My Panther Mate & Our Little Cub novel Chapter 54

Chapter 54 The Creek’s Little Harvest

Taylor and Elías examined the basket traps with cager curiosity. “Can these really catch fish?

“Should be able to.” Zachary hesitated to sound overly certain, though he believed they would work.

Once they heard that, the others divided into pairs and duplicated his actions, placing the traps into the stream one after another.

As soon as they finished, Taylor continued to look at the baskets and asked excitedly. “So when do the fish get inside?”

“Not while we are still here. Fish stay away from people.” Zachary grinned at him. “We have to leave them alone for a while. We can come back this afternoon and see what we got.”

As he spoke, his gaze swept across the creek bed and caught on something familiar-freshwater clams.

His eyes brightened immediately. There are chili peppers at home. Stir-fried clams would be perfect tonight.

The people in the tribe usually did not care about this kind of food, yet once they saw how pleased Zachary was and heard him promise he could make them taste good, they all bent down and started collecting them as well.

Elias and Taylor moved the quickest. The instant Zachary mentioned they would be delicious, the two of them got to work with obvious enthusiasm.

While everyone was busy gathering clams, they also found plenty of snails. By the time everything had been piled onto a broad stone near the bank, the shells covered nearly the entire surface.

Since they had not brought anything to carry them, Quincy and the others decided to go into the nearby woods to pick broad leaves for wrapping the clams and snails.

By then, the cold water had already numbed Zachary’s feet. He had no interest in walking far, so he only cast a casual glance around the edge of the creek.

That casual look led him to a pleasant surprise.

Beyond a damp little slope, a thick patch of perilla had sprung up. Water droplets clung to the leaves, and the fresh scent drifting from them made them look even more appealing.

He forgot all about the mud at once.

Zachary rushed over, crouched down, and began picking leaves.

The patch was close enough to the cave that he did not need to take too much. He could always come back later. Entire perilla stalks could be hung up and dried as well, so there would still be time to gather more before winter came.

When Jaden saw him return with leaves about the size of his palm, he couldn’t help but remind him, “Sire, these leaves are too small.”

Zachary’s eyes lit up with delight. “This is another good ingredient. It tastes great with roasted meat, grilled fish, and soup.”

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Chapter 54 The Creek’s Little Harvest

Elias leaned over and sniffed at them. “We can cat this, too?”

Zachary smiled at him. “Do you trust me or not?”

That question instantly reminded Quincy and the others of the chili peppers, ginger, and wild omons Zachary had used earlier. To them, he seemed almost magical, consistently tansforming ingredients with unusual smells or flavors into something extraordinary.

Elias nodded solemnly. “At this point, if you claim you can make rocks taste good, I’ll believe it.”

Zachary burst into laughter. “One day, I’ll make something delicious using rocks.”

All of them reacted at once. “For real?”

Still laughing, he answered, “If I get the chance, I will make it for you someday.”

While they were still talking, Quincy and Elias had already finished bundling the clams and snails. Since neither of them knew how to cook those items, they sent the whole bundle to Zachary’s cave so everyone could enjoy a meal that night.

By then, the sun had risen higher, and the air had warmed slightly. The sunlight shining on them felt pleasantly warm.

Quincy and Elias still had to go home and spread out their belongings to dry, so they agreed to meet Zachary again that afternoon and return together to collect the basket traps.

After rinsing the mud off, Zachary sat on a stool and looked down at his feet.

He had already sensed something was wrong on the way back. Now, he noticed several small cuts on his soles. He wasn’t sure if sharp stones or broken branches had caused them.

The injuries were minor, but they still stung when he put weight on them.

After their talk with the chief and the shaman about gathering supplies and trading for salt, Matthew, Yael, and Donald hurried back. From afar, they could already see smoke coming from their cave.

In most of the tribe, theirs was nearly the only cave where the stove was lit at midday. Zachary’s cooking wa so delicious that both Matthew and Jaden enjoyed their meals, and over time, all three of them became accustomed to having three meals each day.

Zachary sliced pork belly, tenderloin, as well as some beef and lamb, and divided the meat into two portions. One was marinated with wild onions, ginger, fruit, salt, and a touch of honey, while the other was mixed with chopped chili.

The stone slab over the stove heated up quickly. He brushed it with oil, then placed the meat on the surface turning each piece back and forth as it sizzled.

Jaden remained close, attentively keeping the fire going.

When Zachary glimpsed Matthew at the entrance out of the corner of his eye, he smiled. “You returned just

unch is prepared.”

he two stone basins near the entrance and asked, “Why did you bring back so many black-

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Chapter 54 The Creek’s Little Harvest

shelled things?”

His gaze shifted again. “What are the smaller ones?”

“We found them near the creek today, so we collected some.” Zachary kept tending the meat as he replied, “I’m saving them for stir-fry tonight.”

He mentioned, “The small orres are edible as well. I refer to them as snails.”

Matthew approached. “Do you need help?”

Having lived together for so long, Zachary no longer felt awkward about asking Matthew to do things, and at times, he would give instructions without even thinking.

Matthew had never once turned him down.

In Zachary’s eyes, Matthew had gradually become the ideal roommate.

Zachary also added mushrooms and greens to the hot stone. “The leaves on the slab still need washing.”

“Sure.” Matthew rolled up his sleeves, placed the perilla leaves in a basin, carried them to the water pool, and washed them carefully.

None of them went to sit at the stone table. The best part of this kind of meal was cooking and eating at the same time.

Zachary took a perilla leaf, placed a sizzling slice of pork belly on it, added a piece of wild onion, carefully wrapped it, and handed it to Matthew. “Try this and see how it tastes.”

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