Transmigrated to Raise Panther Cubs novel Chapter 134

Chapter 134 It’s Freezing

It was so cold. Freezing, even.

Donald had mentioned that the cold front had only just begun, and the temperature would keep dropping from here.

The wind and snow howled around them, and in the silent, remote mountain forest, the sound made everything feel more hollow and desolate

Matthew ate quickly and squeezed into the shelter, pulling Zachary, still wrapped in the beast hide covering, against the warmest part of his belly.

Therians had evolved dense, insulating coats precisely for conditions like this, and the warmth they retained was genuinely remarkable.

Zachary used every limb to cling to him, pressing his face into the fur at Matthew’s chest. After a few minutes, the warmth finally began to seep back into his body.

Matthew licked the back of Zachary’s neck and rubbed against him with quiet affection, then worked all four paws to pull him even closer.

At the current temperature, black panthers were still well within their comfort range, so everyone else had settled around the fire outside.

The shelter was compact, and space was limited.

Yael and the others took turns on watch through the night. The wind drove the snow directly into their faces, forcing their eyes into constant narrow squints. Their whiskers turned white and accumulated a layer of frost, giving each of them the appearance of wearing a mask made of ice.

Every little while, a sharp shake of the body was necessary to fling the snow off before they became indistinguishable from the snowdrifts around them.

When Taylor and Jaden came inside, Matthew demonstrated a rare and generous cooperative spirit, shifting himself and Zachary further in to make room for both cubs to settle against Zachary’s sides.

Zachary consequently found himself in possession of three entirely natural and highly effective heat sources, all durable, all consistently warm, and all remarkably pleasant to the touch.

At some point in the night, the fire went out. Daniel and Ethan immediately pushed out into the snow to gather more branches and bank them over the embers before another gust could extinguish it again.

By morning, the snow had thinned and showed signs of stopping, but the temperature continued dropping. The accumulation on the ground had reached mid–calf depth.

Donald and several others had gone out to hunt at first light and had a lucky find at the stream, a deer–like creature caught half in the water, its body frozen entirely rigid by the cold.

Taylor and Jaden poked their heads out of the shelter and took one look at the white expanse of the ground, and their better judgment promptly evaporated.

Both cubs launched themselves out and immediately started bounding through it, but their legs were short,

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and every few steps they sank in past their chests. More than once, a face went straight into the snow, and they accumulated a remarkable coating of white all over their bodies.

Zachary peered out from the shelter through a gap in the beast hide covering. “Are we leaving soon?”

“Yes.” Matthew shifted back to his human form and pressed his cheek against Zachary’s face to check the temperature. “Eat something first.”

Sub–therians were prone to illness in the cold season, it off his face. Since the snow had started the day before, his expression had stayed quietly grave.

nd Matthew was genuinely worried, though he’d kept

Zachary turned his face and quickly pressed his lips to Matthew’s, then pulled back to check the wounds on Matthew’s shoulder.

The healing had progressed remarkably fast. The edges had already started to close.

Matthew’s eyes went wide for just a moment. His tongue traced the spot that had been touched, his throat worked, and he made a deliberate, concentrated effort to redirect himself toward getting dressed.

It was the first time Zachary had initiated anything with Matthew. He looked composed on the outside, but he’d been watching Matthew’s reaction the entire time. The expression on his face was a genuinely satisfying result.

Zachary thought to himself that next time he could try something slightly more adventurous. That could be interesting.

Matthew went out and came back with hot water and roasted meat in shell bowls and watched until Zachary had finished every last bit. Then he added another layer of beast hide clothing over him and tied the hat down securely with the scarf.

Everyone began gathering their things for the next stretch of the journey.

Yael waded into the nearest snowdrift with long, purposeful strides, grabbed Taylor and Jaden each by the scruff of their necks like someone pulling up stubborn roots, and hauled them free. “Let’s move.”

The moment Zachary came out of the shelter, the wind hit him full in the face and went straight through him. He pulled the beast hide covering tight with both hands and scrambled up onto Matthew’s back.

The black panther group moved out at a run across the snow–covered ground, startling birds from the branches overhead with each passing, sending small cascades of powder falling in their wake.

As time passed, Zachary’s limbs started going stiff again. The deep, bone–level ache returned in waves, and the warmth was steadily draining from his body.

The sky was sealed with cloud. Everything ahead was grey and diffuse. The snow had stopped for a few hours and then resumed, thick and swirling, making it difficult to see clearly in any direction.

Matthew felt the shaking through his back and slowed his pace with visible unease. He turned his head and let out a low, inquiring sound.

Zachary didn’t respond.”

Matthew stopped and gave a gentle shift of his back.

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Zachary managed to lift his head with effort. Whether from the wind or because the cold had stiffened the muscles of his face, his words came out thi

and unclear. “Why did you stop?”

Matthew made another low, soft sound.

After all this time together, Zachary could generally read the meaning behind it. He reached out and gave Matthew’s back a slow pat. “I’m fine.”

Yael and the others had turned back to look.

Matthew swept his tail once and held his back as level as he could.

With the weather continuing to worsen, Donald made the decision to stop for a short meal and brief rest toward evening, then push through the night without stopping.

When Matthew crouched low to let Zachary dismount, Zachary had to stay still for a long moment before his body responded at all. He pushed himself upright with enormous effort and came off Matthew’s back in a slow, half–sliding descent that was more fall than climb.

His lashes had gathered white snowflakes. He blinked hard several times before the blurred shapes around him resolved into anything he could properly make out.

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