Chapter 257 Non-Animal Enclosure

Once the ropes had been fully prepared and arranged along with the poles in neat, organised piles, it was time for the cub enclosure.

The poles for that had been cut too.

The males assembled the poles quickly. They were confident with the tools now, and the hammering went fast, each post driven into the soft ground.

The structure went up, and it looked neat. Adult males could easily raise their legs and step in, but the cubs wouldn’t. Not even the older ones.

It looked very, very much like the animal pen.

"Well," Tera started. "Shall we bring the cubs?"

The roundup began.

Some of the cubs came willingly, because they were the kind of cubs who followed any adult who looked like they had a purpose, and being carried somewhere new sounded like an adventure.

Others did not come willingly.

The first scream split the air when a female picked up one of the older wolf cubs and started carrying him toward the enclosure. He took one look at the fence, one look at the animal pen thirty paces away, and the connection happened behind his eyes with an almost audible click.

"I AM NOT AN ANIMAL!"

Tera flinched.

The female froze, the cub thrashing in her arms.

"LET ME GO! YOU CAN’T PUT ME IN THERE!"

A second cub, a female who had been trotting along calmly, stopped dead when she saw where they were heading. Her eyes went very round, and her lower lip trembled.

"Are you..." She looked up at the male carrying her and her sister. "Are you going to eat us?"

The male looked horrified. "WHAT? No!"

"Then why does it look like THAT?!" She pointed at the animal pen, then at the cub enclosure, her small finger swinging between the two like a tiny, accusatory pendulum.

She had a point.

’Ah... I see now.’

Such a concern had never occurred to Tera at all. Now that Tera could see the similarities between the caged situation, she nearly laughed, though some of the cubs did not find this funny at all.

Because they weren’t wrong.

The structure was taller, yes. It was prettier and had more space, but to a cub who has spent their entire life watching animals get put into something that looked exactly like this, the connection was obvious and terrifying.

"Okay, okay, OKAY—" She dropped to her knees in front of the enclosure, lowering herself to cub-level. "Listen to me, everyone."

The screaming cub was still screaming. Two others had started crying in solidarity. Three more were clinging to the nearest adult with the iron grip of creatures who were not getting into that cage willingly.

But the rest had gathered around Tera with excited eyes. Some were crawling and pulling at her body wherever they could touch, not even aware of their situation enough to be bothered.

"This is not for animals." Tera gestured at the enclosure. "This is for you. To keep you safe."

"SAFE FROM WHAT?!" the screaming cub howled.

"From the work we’re doing out here. There are sharp tools and heavy things that could fall, and if you’re running around, you could get hurt."

The screaming cub was not convinced. He twisted free from the female holding him and bolted three steps before another male scooped him up with one arm.

"I DON’T WANT TO GO IN THE ANIMAL HOUSE!"

"It is NOT the animal house—"

"IT LOOKS LIKE THE ANIMAL HOUSE!"

"It’s TALLER than the animal house!"

"SO?! THE ANIMALS ARE SHORTER THAN US! THAT’S WHY THEIRS IS SHORT!"

{PervyGoddess is dying of laughter}

{BeastWorldAddict can barely breathe}

Tera’s lips thinned as she went through an internal battle. ’DON’T MAKE ME LAUGH!’

A few of the adult beasts had already turned aside to laugh while the rest were baffled by the cubs’ theatrics.

Frustrated, Faelynn and the other females stepped in.

"Look," one said to the nearest cub. "We’re inside too. Are we animals?"

The cub considered this. "...No."

"Then it’s not an animal pen, is it?"

A hesitant pause. The cub looked at the fence, then at the female, then back at the fence.

"...But it looks like one."

"But it isn’t."

One by one, the more reasonable cubs allowed themselves to be carried or coaxed inside. Within minutes, most of them were seated, snacking on fruits Tera had bribed them with, and they were cautiously exploring the boundaries of their new space.

But the screaming cub was still screaming.

He was now seated in the arms of a very patient male who was holding him like a sack of grain while the cub kicked and howled with the kind of stamina that suggested he could keep this up for several hours.

Faelynn had been standing at the entrance of the enclosure, her newborn tucked against her chest, watching the meltdown with the flat expression of a mother who had already done this five times today.

She walked up to the screaming cub.

The male holding him looked at Faelynn with the desperate eyes of someone who needed help immediately.

Faelynn grabbed the cub and put him inside the enclosure.

The cub went silent. His mouth opened in shock, but no sound came out, and his eyes were very wide as he stared up at Faelynn.

Did he seriously think no one would be able to put him inside even while crying?

"If you come out of here without my permission, I am going to eat you!"

’Oh!’

The cub’s lip trembled once, then he started crying again, silent this time.

He grabbed her legs, buried his face in them and continued crying.

Luth walked up to him and was shoving a piece of fruit in his mouth, shutting him up.

Some cubs were already starting a game of stick and rock, while some of the other cubs who hadn’t wanted to be in the enclosure stared up at the adults with an expression that suggested they were memorising faces for later retribution.

"Uh.... Okay...?" Not knowing what to do with this situation, Tera turned to the rest of her workers.

The cubs were contained. Now they needed to work on the next thing.