Chapter 129: Episode 128: Mochi is shifting
"Something is wrong with Mochi"
Rue sat on the edge of the bed and stared at the woven rug. Her round belly rested on her lap. Her hands rested on the soft grey blankets. She looked down at a small wooden bowl sitting on the stone floor.
It held fresh, pink river fish. Axel woke up before dawn just to catch them. He cleaned the fish with his sharp hunting knife. He cut the meat into perfect, bite-sized pieces for the little snow leopard.
Mochi usually loved her morning fish. The cub usually purred so loudly the stone walls shook. She would eat the fish fast and then beg for more.
Not today.
Her voice shook. She gripped the soft blankets tight in her hands. She ignored the dull ache in her lower back. She ignored the glowing blue warning from the system last night that told her to rest. Right now, she only cared about the little grey cub lying on the floor.
The gray snow leopard cub acted sick. Mochi lay flat on her side next to the wooden bowl. She didn’t sniff the fresh food. She didn’t bat at the pink pieces with her fuzzy paw. She curled into a tight ball and whined. She just closed her bright blue eyes and let out a sad, weak sound. Her chest rose and fell in quick, shallow breaths.
Knox walked into the bedroom. The Southern panther carried a fresh clay pitcher of cold water. He saw Rue’s pale face and stopped right in his tracks. His golden eyes went wide with sudden fear.
"What’s wrong?" Knox asked quickly. He set the pitcher down on the wooden table so fast the water splashed over the rim. "Are you having contractions? Is the baby coming right now?"
"It’s not me," Rue answered. She pointed a shaking finger down at the rug. "Look at her. She won’t eat. She always eats her breakfast."
Knox let out a long breath of relief. He thought his mate was in pain. He crouched down next to the tiny snow leopard. He poked Mochi’s soft shoulder with one thick finger. The cub didn’t even try to bite him. That was a very bad sign.
"She just has an upset stomach," Knox reasoned softly. "Cubs eat dirt and bugs all the time out in the yard. She’ll be fine by noon. Don’t worry so much, little one."
He doesn’t get it, Rue thought frantically. She looks so weak. She never ignores food.
Rue panics. She pushed herself up from the mattress. Her swollen ankles throbbed, but she didn’t care at all. She waddled over to the spot where Mochi lay. She dropped to her knees on the rug. The hard stone floor sent a sharp spike of pain up her legs.
"Rue, you shouldn’t sit on the floor," Axel called out. The white wolf stepped through the open doorway. He saw her kneeling and rushed over to her side. "You need to stay in bed. Your body is too fragile today."
"I’m not moving," Rue snapped. She reached out and stroked Mochi’s fuzzy ears. The cub felt way too hot. Her gray fur was damp with sweat. "She’s sick. We have to help her. Please."
Mochi whimpered again. The sound broke Rue’s fragile heart. She tucked her black nose under her long grey tail and shivered violently.
"She is crying," Rue whispered. Tears filled her pink eyes. She felt the hot drops spill over her eyelashes. "Please do something. Both of you. Fix it."
Axel knelt beside Rue. He placed a cool, comforting hand on her shoulder. He looked down at the cub. Wolves knew a lot about pack sickness. He leaned close and sniffed the air carefully.
"She doesn’t smell sick," Axel murmured. A deep frown formed on his handsome face. "Usually, a fever carries a sour scent. Her scent is changing, though. It smells like ozone and raw magic. It smells like a storm."
Knox frowned too. The panther ran a hand through his dark hair. "I can fetch a healer from the swamp borders. It’ll take a few hours to run there and back."
"We don’t have a few hours!" Rue cried out. Her pregnancy hormones made the panic rise fast. She felt like she couldn’t breathe. "Look at her shaking. She’s in pain right now."
Theron crawled into the room and stopped near Rue’s knee. He tilted his small head and looked at his playmate. Theron didn’t babble happily. He didn’t reach out to grab the cat’s tail like he normally did. He sensed the strange tension in the room. He wrapped his small arms around Rue’s leg and hid his face against her dress.
Even Theron knows something is very bad
She wiped a stray tear from her cheek. "Where’s Caius? Go get Caius right now."
Axel stood up to go find the snake, but he didn’t have to.
Caius glided through the doorway. The Serpent Alpha wore his usual dark tunic. His expression was calm and smooth. He didn’t rush, but his glowing golden eyes darted straight to Rue to make sure she was safe. He saw her crying on the rug and his jaw tightened.
"Why is she on the floor?" Caius asked coldly. He shot a sharp, dangerous glare at Knox and Axel.
"Don’t yell at them," Rue sniffled. She looked up at Caius with desperate, wide eyes. "Mochi is sick. She’s shivering and she feels really hot. Please help her."
Caius inspects the cub, his golden eyes narrowing. He knelt gracefully on the opposite side of the cub. He didn’t mind the hard stone floor at all. He reached out with pale, elegant fingers. He didn’t touch the cub’s fur right away. He hovered his hand just an inch above Mochi’s shivering back. He recognizes the signs of a forced shift.
He closed his eyes. The room grew very quiet. Even Knox stopped pacing near the bed.
Caius felt the energy radiating from the tiny animal. It wasn’t a sickness. It was a wild, roaring fire of magical power building up inside the cub’s core. The magic pushed against her small physical limits. It demanded to be let out into the world.
"She isn’t sick," Caius announced quietly. He pulled his hand back and rested it on his knee.
"Then why is she crying?" Rue asked. She rubbed Mochi’s head very gently, feeling the intense heat coming off the animal. "Why won’t she eat her fish?"
"Her body is preparing for a big change," Caius explained. He kept his voice low and soothing so he wouldn’t scare his pregnant mate. "She’s a feral beast. Normally, snow leopards stay in their animal forms for years before they learn to shift into a humanoid shape. It takes time to gather enough energy in the wild."
He then tosses a look at both Knox and Axel as if saying, ’Why don’t you guys know this?’
They shrugged.
Knox crossed his thick arms over his chest. "But she lives here," the panther realized out loud.
"Yes," Caius nodded. "She lives in a house saturated with power. She is exposed to high-level power every single day. Her core absorbed it all like a sponge."
Rue blinked. She tried to process the words through her panicked brain. "So... what does that mean?"
Is she going to be okay?
Caius heard her thought through the bond. He offered her a very rare, reassuring smile. He reached across the cub and gently brushed a silver curl away from Rue’s wet cheek.
"It means you have nothing to worry about," Caius told her. "She’s undergoing a forced shift. Her body has too much magic. It’s forcing her to evolve much earlier than a wild cub."
Rue let out a long, shaky breath. The tight knot in her chest started to loosen. "A forced shift. Will it hurt her?"
"It’s uncomfortable," Axel said, joining the conversation again. He sat cross-legged on the rug. "I remember my first shift. But it passes quickly."
Mochi let out another high-pitched whine. The sound echoed in the quiet stone bedroom.
Rue winced in sympathy. She wanted to pick the cub up and rock her to sleep, but she knew better. When a beast shifted, they needed space.
"We should give her room," Knox suggested. He stepped forward and placed his large hands gently under Rue’s arms. "Let me help you up, little one. You shouldn’t be too close."
"I want to stay right here," Rue argued stubbornly. "I won’t leave her alone while she’s scared."
"I’ll be here with you," Caius promised..
Drax walked into the room just then. The Dragon King paused at the doorway, taking in the strange scene. Four adults and a toddler gathered in a circle on the floor around a shivering lump of gray fur.
"The snow leopard is shifting," Caius told Drax before the dragon could ask.
Drax’s dark eyes widened slightly. "Already? She’s very young."
"She absorbed our residual pheromones," Axel explained.
Mochi suddenly stopped whining. The tiny cub went perfectly still on the rug. The air in the bedroom grew very thick. The fine hairs on Rue’s arms stood straight up.
"It’s starting," Caius warned. He leaned closer to Rue, placing a protective arm around her shoulders.
Theron peeked out from behind Rue’s knee. His golden snake eyes watched his furry friend with intense curiosity.
The small wooden bowl of fish rattled against the stone floor.
Mochi’s bright blue eyes snapped open. They didn’t look like animal eyes anymore.
The grey fur began to blur. The cub’s shape started to stretch and elongate right before their eyes.
Her bones began to shift, and the hair on her body recedes.