Chapter 246: Aggressively Cuddling and Other Problems

Tera woke up to the pleasant feeling of water washing over her body, and the warm embrace of a wolf who had no intention of letting her move.

Calis was wrapped around her from behind, his arms locked across her stomach, his face buried in the curve of her neck. His breathing was slow and even, but his grip was anything but relaxed. Every time she shifted, even slightly, his arms tightened, and a low, rumbling growl vibrated against her back.

The stream lapped gently around their bodies, while the morning sun had barely just appeared.

Tera smiled. It was nice and peaceful, but as much as she wanted to bask here and relax, she was starting to feel hungry.

She tried to sit up.

Calis pulled her back down.

"Calis?"

He didn’t answer, apparently still asleep. But Tera had the feeling that he wasn’t sleeping.

She shifted, and he growled, pressing his nose harder into her neck. Tera chuckled.

[? ? ? ?]

[Uh oh]

[Host seems to be trapped]

[Current Status: Aggressively Cuddling]

[This system would like to note that Mate Calis has been awake for approximately forty minutes and has chosen not to move]

Tera turned her head just enough to see his face.

His eyes were open, and the way he was peeking up at her was so...

’Urghhhhh! He can be so cute at times.’

[Calis is very happy to be Host’s mate]

[(???)]

Tera’s chest softened, and she ran her hand across his forearm, and when it grazed his, his fingers laced through hers immediately, like he had been waiting for the invitation.

She nestled against him, relaxing.

Calis very likely wanted this moment to last. Maybe she wouldn’t mind waiting for another hour or two.

Tera chuckled again. "We’ll have many more moments like this, don’t worry."

She could feel him smile against her skin.

Meanwhile, Calis was in his own world. He was beyond happy to finally be her mate. Was this what it felt like?

He buried his face back into her neck and breathed her in again.

{BeastWorldAddict laughs at the way Calis holds Tera like she’ll disappear}

They stayed like that until the sun climbed above the trees, and despite the fresh water, they started to really feel the bite of the sun.

Tera turned in his arms until they were face to face, and she kissed his face. He nearly jumped out of his skin. Tera had never kissed his whole face randomly before. It felt very nice and he couldn’t help but release one of his hands to touch his face from the tingling feeling her kisses left behind.

Calis laughed and smothered Tera’s face with kisses, shocking her in return as she never expected it in such force.

[(·•???•? )]

[What is it with—]

{BeastWorldAddict says this is the cutest thing they’ve ever seen}

[(⊙_⊙)]

[Ah! Yes! Such a beautiful display of affection!]

[( ’’?°ヮ°? )]

Tera tried her best not to laugh in Calis’ face.

It was going to be a treat to watch how this system acted around the sponsors.

{PervyGoddess covers their face to sniff}

{PervyGoddess says it is a LITTLE cute}

{PervyGoddess is still waiting for round six}

’That’s not possible!’

[(?￣?￣)?]

Tera turned her attention to what was more important. Calis had promptly nestled his face in her neck after smothering her with kisses.

"I was so worried, but I am proud of you for killing that corrupted beast."

Tera paused, surprised at the sudden confession.

[+1 Influence]

[Calis deeply admires Host]

Tera could only smile, feeling very happy that Calis saw her in that light.

"Thank you."

She combed her fingers through his hair, her heart softening as she looked forward to their future. Now, it saddened her that Calis would be leaving soon, even though she would go after them shortly after.

- ※ - ※ - ※ -

The walk back to the settlement was slow and relaxed.

Calis kept finding reasons to stop. A root that required careful stepping, a branch that needed inspecting, a patch of sunlight on the trail that apparently demanded several seconds of quiet contemplation.

Tera found each one cute, and kept reassuring him that she wasn’t going anywhere. Unlike Xavi and Ermin, Calis was shockingly a bit more clingy. And not once did he let go of her hand either.

It was only when he heard the low rumble of her stomach that he quickly started rushing them back to the settlement so she would have something to eat.

The wolves were still stunned and not entirely used to seeing their leader with Tera, especially the elders who kept watch like toddlers enamoured by a balloon. But the rest of the wolves were a bit too excited, as if they were the ones in a relationship with Tera themselves.

And for some reason, the cubs were mostly rushing to Tera and patting her down to know if she was real from all the tales the older cubs had shared with them. A lot of them even wanted her to carry them.

Tera had to run to her shelter for safety with the help of Xavi and Ermin, who found the whole situation hilarious.

Xavi and Ermin had handled the news of their new co-mate better than she expected.

They had even asked her questions about Calis, and what really touched Tera was how they wanted to know more about him.

Though Ermin secretly gloated that Tera didn’t have Calis’ cub yet, and that they had gotten cubs from her first. And Xavi had, funnily enough, joined Ermin in that gloating, and Teram, flabbergasted by their sudden immaturity, didn’t know whether to laugh or cry at that moment.

[What is wrong with Host’s mates this morning?]

[(╯°□°)╯︵ ┻━┻]

Althea and Nadia, sensing none of this tension, had already scrambled into Tera’s lap the moment she sat down. They ate Tera’s food with her, and Puff Dumpling had waddled around the shelter excitedly before darting back outside when Xavi tried to pick him up.

It had apparently started befriending its fellow species from the animals the wolves had brought to their clan.

Tera intended to adopt those cute furballs. They would make lovely companions for Puff Dumpling, and maybe then her babies would finally stop harassing Puff Dumpling so much.

Then again, her cute pet never had a problem with her cubs’ adorable fawning over him.

Calis, on the other hand, was dealing with his own new problem.