Free Web NovelChapter 38: Episode 038: You will never cry again.
Rue woke up with a violent gasp, her chest heaving as tears spilled down her cheeks.
The darkness of the stone bedroom pressed in on her. She quickly slapped both hands over her mouth to muffle the sound of her ragged breathing. Her small heart hammered violently against her ribs in suffocating panic. She sat up on the thick animal pelts, her wide pink eyes staring blindly into the dark room.
The nightmare was entirely vivid. It felt incredibly real.
She was back in the sterile, bright white hospital room on Earth. She could smell the sharp, chemical scent of bleach and cheap floor cleaner. She could feel the rough, uncomfortable cotton sheets scratching against her frail legs. The rhythmic, highly annoying beep of the heart monitor echoed loudly in her ears.
A woman was sitting by the edge of her hospital bed, gripping Rue’s hand tightly. A man was standing right behind the woman, his hand resting securely on the woman’s shoulder. They were her parents.
They were crying heavily, begging the doctors for more time.
But when Rue looked up to see them, there was absolutely nothing there.
Their faces were entirely blank. Their features were completely erased, smoothed over like featureless mannequins.
Rue sat in the dark, shivering. She wiped her wet cheeks furiously with the back of her hand. She did not know why the nightmares decided to come for her right now. She had been perfectly fine pushing her trauma into a small, tightly locked box in the very back of her mind. She survived the terrifying beastworld by ignoring her past completely.
Then, she looked across the dim room at the ironwood crib.
Because I am a mother now.
A fresh, heavy wave of absolute sadness hit her. She looked at Theron’s tiny face every single day. She traced the slope of his soft nose. She stared into his bright golden eyes. She knew exactly what her child looked like.
But I cannot even remember what my own mother looked like, I don’t know whose nose I have. I don’t know if my father had my eyes.
The realization was absolutely crushing.
She threw the warm fur blankets off her legs. She slipped quietly out of bed, her bare feet hitting the freezing cold floor. Caius was fast asleep on the other side of the mattress, his dark hair messy against his pillow, his breathing deep and perfectly even. Theron was quiet in his crib. freewёbnoνel.com
She did not want to wake them. She did not want to explain why the calm, deadpan rabbit who always had a smart comeback was suddenly falling apart in the middle of the night.
She walked quickly to the doors leading out to the bedroom balcony. She pushed them open and stepped outside.
The cool, damp air of the Nightwhisper Jungle hit her bare skin. The silver moonlight cast long, dark shadows over the thick trees below. Rue walked to the edge of the cold stone railing. She gripped the rock so tightly her knuckles turned entirely white.
She cried silently.
Big, fat, heavy tears rolled down her pale face and dropped into the dark jungle below. She hated crying. She hated feeling weak. But she simply could not stop. She was just so incredibly sad. A massive part of her was slowly getting forgotten, completely erased by a digital machine, and there was absolutely no way she could stop it from happening. She felt entirely helpless.
Inside the bedroom, Caius suddenly jerked awake.
The giant snake beastman sat up instantly. He did not hear a single sound, but his chest physically ached. The mate bond was a direct, invisible string connecting their souls. He felt a sudden wave of pure, devastating grief hit him so hard it literally knocked the breath out of his lungs. It was a suffocating, terrifying sadness.
Caius looked at the empty spot on the bed. The sheets were cold.
Down the dark stone hallway, Knox was wide awake. The Black Panther King rarely slept a full night. He possessed incredibly sharp predator senses. The wind shifted through the open fortress windows, carrying the scents of the damp jungle. But Knox caught a very distinct, sharp scent cutting cleanly through the humidity.
It was salt. It was the heavy, unmistakable scent of fresh tears.
Both massive men moved at the exact same time.
Rue stood on the balcony, her small shoulders shaking uncontrollably. She tried to swallow the thick, painful lump in her throat. She closed her eyes, trying desperately to force the blank faces of her parents out of her mind.
The balcony doors opened wider.
Two incredibly tall, highly lethal shadows stepped out into the silver moonlight.
Rue quickly wiped her wet face. She sniffled loudly, trying to instantly rebuild her flat, clinical New York wall.
"I am fine," Rue lied immediately. Her voice cracked terribly on the words. "I am just getting some fresh air. It was hot inside."
The two apex predators completely ignored her blatant lie.
They did not ask stupid questions. They did not demand that she explain herself or tell them what was wrong. They understood perfectly well that words were completely useless right now. They simply offered their solid, grounding presence.
Caius walked right up behind her. He held a thick, incredibly soft moon-fox fur blanket in his large hands. He wrapped it securely around her small, shaking shoulders, completely shielding her from the cold jungle wind. He pulled her back flush against his broad, warm chest.
Knox stepped up right beside them. The giant panther stood extremely close. His massive body blocked the wind entirely. He radiated a thick, heavy heat that acted like a giant furnace, instantly chasing the freezing chill right out of her bones.
The solid, quiet support completely broke her remaining defenses.
Rue finally broke. She turned around and buried her face directly into Caius’s warm chest. She grabbed the front of his dark shirt tightly with both hands and cried softly into his warmth. She could not control it anymore.
Rue sobbed quietly, the tears soaking right through his shirt.
She had a lot of things to say but she couldn’t just say them. The syste, stayed quiet all through.
Caius rested his chin gently on the top of her silver-white hair. He wrapped his massive arms entirely around her and the fur blanket. He just held her tight. He let her cry, absorbing the heavy, crushing grief directly through the bond.
Knox looked down at the tiny, broken rabbit.
The Black Panther King had seen countless beasts die in brutal, bloody territory wars. He had seen raw fear and terrible physical pain. But he had absolutely never seen a grief this incredibly deep and completely helpless. His chest tightened painfully.
Knox reached out with one large hand. He very gently placed his thick palm flat against the middle of her back, resting heavily over the fur blanket.
His touch was incredibly warm and entirely steady.
Rue leaned heavily into their combined strength. The cold, sterile white hospital room slowly faded from her mind. The terrifying feeling of being completely alone in the universe started to recede. She was not alone anymore. She had a snake who tracked her across the world, and a giant panther who was actively trying to change his entire nature just to see her smile.
They stood together on the cold stone balcony for a very long time. The dark jungle below remained completely quiet, offering absolute peace. ƒreewebηoveℓ.com
Knox looked at her tear-stained cheeks catching the silver moonlight.
"You have us now," Knox quietly whispered to her, his deep voice carrying undeniable certainty as he patted her hair. "As long as I breathe, you will never have to cry again."
