Chapter 181 Episode 180: I kept them safe.

Oh no, my babies!

Rue thought the words. She couldn’t speak them out loud. Her throat clamped shut. Her heart stopped beating in her chest. The world around her went dead silent. The loud war raging in the front yard just faded away into white noise.

She stared at the cracked heavy oak door.

The iron lock she turned just a few minutes ago was busted. Deep, jagged scratch marks ruined the smooth dark wood. The heavy door sat open just an inch.

She felt a cold, awful numbness spread down her arms. Her legs felt like heavy stone blocks. She didn’t want to push the door open. She didn’t want to see what was on the other side. Her mind painted terrible, bloody pictures. She pictured the soft pink blankets torn to shreds. She pictured Theron’s heavy book broken in half. She pictured Mochi crying in the dark.

She took a shaky, ragged breath.

She was their mother. She had to go inside.

Rue placed her trembling hands flat against the cold wood. She pushed hard.

The heavy oak door swung open. The metal hinges let out a loud, awful squeak that echoed in the dark hallway.

She rushes into the safe room, expecting a massacre.

She braced herself for the worst pain a mother could ever feel. She kept her pink eyes wide open, searching the shadows.

The master bedroom was a disaster. The thick velvet curtains were ripped right off the iron rods. Pale, silver moonlight poured into the room, cutting through the thick darkness. The cold mountain wind blew through a shattered window high up near the ceiling. A feral beast actually managed to scale the tall stone wall and break the thick glass.

The smell hit her nose right away. It was the exact same foul stench from the kitchen. Rotting meat, dirty swamp water, and wet fur.

Rue took a step inside. Her bare foot crunched on a piece of broken glass.

She looked down at the floor.

A massive rogue hyena lay right in the middle of the thick gray fur rug. It was huge, covered in ugly gray fur and dark scars. But it wasn’t moving. It didn’t snap its yellow jaws. It didn’t growl. It was dead. Dark blood pooled underneath its heavy body, staining the soft gray rug a deep, awful crimson.

Rue stopped breathing.

If the beast was dead, who killed it? Drax was outside. Knox was fighting in the yard. Axel and Onyx were busy defending the wooden gates. She was the only adult in the house.

Then she heard a loud, violent hiss.

It didn’t sound like a wolf or a panther. It sounded cold, sharp, and deadly.

Rue snapped her head up. She looked past the dead hyena.

Mochi is in her leopard form, standing protectively over baby Seika’s basket, hissing violently.

She didn’t look like a little toddler anymore. The fuzzy little girl with bright silver curls was gone. She was a tiny, fierce jungle cat. Her thick silver fur stood straight up on her back, making her look twice as big. Her bright blue eyes glowed in the dark shadows.

She stood right on top of the woven basket. Her four paws planted firmly on the edges. She bared her tiny, sharp white fangs. She swiped her small, sharp claws at the empty air, protecting the baby panther sleeping inside. She let out another loud, warning hiss. She was ready to fight anyone who took a step closer to her baby sister.

Rue felt a warm, dizzy rush of shock hit her head.

She turned her gaze back to the dead monster on the rug.

Instead, she finds Theron standing over a dead rogue hyena in his full snake form, his fangs dripping with venom.

He wasn’t a little boy holding a heavy book anymore. He was a giant, terrifying serpent. His long, thick body was covered in shining silver scales. The moonlight caught the scales, making them shimmer like cold steel. He coiled his heavy tail tight around the dead monster’s back legs, pinning the heavy beast firmly to the floorboards.

His large, triangular head hovered right above the hyena’s torn throat. His golden snake eyes narrowed into dangerous, glowing slits. He didn’t look scared at all. He looked like a true, apex predator.

His mouth opened wide. Thick, bright green liquid slid down his sharp teeth. A single drop fell onto the dead hyena’s fur. It hit the meat with a soft sizzle, burning a tiny hole right through the coarse hair. The toxic venom filled the air with a sharp, bitter scent.

Rue couldn’t believe her eyes.

She just stood there, frozen in the doorway. She tried to process what she was seeing.

The toddlers actually used the hiding and defensive skills their fathers taught them.

They didn’t just cry and wait for help. They didn’t run around the room in a panic. They remembered every single lesson.

Rue remembered watching Caius in the courtyard last week. The cold Serpent Alpha spent hours teaching Theron how to wait in the shadows. He taught the boy how to strike fast and use his venom to paralyze a bigger enemy before it could bite back. Theron clearly hid in the dark corner of the bedroom. He waited for the hyena to land on the rug, and he struck it right in the throat before the beast even knew he was there.

She remembered Knox wrestling with Mochi on the grass. The giant Southern King taught the little leopard cub how to hold her ground. He taught her that a true panther never runs away when her family is behind her. Mochi didn’t run. She stood right over Seika, turning her tiny body into a living shield.

They fought back. They won.

The sheer reality of it crashed down on Rue all at once. The heavy, suffocating terror draining out of her veins left her feeling weak.

Her knees buckled.

She collapsed right onto the cold stone floor. She didn’t care about the sharp shards of broken glass. She didn’t care about the dead monster lying just a few feet away. She let out a loud, ragged sob. The sound tore out of her throat, thick with pure, overwhelming relief. Hot tears spilled over her pale eyelashes, running fast down her cheeks.

She covered her face with her shaking hands. She cried hard. She cried because she was so scared. She cried because she felt like a terrible mother for leaving them alone. She cried because she was just so proud of her brave, wild babies.

The loud sob caught Mochi’s attention.

The little leopard stopped hissing. Her fuzzy silver ears twitched. She recognized that soft voice. The wild, glowing light faded from her blue eyes. She hopped down from the woven basket. Her paws hit the floor with a soft thud. She trotted over to the doorway, dodging the pool of dark blood.

Mochi reached Rue and rubbed her soft, furry head right against Rue’s arm, purring loudly.

Rue dropped her hands. She grabbed the little leopard cub and pulled her into a tight, desperate hug. She buried her wet face in Mochi’s soft fur.

“You’re safe,” Rue choked out. She kissed the top of the cub’s head over and over. “You’re both so safe.”

Theron heard his mother’s voice.

The giant silver snake uncoiled his heavy tail from the dead beast. He slithered across the gray fur rug, moving with fast, smooth grace. The green venom stopped dripping from his fangs.

He reached the edge of the rug. A bright, warm light wrapped around his long, scaly body. The magic sparked in the dark room.

Theron shifts back to his human boy form, wiping blood from his cheek.

He stood on his bare feet. He looked just like a normal little boy again. His silver hair was messy. He wore his simple cotton shirt and pants. He didn’t look like a scary monster anymore. He just looked like her sweet, brave son.

He walked over to where Rue sat on the floor. He knelt down beside her, wrapping his small, squishy arms right around her neck. He hugged her tight, resting his chin on her shoulder.

He pulled back just a little bit. He looked right into her crying pink eyes. He offered her a bright, confident smile.

“I kept them safe, Mama.”