Chapter 360: The Feisty Cat
Roxanna quickly nodded, but after blowing on the meat only a few times, she took a bite anyway.
The next second, she regretted it. "Mmph!"
The hot meat burned her tongue, making her eyes water instantly. Calen sighed as if he had expected this all along. He immediately handed her a jug of water.
"Here," he said. "Drink this."
Without thinking, Roxanna quickly grabbed the water jug from Calen and took several large gulps. But even after drinking so much water, the burning feeling on her tongue refused to go away.
As she fanned her mouth with one hand, trying to cool her tongue, she suddenly realized something was wrong.
"Where’s Luan?" she asked, her lips still slightly red. "I haven’t seen him for a while."
[Crap!] Roxanna cried inwardly. [I haven’t seen him since we came back from the forest! How could I forget about him?!]
One of the warriors suddenly slapped his forehead so hard that the sound echoed through the settlement.
"Leader! I just remembered!" he shouted. "I think I saw Luan following you into the forest earlier! He was in his cat form, so you probably didn’t notice him!"
Roxanna’s eyes widened. "What?" she asked in surprise. "I really didn’t realize he’d been following me the whole time."
She immediately turned to Carla and the other women. "Did any of you notice someone following us?"
Carla shrugged. "Other than the demon beasts secretly watching us, I didn’t notice anything."
Roxanna’s face immediately turned pale. "There were demon beasts following us?!"
"I mean..." Carla scratched her cheek awkwardly. "It was a forest. It’s impossible not to run into any demon beasts out there."
Sonya frowned and tilted her head. "But then why didn’t we run into any of them?"
Lila, who hadn’t even joined the hunt, casually raised her hand. "Oh! Maybe Luan killed them all before they could get close to you!"
The other women looked at one another before slowly nodding.
"That makes sense."
"Yeah, it really does."
"It does make sense, but where is he now?!" Roxanna exclaimed, panic filling her voice.
The roasted tiger meat in front of her suddenly didn’t smell delicious anymore, and even the wine had lost its appeal.
She immediately jumped to her feet and looked at each of her husbands.
"What if something happened to him in the forest?" she asked, her voice trembling. "We have to find him right now!"
She didn’t even need to ask. The moment they realized Luan was missing, her other husbands had already stood up and begun preparing to search the forest.
Even Lilo stopped eating for a moment—a rare sight for the fat cat—the moment he heard that his fellow cat had disappeared, his ears stood straight up, and he looked toward the entrance with obvious concern.
The cheerful atmosphere disappeared in an instant.
The laughter around the campfire fell silent as everyone quickly put down their bowls and cups.
"I’ll search the forest," Calen said as he grabbed his axe.
"Me too," Zeir added, already preparing his weapon.
Cyrus closed the lid of the wine barrel without another word. "I’ll search from above."
With a powerful flap of his wings, the bird beastman shot into the night sky. From above, he could cover much more ground than anyone else.
Roxanna didn’t wait either. "I’m coming too!"
Before Calen or Zeir could stop her, she quickly spoke again. "I know exactly where we were hunting today," she said firmly. "If we follow the same path through the forest, we’ll have a better chance of finding him."
Her voice was calm, but the worry in her eyes was impossible to hide. After all, she couldn’t just stay behind while one of her husbands was missing.
"Alright, let’s go," Zeir said. "Just stay near us."
The group quickly headed into the forest, following the same path Roxanna and the others had taken earlier that day.
High above them, Cyrus circled through the night sky, his sharp eyes searching every clearing, cliff, and treetop below.
Unfortunately, the forest was unusually dark that night. A thin layer of mist had settled between the trees, making it difficult to see more than a few meters ahead. Even with their excellent night vision, the fog blocked much of their sight.
"This is going to slow us down," Zeir muttered.
Calen frowned before stopping in his tracks. "I’ll track him."
The next second, his body was surrounded by a faint glow. Bones shifted, muscles grew, and within moments, the large beastman had transformed into a massive black dog.
He lowered his nose to the ground and took a deep breath. The forest was filled with countless scents, like wild animals, damp soil, fresh leaves, and the faint traces left behind by Roxanna’s hunting party.
Calen ignored them all and he searched for only one scent: Luan’s.
The large dog slowly walked forward, sniffing the ground, broken branches, and tree trunks one after another.
Suddenly, his ears perked up.
Woof!
He barked once before taking off at full speed.
"He found something!" Roxanna exclaimed.
Without hesitation, everyone rushed after him, their hearts pounding with both hope and fear.
Cyrus flew farther ahead, cutting through the thick fog as fast as he could. His sharp eyes swept across the forest floor again and again.
Then he suddenly stopped as he found something.
He folded his wings and dove toward the ground.
Hidden beneath several broken branches and scattered leaves, Luan lay motionless against the base of a large tree.
He had deliberately covered part of his body with leaves and branches, making himself difficult to spot in the darkness. It was enough to hide him from wandering demon beasts, but not from Cyrus’s eyes in the sky.
"Luan!" Cyrus called out as he landed beside him and transformed back into his human form.
Luan didn’t respond him at all. His face was unnaturally red, and his breathing was ragged. Even while unconscious, his body trembled from time to time.
Just then, a low growl echoed through the trees.
Grrrr...
Cyrus’s eyes narrowed and saw that not far away from where they sat, a massive lion demon beast crouched in the shadows.
Its golden eyes had been fixed on Luan the entire time. It wasn’t attacking yet, but it had simply been waiting for the perfect moment.
The instant the beast tensed its legs to pounce—Woof!
A huge black dog burst out of the trees. Calen lunged at the lion within seconds.
The lion barely had time to react before Calen slammed into its side, sending both of them crashing across the forest floor.
The demon beast roared and swung its claws wildly. Calen dodged the first strike, then clamped his powerful jaws around the lion’s throat.
Crunch!
The sound of bones breaking echoed through the forest. The lion struggled desperately, clawing at Calen’s thick fur, but it couldn’t break free.
A few seconds later, its body went limp.
Calen released the dead demon beast and immediately turned toward Luan instead, his eyes filled with worry.
A few moments later, Roxanna and Zeir finally caught up with them. The moment Roxanna saw Luan lying weakly on the ground, her heart tightened. "Luan!"
She hurried to his side and gently held his shoulder. "Luan, wake up. It’s me."
For a few seconds, there was no response. But a moment later, his eyelids slowly fluttered open.
His unfocused eyes landed on Roxanna and then widened. He took a deep breath and the sweet scent that belonged only to her instantly filled his senses.
At that moment, something inside him snapped. His dull eyes suddenly became sharp.
"Rox...Roxanna."
A string of saliva slipped from the corner of his lips as his breathing grew heavier. Before anyone could react, Luan suddenly grabbed Roxanna by the wrist and lunged forward.
"Roxanna!"
He pushed her backward, trying to pin her against the forest floor. A low, rough growl rumbled from deep in his throat.
It didn’t sound like the soft purr of a cat, but it sounded like a hunting panther.
His small fangs were clearly visible at the corners of his mouth as he stared at Roxanna with burning eyes.
Roxanna froze in shock because she had never seen him like this. "L-Luan?"
Before he could hurt her, Cyrus and Zeir immediately pulled him away from her.
"Hold him!" Cyrus shouted.
The two beastmen locked Luan’s arms behind his back, struggling to keep him under control.
Luan fought against them with surprising strength despite how weak he had looked only moments ago.
His breathing became more ragged, and another growl escaped his throat as he kept trying to reach Roxanna.
"Let me go!" Luan growled loudly. "I want her! I want my mate!"
Zeir frowned and looked at Luan more carefully. "Wait..."
He observed Luan’s flushed face, trembling body, heavy breathing, and the way he was acting purely on instinct.
A few moments later, realization dawned on him. "I think..." he said hesitantly, "I think Luan is in heat."