My Beastly Fertility System Chapter 13: Vying for Rufus

In her heart, Fiona added yet another grudge to the long list she kept against Claire.

Hazel's eyes practically lit up when she saw the two beast marks on Rufus's face.

If she could rope him into their clan, the fox clan would get a massive power boost.

Even that ungrateful brat, Zane, would be forced into line.

With that thought, Hazel stepped forward slowly, already planning her pitch.

"I'm the Chief of the fox clan—what clan are you from? This is our foraging ground. Did you come here hoping to join us? Even if you don't like Fiona, I still have several other daughters, and plenty of beautiful females in our clan for you to choose from."

Hazel thought her mix of soft coaxing and hard bargaining was generous; in Rufus's eyes, it wasn't worth a single dried berry.

"The fox clan? Just a tiny no-name clan like this thinks it deserves to keep me here?"

He rejected her without a shred of politeness, not showing any respect to Hazel at all.

Hazel's face turned several shades of green and white.

"Young male, having a sky-high ego isn't a good thing! Even if you look down on our clan, you don't have to insult us. We may be small, but we're united—and when it comes to enemies, we don't hesitate to strike."

Rufus's mouth curled in a lazy, mocking smirk.

"United? You call it unity when everyone gangs up to bully one small female? You're not just ruthless to outsiders—you're vicious to your people, too."

The entire clearing went dead quiet; no one even dared breathe too loudly, afraid of provoking this Level 2 beastfolk.

They all knew the "little female" Rufus referred to was Claire.

Fiona couldn't swallow that.

"Rufus, don't let Claire fool you. You weren't here earlier—you didn't see how vicious she was. Look at Mona's arm; it's ruined!"

Rufus didn't even spare her a full glance as he cut her off.

"Who said I wasn't here? I was in the sky the entire time. Nothing any of you did escaped my eyes. I saw it clearly—Mona brought this on herself. If you try to steal someone else's food, you'd better be ready to pay the price."

No beastfolk in their right mind would doubt the eyesight of the supreme overlord of the sky.

The others all turned to Mona with open contempt.

Being exposed like that—by such a powerful beastfolk, no less—left Mona with no excuses; the world spun as she clutched her arm and collapsed to the ground.

"Take her to the healer," Hazel finally ordered the clan members who were standing around.

"Mona is one of my clan's females, and so is Claire. No matter what happened, this is a family matter for our clan."

"I can't stand watching injustice. If I see it, I step in. What's wrong, old chief—feeling guilty?"

Hazel's anger surged; she shot Claire a frosty look like she wanted to skin her on the spot.

"Since you're so afraid of other females stealing your food, then from today on, you're out of the foraging team—go find your own food outside the clan."

She huffed out the order and stormed off like she was fleeing.

Rufus was deeply unimpressed with this chief. This outcome wasn't what he wanted. He let out a cold snort.

"Our eagle clan chief should really come teach her how to handle things fairly."

Claire just smiled, completely unbothered.

"It's fine. So, I don't go foraging with them anymore—hardly the end of the world."

If anything, Hazel had just handed her a free pass to go out and forage whenever she wanted; Claire almost felt like she should thank her.

Seeing how confident Claire looked, Rufus's irritation faded, replaced by a deep, unwilling respect.

At the same time, worry crept in—how was such a thin, fragile-looking female supposed to go out alone with no companions watching her back?

Before he could stop himself, he blurted out an invitation.

"Female, in our clan, you'd never be treated like this. You could consider coming to live with us instead."

The moment the words left his mouth, Rufus regretted them.

Normally, a female would never leave her clan in her entire lifetime, and no clan would willingly give up one of their own—especially a rare female.

On top of that, his offer sounded way too forward, almost like he was courting her.

And Rufus didn't intend to ever bond with anyone.

Not even a strong, fearless female like this would make him give up his freedom.

Claire just smiled at him.

"I'm not planning to leave my clan for now."

She hadn't avenged the original Claire yet; how could she slink off with her tail between her legs?

Watching the two of them talk comfortably, Fiona felt like her lungs were about to explode; she nearly plucked the nearby bushes bald, rubbing the leaves into a shredded mess on the ground.

Her little entourage traded looks, and one of the females finally spoke up.

"Claire just bonded with Zane last night, and today she's already flirting with an outsider—what a shameless tramp."

"Exactly. A Level 2 beastfolk—does Claire even deserve someone like that? Fiona is the one who should have a mate like him."

"Fiona, how about we use the old trick?" another sycophantic female suggested with a sly smile.

The words warmed Fiona from head to toe; just thinking of that tried-and-true trick made her nod without hesitation.

A male like Rufus was already as good as hers in her mind.

There was no way she was letting Claire walk off with him this time.