Free Web NovelChapter 29: Episode 029: Be her second mate.
Turned out that it was a female Panther watching her.
Rue stepped out of the crystal clear pond. The cool jungle breeze brushed against her wet skin, making her shiver slightly.
She opened the system shop in her mind and scrolled through the options. She pulled a pretty pink dress right out of the Maternity wardrobe. It materialised in her hands, soft and incredibly comfortable.
She slipped it over her head, letting her wet silver-white hair fall heavily down her back. She felt completely clean and highly refreshed.
Then, the thick jungle bushes directly behind her rustled violently.
[Shift now. Duck right.]
The system’s bright blue text flashed urgently across her vision.
Rue did not question the machine. With a soft pop, she shifted entirely into her tiny white bunny form.
A massive black shadow slammed into the exact spot she had just been standing.
"Eek," Rue squeaked as the heavy beast landed right in the shallow water. freeweɓnøvel.com
A huge splash soaked her white fur. The massive panther growled, baring long, incredibly sharp yellow fangs. It was completely terrifying. But looking closely at the sleek, narrow build of the cat, Rue realised something immediately.
This was absolutely not Knox.
The beast stepped out of the water and shifted. A dark-skinned woman stood up on the muddy bank. She had bright green eyes, thick black hair, and a very thin, highly muscular body. She looked exactly like a seasoned killer.
"So it really was a bunny," the female panther said. Her voice was cold, sharp, and dripping with absolute disgust. "I never thought the King would pick a small, defenceless prey like you."
I am literally just trying to take a bath,
The woman stepped closer as she cracked her knuckles.
"But don’t worry," the female smiled. "I will remove you from his life entirely. Don’t worry about the pain. It will only be a pinch."
I highly doubt that.
A silent, frantic scream echoed inside Rue’s skull. Her tiny rabbit heart hammered against her ribs at a terrifying speed.
The female shifted back into her giant panther form and lunged straight for her.
Rue ran.
Her small legs pushed off the wet dirt with everything she had. She hopped frantically through the thick, twisting jungle vines. The heavy, thudding sound of giant paws chased right behind her, shaking the ground.
[Turn left at the massive root. Keep running, Host.]
Rue obeyed. She darted left, sliding under a thick wooden arch.
A massive claw swiped the empty air right above her head. The sharp nails completely missed her skull but caught the back of her left leg.
A sharp, hot pain ripped through her fur. Bright red blood instantly bloomed across her white coat, dripping onto the green leaves below.
She ignored the burning pain. She kept running. The female panther caught up again, snapping its heavy jaws inches from her fluffy tail. Rue slipped from its grasp by diving through a very narrow crack between two heavy boulders. The panther slammed its face into the rock, roaring in pure frustration.
Rue was sustaining serious wounds. Her breathing was ragged. Her leg throbbed terribly. She was dangerously close to another near-death experience, and she was getting extremely tired of it.
[Straight ahead. Fifty yards.]
Rue pushed out of the dense underbrush and onto the main dirt path leading toward the fortress.
She looked up. Through the break in the dark trees, she saw him.
Caius was walking rapidly up the jungle path. He was back from the Swamps.
Caius turned his head. His sharp hearing caught the sound of the chase. He saw the tiny, bleeding white rabbit running for her absolute life. His golden eyes vanished entirely, swallowed by a violent, bloodthirsty red.
Rue popped back into her human form. She ignored her bleeding leg and practically threw herself right into his arms.
Caius caught her instantly. He wrapped his large arms tightly around her small frame, burying her face into his solid chest. He pulled her completely out of harm’s way.
Before Caius could even step forward to strike the pursuing female, a massive blur of black fur launched itself into action.
Knox appeared out of absolute nowhere. The Black Panther King’s jaws bit down hard on the back of the female’s neck, pinning her completely flat to the dirt. The female whined, completely subdued by the overwhelming strength of her King.
***
The scene shifted to the main throne room of the fortress.
Rue sat comfortably in Caius’s lap. He held her close against his chest while sitting on a large wooden chair. He was beyond angry. The Left General of the Swamps was vibrating with a lethal, freezing rage. Every single time he looked down at the fresh, bleeding scratches on Rue’s pale leg, the temperature in the stone room seemed to drop ten degrees.
The female panther kneeled on the hard stone floor in the centre of the room. She was back in her human form, bleeding slightly from where Knox had bitten her neck. She kept her head bowed, but her green eyes burned with intense anger.
Knox sat on his elevated stone throne. He looked down at Rue. He saw her injuries, and his own blood boiled even hotter than Caius’s. His hands gripped the stone armrests so hard his dark knuckles turned gray.
Caius opened his mouth. He was absolutely going to demand a public execution.
But the female panther spoke first. She looked up at Knox.
"So because of her, you want to execute me?" she asked. Her voice shook with bitter, heavy emotion.
Knox stared down at her with absolutely zero mercy.
"She is my mate," Knox stated coldly, his deep voice echoing across the silent room. "For harming her, you deserve to die."
The female let out a loud, broken laugh. It was a completely unhinged sound that bounced terribly off the dark walls.
"Now you are trying to discard me because I couldn’t give you a child!" she yelled, completely losing her mind. She pointed a shaking finger at Rue. "So you think she can give you one?!"
Rue pressed her lips into a thin line. She leaned her head against Caius’s chest and completely held her tongue. frёewebηovel.cѳm
What is this bitch even saying? Rue wondered flatly in her mind. Who said anything about giving birth for him?
The female panther wasn’t finished. She turned her wild green eyes toward Caius, pointing directly at the snake.
"She has a mate!" the female screamed at Knox. "Don’t you want to stop and think about what this general is planning towards our tribe for being so blatant with his mate?!"
The room went dead silent.
It was a highly valid political point. The Snake Tribe was massive. Queen Tanith commanded an army of terrifying, cold-blooded killers. The Panthers had stayed hidden for generations, specifically to avoid this exact kind of war. Openly stealing the Left General’s mate was a direct invitation to a massacre.
Knox didn’t even blink. He didn’t care about the political landscape. He didn’t care about the traditional rules of the Beastworld.
He looked at Rue. Then he looked directly at Caius.
"Then I will go with her," Knox declared loudly, his voice leaving absolutely no room for debate. "And be her second mate."
[New Task Assigned.]
[Unify the Panther Clan to the Beastworld]
