Surviving Zombies Was Easier Than Raising Beast Cubs

Chapter 24: Chapter 24: The Rot Pit

This female was not from here.

The dead world was real.

And she knew how to fight it.

Soren’s grip tightened without meaning to.

Swanly cried out again because the pain in her head sharpened.

It felt like something was clawing through her mind, pulling open doors she had buried because she did not want to see those streets again. Her eyes filled with tears. Her hands shook against the white tail around her.

”Stop,” she gasped. ”Get out.”

Soren did not stop.

He needed more.

He had first wanted her because his body called to her. Because the broken place inside him had quieted when he smelled her. Because the Cleanbirth Seed needed a female, and she felt like the only one who might work.

Now that was not enough.

Now he knew she understood the infected.

Now he knew she carried death knowledge.

Now he knew she had power.

He would not share her.

Not with Riverbone.

Not with the elders.

Not even with the panther male bleeding in the mud.

Swanly’s vision blurred.

Kael tried to stand again, blood dripping from his mouth. His ribs screamed with pain, but he barely felt it now.

Kael tried to push himself up. The moment he moved, white-hot pain exploded through his left side. Something inside his ribs had cracked or broken — he felt the sharp edges grind against each other with every breath.

Blood filled his mouth again, hot and metallic. He coughed once and more of it spilled down his chin, mixing with the mud. His vision tunneled for a second. Still, he forced his arms to hold his weight.

Swanly was crying.

The cubs were crying.

That mattered more than the fire in his chest. That mattered more than the way his lungs refused to pull in enough air.

He had to get to her.

He had to.

Raku stepped fully in front of him.

Kael bared his teeth.

The cubs huddled together, shaking, muddy, and crying. The eldest kept trying to go forward, but the second bit his ear and pulled him back because even he understood they would be crushed. The smallest kept sobbing, ”Mama hurt. Mama hurt.”

Then something changed.

Inside Swanly’s head, a sharp golden light flashed.

A familiar voice snapped awake, loud and offended.

{Unauthorized mind access detected.}

Swanly almost sobbed from relief.

System?

{Host’s mental privacy is being violated.}

{Punishment activated.}

Soren’s eyes widened.

For the first time since he appeared, the white snake male looked truly caught off guard.

A force struck him from inside Swanly’s mind.

It was not a punch.

It was worse.

It felt like invisible teeth closed around his thoughts and bit down hard.

Soren’s head jerked back.

Blood slipped from his nose.

The whole gate went silent.

Nobody understood what happened at first.

Then they saw it.

Soren had taken one step back.

Soren.

The white snake ruler of Riverbone.

The male who could hear lies before they left a person’s mouth.

The male who crushed warriors with his tail and made elders kneel.

That Soren had stepped back.

Blood dripped from his nose and ran over his lip.

A female near the gate gasped.

A guard dropped his spear.

The boar beastman still lying in the mud whispered, ”He bled.”

Raku’s eyes widened slightly.

Even he looked shaken.

Kael froze too, but not from fear.

For one second, through the pain and blood, he looked at Swanly like she had just torn open the sky.

His female had hurt Soren.

He did not know how.

She probably did not know how either.

But she had.

The cubs stopped crying for one tiny, stunned breath.

The eldest looked at Swanly with wet, shining eyes.

”Mama beat snake?”

The smallest sniffled. ”Mama magic bite?”

Swanly’s head was still throbbing. Her thoughts were scattered. She felt sick, scared, furious, and weirdly offended all at once.

Then a tiny glowing figure appeared near her shoulder.

The system folded its little arms and gave Soren the smuggest look Swanly had ever seen.

It said nothing.

It did not need to.

It just looked at him like, yes, I bit you, and I would do it again.

Then it vanished.

Swanly stared at the empty air.

For one half-dead second, all she could think was, Is my system high on drugs? Why did it do that and then pose?

Then she looked at Soren.

Blood was still on his face.

His silver eyes were fixed on her.

Cold.

Furious.

Hungry.

Far too interested.

Swanly lifted a shaking finger and pointed at him.

”Did my system just bite you?”

Nobody breathed.

Soren touched the blood under his nose.

He looked at it on his fingers.

Then he smiled.

It was small.

It was terrible.

It made Swanly want to pick up all three cubs, grab Kael by the hair, and run directly into the river.

Because that smile said the punishment had not scared him away.

It had made everything worse.

Soren looked at the crowd.

”This female is not dead-bitten.”

The crowd shifted uneasily.

Swanly’s heart jumped.

For one stupid second, she almost felt relief.

Then Soren continued.

”But she carries the scent of a dead world. By Riverbone law, anything that carries death-scent enters the Rot Pit until it turns or proves clean.”

Swanly’s relief died so fast it probably left a corpse.

”The what pit?” she demanded.

Kael spat blood into the mud and forced himself up.

”No.”

His voice was rough and broken, but it still carried.

Soren did not look at him.

Kael staggered one step. His body was injured, but his eyes were still vicious. He looked like he would crawl across the ground with broken ribs if that was what it took to reach Swanly.

The sight almost made Swanly cry again.

She pulled against Soren’s tail.

”Let me go to him.”

Soren’s tail loosened enough for her to stumble free.

She ran to Kael at once.

Raku moved as if to block her, but Soren lifted one finger.

Raku stopped.

Swanly dropped beside Kael and grabbed his arm.

”Are you insane?” she whispered, voice shaking. ”Stop standing up. Your bones made a sound. Bones are not supposed to make sounds.”