Transmigrated to Raise Panther Cubs novel Chapter 129

Chapter 129 Cliff

The cliffside overlooked the ocean, the ground carpeted in gold and green grass, and the waves broke against the rocks far below.

The full moon hung high and brilliant overhead.

“Where are the… Zachary hadn’t finished the sentence before a wash of silver light flooded his vision.

Spread across the grassy clifftop were shells and spiral formations in every shape and size, gleaming in every color.

A generous heap of large, perfectly rounded pink pearls lay among them.

And there were two orbs the size of fists, pale as moonstone, emanating a soft, quiet glow.

Zachary walked forward in disbelief, then turned back to look at Matthew. “All of this, you traded for all of this?”

Matthew nodded. “Sable said these pearls need to be charged in moonlight.

“The shells were just pulled from the water. They needed to dry.

“I was going to give everything to you tomorrow.”

Zachary looked at him, urgently needing to confirm the answer that was pressing against the surface. “Why did you get any of this?

“And last night, you pressed up against me and used my…”

His voice got smaller with every

word.

A flicker of surprise moved through Matthew’s eyes. “You knew?”

Zachary nodded and held his gaze steady.

“Zachary, I…” Matthew stared at him, and the words came with difficulty even on ordinary days, but now there was an unfamiliar tightness in him too. His mouth opened. “In here.”

Matthew pressed his hand over his own chest. “It’s all you. Every bit of it.

“My father told me once, a long time ago, that this feeling is called love.

“I love you.”

Everything around them went silent in an instant. The only thing Zachary could hear was Matthew’s voice, still moving through him.

In that moment, every question that had been living inside him quietly found its answer.

Matthew’s chest was tight with uncertainty. He watched Zachary with visible unease.

The stillness stretched on.

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Chapter 129 Chiff

After a long pause, Zachary spoke, and there was a weight to the words, something tender and sorrowful. “What if I’m not really myself?”

Matthew looked at him steadily. “Right now, are you yourself?”

Zachary nodded.

“Then, that’s enough.” Matthew had said each word with deliberate care. “I want you. The you that’s here right now.”

Zachary went still for a moment, and then his lips met something soft.

Matthew had leaned down close, very close.

In the gold of Matthew’s eyes, Zachary saw his own reflection looking back.

His breathing came apart.

He tilted his head back, closed his eyes, and leaned in to meet him.

That single movement gave Matthew more courage than he’d had in years.

Their chests pressed together, and both their hearts beat faster.

When Zachary found himself lowered onto the grass, some mixture of nerves and something else entirely made him call out without thinking. “Matthew.”

Matthew held himself up on one arm and looked down at him. “Hm?”

“I… turn around for a moment.”

Matthew didn’t understand, but he did it.

In the moonlight, the lean, strong lines of his body caught a pale, luminous sheen.

Zachary’s eyes went to the left side of Matthew’s backside. There was, in fact, a small scar there.

The scene at the clifftop, Matthew standing bare against the open ocean, was genuinely something.

His curiosity thoroughly satisfied, Zachary raised the back of his hand to cover his eyes, as though settling something inside himself. “Matthew. Come back.”

The air around them turned warm very quickly.

The sound of waves against the rocks slowly faded, replaced by something quieter and closer.

Zachary had no experience with this, and his body was rigid with nerves.

But Matthew had something close to magic in him, and the tension eased before long.

His body stopped listening to him entirely.

Matthew finally acted on what he’d been holding back the night before, one hand cradling Zachary’s jaw, the

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Chapter 129 Cliff

other unabashedly doing as it pleased.

His golden eyes shone with something bright and alive.

Zachary lay on his back in the grass with a dazed, unfocused look, and the moon overhead swayed gently in his vision.

His thoughts drifted further and further away.

“Are you really… really sure no one will… see us…” Zachary’s voice came out in pieces.

“No one will come.” Matthew leaned down and pressed his lips to Zachary’s eyes. “You’re crying.”

He paused. “Does it hurt?”

Zachary’s eyes were half–closed. He shook his head slowly. “It feels… very strange.”

Matthew kissed him again.

And continued.

A good while later, Zachary finally reached his limit and tried to appeal to Matthew’s softer side. “You’re going to hurt me.”

“No.” Matthew lifted his face, damp with effort, and explained with complete sincerity. “A therian’s saliva and other things all help injuries heal.”

Zachary closed his eyes. He was so, so tired.

When the sky began to pale at the edges, Matthew carried him back.

The area outside the wooden building was quiet.

Once they were back, Matthew still didn’t let Zachary rest, turning his attention to every part of him without exception.

The walls didn’t block sound well, and Zachary had to press his lips together and hold everything in as best he could.

By the time it was over, he was thoroughly spent, his thoughts scattered and his senses slow.

He didn’t even register when it ended.

Full morning light arrived, though the inside of the room stayed dim.

Taylor and Jaden came to the doorway several times and peered through the woven branch–and–grass screen, checking whether Zachary was awake.

Matthew wouldn’t let either of them disturb his rest.

But Zachary had missed the morning meal, and he was going to be hungry when the time came to set out.

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Chapter 129 Cliff

ل

Jaden’s expression stayed pinched and troubled.

Finished

Aside from the time Zachary had fallen into the water, he’d never once slept this long. The sun was already directly overhead.

Matthew came in once during the morning and set some juicy fruit beside the sleeping mat.

Taylor and Jaden tried to follow him in. He lifted one in each hand and deposited them back onto the sand outside.

When Zachary woke, his mind went briefly blank, and then everything from the night before rushed back all at once.

Every unfamiliar sensation in his body served as a clear and unmistakable reminder that it had not been a dream.

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