Baby System: I'm the Beast World's Only Hope!-Chapter 351: Episode 349: How do I help you?

The giant red fox looked at her for a long, agonizing second.

Then, very slowly, he let out a soft, heartbreakingly weak yip in agreement.

"Oh baby..." Roxy sobbed, the words tearing from her throat in a messy, devastated gasp.

She abandoned all restraint, throwing her arms around his massive, furry neck. She buried her face deeply into the thick, matted red fur of his mane, her shoulders shaking violently as she wept right there on the kitchen floor.

Ren let out a low, distressed rumble. The giant fox gently nudged his massive snout against her shoulder. He turned his head, his rough, warm tongue extending to lap away the hot tears streaming down her cheeks, licking her jawline in a desperate, comforting rhythm.

He was the one trapped in a deteriorating body, yet his only concern was soothing her panic.

Standing perfectly still by the chopping block, Kaelen looked away. The Wolf Alpha’s icy blue eyes were tight with an agonizing, silent grief, unable to offer his Queen a single word of comfort because the truth was a thousand times worse than she realized.

After that devastating afternoon in the kitchen, the days began to move in an absolute, chaotic blur.

The terrifying reality of Ren’s condition became the new, unspoken normal of the Iron-Wood Manor. The warlords completely closed ranks around their Queen, absorbing her pack duties and shielding her from the political demands of the outside continent.

By the time the calendar ticked into the third week of her pregnancy, the sheer, supernatural speed of Beastworld genetics was on full display. The gestation period for a pureblood Kitsune heir was incredibly brief. Seven weeks and three days. That was all the time her body needed to forge a new soul.

At exactly three weeks, Roxy’s stomach had already started bulging really well.

The delicate, magical life growing inside her was incredibly demanding, rapidly expanding her waistline and sending her hormones into an absolute, chaotic tailspin. She was exhausted, her back constantly ached, and her patience had worn dangerously thin.

Her first major casualty was technology.

Give a beastkin child a device and they are going to get addicted.

The tablets delivered by the gods had initially been a blessing, keeping the children quiet during the terrifying transition of Ren’s illness. But by week three, the Iron-Wood nursery had turned into a den of digital zombies. Axel and Onyx, their matching blue eyes glued to their screens, had completely stopped practicing their wolf tracking.

Iris’s violet eyes were constantly glazed over as she ignored her drawing lessons, and even little Tanith, with her bright green eyes, was throwing unprecedented, screeching tantrums whenever the glowing rectangles were taken away to charge.

Roxy finally snapped.

She marched into the living room, and confiscated every single tablet, smartphone, and screen in the Manor. She locked them inside a heavy iron-wood chest in Torian’s armory, laying down a strict, uncompromising punishment: no technology for a week, and going forward, they were allowed exactly one hour of screen time after their evening combat and academic lessons.

The children had wailed. Drax, whose teenage green eyes had widened in sheer horror at losing his new tactical databases, had actually tried to argue, only to be immediately silenced by a single glare from Zarek.

But within two days, the discipline held. The triplets were back to wrestling on the rugs, and Tanith was back to her usual, happily talking self.

Drax didn’t appreciate that, but he still loved her.

But while she had successfully wrangled the children, Roxy was finding it much harder to wrangle her own emotions.

She was incredibly grouchy. Every little thing set her teeth on edge, and the primary target of her hormonal frustration was the massive, nine-tailed shadow that refused to leave her side.

Ren was always in her space.

Because he was trapped in his colossal beast form, taking up the physical footprint of a small horse, maneuvering around the Manor had become a nightmare. If Roxy wanted to sit by the hearth, Ren would squeeze his massive bulk between the sofa and the fire, nearly knocking over the iron pokers. If she walked down the hallway, he was directly on her heels, his massive paws thudding loudly against the floorboards. She couldn’t even use the bathroom without a giant red snout pushing the door open to check on her.

"Ren, back up!" Roxy snapped one afternoon, nearly tripping over one of his massive, bushy tails as she tried to walk through the parlor. "You are taking up the entire room! Just give me two feet of space, please!"

The giant fox immediately froze, his fluffy ears pinning flat against his skull as he let out a soft, highly apologetic whine, practically trying to shrink his massive shoulders into the wall.

The moment she heard the pathetic sound, Roxy’s grouchiness instantly evaporated, replaced by a crushing wave of profound guilt. She dropped to her knees, wrapping her arms around his thick neck, apologizing profusely.

She couldn’t blame him. She knew he couldn’t help it.

And honestly, despite the lack of space, she had gotten incredibly used to his constant, furry company. His silent presence had become her greatest anchor in the storm.

To help alleviate the massive drain on her physical body, her mates had also initiated a major transition for the nursery’s youngest resident.

Tyara, the fiercely energetic white tiger cub, had been entirely weaned off Roxy’s milk. Torian and Caspian had taken over the feeding duties, utilizing the divine gadgetry to warm bottles of highly nutritious, magically enriched goat’s milk.

Tyara didn’t seem to mind the change at all. She would recline happily in the former Merman’s arms, her striking blue eyes completely focused on the bottle as her fluffy white knuckles kneaded Caspian’s silk shirt.

It gave Roxy the desperately needed physical reprieve to focus entirely on the delicate Kitsune life blooming in her bulging stomach.

On the final evening of the third week, the Manor was quiet. The children had been put to bed, and the Alpha Kings were currently patrolling the forest.

Roxy was sitting comfortably on the plush cushions near the grand hearth in the main parlor. The fire crackled warmly, casting a dancing, golden light across the stone walls. Beside her, Ren was lying entirely flat on his stomach.

The giant red fox had rested his massive, heavy head directly on Roxy’s lap, his green eyes fluttering shut as he soaked in the warmth of the fire.

Roxy was gently, rhythmically rubbing his head, her fingers carding through the thick fur between his large ears.

"You are such a good boy, baby," Roxy murmured softly, feeling the steady, heavy thump of his heart against her thigh. 𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

Suddenly, without a single microsecond of warning, the air around them violently hitched.

A sharp, terrifying crackle of raw magic static filled the quiet parlor.

Ren’s vibrant green eyes snapped open. He let out a sudden, high-pitched whine of absolute distress. His massive muscles locked entirely rigid beneath her hands.

"Ren?" Roxy gasped, immediately pulling her hands back as a wave of intense, blistering heat radiated from his fur.

The Fox King let out a loud, agonizing whimper, his heavy head rolling off her lap and hitting the woven rug. And then, right before Roxy’s terrified green eyes, the giant beast began to physically change.

Roxy watched in horror as her mate shrank. His massive, muscular shoulders caved inward. His thick, tree-trunk legs reduced to slender, fragile limbs. The nine, glorious, bushy tails that had once fanned out like a fiery crown withered, merging and shrinking until only a single, ordinary-sized tail remained.

Within five agonizing seconds, the transformation was complete.

The colossal beast was gone. Lying on the woven rug, panting heavily, was a completely normal, standard-sized red fox. He was no bigger than a typical hunting hound.

"Oh my god," Roxy breathed.

She threw herself off the velvet cushions, dropping to her hands and knees beside the small, trembling animal. She hovered her hands over his body, absolutely terrified to touch him. She thought he was in excruciating, bone-breaking pain.

She didn’t know what the fuck was wrong with him!

Fuck, this is why I hate being the one in the dark.

"Ren!" Roxy cried out. "Baby, are you hurt? Please, talk to me, what’s happening?!"

The small red fox lifted his head weakly from the rug. His breathing was incredibly shallow, his once-vibrant green eyes now horribly dull and clouded with a terrifying exhaustion.

Instead, Ren slowly dragged his small, fragile body forward a few inches. He stretched his neck out, his pink tongue emerging to gently, weakly lick her trembling hand, offering her the same quiet, devoted comfort he always did. He wasn’t in physical pain; he was just entirely, completely empty.

Roxy’s heart violently ached, a profound, suffocating grief wrapping entirely around her throat as she stared at the frail animal that had once been the continent’s most feared trickster.

She let out a broken, shattered sigh, her tears dropping onto his soft red fur.

"How do I help you, baby?"