Surviving Zombies Was Easier Than Raising Beast Cubs

Chapter 41: Chapter 41: Mischievous Cubs

The cave finally became quiet after midnight.

Swanly was asleep against Kael’s side, her white tail curled around the cubs like a soft wall. Kael had changed back into his black panther form, and his big body was warm enough that Swanly kept pressing closer without knowing it.

Soren lay near the far wall with his eyes closed.

The cubs stared at him.

The eldest lifted his head first.

”Snake sleep,” he whispered.

The second cub looked at Soren for a long time. His ears pressed low because something about the white snake felt wrong even when he was still.

”Maybe no sleep,” he whispered back.

The smallest blinked.

”Eyes closed.”

That decided it for him.

The three cubs carefully crawled out from under Swanly’s tail.

The smallest got stuck for a moment and had to wiggle his bottom free. Swanly shifted in her sleep, and all three froze like tiny thieves caught stealing meat.

Kael’s ear twitched.

The cubs held their breath.

When their parents did not wake, they hurried to the darker corner of the cave and pressed their heads together.

The eldest looked very serious.

”Snake make Mama sad.”

The second nodded. ”Snake bully Papa.”

The smallest’s eyes filled with angry tears. ”Snake bad.”

The eldest puffed his little chest. ”We attack.”

The second looked back at Soren. ”Big snake.”

The eldest’s ears lowered for one second, then rose again through stubborn courage.

”We small attack.”

The smallest nodded hard. ”Bite.”

”Scratch,” the eldest said.

”Step tail,” the second whispered.

”Lick bad,” the smallest added.

The eldest and second stared at him.

The smallest looked proud.

None of them knew that snakes did not sleep like panthers. None of them knew Soren had heard every whispered word, every tiny paw scrape, and every foolish battle plan from the first moment.

Soren’s eyes stayed closed.

They were little beasts.

He did not care.

The cubs began their attack.

The eldest went first, creeping forward with his belly low and his face fierce. He reached Soren’s tail and slapped it with one tiny paw.

Soren did not move.

The eldest became braver at once and slapped it again.

The second came beside him and started pushing small stones against Soren’s coil, as if burying a snake under three pebbles would solve the problem.

The smallest came last.

He sniffed Soren’s tail.

Then he licked it.

The eldest turned around in horror.

”Not lick.”

The smallest looked offended.

”Bad taste.”

”Then stop,” the second whispered.

The smallest licked again, just to confirm.

Soren’s tail twitched.

All three cubs froze.

Nothing else happened.

Their courage returned at once.

The eldest climbed onto the thick coil and stomped with all four paws. The second tried to bite one pale scale, but his baby teeth slipped off. The smallest pressed both paws on Soren’s tail and pushed with his whole body.

The tail did not move.

The smallest’s back legs slid uselessly across the stone.

He huffed.

”Snake heavy.”

The attack continued for several long minutes.

They slapped him.

They bit him.

They tried to drag a dry leaf over his tail because the second decided dirt and leaves were part of war.

The eldest whispered that they should make him ugly.

The smallest tried to lick a mark onto him.

Soren slowly opened one eye.

The second cub saw it first.

His whole body stiffened.

He lifted one paw and slowly tapped the eldest’s side.

The eldest ignored him because he was busy kicking Soren’s tail with great purpose.

The second tapped harder.

The eldest turned to glare.

Then he saw Soren’s open eye.

Both cubs slowly turned toward the smallest.

The smallest was still licking Soren’s tail.

The eldest rushed over and slapped a paw over his mouth.

The smallest glared at him with deep betrayal.

Then he saw Soren.

All three cubs froze.

Their tiny bodies began to shake.

Soren opened both eyes.

The cave seemed colder at once.

His tail moved.

The cubs squeaked as white coils wrapped around them and lifted them into the air. They hung together in one trembling bundle of paws, ears, and terrified golden eyes.

The smallest’s mouth wobbled first.

The eldest tried to look brave, but his ears were flat against his head.

The second looked like his soul had already left his body and was waiting near Swanly.

Soren stared at them.

They stared back.

Then he sighed.

”Dumb like your father.”

The eldest gasped through fear. ”Not dumb.”

”You cannot even transform yet.”

The second’s eyes turned wet.

The smallest sniffed. ”We bite.”

”You licked me.”

The smallest closed his mouth.

Soren lifted one pale hand and tapped the eldest on the forehead.

The eldest blinked.

A tiny cold sting sank into his head and vanished.

Soren tapped the second.

The second flinched, then stared at him with wide confused eyes.

Soren tapped the smallest last.

The smallest immediately grabbed his own forehead with both paws.

”Ow.”

”It will keep rot away if you are bitten too shallowly,” Soren said coldly. ”Do not waste it by being stupid.”

They did not understand.

They only understood that the snake had called them dumb, tapped their heads, and did not throw them across the cave.

That was still rude.

The eldest puffed up again, though he was still hanging in the air. ”We not dumb.”

The second whispered, ”Papa strong.”

The smallest added, ”Mama no cry.”

Soren’s eyes shifted toward Swanly.

She was still sleeping against Kael, her face soft with exhaustion. Kael’s large panther body curled around her and the empty space where the cubs should have been.

Soren looked back at the cubs.

”Go to sleep.”

His tail lowered them to the farthest part of the cave and placed them near Swanly’s side.

The eldest and second immediately crawled under their mother’s tail.

The smallest followed halfway.

Then he stopped.

He turned back toward Soren.

Soren looked at him.

The smallest stuck out his tiny tongue, shook his bottom at the snake, and hurried under Swanly’s tail before death could catch him.

Soren stared at the little pile of cubs.

He had never wanted hatchlings.

He had never wanted small bodies crawling over him, whispering threats with soft mouths and shaking paws. He had never wanted anything that could make his chest feel strange when it looked at him with fear and anger together.

Yet he kept looking at them.

Dumb little beasts.

Soft little beasts.

Swanly shifted in her sleep and pulled them closer without waking.

Kael’s tail curled around all of them.

Soren closed his eyes again.

Morning was taking too long to come.

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