Chapter 120

The morning after the lake felt different. Lighter, somehow, as if the water had washed away more than just dirt and blood.

For once, no one screamed. No monsters attacked us. No arrogant beastmen appeared demanding our supplies, no one tried to stab anyone, and none of my children woke before sunrise declaring war on their fathers.

I almost did not trust it.

I sat beside the dying remains of our fire with my three youngest tucked against my chest, staring suspiciously at the dense jungle canopy as golden morning light filtered through the leaves. It was too peaceful. After the last few days.

Behind me, someone groaned. I turned.

Veylan was attempting to sit up from where he had been resting against a log. His silver hair was an absolute mess, falling across his face in tangled strands. Bandages wrapped his side beneath the loose fur covering his torso, and although the worst of his injuries were no longer life threatening, he was nowhere near healed.

His gray eyes narrowed. "I can walk."

"You can limp."

"That is still walking."

"It is walking badly."

A quiet snort came from nearby. Veylan’s head snapped toward the sound. Eryx immediately looked down at the bowl in his hands. The poor man had been attempting to eat breakfast without drawing his brother’s attention. His shoulder was still heavily bandaged, and his face carried bruises from the Stonehorn attack, but he looked considerably better than he had two days ago.

Veylan glared at him. Eryx stared very intently at his food.

I bit the inside of my cheek. Progress. Not much progress. But considering Veylan had spent the first day pretending his brother did not exist, glaring at him counted as acknowledgment.

"Do you have something to say?" Veylan asked.

Eryx slowly shook his head. "No."

"You laughed."

"I breathed."

"Your breathing sounded disrespectful."

I covered my mouth. Eryx’s lips twitched. Veylan looked at me. "You too?"

"I did not say anything."

"You are laughing with your eyes."

"I cannot control my eyes."

Veylan muttered something beneath his breath and finally managed to sit upright. A tiny golden blur immediately launched itself at him. I barely got the warning out before Niku scrambled directly into Veylan’s lap. Veylan grunted, his face going white, then he looked down at the tiny creature happily chewing on the edge of his fur covering. Every trace of irritation disappeared.

"You are trying to kill me," he murmured. Niku mewed. "Do not pretend innocence. I know what you are." Another mew. "A menace." Niku licked his chin. Veylan sighed and gathered him against his chest anyway.

I smiled. Two nights ago, Veylan had wept in my arms over a childhood filled with wounds no amount of magic could erase. Yesterday, I had watched him laugh in the lake with our children until he could barely breathe. Now he sat beneath the morning sun with a cub pressed against his heart. Healing was strange. It did not always look like wounds closing. Sometimes it looked like laughter. Sometimes it looked like choosing to get up the next morning. And sometimes it looked like a tiny cub gnawing on your father’s clothing while he pretended not to adore you.

We broke camp shortly after sunrise, continuing our journey toward the Tiger Tribe. The surviving wolves traveled with us again, their damaged wagons creaking along the narrowing path. The supplies they had been carrying were protected more carefully now. Ravin and Leon walked near the front, hacking at vines with their blades. Soryn remained beside the wagons, his long green tail occasionally sweeping through the undergrowth behind him. Caelion stayed near me and the younger children, while Veylan stubbornly insisted on walking despite my repeated threats to tie him to one of the wagons.

Eryx remained several paces behind him. Not close enough to provoke Veylan. Not far enough to abandon him. I noticed. I suspected Veylan did too.

The jungle changed as the morning passed. The undergrowth gradually thinned, giving way to enormous trees with buttressed roots and broad leaves that created a canopy of emerald and gold. The air grew thick and humid, carrying the scent of flowers and ripe fruit. Vines hung like ropes between the trunks, and somewhere in the distance, I heard the sound of rushing water.

Aureon had been unusually quiet all morning. That alone was enough to concern me. My tiger was many things. Quiet was rarely one of them. He walked ahead of us with his golden eyes fixed on the path, his nostrils flaring occasionally as he scented the air. Then he stopped. I nearly walked into his back.

"What is it?"

Aureon did not answer immediately. His ears rose sharply atop his head, twitching toward sounds I could not hear. Then his expression changed. I had seen Aureon excited before. I had seen him furious, playful, jealous, wounded and absolutely ridiculous. I had never seen this. His entire face softened.

"Home."

One word. Barely more than a whisper. I looked around at the dense jungle.

"This is Tiger territory?"

He nodded. "We crossed the boundary sometime after dawn."

I glanced around. There were no walls. No signs. Nothing separating one part of jungle from another. "How can you tell?"

Aureon looked offended. "I am a tiger."

"Very informative."

He pointed toward a massive tree with white bark and red flowers blooming directly from its trunk. " Elaris Bloom." I stared. "It looks like a tree."

"Those grow almost nowhere outside our lands." He pointed toward bright blue flowers with petals like butterfly wings. "Skywing."

"Flowers."

Then toward enormous claw marks carved into a fallen log, the grooves still fresh and oozing sap. "And that."

I looked at the scratches. "All right. That one is slightly more convincing."

Aureon grinned. Then the grin disappeared almost immediately. His eyes moved toward the supply wagons. Toward the bundle at Ravin’s side containing the Tiger seal we had recovered from the dead Stonehorn leader. The reminder of what waited ahead settled over us again. Someone connected to the Tiger Tribe had paid for those supplies to be intercepted. Cyrus was dead. Which meant someone else had betrayed Aureon’s family. Someone we had not identified. Someone who might already know we were coming.

I slipped my fingers through Aureon’s. His hand closed around mine immediately. "We do not have to solve it the moment we arrive."

He looked at me. "My family could be in danger."

"I know."

"What if whoever did this is near them?"

"Then we find them."

His jaw tightened. "Together."

I squeezed his hand. "Always."

Aureon’s ears lowered slightly. Then Atlas came running between us. "Daddy!" Aureon looked down. Atlas pointed dramatically toward a flash of orange fur in the canopy above. "Are there tigers everywhere?"

Aureon blinked. "Yes."

Atlas’s eyes became enormous. "Everywhere?"

"Mostly."

"Do they bite?"

"If you annoy them."

Atlas slowly looked toward Jasper. Jasper slowly looked toward Atlas. I immediately knew I was about to regret allowing this conversation.

"Do not annoy the tigers," I warned.

"We won’t," Jasper promised. Atlas nodded. Far too quickly. Behind me, Leon sighed. "They are going to annoy the tigers."

"Absolutely," Ravin said.

By midday, the path had widened into a proper road paved with flat stones. We began seeing signs of civilization. First came carved markers made from dark wood, each bearing the image of a tiger surrounded by tropical flowers. Then came cultivated clearings. Actual fields carved from the jungle. Rows of rice stretched beneath the sun in flooded paddies. Banana trees and papaya dotted the clearings, their heavy fruit swaying gently in the breeze. I slowed. Aureon noticed immediately.

"That is the goldfruit I told you about."

I slowed, my eyes widening at the sight of papaya trees heavy with fruit. My fingers practically twitched with the urge to reach out and pluck one. "I want it." My mouth watered at the thought of my mother’s papaya salad, the spicy pungent yumminess that I had not tasted since my old life. The memory hit me hard, sudden and sweet, of her hands chopping the fruit, the smell of lime and chili filling our small kitchen. I had not realized how much I missed it until this moment.

Aureon laughed. "You have not even reached my home yet."

"I want the fruit."

"You cannot simply steal my tribe’s fruit."

"I was not going to steal them."

"You had the expression."

"What expression?"

"The one you make before changing everyone’s lives."

Caelion chuckled behind me. "She does have that expression."

"I do not."

Five males answered at once. "You do."

Traitors.

The children ran along the road under constant supervision, chasing butterflies, gathering fallen flowers and asking Aureon approximately seventeen questions every minute. Were there tiger cubs? Did tiger cubs bite? Could tiger cubs climb? Were there waterfalls? Could they hunt? Did the Tiger Tribe eat other beast folks? Did they have honey? Did they have snakes like daddy Soryn? Could Atlas fight one?

The answer to the last question was delivered simultaneously by every adult. "No."

Atlas looked disappointed.

By afternoon, my legs were aching. My youngest three had gone through every possible mood a baby could possess. Hungry. Sleepy. Angry because they were sleepy. Angry because they had fallen asleep. Angry because Leon breathed too loudly while one was sleeping.

At one point Leon was walking with Tavren cradled against his chest, staring at the tiny screaming creature with the hollow expression of a man questioning every decision that had led him to that moment.

"Why?"

Tavren screamed. Leon looked at me. "I fed him."

"I know."

"I changed him."

"I know."

"He is warm."

"Yes."

"No one has harmed him."

"No."

"Then what does he want?"

Tavren screamed louder. Leon stared down at him. "I am asking you."

I started laughing. "This is not funny."

"It is a little funny."

"Take your child."

"Our child."

"At this moment, he resembles you."

Tavren abruptly stopped crying. Leon froze. The little cub stared up at him. Then yawned. Leon looked personally betrayed. "You screamed for half an hour because you were tired?"

The cub closed his eyes. Leon looked toward the canopy above. "I fought Stonehorns with less difficulty."

Even Veylan laughed at that. The sound surprised Eryx. I saw his head turn. For several moments, he watched his brother. Veylan noticed. Their eyes met. The laughter disappeared. Neither spoke. But this time Veylan did not look away immediately. It was small. So small most people would have missed it. I didn’t. Eventually Veylan turned and continued walking. Eryx followed. There was still an entire lifetime between them. But perhaps the distance had shortened by one step.

The Tiger Tribe appeared near sunset.

And I stopped walking.

"Oh."

Aureon’s home was enormous. Not a city in the way I understood cities, but far larger than the Lion settlement. The Tiger Tribe had been built within a massive clearing in the jungle, where ancient trees had been hollowed out and transformed into homes, their trunks carved with stairs and windows, their branches connected by rope bridges that swayed gently in the humid breeze. Massive wooden platforms wrapped around the tree trunks, reinforced with stone and vine, creating levels upon levels of homes rising into the canopy. Waterfalls cascaded down rock faces at the clearing’s edge, feeding pools that sparkled in the fading light. And everywhere I looked, there were tigers.

Tiger beastmen. White. Orange. Golden. Black. Striped. Men carrying weapons. Women carrying baskets of fruit. Cubs chasing each other across rope bridges with the fearless agility of creatures born in the trees.

The moment our group emerged from the jungle path, a horn sounded. Aureon’s ears twitched. Another horn answered from above. Then another.

"Oh," Aureon murmured.

"What?"

"They saw me."

The clearing erupted into chaos. Warriors appeared on the platforms above. People began shouting. Then someone screamed loudly enough for us to hear from where we stood.

"PRINCE AUREON!"

The massive roots of the central tree parted to reveal an entrance. Tiger warriors poured through. For one terrifying second, I thought we were about to be attacked. Then a man shoved through them.

Aurin.

Even from a distance, there was no mistaking him. Aureon resembled his father so strongly that seeing them together felt like looking at two versions of the same person separated by years. Aurin’s golden eyes locked onto his son. He stopped. Aureon stopped too. Neither moved. Aurin looked completely stunned. Then his face changed.

"Aureon?"

For the first time since I had known him, Aureon looked almost like a little boy.

"Father."

Aurin crossed the distance between them so quickly I barely saw him move. He grabbed Aureon. Not ceremonially. Not like a chief greeting a prince. Like a father. His arms wrapped around his son with enough force to lift Aureon partially from the ground.

"You foolish cub!"

Aureon laughed breathlessly. "Hello to you too."

"You came without sending word?"

"Sorry, father...I wanted it to be a surprise."

"I should beat you."

"You just said you missed me."

"I can do both."

Aureon laughed harder. Aurin pulled back, gripping his son’s shoulders, examining his face as though searching for injuries. Then his eyes moved behind Aureon. They landed on me. On Ravin. Leon. Soryn. Caelion. Veylan. Then the army of children. Then the injured wolves. Then the battered supply wagons. Aurin stared.

"What happened?"

Aureon considered this. "Vacation."

I covered my face. Aurin slowly looked at his son. "This is your vacation?"

"It was peaceful in places."

A roar came from above. "AUREON!"

He went rigid. His ears flattened. "Oh no."

I looked up. A woman was climbing down from a higher platform, moving with the agility of someone who had spent her life in the trees. She was beautiful. Even exhausted, with her hair loosely braided and a soft wrap around her body, she carried herself with the unmistakable authority of someone who had spent her life surrounded by powerful beastmen and had learned exactly how to command every one of them. Aureon’s mother.

She stared at him. He smiled carefully. "Mother."

She struck his chest. Not hard. But loudly. "You did not tell me you were coming!"

"I wanted to surprise you."

"You nearly killed me!"

"Then technically it worked."

She hit him again. "Ow."

Then she grabbed his face in both hands. Her eyes filled. "My baby."

Aureon’s entire expression crumbled. "Mother."

She pulled him into her arms. Aureon bent around her instantly, burying his face against her hair. I watched his shoulders shake. Whether he laughed or cried, I could not tell. Perhaps both. His mother kissed his cheeks, his forehead, his hair. "You got thinner."

"I did not."

"You did."

"I have muscles."

"You need food."

"Mother."

"I will feed you."

"Mother."

Then she looked past him, her gaze finding me standing there with my arms full of children. Her eyes widened, taking in the sight of me, then the army of cubs surrounding me, then the males who stood protectively nearby. She looked back at Aureon; one eyebrow raised in silent question.

"Mother," Aureon said, his voice suddenly soft, almost nervous. He stepped toward me and gently took my hand, pulling me forward. "This is Krys."

I dipped my head in respect, suddenly feeling shy under her intense golden gaze. "It is an honor to meet you."

She stared at me for a long moment, her expression unreadable. Then her face broke into a smile so warm it felt like coming home. "So you are the one," she said, her voice rich with approval. She reached out and took my hands in hers, squeezing them tight. "The one who captured my son’s heart."

"Mother," Aureon groaned, his ears flattening with embarrassment.

"Oh hush," she waved him off, her eyes never leaving mine. "I have heard stories, you know. Aurin told me when he got back from the lion’s tribe." She leaned closer, her smile turning conspiratorial. "I really wanted to meet you then."

I laughed, the tension draining from my shoulders. "I’m happy to finally meet you Aureon is such a good mate I knew he had his parents’ who was the foundation for his upbringing although he has his moments."

"I can imagine," she said, then her gaze dropped to the cubs clinging to my legs. Her eyes widened further. "And these?"

"Your grandchildren," Aureon said proudly. "I had children the moment I became Krys’s mate."

I nodded, still amused by this world’s logic. Any child I had, any of my mates would automatically become their father by the bond we shared. It was a concept that still felt strange to me, coming from a world where blood determined parentage, but here the magic of the mating bond made them all equally connected to our young.

She gasped, her hands flying to her mouth. Then she was moving, kneeling down to be eye level with Atlas, Jasper, Chase, and Ryder. "Come here, my darlings," she cooed, her voice melting into tenderness. "Let me see you."

They looked at me. I nodded. That was permission enough. They swarmed her, talking over each other in their excitement.

"I am Atlas!"

"I am Jasper!"

"Can you turn into a tiger?"

"Can we see?"

"Do you bite?"

"Can I touch your ears?"

She laughed, the sound like music, and gathered them close. "So many of you," she marveled, her eyes glistening. "My son has given me so many grandchildren."

Aurin immediately became surrounded too, looking overwhelmed but pleased as the cubs peppered him with questions. I enjoyed every second of it, watching this powerful couple dissolve into doting grandparents before my eyes.

Then Aureon’s mother suddenly froze, her head snapping toward Aureon. "Oh!"

Aureon looked concerned. "What?"

She stared at him, then slapped her own forehead. "I forgot."

Aureon blinked. "Forgot what?"

"Your siblings."

Silence. Aureon stared at her. "My what?"

His mother smiled. "Your siblings."

Aureon’s mouth opened. Closed. Opened again. "I have siblings?"

Aurin folded his arms, visibly amused now. "You would know these things if you visited more often."

Aureon whipped around. "Well I knew mother was pregnant, but she had already given birth?"

His mother beamed. "Yes, I had the cubs. Two of them. One boy and one girl. A miracle, both healthy and strong. We named them Aria and Aro."

Aurin immediately raised both hands. "I helped."

She glared at him. "You did not help with the pushing."

"I provided moral support."

"You provided noise."

"I roared encouragingly."

"That is not the same thing."

Aureon looked between them, his ears flattening with shock. "I have a brother and a sister?"

"Two weeks old now," his mother confirmed, her voice soft with pride. "Aria has your stubbornness. Aro has your appetite."

"And neither has your sense of timing," Aurin added dryly.

Aureon ran a hand through his hair, looking overwhelmed. "I am eighteen years old and I have newborn siblings."

"Life is full of surprises," his mother said, catching his hand. "Come, meet them properly."

She practically dragged him toward the great tree. Aureon looked over his shoulder at us, his expression a mixture of joy and panic. I laughed. "Go!"

He went. Of course the entire family followed.

The cubs was asleep. That was the first thing Aureon whispered when we entered his parents’ home, a warm chamber carved into the heart of the great tree, lined with soft furs and lit by golden lanterns. "They’re tiny."

His voice had changed. Gone was the loud, playful tiger who spent most days terrorizing his bondbrothers and encouraging our children to do things I specifically told them not to do. Aureon stood beside a fur lined cradle staring down at the two week old tiger cubs as though someone had placed the moon itself before him.

The babies were asleep when we entered, curled together in a fur lined cradle carved into the heart of the great tree. Two tiny bundles of white and gold fur, barely distinguishable from each other except that one had slightly darker stripes across her back. Aria and Aro, barely two weeks old, their paws twitching in unison as they dreamed.

"They are tiny," Aureon whispered again, his voice hushed with wonder.

His mother smiled. "Babies do tend to be small."

"Both of them?" Aureon stared at the sleeping pair. "I knew you were pregnant but seeing them... actually seeing two new lives..."

"You were smaller," his mother said gently.

"Impossible. Combined they must be my size."

Aurin snorted from where he stood nearby. "You screamed constantly. Louder than both of them put together."

"I did not."

"You screamed if your mother put you down. You bit my tail. You tried to climb the watchtower at three weeks old and fell into the fish ponds."

My other mates immediately started laughing. Aureon looked horrified. "Why would you tell them that?"

Ravin grinned. "This is valuable information."

Leon nodded solemnly. "Extremely valuable."

Soryn looked thoughtful, his tail curling. "We should record these stories for posterity."

"I hate all of you," Aureon muttered, but there was no heat in it. His eyes kept drifting back to the cradle.

His mother carefully lifted Aria first, the little female stirring with a soft mew as she was moved. "Do you want to hold her?"

Aureon froze. The teasing vanished. "Me?"

"She is your sister."

His hands immediately moved behind his back. "What if I hurt her? What if I drop her? What if..."

"You will do fine," his mother said firmly, already placing Aria into his arms. Then, before he could protest further, she lifted Aro and tucked the male cub against his other side. "There. Hold them together. They sleep better that way."

Aureon stopped breathing. I swear he actually stopped, his eyes enormous as he stared down at the two tiny lives cradled against his chest.

Aria stirred first, her golden eyes opening slowly. She blinked up at Aureon, her tiny nose twitching. Then Aro woke too, his gaze finding his brother’s face with equal curiosity. For a moment, the three siblings simply stared at each other, the newborns taking in the stranger who held them with such terrified gentleness.

Aureon made the strangest sound I had ever heard from him. Something between a laugh and a sob. "Hello," he whispered. "I am your brother. The older one. The much, much older one."

Aria’s paw reached up, catching the edge of his fur covering. Aro yawned, showing tiny teeth. Aureon’s eyes filled with tears. "Oh," he breathed. "Oh, you have no idea how much trouble you are both going to cause me, do you?"

"Likely less trouble than you caused us," Aurin said.

"Father, please," Aureon said, but he was smiling, tears tracking down his cheeks as he nuzzled first Aria, then Aro. "I will teach you everything," he promised them. "How to hunt. How to climb. How to drive our parents absolutely mad with worry."

"Absolutely not," his mother said immediately.

"You do not even know what I was going to teach them."

"I know you," she said, her eyes soft despite her stern tone. "I remember raising you."

"I am responsible now. I have children of my own. Look at me, being responsible."

Every mate in the room began laughing. "Why is everyone laughing?" Aureon asked, indignant.

I walked closer and rested my hand on his back, feeling the warmth of him and the babies. "Because you are holding them like they might explode."

"They might! They are very small!"

I chided, "They are not that much smaller than our cheetah cubs, and they are three weeks old." I rolled my eyes. "You have handled younger."

Aureon blinked at me, then looked down at Aria and Aro, realization dawning. "Oh," he said, his shoulders relaxing slightly. "I suppose you are right."

"They are tougher than they look," his mother assured him, her eyes twinkling with amusement. "And they need an older brother who visits more often."

Aureon looked down at Aria and Aro, both already drifting back to sleep in his arms, trusting him completely. His smile faded slightly, becoming something more vulnerable. "I missed this," he admitted quietly.

"Home?" his mother asked.

"Home," he confirmed. "And knowing there are new lives here that I need to protect. New family to love."

His mother’s eyes softened. "Then stop staying away so long."

His gaze moved toward me, toward our mates, toward the children crowding around Aurin. Toward Veylan standing in the doorway with Eryx hovering nearby. Then back to his sleeping siblings. "I have two homes now," he said. "And two families that have become one."

"No," his mother whispered, her smile trembling. "You have one family that simply grew larger."

Aureon looked down at Aria and Aro and smiled.

For a moment, everything was right. We had reached the Tiger Tribe. The children were safe. Veylan was alive. Eryx was alive. Aureon was home, holding his new siblings, surrounded by love. And I wanted desperately to believe we could simply rest.

But as I stood there surrounded by laughter, my gaze drifted toward Ravin. He was no longer smiling. His hand rested against the pouch at his waist. Inside it was the Tiger seal taken from the Stonehorn leader. Evidence that someone within these very walls had tried to stop the alliance supplies from ever arriving.

Ravin met my eyes. Neither of us spoke. We did not have to. The unspoken knowledge sat heavy between us, a secret that threatened to poison everything we had fought to protect.

Outside, the Tiger Tribe celebrated the return of its prince with drums and feasting, their joy echoing through the trees like a promise of peace. Inside, Aureon cradled his newborn brother and sister, his face alight with wonder even as his eyes occasionally drifted toward the shadows, aware that danger already lurked within these walls. He held his siblings a little tighter, as if his arms alone could shield them from whatever came next.

Somewhere among the people welcoming us home was a traitor. Someone who had paid Stonehorns to kill their own. Someone who wanted the alliance to fail, who wanted Aureon’s family weakened, who had already proven they would kill to get what they wanted.

Perhaps they were watching us already, smiling through the celebration while they planned their next move.

I looked toward the open doorway, where the last rays of sunlight painted the jungle gold and shadows gathered beneath the trees like waiting predators. We had finally reached the Tiger Tribe, I had thought the journey was the hard part.

I was wrong.

The real hunt was only beginning. And this time, we were hunting for a monster wearing a friendly face.