Raising Beast Cubs to Find a Husband-Chapter 28: The Blacklist

The room went dead silent.

We all turned.

Standing in the doorway, blocking the sun, was Lord Rurik Jaeger. He wasn’t wearing his uniform. He was wearing casual hunting leathers, his sleeves rolled up, revealing scars and muscle.

And he looked murderous.

"You," Rurik growled, his voice a low rumble that vibrated in the floorboards. "Touched. The. Chef."

Behind him, General Rajah Khanda cracked his knuckles, grinning a smile that didn’t reach his eyes. "And you threatened the cubs."

Archduke Cassian stepped into view, checking his pocket watch. "And you damaged my property. The floorboards are imported."

And in the corner of the room, the shadows stretched and twisted. Duke Lucien didn’t speak. He just let the darkness curl around Barnaby’s ankles.

My family huddled together, terrified. They realized, too late, that they hadn’t walked into a daycare.

They had walked into a dragon’s den.

"Who..." Petunia squeaked. "Who are you people?"

Rurik walked forward, towering over Lupin. He picked up a Sour-Root dusted muffin from the floor.

"Eat it," Rurik commanded.

Lupin trembled. "W-what?"

"You seasoned it," Rurik said, his icy-blue eyes glowing. "Eat it."

Lupin ate the muffin. He choked. He gagged. And then, he started scratching.

"Leave," I said, stepping forward. I put a hand on Rurik’s arm to stop him from actually killing them. "And don’t come back."

My family scrambled over each other to get out the door, Lupin scratching wildly, Petunia weeping, and Barnaby hyperventilating.

As they fled down the street, chased by a few helpful shadows from Lucien, I slumped against the counter.

"Are you hurt?" Rajah asked immediately, rushing to my side.

"I’m fine," I said. "Just... tired."

I looked at the cubs. Vali was looking proud. Jasper was looking smug. Arjun was still holding the baguette.

"Good job, team," I whispered.

"We protected the Chef!" Vali cheered.

I smiled. But inside, I knew this wasn’t over. My family had failed, but Marquis Grieve wouldn’t give up that easily. And now, he knew exactly where I was.

"Gentlemen," I said, looking at the Four B.A.D.s. "We need to talk. About the Snow Ball."

The shop was quiet. The Junior Search Party had been ushered into the reading nook by Alistair, who was currently bribing them with un-poisoned chocolates to keep them distracted.

I sat at the small table in the center of the room. Across from me sat the Four B.A.D.s.

They weren’t bickering. They weren’t posturing. They were sitting in a semicircle of terrifying, deadly silence, waiting for me to speak.

"So," Archduke Cassian broke the silence, his golden eyes cold as liquid nitrogen. "That... rabble. That was your family?"

"Unfortunately," I said, wrapping my hands around a mug of tea to stop them from shaking.

"And they tried to poison my son," Lord Rurik growled, his hand resting heavily on the hilt of his dagger. "To get to you."

"They wanted to ruin my reputation," I explained, looking down at the tea leaves. "If the daycare failed, if the noble heirs got sick... I would be chased out of the capital. I’d have no money. No protection."

"And then?" General Rajah asked, his voice unusually soft, though his jaw was tight. "Where would you go?"

I took a deep breath. It was time to lay the cards on the table.

"I would have to go back to them," I said quietly. "And then, they would sell me."

The air in the room dropped ten degrees.

"Sell you?" Duke Lucien’s voice whispered from the shadows behind my chair.

"To Marquis Grieve," I said. "The Toad-kin. He... he likes ’exotic’ collections. A tail-less Fox-kin is a rarity. My uncle has debts. The Marquis offered to pay them off in exchange for... me. By the First Snow Ball."

I looked up.

I expected pity. Or maybe disgust. I was a "failed" creature, after all.

Instead, I saw... murder.

Rurik’s glass of water shattered in his hand. He didn’t even flinch as the shards bit into his palm. "He wants to buy you? Like livestock?"

"It is a transaction," I said, trying to keep my voice steady. "I am a fox without a tail. In noble society, I have no value. I am just... inventory."

"You are not inventory," Rajah roared, slamming his fist onto the table. "You are the Guardian of the Heirs! You are the Tamer of Tigers! You have more honor in your little finger than that slimy Toad has in his entire swamp!"

"Grieve," Cassian murmured, tapping his chin. "He is leveraged to the hilt. He owes the Iron Bank a fortune. And your uncle... Barnaby Thistle?"

"Yes."

Cassian pulled a small notebook from his pocket. He scribbled something down with a gold quill.

"Consider it handled," Cassian said coldly. "As of this moment, the Thistle family is blacklisted from the Imperial Bank. Their credit is frozen. Their assets are seized. They will not be able to buy a loaf of bread in this capital, let alone a carriage ride home."

"And they are banned from the North," Rurik added, his voice a low rumble. "If a Thistle sets foot in Jaeger territory, they will be hunted for sport."

"I will post their faces at every gate," Rajah declared. "They are enemies of the state. Disturbers of the peace. If they come within ten miles of this shop, they will be arrested."

"And the shadows..." Lucien whispered. "Will ensure they never feel safe enough to sleep."

I looked at them.

They had just systematically destroyed my family’s life in under thirty seconds. It was ruthless. It was terrifying.

And it was the safest I had ever felt.

"Thank you," I whispered.

"Do not thank us," Cassian stood up, smoothing his silk coat. "We are simply protecting our investment. We cannot have our chef stressed. It affects the soufflé."

"But Grieve is still a problem," Rurik grunted, standing up as well. "He has a contract. A legal claim. If he shows up at the Snow Ball..."

"He will try to claim her publicly," Lucien finished.

"Then we must claim her first," Rajah said simply.

The three other men looked at the Tiger General.

"Not... like that!" Rajah turned bright red. "I mean... we must show the world that she is under our protection! Publicly! At the Ball!"

"Agreed," Cassian nodded. "Lady Primrose. You will attend the First Snow Ball. But you will not go as a ’failed’ fox. You will go as the guest of honor of the Four Great Houses."

"We will be your escort," Rurik stated. "All of us."

"It will be a tactical formation," Rajah grinned. "The Toad won’t be able to get within ten feet of you without facing a wall of claws and steel."

I looked at the four of them. The Wolf, the Tiger, the Snake, and the Panther.

I was going to the most important social event of the season with the most terrifying entourage in history.

"Okay," I said, a small, genuine smile breaking through my fear. "Let’s go to the Ball."

Meanwhile, in the Alleyway...

Lupin, Cassia, and Barnaby were huddled behind a refuse bin, scratching furiously at their hives.

"We go back," Lupin wheezed, his face swollen from the allergic reaction. "We go back to the manor. We tell Grieve she’s dead."

"We can’t!" Barnaby wailed, clutching his hand to his chest. He held up his family Signet Ring—usually a glowing symbol of noble credit. Now, the gemstone set into the gold was cracked and dull, darker than coal.

"The Iron Vault..." Barnaby gasped. "My Signet Ring! It’s dead! The mana-link has been severed! I tried to impress the carriage driver with the Thistle seal, and the ring burned my finger! We have no access to the vaults! We have no credit!"

"That Snake..." Lupin hissed, realizing who was behind it. "The Archduke didn’t just freeze our accounts. He shattered our crest."

"Then we walk!" Petunia sobbed, looking down at her mud-stained silk slippers.

They looked at the long, dark road out of the capital. The magical streetlamps seemed to flicker and die as they looked at them, and shadows stretched toward them from the walls—shadows that looked remarkably like panther claws.

They started walking. And they realized, too late, that they had messed with the wrong fox.