I Abandoned My Beast Cubs for the Protagonist... Oops?-Chapter 79: Flee Before the Turkeys

"Oh, heavens!" Zhāo Yàn shrieked, his Alpha dignity instantly evaporating. He spun on his heel and bolted. "They are fast! Why are they so fast?! Fall back! Bai Yue! I think we should stop now!"

Han Shān, having managed to secure three fruits, leaped from the tree, only to find himself instantly pursued by the Alpha bird, which was relentlessly trying to nuzzle his broad shoulders with its razor-sharp beak.

"Do not touch me!" Han Shān roared, sprinting across the basin, clutching the bag of lemons to his chest like a running back heading for the endzone. "I am spoken for!"

"Help! One is attempting to build a nest around my legs!" Yàn Shū cried out, desperately trying to outrun three females that were tossing twigs at him.

Bai Yue stood safely upwind on the ridge, watching the three most powerful, terrifying men in the Northern Territory run screaming in circles from a flock of amorous giant turkeys.

She clamped her hands over her mouth, but it was no use. A snort escaped. Then a giggle. Within seconds, Bai Yue was doubled over, laughing so hard her ribs ached and tears streamed down her face.

"Bai Yue, this is not amusing!" Zhāo Yàn wailed as he sprinted past her rock, a massive bird aggressively pecking at the trailing fabric of his robes.

"Run toward the river!" Bai Yue managed to gasp out between laughs. "They can’t swim! Just get the lemons to the river!"

With a roar of desperation, the three Alphas abandoned all pretense of a fight and booked it for the tree line, a stampede of aggressive, clucking romance hot on their heels.

~

Two hours later.

The camp was quiet again, save for the crackling of the fire.

The three Alphas were sitting in a row on a large fallen log. They were soaked to the bone from their escape across the river, shivering slightly, and looking utterly, completely defeated. Han Shān had a feather stuck in his hair. Zhāo Yàn was mourning the final destruction of his favorite robe. Yàn Shū was staring blankly at the dirt, likely questioning everything he knew about the natural world.

Bai Yue stood before them, holding three perfectly intact, glowing yellow Sun-Citrus fruits.

"Well," she said, biting the inside of her cheek to stop herself from laughing again. "I’d say that was a resounding success."

[☆ QUEST COMPLETE! ☆]

[Reward: Odor Neutralizer, +50 Survival Points distributed!]

[System Note: The Host’s husbands run remarkably fast when their virtue is on the line.]

Bai Yue swiped the screen away with a smirk. She drew a small dagger and sliced the fruits in half, the sharp, acidic scent instantly cutting through the cloying, heavy pheromones that still clung to the men.

She walked up to Han Shān first.

"Here," Bai Yue said softly. She knelt in front of him, taking his large, calloused hand in hers. She squeezed the bright yellow juice over his palms, rubbing it into his skin to neutralize the soap.

Han Shān’s breath hitched. He didn’t pull away. Instead, his fingers curled slightly, loosely trapping her much smaller hands within his grasp. The heavy, magical aphrodisiac was fading, but the way he looked at her didn’t change in the slightest.

She turned to the other two, who were glaring fiercely at Han Shān for monopolizing her attention.

"My turn!" Zhāo Yàn demanded, thrusting his hands forward. "Hurry, Bai Yue. My skin is terribly sensitive, and this river water has entirely ruined my complexion. Scrub me gently."

"Statistically speaking, the citric acid should not only neutralize the pheromones but also act as a mild exfoliant," Yàn Shū muttered, though he eagerly presented his hands as well, his pale face still heavily flushed.

Before Bai Yue could squeeze another drop of juice, a deafening CLANG echoed through the camp.

Everyone jumped. The three Alphas immediately snapped into combat stances.

From the dark mouth of the small cave near the edge of their clearing, a heavy iron cooking pot rolled out, hitting a rock with a dull thud.

A second later, Hóng Yè marched out into the fading sunlight. The teenage red panda beastman puffed out his chest, wielding a thoroughly chewed stick like a broadsword. "The perimeter is secure! No enemy beasts have breached the inner sanctum!"

He sounded incredibly fierce, which was completely undermined by the fact that little Yóu Lín was currently dangling upside down from Hóng Yè’s waist sash, gnawing happily on the hem of his pants.

Right behind them, Ruì Xuě waddled out of the cave. The snow-leopard cub rubbed his big, round eyes with his tiny fists, blinking in the bright light.

He took one look at the three terrifying, drenched, feather-covered Beastman Lords and tilted his head.

"Why is Papa wet?" Ruì Xuě asked, his little voice echoing loudly in the silence. He pointed a chubby finger at Zhāo Yàn. "And why does Uncle Zhāo Yàn smell like that?"

Zhāo Yàn gasped, dramatically clutching his ruined, sodden robes. He desperately glanced around for an excuse. "We were engaging in a fierce aquatic battle! With... water demons!"

"Water demons with feathers?" Hóng Yè asked dryly, plucking the stray feather from Han Shān’s wet hair and holding it up to the light. "Looks like dinner to me."

"Shhhh!" Han Shān growled, though his ears were burning red. He snatched the feather away and crushed it in his fist.

Bai Yue smiled, dropping the lemons and walking over to scoop Ruì Xuě into her arms. The cub immediately buried his face in her neck, taking a deep sniff.

"Mama smells nice," Ruì Xuě mumbled sleepily.

"And your father smells terrible," Bai Yue teased, kissing the top of the cub’s head. "Come on, little ones. Let’s get you fed. Hóng Yè, excellent job guarding the camp. You are officially promoted from Camp Commander to Chief Taste-Tester."

Hóng Yè’s chest puffed out even further, a smug grin spreading across his face as he marched toward the cooking fire, dragging a babbling Yóu Lín along with him.

~

The camp was dead silent, save for the comforting crackle of the dying fire and the snoring.

Inside, Hóng Yè had arranged his younger brothers into a furry, heavily guarded pile, taking his new role as Camp Commander with seriousness.

Bai Yue sat on a log, picking a piece of dried mud off her knee. She brought her arm up to her nose, took a sniff, and immediately gagged.

"Ugh," she whispered to herself.

She smelled like a walking, talking lemon-scented floor cleaner that had been dragged through a swamp. The Sun-Citrus juice had done its job miraculously well, neutralizing the dangerous aphrodisiac soap before the forest descended into complete reproductive chaos. But now, the sticky, acidic residue of the juice was plastered to her skin, mixing with the sweat, dirt, and sheer terror of the day’s marathon run from the giant amorous turkey-birds.

She couldn’t sleep like this. It was physically impossible.

Glancing around to ensure the three exhausted Beastman Lords were truly asleep, Bai Yue grabbed a clean up cloth and a fresh bar of normal soap she had stashed away.

She tiptoed out of the clearing, moving as silently as possible toward the secluded bend in the river where a natural hot spring fed into the current.

She stripped off her stiff, ruined clothes, shivering slightly as the chill hit her bare skin, and hurriedly waded into the water.

The warmth of the spring was heaven. Bai Yue let out a long, pathetic groan of relief, sinking down until the water lapped at her collarbones. She closed her eyes, letting the gentle current wash away the chaos of the day.

"If yu make sounds like that, I am going to lose what little restraint I have left."

Bai Yue yelped, slapping her arms over her chest and spinning around so fast she nearly swallowed a mouthful of river water.

Han Shān stepped out from the deep shadows of the weeping willow trees on the opposite bank.

"Han Shān!" she squeaked, sinking lower until the water reached her chin. "What are you doing here?!"

"Standing guard," he replied smoothly, wading slowly into the water toward her. The river barely reached his waist, making him look like a towering river god. "The citrus masked your scent, but it did not make you invisible, Bai Yue. Did you think I would let you wander into the dark alone after the commotion we caused today?"

"I thought you were asleep!"

"Alphas do not sleep when their mate is wandering the woods unprotected," he stated. He stopped a few feet away, respectfully keeping his distance, though his eyes tracked the droplets of water clinging to her bare shoulders with laser-like focus. "Besides. I also required a bath."

"Wash, Bai Yue. I will turn my back so you can have your modesty."

True to his word, the giant, terrifying Alpha turned around, presenting her with a back that was wide enough to eclipse the moon.

Bai Yue let out a shaky breath, grabbing her cloth and soap. She quickly began scrubbing the sticky lemon juice and mud off her arms and torso. But as she tried to reach the center of her back, where a particularly stubborn, itchy patch of dried mud had crusted right between her shoulder blades, she let out an irritated sigh.

Her human arms just wouldn’t bend that way, and her joints were aching from the day’s stress.

heavy splash sounded behind her. "Allow me."

Before she could even squeak a protest, Han Shān was right behind her. He gently but firmly took the wet cloth from her hands.

"I can do it," she stammered, her heart suddenly hammering a frantic, uneven rhythm against her ribs.

"You cannot reach," he murmured. "Hold still."