wolf attendant who went off and then came back a little while later bearing a stack of disheveled books and set them before me.

I picked one up and looked it over, leafing through the thin pages and was greeted with rows upon rows of insipid and tedious wolven characters containing such things as: at this date, the Imperial Alpha feasted upon this dish and did not touch that dish; or when the Alpha went to bed at this hour of the night and awoke at this time.

I will not lie, just looking at it gave me a headache! This was just the book on the Alpha, below it were two further large books, one for the East Harem and the other for the West Harem; those were filled with the daily affairs of each.

“You were given that seal of your rank for a reason, it's not just for show. Now you can see why it would have been quite silly if you were illiterate!" she amusingly ended as I was still in some shock by the fact that I was basically, for all intent and purposes, part secretary, part butler and a concubine on the side. I did not expect this in the slightest!

“W-w-will I have to do all of these!?" I found my voice was weakened and stuttering, imagining all the notations I would have to do!

“Oh no, not all of that, mostly just the accounts on my pup's bedchamber and his affairs, books on the harems are handled by those of lower rank to you, though they will be passed by you from time to time and you merely have to give them a look over and then compose a monthly report for the Imperial Mate and also an annual report which you will give to my pup personally," all of this information was making me light-headed but at least I knew I was not going to be handling everything, it was not much but it was something.

I was feeling overwhelmed and just wanted to leave! Fortunately, that came at last. I was dismissed and I backed out of her chamber, bowing at every interval of shuffled steps. Once she was out of my sight, I felt I could turn around and then make my way back into the open air.

Yosef saw me and his face dropped, my expression must have been shocking, he said I looked like those stories of returning solders after a fierce and trying war. That was very apt, after all, the harem is a battlefield, one made up of plots and emotions, eunuchs and concubines.

“Oh, wisdom of Munni! What did she do to you!?"

“Not now, Yosef! I'll tell you when we get back to our chamber!"

Now, I would have liked to say I got back to my chamber with Yosef in tow, both of us finally in some kind of refuge away from it all. That's how I would have liked it, but thing never go the way one desires them to. No, instead of a long and uneventful walk back to the complex of the Imperial Mate, we were intercepted…

That's how I first met him…

Human Consort Siao…

Jao's little puppet, who, like Gao'ao before, was riding in a splendid sedan chair, though one of smaller status than hers.

He was clearly just waiting for me, as the moment I came into view of him after having made it halfway back to the Palace of Gao'ao, his figure made some movement with his hand and his sedan went flying, chasing me down.

Like I had the chance to even outpace what was coming my way to begin with…

His head usher, a human male with a commanding voice, shouted out for me to halt immediately and I, not knowing what was going on at first, did as I was told and waited as the lofty seated human was ferried over to me and was lowered down to the paved ground by his ursine carriers.

Siao's narrowed, brown eyes looked me up and down, and the feeling of distaste was clear even to me, I knew who this was clearly and was bracing myself for yet another moment of distress, this time by the very person who was most threatened my very existence in this den of deadly vipers with colorful scales.

Colorful he was, there was no doubt about that in the slightest! Not only did he beam off his status as a favored consort in his dressings of shining violet and snow-white bands, crowned upon his head was a sizable jadeite disc bearing a central opening from which deep brown coils of his hair were woven through.

His face then turned into that of rage and he shouted shrilly, jarring me from my viewings.

“ Outrage!"

“He disrespects me!" before I could even have a moment to react, a bulky Ursine was storming upon us and his heavy paws roughly grabbed my shoulder and thrust me to my knees with such a strength the air was kicked out of my lungs!

Yosef shouted briefly before he too got the same treatment and was thus on the hard ground as well. Then the error of my ways came to me, I had let slip from my mind the proper etiquette. The run-in with Dowager Nu had left me in such a state and thus so gave Siao an excuse to bully me.

He was pleased, a smirk was plastering itself across his sly face, which was being cupped by one of his hands. I, wishing to recover somewhat from my grave error, quickly gave him proper salutations, practically now groveling. I knew anything I did and say could be and would be used as an even further chance for him to humiliate me to his own pleasure.

“I heard you have no hair? Let's see! Take that thing off his head!" not a moment after this was I roughhoused yet again by the same ursine brute, now snatching from my head the light cloth that was the only thing hiding the fact I had willingly tonsured myself in the recent past.

With my stubbled head now in the open air for all to see, Siao burst out in stinging laughter to the point he was even urging on his retinue to join in with light chuckles.

Oh, how mad I was! I was livid! But all I could do was just kneel there and take it as I felt my jaw grind against itself in the sheathing rage I was now feeling strumming though my thoughts! How I would have loved to have stood up and marched right up to that painted faced snob and slap that grin right off that damn face of his!

Now, if I did that I think I would have surely been hauled off to the palace justice office, where Canis knows what I would have ended up subjected to and I knew Siao would look on gleefully until Gao'ao was notified and she came to save me.

Finger vices and a block corset with a sadistic ursine behind me taking glee with each tightening of its bindings! All the while I screamed my head off! That would have been what would have been the outcome if I dared even do that to Siao! I was not in the position to even think such things let alone act on them.

“The both of you look like infants!" Siao mocked while pointing at us and looking at his court, who nodded their head sycophantically and making even more insulting comments. In particular, the same human with the loud, commanding voice made this comment:

“They hold more resemblance to overripe peaches than to the elegant humans of the harem such as you, sire! Just look at the fuzz!" Siao applauded his cohort's wit and agreed, gleefully further adding. “What was the Imperial Mate even thinking, bringing these two jesters into the harem!?"

“I am listless with this affair, let's leave these two melon-headed bumpkins to their Lord Munni!" Siao spoke out with a sharp bite in his grating voice. I found his voice greatly irritating, foxes may have shrill voices but they are music when compared to Siao's whines.

“I hear the Imperial Garden's lakes provide cool during this hour of the noon, send off!" the arrogant Human finished, giving a wave of his ringed hand. He and his entourage were off, leaving Yosef and I utterly humiliated.

“How can Ulric even stand to be in the same room with him, let alone let him into his bed!?" I spitefully thought as I watched the tyrian tyrant's little army of palace personnel march behind his sedan chair in tight formation as if they were a battalion of elite troops. They grew smaller in the distance and then mafe a turn down another avenue, disappearing from sight.

“What a blowhard!" I heard Yosef spit out, venting off the steam he was holding back. All I did was let out a deep sigh, feeling happy this all was at least over, as I picked up my head-cloth from the ground and dusted it off.

“Come on, Yosef, get going now, lest we encounter anyone else like that!" Yosef nodded his head and we restarted our trek back. There were no more encounters after that and we were quite pleased.

Entering back into the compound of Gao'ao, I wished to just spend the rest of this day alone and away from everything. I did not even get a chance to do that, the moment I was within her courtyard I was waved over to Gao'ao's residence.

Gao'ao, of course, wanted to see me, and I could not exactly turn her down. Still, I was tired of this all, I just wanted the day to be concluded.

One thing I wish to mention now was as I was passing into the shade of of the hall's roofs, I was able to see this compound had a flowery name which was written upon a placard and perched upon the central portion below the over-hanging roof.

“Abode of Regal Standing," was written, it was fitting for Gao'ao and the airs she gave off. Airs which I knew no doubt I would be subjected to again as I now came into the interior of her residence, guided directly to her presence.

I bowed and paid my homage to her station, she bid me rise and had a wolf lady-in-waiting offer me a pillowed mat to be seated upon, “Imperial Mother-in-law? I hope she did not do anything to you now, did she?"

“No lady, she just asked me questions," I decided long before this I was not going to tell her about that incident. I was still mortified over the whole thing and at that moment I gathered just barely enough will to put it out of my mind. Just a mention of Nu was enough then to make me feel her paws on my body all over again!

Gao'ao asked about what was asked of me and I answered. The wolfess seemed pleased and happy that nothing went wrong during my interview with her mother-in law, saying how she was worried she would end up demoting me to a servant or outright kicking me out of the palace.

“Thank Canis! I was fearful she would try and ruin my plans!"

“I am the Imperial Mate! Why does she try and manage the harem? That is my duty, not hers! But enough about her, anything else?

“Ah, yes, lady. I ran into a human named Siao and-" before I could finish and begin to tell her of what occurred, she cut me off, her face going all sour.

“I can already guess what he did, just know that he is now a trapped beast. After all, the real object of desire is now here…" she spoke vaguely.

“Lady, I do not understand what you mean by that."

“Jao knew that our Ulric has a thing for you, so he had that bear of his go out and find a human who can be a stand-in for you!" hearing this, I was puzzled, thinking back on Siao and his appearance made this claim make no sense.

Siao looked nothing like me, his face was a completely different structure to that of mine. He had brown hair and eyes like me, but the shades were lighter than mine.

“How!? He does not even look like me!"

“He smells like you, Xander! That along with the superficial similarities make it enough to work," after hearing this, it made sense to me. I had forgotten about how smell was was a contributing factor in such matters. If vague appearances mend with similar scent it can become enough of a force to compel.

“Enough about him though, he is doomed to fall out of favor now that you are here! We have more important matters to ready for…"

“...That of when his Majesty makes his way here, the moment he finds out you are now in the palace! It will not be long, tonight I feel he will make a visit, no doubt rushing to see you!" she said this all with significant glee in voice and manner, giving a solo clap of her paws as she mention me being the object of Ulric's desires.

She then excitedly told me to go into her backrooms behind her throne and to wait until the signal. So, there I waited…and waited…and waited for some hours until purple twilight replaced that of the shining yellow-white in the papered windows.

Then a muffled voice from afar! That of a crier's announcing the arrival of someone of great importance, the words shouted out, “The Imperial Alpha arrives!" followed by the sound of latticed doors swinging open and frenzied steps that sounded more like stomping than anything less.

“Greetings to my Alpha-Husband, this-" Gao'ao was cut off before she could even finish her formal lines of welcoming.

“Where is he!? He is here!?"

“Yes! Talent Xander, you may come," that was the signal, I got up and slowly emerged from the rightmost of the twin portals that framed the Imperial Mate's throne, parting aside the mist-like pall that hung from the arch's frame and coming into the chamber.

There he was, standing in the center of the room, his blue eyes focused on me as his maw hung agape, “Alpha Ulric, your Majesty…" I humbly voiced while lowering in a gentle bow.

“XAN!" he rushed forward and pulled me into an embrace, whining and whimpering ever so slightly. I could feel his heart beating against that of my own chest, even through the layers of his robes. Wrapping my arms around his wide waist, I was also filled with my own emotions and felt my eyes start to water.

“It's been only a few days since I saw him last, why am I being this way?" I distinctly recall, thinking how silly I was being, feeling this way.

Ulric started licking my face, tickling my neck as he did so in between his nuzzles of his snout on my cheeks. I felt so happy to be in his arms again and also knowing that now I would not have to go through the heartbreak of knowing I would have to let him go and return to the palace henceforth from now on.

Then she came into view, Gao'ao…

The look upon her face, her eyes, her muzzle, it showed of satisfaction to no end in what was unfolding before her. Then she spoke, breaking up our moment of shared silence and affection.

“Alpha, I thought it would be of your benefit to have him inducted into the harem, how could I not? Anything that makes you pleased makes me as such!" Ulric's ear rotated back, listening to the words of Gao'ao. Pulling away from me, he turned to Gao'ao, beaming with happiness as he switched from looking at the smug wolfess and to me as if I was some dreamlike figure about to vanish if he took his eyes off my for too long. Not only that, but his tail was whooshing at such a rate that I could feel its air against the back of my own legs.

“Gao'ao, I don't know what to say! I had no idea you did this until Dillian got word Xander was in the palace and told me just a moment ago!"

“The idea that the Imperial Mate cares for her Alpha Husband and his desires and should not harbor any jealousies! You love Xander and thus I sought out your own happiness by having him be brought into the harem…" she said in such solemn humbleness that it looked almost rehearsed, then she furthered this part, holding more truth in it than what was before.

“Your Majesty…"

“The Grand Astrologer's forecast spoke of this being a most auspicious period for me to conceive a litter. Furthermore, its been nearly two months since you last spent the night with me…" her words, filled with subtle hints to her true desires. I should have know right there and then, the whole game, the whole scheme of it all! I was too enthralled being once more in Ulric's royal presence that it was lost on me even though it should have been unmistakable!

These words caught Ulric off guard and he looked down at the floor, shifting his eyes around trying to think of a response, “…Yes…it has been quite long since…" I could feel the unease in the young wolf. I felt for him he was though he was an adult, if young, and despite already being father to two litters so far, he was not quite mature yet and it was showing clearly in this response to his Imperial Mate's advancements, which came across more as an affair of state rather than anything of real emotions.

As for me in all of this? I was dumb, even more so than that of Ulric! I don't know what happened next in great detail solely because of that! Gao'ao pressured, going on about how the Alphate needs an heir from the Imperial Mate and so on. It wore Ulric down and he consented to his duty.

It gets worse though, I was thinking that I would be excused and I would leave them to their procreation and that would be it! That was not it and it was far from it!

As Gao'ao led the still-uncertain Ulric to her bedchamber, she bid me to follow and if I was not wishing death upon myself hard enough after what Dowager Nu did to me earlier, now I was wishing that a bolt of lighting from the heavens would take me there and then! I was horrified and all it did was get worse!

She asked me to undress her! She had to ask three times before I finally got moving, that should make you aware of how I was thinking and feeling. Then she asked me to do the same with Ulric, she only had to ask two times with that. By this point she was clearly becoming irritated by my slowness, but how else did she expect me to react!

I tried not to look at both of their parts, but I glanced at them, I could not avoid it. My face had to have been so red during all of this! It was at this moment that my only recalled thought of that whole night happened!

The word of Alpha Dowager Nu. The ones about dressing and undressing the Alpha and being in charge of the Alpha's bedchamber, that is why I was doing this! Before I was so confused about why I was here and present but with those recalled words, it made sense. Still, it did not make the whole situation any better for me in the end, I was still wishing I would drop dead!

I watched them, my Ulric and his mate! It was all a blur to me, the moans from Gao'ao, the figures thrusting and moving in the dimness of the few lights in the room, it was akin to being in a nightmare of some kind! I felt nauseous and lightheaded, so many emotions were coming and going, I could not even keep track of them!

Then I noticed something...

Ulric, my little wolf…

The whole time he thrust himself into Gao'ao…

He was not looking at her…

As he was performing his duty of state, that which he had no passion in, he only looked at me! The entire time he just looked at me and me alone and continued on even after he briefly broke away during the heat that was climax.

When they were tied into one, the young Alpha wolf continued his gazing at me as this moment drew on for minutes, his long face and deep blue eyes telling me something in it. That though he may have to be with others due to his position…

I was the only one…

The only one…