Chapter 10: Fixing Tola (and the Rest)

After my conversation with Hogat, I showed everyone their new home. I took everyone upstairs to the seven rooms and assigned one to Hogat and Kala so they would lie together to complete their mating ritual tonight. I then assigned one to Nomat and Irani, before finally approaching Jonab and Kuni, as we stood in the doorway of another room.

Kuni was the smallest Neanderthal female I had seen up to this point. She had melted into Jonab's presence, as her world had been torn asunder by the events of the day and I could tell that she greatly feared me (despite what I heard Jonab telling her concerning me).

"Kuni, how old are you, may I ask?"

"I have seen my sixteenth summer," she almost whispered.

"Do you care for Jonab?"

"Yes," she visibly brightened. "He and I were playmates when we were children. I had always hoped that I would have been his mate," her tone became wistful. "Now I am not worthy. He deserves a fresh mate."

Jonab cut in forcefully. "You are the most worthy woman I know!" Jonab then turned to me. "I have always wanted Kuni as my mate, but I could not pay her mating price when she and I both saw our thirteenth summer. Now that I have grown, I would pay any mating price to have her, Mike. Just tell me and I will get you whatever you want!"

I smiled and thought, "Ah, young love," before responding, "You only need two things, Jonab, both I believe I already have. I need Kuni's agreement to the mating and both of your continued loyalty to me."

"Really?" they almost shouted in unison.

"Really. Hogat and Tola both told me that you were well suited and I greatly trust their judgment. I run my tribe like a family. I make no demands for hunting kills or solid things to prove worthiness to mate. I just need to know that you are committed to our family. In return, I give you both my blessing to lay with each other tonight and be mates ever after."

"Yes!" screamed Jonab in joy.

"Are you sure you still want me, Jone?" she asked using what I perceived was her pet name for him, with a look that seemed to scream hopeful desperation.

"Oh Kuni! You're all I ever wanted! Be my mate!" he cried as he threw his arms around her.

Kuni cried. Tears streamed down her face, as she nestled her tear stained face into his shoulder. "Oh, Yes Jonab! You're all I wanted too."

"Oh! Thank you Mike! I am your servant forever!" exclaimed Jonab, as he broke the hug and clasped my shoulder with his hand.

"I would like you to be my number four here and help me lead."

"Of course! I would be honored."

"Tomorrow, you may need to take on additional responsibilities."

"Whatever you need, Mike." he replied, not knowing what I had in store for him.

"I may need you to take another mate or two."

"Me?" he asked, clearly flabbergasted.

"Yes, you. You are in a position of responsibility. As you can see, we have a lot of displaced mates and I cannot take them all. I will need you, Hogat and Nomat's help. It is possible that some of them may decide to stay unmated, but as I have no desire to ever trade any unmated women away, my preference would be to have everyone of eligible age mated. The only one off limits is Fayla. To my thinking, she is not old enough to mate. Though she may be a woman by your standards, where I am from, she would be too young and that will be the way from now on," I said, before adding. "So may I count on your help?"

"Oh, I'm so proud of you Jone. If you get the chance please do so!" cried Kuni.

"Having more mates kind of scares me. Is NeeNee spoken for yet?"

"No. Your father mentioned an interest in Mena, but not NeeNee. Why do you ask?"

I saw Jonab blush. I stared at him, searching for an answer and then he replied.

"NeeNee and Mena were friends of my mother ... I mean Tola. Just before I became a man, I began to have unclean thoughts about them. I almost considered asking to mate NeeNee when I lost Kuni to Rogar."

"Well, if she agrees to be your mate, I will make it so," I smiled. "We will talk about it in the morning."

After talking to Nomat and an overjoyed Irani about possibly adding another mate or two and his new leadership position as my number three, I arranged sleeping quarters for the widowed unmated women in the large bedchamber. When Fayla saw that I was not including her, she came to me. "Why am I not sleeping with them?"

"Because, in my eyes you are not yet a woman."

I saw a bit of petulance in Fayla's expression and soon her tone of voice. "I have seen thirteen summers and my lunar cycle has started for some time now. That means I am a woman."

"Where I'm from, you are not a woman until at LEAST your sixteenth summer. Very often, people mate many summers after that. In time, you will understand that I am right. I promise to allow you to mate with anyone you want to when I feel that you are ready."

Fayla's expression changed. A sweet expression mixed with what I'm sure she was trying for and failing at, a "come hither" look crossed her face. "What if I want to be your mate?"

I laughed with a mixture of nervousness and genuine amusement at her apparent ploy. "Then you can mate me," I said, her face changing to a broad grin, before seeing it disappear when I added, "If and when I think you are ready."

Fayla then slouched off downstairs to the room I had assigned to her next to Sula and Zeena's room. Of course she was wearing a petulant expression on her face. "Typical teen," I thought as I walked back to the women.

I huddled them up and explained my desire to see that they would all have a chance to be mated to Hogat, Jonab and Nomat.

"What about you," asked one who had identified herself as Stina.

"I have too many mates to deal with now," I laughed nervously.

"Have the men expressed interest in any of us?" asked NeeNee.

"Yes. In fact Jonab desires you for a mate."

"Jonab? I was like another mother to him when he was a boy."

"But there is no blood between you, right?" I asked.

"True," she admitted, before a pensive expression came over her face.

"Would you be willing to lie with him and be his mate?"

"He would be a very desirable mate, both by his position and his looks. It has been a long time since I have shared my furs. Tell him if he wants me, I would be agreeable to lie with him," she beamed.

"How about me?" asked Mena.

"Hogat wants you. Especially, as Tola was disgraced and in the power of the evil spirits, I think he would find the comfort of your form and spirit to bring him peace."

"Of course. Tola was my best friend. I would be honored to take her place in her husband's furs."

As I thought, I could see why the father and son had made their choices. Both widows seemed soft and round, in a pleasing way. There plush bodies seemed perfect for mating, comfort and equally importantly, pleasure.

"Speaking of Tola, where are she, Ruga and Mara?" asked Looki.

"I am keeping them downstairs. They are still under the power of the evil spirits. Along with the two different women, they wish to lie with every man they see."

"That is awful!" exclaimed Neenee.

"I hope to find a way to fix them. Hogat has asked me to mate Tola if I can fix her. She is a dear friend and I would be proud at such an honor."

"Please do not think me disrespectful, but Mike, you are very strange to us. You are willing to mate what one man has thrown away, despite her turning into a wild beast," said Stina.

I wanted to be angry, but knew I could not. Her comment was legitimate in her culture. I just needed her to understand my ways and begin to accept them along with the others. "Where I'm from, we believe that everyone is special in their own way. We also believe in being loyal to our friends. Tola is my friend. She is special to me and I want to save her from the evil spirits inside her. Then she will be a woman I would be proud to call my mate," I continued. "My ways are very different. You will see tonight when you all get your first cooking lesson."

"I am a wonderful cook," complained Looki.

"I'm sure you are using the old methods. I have a whole new way of cooking. My mates will show you how to use the wood cook stove, pots, pans and the fire pit grill. There are many other new things to learn too. Still, I think you will like it here very much."

Looki seemed worried. "Are you alright?" I asked.

"Does anybody want me for a mate? I did not care for my old mate, but I am not used to being alone."

I smiled. "Nomat expressed interest in you. Do you want to lie with him tonight and then forever after?" I asked.

"Yes," she said.

"Then I will bring you to him. In the morning you will be his mate."

"What about me?" asked Stina.

"He wants you too, but since Looki asked first, you will need to sleep here tonight," I said, pointing to the artificial furs and pillows on one of the three large sleeping platforms and king size mattresses in the room.

Stina sat down on the closest one and gasped. "This is so soft! I have never laid on anything like this!"

Soon, the other women, other than Looki, began to lie on the mattresses, all extolling their virtues.

"Some of my mates will come by later to show you where we cook. In the meantime, make yourselves comfortable," I laughed, as I led Looki to her soon-to-be new mate and went for the interview I was both dreading and longing for simultaneously.

I had left orders to have the occupants of the "Cave of Extra Mates" quarantined in the master bedroom. I had posted Soya and Geeta as guards, while Lyna and Rona would teach the untainted mates about the joy of cooking "The Mike Way", as they have taken to calling it.

"Be careful in there. Those women are barely people," said Soya, as I approached.

"More like animals," added Geeta.

"I'll watch my step," I said, as I quietly opened the door.

When I entered the room, I was confronted with a startling image. There were five female bodies writhing in a pile of flesh on the Master bed. Their actions were greatly exceeding any version of the "Mate Me" game that had been described. Bodies were being licked, kissed and rubbed in all kind of ways. None of them seemed to care that their activities were taking place during daylight (which seemed to be at most taboo or at the very least, quite unseemly in this culture). Luckily for me, the bed's occupants seemed unaware of my presence yet. As I stared at the lesbian orgy taken place, I knew what caused my feelings of longing.

The two other Neanderthal women were quite attractive in their own way. Ruga, the eldest, was a widowed mate that I placed in her late twenties. Like Mena and Neenee, she was pleasingly round with huge breasts and a beautiful big butt. Her face would have probably been considered quite beautiful by Neanderthal standards. I would have to call her "easy on the eyes."

The younger Neanderthal woman was called Mara. She was somewhat of a contrast. She was much younger, as she could have been Ruga's daughter (as it turned out, I found out sometime later, she was, but that is another story). She was lean, but had fairly large breasts and a wonderful posterior that rode high on her frame (like Geeta). Like Ruga, she had good looks. For a Neanderthal, she was stunning. For me, I could easily call her beautiful. As amazing as these women were, I knew that Ruga would belong to Jonab (who aside from Kuni, I sensed had a thing for older ladies; an Oedipal Complex? Maybe). Mara would join her friend, Kala under Hogat's furs. The other three were mine.

One of the Cro-Magnon sluts was a beautiful woman who was either an ancestor of the Moors or was from deep in the heart of central or southern Africa. Her skin was quite dark. Her form was a stark contrast to the pale skin of the three Neanderthal ladies. I had a secret unrequited yearning to make it with a black woman and it looked like I would finally get my chance.

The other Cro-Mag had an olive like complexion. She looked like a gypsy with her lovely black hair and eyes. Like her African sister, she had large breasts and a perfect bubble butt that rode high on her frame.

The final inhabitant of the "bed of whores" was the one that broke my heart, yet raised my pulse the most. Maybe it was because she had been forbidden fruit, but the sight of Tola lying there naked was one of the hottest things I had ever seen. Like my Rona, she was gorgeous for a Neanderthal. She had huge breasts, creamy flesh, a big fuck-able butt and "fuck a baby into me" hips. I had to exercise considerable control to prevent throwing myself onto the bed and fucking her. She would have let me; hell she would have begged me to, but I did not want her this way. As much as I desired her, I cared for her too. I would need to find a way to fix her.

I saw the last occupant of the room. It was Nahla, the healer. She was sitting on the other bed and was apparently not under the effects of "The Taint". I caught her eye and quietly beckoned her to join me outside the room.

"What can I do for you, Your Worship," she asked outside.

"First of all, I am not a god, Nahla."

"But you had a 'thunder stick'..."

"The other man you thought was a god is not a god either. We are just men."

"But he said..."

"He lied to you. Like me, I'm sure he has many marvels that you had never seen, but he is no more a god than I am."

For a moment, Nahla looked like a kid who popped their balloon. Then a sense of calm seemed to wash over her. "What should I call you then?"

"Call me 'Mike' or your mate, if you wish it."

"You mean you are giving me a choice?"

"Of course. I want you to know that I appreciate your help back at the Neanderthal camp and I desire you greatly. I really want you to share my furs with me. But if you do not feel that way then I understand."

"Oh..."

"What?" I asked, as her lovely Arabic face looked like a mixture of sadness and confusion.

"I am unable to give myself to you, but I want you to take me."

"I don't understand."

"Like the others, I have received 'The Taint'. Unlike them, I am no longer a slave to my desires. My desires have been focused on only two men: The man I thought was a god and my former mate, Bogant, who you killed. I can receive no pleasure from any man other than them."

"You mean, once you receive 'The Taint'..."

"It is part of you forever," she finished.

"Doesn't the medicine eventually wear off?"

"It does. But what you are told to believe while the medicine is working becomes a part of you ... not just that ... it becomes you and you become it. This lasts forever ... Unless.

"Unless what?" I asked.

"Unless more medicine and instructions are given. I was once like the others. I mated anyone or anything I was told to mate. I even mated animals. I was mated to a tame wolf."

I could not help myself. While this woman was not yet my mate, I put my arms around her comfortingly. I felt her tense for a moment, but then she relaxed. Maybe she thought I had decided to take her as she asked. Instead I asked, "What happened?"