In the Lost Forest, because the Snow Season arrived, the lush greenery donned a silver coat overnight.
Owen, recuperating in the cave, felt extremely frustrated; the Snow Season made his wound recover too slowly. Additionally, the sudden drop in temperature had kept Owen in a drowsy sleep for the past few days.
When the wound scabbed over, Owen couldn't restrain himself from going out to find his Rowan. Owen crossed through the frozen snow, his flying journey full of obstacles, yet he couldn't find the Snow Leopard tribe. He himself was frozen stiff from the cold, his flying no longer agile.
Owen knew that after being snatched away, Rowan wouldn't be in danger; in the Snow Leopard tribe, he would surely be treated very well. But Owen couldn't bear every moment Rowan was away from him; he was even more afraid Rowan wouldn't want to come back to live with him.
Just thinking about the Beastmen in the tribe currying favor with Rowan, frantically pursuing him, he couldn't suppress the urge to destroy them all.
Rowan was his, and could only be his.
Apart from the first day of moving out to live alone being a bit unfamiliar, Rowan gradually got used to the state of living alone as before. He felt much freer and began calculating how to live.
As for food, it didn't worry him. Asa and Leo almost filled his cave with cured meat they made themselves, fearing he would go hungry.
There were also some wild vegetables and fruits Asa usually ate prepared for Rowan. It was just that Rowan felt his cooking skills somewhat failed this food.
Rowan threw wild vegetables and cured meat into a pot to cook together, eating immediately while hot. Although the taste wasn't delicious, it was swallowable.
After eating, Rowan started his daily training plan, simplifying the army training program to apply. Due to limited conditions, he could only train physical strength first, reviewing combat skills and moves.
Just a few hours of such simple training made Rowan exhausted. This weak body, no wonder he was knocked out repeatedly.
Rowan hated this weak body immensely but could only gradually increase the difficulty to train. Waiting until the gland awakened, his constitution would definitely change; by then, he wouldn't need to endure the grievance of being unable to beat Beastmen anymore.
This was also why Rowan insisted on moving out. Often staying with Asa, he didn't have time to remodel this body. Previously, he took advantage of Owen going out to hunt to practice by himself.
He didn't want to waste breath inventing reasons to explain, so living alone was most suitable.
Because the Snow Season had arrived, Rowan rarely went out; except for when Asa called him over to eat together, he almost never stepped out the door.
Leo, on the other hand, brought some fresh meat every one or two days; this was the portion the tribe distributed to families with Omeginas, which Rowan found hard to refuse.
Every time like this, Leo took the opportunity to talk to Rowan.
"Today a lucky Beastman hunted a few Golden Falcons; you can try cooking them. Just cook for a while; too long and the meat easily becomes tough."
Rowan accepted it: "Thank you, troubling you to run over here again."
Leo carried the remaining meat, smiling: "No trouble, it was on the way; I still have to bring some to my Papa."
"Alright then, take it to them first; go slowly." Rowan thanked him again.
Leo didn't dare stay long, bid farewell to Rowan, and turned to leave. Since Rowan said he wouldn't accept Beastmen's pursuit anymore, he had restrained himself a lot, not daring to be too abrupt.
However, he didn't give up, planning to start by being friends with Rowan to open his heart, then slowly conquer him.
Leo also didn't know why he had feelings for Rowan. Previously, an Omegina had boldly confessed to him, but he refused; at that time, he had no intention of finding a mate.
Perhaps it was Rowan's unique personal charm, different from Omeginas in the tribe, making him unable to resist wanting to get close.
Rowan, a pure Alpha, naturally didn't sense Leo had feelings for him. In his eyes, he and Leo were both Alphas, naturally not thinking about that.
Rowan finished eating the Golden Falcon, rested for a while, then started training according to the daily plan.
Before long, he heard someone calling him outside the cave. Wondering who would come to find him, he stepped outside.
He saw a somewhat familiar face; wasn't this the Omegina who, on his first day arriving at the tribe, glanced at him once and hid in Genia's arms? Rowan had never spoken to him; why did he suddenly come to the door?
Yanan saw Rowan looking at him with a bewildered expression and felt a bit flustered and uneasy. He rubbed his hands, red from the cold, gathering courage to say:
"Hello... hello, my name is Yanan, I am Genia's Omegina. Asa said you arrived not long ago and don't have close friends to chat with, so he told me to come talk to you..."
He felt Rowan's aura was very strong, a strange feeling like talking to a Beastman. Speaking towards the end, his voice became smaller and smaller.
Yanan had a timid personality, not used to initiating conversation. But after hearing about Rowan, he couldn't help but feel pity; hesitating for a long time, he finally came.
If not for his good hearing, Rowan almost didn't hear clearly what he said. It seemed Asa was still worried about him, even finding a friend for him.
Indeed, Asa saw Rowan always alone and was afraid he would be bored. In the Snow Season, idle Omeginas at home would visit each other to play and chat about family matters.
He asked Yanan to try going over; this child was gentle, perhaps would suit him.
Rowan also couldn't refuse Asa's kindness, moreover couldn't let an Omegina stand outside freezing in the cold. In Rowan's eyes, these weak and delicate Omeginas were the true Omeginas.
"Come inside, it's warmer inside," Rowan invited.
"Yes... yes." Seeing him agree, Yanan silently followed behind Rowan inside, secretly observing him a few times.
This Omegina looked cold but spoke quite gently. Yanan felt much more relieved; he thought he would be very unapproachable.
Rowan told Yanan to sit first, then went to rekindle the fire that had long gone out. He picked up a few pieces of charcoal, put them in an unused stone bowl, and gave it to Yanan to warm his hands.
Yanan hurriedly thanked him, blushing a bit shyly. At home, that thoughtless Beastman of his had never been so considerate to him.
Yanan gradually opened up more, proactively talking to Rowan: "Are you used to living in the tribe? I rarely see you go out?"
Rowan replied indifferently: "It's okay; occasionally I go over to Uncle Asa's place."
"Then you can go out for a walk more often, you can also come to my place to sit and play. I'm usually bored alone at home. Other Omeginas find my conversation dull so they don't like to come."
Speaking of this, Yanan couldn't help but be a bit disappointed.
"Okay," Rowan responded. He actually had never interacted with an Omegina, didn't know how to refuse politely, fearing if he didn't agree, the Omegina in front of him would cry.
Hearing this, Yanan's eyes lit up, saying happily: "Then it's a promise; you must come to my house to play then. Recently Genia goes out hunting all the time, having no time to play with me."
Rowan found it strange; he knew every household had stocked up quite a bit of food for winter, why still spend so much manpower to go out hunting every day. He couldn't help asking: "Is the reserve food not enough yet?"
Yanan replied: "Not enough, the Snow Season is very long; later on, almost no animals will be active outside. Later we have to rely on reserve food to survive day by day. Even so, there are still many people in the tribe who cannot survive the Snow Season."
Yanan thought of the clansmen who couldn't survive the Snow Season due to insufficient food, and couldn't help but be sad.
Actually, at such times, the Chief would call on everyone in the tribe to help share some food with them.
But it still wasn't enough, so Genia and others had to risk their lives going out to hunt like that.