My Panther Mate & Our Little Cub novel Chapter 132

Chapter 132 Simple Meal

Because these creatures were extraordinarily difficult to catch, their shells were scarce, and the merfolk tribe had never been willing to trade them to other groups.

Zachary stacked some rocks into a simple cooking stand, balanced the turtle shell across it, poured in the collected rainwater, and once it came to a boil, added dried seafood to simmer into broth.

On a cold and miserable night like this, a bowl of that was enough to bring a person back to life.

They couldn’t afford to let their guard down through the night. Hyena therians were notorious for their cunning, and every uninjured black panther took up a position near the cave entrance and kept rotating through the watch.

Matthew and the injured therians rested inside,

Worried about Matthew’s wounds turning infected, Zachary kept reaching over to press his hand to Matthew’s forehead to check.

Matthew resolved the problem by pulling Zachary back against him, wrapping an arm around him from behind, and resting his chin in the crook of Zachary’s neck so the checking could happen freely.

The rain continued in a steady, relentless murmur. Donald stared into the blackness beyond the cave with a grave, inward expression and silently hoped the rain would let up soon.

Zachary was deeply cold. Even tucked against Matthew’s warm belly in beast form, with Taylor and Jaden pressed against him on either side, his hands and feet stayed icy. He woke several times through the night, shivering and burrowing further into the beast hide covering.

The rain stopped at dawn, leaving the world outside cold and soaked through.

The temperature had dropped below freezing, Zachary was fairly certain.

“Are you cold?” Matthew watched the color that had drained from Zachary’s lips and asked.

Zachary shoved his stiff hands into his pockets. “I’m fine.”

Matthew reached out and touched his face, and the furrow in his brow deepened immediately. He wrapped the beast hide covering firmly around Zachary without a word.

“We’ll be home soon.”

“Right.”

They had clearly underestimated the patience of the Hyena tribe. Within 30 feet of the cave entrance, the dark beyond was thick with pale green eyes.

Even Yael, who lived by the philosophy of throwing himself directly at every problem, went still and

serious.

Kyle exhaled slowly. “That’s probably the entire able–bodied population of the Hyena tribe out there.” Donald’s gaze moved across the inside of the cave. Against this many hyena therians, protecting the full salt

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Chapter 132 Simple Meal

haul was going to be nearly impossible.

But the temperature was already dropping hard, and there was no possibility of making another trade trip. to the merfolk tribe this season. If they lost this salt, the whole of Black Panther Tribe would be short through the cold months.

Daniel closed his fist. “What if we split into two groups? One holds them off, and the other takes the salt and pushes ahead.”

Yael shook his head. “It won’t be that clean. They won’t give up easily.”

Zachary listened to all of it, turned it over, and then asked, “Do you know where the Hyena/tribe’s settlement is?”

Matthew nodded. “Not far from here.”

“Would hyena therians be protective of their sub–therians and cubs?”

Kyle said, “Without question. Every tribe puts the safety of their sub–therians and cubs above everything else.”

Zachary looked at the group. “Their settlement probably doesn’t have many fighters left in it right now. We could send a portion of our group to simulate an attack on their settlement.”

“Draw the hyena therians back to protect it.”

“The rest of us take the salt and move while the path is clear, then regroup once we’re past their territory.”

The moment he finished, every therianthrope in the cave turned to look at him in unison.

Zachary shifted uncomfortably under all those eyes. “What? What is it?”

Yael’s expression was full of undisguised admiration. “Zachary, how are you this brilliant?”

Donald gave a single nod. “That’s a good plan.”

“That’s genuinely impressive.”

Zachary smiled back with the particular sheepishness of someone who knew the credit belonged to people who came long before him.

After a brief discussion, Donald decided that Kyle would lead a group to escort Zachary and the cubs forward with the salt and make for the hilltop ahead.

Donald himself would stay with Matthew’s group and make a feinting strike toward the Hyena tribe’s settlement to draw the attention away.

They would regroup at the streamside clearing where they’d stopped on the way in.

Before setting out, Zachary gripped Matthew’s hand. He pressed his unease down and made himself smile with a lightness he didn’t entirely feel. “We’ll be waiting for you.”

“Yes.” Matthew ducked his head and pulled him close, pressed a quick, firm kiss to his lips, and pulled back. “Stay safe.”

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Chapter 132 Simple Meal

Taylor pressed both small hands over his eyes, then spread his fingers just enough to peek through, leaning toward Jaden’s car. “Your Alpha and Sire seem different now.”

Jaden turned. “How?”

Taylor considered this with complete seriousness. “Kind of like my Alpha and Sire.

“They’re always hugging and kissing each other.

“I always have to cover my eyes.”

Kyle scooped up both cubs and told them firmly, “Once we’re moving, you hold on to Ethan’s back the entire time. Understood?”

Taylor and Jaden both nodded.

A moment later, one group of black panthers burst out of the cave and charged directly toward the Hyena tribe’s settlement, snarling with sharp, aggressive fury as they ran.

The hyena therians concealed in the surrounding shadows sprang out and began their own urgent, piercing calls, and within seconds, dozens of them were sprinting back in the direction of their settlement.

Kyle seized the opening. He led Daniel and the others in a hard, fast run westward into the forest.

After a night of rain, puddles had collected across the ground, and the air carried a damp, biting cold.

The wind came in gusts. The forest ahead was muted to grey in the distance.

Zachary had no idea how long they ran. His face had gone numb and raw, his ears had stopped feeling anything, and his hands were so stiff he could barely hold on to the fur beneath him.

He turned his head with effort and looked behind him. There was still no sign of a familiar face.

The group pushed hard until they had cleared the Hyena tribe’s territory, and only then did the pace ease.

White specks had started drifting from the sky.

Zachary blinked, half convinced the cold had started producing hallucinations. He breathed out, and a cloud of white vapor bloomed in front of him.

Then the black fur beneath him began collecting more and more of those white specks, and they grew larger, and Zachary finally understood. It was snowing.

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