Reborn as a Side Character in the Beastworld

Chapter Forty-nine

"How dare you injure my cubs!" Screamed a shrill female voice.

Rosa, with a half dead pup in her arms, the one Muir had taken, broke through the tree line. Her, Bart and her four tiger mates exuded vengeance and violence. Muir was surreptitiously absent.

Curtis, instinctively sensing a direct threat to his mate, broke from the tiger that thus far had only been evading, and bolted to shield her. Unfortunately, I was in the direct line of fire between Rosa and Qingqing.

With a blur of speed, the blood red scales arched over me, and I could feel death closing in. I didn't have time to react, I was going to be crushed beneath his massive weight like a bug beneath a person's shoe. Just like first cub that died in the novel. Winston, due to his evasive tactics was just a little too far to reach me in time. I had already died once by being crushed, and I didn't wish to experience again. In terror, my eyes squeezed shut. But the pain I'd anticipated never came.

A strange popping sound reverberated through the air and my neck tingled as though singed by fire. When I wasn't immediately squished, I tentatively opened my eyes.

Tens off feet high above my head two goliaths were entangled in a candy cane of red and green. Lance who had been far off to my left was now preventing Curtis from falling down upon my head. I don't remember calling him, but I subconsciously knew it was the power of the mark that brought him to me.

My penta-marked mate quickly overpowered the venomous viper in a constriction he could not dream to escape.

"NO!" Screamed Qingqing in fear for the one she'd missed all winter and the father of her nineteen eggs. "Let him go!"

"Lance! Don't kill him!" I didn't need his blood on my hands and no matter how much I disliked the toxic male, he was the only one who could truly keep Qingqing safe in this world until she returned to her own. I sure as hell wasn't going to do it.

As though it were the easiest thing in the world, Lance wrapped part of his tail around Curtis' mouth, preventing him from biting or speaking. Then, he turned his own tongue humanoid enough to say, "Ssslow your ssslither cub. You'll have to find breakfast elsssewhere." 

If looks could kill, Lance would be six feet under.

With Curtis subdued, I thought things might settle down. But I had forgotten about Rosa.

Feeling ignored, Rosa egged on her mates. "They injured my cubs! I want them dead!"

With a whoosh, Bart swept past me aiming for what he thought would be the easiest prey, Parker. Parker immediately shifted into a leopard and readied himself to meet his attacker. Just before he put strength into his back legs, a black blur barreled into Bart, knocking him onto his side. Due to its momentum, his attacker was unable to stop and rolled a few times in the dirt before finding its feet again. 

Shuu stood there dazed but determined.

Bart got to his feet and snarled menacingly at his brother who flinched but stood his ground. Shuu barked at Bart, but since I don't speak wolf, I was unable to understand their conversation. It resulted in Shuu slowly making his way to stand between Rosa's entourage, Bai and me.

Bart was a three stripe like Parker and though he could take parker on alone, having to deal with Shuu at the same time would be more than a little difficult, especially if he wasn't willing to kill his little brother.

"What are you doing?! If he's on her side then he is also my enemy. Kill him!" Instead of caring for the pup slowly dying in her arms, Rosa was more interested in instigating a useless fight. 

Between the growling and barking and Rosa's grating voice, I was reaching my limit. Though Curtis was going nowhere fast and Muir was still the invisible man, the tension between the remaining males was palatable.

Then I heard the barest of whimpers.

I looked at the bundle in Rosa's too tight grip. Superimposed on the pup whose breathing was getting weaker by second was my Kit. And I could hear something inside me snap.

The din around me rose to an unbearable pitch and my own mouth opened to drown it out. "SHUT. YOUR. MOUTHS!!" My anger burst from me in words and those words became tangible as a wind like pressure knocked into everyone around, with me at its epicenter. Both Bai and Rosa fell on their asses while the males were all frozen as they tried to comprehend what had just happened.

I, a female had given off beast pressure. And not for the first time.

I didn't waste time thinking about what that could mean and instead took full advantage of the silence and shot off orders. "Harvey, see to the cub in Rosa's arms. Rosa, let the healer do his job unless you want your pup to die. Bart, collect your other cubs and your mate and go home. You know this entire fiasco is your fault to begin with so don't even try to push the blame on Qingqing and her mates. Winston, make sure they go. Parker, take Qingqing inside and feed the dead birds to Curtis. With food, he might not be so mindless. Lance, let him go but make sure he can't attack anyone else until Rosa and her cubs are gone. Curtis, start using your brain. Do you really think Qingqing would like it if you killed cubs, especially after her own just hatched? Qingqing doesn't like violence. You know this."

I had spoken so quickly, no one had a chance to interrupt. Once I was done, Rosa was red in the face ready to defy me, but Harvey had moved swiftly to do as I asked and took the cub from her arms, placing him next to his brother for an examination.

Bart, accustomed to following a female's orders like most males was slowly backing away from Shuu. Back towards his mate and cubs.

Parker nudged a hesitant Qinging into their home with his leopard head. He wasn't one to follow anyone's orders, but he also wanted to make sure Bai was safe inside. She kept looking over her shoulder at Curtis, trying to make sure Lance let him go.

Lance loosened his hold on Curtis, but the second he did, the bastard tried to bite him. So, Lance did what any overpowered character might do and with a flick of his tail, sent the tetra-marked feral flying into Parker. Parker got Bai inside with one last push before jumping into the house himself to avoid the ten-meter snake. Curtis fell on their door frame with audible crack, leaving him dazed. I didn't care. They can bill me for the damages.

At his easy show of strength, I pondered on how long Lance had been penta-marked. The Scorpion King's father was one and it took Winston, Muir and Curtis together to even get time to run away. But he had been around for a couple centuries. I wondered if Lance might be as strong as that. The cat was out of the bag and it was surreal. Granted the novel was fiction but it was my reality now, and some things were just a little hard to wrap my mind around. Including my own newfound power.

I would have many things to think about after tonight. Too many things would become public knowledge and staying under the radar was no longer an option. I needed to plan for the four Kings' reactions.

But before that, I needed to end things here.