I Abandoned My Beast Cubs for the Protagonist... Oops?

Chapter 19: The Return of the Snow Leopard

The descent was anything but graceful. While Cāng Jì flew with the elegance of a soaring deity, his landing was a petty thud that rattled the very foundations of the Tribe’s clearing.

"We are here. Get off me, you heavy-footed lowlanders," the dragon’s voice rang in their heads, dripping with disdain.

Bai Yue slid down the bronze scales, her legs wobbling as they hit solid earth. "Ah! That was fun!" she breathed, smoothing her messy hair.

"Yessss! Again, again!" Yòu Lín cheered, sliding down right after her and immediately latching onto her waist. The fox kit hadn’t stopped smiling since they left the Eastern Hills, his tiny tail wagging like an orange fan.

Ruì Xuě, who had been dozing against Bai Yue’s chest for most of the flight, blinked his purple eyes open, looking dazed. Beside them, the panther triplets tumbled off in a heap of fur and giggles.

"Byeeeee!" the snake twins, Shé Yì and Shé Èr, hissed in unison as they slithered toward the undergrowth. "Our father will be looking for us! Thank you, Cursed—I mean, Bai Yue!"

"Get. Off. Me," Cāng Jì snarled. With a sudden, unceremonious shrug of his massive shoulders, he bucked the remaining passengers off.

"Oof!" Zhāo Yàn hit the dirt with a dull thump, looking less like a dignified Fox Lord and more like a discarded rug.

Cāng Jì shimmered in a burst of golden light, transforming back into his human form. He straightened his silks, which remained perfectly clean thanks to his celestial magic. He stretched his back with a groan that sounded like a cello. "You are all incredibly heavy. Especially that overgrown fox lord. Do you eat a big lion for breakfast?"

"Who are you calling an overgrown—!" Zhāo Yàn started, his red eyes flashing, but Bai Yue stepped between them.

"Calm down!" she whispered, patting Zhāo Yàn’s arm.

Just then, a roar echoed through the trees, a sound so powerful it made the leaves shiver.

"What was that?!"

~

Han Shān had just reached the edge of the clearing. The Snow Leopard Alpha had returned early. The ritual in the snowy peaks had been a success, and usually, he would have stayed another day to recover his strength in the cold. But with the news of the ’Cursed Female’ acting strangely, he couldn’t stay away. He needed to find his cub. He needed to know what Bai Yue was up to.

He spotted Mo Xiao near the center of the village. "Mo Xiao! Where is my cub? Where is—?"

A massive, serpentine shadow passed over them. The sky seemed to dim for a fraction of a second.

"AHH!" Mo Xiao shouted, his amber eyes widening. "Why is a dragon coming down?!"

Both Alphas froze, their noses twitching in unison. They sniffed the air, scents of their cubs, and......her.

"Bai Yue," Han Shān growled.

The two Alphas didn’t hesitate. They transformed in a blur of fur and muscle, a massive, ink-black panther and a powerful, silver-spotted snow leopard, and burst through the treeline toward the landing site.

Bai Yue was just helping Xiao Hei find his footing when the clearing exploded.

"ROARRRR!"

She screamed, jumping back as the two massive beasts skidded to a halt in front of her. The Snow Leopard, Han Shān, didn’t even look at the Dragon Prince. His eyes were locked on Ruì Xuě, who was standing inches away from Bai Yue.

To Han Shān, it looked like a kidnapping. It looked like the nightmare he had lived for years. With a snarl of pure protective fury, he pounced.

"NO!" Bai Yue shrieked, throwing her hands up to cover her face.

"Stop!" Zhāo Yàn lunged forward, grabbing the Snow Leopard’s thick ruff mid-air and pulling him back with a grunt of effort. "Han Shān, calm down! She didn’t do anything to him!"

The leopard snarled, his claws digging into the dirt, but he paused when a tiny voice piped up.

"Papa! Stop!" Ruì Xuě cried out, stepping in front of Bai Yue. His little chest was puffed out, his purple eyes bright with tears. "She didn’t do anything! She......she gave me berries! She took care of me!"

Beside them, the panther triplets began to giggle, swarming around Mo Xiao’s legs as he shifted back into human form. "Daddy! We flew! On a lizard!"

Han Shān shifted back, his breathing ragged. The two men quickly found something to tie around their waists.

Han Shān stared at his son, then at Bai Yue, his expression a mix of confusion and lingering rage.

"She took care of you?" Han Shān repeated, the words sounding foreign in his mouth.

He looked up at Cāng Jì, his eyes narrowing. "And why is a Dragon Prince of the First Generation standing in our dirt? They haven’t descended in a century."

Bai Yue stepped forward, her hands shaking as she clumsily tried to explain. "It’s.....it’s a long story. I may have, uh, borrowed something of his in the past. He’s just here to collect his property."

Cāng Jì huffed, looking at Han Shān with pity. "Your female is a thief, Leopard. I am here for my Lumina-Stone. And the sooner I get it, the sooner I can leave this odor-filled valley."

Han Shān didn’t wait for further explanation. He reached down, and with his teeth, he gently gripped the scruff of Ruì Xuě’s tunic, just like a mother cat, and lifted the cub.

Ruì Xuě dangled there, looking at Bai Yue with a deep, heart-tugging longing. He reached out a small hand, waving a silent ’bye-bye’ as his father began to walk toward his own secluded hut on the colder side of the village.

Bai Yue’s heart felt like it was being squeezed by a cold hand. She wanted to call out, to tell Han Shān that Ruì Xuě liked her stories, but she knew she didn’t have the right. Not yet.

"The stone, star-thief," Cāng Jì prodded, tapping his foot. "The sun is setting."

"Right! The stone!" Bai Yue snapped out of her trance. She turned and sprinted toward her hut, Zhāo Yàn and the remaining cubs following close behind.

She burst through the door, the scent of lavender and dried herbs greeting her. "It’s in the gourd! It’s in the gourd under the bed!"

She scrambled onto the floor, her fingers brushing through the dust and furs. She found the hollowed-out gourd and pulled it out with a triumphant grin. "Got it! Here it—!"

Her voice died.

She shook the gourd. It was light. Empty.

She turned it over, dumping its contents onto the floor. A few dried seeds rolled out, followed by a dead beetle.

But the pulsing, blue Lumina-Stone was nowhere to be found.