Transmigrated to Raise Panther Cubs novel Chapter 135

Chapter 135 Surviving in the Cold

The weather made starting a fire nearly impossible. The wind was fierce, and the wood was wet, and more than once a flame flickered to life only to be smothered by a fresh wave of snow.

Kyle and the others stacked the supplies against a tree trunk to block some of the wind.

Matthew held Zachary’s shaking body against his chest, buried Zachary’s face in his own, and pushed Zachary’s hands inside his clothing, trying to give him whatever warmth he could.

Zachary’s lips had gone completely colorless. His voice came out in broken pieces, but he still tried to reassure Matthew. “I’m fine.”

“We’re almost there.” Matthew pressed his lips to Zachary’s frozen face, and his voice, unusually, came our tight. “We’re almost home.”

Taylor and Jaden were very still and quiet. They pressed themselves against Zachary’s legs and did everything they could to transfer their body heat to him.”

The fire finally caught.

Yael scooped several handfuls of snow into the turtle shell and melted it quickly over the flame. The moment it was ready, he filled a bowl and handed it to Matthew. “Get Zachary to drink this right now.”

Zachary was too cold to hold anything. He leaned heavily against Matthew, barely managing to keep his

eyes open.

Matthew tested the temperature and brought the bowl to Zachary’s lips. “Zachary. Drink.”

Zachary tipped his head forward and drank obediently.

As the warmth moved into his stomach, his alertness returned just slightly.

The fire pushed back the snow around them. Zachary glanced without particular intention at the slope behind him, and then scrambled upright from Matthew’s arms with sudden, unexpected energy.

“What’s wrong?” Matthew asked.

Zachary grabbed his arm and pointed at a cluster of small, round red berries nestled in the snow. “Those. Wild panax roots.”

Even his voice had sharpened up.

They moved toward it together, and Zachary dropped to one knee without hesitation, brushing aside the surface snow with his bare hands, breathing hard as he worked at it with careful, deliberate effort.

Matthew looked at Zachary’s reddened hands, his brow pulling tight. He reached for Zachary’s arm. “Let me.”

This kind of work required precision.

Zachary shook his head. He wouldn’t agree, and he also wouldn’t let Matthew dig carelessly.

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Chapter 135 Surviving in the Cold

Matthew resigned himself to watching, and the moment 2

them inside his own clothing.

finished, he seized his hands and pressed

The warmth from eating had helped, but once they were moving again, Zachary slipped back into his earlier state.

They rested briefly and then gathered everything and pressed on.

In the pitch–black of night, Donald’s group fought through the wind and snow, running hard toward the

west.

When they were about a day and a half from the settlement, Zachary became acutely aware that something was wrong with his body. Every part of him ached. His head felt thick and heavy. The air he breathed out was burning hot, and yet he was cold to his core, terribly, desperately cold.

That night would be their last stop before the final stretch. They would set out at dawn and run for a full day and night without pause, aiming to reach the settlement by the following morning’s light.

This time, they were lucky. A cave presented itself, and they wouldn’t have to spend another night exposed to the open storm.

The dark had come even earlier than the day before.

Donald and Yael went in first and swept the space thoroughly, confirming no other animals or therianthropes had left any recent scent. Then everyone else moved in.

Matthew carried Zachary all the way to the deepest part of the cave and came to a slow, careful stop, easing his front paws down.

The wind and snow had been working their way under the beast hide covering throughout the day’s long run, and by now Zachary’s arms and legs had stiffened beyond his ability to move them on his own.

Kyle and Ethan helped him down.

Zachary’s whole body felt wrong. He huddled in the corner, wrapped in the beast hide, silent, and the look in his

eyes was clearly not good.

Taylor and Jaden pressed in close and licked his face and hands with anxious persistence.

The past two days, Zachary had still been able to exchange words with the cubs, run his hands over their heads, and hold them close for warmth. Now he could only force his eyes open for a few seconds before they fell shut again.

Most of the spare beast hide had been traded away to the merfolk tribe, and the covering that had been with Zachary all day had been soaked through by the snow.

Matthew propped it on sticks near the fire to dry, then sat face–to–face with Zachary, opened his own beast

and wrapped it around Zachary with himself inside it.

hide coat,

Zachary was barely tracking anything. His body pressed toward the heat source without him directing it. Therians ran naturally warm and were built for cold. Matthew had been running hard all day, and the heat

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Chapter 135 Surviving in the Cold

radiating off his bare chest brought an immediate, noticeable relief to Zachary the moment he was pressed against it.

Matthew ran his fingers through Zachary’s hair, his voice low. “Eat something before you sleep.”

“Mm.” Zachary wasn’t entirely sure what Matthew had said, but he answered out of habit.

Matthew went through the same process as before, pressing hot water to his lips, feeding him broth, and making sure he ate.

However, Zachary remained limp and unresponsive, not speaking and barely moving.

Sub–therians had no thick coat and none of a therian’s cold resistance. They simply weren’t built to survive extended exposure in the deep forest during a cold front. The fact that Zachary had lasted this long was the absolute limit of what his body could endure.

Everyone in the cave understood what that meant. If they didn’t get him back to the settlement and to the shaman quickly, his condition would only worsen, and eventually, there might be nothing left to treat.

Matthew held Zachary tightly against him, rested his face against Zachary’s forehead, and sat beside the fire without saying anything.

Jaden curled against the legs of both of them and quietly hooked his paw around the edge of Zachary’s clothing.

Neither of them slept that night.

They had planned to set out at first light, but by the latter half of the night, everyone already had their things packed and had walked back out of the cave and into the cold and the dark.

Cold fronts in this part of the world came with several heavy snowfalls. Each one drove the temperature sharply downward, then let it stabilize, only for the cycle to repeat again until the warm season finally arrived.

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