Transmigrated to Raise Panther Cubs novel Chapter 351

Chapter 351 The Next Day

Finished

Matthew’s eyes snapped opena little after five the next morning. Years of waking before dawn had carved that habit so deep into him that oversleeping wasn’t even a possibility.

He gave Zachary a gentle shake and leaned in close to his car. “Zachary, wake up for just a second.

“Zachary?”

Zachary had only managed about four hours of sleep after the rest of the night, and his entire body screamed for more rest. Half asleep, he reached out and tried to swat Matthew away. “Stop… so tired…”

Matthew, on the other hand, was in an unbelievably good mood. “I need to tell you something.”

Zachary kept his eyes shut, ninety percent of his brain already drowned in sleep. “Mmmm…”

Matthew pressed two firm kisses to his lips. “I’m heading out for a bit.

“I’ll be back once I’ve earned some money.”

“Mmm…” Zachary mumbled again.

Matthew climbed out of bed and got dressed. He’d learned to read a clock by now, so he glanced up at the one on the wall, confirmed he had plenty of time, and crawled back into bed to cuddle his mate for a little while longer before finally heading out.

Then he grabbed some of the spare change Zachary had set aside specifically for him from the box on top of the shoe cabinet and tucked it into his pocket.

The morning heat was already pressing down even before the sun had fully risen. Matthew remembered the route and the bus number, so he settled in at the stop just outside the apartment complex to wait.

He could have taken a cab, sure, but the name of that shopping mall was way too complicated for him to even recognize, let alone explain to a driver. The bus was easier. He just had to watch for the familiar buildings, and he’d know exactly when he’d arrived.

Besides, cabs cost a fortune. He remembered overhearing someone on the street the day they’d been searching for Zachary, talking about how the bus only cost a dollar while a cab ran several dozen.

By seven thirty, Matthew had arrived at the mall entrance.

The mall hadn’t opened yet, but the designer had already been waiting there for ages. The moment he spotted Matthew, he waved enthusiastically and strode over. “My studio’s just around the corner.

The space turned out to be massive. The indoor shooting area alone took up an entire floor, divided into several different themed sets.

The staff thoughtfully set Matthew up with breakfast and water, though one of the cups held coffee, and the moment Matthew took a sip, his face screwed up into a deep frown.

The photographer nearly lost his mind with excitement the second he saw what kind of model his boss had managed to track down. He gripped his camera tight, practically vibrating with anticipation, ready to

Chapter 351 The Next Day

put on the performance of a lifetime.

Jaden woke up a little after seven. Seeing his Sire still asleep, he warmed up a steamed bun for himself in the microwave, ate it, and settled down in the living room with the picture book his Sire had bought him.

Zachary didn’t wake until nine. When he sat up, his head spun a little, and his nose felt completely stuffed

He’d probably stayed in the bathroom too long the night before. The water heater behind the shower had been running cold the whole time, and even though they hadn’t been under the spray for that long, he’d then spent the entire night under the air conditioning on top of it.

He stumbled out of the bedroom and found Jaden sitting alone. “Jaden, where’s your Alpira?”

Jaden looked up. “I haven’t seen him since I woke up.”

“Where could he have gone?” Zachary mumbled around his toothbrush, and then something rugged at the edge of his memory.

Money. That’s right. He vaguely remembered Matthew saying something about earning money.

Panic shot through Zachary instantly. Matthew was someone who’d grown up entirely outside civilization, no identification, no paper trail, practically a ghost as far as the system was concerned, and he didn’t even own a phone. Where on earth could he possibly go to “earn money”?

Every horror story he’d ever read flooded into his mind all at once. People tricked into crossing borders. People trafficked into forced labor camps. People sold før their organs. People dragged into illegal mining operations.

Zachary’s worry spiraled out of control. He didn’t even bother with breakfast, told Jaden to stay put and behave, grabbed his phone, and bolted out the door.

But the city was enormous. Where was he even supposed to start looking?

Matthew couldn’t use a phone app, so there was no way he’d seen some job posting online. He couldn’t read those little flyers plastered on walls either, and he definitely couldn’t make a phone call. The only possibility left was that someone had approached him directly.

r

But yesterday, they’d been together the entire time… wait, no. At the mall, they’d been separated a few times.

Zachary immediately hailed a cab back to yesterday’s mall and tracked down the management office, claiming his child had gone missing and begging them to check the security footage.

He sat glued to the monitors for what felt like forever, scanning through frame after frame, until he finally locked onto someone suspicious. He had the image printed out, but this was right in the heart of downtown, surrounded by towering high rises in every direction. Finding one person here felt impossible.

He’d already been fighting off a cold, and the fruitless search only made him feel worse. The afternoon heat pressed down relentlessly, and he figured he’d find somewhere to sit for a bit, and if he still came up empty, he’d head straight to the police.

He looked up, and there was Matthew. Dressed head to toe in the trendiest gear imaginable, surrounded

VERIFYCAPTCHA_LABELVerify