Chapter 65: Taking bath 1

"Cueee—"

The soft, pitiful cry cut through the thick air again.

All four of them snapped awake at the same time.

Axe’s knot was still locked deep inside Moon. Nox’s was too.

Moon’s voice cracked unnaturally. "Shit."

He tried to sit up, but the two thick, swollen knots dragged heavily against his sensitive rim. "Mmph—!"

Axe cursed under his breath, immediately pressing a palm against Moon’s lower back to steady him. "Don’t move yet. You’ll tear."

From behind, Nox’s arms tightened around his waist, anchoring him in place. "Stay still for a moment. It will go down."

With the two of them stuck, three pairs of eyes simultaneously shifted to the only one among them who could move freely.

Ugo.

Ugo shook his head helplessly. "You guys need to make this up to me. I feel like you’re all taking advantage of my good nature."

Despite his complaints, Ugo still got up. He wiped his length with the edge of the bedsheet, pulled on his clothes, and walked over to the door.

On the other side, the two little wolf pups were whimpering and gnawing on their paws in utter sadness.

They had been left right at the threshold.

It would have been one thing if they were safely outside, but they weren’t. They had been left right beside the door, forced to witness the shameless behavior of the adults.

Ugo felt conflicted.

When it came to being shameless, Axe was always the ringleader, followed closely by Leo. And though Rio was usually cold and detached, he was still a wolfman at the end of the day.

Logically, none of them should have felt guilty for acting on their instincts.

Yet, looking at the two pups, guilt settled in Ugo’s chest. The Leo and Rio in front of him right now were just babies. No one really knew what was going on inside their minds.

Judging by how they had been tearing at each other earlier, competing just to see who could sit on Moon’s lap, it was hard to believe they still possessed rational, adult minds.

Axe scoffed from the bed. "Don’t dawdle, brother. Just take them out. I bet their minds have completely reverted to a newborn state. They’re just kids right now."

"So you know they’re kids, and yet you still pounced on Moon right in front of them? What magnanimous behavior," Ugo retorted, his ears flushing a deep shade of crimson from shame.

"As if you didn’t do anything either!" Axe protested.

"Okay, stop it. All of you, get out. Leave me alone," Moon interrupted softly. His waist was aching, and he desperately needed to settle the churning fusion within his core.

"We’re trying," Nox mumbled back.

Silence settled over the cave walls.

Ugo picked up the cage and carried it outside.

He didn’t stop at the entrance; instead, he made his way down the mountain slope toward the small clearing they had prepared for farming.

Once there, he opened the cage door, freeing the two pups.

The little beasts immediately leaped out. Leo pounced straight onto Ugo’s arm, while Rio claimed a spot on his thigh. Almost instantly, they bared their tiny canine teeth at each other, their fur bristling.

"No fighting," Ugo warned gently.

Over the past few days, he had managed to figure out their dynamic. It was simple: their auras clashed violently whenever they met.

One hated the cold, the other hated the heat. Both desperately wanted to claim the territory and build their own nest.

Ugo sighed, tilting his head back to look up at the night sky.

The sky was a deep, ink-black canvas, and the waxing crescent moon smiled down with a sharp, silver glint. She was slowly approaching her full, blooming phase.

Soon, she would embrace another batch of children in her holy light.

Ugo wondered if they would ever have the chance to receive that blessing.

Just then, a lingering palpitation throbbed in his chest. A faint, spiritual connection was tying itself somewhere deep inside him.

He smiled, gently rubbing Leo’s fur. "Leo, we might still have a chance. Just wait a little," he murmured.

In Ugo’s eighteen years of life, Leo had always been by his side. Among the brothers, Leo had been born first—a mere half-hour difference, but it made him the eldest. Because of that, he had received the first word of LUNAR.

Ugo had followed half an hour later.

Then came Nox, Axe, and lastly, Rio.

Something had gone wrong when Rio was born, forcing him into a laboratory incubator. He had been incredibly fragile at first.

Later on, he grew so cold and detached that the entire family worried for him. But despite his icy nature, he had survived, always staying fiercely loyal by their side.

Ugo stood up, letting Leo and Rio stroll around the perimeter of the small farmland.

Staring back up at the waxing moon, his eyes narrowed.

He knew the dream he had experienced while falling into the Black Sea Gorge wasn’t entirely real, yet it wasn’t a total fake either.

He could travel through the very spirit of plants.

Just a few moments ago, he had felt a distinct resonance with a thin, spiritual essence—the same sensation he had felt when he was the legendary Moonlight Sacred Vine in his dream.

It was the same trembling heartache he had experienced while cradling Moon inside his cocoon.

He couldn’t possibly be an actual plant out in Moon’s world; he had already been born a wolf here. Therefore, the only logical explanation was that his spirit could project through spiritual flora.

It was highly likely that the Black Sea itself was the key to why he could see through time.

Regardless of the mechanics, Ugo knew one thing for certain: his spiritual sea was awakening, slowly but surely.

And he believed the exact same awakening was happening to his brothers.

Back in the cave, it took almost twenty minutes before the two stubborn knots finally softened enough to slip free.

Surprisingly, when they pulled out, there was no sticky residue or leftover essence left behind.

Moon hissed, immediately clamping his thighs together. His legs shook violently from being forced to stay in the exact same position for so long.

"Where did it all go?" Nox asked, staring at Moon’s lower body in utter confusion.