Exiled Villainess: They Threw Me Out, Now Every Beastman Wants Me novel Chapter 186

Chapter 186: No More Cubs II

"Having pain the first time is NOT the same as having pain that never goes away!" Faelynn fired back, her eyes blazing. "Mine got WORSE, not better! Does that sound normal to you?!"

"The first time hurts because your body is not used to it!" Flora snapped. "After that, it should EASE, not build! I know the difference, you old woof! I have LIVED the difference!"

Aia shrank back, looking between the elder and the other females, while Nooti, the fourth one, reached over to squeeze Aia’s hand as she warily eyed Greymaw.

Greymaw’s face was flushed, but he pressed on with the only argument he had left.

"I understand the concern," he said, and his voice carried a desperate reasonableness. "I truly do. But think about our numbers!"

He spread his arms, gesturing at the gathered wolves.

"We have lost so many! Cubs, adults, entire family lines, gone! If the females stop bearing cubs now, when our population is this fragile, we risk dying out entirely!"

He looked around the clearing, seeking any support he could find.

"Imagine if the females had stopped bearing cubs years ago. How many of the wolves standing here would not exist? How many cubs would never have been born? Look at the ones we have now. We would have perished!"

Several wolves shifted uncomfortably.

The argument had weight.

The pack’s numbers WERE dangerously low, and every wolf in the clearing knew it. Even some of the females hesitated, the survival instinct warring with the pain they had just acknowledged.

Greymaw’s voice hardened with conviction.

"If you had stopped two years ago, we wouldn’t have the female cubs we have now for the future. You were only birthing males for the first 2 years. If you truly care about the future of this pack, you must accept that sacrifices—"

"SACRIFICES?!"

Faelynn was on her feet, one hand bracing her swollen belly, her crimson eyes blazing with a fury that made several wolves take an involuntary step back.

"Are YOU the one making these sacrifices, Greymaw?!"

Her voice shook the clearing.

"Are YOU the one carrying cubs in your belly?! Are YOU the one whose body aches and bleeds and breaks so this pack can have more wolves?!"

Her voice rose higher, cracking with emotion.

"Have YOU ever felt a cub pressing against your spine until you cannot stand straight?! Have you ever nursed until your body had nothing left to give, and then been told it was time to carry another one?!"

The other females were rising now, their voices joining Faelynn’s like a wave that could not be stopped.

Calis was stunned. He had been fuming at Greymaw’s words and had been about to cut him off when the females had jumped in.

But for the old wolf to treat the females with that kind of mindset. He did not see what was wise at all in it. Would there not be more cubs as long as the females were alive to birth them? Birthing them within a short period did not make sense when they could do it at a stretch over the years.

If that was the case, they would still have the same numbers, if not more. Females were not fertile for a short time. They had years, and they were relatively in a safer place now.

The old man’s words were foolish!

What happened to his wise mentor?

"We are not breeding stock!" Aia shouted, her face flushed as she eagerly joined the grumbling females.

"What is so wrong with having a little break?!"

"Do you know what it feels like to be pregnant again before your body has even healed from the last time?!" Flora’s kept ranting, "I have FOUR cubs! This is the fifth! My body has not been my own in YEARS!"

The younger males’ heads kept jerking back and forth between the females and the elders with a terrified look, thankful that the females were not addressing them directly.

"You sit there and talk about numbers," Faelynn continued, "while WE are the ones paying for those numbers with our bodies! Can we not at LEAST take a break?!"

"If you care so much about cubs, YOU carry them!" Aia fired at the males.

The Greymaw took a step back, baffled by that statement.

Several of the elders looked away from the wolf male, not wanting to be caught up in this even though they very much were. A shameful look was on their faces, and many of them suddenly found the sky very interesting.

Even among the hardliners, the wall was fracturing.

Not Girruk, who was seething behind his father with the particular fury of someone who was angry about something far deeper than breeding schedules. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

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