Surviving Zombies Was Easier Than Raising Beast Cubs

Chapter 31: Chapter 31: What the fuck are you doing?

She simply reached into empty air and took what she wanted.

Kael did not look shocked.

The cubs did not look shocked.

The smallest only said, ”Mama magic.”

As if that explained everything.

Soren looked at Kael.

Kael met Soren’s stare without blinking. For once, the white snake was the one left in the dark. Kael knew exactly how Swanly’s hand disappeared into nothing and came back with whatever she wanted.

He had watched her do it a hundred times in their cave. The knowledge sat warm and vicious in his chest.

She is mine. Her secrets are mine. You will never have this.

Soren’s silver eyes narrowed the tiniest fraction. He did not like being the last to understand anything. Especially not when it came to his female.

Swanly walked out again before Soren could speak.

She handed the container to Tilla.

”This is medicine. Feed it to him after he eats. Not too much. Just this much.” She showed the amount with her finger. ”It should help his fever and strength. If he throws up or gets worse, come find me immediately.”

Tilla stared at the container like it was both hope and danger.

Swanly understood.

If someone gave her strange medicine for one of her cubs, she would also be suspicious.

”You do not have to trust me blindly,” Swanly said, softer. ”But I have used it before. It helps. Feed him after meat, not before.”

Tilla’s eyes filled with tears.

She pressed the container to her chest. ”I will trust you.”

Swanly nodded.

Tilla bowed her head again, then hurried toward the meat, holding her sick cub like he was the last warm thing in the world.

Swanly watched her go.

She did not notice the male standing near the far root wall.

He was tall, broad, and still, with orange-gold hair streaked with black. Bengal tiger stripes marked his arms and the side of his neck, dark against his skin. His eyes stayed on Swanly for a long moment.

Not hungry.

Not afraid.

Interested.

Then he disappeared into the crowd.

When Swanly went back into the cave, her portion of the red-horn marsh bull had already been dragged inside.

She stopped.

”That is our portion?”

It was huge.

Not as huge as the whole animal, obviously, but still huge enough that she stared at it like Riverbone had misunderstood the concept of ”some.”

The cubs immediately perked up.

”Meat!”

Kael’s eyes moved over the cut. ”This is a good portion.”

”This is not a portion. This is a roommate.”

Kael’s mouth twitched. He stepped up behind her and wrapped one arm around her waist, pulling her back against his chest. His voice was low, rough, and only for her.

”It is enough to feed our den for many days. You did well asking for it.”

Swanly let herself lean into him for a moment, her tail curling around his leg without thinking. The cubs were already circling the meat like tiny predators, but Kael’s arm stayed where it was, heavy and warm and possessive.

The smallest sniffed it and licked his lips.

Swanly bent down and grabbed him by the back of his neck without looking. ”Do not eat raw.”

He froze.

Slowly, he closed his mouth.

Kael watched that and almost smiled again.

Then Swanly’s eyes lit up.

”Soup.”

Kael blinked. ”Soup?”

”Meat soup. With vegetables. Real seasoning. Something hot.” Her mood lifted so suddenly even the cubs felt it. ”You people have been eating like sadness has a flavor. Tonight we are fixing that.”

The cubs did not know what most of those words meant, but Mama sounded excited, so they became excited too.

Swanly reached into her space.

Out came a pot.

Then another.

Then a bigger one.

Then a knife.

Then dried herbs.

Then roots.

Then green leaves.

Then salt.

Then something wrapped in a clean cloth.

Soren stared.

He had seen her take medicine.

That was already strange.

Now she was pulling out enough things to set up a whole cooking den from empty air.

For the first time in a very long time, Soren wondered if he was the one losing his mind.

He looked at Kael.

The black panther was not shocked.

He looked at the cubs.

They were not shocked either.

The smallest was trying to climb into the pot.

Swanly lifted him out with one hand and kept working.

Soren’s jaw tightened until the muscle jumped. Every new item she pulled from nothing made something ugly twist in his chest. She was sharing these impossible things with the panther and the cubs like it was normal. Like they had seen it all before. Like they belonged in her strange world and he did not.

He hated it.

His gaze flicked to Kael. The black panther stood relaxed, one hand still on Swanly’s lower back like he had every right to touch her whenever he wanted.

Kael caught Soren looking and deliberately slid his hand lower, fingers splaying over the curve of her ass in a clear, unapologetic claim.

Soren’s pupils thinned to slits.

Swanly stiffened.

Heat rushed up her neck before her brain even understood why. Then she felt Kael’s hand lower and her eyes widened.

She slapped his wrist at once.

”Behave,” she hissed.

Kael did not look sorry.

That was when she saw his eyes fixed on Soren.

Swanly froze, then slowly looked between both males.

Oh.

Wonderful.

She was trying to cook, and these two were apparently fighting a silent war on her backside.

”Both of you are insane,” she muttered, dragging Kael’s hand back to her waist before returning to the pot.

Swanly set the pot down near the cave’s flat stone floor and arranged dry bark, thin sticks, and a little bundle of leaves.

Then Kael went tense when he realized what she was about to do.

The cubs went tense too.

They had seen Mama make fire before, but their bodies still remembered fear.

The eldest backed up, then tried to pretend he did not.

The second pressed against Kael’s leg.

The smallest climbed into Swanly’s lap, then immediately climbed out again because she was busy, then climbed behind Kael because fire was suspicious.

Swanly noticed.

”It is okay,” she said gently. ”I know. Fire is scary, but Mama controls it.”

Kael’s chest ached in a way that had nothing to do with his healing ribs. He watched her hands — steady, calm, completely in control — and something deep and fierce settled inside him.

Most beastmen would have flinched at the sight of fire being made. He still felt the old fear in his bones. But he trusted her hands more than he feared the flames.

He moved closer without thinking and rested his chin lightly on top of her head for a second, breathing her in. His tail curled around her calf.

Soren’s eyes tracked every second of it.

Fire burned fast and ate dry things like a living beast. But Swanly handled it with the same calm she used when cleaning wounds.

Kael trusted her hands.

Soren did not.

The moment the sharp scent of fire-making reached him, his whole body reacted before thought.

Snake instinct hit hard.

Heat.

Flame.

Danger.

His pupils thinned.

His tail lashed out.

Fast. Too fast.

White coils snapped around Swanly’s wrist and waist at the same time. The grip was strong but not crushing — possessive.

The cool scales pressed against her skin through her clothes, sliding higher to wrap more firmly around her middle and yank her backward.

She gasped as her body collided with Soren’s chest. Cold. Hard. Solid muscle under pale skin. His scent — clean river water and something colder, sharper — flooded her senses.

One of his arms came around her automatically to steady her, fingers splaying wide across her stomach. His tail stayed locked around her waist like a living restraint, the tip curling possessively against her hip.

For one second, she was completely surrounded by him

.

Kael surged up with a vicious snarl, claws already extending. Pain flared in his ribs but he didn’t care. The sound that left him was pure animal — raw, territorial, murderous.

Swanly froze against Soren’s body, her back flush to his chest, her trapped hand still holding the lighter. She could feel the steady beat of his heart against her spine.

Could feel how tightly his tail had wrapped her. Could feel the way his breath stirred the hair near her ear.

She slowly turned her head and looked up at him.

”What the fuck are you doing?”