I Abandoned My Beast Cubs for the Protagonist... Oops?-Chapter 16: The Wrath of Gū Gū

"AHHH! Zhāo Yàn, do something! Your mother is trying to make me into a kebab! Help me!" Bai Yue shrieked, ducking as the heavy iron-wood stick whistled through the air, narrowly missing her ponytail.

From what she remembered, Zhāo Yàn’s mother was very.... energetic and had a nasty temper.

"Mother, stop!" Zhāo Yàn finally lunged forward, catching the gnarled staff mid-swing. Even for a Fox Lord, the impact seemed to rattle his bones, and his eyes widened. "Calm down! You will hit the children! Stop this!"

Gū Gū stopped, her chest heaving under her woven furs. She glared at her son, then at the panther triplets who were watching with wide, saucer-like eyes. They looked surprised. It wasn’t everyday they saw an old woman act with so much energy and anger.

Miao Miao in particular was in awe.

Gū Gū’s face transformed instantly. The murderous rage vanished, replaced by a doting, toothy grin. Ehh?

"Oh, my sweet little shadows! Look at you!" she cooed, ignoring Bai Yue entirely. She patted both Miao Miao and Xiao Hei’s heads and pinched A-Li’s cheeks until he let out a tiny squeak. Even the snake twins received a respectful nod from the spiteful old woman.

But then, her eyes landed back on Bai Yue, and the doting energy in them went back to hell. All the way down. "As for you.....return to whatever pit you crawled out of, witch. My son’s house is for family, not for heartless vipers who abandon their own flesh and blood. Leave before I finish the job and turn you into a rug."

Bai Yue had gently placed Ruì Xuě down as he woke up. He let out a yawn, before opening his cute eyes.

"Granny Gū Gū? What is going on?" he muttered, rubbing his eyes.

Gū Gū immediately scooped the snow leopard cub into a bone-crushing hug. "And this sweet little thing! It has been a while since I saw you! Ruì Xuě, did she feed you? Did she make you sleep in the rain? Tell Grandma everything, I’ll bury her in the garden!"

Ruì Xuě looked confused, blinking his purple eyes. "She.....she gave me berries, Grandma Gū Gū. And she hit a bird with a tree. She didn’t make me sleep in the cold."

"Ha! Likely she was trying to hit you and missed!" Gū Gū snorted, hefting her stick again. She began to chase Bai Yue in a circle around a large cedar tree. "Out! Out, I say! This is no place for you, cursed female!"

"NO! Grandma, please! I’m reformed! I’ve experienced personal growth!" Bai Yue yelled, dodging a jab.

"Growth? The only thing growing on you is audacity!"

"Mother, enough!" Zhāo Yàn groaned, stepping between them for the third time. "I told you already, Bai Yue has changed. She saved the cubs from the Vulture Clan, and she fought them off alone until Mo Xiao arrived."

Gū Gū stopped, squinting through one eye. "Saved them? Her? Did she trip and fall on the vultures? Did her screeching make their ears bleed?"

"Nooooo!" Miao Miao shouted, jumping up and down. "She was like whack and pow! She’s a warrior now! We like cursed female!"

Gū Gū’s face went sour, looking between her son and the insistent kits. "Hmm, are the kits well? I don’t believe it. A leopard doesn’t change its spots, and a snake doesn’t stop biting. She’s planning something. Probably trying to lure us into a trap for that Bear King she’s always drooling over."

Just as Gū Gū raised her stick for one final, decisive blow, the door of the hut creaked open.

A small boy, no older than five, stumbled out. He had the same vibrant orange hair as Zhāo Yàn, though his was a messy nest of curls from sleep. He rubbed his eyes with tiny fists, his fox ears twitching as they caught the sound of the commotion.

He looked up. His eyes, a soft brown, landed directly on Bai Yue.

The silence that followed was absolute. Bai Yue felt her breath catch in her throat. Yòu Lín. Her second son. The one she had supposedly treated like a nuisance until he was sent away.

The boy’s eyes widened. A slow smile spread across his face, brighter than the afternoon sun.

"Mamaaaaaaaaaa!"

He didn’t hesitate. He sprinted across the plateau, his little legs moving as fast as they could go. He launched himself through the air, and Bai Yue instinctively caught him, his small weight slamming into her chest with a force that nearly knocked her over.

"Mama! Mama came back! I knew you would! I told Grandma you were just playing hide-and-seek!" Yòu Lín giggled, burying his face in the crook of her neck and hugging her with everything he had.

Bai Yue’s heart didn’t just melt, it disintegrated. She squeezed him back, her eyes stinging. "Yes, my baby. Mama’s here. And Mama is staying."

Gū Gū’s jaw hit the floor. She looked at the boy, then at the stick in her hand, then at the scene of pure affection. "Eh? Did.....did she hit her head on a trunk? Is she concussed? Is this some magic?"

"That’s what I asked too," Zhāo Yàn muttered, though his eyes were fixed on the way Yòu Lín was glowing in Bai Yue’s arms.

The other cubs rushed forward, the panther triplets and the snake twins surrounding Yòu Lín. "We’re here too! Come and play!" The wholesome chaos shifted toward the hut as the children dragged Yòu Lín inside to show him their "warrior moves."

Gū Gū remained outside, leaning on her stick and squinting suspiciously at Bai Yue.

"I’ve got my eyes on you, Cursed Female," the grandmother whispered, though the murderous edge was gone, replaced by a weary wariness. "If you break that boy’s heart one more time, there isn’t a forest in this world big enough for you to hide in."

Bai Yue swallowed hard, holding Gū Gū’s gaze. "I understand, Gū Gū. I won’t let him down."