Raising Beast Cubs to Find a Husband-Chapter 82: The Floor is Magma and The Great Donut Heist

The moment the front door clicked shut behind Primrose, the atmosphere in the daycare shifted.

It wasn’t a bad shift. It was the specific shift that happens when the Teacher leaves the classroom and the Substitute Teacher (in this case, a recovering Merman King and a Fox Spy) is left in charge.

Lady Ellia sat on the sofa, clutching the quilt. She looked around nervously. Without the anklet, the room felt brighter, but also louder. She was used to the silence of the West Wing. She was used to servants who bowed and backed away.

She wasn’t used to... this.

Arjun was currently standing on top of the coffee table, wearing a colander on his head like a helmet.

"Attention, civilians!" Arjun roared, pointing a wooden spoon at the group. "Chef Prim is gone! Protocol Alpha is in effect!"

"What is Protocol Alpha?" Ellia whispered to the boy next to her.

Vali, who was currently tying a napkin around his forehead like a bandana, leaned in. "It means we can jump on the furniture."

"Jump on the furniture?" Ellia blinked. "But... it is velvet."

"It is a trampoline," Vali corrected.

"THE FLOOR IS MAGMA!" Finn shouted from the top of the bookshelf.

Chaos erupted instantly.

Jasper immediately coiled himself onto the highest shelf of the toy rack. "Magma confirmed. Heat signature rising. Survival probability on the floor is zero."

Silas vanished into the shadows on top of the fridge.

Clover hopped onto King Caspian’s lap. The Merman King, who was reading a newspaper with one hand, didn’t even look up. He simply adjusted his arm to create a secure seat for the bunny.

"I am safe!" Clover squeaked. "The King is an Island!"

Ellia sat on the sofa, bewildered. "Magma? There is no magma. It is a rug."

"That is what the magma wants you to think!" Orion yelled. He was currently trying to climb the curtains. "It is a geological deception! Elevate, surface-girl! Elevate!"

Arjun leaped from the table to the armchair. Vali leaped from the armchair to the TV stand.

They both looked at Ellia. She was the only one still touching the Magma (her feet were dangling off the sofa).

"Princess!" Arjun gasped. "Your feet! They are melting!"

"They are not melting," Ellia huffed, crossing her arms. "This is a childish game. I am eight. I am practically an adult. I do not play make-believe."

Arjun looked at Vali. Vali looked at Arjun. They shared a look of profound pity.

"She has Royal Brain Rot," Vali diagnosed solemnly. "It is fatal."

"We must save her!" Arjun declared.

Arjun grabbed a throw pillow. He wound up his arm.

"Tactical Rescue Device deployed!"

WHUMP.

The pillow hit Ellia square in the face. It wasn’t hard, but the shock of it made her gasp.

"You..." Ellia lowered the pillow. Her golden eyes narrowed. "You threw a cushion at a Lady?"

"I saved you from the magma!" Arjun grinned.

Ellia looked at the pillow. She looked at the Tiger Cub’s smug face. A strange feeling bubbled up in her chest. It wasn’t the dark, cold anger of the Void. It was... hot, competitive irritation.

"Oh, you want a war?" Ellia stood up on the sofa. She grabbed the pillow.

"I have excellent aim," she announced. "I hit the Archmage with a vase from thirty feet."

She hurled the pillow.

It missed Arjun. It hit Jasper, knocking his glasses askew.

"Friendly fire!" Jasper yelped. "My optics!"

"Oops," Ellia giggled. A real giggle. "Sorry!"

"Food fight!" Finn yelled, throwing a plush carrot.

For the next twenty minutes, the daycare turned into a war zone of feathers and foam. Ellia jumped from the sofa to the chair. She dodged a plushie thrown by Vali. She beaned Orion with a stuffed starfish.

For the first time in a year, she wasn’t the Calamity. She wasn’t the Ghost Child. She was just a kid playing The Floor is Magma and winning.

---

The war came to a halt when a heavenly scent wafted from the kitchen.

Luna walked out carrying a tray. On the tray was a mountain of Star-Glazed Donuts—warm, fluffy, and covered in sparkling sugar.

"Snack time!" Luna trilled. "But only for cubs who are sitting nicely!"

She placed the tray on the high counter, well out of reach of the shorter cubs. Jax leaned against the counter, guarding the goods like a dragon guarding gold.

"Alright, runts," Jax smirked, flipping his coin. "You know the rules. Wash hands, say please, and form a line."

The cubs looked at each other. They looked at the donuts. They looked at the Magma floor.

"We cannot walk to the sink," Jasper calculated. "The magma is still active. If we touch the floor to wash our hands, we die."

"But we need the donuts," Arjun whined.

Ellia looked at the group. She looked at the guarded tray.

"We don’t need to walk," Ellia whispered, her eyes gleaming with a new kind of mischief. "We need a diversion."

The cubs huddled around the sofa.

"I have a plan," Ellia announced. "In the Palace, when I want to steal a tart, I tell the guards that the Emperor is coming."

"Jax is smart," Vali said. "He won’t fall for that."

"He won’t fall for a lie," Ellia agreed. "But he will fall for... a payout."

She looked at them. "Do any of you have itching powder?"

They all pointed at Finn.

Finn grinned, tipping his cap. "Always."

"And Orion," Ellia said. "Can you cry on command?"

"I can secrete saline solution from my tear ducts at will," Orion nodded. "It is a defense mechanism against predators."

"Perfect," Ellia grinned. It was a terrifying, brilliant grin. "Operation: Donut Liberation is a go."

---

Orion flopped onto the Magma floor.

"OWWW!" Orion wailed, thrashing his tail. "My fin! The magma! It burns! Oh, the humanity! The geometry of my suffering is acute!"

Jax looked over, unimpressed. "Nice try, fish-boy. I’m not moving."

Finn stealthily crawled along the top of the cabinets (using his fox claws). He positioned himself directly above Jax.

He sprinkled a tiny bit of powder.

Jax scratched his ear. Then his neck. Then his shoulder.

"What the..." Jax frowned, scratching vigorously. "Do we have fleas?"

Ellia stood up on the back of the sofa. She puffed out her chest, channeling every ounce of Imperial haughtiness she possessed.

"Sir Fox!" Ellia barked. "I demand an audience!"

Jax looked up, still scratching. "Yeah? What is it, Princess?"

"My father," Ellia lied smoothly, pointing to the window, "is outside. He is towing my carriage. He looks angry."

Jax froze. "Lord Bastion? Here?"

"He has a ballista," Ellia added for flavor.

Jax’s eyes widened. "A ballista?"

He turned to look out the window. He leaned away from the tray.

"GO! GO! GO!" Arjun roared.

The cubs launched.

Vali leaped from the chair to the counter.

Jasper used a grappling hook (made of yarn) to swing across.

Clover hopped on Silas’s back as he shadow-stepped.

In seconds, the tray was swarmed.

Jax turned back around. "Hey! There’s no ballista—"

He was too late. The tray was empty.

The cubs had retreated to the Safe Zone (Caspian’s armchair), clutching their donuts like treasure.

"Victory!" Arjun cheered, biting into a donut. Sugar went everywhere.

Jax sighed, scratching his itchy nose. He looked at Luna.

"We got played, babe."

Luna giggled. "They earned it. That was good teamwork."

---

Ellia sat on the armrest of Caspian’s chair, holding a donut. It was sticky. It was messy. It was the best thing she had ever seen.

She took a bite. It tasted like starlight and freedom.

"Did we do good?" Ellia asked Caspian, wiping sugar on her expensive dress (which was already ruined, so who cared?).

Caspian looked at the chaotic pile of children surrounding him. He looked at the girl who, just an hour ago, had been a vessel for a demon. Now, she was just a kid with a sugar mustache.

"You did well," Caspian said, stealing a small piece of her donut. "Though your tactics were ruthless. Deception, chemical warfare, and emotional manipulation? You fit right in."

Ellia beamed.

"I like it here," she decided, swinging her legs. "The monsters are fun."

Orion looked up from his donut. "We are not monsters, Ellia. We are a Pack."

"A Pack," Ellia tested the word.

She looked at Arjun, who was currently licking a plate. She looked at Vali, who was howling with sugar-energy.

"Okay," Ellia nodded. "I can be in the Pack. But only if I get to be the Alpha."

Vali stopped howling. He looked at her.

"Rock, paper, scissors for it?" Vali challenged.

Ellia narrowed her eyes. "You’re on, Wolf."

As the sun began to set, casting a golden glow over the messy, loud, wonderful daycare, Ellia forgot about the whispers. She forgot about the cold East Wing.

For now, the only thing that mattered was winning against a Wolf, and eating the last donut before the Tiger saw it.