Taming the Beast World with a Frying Pan-Chapter 129: Good Morning, Kitty

Morning sunlight filtered through the thick curtain of vines and overgrowth that concealed the entrance, bathing the hollowed-out root cave in a dappled, earthy glow. The bioluminescent crystals that had lit their night were now dim, overpowered by the day.

Kael blinked his eyes open. For a moment, he didn’t move. He simply breathed, filling his lungs with air that smelled of sweet wood, damp earth, and her.

He looked down.

Curled against his chest, wrapped in white furs and looking like a drowsy angel, was Ren. Her red hair was fanned out over his arm, and her breathing was slow and deep.

Kael stared at her peaceful, sleeping face, a lump forming in his throat.

He couldn’t remember how he got here. His last clear memory was the suffocating darkness of his own cave and the sensation of his mind fracturing into a thousand pieces. He didn’t know how Ren had escaped the Snake King’s swamp. He didn’t know how she had found him.

But none of that mattered.

She was here. She was safe. She was in his arms.

He tightened his hold on her slightly, just to reassure himself that she wasn’t a hallucination conjured by a dying mind. She murmured something in her sleep and snuggled closer, her warm skin pressing against his side.

Contentment, warm and heavy, settled over him.

Then, Kael’s nose twitched. 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚

The scent hit him like a bucket of cold water. It was musk. It was deceit. It was the smell of a creature he hated instinctively and recognized immediately.

Fox.

The contentment vanished, replaced instantly by the cold, sharp edge of a predator’s aggression.

Careful not to wake Ren, Kael slowly extracted his arm from beneath her head. He sat up, the furs falling away from his broad, naked chest.

He turned his head toward the vine-covered opening of the cave.

There he was.

Vex was leaning casually against the earthen archway where the roots met the trunk, pushing the hanging vines aside with one shoulder. He looked as sharp as ever, dressed in a leather loincloth with his signature fox fur cloak draped carelessly over his muscular shoulders.

A smirk played on his lips—an expression that Kael wanted to wipe off with his fist.

Vex’s three fluffy orange tails were swishing back and forth behind him, betraying a suppressed excitement. He looked like a man who had just won a bet. However, his orange eyes were heavy-lidded and rimmed with faint dark circles, as if he hadn’t slept a wink all night.

Vex smiled a pleasant, overly polite smile. He twinkled his fingers in a little wave.

"Good morning, Kitty."

Something in Kael’s brain snapped.

He didn’t bother covering his nudity.

Kael rose to his feet in one fluid, terrifying motion. He marched across the dirt floor of the cave, his heavy footsteps vibrating against the roots.

Vex didn’t move. He didn’t flinch. He just watched the mountain of muscle approach him.

Thud.

Kael’s hand shot out, his large fingers wrapping around Vex’s throat. He slammed the fox back against the hard wood of the tree root, lifting him slightly off the ground.

"You dirty fox," Kael growled, his face inches from Vex’s. "Give me one reason why I shouldn’t snap your neck right now."

Vex looked entirely unfazed. Even with his airways restricted, the twinkle of amusement and mischief never left his eyes.

"Is this..." Vex rasped, his voice strained under the pressure on his larynx, "how you show... gratitude?"

Kael frowned, confusion warring with his rage. He loosened his grip—just enough to let air pass, but not enough to let Vex go.

"Gratitude?" Kael spat.

"Tigers," Vex wheezed, rubbing his throat with a dramatic wince as Kael stepped back slightly. "You really are ungrateful brutes. No manners. No finesse."

"What would I be grateful for?" Kael demanded, his golden eyes narrowing. "Lies? Tricks?"

Vex grinned, revealing his sharp canines.

"Well, for starters," Vex drawled, gesturing lazily around the hollowed-out root system, "you are standing in my property. This is my secret cave, not a public inn."

Kael paused. He looked around the space—the crystals, the chests, the clutter. It did smell like the fox.

"And might I add," Vex continued, his voice dropping to a theatrical whisper, "you were so loud last night that sleeping was physically impossible. The roots carry sound very well, you know. And let’s just say... your stamina is obnoxious."

Kael felt a flash of embarrassment as the memories of the night before—Ren’s cries, the heat, the gentle claiming—flooded back. But he shoved it down.

Vex took a step forward, poking Kael in his bare chest with a clawed finger.

"And secondly," Vex said, his expression sobering slightly, "I am your savior. You owe me your life, Tiger King."

Kael stared at him. He searched the fox’s orange eyes for the lie, for the trick. But Vex looked smugly sincere.

"My savior?" Kael repeated, the disbelief evident in his tone. "You?"

Vex sighed dramatically, placing a hand over his heart as if wounded by the skepticism.

"You were at Stage 3 Feral Madness, Kael," Vex stated plainly. "Minutes away from becoming a Shadow Beast. I had no intention of helping a rival, of course. Let the Tiger die, I thought."

Vex paused for effect, his eyes drifting past Kael to the sleeping woman on the furs.

"But then... she came to me."

Vex’s voice took on a theatrical, trembling quality. He clasped his hands together, his eyes widening in mock sympathy.

"Your little mate... oh, it was tragic. She rushed to me, tears streaming down her beautiful face, soaking her cheeks. She fell to her knees, grabbing my cloak, sobbing so pitifully."

Vex pitched his voice higher, mimicking a distressed maiden.

"’Please, Vex! You have to help him! Save my precious Tiger! I can’t live without him! I will do anything!’"

Vex shook his head, wiping a fake tear from his own eye.

"She was a mess, Kael. Snot, tears, hiccupping sobs. It was pathetic, really. But she looked so pitiful, so desperate... how could I refuse such a heartbroken female?"

Kael’s jaw clenched. He looked back at Ren, his heart aching. He could picture it—Ren, terrified and alone, begging this trickster for his life. Guilt washed over him, followed by a fierce surge of protectiveness.

Vex watched the guilt land. ’Hook, line, and sinker,’ he thought with satisfaction.

Vex smirked. He reached up and finally urged Kael’s hand completely away from his neck, smoothing down his fur cloak.

"So, I cured you," Vex finished, conveniently leaving out that Ren did all the work. "I used my most precious medicines and my immense wisdom."

Vex’s eyes twinkled with intent. He stepped closer to the naked, towering Tiger King, invading his personal space.

He leaned in, whispering directly into Kael’s ear.

"Your life is now indebted to me, Kitty," Vex purred, his tails wrapping around his own leg in anticipation. "And I intend to reap the benefits of saving a King."