Chapter 68: Chapter 68: She hit Mama!
Swanly’s face turned sharply to the side.
Silence exploded.
For one impossible second, nobody moved.
Then the clearing erupted.
Kael’s roar shook the trees.
His claws tore free as he lunged.
Soren released a violent hiss, his white tail smashing into the ground hard enough to crack the soil.
Raku raised his stone weapon.
Thalara’s black claws spread, and every root beneath Selka’s feet began crawling upward.
Riverbone’s beastmen shouted.
The survivors stumbled backward.
Arion’s eyes widened.
Nerin looked horrified.
Selka stood there breathing hard, her palm still raised, clearly believing the people around her would let her do whatever she wanted.
Swanly slowly turned her face back.
Her cheek burned hot.
The pain was not terrible.
The shock was.
The humiliation was worse.
In front of her people.
In front of her mate.
In front of her cubs.
She had been preparing to walk away.
She had decided not to hold another woman’s crimes against desperate survivors.
She had chosen peace.
And this bitch had slapped her.
Kael’s growl tore through the clearing like a beast breaking free. His dark golden eyes had gone nearly black with murder.
Soren’s white tail lashed once, cracking the ground. His silver eyes went ice-cold and deadly.
Raku raised his stone weapon with a low growl.
Thalara’s roots surged upward.
The entire clearing erupted into chaos. Shouts rang out, weapons were drawn, and survivors stumbled back in terror.
Swanly lifted one hand.
"Stop."
Her voice was quiet, but the single word cut through everything.
Kael did not stop.
He was one breath away from tearing Selka apart.
Swanly raised her voice.
"I said stop!"
Kael froze mid-lunge.
His claws remained extended.
His chest heaved.
His eyes locked on hers, wild, protective, and barely leashed.
But he stopped.
Soren’s tail had already reached Selka’s ankle. It lifted and hovered inches from her throat, ready to kill without blinking.
At Swanly’s order, it paused.
The White Snake’s silver eyes still burned with murderous coldness.
Thalara’s roots stopped curling halfway around Selka’s legs.
Raku lowered his weapon by one inch.
They all stopped and listened.
Because Swanly had spoken.
Because this was hers now.
Tilla had not taken the cubs far.
The moment the slap rang out, all three black panther cubs saw their mother’s face turn.
They lost their minds.
"Mama!"
The eldest cub jumped from Tilla’s arms first.
The second followed.
The smallest launched himself after both brothers with his tiny golden eyes blazing.
Tilla gasped.
She tried to catch them.
She caught air.
Black panther cubs were fast.
Angry black panther cubs whose mother had just been struck were faster than reason.
Their tiny feet slapped across the earth as they bolted forward on tiny legs, arms pumping and little tails wagging with pure baby rage.
The second’s mouth fell open in pure betrayal.
"Mama hit?!"
The eldest’s little face scrunched up with righteous fury.
"Bad lady hurt Mama!"
The smallest cub’s eyes filled with fat tears.
"No hurt Mama! Mama good!"
Then they lost their tiny minds.
"Mama!" they screamed in unison.
Tilla tried to catch them.
She caught air.
"You hit Mama!"
"Mean female!"
"Fight her!"
The smallest showed every baby tooth in his mouth.
"Bite!"
The eldest reached Selka first, planting his tiny hands on his hips and puffing out his chest like a warrior.
"You mean! No hit Mama! Bad!"
The second hugged Swanly’s leg and glared up at Selka with the most adorable angry face ever.
"Go away! Mama ours!"
The smallest pointed one chubby finger at Selka and shouted in the cutest, squeakiest voice, "Bite you! Rawr! Mama mine!"
Swanly’s heart exploded and broke at the same time.
Before they could actually attack Selka, Soren’s white tail swept forward.
It wrapped around all three cubs at once, catching them gently around their little waists and lifting them from the ground.
The cubs thrashed wildly.
"Let go!"
"Snake, put cub down!"
"She hit Mama!"
The eldest clawed at Soren’s scales with all the fury of a tiny warrior.
The second tried to wriggle free under his brother.
The smallest leaned forward and snapped his baby teeth at the air in Selka’s direction.
"Bite bad female!"
Soren held them securely against his side.
His face remained cold.
His tail was careful.
"No."
The eldest’s eyes filled with angry tears.
"She hurt Mama!"
"I saw."
"Then kill!"
Soren’s gaze moved to Selka.
Something frightening entered his eyes.
"I considered it."
Kael’s claws dug into his own palms.
He wanted his cubs back.
He also wanted both hands free when Swanly finally gave him permission to tear the red fox apart.
The Riverbone tribe watched in stunned silence.
They had never seen three tiny cubs look so ready to declare war.
Selka stared at them.
Her face twisted with disbelief.
"So you really gave birth to them."
Her gaze moved over their soft black ears and golden eyes.
"And they are not dead."
Kael’s lips pulled away from his teeth.
Selka looked directly at him.
"You reproduced with this weak male after all."
Everything inside Kael went still.
The insult struck an old wound.
The same wound Sunmane had carved into him months ago when they treated him like an unwanted wandering male who had stolen something too valuable for him.
Swanly saw it.
Selka smiled cruelly.
"You used to cry whenever he came near you. You called him filthy. You said his cubs were the reason Arion would never take you back."
The three cubs stopped struggling.
Their little faces changed.
They understood only pieces.
But they understood that Selka was insulting their father.
"Papa not weak!" the eldest shouted, tiny fists clenched, ears flat with fury.
"Papa strong! Papa best!" the second yelled, tears streaming but still trying to look fierce.
The smallest pointed at Selka with both hands. "Papa love Mama! Papa carry Mama! Papa good! You bad! No talk Papa!"
He looked ready to launch himself at her despite being held by Soren’s tail.
Selka laughed.
"They sound just as stupid as he does."
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