Chapter 107: Episode 106: To Enjoy Chocolate
Two weeks since Rue returned, every day seemed to be happier for her.
She spent a lot of her time inside the warm cabin just walking around as a tiny white bunny. It was the absolute best way to ignore the glowing blue system screens.
If a box popped up in the air and demanded her attention, she just hopped straight under the wooden table and ignored it. Bunnies could not read. She stuck totally to that excuse.
Being a small rabbit also let her spend quiet, uninterrupted time with the babies.
Mochi was clingy. The tiny snow leopard cub followed the white bunny absolutely everywhere. If Rue stopped to eat a piece of sweet fruit, Mochi tried to squeeze right under her chin.
Theron refused to tolerate that kind of behaviour.
The baby boy would slither over on his thick, shiny silver snake tail. He would grab the grey furball gently by the scruff of her neck and simply drop her onto the floor. Theron always put her right in her place. He made sure everybody in the room knew he claimed his mother first. He was a very proud little snake.
But despite the constant pushing and the stolen cuddle times, the two babies became very close. They spent hours chasing each other across the wooden floorboards.
They napped in a totally tangled pile of silver scales and fluffy grey fur near the warm hearth. Watching them play filled Rue’s chest with an intense, overwhelming warmth. She finally had a real family.
Now, they were getting ready to upgrade the house.
The cabin was too small for a growing hybrid snake, a feral snow leopard, and a brand new baby on the way. They needed to make the place a bit wider. They needed new rooms.
The neighbourhood sitting right between the swamps and the Convergence was very quiet today. The neighbours totally minded their own business while Caius and Knox tore down the back wall of the cabin.
Rue lay flat on her back in the warm green grass outside the front porch.
She was back in her human form. She wore a soft, light yellow cotton dress. The bright afternoon sun felt absolutely amazing against her pale skin. She crossed her bare ankles and just watched the two giant men work. It was an entertaining show.
Knox handled all the lifting. The giant panther beastman hoisted thick tree trunks right onto his broad shoulders. He carried them across the yard like they weighed absolutely nothing. His dark skin was slick with sweat. His muscles bunched and shifted under the strain of the wet wood.
Caius handled the precise, dangerous details. The Serpent Alpha used his sharp magical energy to cleanly slice the rough bark off the logs. He turned the ugly trees into perfectly smooth wooden planks in just a few seconds.
They worked together seamlessly. They did not argue. They just built her a bigger home.
Rue chewed lazily on a long blade of sweet grass.
She was bored.
Theron and Mochi were fast asleep inside the safe, quiet part of the cabin. She had absolutely nothing to do. She rolled over onto her stomach and rested her chin heavily on her hands.
Knox dropped a pile of wooden planks near the porch steps. He wiped his sweaty forehead with the back of his thick hand. He looked tired, but he turned right around and walked straight toward the thick tree line to fetch more firewood.
Rue stood up. She brushed the dry dirt and loose grass off her yellow skirt. She decided to follow him. Walking in the cool shade of the woods sounded much better than lying in the yard doing absolutely nothing.
She padded softly across the grass and stepped right into the dark shade of the tall pine trees.
The second she stepped out of the bright sunlight, her body changed.
A very sudden wave of intense heat crashed right into her chest. It did not feel like a normal fever. It was a thick, totally consuming warmth that spread instantly down her stomach and straight into her legs. Her breath hitched loudly in the quiet woods. Her knees actually buckled for a split second.
She reached out and grabbed the rough bark of a nearby pine tree to keep her balance.
Her heart pounded a frantic rhythm against her ribs. Her long silver hair suddenly felt too hot against the back of her sweating neck.
This was not the biological terror of a prey animal. She was not scared. She recognised this deep, intense craving immediately.
It was her mating heat.
It hit her out of nowhere. The timing was inconvenient, but the feeling was absolutely undeniable. Her skin felt sensitive. Every single breath she took felt hot.
She looked up and saw Knox standing just a few feet away in a small dirt clearing. His broad back was turned to her. He was bending down to pick up a thick branch. He looked strong. He spent his entire morning sweating and building a house just to make her comfortable.
She did not want to run away from him. She wanted him.
She let go of the tree. She walked quickly across the dry pine needles. She did not try to hide her footsteps.
Knox heard her small feet instantly. The giant panther spun around. He dropped the branch right onto the dirt. His golden eyes scanned the dark tree line frantically, expecting a dangerous enemy to jump out at them.
When he saw it was just Rue walking toward him, his tense shoulders dropped heavily. He let out a long breath of relief.
But then he looked right at her face.
He saw her bright pink eyes dilated. He saw the deep, red flush covering her soft cheeks and travelling all the way down her neck. He breathed in. He smelled the sudden, overwhelming sweet scent of her heat filling the entire forest clearing.
Knox swallowed hard. His giant hands twitched at his sides.
He took a slow, careful step toward her. He looked worried. He gently reached out and touched her burning cheek with his rough fingers.
Rue leaned into his hand. The rough calluses on his warm palm felt absolutely amazing against her hot skin.
She shook her head slowly.
She took a step into his personal space. She reached her small arms straight up and wrapped them tightly around his thick neck. She pressed her soft, burning body directly against his hard, sweaty chest. She did not pull away. She did not hesitate at all.
She looked right up into his wide golden eyes.
She offered him a confident, genuine smile. She remembered lying in a cold hospital room in New York. She remembered missing out on every single fun, wild thing a normal teenager got to do. She never got to make mistakes. She never got to be reckless.
She was healthy now. She was alive. She wanted to enjoy every single piece of this strange new life.
Rue said softly. She traced a single finger slowly down the centre of his chest. "I never got to properly enjoy chocolate, and I used to be naively innocent, but I guess once in a while I should experience being naughty."
Knox stood frozen in the quiet forest. His brain short-circuited. He looked down at her beautiful, flushed face.
"Chocolate?"