I made breakfast for the oxen woman, to her surprise, because I had actually stayed over and hadn't taken off... or in her words 'hoofed it' after we had fun and she fell asleep. I thought it was telling of human behavior that even on another world, people would still do things like that, even if they were converted into beasts.

I fed her breakfast in bed and it made her laugh, which made a mess, which made us wrestle a little, and then I had to do her again. She said it was the best date she had ever had when I kissed her goodbye an hour later. I asked her to come along on my cross country trip and she declined, stating that she wasn't comfortable going off with people she barely knew, just for more great sex.

That was understandable, so I left her a pile of local gold coins to help her take care of her calf. That made her laugh again, because she didn't quite believe that I had actually done it. I reminded her that I was a hero and if I said she was pregnant, she was pregnant. Goddess knew I had tried enough times.

I left the badger and ox city and returned to the tent with everyone.

None of them were up yet, so I settled down in bed with Diana, the Freemartin. She was just too cuddly to resist, with her all covered in cottony softness. It made her whisper a bleat of pleasure that I would hold her like that, just because I wanted to.

I dozed off and we didn't get up until about mid-morning. I made everyone breakfast and then we packed everything up. We had to get back on track and keep visiting all the settlements to give them the choice to stay normal or to become human.

Not surprisingly, the first human settlement we came across, didn't want any of the beast strains to enter their area, even though I brought back two people for them. Their families were all there to greet us, since the messengers from the research station had delivered the message a week ago.

When the mayor tried to deny the two healed people from staying, there was an immediate uproar. Their families claimed that they couldn't turn away the miracles they were given and the mayor tried to yell at them for trying to accept someone that carried the infection.

I solved that problem by having the cutest of the beast infected, the bunny researcher, come in. “I'm glad we agreed to do this demonstration beforehand.” I said and waved to one of the men we had brought back. “Are you sure you want to do this?”

“You cured me, Hero.” The man said with a huge smile. “I can't be infected unless I want to be now, and I can't pass it on to my family, like I was so worried about.” He held a hand out to the bunny woman. “Please, bite me and show them that you aren't a walking plague.”

“Wow, thanks.” The bunny woman said sarcastically with a roll of her eyes. “This is going to hurt.”

“I'll heal him right up, after the few minutes to prove he isn't going to fall ill.” I said and she nodded, then she chomped down on the heel of his palm and everyone clearly saw her teeth enter the skin and her saliva flow out and into the wound.

“Ugh, blood tastes awful.” The bunny woman said and spit out the little bit that had entered her mouth. I cast the cleaning spell on her and she thanked me, quite enthusiastically, and promised to go at half speed with me later. I chuckled, because she could never stop her impulses like that for very long. She grinned at me and kissed my cheek.

After ten minutes, the man she had bitten didn't start sweating, or convulsing, or even did anything except hold a cloth to the wound. I cast Minor Healing on him to fix the damage then and he nodded his thanks.

“You see? I didn't want to get infected, and I didn't! We can all do that now!” The man said loudly. “Some of my family saw me changing into a creature, and I'm very sorry for that. I never wanted to scare you, even though I was terrified myself.” He walked over to his wife. “I'm so glad you sent me off to the research station.”

“It... it hurt so much to do that!” She said and burst out crying.

“It's all right, my wife.” He said and hugged her. “Look how it turned out. I'm healed now and I'm back with you.”

“Y-yes, it... it's a miracle.” She said and kissed him.

We all stood there for ten minutes and waited. The woman didn't start sweating, start feeling sick, or even looked flushed. She stared back at the townspeople and dared them to tell her that she was infected. No one did, because she wasn't, and they could all see that.

I looked at all of the human faces and saw the dawning realization of what they had just witnessed. It's still going to take time for everyone to adjust to the new reality. I thought and took the bunny's hand. “Let's go.”

“There are bushes right over there.” The bunny woman said and hopped up and down as she pointed.

“I meant leave the settlement.” I said and she slowly stopped hopping with a sad sigh. It was my turn to sigh and I walked over to the bushes. Her teeth tittered with excitement and pleasure, full of anticipation, then we did it right there... pretty much in front of everyone. If the humans hadn't been convinced before that point, they were all definitely convinced afterwards. A fluid exchange didn't lie.

We moved on and kept visiting different places, different beast races, and different human settlements. We gathered up all the converted and returned them to their homes and families, while also informing everyone again about the rules and how things would work from now on. People could still get infected, if they chose to be, and they would have to be sent to the research facility for adjustment and then to their proper settlements.

There was going to be a long time of uncertainty as everyone learned the new way of things and my group and I did our best to help that along.

We reached the wolf settlement first of the women that had come along with me, and the Patrol Leader was quite surprised to see us all. He brought us right to the Pack Leader and not surprisingly, I did not have instant lust for Raksha. Apparently, the honeymoon was over and both time and reconsideration had tempered the 'moon sickness' we had suffered.

What was surprising was that I didn't have to petition the pack to take Selene back. Her having a name after a Goddess had shocked them, as did her being pregnant with my pup. The Pack Leader came with us when I delivered Selene back to her family. She claimed that it was because she wanted to smooth over the transition between being exiled and acceptance back into the pack. She didn't have to worry, however.

“MY DAUGHTER!!” Selene's mother yelled as soon as the front door of her house was opened, then she took her daughter into a hug.

“MOM! I'm with PUP!” Selene yelled back, so she wouldn't be crushed.

“AWWWW!” Her mother growled happily. “I knew sending you along was the right decision!”

An old wolf walked out of the back room and over to us. “Godling.” He said and looked at his granddaughter. “You have done well to honor my family.”

“I'm glad you see it that way.” I said with a smile. “I see it as leaving her behind, since I don't have a choice.”

“You warned us you were leaving, so thank you for bringing her back and not leaving her out in the world somewhere.” The old wolf said.

“I'd never do that.” I said. “I feel bad enough that I have to leave this world already. It would kill something inside of me if I just up and left without taking care of her first.” I said. “Which reminds me.” I walked inside the house and put a hundred stacks of ten gold coins on the table. “I hope this is enough for her and our child to live comfortably for the rest of their lives.”

The three of them were left speechless.

“It's not enough?” I asked and started to add more.

“Yes! YES! It's enough!” The mother said and I stopped adding coins. “You are too generous.”

I walked over to her. “I can't be too generous.” I said and looked at Selene. “I won't be able to help with your itch anymore, Selene.”

Her mother and grandfather let out yips of surprise.

“That's okay. I know you would if I wanted you to.” Selene said and put her arms around my neck. “Thank you for taking care of our pup.” She said and kissed me for several moments, then she broke the kiss and let me go.

“You don't have to give any of that to the pack.” I said and waved at the stacks of gold coins.

The old wolf let out a surprised bark. “You can't be serious! It's our duty to...”

“I already gave the pack a room full of gold. What's on that table is for your family and to raise my pup.” I said and they stared at me with wide eyes, then they looked at the Pack Leader, who nodded.

“Goodbye, godling.” The old wolf said and held a pawed hand out to me. I shook it and left without another word.

The next stop was dropping off the cat women. To my surprise, it was with little to no fanfare. Her family greeted her as if she was a new person, and she told them that she was with kittens. Her mother showed surprise and delight, her father only grunted, and her sister whispered that she was envious of her.

I made a special petition to their clan for her to be a resident, as the mother of a godling's kittens, and her three decoys as her 'family'. It was accepted without contest and I gifted the clan with ten percent of the dragon's treasure. That had gotten a response, namely the mother and sister fainting. The father had grunted again and accepted the gift.

My Favorite was quickly set up in a very large house, with her decoys, and it would become a family ancestral house for their families. I gave them the same amount of gold as Selene, each, and they hired people to take care of the house, them, and our kittens when they arrived. I kissed them goodbye, leaving My Favorite for last, and she whispered her thanks in my ear as she bit it.

“Remember me.” She said and kissed me, then let me go.

I nodded and left her there. The only one left of my original group was the Freemartin, Diana. We couldn't go directly to the Tup's settlement, though. There were other villages and settlements that we would need to detour to visit before we crossed the mountains to the other side. Diana didn't mind that at all, since she was the only one in my bed for several weeks. She enjoyed the extra attention just as much as I enjoyed giving it to her.

We didn't find anyone out that far that had been recently converted. We had rescued all of the people on the list that the research facility had given us and they were all back with their families, safe and sound. I was pretty sure that we wouldn't find anyone else that wanted to change back; but, we had to keep checking.

I gave my word that I would stop everywhere and give them the choice, so that's what I was going to do, even if I suspected that there was no one left that would accept it.