My Panther Mate & Our Little Cub novel Chapter 117

Transmigrated to Raise Panther Cubs

Chapter 117 Thanks

Zachary leaned forward and wrapped his arms around Matthew. “Thank you for standing up for me.

“You’re my real family.”

Matthew went still for a moment, then tentatively brought his hand up to rest at Zachary’s waist.

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When Zachary didn’t pull away, Matthew drew him in fully and made his promise one word at a time. I won’t let anyone hurt you.

“That includes me.”

Zachary’s heart seemed to pick up speed, and a sudden, unexpected sting pricked at the back of his nose

Having someone in his corner like this felt remarkably good.

Matthew kept his arms around him for a long, unhurried moment.

Zachary patted his back and tipped his face up from Matthew’s chest. “What do you want for breakfast?”

“Anything.” Matthew was so content in that moment that he could barely contain it.

“I’ll do a broth with dried cranberries, stonepit fruit, and clucking beast. It’ll help with the blood loss.”

“Sounds good.”

“Then… can you let go?” Zachary coaxed him with the patience of someone managing a very large, affectionate child. “I need to make the food.”

Matthew was reluctant, but he gave a single nod. “Alright.”

Zachary filled a deep bowl to the brim with the broth, the rich liquid floating with bright red dried berries and soft stonepit fruit pieces on top.

It looked genuinely restorative.

Matthew finished every last drop of it, meat and all.

He seemed quite settled in his role as the wounded party and accepted Zachary’s attention and care with complete, untroubled ease.

Jaden kept glancing over at the Alpha, unable to shake the feeling that something was slightly off.

That afternoon, Quincy and Yael stopped by with their cubs to check on Zachary, but their attention shifted the moment they spotted Matthew sitting outside the cave in the sunlight with the unbothered air of someone on a vacation.

Yael saw the leisure and moved toward him with a smack clearly already forming, but Zachary intercepted the motion with impressive speed.

“His shoulder’s injured.”.

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Yael looked Matthew over with open skepticism. “I don’t remember you getting hurt.”

Matthew glanced at him and said flatly, “I had it out with Gerald.”

Yael remained unconvinced. “He actually managed to hurt you?”

Matthew didn’t dignify that with a response and reached up to touch the wound instead.

“Is it hurting again?” Zachary lifted the edge of his collar and looked with genuine concern. Matthew shook his head. “It’s nothing.”

Yael looked at the scratches too. There were a few claw marks. That was it. Was this really enough to bring down a therian of Matthew’s caliber?

He wasn’t that far gone yet, surely.

Then Yael caught the look Matthew was giving Zachary, and everything clicked into place immediately. Right. This one was doing it on purpose. Absolute fraud.

Taylor was considerably more straightforward about it. He looked at Matthew with open admiration. “Matthew, did you go and get revenge for Zachary?”

Matthew nodded. “Yes.”

“That’s incredible.” Taylor paused for a breath, then added, “Can I come with you next time?”

“You can.”

”

“Perfect.” Taylor pumped his small fist through the air with great enthusiasm. “I’m going to hit him so hard he can’t get back up.”

Quincy had already brought medicine by for Zachary the day before, but she checked his neck again now and reminded him quietly, “Don’t get it wet.”

Zachary smiled and said he’d remember.

That afternoon, he took Jaden down to the stream to catch fish, and that evening, he made a rich, milky pan–seared egg and fish chowder for Matthew’s dinner.

“How is it?” Zachary asked.

“Excellent,” Matthew said immediately.

Jaden quietly averted his eyes. He’d gotten used to the Alpha’s increasingly unusual behavior, and his mind was already fully occupied with calculating how to secure the best sleeping position that night.

After dinner, Jaden settled naturally at the cave entrance and cleaned the cookware without being asked.

Matthew, for his part, revived the same strategy as before and had Zachary help wash and tend to him.

He’d been smarter about it this time and kept a beast hide wrapped around himself, so at least his circumstances weren’t quite as conspicuous when things got complicated.

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Both of them came out of it red in the face regardless.

Whatever Matthew had done during the process, Zachary ended up washing his hands multiple times afterward and couldn’t hold his gaze without his ears going warm.

Matthew lay back on the bed in a state of profound, thorough satisfaction, completely content from head to

toe.

But when his mate and the cub prepared for sleep, his contentment ran into an obstacle.

Zachary was worried about rolling onto Matthew’s wounded shoulder in the night, so he and Jaden took their pillows and settled in at the opposite end.

Matthew sat up and stared at the two of them across the bed with great displeasure. He held out until the middle of the night and then crept over in the dark, turned himself around, and wedged himself squarely between them.

Then, he pulled Zachary close and fell into a deep and thoroughly satisfied sleep.

With a long journey coming up soon, Zachary had an enormous amount to prepare, and he stayed busy constantly.

He ground various seasonings down into forms easy enough to carry, prepared food that would hold up for days on the road, and sewed wind–blocking hats and scarves by hand.

Matthew stayed close throughout all of it, pitching in wherever he actually could and watching intently wherever he couldn’t.

Occasionally, he’d shift into his beast form and simply lie beside Zachary, rolling lazily onto his back or sweeping his tail back and forth with studied casualness.

He didn’t look much like a panther in those moments. He looked more like an oversized cat angling shamelessly for affection.

Even Jaden couldn’t watch without secondhand mortification.

He’d come to the firm conclusion that whatever the Alpha had injured, it wasn’t his shoulder.

The morning they set out for the salt trade, the sunlight was brilliantly clear. Everyone ate a full meal first before the group assembled and departed together.

Matthew had produced an exceptionally sharp bone knife from somewhere and pressed it into Zachary’s hands to keep on him at all times.

Taylor had packed well in advance. The young black panther stood ready with a sturdy brown cowhide. backpack across his shoulders, stuffed with clothes and food.

Jaden crouched on the ground in his beast form with both front paws held up obediently while Zachary fastened a round, well–stuffed pack onto his back as well.

The two small black panthers walked side by side, and the sight of them was enough to make anyone’s heart

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go soft.

Matthew had long since made his peace with his role as the designated mount. He lowered himself and pressed his front paws down to make it easier for Zachary to climb on.

They were bringing a great deal with them, and the whole group set off together in a full, lively procession.

Yael pulled Quincy close and pressed a kiss to her cheek. “Don’t worry. We’ll be back before you know it.”

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