Thieren led the way out of the restaurant and around the corner to the street. There, the feather jacketed beastmen were standing with their arms crossed and looking cross at the wait. They had surrounded the two boys.
"Stacey! Stacey! We've finally found you!" Canis jumped up and down in excitement, wanting to rush over to her but was stopped by the threatening feather jacketed men in the way. "You left so suddenly! I knew we'd find you! Look, Felix! See? Didn't I tell you we'd find her?"
"What's going on? Who are you?" Thieren growled in a low voice.
"We're strays from Whistledown!" Canis continued to bounce and nudge Felix. "We're fans of Stacey! She killed the big centaur bully who was trying to catch us and bring us back to the Ancients! We didn't want to go! She saved our lives!"
Somehow, Canis' exclamatory style of speech reminded her of a child. Or an overly excited puppy. She had the feeling that if those feather jacketed beastmen weren't in the way, Canis might have jumped on her to lick her face.
Mr Huo tucked her behind him as if he felt that Canis might escape the feather jacketed beastmen's restraint any moment. Or maybe he was just trying to protect her from any potential danger just in case any of the beastmen present attacked.
"Mister," Canis gave a slight bow to Thieren and spoke evenly, although slightly eagerly, "we decided to adopt Stacey as our mistress after the battle in Whistledown to protect her and become her guards, but your security guards wouldn't let us in to pledge our allegiance! Are you her mate? Should we call you 'Master'? Will you please explain to the Jackdaws that we are attached to her and not here to invade the local beastmen territory and cause trouble?"
"I am her mate," Thieren said in a slow voice. "I only just learnt about you from Stacey. I don't have any beastmen in my guard yet because in the past, your kind have caused more trouble than it was worth. I don't know your background."
"We won't be trouble! We won't be any trouble!" Canis jumped up and down, causing his golden hair to flop up and down on his head. "Our former owners didn't want us anymore after we grew out of our infancy and threw us out! We're free! Strays! We'll be good! We'll treat Stacey well! Say we can stay with her! Please? Please, please, please?"
"The only way I'd allow beastmen to be a part of her guard would be if you're willing to be neutered," Thieren said bluntly.
All the beastmen froze and crossed their legs, shielding their private parts with their hands. Canis and Felix exchanged embarrassed gazes and crouched down to hide their bodies more.
The Jackdaws crowed and laughed, harshly kicking the two boys in derision.
"Mister, you're in luck. They aren't men. They've already lost their manhood. What beastmen would want incomplete grovelling beast slaves like them around? Hurry up and take them away or we'll finish cleaning up these trash."
"Although we're birds, we can still tell when a male is no longer a true male."
"Defects like them must be exterminated."
"Why would we accept maimed creatures like them into our territory?"
"Hurry up, humans. Do you want these garbage or not?"
Stacey tugged on Thieren's arm.
He patted her hand and heaved a sigh.
"We'll take them off your hands," Thieren rubbed his forehead. "You can tell the local Alphas and Elders that they're mine. From now on, they belong to the Huo family."
"Look, Felix! We're saved!" Canis began leaping up and down again. "I told you it'd be fine. See?"
"I see. Calm down," Felix spoke with a languid grace but his shining eyes gave away his true feelings. Thank you, Master Huo, for accepting us. We will not let you or the Mistress down."
"Alright. Come on," Thieren heaved a sigh and looked at the sky for a split second. "There's not enough space in the car. Resume your beast forms or you won't fit. You'd both better not be too big or you can both squeeze into the boot."