Chapter 154: Back On Solid Ground (bonus)

Both males became defensive.

"What is wrong with that?"

Tera shook her head. "You poke my cheeks every morning."

"We were just checking," Ermin spoke up in defence for both of them while Xavi nodded passionately.

"Checking for WHAT?"

"That you have eaten enough."

"My cheeks are not a measuring device!"

"They are very reliable," Xavi bit back, this time experimentally poking her cheek again.

Ermin snorted, and the sound was so unexpected that both Tera and Xavi turned to look at him. The panther’s lips were pressed together, his shoulders shaking slightly with the effort of containing a laugh.

"What is funny?" Xavi asked, genuinely confused.

"Nothing." Ermin buried his face deeper into Tera’s shoulder, but the shaking continued.

Xavi and Tera smiled gently, and they relaxed into another round of comfortable silence.

Ermin wished this night would stretch for many more hours.

He just wanted more of this.

Xavi’s thoughts were quieter but ran just as deep. He was watching his previous mate.

The way her fingers kept moving through his hair, even though she was half-asleep, was beyond soothing.

He had been roaming around with his small clan when this strange, loud, impossible female fell into his life and turned his loose collection of survivors into an actual home.

He didn’t want this night to end.

Not because he was afraid of tomorrow, but because right now, in this exact moment, everything was perfect.

Tera’s eyes were getting heavy.

She loved these males.

She loved Xavi’s grunts, quiet steadiness, his ridiculous face-poking, and the way he acted so oblivious while caring about her and the cubs.

She loved Ermin’s rare laughter and his stubborn tail and his fierce comfort.

And they shared so many lovely traits that she cherished.

Xavi’s arm tightened around her.

Ermin’s tail squeezed her ankle once, gently.

And the three of them lay tangled together under the stars, holding on to the night for as long as it would let them.

- ※ - ※ - ※ -

They had returned to the settlement with Xavi carrying Tera. She had wanted to rest in his shelter for a change rather than hers.

The walk back had been short, but the reception was immediate.

A few of the females took one look at Tera being carried, glanced at the two males flanking her, and exchanged knowing looks that burned hot enough to cook meat on.

One of them pressed her lips together so hard her face nearly folded in half, and another turned away with a cough that was doing very little to disguise the laugh beneath it.

The cubs were less subtle.

"Why is Tera being carried?"

"Did she hurt her legs?"

"Did she fall?"

"Maybe she tripped on something."

"But there are no rocks here."

No one answered the cubs’ questions.

A few of the males had already gone out with the wolves for another hunt, and Faelynn was deep asleep in the communal shelter, her pregnant body thoroughly satisfied from the meals she had devoured the previous night.

Tera and her mates had slept deeply that night and into the late morning. So when they were in Xavi’s shelter with the cubs this time, they spent a few more precious hours together.

Nadia had climbed onto Xavi’s chest and fallen asleep there almost immediately, her chubby hands gripping his chest as if claiming her territory.

Althea had curled into Ermin’s side, her tiny pink tail wrapping around his wrist with the possessive grip of a cub who had no intention of sharing her father with anyone else.

Tera watched her family, feeling happy and satisfied.

And it was during this quiet time that Xavi had brought up the wolves.

He shared his concerns with Tera, and what he had noticed about the pack, including information about how certain beasts of the same type preferred things that way despite the current situation of the beast world.

However, while in the pack, she thought their behaviour had been because she was a shiftless female.

Hearing Xavi frame it as something deeper and more deliberate reminded her of something uncomfortably familiar from her old world.

But Tera also knew that beliefs like those weren’t always set in stone. The younger wolves had warmed up especially faster than the elders, and the wolves here had been very welcoming to learn.

She would have to keep a closer eye on the wolves while helping them, but she also hoped that exposure and time would do what arguments could not.

People changed when their reality stopped matching what they had been taught.

She paused, remembering Calis’ reactions to certain things, like how he had thought it was impossible for her to be a mother until he realised the truth.

But she and Xavi were going to speak to the wolves to see what they had planned, even though Tera still intended to have them remain at their location.

When afternoon came, the warmth and comfort around her pulled Tera under, and she fell asleep with Nadia’s small hand wrapped around her finger.

Tera woke up a few hours later and discovered it was early evening from the light peeking into the shelter.

She stretched, groaning as she felt the lingering ache in her lower back. But it was dull, while her legs were now finally functional.

She was not crippled. Thank God.

The shelter was empty. Xavi and Ermin must have taken the twins out to let her sleep, and the distant sound of cubs shrieking told her the settlement was in its usual state of cheerful chaos.

Tera was very relaxed, and almost felt like she was forgetting something, until the system screen flickered into view.

Her attention snapped together at once.

All those notifications the system had given her, especially that teleportation skill!

That was going to make her work far easier, and even faster, and within a few years, she would actually be rid of this thing!

Her excitement dampened as soon as she noticed the system was wearing a suspicious look, which never meant anything good.

Tera eyed it. ’What?’

[(≖⩊≖)]

[This system distinctly recalls Host declaring that she would never mate again]

Tera frowned, confused.

"Uh? When did I say such a thing?"