My Panther Mate & Our Little Cub novel Chapter 89

Chapter 89 Furious Matthew

Because Jaden had always been such a quiet, self–contained child, Zachary usually had to work hard to draw him out.

So when Jaden nodded this time and answered honestly, “I did,” Zachary was caught off guard. He stroked the back of the boy’s head and smiled. “Then how about I tell you a new story tonight?”

Jaden obviously wanted to hear it, but he still remembered what his Alpha had said about Zachary not feeling well. After a brief hesitation, he shook his head. “Sire, you should sleep. You must be fired from the trip.”

But after resting for a while and soaking in the hot spring, Zachary had no sleepiness left at all.

So with Jaden tucked against him, he began making up one of his wildly adapted, very local “fairy tales.”

“Once, there was a tiger tribe. In that tribe lived a therian who was both powerful and handsome, and he wanted a mate of his own very badly. So he held a bonfire gathering and invited all the sub–therians from the nearby tribes to come sing and dance.

“The fox tribe heard about it too. In that tribe, there was a sub–therian who had liked the tiger therian for a very long time. But to attend the gathering, he needed beautiful clothes… and he didn’t have any.”

Jaden listened with complete focus, so intent that Zachary could almost see the concern rising in him with the story.

Zachary continued.

“So the fox sub–therian ran beneath the big red fruit tree at the entrance and told it all his sadness.

“Then, all at once, a little bird flew down from outside. That bird could conjure all kinds of things, and it gave the sub–therian a gorgeous outfit, decorated with pretty stones, lovely feathers, and all sorts of flowers…

“Wearing those clothes, the sub–therian went to the bonfire gathering. The moment he arrived, the tiger therian noticed him, and the two of them danced beside the flames.

“But when it was time to leave, the sub–therian suddenly turned and ran. The therian chased after him the whole way, and in the rush, one of the sub–therian’s hide shoes got stuck in the swamp. He couldn’t pull it free, so he had no choice but to keep running barefoot, faster and faster…”

In the next cave over, Matthew lay awake without the slightest trace of sleepiness. He had originally meant to wait until Zachary drifted off, then quietly carry him back.

Instead, he wound up staring at the pitch–dark cave ceiling and listening to the entire story from beginning

to end.

At some point after that, he fell asleep himself.

Matthew woke up angry.

At first, he had been sleeping just fine, but sometime in the latter half of the night, he started dreaming.

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Chapter 89 Furious Matthew

Finished

Maybe it was because of Zachary’s story about the tiger therian, but for some reason, the white tiger who had tried to steal Zachary away that day appeared in his dream.

Dream–Tiger was shameless.

He kept circling around Zachary, bringing him flowers, offering him pretty stones, and constantly flashing his ears and tail as if he were trying to seduce him.

And the most infuriating part was that Zachary actually reached out and touched them.

That still wasn’t the worst of it.

Everywhere Zachary went, the tiger followed. He even trailed him all the way back to their cave, carrying a fur bag and announcing that it held his clothes because he was moving in with them from now on.

No matter what Matthew did, he couldn’t get rid of him.

And somehow, both Zachary and Jaden liked him. They were even planning to cook a giant feast that night to celebrate his arrival.

Matthew was furious enough to explode, but the moment he showed his temper, both the big one and the

little one turned around and started scolding him instead. In the end, he stormed out of the cave, and not a single person stopped him. No one came after him either.

He ended up sitting alone on

tree branch outside, staring at the warm, cheerful family scene inside the cave. The more he looked, the angrier he got, until he punched the tree–and heard a sharp crack.

That was what jolted him awake.

His fist still ached.

He had been so worked up in the dream that he’d smashed his hand straight into the

Small bits of broken stone had even fallen onto the bed.

Cav

in real life.

Matthew opened his eyes abruptly, breathing a little harder than usual. He stared up at the long moment before the truth sank in–it had all been a dream.

Ce for a

He sat there on the bed, still simmering. Just thinking about that damned tiger’s face made irritation crawl through him all over again.

But annoyed or not, the morning’s work still had to be done.

Since he hadn’t taken any meat the day before, he needed to go hunting and make it back before breakfast.”

The fur robe Zachary had made for him hung neatly on the wooden rack beside the bed.

Matthew looked at it every time he passed.

It was still too early in the season to wear something that heavy, but that hadn’t stopped him from secretly trying it on again and again in the cave.

Outside, the world was still dim and colorless. Dawn had not yet broken.

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Chapter 69 Furious Matthew

Finished

After getting dressed, Matthew quietly slipped into the neighboring cave. On the wide bed, Zachary and Jaden were curled together, the child tucked almost completely into Zachary’s arms. Both of them were

sleeping peacefully.

Matthew had never noticed Jaden clinging to Zachary like that in his sleep before.

He glanced at the boy, remembered the infuriating behavior Dream–Jaden had shown earlier, and suddenly had the childish urge to pry him loose and set him outside the cave entrance.

But that would wake Zachary

Forcing down the wildly undignified thought, Matthew stepped up to the bed, bent over, and lightly brushed Zachary’s cheek with his fingers. Warm.

Then he dipped down quickly, stole a kiss, and left.

He went out into the predawn haze and headed straight into the forest.

There was more than a little frustration in the way Matthew hunted that morning. He didn’t bother with patience or careful strategy. He

The animals, which had been resting quietly, panicked at once and scattered in all directions.

The animals, which had be

charged straight into a herd of moo beats and ANCES

Ordinarily, hunting large herd animals like that was something therians did in groups. But Matthew’s reckless approach ended up working in his favor–several younger moo beasts were cut off from the rest.

The instant one became isolated Matthew moved.

One bite was all it took.

The young moo beast’s neck broke on the spot.

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