Raising Beast Cubs to Find a Husband

Chapter 216: The Hidden Sanctuary

The damp, echoing tunnel of the sea-cave didn’t lead to a cramped smuggler’s holding cell. As Lucien slipped deeper into the darkness, his daggers drawn, the smell of cheap ale and dirty grease began to fade. It was replaced by the crisp, clean scent of fresh spring water, blooming moon-lilies, and pure, concentrated magic.

The tunnel sloped upward, the rocky walls giving way to glowing blue moss. Lucien stepped silently around the final bend and stopped completely still.

He hadn’t just found a poacher’s hideout. He had stumbled into a massive, hidden sanctuary.

It was a breathtaking underground grotto, completely hollowed out inside the coastal cliffs. A wide opening at the very top of the cavern let the afternoon sunlight pour in, illuminating a crystal-clear subterranean lake. Built along the edges of the water were beautiful, woven reed houses and hanging bridges. It was a secret village. A haven for avian beast-kins.

And right now, it was a war zone.

Nearly two dozen heavily armed poachers had breached the sanctuary. They were shouting, throwing heavy iron-mesh nets, and trying to corner the terrified, fleeing Duck-kin villagers who were frantically pushing their elders and children toward the deep water to escape.

Lucien’s grip tightened on his daggers. He was about to step out of the shadows and slaughter every single mercenary in the cavern, but a sudden blast of raw wind magic stopped him in his tracks.

WHOOSH!

In the center of the grotto, standing protectively in front of a group of huddled duck-kin children, was a woman.

Lucien forgot how to breathe.

She was stunning. She had a messy, wild mane of golden-blonde hair—the exact same color as Pip’s—and a pair of magnificent, fully extended white wings that faded into shimmering, metallic silver at the tips. Her clothes were torn, her face was smudged with dirt, and she was breathing heavily, but she didn’t look like a victim.

She looked like a warrior queen.

Two massive bear-kin mercenaries charged at her, holding a heavy iron net between them.

The woman didn’t flinch. She planted her bare feet firmly on the glowing moss, her silver-tipped wings flaring outward. With a fierce, defiant shout, she swept her arms forward. A concentrated gale of wind slammed into the mercenaries with the force of a battering ram, throwing both massive men backward into the lake with a loud, satisfying splash.

"Get to the tunnels!" she yelled to the children behind her, her voice ringing out clear and commanding over the chaos. "Go! I’ll hold them off!"

Lucien stared at her from the shadows, his heart suddenly hammering a rapid, entirely unfamiliar rhythm against his ribs.

He was the Lord of Shadows. He had spent his entire life in the dark, cold and untouchable. He had expected to find a broken, terrified captive. Instead, he had found a fierce, breathtaking force of nature who was single-handedly fighting off a mercenary squad to protect her flock.

Oh, Lucien thought, completely captivated. That is where the boy gets it.

"Grab the silver-winged one!" a rough, ugly voice barked.

The poacher boss—a scarred hyena-kin holding a heavy crossbow—stepped out from behind a rock. He was grinning cruelly, pulling a second, grease-coated iron net from his belt. He was aiming right for her blind spot while she was distracted holding off the others. "She’s exhausted! Throw the net! I’m clipping those wings right now!"

The boss wound up his arm and threw the heavy, iron-mesh net directly at the woman’s back.

She turned, her golden eyes widening as she realized she didn’t have enough time to summon another gust of wind.

She braced herself for the impact.

But the net never hit her.

Lucien didn’t just step out of the shadows; he ripped through them. He materialized directly behind her, his dark suit absorbing the sunlight. He reached up with his bare, calloused hand and caught the heavy, spiked iron net right out of the air.

The heavy metal ground against his palm, but Lucien didn’t even flinch. He slowly lowered the net, dropping it onto the moss with a heavy thud.

The entire cavern seemed to freeze.

The woman spun around, gasping as she took a step back, her wings flaring defensively.

The poacher boss stopped laughing. He stared at the terrifying man who had just appeared out of thin air. Lucien slowly raised his head. His violet eyes weren’t just glowing; they were burning with absolute, lethal fury.

"You," Lucien whispered, his voice echoing perfectly through the cavern. "Are breathing my air."

The boss swallowed hard, raising his crossbow. "Kill him!"

Lucien vanished.

He didn’t fight like Rurik. There were no roars, no heavy, earth-shattering blows. Lucien was a ghost. He moved with a terrifying, fluid grace that the eye could barely follow.

He slipped through the ranks of the poachers like dark water. His daggers flashed—once, twice, three times. He didn’t use unnecessary force. He simply dismantled them. He severed crossbow strings, shattered kneecaps, and delivered precise, bone-crushing strikes that dropped the massive mercenaries to the ground before they even realized they were under attack.

In less than sixty seconds, twelve heavily armed poachers were groaning on the ground, completely incapacitated. The remaining mercenaries took one look at the glowing violet eyes of the Panther Assassin, dropped their weapons, and sprinted back down the tunnel in absolute terror.

Lucien didn’t chase them. Rurik and the guards were waiting at the tree line. The fleeing cowards would run right into the Wolf Warlord’s waiting axe.

Silence fell over the hidden sanctuary, save for the gentle splashing of the waterfalls.

Lucien slowly stood up straight, slipping his daggers back into their sheaths. He wiped a drop of poacher’s blood off his cheek with the back of his gloved hand. He turned around to face the beautiful, golden-haired woman.

He fully expected her to be terrified of him. He was a monster to most people. He was ready to reassure her, to tell her that she was safe.

But as Lucien stepped forward, a sharp gust of wind suddenly whipped across his face, tossing his dark hair.

The woman hadn’t lowered her guard. She was standing exactly where he had left her, her hands raised, wind magic swirling dangerously around her fingertips. Her golden eyes were narrowed into fierce slits.

"Take one more step, shadow-cat," she panted, her voice shaking with exhaustion but entirely devoid of fear, "and I will blow you right off this cliff. Who are you? Did the black market send you to finish the job?"

Lucien froze.

She was threatening him. The deadliest man in the Empire, standing surrounded by the bodies of men he had just dismantled, and this tiny, exhausted Duck-kin was genuinely threatening to throw him off a cliff.

Lucien was completely, hopelessly in love.

He immediately raised both of his hands, his palms flat and open in a gesture of total surrender. The dark, terrifying aura that usually clung to him vanished instantly.

"I am not here to fight you," Lucien said softly, his voice dropping into a warm, gentle rumble he usually reserved only for his little brother. "You are safe. I swear it."

She blinked, clearly caught off guard by his sudden compliance. Her silver-tipped wings twitched. "You... you just took down a dozen men. Why?"

"Because," Lucien murmured, taking a very slow, very respectful step back so she wouldn’t feel cornered. "They insulted my family by attacking this sanctuary."

She frowned, confusion washing over her beautiful face. "Your family? There are no panthers here. We are a closed flock."

Before Lucien could explain, a very small, very loud sound echoed from the dark tunnel entrance.

Flap. Flap. Flap.

A tiny, bright yellow frog waddled out of the shadows.

Pip was wearing his ridiculous canvas raincoat, the giant stuffed frog eyes bouncing on his hood. Silas walked right behind him, keeping a protective hand hovering near the toddler’s back to make sure he didn’t trip over any rocks.

The golden-haired woman went completely, entirely rigid. The wind magic around her hands fizzled out instantly.

"Pippin?" she whispered, her voice cracking.

Pip stopped waddling. He looked across the glowing mossy cavern. He saw the beautiful woman with the golden hair and the silver-tipped wings.

His large, dark eyes lit up like the sun. His gummy smile stretched across his chubby face. He flapped his little downy duck wings so hard he actually lifted half an inch off the ground.

"Mama!" Pip shrieked with pure, unadulterated joy.

He launched himself forward, waddling as fast as his little booted feet could carry him.

"Oh, my baby!" the woman sobbed. She dropped to her knees, completely ignoring the bruised mercenaries groaning on the ground. She threw her arms open wide.

Pip crashed right into her chest, burying his face in her neck. She wrapped her arms and her magnificent silver-tipped wings entirely around the bright yellow raincoat, pulling her son against her heart. She buried her face in his fluffy yellow hair, rocking him back and forth as tears streamed down her dirty cheeks.

"My brave little bird," she cried, kissing his cheeks, his forehead, and the silly frog hood over and over again. "I thought I lost you. I thought they took you. Mama is right here. Mama is right here."

"Mama," Pip babbled happily, patting her cheek with a chubby, sticky hand. Then, he turned in her arms and pointed a proud little finger right at Lucien. "Papa!"

The woman froze. She slowly looked up from her toddler. Her tear-filled golden eyes met Lucien’s violet ones.

"Papa?" she repeated softly, utterly bewildered. She looked at the terrifying assassin in the expensive suit, and then down at her chubby duck-toddler wearing a bright yellow frog coat.

Lucien felt the tips of his ears burn. He awkwardly cleared his throat, suddenly feeling more nervous than he had ever been on an assassination mission. He slowly lowered his hands, offering her a hesitant, surprisingly shy smile.

"He... he has a very strong personality," Lucien explained quietly, gesturing vaguely to the yellow raincoat. "I found him in the grass. We assumed the worst had happened to you. I took him in. I meant no disrespect to his mother."

She stared at Lucien. She looked at the way he was standing—not like a predator, but like a shield, positioning his body between her and the tunnel entrance to protect them. She looked at the absolute, undeniable adoration in his eyes when he looked at Pip.

A soft, watery laugh escaped her lips. She wiped her tears away with the back of her hand, looking up at the Lord of Shadows from the mossy floor.

"I am Juni," she said softly, her golden eyes shining with overwhelming gratitude.

"Lucien," he replied, taking a slow step forward and offering her his gloved hand.

Juni didn’t hesitate. She placed her small hand in his, letting the terrifying assassin gently pull her to her feet while she balanced Pip on her hip.

"Well, Lucien," Juni smiled, brushing a piece of dirt off Pip’s bright yellow hood. "It seems I owe you my life. And my son’s."

"You owe me nothing, Juni," Lucien murmured, his violet eyes locking onto hers, completely enchanted by the fierce, beautiful bird-kin standing before him. "It is my absolute honor."

Silas walked up to stand beside Lucien, looking up at Juni with his big, violet eyes. "Can she come home with us now, Lucien? We built a pool for him."

Juni let out another bright, beautiful laugh.

Lucien looked at the woman who had fought an army for her son, and the toddler who had completely stolen his dark heart. For the first time in his life, the Panther Warlord felt like he was exactly where he belonged.

"Yes, Silas," Lucien smiled warmly. "I believe it is time to take our family home."