Chapter 135: Mama’s Home

Calis’s face had gone very still.

His crimson eyes moved from shelter to shelter, from the nursery to the farm, from the water channels to the lively atmosphere.

And he saw the way every beast dropped what they were doing when they saw Tera.

Ermin lowered himself so Tera could slide off his back, and the moment her feet touched the ground, she heard that joyous cry.

"MAMA!"

Althea and Nadia burst from the nursery entrance and came barrelling across the clearing at a speed that should not have been physically possible for creatures with legs that short.

Nadia reached her first, slamming into Tera’s legs with enough force to buckle her knees. Althea was half a second behind, grabbing fistfuls of her mother’s clothing and hauling herself upward with those tiny, sharp claws.

Tera dropped to her knees and gathered them both against her chest, and the sound that came out of her was somewhere between a laugh and a sob.

"My precious little babies," she moaned and smothered their fat faces with kisses.

Nadia buried her face in Tera’s neck and made a small, hiccupping sound that suggested she had been saving this cry for when her mother returned. Althea’s grip on Tera’s clothing tightened, and her tiny pink ears were pressed flat with the fierce determination of a cub who had decided she was never letting go again.

Tera held them both, rocking gently, as her chest felt a bit heavy with guilt for how they felt.

They had missed her so much.

The clan members poured out of the settlement and rushed toward their leader. Their voices overlapped in a warm, chaotic wave of relief and welcome.

"She is back!"

"Le—Tera!"

"We were so worried!"

They crowded around her, and Tera looked up from her twins to find herself surrounded by the faces of the beasts she had built a home for.

Behind her, the wolves stood at the edge of the settlement, watching everything.

- ※ - ※ - ※ -

Tera leaned against the bundled furs in her shelter.

The reunion with the clan had been overwhelming. They had crowded around her, and more than a few had teared up. Then they had noticed the wolves hovering at the settlement’s edge, and the shocked silence that followed had been almost comical.

Faelynn had been the most affected. The wolf female had stood at the perimeter, watching the Dow clan cubs shriek and tumble over each other in the nursery with the dazed expression of someone witnessing something she had only heard about in stories.

The sheer noise and energy of the cubs, their round, well-fed bodies and their carefree play, had left her rooted to the spot.

The wolf cubs hadn’t exactly looked starved, but for 15 cubs all in one place, they had oddly been quiet. Which also partly explained Luth’s behaviour aside from her getting lost.

Tera had wanted to help the wolves settle in and introduce them to the clan properly, but Xavi and Ermin had taken one look at her face and steered her toward the shelter with a firmness that left no room for negotiation.

She hadn’t fought them on it either.

Her babies needed their mama, and she needed them.

Before she had even fully entered, both cubs were already grabbing Tera’s breasts which made her laugh.

They latched onto her nipples and started feeding with the single-minded dedication of a cub who had been personally offended by their mother’s absence and intended to make up for lost time by consuming their entire milk supply in one sitting.

Tera’s breasts ached, but she didn’t mind it at all.

Nadia’s chubby fist was clenched against Tera’s chest, and Althea’s pink tail was curled loosely around Tera’s forearm as if anchoring herself there.

Tera pressed a kiss to their heads every now and then, nuzzling her nose against their soft hairs and murmuring about how she had missed them so much.

Nadia made a small, contented gurgle without releasing the nipple, and Althea glanced up at her, blinked once, and resumed drinking.

Tera’s chest ached with how much she loved these two ridiculous little creatures.

Xavi and Ermin had gone to prepare some fruits for her, and she was still enjoying the quiet time with her daughters when the system appeared again.

[So...]

[Host has LEFT the Glimmer Pack territory]

’I am aware.’

[(｡•́︿•̀｡)]

[The wolf pack still requires food infrastructure, shelter improvements, farming knowledge, and—]

’I said I would go back.’

[When?]

’When I am ready!’

[(ᗒᗩᗕ)]

[But Host—]

"Just stop it," Tera spoke up.

[(O‸Oマ!]

Tera’s jaw tightened. She looked down at her daughters nursing peacefully against her chest, and the anger that had been simmering beneath her exhaustion boiled over.

’Did you do this?’

[Do what?]

’Did you orchestrate Calis taking me? Did you set this up so I would end up at his pack?’

The screen flickered.

[This system did not orchestrate anything]

[(ᵕ ó ᴗ ò)]

[Host’s abduction was entirely the wolf alpha’s decision]

’But you knew he was coming and you didn’t even warn or alert me!’

[...]

[It was a perfect transition]

The honesty of that admission only further irritated Tera.

’A perfect TRANSITION?! I was knocked unconscious, dragged away from my babies, and woke up surrounded by sixty-seven wolves who thought I was insane! My twins cried! My mates nearly lost their minds searching for me!’

Tera could still picture the deep worry on Ermin and Xavi’s faces until they had seen her.

’The whole clan was worried! They risked their lives looking for me. They could have encountered a corrupted beast and fucking died!’

[This system acknowledges that the method of transition was... not ideal]

[(◞‸◟)]

’Not IDEAL?!’

[But Host must understand that another inhabited area was always going to be Host’s next destination]

[The Glimmer Pack happened to be it and—]

’I don’t CARE! Did you even freaking listen to any of the other things I said?!’

The system went quiet.

Tera’s breathing was ragged, her face flushed with fury. Althea had paused her feeding and was looking up at her mother with wide eyes, sensing the shift in her body.

[Host’s stress hormones are elevated]

[(ó﹏ò｡)]

[This can affect the quality of breast milk]

[This system strongly recommends Host calm down while feeding the cubs—]

’Be quiet!’

[Host—]

’I said be QUIET.’