Reborn As A Beast Queen with Too Many Husbands to Pet novel Chapter 23

Chapter 23 A Rabbit on the Verge

རཱ (?4)

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Hudson lifted the wild chicken by the neck and said, “Ms. Crawford, this one’s alive!”

Annelise rushed over. “Don’t kill it. Bring me a pair–no, more than one if you can. The more the better. I’ll make sure you all get fresh eggs every day.”

Hudson nodded. Annelise added, “You’re incredible. Honestly, you’re the most important part of my sustainable–development plan.”

Hudson tilted his head, clueless about most of what she said, but the tone was obviously praise. So he spun around and went to catch more birds.

Rokky came over. “Hudson really is something. I’ve never even seen a live chicken before. All these years, I’ve only eaten the dead ones I found.”

“That’s because you’re even stronger,” Annelise said. “You scare them to death.”

Adrian, picking wild greens behind them, froze when he heard that.

He lowered his head and stared at his hands. “Well… I do have claws, but…”

When he extended them, they were pointy but still short, white, and soft pink at the base. “With claws like these, how am I supposed to chop wood?”

Standing behind him, Annelise stared at those claws–really just human hands with long nails. -and her mind immediately conjured the image of a big, chubby rabbit with fluffy white- and–pink paws.

Ah, she wanted to squeeze those little pads so badly.

Not yet. Patience.

She cleared her throat. “Adrian, look–now that the chief’s sacrifice issue got solved in just a day, shouldn’t we… dissolve our bond too?”

“What? You… You’re not going to protect me anymore?”

“There’s no sacrifice now. Why would you need protection? And didn’t you want to go back to your own tribe?”

Adrian pressed his lips together. “That’s true…”

But in his mind, all he saw was Annelise shielding him, getting hurt for him, and resting in his

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Chapter 23 A Rabbit on the Verge

arms.

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And these past days–every little thing she did, the way she protected males–she wasn’t anything like the violent female from the stories. She was better than most of the females in his own tribe.

He blurted, “I–I haven’t paid you back the wild greens yet! Let me finish that first. Then we can dissolve the bond.”

“Oh? Fine.”

A moment later, Hudson came back with four or five live chickens and two ducks.

Annelise was thrilled–there were even males and females among them.

Rokky returned with an armful of wood.

Annelise patted his head. “Dial down your beast aura. We need the chicks and ducklings alive.”

“Okay, I’ll lower it.”

Rokky did exactly that. When Hudson approached with the birds, none of them dropped dead.

“I released some beast aura earlier to protect you,” Rokky said. “But if you need them alive, I’ll hold it in.”

“Wow, amazing. Thank you, Rokky. And thank you, little fox.”

Hearing those repeated thanks aimed at others, Adrian felt more and more useless.

In frustration, he ate an entire basket of the wild greens he had just picked.

When Annelise finally said they should head back since they gathered plenty today, Adrian broke.

He let out a loud wail and burst into tears.

The baskets fell to the ground, and he crouched beside them, sobbing as tears kept spilling down.

“I–I’m not going back! You all go without me! I didn’t pick a single basket of wild greens. What am I supposed to go back with? When Evan asks what we gathered today…”

He jabbed a finger at Hudson. “You caught live animals. You chopped wood!”

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Chapter 23 A Rabbit on the Verge

Then he jabbed at Rokky. “You scared animals to death!”

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Hudson leaned down, curious. “Weren’t you the one picking wild greens? Hey–where’d your greens go? Why’s your basket empty?”

Adrian stiffened. He whipped around and pointed at Hudson. “You!”

Tears brimmed again, his defenses completely shattered. “I ate them! Happy now?”

Hudson scratched his head. “Well, yeah, of course you ate them. What, do wild greens vanish into thin air?”

“You!” Adrian was so furious that his tail and long rabbit ears popped out.

His whole body trembled as tears pooled again. “Hudson, what did I ever do to you?”

Annelise paused. Actually… biologically speaking, foxes do eat rabbits.

Hudson remained confused. He had only stated the truth.

Adrian sniffled hard. “I eat a lot, okay? In my tribe, wild greens grow everywhere. Nobody cares how much we eat. There’s nothing but green plants–plenty of them! Not just me–everyone in my tribe eats a lot. Way more than I do!

“It’s only here–where everyone’s carnivorous or omnivorous–that I look like I have a big appetite. Your land is so barren!”

He finished that whole rant in one breath, panting.

Then he scratched the back of his hand.

“My tribe is warm all year round. Your climate here is so dry. My skin isn’t even soft anymore -it’s flaking! And I didn’t complain. I’ve been holding it in. I didn’t want you to feel bad.”

His eyes were red at the corners.

Annelise smiled. “How about this. I dissolve the bond right now. You don’t have to pay me back any wild greens. And Rokky and I will take you over the mountain so you can go home. How does that sound?”