Chapter 21. Preparing for Winter
Several days pass after Jor settles permanently into our shared cave. Lola walks free from her stone cell thanks to the chief's constant pleading.
The tribal head rounds up wandering outsider beastmen paired with several unclaimed young native males to serve as her new bonded mates.
I never spot her wandering around the tribe's central lanes or nearby gathering grounds.
She likely hides inside her small hut all day too scared to step outdoors and accidentally cross paths with me.
Word drifts across camp that every former bonded male tied to Lola faced tribal execution per earlier rulings leaving her with zero familiar partners left to rely on through the harsh upcoming winter.
The whole tribe shifts into nonstop pre winter preparation mode shortly after.
Groups of able bodied beastmen head out in large hunting parties each dawn to stockpile preserved meat.
