Raising Beast Cubs to Find a Husband novel Chapter 122

Chapter 122: Spicy Soup & Secrets

They didn’t reach the door. They didn’t have to.

Just as Caspian, Primrose, and Freya rounded the corner to the stairs leading down to the Root Cellar, the world exploded.

CRASH.

The heavy, iron-reinforced oak door at the bottom of the stairs didn’t just open. It shattered. Splinters of ancient wood flew outward like shrapnel, embedding themselves in the stone walls.

From the cloud of dust and darkness emerged a small, furious shape.

Vali was carrying Orion on his back. But this wasn’t the playful puppy who had thrown snowballs earlier.

Vali’s silver hair was bristling like a mane. His lips were pulled back in a snarl that exposed fangs far too sharp for a five-year-old. But it was his eyes that stopped everyone in their tracks.

They weren’t pink anymore. They were glowing, blood-red crimson.

Lady Astrid stood at the top of the stairs, her mouth falling open. "Vali? How did you—"

Vali didn’t answer. He dropped Orion gently onto a pile of sacks, then launched himself up the stairs.

He moved faster than a blink. He was a blur of grey and white fury. He tackled Astrid, pinning her to the stone floor with a force that cracked the flagstone beneath them.

"YOU!" Vali roared, his voice layered with a guttural, beastly growl. "YOU HURT THE PACK!"

He raised a clawed hand, ready to strike.

"VALI! NO!" Primrose screamed.

Duchess Freya moved. But she didn’t draw her sword. She stared at Vali’s glowing red eyes with a look of pure, terrified recognition.

"The Crimson Gaze..." Freya gasped. "The mark of the First Wolf?"

She hesitated for a split second, stunned by the legendary trait manifesting in a child.

That second was all Caspian needed.

The King didn’t run. He simply materialized. One moment he was beside Primrose, the next he was kneeling by the sacks at the bottom of the stairs.

"Orion," Caspian whispered, his voice trembling.

The Merman Prince was blue. His skin was frosted with ice crystals. His eyes were rolled back, showing only the whites.

"Dad..." Orion mumbled, his teeth chattering so hard it sounded like bones breaking. "I... I can’t feel my hands... Dad, it hurts..."

The air in the hallway instantly became heavy. The pressure dropped. The stone walls began to crack under an invisible weight.

Caspian stood up, holding his frozen son against his chest. He looked up at the stairs where Vali was snarling at Astrid.

"ENOUGH."

It wasn’t a shout. It was a Command. A burst of King’s Haki—pure, oceanic dominance—slammed into the hallway.

Vali froze mid-growl. The red faded from his eyes, replaced by confusion. He blinked, looking down at his trembling cousin beneath him.

"Vali," Primrose said, her voice shaking but firm. "Come here. Now."

Vali scrambled off Astrid and ran to Primrose, burying his face in her skirt. He was shaking, the adrenaline crash hitting him hard. 𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖

Freya rushed to Astrid. She didn’t hug her. She grabbed her daughter by the shoulders and hauled her up, forcing her to look at the freezing boy in Caspian’s arms.

"Look," Freya ordered, her voice cold as ice. "Look at what you did."

Astrid looked. She saw Orion’s blue lips. She saw the frost on his eyelashes.

"I..." Astrid’s arrogant mask crumbled. Her lip trembled. "I thought... it was just a timeout. I didn’t know... he would break."

"He is not a toy, Astrid!" Freya shouted, her voice echoing off the walls. "He is a child! A guest! And you nearly killed him!"

Astrid flinched as if she’d been slapped. Tears welled up in her yellow eyes. She looked terrified—not of punishment, but of the reality of her actions.

Twenty minutes later, the crisis had moved to the warmth of the kitchens.

Caspian sat by the massive hearth, holding Orion. He was pouring raw mana into the boy, his hands glowing with a soft, teal light. Color was slowly returning to Orion’s cheeks, though he was still wrapped in four blankets.

Vali sat on a stool nearby, glaring at the door as if daring Astrid to come back in.

Primrose was not sitting. She was rage-cooking.

"This kitchen," Primrose muttered, slamming a pot onto the stove, "is a disgrace. Dried meat? Hardtack? No wonder everyone here is angry! You’re all hangry!"

She raided the pantry. She found preserved cabbage, radishes, garlic, and a stash of spicy peppers that the Wolves apparently used for medicinal purposes.

"I need heat," Primrose declared. "I need soul-warming, sinus-clearing heat."

She began to chop. Thwack-thwack-thwack. The rhythm calmed her down.

She threw pork belly into the pot, letting the fat render until it sizzled. She tossed in the spicy peppers, garlic, and onions. Then came the aged kimchi (or the closest fantasy equivalent she could find). She poured in the broth and let it boil.

The smell wafted through the drafty hall. It was pungent, spicy, and deeply savory. It smelled like life returning to a frozen world.

She ladled the bright red, bubbling stew into bowls.

"Eat," Primrose ordered, sliding a bowl to Vali. "It will calm the beast blood."

She took a bowl to Caspian. She spooned a little of the broth, blew on it, and held it to Orion’s lips.

"Drink, baby," she whispered. "It’s spicy. It’ll wake you up."

Orion took a sip. He coughed, his eyes watering.

"Wow..." Orion rasped, blinking rapidly. "That’s... really spicy, Prim. It feels like... like fire in my belly."

"Good," Caspian exhaled, resting his forehead against Orion’s hair. "Let it burn."

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