Free Web NovelChapter 23: Episode 023: When Two Beasts Clash
Caius felt bloodthirsty anger, but there was only one thing holding him back: his mate and youngling.
The stone gates of the Nightwhisper Jungle were already splintered into pieces. Four panther guards flew backward, crashing hard into the thick jungle trees. They could barely keep him contained.
Caius didn’t even bother using his fangs. His massive tail whipped across the clearing, clearing a path through sheer brute force. He was the Left General of the Swamps, and absolutely no one was going to keep him from his family.
Then, Knox arrived.
Knox stepped out from the main fortress courtyard, his face set in a hard, deadly scowl. He didn’t need to raise his paws, because the bruised guards quickly scrambled out of the way. The two apex predators faced each other.
Caius shifted back to his human form. Knox did the exact same, standing tall on two human legs.
"Give me my mate," Caius demanded. His voice was a dark, vibrating rumble that shook the damp air.
Knox crossed his thick arms over his chest. He didn’t even blink. "Your mate isn’t here, snake."
Caius’s golden eyes flared into a violent, bloodthirsty red. The lie was completely insulting. He could literally smell her. He could smell the lingering scent of birth and her sweet, familiar aroma cutting through the wet jungle air.
"Let’s go inside and talk," Knox demanded, gesturing his chin toward the stone doors of the fortress. "We don’t need to do this out here."
Knox gazed around them. But Caius wasn’t hearing anything anymore.
"I don’t want to talk," Caius spat. "I want my mate." freёwebnovel.com
Caius shifted. He didn’t hesitate for a single second, a massive black serpent took the place of the man, scales rippling with deadly intent. He charged straight for the fortress.
Knox cursed loudly. He shifted instantly, his human body transforming into a massive black panther. He launched himself forward to meet the snake head-on.
***
Back in the room, Rue was completely unaware of the brutal war happening on the front lawn.
She sat on the edge of the large bed, carefully changing her little one. She used a soft piece of cotton cloth the female panther had provided. Rue hadn’t decided on a name for him yet. She specifically wanted to wait for Caius to do it together.
She was incredibly happy right now, her mate came for her. He came for their child. Knox said he was going outside to bring Caius in, so Rue waited patiently. She hummed a quiet, tuneless song to the baby.
[Someone is happy.]
Shut up.
The female panther leaned against the stone wall, watching them with soft eyes.
"My name is Minx," the female confirmed, offering a small, hesitant smile. "He is a beautiful boy. I never thought I would be talking to a rabbit. Much less someone who isn’t shaking in a corner."
Rue secured the cloth around her son. She looked up at the woman with a warm smile.
"We have closed off all contact with the rest of the beastworld," Minx explained, her black eyes dropping to the floor in sadness. "The prey tribes... they always runaway in fright just looking at us. We are not as bad as the snakes so why do they fear us so much? I myself would love to travel around the beastworld, maybe visit the Convergence, without killing a prey because of fear."
Rue listened with genuine sympathy. It sounded incredibly lonely, she understood loneliness perfectly well, especially from the kind of past she had, she wanted friends but couldn’t afford to make one, because of fear that they would eventually leave her.
"It doesn’t mean I am not scared," Rue replied in a soft tone. "I am a bunny. My body is biologically designed to run. But because of Caius, my fear has dampened. He made me used to predators."
Rue looked down at her small hands. "Even when I don’t want to be scared, fear shows."
The entire stone room shook violently. Dust sprinkled down from the high ceiling, coating the dark pelts on the bed. Rue frowned. Her long white ears twitched.
"It’s nothing," Minx said quickly, waving a hand in the air. "Just the other panthers playing around in the yard. They get rough sometimes."
Rue stared at her. That is a total lie.
"Please watch him for me," Rue pleaded, looking at Minx. She didn’t wait for an answer. She placed the sleeping baby gently into the center of the bed and rushed right out of the room.
She navigated the dark stone hallways, following the loud crashes and the smell of broken rock. She burst through the main wooden doors and stepped out onto the fortress steps.
She froze completely.
The courtyard was entirely destroyed. A massive black snake and a giant black panther were tearing each other apart. Caius wrapped his thick coils tightly around the panther’s waist, squeezing with bone-crushing force. Knox dug his sharp claws deeply into Caius’s scales, biting down hard on the snake’s neck. Stone pillars were smashed to rubble. Blood splattered across the wet grass.
Rue was terrified. Her heart leaped directly into her throat.
Why are they fighting? Rue frantically asked the Baby Making System in her head.
[Who else but you?] the system replied dryly.
Rue narrowed her eyes internally. She was waiting patiently inside like a good, polite guest, and Knox had the absolute audacity to fight her mate instead of bringing him to her.
"Caius!" Rue shouted loudly. "Stop!"
Her voice was completely lost over the roaring and hissing. They were entirely lost in the fight. Caius was bleeding heavily from his old wound, and Knox was viciously tearing at his scales. Rue became incredibly scared that they might actually kill each other. She couldn’t raise a baby alone in a world full of monsters.
A panther guard standing by the steps let out a harsh laugh. He looked down at her white silk dress.
"What can a little rabbit like you do?" the guard mocked. "Go in between them now and you would be torn to shreds. Let them fight."
Rue bit into her inner cheek. A metallic taste flooded her mouth. She looked at the two massive beasts trying to rip out each other’s throats. She couldn’t physically pull them apart. She had no magic and no strength.
Then, a highly illogical idea formed in her New York brain.
[Don’t even try it. It is dangerous.]
The system’s blue text flashed urgently in her vision.
"Danger?" Rue muttered under her breath. She didn’t take her pink eyes off the bloody fight in the courtyard. "I am sure you won’t let me die, right?"
She bent down and grabbed a sharp, jagged piece of broken stone from the ruined steps. Without a single second of hesitation, Rue sliced the sharp edge directly across the middle of her palm.
