Raising Beast Cubs to Find a Husband

Chapter 209: The Shadow Panther and the Duckling

The cliffside manor was usually filled with very loud, very distinct sounds. You could always hear Vali howling in the yard, Orion and Jasper arguing over structural measurements, or Rurik chopping wood with unnecessary force.

But on a quiet Thursday morning, the sound that caught my attention was a very small, very polite *quack*.

I was standing at the kitchen island, chopping fresh strawberries for breakfast. I paused, my knife hovering over the cutting board. My silver fox ears twitched.

"Did someone drop a squeaky toy?" I murmured to myself.

I wiped my hands on my apron and walked around the counter. Standing in the doorway of the kitchen, looking completely serious, was six-year-old Silas. The little panther-cub was holding his hands cupped together against his chest.

"Good morning, sweetheart," I smiled softly, kneeling down to his eye level so I wouldn’t startle him. Silas was the quietest of the cubs, preferring to speak through his shadow-puppets rather than words. "What do you have there?"

Silas didn’t say anything. He just slowly, carefully opened his hands.

Sitting in his palms was a tiny, incredibly fluffy yellow duckling. It had bright black eyes, a tiny orange beak, and it looked completely unbothered by the fact that it was currently being held by an apex predator.

*Quack.* "Oh, my goodness," I breathed, my heart instantly melting into a puddle. "Where did you find him, Silas?"

"In the tall grass near the cliffs," Silas whispered, his large violet eyes looking up at me nervously. "He was all alone. The mother bird was gone. He was crying."

The little duckling ruffled its fuzzy yellow wings and let out a soft peep, snuggling deeper into Silas’s warm hands.

"You did a very good job bringing him inside," I praised, gently petting the top of the duckling’s head with one finger. It was impossibly soft. "He’s very little. He needs to stay warm."

Silas bit his lip. "Can I keep him? I will share my breakfast."

"Well," I said, tapping my chin thoughtfully. "I think that’s a wonderful idea. But, you have to ask your older brother first. Having a pet is a big responsibility."

Silas nodded seriously. He turned around, carefully cradling the duckling, and padded silently toward the living room. I followed closely behind, entirely too curious to see how the terrifying Panther Warlord was going to handle a baby bird.

Lucien was sitting in his favorite dark leather armchair in the corner of the living room. He was wearing an immaculate black suit, a cup of black coffee resting on the table beside him. He looked like a dangerous, elegant assassin resting between missions.

Silas walked right up to the armchair and stopped.

Lucien opened his eyes, his violet gaze locking onto his little brother. "Morning, Silas."

Silas held out his hands.

Lucien blinked. He looked at the tiny yellow puffball. He looked at Silas.

*Quack,* the duckling announced boldly.

"It is an avian creature," Lucien noted, his voice completely deadpan.

"He is lost," Silas whispered. "I want to be his pack."

I stood in the doorway, holding my breath. Lucien was a creature of the shadows. He dealt in stealth, espionage, and lethal precision. A bright yellow, noisy duckling was the exact opposite of everything the Panther Warlord represented.

Lucien leaned forward. He didn’t smile, but his eyes softened entirely. He slowly reached out one gloved hand, holding it flat.

The duckling looked at Lucien’s terrifying, leather-clad hand. Without a second of hesitation, the tiny bird hopped out of Silas’s palms, landed softly on Lucien’s glove, and immediately sat down, tucking its little beak under its wing to go to sleep.

Lucien froze. He stared at the sleeping duckling in his hand as if it were the most precious, fragile artifact in the entire Empire.

"It has chosen the shadows," Lucien whispered, his voice dropping into a deadly, fiercely protective register. "I will slaughter anyone who tries to harm it."

"No slaughtering before breakfast, please," I laughed, stepping into the room. "But I think that means you have a pet, Silas."

Silas gave a tiny, bright smile, his panther ears perking up happily.

Of course, keeping a secret in this house was impossible. Within twenty minutes, the rest of the family had descended upon the living room to inspect the new arrival.

"A waterfowl!" Rurik boomed, marching into the room with Vali right behind him. "Excellent! It is small now, but we shall feed it raw meat until it grows into a mighty war-bird! It will strike fear into our enemies!"

"It is a duck, Rurik," Cassian sighed, standing safely on the other side of the room. He had already cast a minor sterilization ward around himself. "It will not strike fear into anyone. It will, however, inevitably ruin the carpets. Avian digestion is notoriously fast and entirely unregulated."

"I am going to name him Lord Fluffington," Silas announced, completely ignoring the Warlords.

"Lord Fluffington needs a base of operations," Orion declared. The nine-year-old architect was already pulling out a piece of parchment and a charcoal pencil. "We can’t just leave him on the floor. He needs a secure perimeter with access to fresh water. I can build a ramp that goes straight from the patio into a shallow pool!"

"I will calculate the optimal depth of the pool to ensure he does not drown," Jasper agreed, pushing his round glasses up his nose. "And I will cross-reference the library for proper dietary requirements. Bread is actually statistically terrible for waterfowl. We must acquire specialized seeds and leafy greens."

Vali crept closer to Lucien’s chair. The wolf-cub sniffed the air, his tail wagging. He looked at the tiny yellow bird sitting in the Panther Warlord’s gloved hand.

"Can I pet it?" Vali asked loudly.

The duckling woke up. It looked at the fierce little wolf-cub.

*HONK.* It wasn’t a cute little quack this time. It was a loud, surprisingly aggressive honk of pure defiance. The tiny duckling actually stood up on Lucien’s hand and flapped its fuzzy little wings at Vali.

Vali gasped, taking a step back, his golden eyes wide with respect. "Whoa. He is very brave. He challenged the Alpha."

"He recognizes his own power," Lucien murmured approvingly, gently stroking the duckling’s back with one finger.

"Alright, everyone, give Lord Fluffington some space," Caspian chuckled, walking into the room and wrapping a warm arm around my waist. The Merman King looked highly amused by the entire situation. "If Orion and Jasper are going to build him a pool, the rest of us need to find him some proper food. Little Rose, do we have any peas in the garden?"

"Plenty," I smiled, leaning against him. "Come on, Silas. Let’s go to the greenhouse and pick breakfast for your new friend."

The rest of the day was entirely dedicated to duck logistics.

True to their word, Orion and Jasper spent hours outside, building a beautiful, tiny wooden ramp that led down into a perfectly safe, shallow basin of fresh water near the patio. Cassian, despite his complaints about hygiene, spent two hours in the library and presented me with a highly detailed, mathematically perfect feeding schedule for a growing duckling.

Even Rurik contributed. The Wolf Warlord stood guard near the patio, aggressively glaring at any seagulls that dared to fly too close to the manor.

By the time the sun began to set, turning the ocean into a glittering canvas of gold and pink, Lord Fluffington was officially part of the family.

I walked out onto the patio, carrying a small bowl of mashed peas and finely chopped lettuce.

The scene I found made me stop and cover my mouth to stifle a laugh.

Lucien, the Empire’s most feared assassin, was sitting on the edge of the patio stones. He was still wearing his dark suit, looking like a terrifying shadow. But right next to his polished black shoe, the tiny yellow duckling was happily splashing around in Orion’s custom-built pool.

Silas was sitting next to his older brother, his violet eyes glowing with happiness as he watched the duck.

"He likes the water," Silas whispered.

"He is a tactical genius," Lucien replied seriously. "He understands the advantage of amphibious mobility."

I walked over and set the bowl down next to the pool. "Dinner time for the fierce warrior."

Lord Fluffington instantly hopped out of the water, shaking his fuzzy tail, and began happily devouring the peas.

Caspian stepped out onto the patio, a fond smile on his face as he walked over and stood beside me. He slipped his hand into mine, his thumb gently rubbing my knuckles. We watched as Silas carefully used a piece of shadow-magic to hold a tiny leaf over the duckling like an umbrella, just in case the evening breeze was too cold.

"I give it three months before that duck is sleeping in Cassian’s silk bed," Caspian murmured softly.

"I give it two weeks," I whispered back, leaning my head against his shoulder. "Cassian is already looking into ordering custom-made, sanitized duck booties so it can walk inside."

Caspian laughed quietly, the deep sound rumbling in his chest. "We are a very strange pack, Little Rose."

"We are," I agreed, watching the tiny yellow duckling fall asleep right on top of Lucien’s boot. "But I think we’re doing okay."