The Ugly Duckling Of The Tiger Tribe-Chapter 251: The scene was pure chaos

I helped Damar apply the green paste to the scratches on his back and then on his neck. God, I really did a number on his body.

I didn’t think it was this bad.

"Are you done?" He asked and I nodded.

"Yeah,"

"Let me apply some on your knee." He said and I tilted my head.

"My knees?"

I looked down and slid my coat aside to see that my knees were bruised. Ah, how did I not know?

Damar always picked up these stuffs so easily. I’m so jealous of how observant he was.

"Alright."

After that, we spent some time just sitting on the rock, his hand resting on top of mine and gazing softly at me.

I could feel him gazing at me, but I didn’t want to ruin the moment, so I kept talking about different things, looking at the water.

Then, I saw a fish dive out of the lake and back in. I got up, excited.

"Damar, shall we catch some fish?"

He looked at me and smiled.

"Yes, let us catch some fish."

And so, we began to play in the water while catching fish.

Maybe it was a bad call because I began to sneeze a moment later, which signalled the end of our little unplanned date.

We started heading back, carrying five fish we caught. I felt so full and so peaceful, and I was sure I had helped Damar get rid of the guilt he was feeling.

"Let’s roast the fish when we get back," I said and he nodded, but then he caught my hand and pulled me into his arms.

He hugged me for a second, my heart thumped and I felt his thumping as well.

"Thank you, Ari," he whispered to me and then brought his face down to brush his lips over mine. "You were the light in my dark moments. I heard your voice every time, I heard you talking to me, and thanks to that, I didn’t feel alone."

He was talking about the time I talked with him when he was hibernating.

My eyes grew teary but I smiled, happy that I helped him even at a time like that.

"I’m so glad," I said and he kissed my lips.

Things finally felt like they were falling in place.

But my sense of peace vanished the second we got within earshot of the cave.

Usually, the forest was filled with the sounds of rustling leaves and birds, but as we approached our home, it sounded like a small-scale riot was happening inside the stone walls.

There was a frantic thudding, the unmistakable high-pitched wail of Raiden, and—most concerningly—the sound of someone hitting a wooden bowl.

"Oh no," I whispered, picking up my pace. "Damar, move those legs. We’re in trouble."

We burst through the cave entrance and stopped dead.

The scene was pure chaos.

Fenric was on his hands and knees, looking completely disheveled. His white hair, usually so pristine, was sticking up in three different directions, and Raiden was currently perched on his back, gripping Fenric’s hair like reins and letting out a war cry.

In the corner, Noah—the literal King of a nation—was holding a wooden spoon and a bowl, trying to distract Phina and Lyra. He looked like he hadn’t slept in years, despite only being alone with them for maybe forty minutes to an hour. Or was it two hours?

Phina had somehow managed to get her tiny paws into the heap of ash we hadn’t thrown out yet, and she was now a very dusty, white-furred ghost cub, sneezing clouds of ash powder everywhere.

Lyra was just sitting in the middle of it all, staring at her fathers with a look of profound disappointment.

"Arinya!" Fenric yelped, his eyes wide with desperation as he looked at me. "He won’t get off! He’s fast, Arinya. He’s too fast!"

"And this one... she’s a chemist!" Noah shouted over the noise, pointing at the ash-covered Phina. "She’s making it snow again! Stop her!"

I stood there, frozen, while Damar let out a soft, amused hiss beside me. He looked at his brothers-in-arms—the terrifying tiger-warrior and the powerful king—being absolutely dismantled by three creatures that didn’t even weigh ten pounds combined.

"I leave you for an hour," I said, my voice rising. "An hour! And you’ve lost control of the cave? What is this mess?!" I yelled.

Raiden, hearing my voice, let go of Fenric’s hair and tumbled off his back, scurrying toward me with a happy yip. Fenric collapsed onto his stomach with a groan of pure relief.

"He bit me, Arinya," Fenric muffled into the furs, whimpering. "The spirit of thunder has teeth. Sharp ones."

"Well, suck it up! He takes more after you than anyone else so you have yourself to blame."

"And you," I looked at Noah, who was still holding the bowl and spoon. "Are you planning to go to war with a baby and a spoon?"

Noah lowered the bowl, looking sheepish. "She was heading for the fire. I had to create a distraction."

I sighed, reaching down to scoop up the ash-covered Phina before she could sneeze again.

"The ’distraction’ is just making them more hyper, you idiot."

I looked at Damar, who was already picking up Lyra with a practiced, calm grace. She immediately nuzzled into his neck, the only one of the three who seemed to have retained any dignity.

Seriously...

"I am never leaving you two alone with them again," I declared, shaking the ash off Phina’s ears. "If this is how you handle three cubs in a cave, the West-Way doesn’t stand a chance."

"To be fair," Noah grumbled, trying to fix his tunic, "Raiden is a tactical genius. He used a pincer movement with his sisters."

I rolled my eyes so hard I thought I’d see my brain. "Pack the rest of the pots, ’General.’ We’re leaving before you decide to start a fire drill as well."

Gosh, how does he lead his people when he can’t even take care of the cubs? No, two cubs... Lyra isn’t even included in the mess.

I thought my babies were well-behaved, even though they were stubborn, but I guess they were only well-behaved in my presence.

Sigh.