The Ugly Duckling Of The Tiger Tribe

Chapter 451: Side Story 6: The Price of Logistics is a ruined date 2

I paused, my wine cup halfway to my lips. "Noah. Kaelen is one year old. He should be asleep with Taruna."

"He is not asleep," Noah rumbled, his deep voice dropping into that serious, pack-leader tone. "The low vibration of his chest... I can feel it through the stone floor. He is awake, and he is moving toward the lower storage bins."

"Jeez," I muttered, setting the cup down with a sharp clack. "He’s probably trying to eat the grain sacks again. Taruna will catch him."

"Damar," Thalor’s voice cut in, his fingers stopping their massage on my shoulders. His violet eyes were fixed on Damar from across the table. "Your daughter is currently sitting on the aqueduct wall. In the dark. In a blizzard."

Damar didn’t even look up from his wine. "Lyra has the blood of a serpent of the river lines. The cold should not bother her."

"She has Nadir on her shoulders," Thalor countered, his voice tightening. "And my twins are currently standing at the base of the wall with a wooden bucket. I can feel the water displacement from here. They are trying to harvest the frozen surface to make projectiles."

God, do they have surveillance on the children or what? How are they seeing all of this?

"They’re four, Thalor, they’re playing," I sighed, rubbing my temples as the peaceful, romantic fog in my brain began to rapidly evaporate under the weight of their collective beast-bonds. "Can we please just have five minutes where we don’t track their every bowel movement and respiratory cycle through the pack link?"

"It’s an involuntary reflex, Ari," Fenric grumbled, though he looked thoroughly annoyed with himself. He slammed his knife into the wooden platter, his ruby eyes darting toward the glass again. "The white one... Sora. Her scent just flared with aggression. She’s chasing one of the older wolf guards."

"She’s one!" I yelled, throwing my hands up in total disbelief. "How is a one-year-old child showing aggression to a six-foot-tall elite warrior?!"

"She has your blood, Ari," Noah pointed out logically, though his own tail was swishing with an anxious, protective rhythm now.

That doesn’t make any freaking sense!

"And Fenric’s temper. The combination is... structurally unstable for the palace staff."

The room fell into a heavy, suffocating silence.

The four most powerful beastmen males in the entire West Way territory were currently sitting on luxury velvet cushions, surrounded by premium wine, rare flowers, and gourmet meat—and they looked like four nervous dogs waiting for the master to whistle.

Their ears were twitching in different directions, their tails were thumping against the floorboards, and every single one of them was secretly using their internal beast-bonds to monitor the chaotic circus happening three hundred yards away in the palace and nursery wing.

I looked at Noah. I looked at Fenric. I looked at Damar and Thalor.

A slow, wry smirk began to curl the corners of my lips. The cold fury I usually felt when my adult time was ruined didn’t even surface. Instead, a deep, bubbling amusement filled my chest. They were completely, utterly helpless against their own devotion. They weren’t just Kings anymore; they were fathers who had been entirely compromised by a bunch of fast-growing, hyperactive hybrids.

"You guys are pathetic," I whispered, reaching over to snatch a piece of meat from Fenric’s platter.

"Ari—" Noah began, looking slightly embarrassed as his dark ears flopped forward.

"No, it’s fine," I laughed, shaking my head as I took a deep swing of Damar’s wine straight from the clay jug. "Give it up. The logistics have defeated us. Let’s bring them in."

Fenric didn’t even hesitate. In a fraction of a second, the beast warrior let out a low, booming roar that echoed through the glass pavilion—the specific, carrying summons that signaled the cubs to return to the alpha.

Within exactly three minutes, the heavy oak doors of the pavilion were practically blasted off their hinges by a wave of pure, unadulterated chaotic energy.

"Mummy!" Phina and Raiden squealed simultaneously, their lanky, five-year-old frames launching across the room like furry missiles. They hit the velvet throws in a tangle of limbs, Raiden immediately trying to steal a piece of bison meat while Phina dived straight for my lap, her black wolf ears flat with excitement.

Right behind them were Kaito and Marina, their wild purple hair soaking wet and plastered to their foreheads, clutching a wooden bucket full of slush. They didn’t even look at the food; they just immediately took up a defensive position near Thalor’s legs, glaring at the door as if expecting an invading army.

"The wolf guard was a hassle," Lyra stated calmly, walking in with her usual erect, elegant posture. She looked completely pristine despite the blizzard outside, her silver braids without a single snowflake.

Fast asleep on her back was Nadir, his little arms locked around her neck, his silver-furred tail giving a lazy, contented twitch in his sleep.

And bringing up the rear was Taruna, breathless and laughing as she carried Kaelen and Sora under her arms like two bundles of firewood.

The one-year-old twins were covered in fresh snow, their little bare feet red, their pitch-black and white ears twitching frantically as they giggled like absolute maniacs.

"I am so sorry, Arinya," Taruna panted, setting the two crawling speedsters onto the heated cedar floorboards. "The moment Chief Fenric’s roar went out, they broke through the nursery gate like a stampede of bison!"

"It’s fine, Taruna," I laughed, the sound loud and clear against the glass panels. "Clearly, the Sovereign Wing belongs to them anyway."

In an instant, the elegant walnut table was completely dismantled.

Noah had scooped up Kaelen, letting the black-eared baby chew on the sleeve of his clean dark robe while he laughed, his deep voice filling the room with a protective warmth. Fenric had Phina on his shoulders and was currently letting Raiden feed him bison slices, his golden-striped tail wrapped securely around both of them.

Thalor was furiously scolding Kaito and Marina for bringing a bucket of melting ice onto his imported rugs, but his large hands were gently drying their purple hair with a silk cloth anyway.

And Damar? The cold, lethal serpent had smoothly slid behind Lyra, his long arms reaching around his daughter to gently untangle a sleeping Nadir from her back, tucking both of his children into his embrace with a look of intense, quiet satisfaction.

I sat in the center of the massive, chaotic pile of males, fur, kids, wine, and meat, a soft, content smile resting on my lips.

My dress was already stained with grease from Raiden’s fingers, my hair was being tugged by Sora’s tiny, curious claws, and the romantic date night had officially turned into a crowded, noisy playground.

I looked out the dark glass window at the sprawling slate walls of the West Way, the kingdom I had built with the knowledge of another world, and then I looked back at the beautiful, ridiculous circus surrounding me.

"Hey, Noah," I murmured, leaning my head against his broad shoulder as Kaelen let out a happy baby yip between us.

"Yes, my Queen?" he whispered, his dark ears brushing against my cheek.

"Pass the wine," I smiled, wrapping my arms tighter around my family. "The circus is officially in session."