Zhāo Yàn, the Fox Lord, was not a man prone to pacing, but the restless flick of his orange tail betrayed his irritation.
He had been speaking with Mo Xiao earlier about the border patrols when the Panther had suddenly caught a scent, shifted into his beast form, and sprinted into the woods like a shadow.
Now, Zhāo Yàn stood near the clusters of huts, his mind unwillingly drifting to the woman who had caused such a stir at the fire.
The cursed female.
The way she had blushed, not a sultry flush, but a genuine, wide-eyed stammer. It haunted him. In his memories, the original Bai Yue was a whirlwind of callous demands.
She had treated their union like a chore and their kit like an obstacle. His kit, Yòu Lín, had perhaps suffered the least compared to Ruì Xuě, but the emotional scars were there. She had abandoned them all for a Bear Alpha who didn't even want her, leaving Yòu Lín to cry for a mother who never looked back.
Zhāo Yàn had eventually sent Yòu Lín to his grandmother's because the boy's constant whimpering for "Mama" was a dagger to his pride.
She is a trickster, he told himself, jaw tightening. She is merely changing her tactics.
His internal monologue was cut short by the sound of stumbling feet and frantic breathing. He turned, expecting to see Mo Xiao with a kill, but his red eyes widened in shock.
A bedraggled group emerged from the brush.
The three panther triplets were covered in dust and tear-streaks, the snake twins were limping, and in the center was Bai Yue. She looked like she had been dragged through a swamp and then through a rock crusher.
"Ruì Xuě! Miao Miao! A-Li!" Zhāo Yàn stepped forward, his voice filled with alarm. "Where is Mo Xiao? What happened to you?"
The cubs were shaking too hard to speak clearly, so Zhāo Yàn turned his burning gaze toward the snake twins. "Speak, Shé Yì! What is this?"
The tall twin stood as straight as he could. "The Vulture Clan, Lord Zhāo! Five of them tried to take the cubs. They almost had Ruì Xuě and A-Li.….they were going to fly away with them."
Zhāo Yàn's blood froze. The Vulture Clan were notorious scavengers and slavers. His gaze flickered to Bai Yue. "And.…..her? Did she lead them to you?"
"No!" Shé Yì shouted, his forked tongue darting out defensively. "She saved us! She hit one with a big stick! She kicked another in the.….the bad place! She told us to run and fought them all alone until Uncle Mo arrived!"
Zhāo Yàn's brows shot up. She...fought? Alone?
He looked at Bai Yue. She wasn't looking at him. Her eyes were glazed, her skin deathly pale beneath the mud. Her knuckles were shredded and bleeding, and she was swaying on her feet.
"Cursed female?" Zhāo Yàn took a step toward her.
"Mama saved us," Ruì Xuě whispered, still clutching Bai Yue's hand.
The word Mama hit the clearing like a thunderclap. Zhāo Yàn froze. Ruì Xuě had never called her that. Not once.
Suddenly, Bai Yue's knees buckled.
"Bai Yue!" Zhāo Yàn lunged, his fox-like speed blurring as he caught her before she hit the dirt.
She was a dead weight in his arms. She had fainted from pure exhaustion and adrenaline withdrawal. Up close, he could see the purple bruises forming on her arms and the way her breath came in shallow, ragged gasps.
Gently, far more gently than he intended, he carried her into her hut and laid her on the pelts. The cubs piled in after them, huddled in a corner, watching with wide eyes.
A-Li, despite his trembling, couldn't stay quiet. He began to narrate the battle with dramatic hand gestures. "She went BAM! Hit his head! Then she bounced! She jumped on the big bird man and went POW POW POW!"
"Yes!" Shé Èr added. "She even saved us when that man grabbed our necks. She said 'Run!'"
Zhāo Yàn didn't say a word.
He sat by her side, using a damp cloth to wipe the mud and blood from her shredded knuckles. His mind was a chaotic storm. Who are you? he wondered, staring at her peaceful, unconscious face. The Bai Yue I knew would have used the cubs as shields to save her own skin. She wouldn't have broken her hands for a snake-child.
The door creaked open, and Mo Xiao entered, his expression grim and splattered with dark blood.
"The elders have summoned an emergency meeting," the Panther said, his voice a low rumble.
"To deal with the Vultures?" Zhāo Yàn asked, not looking up from Bai Yue's hand.
"Yes. They tried to steal the future of our tribe. There will be war for this." Mo Xiao walked over, ruffling the hair of his cubs and giving a firm, grounding hug to Ruì Xuě, who refused to move from Bai Yue's bedside.
Mo Xiao looked at the sleeping woman. "See, Zhāo Yàn? I told you. There is something.…..different. I don't know what happened in those woods before I arrived, but I saw her face when she was protecting Ruì Xuě. She looked ready to die for him."
Zhāo Yàn let out a long, shaky breath. "Before, she would have run to save herself. She would have laughed while the Vultures took them, as long as she stayed pretty." He looked at her bruised knuckles. "But this.….this is not the old Bai Yue."
The Fox Lord looked at Mo Xiao. "Go to the meeting. I will stay here and watch over them."
Mo Xiao's amber eyes widened in surprise. The Fox Lord, who usually couldn't stand to be in the same room as his 'cursed' wife, was volunteering for nurse duty?
"Very well," Mo Xiao said quietly. He looked at his three cubs. "Stay with Uncle Zhāo. I will be back soon."
As Mo Xiao left, the hut fell into a heavy, quiet peace. The cubs eventually drifted off to sleep, piled together like a litter of mismatched kittens at the foot of the bed.
Zhāo Yàn remained awake, his red eyes fixed on Bai Yue. He reached out, his thumb trailing over the back of her hand.
"If this is a lie," he whispered into the darkness, "it is the most beautiful lie you have ever told."