Hei Yan sat on his stone throne, his tail twitching with a mixture of boredom and a very un-Alpha-like sense of anticipation. Usually, he would be out hunting something with large tusks, but today, he was preoccupied.
Specifically, he was watching a small, fluffy panther cub named Mao-Mao struggle with a piece of skewered meat over a fire.
"Higher, Mao-Mao," Hei Yan commanded, his voice a deep rumble. "If you touch the embers, it will taste like ash. Xin Yi says the 'char' must be deliberate, not a tragedy."
The cub grunted, his tiny paws trembling as he held the wooden spit. "Alpha.….meat heavy. Why we not just eat raw? Raw is fast. Raw is.….raw."
"Because, small one," Hei Yan said, his eyes softening as he thought of a certain stubborn, pale-skinned female, "Xin Yi says raw meat is for 'barbarians' and 'people who want parasites.' Also, the salt makes it zing."
