Baby System: I'm the Beast World's Only Hope!-Chapter 43: Episode : A Wolf Celebration

Kaelen let out a sob. He buried his face in her neck, weeping openly. The tension of a decade, the fear of extinction, the weight of the crown—it all broke.

"Thank you," he wept into her skin. "Thank you, Moon Mother. Thank you."

Roxy stroked his hair, smiling through her own exhaustion.

The moment the sun crested over the trees, Kaelen stepped out onto the porch of the King’s Cabin. He threw his head back and let out a howl that shook the entire forest, that could be heard from afar.

It was like a song. A deep, resonant, vibrating sound of pure triumph that echoed in the marrow of everyone who heard it.

[Ding!]

[Clan Morale: Maximum.]

[Pack Status: Ecstatic.]

Roxy walked out behind him, wrapping her robe tight against the morning chill. She watched as every door in the new settlement flew open. Wolves tumbled out of their cabins, shifting mid-stride or running in human form, their faces alight with a hope Roxy hadn’t seen since she arrived.

"They know?" Roxy whispered, leaning against Kaelen’s arm.

"I told them, and they could feel it," Kaelen rumbled, wrapping a possessive arm around her shoulders.

He looked down at her, his icy eyes melting into puddles of adoration. "Now, we celebrate."

***

Roxy expected a barbecue. Maybe a few extra rations of deer or boar meat.

She did not expect this.

By midday, the Iron-Wood clearing had transformed into a festival ground. The wolves didn’t have gold or jewels like the dragons, but they had nature, and they knew how to use it.

Garlands of green pine and winter berries were strung between the cabins. Massive bonfires, three of them, burned in the center of the settlement, roasting entire stags that had been marinating in Roxy’s special herb blends.

But it was the sound that amazed her.

The wolves didn’t have lutes or harps. They had drums. Hollowed-out logs covered in taut skins, beaten with a rhythmic, primal intensity that synced with her own heartbeat.

This was vastly different from the dragon clan.

It was hypnotic.

"Sit, Moon Mother," Vorn insisted, guiding her to a special chair.

Roxy blinked. The wolves had spent the morning carving a throne out of a massive stump. They had lined it with the softest white rabbit furs (which Roxy decided not to ask about) and decorated the back with carvings of wolves howling at a crescent moon.

How long have they been preparing this?

And what the fuck, it’s not that serious!

Still, Roxy accepted it.

"Okay," Roxy murmured, sinking into the furs. "This is... actually really sweet. A little Game of Thrones, but cozy."

"We honor Luna," Vorn grunted, bowing his head. Even the grumpy Beta looked lighter today. He placed a wooden bowl in her lap. "Eat. The first cut is yours."

It was the heart of the stag. Grilled to perfection.

[TheMotheroftheWorld nods. Iron is essential for fetal development. Eat up.]

Roxy didn’t hesitate. She ate. And as she did, the celebration began in earnest.

The males danced. A display of strength. They leaped over the fires, sparred playfully in the dirt, and shifted forms mid-air to show off their agility. It was chaotic, dangerous, and incredibly impressive.

No prey could be seen around for fear that they would be pulled into the chaos.

Kaelen sat on the arm of her throne, his hand never leaving her shoulder, watching his pack come back to life.

"They have not danced in ten winters," he whispered. "They had no reason to."

Roxy placed her hand over his, squeezing it. "They do now."

As the sun began to set, the tone of the party shifted. The drums slowed to a sensual, rhythmic beat.

The females of the pack gathered.

Led by Sera, they approached Roxy’s throne. Their eyes were bright. They looked healthy, strong, full of curves and... hungry.

But not for food.

Sera knelt by Roxy’s feet. "Moon Mother," she began, her voice reverent. "We see the change in the King. We smell the life in your womb."

The other females crowded closer, their eyes wide with curiosity and desperation.

"How?" a young female asked. "We are healthy now. We live in dry houses. We eat the stew. But our bellies... they remain flat."

They looked down at their own stomach in unison.

Roxy chewed on a piece of dried fruit, looking at the circle of hopeful faces. She looked at Sera, then at the young wolf.

So they basically want me to teach them how to fuck?

Roxy swallowed her laugh and started looking for ways to start.

She realized then that for all their ’animal instincts’, these wolves were surprisingly clueless about the mechanics of conception. Do they even know what true sex really means?

Or all these while they had just been mating because of the mating season?

Roxy thought, but without further ado, she decided to jump into the fire.

"Well," Roxy said, sitting up straighter. "Hygiene and food were step one. But step two..."

She paused for dramatic effect. The music seemed to stop. Every female leaned in.

"Step two is consistency," Roxy declared.

"Consistency?" Sera frowned.

"It’s a numbers game, ladies," Roxy explained, waving a hand. "You can’t just mate once a season and hope for the best. You need frequency. You need stamina. You need to keep your mate... busy."

She pointed at Kaelen, who suddenly looked very interested in the sky. He didn’t want to be part of this conversation.

"The King didn’t get this heir by sleeping," Roxy smirked. "We put in the hours. We treated the bedroom like a battlefield. If you want a pup, you have to keep mating and mating till you feel like it’s enough."

I was about to say, until you hear a ding!

She leaned forward, dropping her voice to a wicked whisper.

"Feed them steak. Then ride them until they break."

Their faces turned red almost immediately, but they immediately understood what she meant.

The females’ eyes lit up with a terrifying, predatory fire. They looked at each other. Then, slowly, in perfect unison, they turned their heads to look at the males.

Across the fire, the male wolves, Vorn, Rax, and the hunters, suddenly stopped dancing.

They felt it. A chill that had nothing to do with the winter wind ran down their spine, and they shivered. It was the feeling of being hunted.

"I feel... unsafe," Rax whispered, clutching his drum.

"Why are they looking at us like we are the deer?" Vorn muttered, taking a step back.

Sera stood up. A slow, wicked smile spread across her face. She looked at Rax, her mate, whom she had just found out about recently.

"Rax," she purred. "Come here."

Rax gulped. This was his mate, he sensed after he left the king’s cabin this morning. "But... the dancing..." 𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞

"The dancing is done," Sera declared. "We are going to the cabin. The Moon Mother says we need... consistency."

"Oh no," Rax squeaked, but he didn’t run away. In fact, he looked terrified and incredibly excited at the same time.

He didn’t know what was happening, but he had faith in whatever the moon mother said.

One by one, the females descended on their mates. There was giggling, dragging, and a lot of confused but willing males being pulled toward the newly built cabins.

Roxy watched them go, cackling into her cup of herbal tea.

"You have unleashed a chaos I cannot control," Kaelen noted, sounding amused.

"I just secured the next generation," Roxy winked. "You’re welcome."

But not everyone left.

In the shadows of the Iron-Wood trees, away from the warmth of the fire, a pair of eyes watched.

They were green, narrow, and filled with a cold, simmering poison.

Mara, a female wolf with sleek black fur in her shifted form, stood alone. She had not joined the dancing. She had not eaten the stew with the others. She leaned against a tree, her arms crossed over her chest, her nails digging into the bark until sap oozed out.

She looked at Roxy sitting on the throne. She looked at Kaelen, her Alpha, looking at this outsider like she was the sun and stars combined.

"Moon Mother," Mara spat the words like a curse.

"If the fire comes," Mara murmured, her eyes flashing, "she will burn. And the Pack will see that a real Wolf Mother does not need a wooden box to survive."

Back at the fire, Roxy shivered.

"Cold?" Kaelen asked instantly, pulling a fur tighter around her.

"No," Roxy frowned, looking toward the dark tree line where Mara had been standing. "Just... a bad vibe. Like someone walked over my grave."

[System Alert: Hostility Detected.]

[Source: Internal.]

[Advice: Watch your back, Mama Wolf.]

Roxy narrowed her eyes. She knew it was too good to be true. There was always a snake in the grass, or in this case, a bitch in the pack.

"Kaelen," Roxy said softly. "Are all your wolves loyal?"

"They would die for me," Kaelen stated simply.

"Ideally, I’d prefer them to live for you," Roxy said. "But keep an eye on the perimeter. The Dragons aren’t the only thing that can hurt us."