Baby System: I'm the Beast World's Only Hope!-Chapter 343: Episode 341: Is this the choice?

"Kae Kae?" Kaelen repeated, the syllables grinding past his sharp white fangs like crushed glass.

He took a slow, deliberate, and incredibly menacing step forward, his broad shoulders squaring as his combat aura violently flared to life.

Ren didn’t even have the self-preservation instincts to flinch. The Fox King was entirely, completely intoxicated by the overwhelming, terrifying joy of his impending fatherhood.

He just beamed, his vibrant green eyes shining with unshed tears as he completely ignored the imminent threat of being physically mauled by the wolf.

Before Kaelen could lunge across the room and physically throttle the trickster for the disrespect, Roxy violently intervened.

She slammed her hand down against the thick furs of the mattress.

"Ugh!" Roxy groaned loudly, throwing her head back against the pillows with a dramatic, highly exaggerated huff of absolute agony. "I am so incredibly hungry! I feel like my stomach is completely caving in! I am literally going to die of starvation if I don’t get some food right this second!"

The word die echoed sharply off the stone walls.

Their fiercely protective instincts immediately violently overrode their pride.

"My Queen, forgive me," Kaelen instantly rumbled, the homicidal glare completely vanishing from his icy blue eyes.

The Wolf Alpha spun around, abandoning his rage entirely to grab the heavy silver tray. He practically teleported to the edge of the mattress, setting the sprawling spread of steaming scrambled eggs, cured meats, and warm, buttered breads directly over her lap.

Ren was just as frantic. He scrambled forward on his knees, his bushy red tails swishing anxiously as he grabbed a warm, crusty roll from the tray. "Here, baby, eat this. You need to replenish your strength. The... the baby needs you to be strong."

Roxy hid a completely triumphant, deeply amused smile behind her hand. The absolute, unyielding devotion of her warlords was a weapon she wielded with flawless precision.

Before Roxy could reach for the roll Ren was offering, a tiny, warm presence pressed against her hip.

Tanith had waddled right up to the edge of the silver tray. The toddler snake-shifter’s bright green eyes—a perfect, flawless mirror of Roxy’s own—were wide with innocent, profound concern. She looked at her mother’s dramatic, starving expression, and without a single ounce of hesitation, she thrust her tiny hand forward.

Clutched tightly in her fingers was the heavily roasted, half-eaten chicken leg.

"Mama eat?" Tanith babbled sweetly, offering the very best part of her own breakfast to save her mother from starving.

Roxy’s heart completely melted into a puddle of adoration. She let out a bright, melodic laugh, the sound effortlessly chasing away the remaining shadows in the room.

She leaned forward, carefully avoiding the hot plates on the tray, and pressed a loud, lingering kiss to Tanith’s cheek, right over the beautiful, transparent glass-like scales dusting her skin.

"Thank you, my sweet, generous girl," Roxy cooed, her brilliant green eyes crinkling at the corners. She gently pushed the toddler’s small hand back toward her chest. "But Mama has a whole tray of food right here. You are a growing girl; you need to eat all of your chicken so you can get as big and strong as Daddy Syris. Okay?"

Tanith beamed, her bouncing pigtails swaying as she nodded vigorously. She immediately shoved the chicken leg back into her mouth, happily chewing as she sat on the furs beside the tray.

With the immediate threat of starvation temporarily averted, Roxy picked up a silver fork. But before she took her first bite, she leveled a highly stern, deeply unimpressed glare directly at the Fox King sitting beside her.

"And Ren," Roxy scolded gently, pointing the silver fork directly at his chest. "Do not call him that."

Ren blinked, his vibrant red hair falling into his eyes as he looked at her in genuine confusion. "Call him what?"

"Kae Kae," Roxy stated, her tone shifting into a firm, absolute matriarchal boundary. "You can call him Kaelen. You can call him the Wolf Alpha. But Kae is my special nickname for him. It belongs to me. You are not allowed to use it."

Kaelen, who had been busy pouring a fresh goblet of spring water, completely froze. The stoic, unyielding Alpha slowly straightened his posture.

He puffed his broad, muscular chest out to an almost comical degree, his icy blue eyes gleaming with an intense, overwhelming surge of pride. To have his woman publicly and fiercely defend her exclusive, affectionate claim over him in front of a rival mate was the absolute peak of validation.

Kaelen shot Ren a dark, incredibly smug, and utterly triumphant smirk.

Roxy caught the look and immediately dissolved into a fit of bright, ringing giggles, reaching out to accept the goblet of water Kaelen handed her.

Ren, however, looked completely offended. The trickster crossed his arms over his chest, his fluffy fox ears flattening slightly against his red hair as he let out a highly petulant, theatrical whine.

"What was wrong with Kae Kae?!" Ren argued, waving his hand indignantly at the smug wolf. "I was just trying to show some pack solidarity! We are practically brothers in arms now that I am officially joining the exclusive Iron-Wood fatherhood club! I thought the nickname showed a deep, profound emotional bond!"

Kaelen’s smug smirk instantly vanished. The Wolf Alpha leaned forward over the silver tray, his upper lip curling back to bare his sharp, lethal white fangs. A deep, concussive growl vibrated in his chest, his icy blue eyes locking onto Ren with a terrifying, absolute warning.

Push it one more inch, Fox, and I will throw you out of the newly repaired window.

Ren wisely snapped his mouth shut, holding his hands up in a placating, entirely fake gesture of surrender.

The heavy, chaotic tension finally bled out of the room, replaced by the warm, domestic sounds of breakfast. Roxy happily ate, her transmigrated core hungrily absorbing the nutrients, while Kaelen stood dutifully by, expertly anticipating her every need.

Ren watched her, his brilliant green eyes entirely soft, silently committing the beautiful, ordinary sight of her eating to his fading memory.

But as the morning sun climbed higher into the crisp autumn sky, a sudden, almost imperceptible sound cut through the quiet rustle of the furs.

It was the faintest sound of a dry twig breaking in the dense courtyard far below. For a human, or even a low-tier beast, it would have been completely inaudible.

But Ren’s fluffy, vibrant red fox ears instantly twitched.

The Fox King’s posture went entirely rigid. His instincts immediately locked onto the specific, highly disciplined magical signature hovering just outside the perimeter of the Manor walls. 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

It wasn’t an enemy. It was a familiar, deeply loyal scent, wrapped in the cold, biting wind of the eastern plains.

It was Kaito. His most elite, personally trained Kitsune subordinate.

Ren’s jaw clenched. He had completely abandoned his intelligence network during his agonizing heat cycle and the subsequent month of desperate isolation with Roxy.

If Kaito had to personally come, it meant the situation was incredibly urgent. Or, far more likely, Kaito had felt the catastrophic shift in the Fox King’s life force.

Ren needed to handle this immediately, before Kaito did something foolish like making Roxy worry.

"Baby," Ren murmured softly, pasting a flawless, relaxed smile onto his face as he stood up from the mattress. "I am going to slip out and check on the eastern trade reports. I completely neglected them during our... extended seclusion. I will be right back."

Roxy, currently distracted by Tanith aggressively attempting to feed her a piece of bread, simply nodded. "Don’t be long, Ren."

"Never," Ren promised, his voice thick with a heavy, unspoken double meaning.

He offered a respectful, entirely insincere bow to Kaelen, and seamlessly slipped out of the heavy oak doors, his footsteps completely silent on the polished floorboards.

Kaelen looked at him for a long moment before he looked away.

Ren moved through the corridors of the Iron-Wood Manor. He bypassed the main staircase using a hidden, secondary servant’s passage that led directly out to the secluded, high-walled northern gardens.

The crisp autumn air bit through the thin emerald silk of his robe as he stepped out into the shadows of the towering trees.

He didn’t have to search.

Kneeling perfectly still amidst the frosted ferns, completely blended into the shadows, was Kaito. The moment Ren stepped onto the grass, Kaito’s head snapped up.

The subordinate did not offer the traditional, subservient bow. He did not ask for orders. Kaito simply stared at his King, his own eyes studying him. The acute, ancient magical connection between the Kitsune allowed Kaito to sense exactly what had happened.

He could feel the devastating void where Ren’s boundless, immortal spark had once burned so brightly. He could smell the terrifying, irreversible biological countdown that had just begun.

The silence between the two Foxes was heavy, agonizing, and completely suffocating.

Kaito swallowed hard, his voice cracking with a profound, devastating grief as he looked at Ren.

"Is this the choice you made?"