Baby System: I'm the Beast World's Only Hope!-Chapter 349: Episode 347: Don’t Stand Up!

Ren froze, his large hands hovering just inches above her lower back. He blinked his vibrant green eyes, a look of profound, sluggish confusion crossing his beautiful features. Slowly, almost mechanically, he raised his fingers to his face.

A thick, dark trail of crimson blood was steadily trickling from his right nostril, tracking a stark, terrifying line down the pale curve of his lip and dripping onto his chin.

He hadn’t even felt it. The immortal Kitsune, a being of pure, boundless magical energy, was actively leaking life force, and his failing sensory network hadn’t even registered the biological fracture.

"Ah," Ren murmured, his voice incredibly hoarse. He quickly raised the back of his hand, attempting to hastily cup his nose and wipe away the damning evidence. "It is nothing, baby. Just a little—"

Roxy violently slapped his hand away.

"Do not just wipe it!" Roxy demanded. She threw herself off the pillows, scrambling toward the nightstand. She grabbed a thick, white linen napkin that had been left over from their evening tea and practically lunged back at him.

She pressed the white cloth firmly against his nose, her hands trembling so violently she could barely hold it steady. Within seconds, a dark, terrifying bloom of red stained the pristine linen.

"Why are you bleeding?!" Roxy demanded, her green eyes shining with sudden, hot tears. The terror was absolute. Alpha Kings did not simply get spontaneous nosebleeds. Their regeneration was flawless. Bleeding meant a catastrophic internal injury, or worse, a failing core. "Ren, tell me right now! Are you hurt? Did Zarek hit you harder than you let on?!"

Ren looked at her terrified, tear-streaked face, and the absolute devastation in his chest was suffocating. He wanted to tell her.

But he couldn’t. It would completely shatter her.

Ren let out a soft, shuddering breath, his vibrant green eyes dulling as he hastily fabricated a lie to anchor her panic.

"I am not hurt, my Queen," Ren whispered, his gravelly voice muffled by the linen napkin she was pressing to his face. He gently reached up, wrapping his large, warm hand over her trembling fingers. "It is just magical backlash. The atmospheric pressure change from the divine delivery... when those boxes dropped from the sky, I instinctively flared my core to shield the courtyard. My magical pathways were already severely strained from my heat cycle and... our month in this room. The sudden surge just ruptured a minor capillary. It is just exhaustion. I swear it."

Roxy stared deeply into his green eyes, desperately searching for the lie. It sounded plausible. But the heavy, sinking dread in her stomach refused to entirely dissipate.

"Here," Roxy ordered softly. She reached over with her free hand, grabbing a crystal goblet of ice-cold spring water from the bedside table. "Drink this. Slowly."

Ren didn’t argue. He allowed her to coax the water past his lips, swallowing heavily.

Slowly, agonizingly, the steady trickle of crimson began to slow, eventually coming to a complete stop. Roxy carefully pulled the ruined napkin away, her heart aching as she used a damp corner of the cloth to wipe the dried blood from his pale chin.

"You are going to rest," Roxy insisted, her voice leaving absolutely no room for debate. She tossed the bloodied napkin onto the floor and aggressively pushed on his broad shoulders, forcing the Fox King to lay flat against the pillows. "You are not leaving this bed until you are well. Do you understand me?"

Ren offered a weak, incredibly exhausted smile. "I wouldn’t dream of refusing an order from the Queen."

Roxy pulled the heavy furs up over his chest, climbing into the bed beside him. She wrapped her arms securely around his waist, anchoring him to the mattress.

Usually, the cocky trickster would have taken the opportunity to tease her, to let his hands roam. But tonight, the moment his head hit the pillow, Ren’s vibrant green eyes fluttered shut. Within a mere handful of seconds, his breathing evened out into a heavy, unnaturally deep rhythm.

Roxy lay beside him, her heart heavy, listening to the agonizingly slow thump of his heartbeat.

Ten minutes later, the doors of the master bedroom quietly clicked open.

The rest of the family filed into the room, entirely drained from the task of organizing the supply drop. Zarek, Torian, Kaelen, Syris, and Caspian stepped softly onto the woven rugs, their massive frames moving with silence so as not to wake the pregnant Queen.

But Roxy was wide awake.

She turned her head against the pillows, her brilliant green eyes sweeping over the five warlords assembled in the dim lighting. She saw the profound, bone-deep exhaustion lining their features, but more importantly, she saw the heavy, suffocating weight of the secret they were all carrying. The way Syris’s green eyes flicked nervously to the bloodied napkin on the floor. The way Kaelen’s icy blue gaze immediately assessed Ren’s pale, unconscious face. The way Zarek’s eyes lingered too long on Ren.

Roxy slowly tightened her grip on the sleeping Fox King.

"Very soon," Roxy whispered into the quiet room. "I am going to find out what you are all hiding from me." 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎

None of them offered a single word of defense. They didn’t fabricate a new lie, and they didn’t attempt to pacify her.

They simply stayed quiet and did not respond. Their silence was the most terrifying, damning confirmation they could have possibly given.

Roxy’s throat tightened. She turned away from them, laying her head back onto the pillows. She shifted closer to Ren, pressing her face against his chest as his large, heavy arms reflexively wrapped around her, cuddling her protectively even in his deepest sleep. She closed her eyes, letting the rhythmic sound of his breathing anchor her as she finally drifted off into a restless slumber.

The next morning, Roxy slowly blinked awake. She stretched her legs beneath the heavy furs, her hand instinctively reaching out across the massive mattress to find the warm, solid chest of her sleeping Fox King.

Instead of smooth skin, her fingers sank deep into a massive, impossibly thick wall of coarse red fur.

Roxy gasped, her brilliant green eyes flying open.

She scrambled backward against the headboard. The humanoid, dangerously handsome trickster was completely gone. Lying directly beside her on the bed, taking up more than half of the massive mattress, was a nine-tailed red fox.

Ren had shifted into his massive beast form overnight. His massive, bushy tails were curled tightly around his body, and his giant, pointed ears were flattened against his skull.

The sheer size of the beast was breathtaking, but there was something fundamentally wrong. His breathing was incredibly harsh, a wet, rattling sound echoing deep within his massive chest.

"Ren?" Roxy whispered, her heart kicking into a frantic rhythm.

She reached out, gently burying her hands into the thick fur of his massive shoulder. She pushed against him, trying to gently jostle the giant beast awake.

"Baby, wake up," Roxy coaxed, her voice laced with rising panic. "Ren, can you hear me?"

She received absolutely no response. The giant fox didn’t even twitch its ears. His vibrant green eyes remained firmly shut, his massive body completely unresponsive to her touch.

He’s just in a deep sleep, Roxy told herself, desperately trying to force the rising tide of terror back down her throat. His core is just repairing itself. He shifted because his body couldn’t maintain his form while he was resting.

Taking a shaky breath, Roxy decided to let him sleep. She needed to use the bathroom, and she needed to find Syris immediately to have the Snake King examine him.

Roxy shifted her weight, throwing the heavy furs off her legs. She moved toward the edge of the mattress, preparing to swing her legs over the side and stand up.

But the very second her weight shifted away from the massive beast, the master bedroom violently vibrated.

A deep, bone-rattling, and entirely feral growl ripped from the giant fox’s throat. The sound was terrifying, a pure, unadulterated primal warning that echoed off the stone walls. Ren’s massive jaws parted slightly, exposing rows of lethal, razor-sharp fangs.

He didn’t open his eyes, but his massive body tensed, the growl vibrating continuously through the mattress, commanding her to stay exactly where she was.

Roxy froze in absolute, paralyzed shock. Ren had never, ever growled at her in aggression.

"I don’t think it’s a good idea to stand up right now."