The deer cubs were scared, and hid under the blankets, their ears pressed against their heads. The wolves' howling was getting closer and they were not happy.
Baron groaned, "My Dearest, how many times did I tell you to stop spoiling them?" he scolded Madam, who was casually standing at the entrance, not at all bothered by the noise. "They are not cubs anymore."
"Even adults need to be spoiled from time to time," Madam replied, as the sound of paws scratching the ground reached our ears. The ground rumbled, and the walls shook as heavy bodies ran toward the burrow.
"I smell Papa," one voice said.
"Mama is there too," the other added.
Two large beastmen entered the room, their size reaching the ceiling. They had purple strikes in their blue hair here and there and were almost identical, probably from the same litter.
Baron had two cubs with another female before meeting Madam. Apparently, his previous mate hit them so much that they now refused to grow up and find their own mates.
A third beastman emerged from the entrance, with a younger face and smaller size like an adolescent male. Madam's and Baron's cub wasn't as excited as the other two and just rolled his eyes at them, exactly like Baron would when he was annoyed by the owners. The similarities were uncanny.
"Mama!" The two barked happily, seeing her.
Madam ruffled their heads as they leaned down to rub their faces against her palms, "How was your trip? Did you eat well?"
"We ate a whole village!" one of them said proudly.
"We ate well!" the other added, his tail wagging even faster, hitting the wall behind him.
The youngest flicked their ears and stepped aside, giving them a disgusted look. "We didn't eat the villagers. We ate their food."
"We did eat the goats and the sheep," the first one said, and the other nodded in agreement. They were so excited they were speaking over each other.
"Mama, did you find the new mama?" they first asked, and then their attention turned to me, "Why is Papa holding a female?!"
They quickly jumped over the deer cubs, who squeaked and hid further under the blankets, and circled around us, their eyes on me.
"Are you replacing Mama...with a female?!" the twin asked only to get slapped by their youngest brother's tail.
They whimpered when Baron joined in and also hit their ankles with his outstretched leg, growling at them. "I will replace you with other cubs if you don't shut your snouts."
Baron's words had them quickly covering their mouths with their hands.
"Introduce yourself to her," he ordered.
They exchanged a look, then came closer again. Baron turned me around to face them, and seated me on his lap.
"Peadust, the oldest one," the first one said, pushing his twin away, "Known as Dust by the pack."
"Peadew, the real older one," the twin pushed him back, "Dew by the pack."
"Sweet Pea," the youngest said, ignoring the fighting twins, "You can call me Swep, it's my chosen name."
They all stared at me, waiting for me to say something. The twins seemed playful while Swep was calm and observant.
Baron encouraged me to introduce myself as well, so I did, "I'm...Black Sheep."
"We can see that," Peadust looked confused, "But what's your name?"
Names were given to those worth remembering. I haven't built any achievements, or done anything extraordinary yet. Females were referred to by their traits, short sheep, dumb sheep, and in my case, black sheep. I had to become more than just a sheep to earn a name.
I didn't know how to explain this to them. I was fine with being called whatever they wanted, as long as they liked it. Funny or ridiculous, it affected their moods, not mine. If I had a name, wouldn't it affect me as well? I liked not being affected, it made things easier.
"You can call me however you want," I gave them the option to choose my name, "I...I don't have a preference, as long as...you are happy with it."
The twins stared at me like I was speaking another language, while Swep just blinked and then looked at Baron.
Baron chuckled and patted my head, "Since Mama is known as Cloud Nine's Madam, she will be known as Cloud Nine's Little Miss until she picks a name for herself."
He explained and the twins readily accepted my lack of a name. Before I knew it, I received an official title, and I have yet to find out what position it carried.
"Then, Little Miss," Peadew said, towering over me and Baron, "You should know that we will not let anyone hurt Papa."
"We will protect him from evil females," Peadust crossed his arm.
"Burn them," Sweet Pea added.
"Burn them all!" the twins chanted in unison.
Baron rubbed his temples, his shoulders slumping in exhaustion, "Didn't I tell you to not burn everything you think is evil?"
"But Papa Michael said to burn our enemies," Peadew said, tilting his head to the side, "He said we should burn them to the ground."
"Papa Gold said drowning works even better," Peadew said, and Madam's head turned toward them from the other side of the room. She went to check on the female cubs and was listening to them this whole time.
"Papa Kurus was the one who taught us how to poison them," Peadust added, "And do you remember what you taught us, Papa Baron?"
Baron covered my ears, not letting me hear the gruesome words that came out of Peadew's mouth. I realized owners hated females with passion and passed it onto their cubs. I was glad they liked me enough to not want to burn and drown me.
Madam came to the rescue as Baron couldn't refute their claims or so I assumed, "Surely you can think of a way to protect your Papa without having to kill anyone?"
The twins gave it a thought, but Swep was quicker to respond, "We can scare them by telling them how scary we are. That always works."
She actually high fived them for that, their palms connected in the air, starting with the order they talked, "Let's go scare some fleabags outside."
They all followed her out and Baron's shoulders slumped even more. He whispered to himself, "They will never find their own mate, never. I will never have grandcubs."
His head fell on top of mine as he let out a long breath. I wrapped my arms around his chest and patted his back like he always did for me. It was a strange feeling, to comfort someone so much bigger and stronger than me.
"Dearest say it doesn't matter, that we are still a family, but it does matter to me," Baron mumbled, "It's not normal for cubs to not leave their parents."
I nodded. It was indeed very important to leave the nest and learn how to live independently, it was something every parent wanted for their offspring.
"You can kick...kick them out," I suggested, "I...I survived on my own...so can they."
"...pfft," he snorted, then started laughing, his body shaking in my hold, "I did kick them out. Multiple times. They also ran away from home...multiple times. I guess it's our fault for always welcoming them back."
I patted his back some more, "If you don't...welcome them...they will...learn."
╔═══ Author's note ════╗
So many gifts! Thanks a lot! Here, a chapter as a thank you.
I wonder if I should add some goals? Like an extra chapter for every 5 colas? Though I don't know if I will be able to pull more than 3ch/week though. 😭🙏
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