Raising Beast Cubs to Find a Husband-Chapter 37: The Plunge

While at the Little Whiskers Daycare.

The Four B.A.D.s were sitting in the darkened shop, surrounded by the failure of their search. The atmosphere was heavy with grief and frustration.

Rurik was staring at the hole in the floorboards. Rajah was sitting with his head in his hands. Cassian was aggressively pacing. Lucien was staring at a wilting flower.

The door banged open.

"ATTENTION ON DECK!" Arjun screamed.

The Dads jumped.

The Junior Search Party marched in. Vali, Jasper, Silas, and Clover formed a protective wedge.

And in the center of the wedge, looking extremely uncomfortable, was Luna and Jax.

"Arjun?" Rajah asked, confused. "What is this?"

"You’re looking in the wrong place, Dad!" Arjun announced. "You’re looking for a Noble kidnapping. This is a heist."

Rurik stood up, his eyes locking instantly onto Jax. A growl ripped from his throat. "A street Fox. In this room? You dare—"

"Stand down, Dad!" Vali barked, stepping in front of Jax.

Rurik froze. His son had just given him an order.

"He’s not a Fox right now," Vali said fiercely. "He’s... Intel."

"Intel?" Cassian raised an eyebrow, looking at the scruffy thief with disdain. "What could a street rat possibly tell us that my network of spies missed?"

Jax sighed. He stepped forward, putting a hand on Luna’s shoulder to steady her (and himself). He looked the Archduke in the eye.

"Your spies look for mana trails, Archduke," Jax said, his voice losing its lazy drawl. "Grieve took her to the Old Aqueducts." 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

Lucien looked up sharply. "The Aqueducts are sealed. Collapsed."

"Only on the maps you have," Jax retorted. "Smugglers use them every day. The iron in the stone blocks magic. The sewage blocks scent. It’s a blind spot. A massive, wet, stinking blind spot right under your boots."

Rurik looked at the hole in the floor. "Iron... blocks magic?"

"And scent," Jax nodded. "If you go down there with your nose wide open, Lord Jaeger, you’ll pass out from the ammonia before you find her. You need a guide."

"And I suppose," Cassian sneered, "that you are this guide? For a price?"

Jax looked at the empty shop. He looked at Luna, who was looking at him with hope in her eyes. He looked at the four desperate cubs.

"No price," Jax said quietly. "Primrose... she gave me a cookie once. She didn’t look at me like I was trash. And she helped Carrots—I mean, Luna."

He drew his dagger.

"I’ll take you to the entrance. But you big fancy Lords better be ready to get your boots dirty. Because where she is... it isn’t pretty."

Rajah stood up. He drew his massive sword. "Dirty? I do not fear dirt! I fear losing her!"

Rurik cracked his knuckles. "Lead the way, Fox. If you are lying... I will eat you."

"If I’m lying," Jax smirked, though it was tight, "I’ll let you."

Jasper tugged on Cassian’s sleeve. "Brother. You must go. We will guard the rear."

"Guard the rear?" Cassian looked at the children.

"We will stay here," Clover said bravely. "In case she... comes back on her own. Someone has to be here."

The Dads looked at their sons and the bunny. They saw the determination. The trust.

"Very well," Lucien whispered, shadows gathering around him. "We go to the sewers."

The Sewers (The Dead Zone)

It was a parade of the most powerful men in the Empire, wading knee-deep in sludge.

Jax led the way, holding a non-magical torch. He moved with the easy grace of someone who knew exactly which stones were slippery and which patches of moss were actually carnivorous mold.

Behind him, the Four B.A.D.s were struggling.

Archduke Cassian was holding the hem of his pristine emerald robes above his knees, his face a mask of sheer horror. He tried to summon a cleaning spell, but the magic just sparked and died in the iron-heavy air.

"This is... undignified," Cassian gagged. "I will buy the sanitation department and fire everyone."

General Rajah was less concerned with the dirt and more concerned with the ceiling. He was too tall. He had to hunch over, scraping his massive pauldrons against the rusty pipes.

"Stealth is difficult when one is larger than the tunnel!" Rajah whispered-shouted.

Duke Lucien was the most unsettled. Without his shadows to wrap around him, he looked exposed. Pale. He kept reaching for a dagger that wasn’t magical, just sharp steel.

But Lord Rurik was suffering the most. He had tied a heavy cloth around his nose and mouth, but his eyes were watering. To a Wolf-kin, the concentrated stench of the aqueducts was like a chemical weapon.

"Smells like... death," Rurik wheezed. "And old eggs."

"Almost there," Jax whispered, halting at a corner. "The Cistern is ahead. Kill the lights."

Jax smothered the torch. The group was plunged into darkness, lit only by the faint, bioluminescent moss on the walls.

They crept forward.

And then, they saw it.

The massive underground chamber. The pile of smuggled goods. The "Birdcage" rising from the dark water.

And inside it, sitting calmly on the straw, was Primrose.

"Prim," Rurik breathed, his heart hammering against his ribs.

She looked tired. Her dress was stained with mud. But she wasn’t crying. She was... explaining something to the guard?

"...so if you marinate the rat tail in vinegar," Primrose was whispering to the mesmerizing Toad guard, "it breaks down the cartilage."

"I am going to kill them," Rajah growled, his hand tightening on his sword. "For kidnapping her. And for making her cook rats."

They didn’t sneak. They didn’t plan. When they saw her in the cage, the Pack instinct took over.

Rajah kicked the iron door of the cistern off its hinges. CLANG.

"GRIEVE!" Rajah roared, the sound echoing like thunder in the enclosed space. "THE GAME IS OVER!"

Marquis Grieve jumped so hard he dropped his hard-boiled egg. He spun around on his velvet chair, his throat sac puffing out in alarm.

He saw them.

The Wolf, eyes burning with murder.

The Tiger, sword drawn.

The Snake, looking ready to strangle him with his bare hands.

The Panther, silent and deadly.

"You..." Grieve croaked. "How did you finding me? The magic... the scent..."

"We had a guide," Cassian stepped forward, his golden eyes cold. "Now. Open the cage. And perhaps I will let you keep your tongue."

Grieve looked at the four approaching lords. He looked at his two terrified guards. He did the math. He was dead.

Unless...

Grieve’s yellow eyes darted to the cage. He pulled a lever on the wall.

CLICK. WHIRRR.

The bottom of the birdcage dropped out.

"NO!" Rurik screamed, lunging forward.

Primrose didn’t fall. She managed to grab the bars, hanging by her hands over the black, rushing water below.

"Stay back!" Grieve shrieked, rushing to the edge of the pit. He pulled a small, jagged knife and held it to the rope that suspended the cage. "One step closer, and I cut the line! She drops into the Dark Current! It leads straight to the crushing depths of the ocean! She will drown before she hits the bottom!"

The Four B.A.D.s froze.

Rajah stopped mid-charge, his face pale.

Rurik was trembling, his claws digging into the stone floor.

Lucien looked at the rope, calculating the distance. It was too far. Without shadow-jump, he couldn’t reach her in time.

"Good," Grieve panted, sweat slicking his green skin. "Now. We negotiate."

He looked at Cassian. "I want the debt erased. All of it."

He looked at Rurik. "I want safe passage to the Southern Swamps."

He looked at Rajah. "And I want the girl. As collateral. Until I am safe."

"You want us to give her to you?" Rurik snarled. "I will rip your throat out."

"Then she dies!" Grieve sawed the knife against the rope. A strand snapped.

Primrose swung over the abyss. The water roared below her. It was loud, violent, and freezing.

She looked up.

She saw Rurik, his eyes wide with fear—a look she had never seen on the Wolf Lord.

She saw Rajah, lowering his sword, defeat slumping his massive shoulders.

She saw Cassian reaching into his coat, pulling out the transfer papers, ready to sign away his fortune.

They were going to do it. They were going to let the villain win to save her.

No, Primrose thought. I am not the weakness. I am the Alpha.

"Don’t do it!" Primrose yelled, her grip on the iron bars slipping. "Don’t give him anything!"

"Quiet!" Grieve hissed, leaning over the edge to glare at her. "Or I cut it now!"

Primrose looked at the rope. Then she looked at the water. Then she looked at the Dads.

If I stay in this cage, I’m a hostage.

If I fall... I’m a variable.

She looked at Rurik. She locked eyes with him.

"I’ll cook dinner later," she shouted.

Rurik blinked. "What?"

Primrose swung her legs. She wasn’t trying to climb up. She was building momentum.

"Hey, Toad!" she yelled.

Grieve looked down. "Wha—"

Primrose swung forward and sank her teeth into Grieve’s webbed hand holding the knife.

"AAAARGH!" Grieve screamed, dropping the knife.

But Primrose didn’t stop there. She let go of the bars.

She didn’t wait for him to cut the rope. She didn’t wait for them to save her.

She jumped.

"PRIMROSE!" Four voices screamed in unison.

She fell.

The wind rushed past her ears. The darkness swallowed her. And then—

CRASH.

The freezing, violent water of the underground river slammed into her. It was colder than ice. The current grabbed her like a giant hand and yanked her under.

She spun in the dark, water filling her nose, her mouth. She tumbled through the tunnels, faster and faster, dragged away from the light, away from the shop, away from the Pack.

I’m sorry, guys, she thought as the blackness took her. Hard Mode just got harder.

The rope swung empty.

For a second, there was silence.

Then, Lord Rurik Jaeger moved.

He didn’t run to the edge. He ran at Grieve.

The Marquis didn’t even have time to scream. Rurik hit him like a freight train, slamming him into the stone wall with enough force to crack the masonry.

"YOU KILLED HER!" Rurik roared, his hands closing around the Toad’s throat.

"Wait!" Jax yelled, running to the edge of the pit. He held up his torch, looking down. "The current! It flows to the sea! She’s not dead yet! She’s just... washed out!"

Rajah rushed to the edge. "To the sea? I can swim! I will jump!"

"You’re wearing fifty pounds of armor, you idiot!" Cassian grabbed his cape. "You’ll sink like a stone!"

"We have to get to the coast!" Lucien shouted, his voice cracking. "The outlet! If we hurry—"

Rurik dropped the unconscious (and heavily bruised) Marquis Grieve. He turned to the group. His eyes were wild.

"TO THE COAST!" Rurik commanded. "MOVE!"

They ran. They left the villain broken in the mud. They didn’t care about revenge anymore. They only cared about the Fox in the water.

But they were miles underground. And the current was fast.

By the time they reached the surface... Primrose would be in a different world entirely.

A world where Land Lords had no power.