Chapter 207: The Cubs Have Chosen

Xavi and Ermin’s eyes widened.

’Eh?’ Teral glanced between the two of them, baffled.

Was this not the norm here to tell your mates about your consideration for another?

Ermin’s jaw tightened, and his eyes dropped to their joined hands. His eyes then softened.

Xavi’s body relaxed, and he pulled Tera to him, his chest rumbling softly against her back.

Her actually seeking their permission and consideration for bringing in another male made them feel so important to her, and they really liked it.

Ermin relaxed against Tera.

"We will think about it," Xavi answered.

Ermin nodded slowly, still holding Tera’s hand. "Yes."

Tera let out a relieved sigh. "That is fine."

"But we will need to see what kind of male he is," Xavi added, his tone shifting to something more deliberate.

Ermin nodded.

"If this wolf is going to be near our family, we need to know him very well."

Tera looked between them. They had both arrived at the same conclusion independently, and the seriousness on their faces told her this was not a casual suggestion.

"We will also see if he is fit enough to be your mate."

’Oh...’

[Host’s mates intend to vet Calis]

[This system finds this adorable]

[(..◜ᴗ◝..)]

The image of Xavi and Ermin sitting Calis down and evaluating him with the focused intensity they usually reserved for hunting was so ridiculously endearing that Tera smiled.

She would actually like to see them together, and she hoped they would like Calis.

"I love you both." She pulled them closer. "So much."

Nadia stirred at the movement, smacked her lips twice, and went back to sleep.

One more thing.

"I also need to tell you something about the wolf elder. Greymaw. And his son."

The warmth in the shelter cooled slightly at the names.

Tera told them what she had observed. The father and son’s hostility and behaviour towards her.

Xavi’s expression hardened.

"I will have our males watch them," he said immediately. "Especially the younger one."

Ermin nodded.

Girruk, unlike Greymaw, hardly stayed within the settlement, and it was fairly obvious to Tera that he wanted to avoid mingling with her clan as much as possible.

Though it would not be wise to let him carelessly roam around their territory and familiarise himself with their environment.

Tera had also strangely noticed a growing resentment from both males, especially towards Calis due to how he was at the forefront of entertaining a relationship between her clan and his pack.

"He is dangerous," Tera said quietly. "I am not sure what they are planning, but they are likely going to act sometime soon."

Though their hostility lately was more concentrated on Calis than her.

Xavi kissed Tera’s forehead. "They will not touch you. Or anyone."

Tera leaned into his grip and closed her eyes.

The shelter was warm, her cubs were safe, and her mates knew the truth.

Now she just had to figure out how to kill that rotten thing.

After she can focus on getting rid of those pesky wolves.

- ※ - ※ - ※ -

Greymaw was losing his mind.

His pack was mingling.

Not just tolerating or coexisting, but mingling with other beasts. His pack’s wolves were sitting beside all sorts of beasts he couldn’t even identify. It had even gotten to the extent that some wolves were sharing their food with these beasts.

Nothing here was uniform. Everyone was a mismatch, and it irritated him.

This would have been at least bearable if the Dow clan consisted of only one beast type, but this was worse, and it irritated him that not a single one of the wolves seemed to understand how deeply wrong this was.

Not even the other elders.

That was the part that made his blood boil hottest. His allies who were supposed to be against this infection of softness were crumbling.

He had pulled two of them aside on the second day, his voice low and urgent.

"We should leave. This has gone on long enough. Our pack has its own territory, and we should be returning to it."

The first elder had shifted uncomfortably. "The females are resting well here. They will deliver anytime now, and the food—"

"The FOOD?!" Greymaw nearly spat. "You would compromise our principles for FOOD?!"

The elder had the decency to look ashamed. "It is not just the food. The cubs seem... happy."

"They are being CORRUPTED!"

"They are playing, Greymaw. With other cubs. Is that so terrible?"

Greymaw’s mouth had fallen open. What was the meaning of this?

He tried the next day again with a different elder. Same result. The wolves had gotten comfortable, and comfort was the most dangerous enemy of conviction.

Girruk shared his father’s fury, and it burned even hotter in his younger blood.

He couldn’t stand watching it. His packmates were laughing with beasts who looked nothing like them. Wolf cubs chasing after spotted cubs and striped cubs. The whole settlement was an assault on everything his father had taught him.

But Girruk couldn’t even pace the perimeter to burn off his frustration.

The shiftless female had apparently positioned beasts around him. Whenever he went for a run, they were always near, watching him.

It felt like he had been stripped of his freedom.

And it did not help that the Tera moving them here had thwarted their plans entirely. She was mostly with her mates and cubs and was barely meeting with Calis.

He needed to do something about this.

As for Greymaw, things took a disturbing turn with a group he should have been more wary of.

The cubs.

The vendetta started with a berry.

On the first afternoon, one of the Dow clan cubs, a round-cheeked badger cub with enormous eyes and a permanent look of earnest concern, had waddled up to Greymaw with a small purple berry balanced on his open palm.

"For you," the cub said solemnly, as if offering a sacred artefact.

Greymaw stared at it. "No."

The cub’s face fell. He looked down at the berry, then back up at Greymaw, then back at the berry.

"But it is a good one," the cub whispered, on the verge of tears.

"I said no."

The cub placed the berry on Greymaw’s knee anyway, patted it twice, and waddled away.

Greymaw flicked the berry off his knee and into the dirt.

He didn’t think about it again.

But the cub did.

Hours later, Greymaw returned to the rock he had been sitting on to find another berry waiting for him. This one was slightly squashed, as if it had been carried carefully in small, determined hands.

He threw it away.

By the following day, there were three more arranged in a neat little line on his sitting rock.

Greymaw stared at them with the deep suspicion of a wolf who knew he was being targeted.

Those pesky cubs.

He threw those away too.

The day after that, the berries were accompanied by a small pile of interesting pebbles and one leaf that had been folded into a shape that Greymaw found strange.

Greymaw swept all of it off his rock.

The other beasts thought it was charming.

"The cubs like you," one said with a chuckle, watching Greymaw’s face twist.

"Hmm."

"The little ones sense kindness," another one added. "They are drawn to it."

Greymaw had never been kind to a child in his entire life, and he would come to regret that very soon.