My Panther Mate & Our Little Cub novel Chapter 114

Chapter 114 Not What You Think

Did I push Gerald too far? I should’ve eased off a little sooner.

Zachary’s regret settled in with quiet urgency. The cave was tucked in an out–of–the–way spot, Matthew wasn’t here, and if they actually decided to get physical, he’d be on the losing end of this very fast.

The massive lynx let out a low, reverberating growl. Its shoulder blades rose sharply above its spine, and the grey pupils fixed on him with a darkness that sent a chill straight through the air.

Zachary’s heart shot straight to his throat. He made a move toward the cave entrance, and Gerald seemed to read his intention instantly, planting himself squarely in the way.

Harper and Wesley watched from the side with cold, detached composure and quietly shifted away from the center of the space, making sure they wouldn’t catch any collateral damage.

This was a home invasion.

Zachary felt the cold certainty of disaster settling in his chest.

Gerald thoroughly savored the fear radiating off Zachary and decided that yes, a lesson was exactly what this situation called for.

His back legs drove into the ground with brutal force, and his massive body crashed down onto Zachary, slamming him flat. Sharp fangs clamped straight onto Zachary’s throat.

Zachary’s back hit the stone floor hard enough to drive the color from his face entirely.

Pain flared sharp and immediate at his neck.

Zachary had never been someone who just lay there and took it. His gaze swept across the burning fire beside him, and he strained with everything he had toward it, scrabbling and fighting against the weight pinning him down.

In one sudden, desperate lunge, he grabbed a half–burned piece of wood from the fire and drove it directly into the lynx’s side.

He was absolutely going to singe that fur right off.

The sharp, acrid scent of burning hair bloomed through the air in an instant.

Gerald’s head whipped around. A patch of his belly fur had gone black and singed yellow.

The heat from the burning fur reached his skin, and panic overtook him. He scrambled with his claws to bat it away.

Zachary seized the opening and shoved himself upright, drivi

the

-burning end of the wood:

toward the lynx’s face.

Gerald’s whiskers curled and vanished at a speed that was genuinely visible to the naked eye.

Zachary gave the burning wood another good swing. That felt extremely satisfyin

Chapter 114 Not What You Think

Harper and Wesley let out startled cries and rushed forward to beat out the flammes spreading across Gerald.

Zachary took the opening and bolted for the entrance.

Gerald’s fury ignited fully, and he launched after him despite his injured leg.

Humans couldn’t outrun beasts. Not even injured ones.

Zachary made it only a handful of strides before he was tackled to the ground again.

He hit the earth with a pained grimace, certain he was going to die either from the biting or from the impact.

Scorching a lynx’s whiskers was an affront of the deepest order.

Gerald had reached the outer limits of his control, and his fangs pressed toward Zachary’s throat with a ferocity that meant genuine harm.

Zachary resigned himself to the worst and directed his final conscious thoughts toward Matthew,

specifically requesting that Matthew avenge him thoroughly and make this bully of an old beast regret every single choice he’d made today.

The pain at his neck was searing.

He was fairly certain he could actually smell blood at this point.

Gerald’s fur had been burned in a significant patch, and he was right on the edge of losing himself entirely.

Harper and Wesley could see things spiraling past the point of return. They both moved to intervene.

At that same moment, Jaden, returning home with a fresh catch in his jaws, stopped dead in his tracks. Something in the air had shifted. He lifted his nose and took a long, hard breath.

“What is it?” Taylor tilted his head in confusion.

“Home. Now.” Jaden dropped everything and sprinted for the cave at full speed.

Taylor read the urgency and abandoned his own catch instantly, racing right behind him.

The moment they came in sight of the cave entrance, both young black panthers went rigid. Their backs arched high, and their fur stood on end.

Jaden let out a sharp, warning snarl, flashing every white, gleaming fang, and launched himself forward with everything he had.

His claws drove into Gerald like bolts into stone. His eyes locked onto the lynx’s exposed belly, and he bit down and refused to let go unde

circumstances.

any

Gerald recoiled with a sharp jo clawing and biting simultaneously.

of pain,

his head, and found Taylor already on his other side,

Both young panthers growled with low, relentle

fury, and no matter how twisted, they wouldn’t release him. They lashed their tails against his body

uous, punishing strikes.

Gerald thrashed and

5

THI

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Chapter 114 Not What You Think

Harper and Wesley stared in complete shock. This had gone somewhere none of them had intended, and they both began calling urgently for Gerald to stop, begging him not to hurt Taylor or Jaden.

If either of the cubs was actually injured, their entire family would lose any foothold they had left in Black Panther Tribe.

Zachary pressed a hand to his neck and pushed himself upright, too focused to process the pain. He ran back into the cave, grabbed two thick, burning branches in one hand each, and charged back in.

“You overgrown menace, you’re done!”

Felines were deeply particular about their fur.

The lynx twisted and thrashed with mounting desperation, finally managing to fling both young panthers off him, and immediately scrambled backward to dodge the two blazing branches Zachary was driving toward him.

Jaden and Taylor rolled across the ground, bounced back onto their paws in an instant, and planted

themselves directly in front of Zachary.

Their eyes were sharp, their stances loaded and ready, and the sounds rising from their throats continuous, bristling warning that made the air itself feel dangerous.

were

a

Gerald’s reason finally clawed its way back to the surface. He kept growling, but he retreated.

Harper took a step forward, and both Jaden and Taylor locked onto him with immediate, unwavering focus, ready to move.

Harper stopped where he was and tried for a reasonable tone. “Zachary, what happened to Lynx tribe is something the Alpha carries with him every day. He didn’t mean it.

“Please don’t hold this against him.”

Zachary had no patience left for any of it. Whether Gerald was hurting inside was information Zachary currently had no interest in, because Zachary himself was in genuine, immediate, physical pain.

They’d better remember this. He held grudges. He was excellent at it.

This man wasn’t his father anyway.

And while he was at it, he’d settle a little score on behalf of the person whose body this originally was.

The moment they were gone, Jaden and Taylor spun around and pressed close to Zachary’s sides with

wounds at his neck.

visible concern, gently running their tongues along th

Zachary couldn’t hold back a sharp, involuntary hiss. It genuinely hurt.

Both young panthers froze immediately and fix

their e

eyes on him same mome

expressions

something

Even behind their big cat faces, Zachary could end the distress in Jaden’s and Taylor’s clearly. He reached out and rested a hand on each of their heads, pulled the corners of his mo that counted as a smile, and said quietly, “I’m fine.

“You were incredible just now.

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Chapter 114 Not What You Think

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