Raising Beast Cubs to Find a Husband-Chapter 201: The Alpha’s Achilles Heel

The morning after a massive wedding is usually a time for quiet reflection, leftover cake, and sleeping in.

Unfortunately, peace and quiet were foreign concepts in the Warlord estate.

I was sitting at the heavy oak dining table, perfectly content. I had a cup of warm chamomile tea in my hands and a plate of leftover sweet apricot pastries in front of me. The house was blissfully silent for exactly ten minutes.

Then, the floorboards vibrated.

*ACHOO!*

The sound was less like a sneeze and more like a canon firing in a closed cavern. My teacup rattled violently against its saucer. In the hallway, a heavy suit of decorative armor clattered to the ground.

"What in the world?" I muttered, setting my tea down and standing up.

Before I could reach the kitchen door, Caspian walked in. He was wearing his sleep pants and a loose robe, his silver hair sleep-tousled and falling over his teal eyes. He looked incredibly handsome, but he also looked highly amused.

"Did a siege engine just go off?" I asked him.

"Worse," Caspian chuckled, pouring himself a cup of water. "The Wolf has encountered a formidable enemy. One he cannot punch, stab, or intimidate."

I blinked. "An assassin?"

"Pollen," Caspian corrected smoothly. "Or perhaps a common cold. Either way, his immune system is currently waging a very loud war."

*ACHOO!*

Another shockwave ripped through the manor. From upstairs, I heard a loud, excited bark.

"Good howl, Dad!" Vali cheered from the second-floor landing. "Do it again! The windows are shaking!"

I hurried out of the kitchen and into the main living room, Caspian following lazily behind me.

Rurik was sitting in the center of the largest leather sofa. The massive, terrifying Northern Wolf Warlord, who had single-handedly conquered frozen tundras and slain giant beasts, looked utterly miserable.

His usually bright golden eyes were watery. His nose was bright pink. He was clutching a massive blanket around his broad shoulders, shivering slightly, but his ears were pinned back in pure, stubborn defiance.

"I am not sick," Rurik rumbled, his voice thick and congested. "Wolves do not get sick. It is a sign of weakness. I am simply... expelling inferior Southern dust from my superior Northern lungs."

"You are a biohazard," a cold voice stated.

Cassian stood at the entrance of the room. The Serpent Warlord was wearing pristine silk robes, but he had pulled a very thick, heavily enchanted scarf over his nose and mouth. He refused to step past the doorway.

"Your internal temperature is elevated," Cassian observed, his eyes glowing slightly as he cast a diagnostic spell from a safe distance. "Your mana flow is sluggish. You have contracted the Capital Sniffles. Keep your microscopic invaders away from my son."

"I will bite you, snake," Rurik growled, trying to stand up, but immediately swaying on his feet. He sat heavily back down on the sofa, wrapping the blanket tighter. "I am perfectly fine. I am going to the training grounds."

"You aren’t going anywhere," I said firmly, walking right up to the sofa.

Cassian gasped from the doorway. "Primrose, do not approach the infected zone! You will compromise the entire pack!"

I rolled my eyes and placed the back of my hand against Rurik’s forehead. He was burning up. The moment my cool hand touched his skin, Rurik’s fierce glare vanished. He leaned into my touch with a pathetic, rumbling whine that sounded exactly like a kicked puppy.

"My head hurts, Little Rose," Rurik mumbled, his tough-guy act completely crumbling the second he realized he could get sympathy.

"I know, you big baby," I sighed affectionately, smoothing his messy silver hair. "You have a fever. You must have caught a chill standing outside at the Watchtower last night."

"The Alpha does not catch chills," Rurik argued weakly, though he immediately grabbed my hand and held it against his hot cheek. "But... I will allow you to nurse me back to health. Because you are my mate. It is your right."

Caspian leaned against the doorframe, crossing his arms. "He went from a proud warrior to a helpless invalid in exactly ten seconds."

"Efficiency," Cassian noted dryly. "Now, if you will excuse me, I must go cast a localized quarantine ward over the Serpent wing. Jasper! Fetch the antibacterial mana-sprays!"

"On it, Father!" Jasper’s voice called out from down the hall.

I shook my head, smiling down at the miserable wolf. "Alright, Rurik. Couch arrest. I am going to make you my special spicy ginger and bone broth. It will clear your sinuses right up."

"Wait," Rurik reached out, grabbing the sleeve of my dress before I could leave. His watery golden eyes looked up at me with absolute panic. "What if I die, Primrose?"

"You have a cold, Rurik."

"My nose is completely blocked! I cannot smell the perimeter! An enemy could be standing right behind me!"

"The only enemy here is your dramatic flair," Caspian said, walking over. He raised a hand, his water magic flaring gently. He pulled the moisture from the air, condensing it into a perfect, freezing ice pack, and placed it squarely on top of Rurik’s head.

Rurik hissed at the cold, but immediately let out a sigh of relief as it soothed his fever. "I hate you, fish."

"You’re welcome, mutt," Caspian replied cheerfully. "I will make sure the cubs don’t destroy the house while you’re incapacitated."

---

Making the bone broth took a few hours. I let the massive beef bones simmer with extra garlic, ginger, and a special medicinal root I bought from the market specifically for beast-kin metabolisms. The smell was rich, spicy, and deeply comforting.

By the time I carried a massive, steaming bowl into the living room, a full-scale operation was underway.

Cassian had returned, though he had cast a shimmering, transparent magical barrier across the middle of the room. He was sitting on the safe side of the barrier, reading a book.

On the "infected" side, Rurik was sprawled out, buried under three more blankets.

And standing right at the edge of the barrier were Orion and Jasper.

The two nine-year-olds were deep in discussion, looking at a chalkboard they had dragged in from the study.

"If we reverse the airflow of the chimney," Orion was saying, tapping the board with a piece of chalk, "we can create a negative pressure zone. It will suck all the sneeze-air right out of the room before it hits the barrier!"

Jasper pushed his round glasses up his nose, nodding seriously. "Fascinating theory, Orion. However, we must account for the velocity of Warlord Rurik’s expulsions. His last sneeze registered at a magnitude of three on the structural stress scale. A standard chimney draft will not suffice."

"What if we build a giant fan?" Orion suggested, his teal eyes lighting up. "We can hook it up to the water wheel outside!"

"Boys," I interrupted gently, stepping through the barrier (which Cassian had keyed to let me pass). "No remodeling the living room while your father is sick, please."

"We are practicing bio-containment, Mother," Jasper explained.

"I appreciate it, but the best containment is just letting him rest," I smiled, walking over to the couch.

"Food!" Vali announced, suddenly dropping from the ceiling rafters. He landed perfectly on his feet next to the sofa, completely bypassing the quarantine barrier.

Cassian let out a stressed sigh. "The wolf-cub ignores the laws of physics and spatial wards. Typical."

Vali ignored him, proudly holding out a slightly squished, half-eaten meat bun toward Rurik. "Here, Dad! I hunted the kitchen! You have to eat to stay strong!"

Rurik looked at the sad, drool-covered bun. He looked at me, holding the bowl of steaming, fragrant bone broth.

"Thank you, my fierce pup," Rurik coughed dramatically, patting Vali’s head. "But the Sovereign has brought the healing elixir. Keep the meat for yourself. Build your strength to guard the pack while the Alpha falls."

"I won’t let you down!" Vali howled, immediately shoving the entire bun into his mouth.

I sat on the edge of the coffee table, carefully handing the large bowl to Rurik. He grabbed a wooden spoon and took a massive gulp.

Instantly, his eyes widened. The spicy ginger hit his system, clearing his blocked sinuses with the force of a battering ram. He took a deep, shuddering breath through his nose.

"I can smell again!" Rurik gasped, looking at me like I was a goddess who had just handed him a miracle. "Little Rose, you have saved my life. I was standing at the gates of the afterlife, and your soup pulled me back."

"You’re very welcome," I laughed, handing him a napkin to wipe his face. "Now finish it, and go to sleep."

"Only if you stay," Rurik murmured, his voice softening. He patted the small, empty space on the sofa next to him.

"I will catch your cold," I pointed out.

"Foxes are tricky," Rurik reasoned sleepily, the heavy meal and the fever finally catching up to him. "You can outsmart a germ."

I rolled my eyes, but I couldn’t help the fond smile that spread across my face. I pulled a small armchair closer to the sofa, sitting down and wrapping one of my tails around his ankle to keep him anchored.

Caspian walked into the room, stopping on the safe side of the barrier. He looked at the sleeping wolf, then at me, shaking his head with a gentle smile.

"He is a terror on the battlefield," Caspian murmured, leaning against the invisible wall. "But he is entirely at your mercy, isn’t he?"

"They all are," Cassian noted without looking up from his book.

I looked at my chaotic family. Cassian guarding the perimeter with magic, Caspian making fresh ice packs, the smart cubs planning ventilation systems, and Vali aggressively guarding the hallway from imaginary threats.

They were ridiculously powerful, completely over-the-top, and absolutely terrible at handling minor inconveniences.

But as Rurik let out a soft, completely un-intimidating snore, I realized I wouldn’t have it any other way.