Beauty's Beasts
Chapter 117: The surprise.

Chapter 117: The surprise.

Sydney flashed past her mates and Caden followed suit, of course not before throwing the oinking baby warthog to Ash.

The two mischievous youngsters at home zoomed out of the forest like their butts were on fire.

By the time Ash realised how complicated the situation was, the mother warthog was only a few feet from him, oddly, he didn’t have the heart to subdue it, he only threw the baby into Titan’s hand and ran after Sydney and Caden.

"Give it to me!" Ray said excitedly as he gestured for Titan to pass him the baby!. He remembered this game! It was called catch!

Ken looked at Ray in a degrading manner! Grow up! Will you? He silently thought

Titan wanted to pass the baby back to its mother but from the corner of his eye, he caught Sydney behind the tree, he became helpless and threw the baby over to Ray. Mama warthog screeched to a halt and changed targets to Ray.

Ray had seen how silly Ken was underlooking him and just as mama warthog by passed Ken to attack Ray,he mischeviously threw the warthog into Ken’s hands and he instinctively put out his hands to hold it. He frowned and looked into his hands. He and the little one’s eyes locked. "Shit!" He cursed but was too late as the mama warthog stuffed her pointy horns at region that contained his lineage

Sydney was excited and she ran out from hiding. She also wanted to catch the baby warthog!

The family tormented the warthog till it was in tears. The baby had already passed out from being manhandled. He was better off dead!

Sydney who had been as energetic as a pup with laughter like that of a hyena went back home completely exhausted. All her mates had silly smiles on their faces as they watched her hang off Ash’s shoulder like prey.

In Titan’s hands was mama warthog and its little ones. He brought them back for her to play! He was a reasonable male!

Everyone got down to their chores and soon lunch was on the table. Sydney returned from the bedroom with wet hair and went to eat something, her stomach hadn’t stopped growling while she was in the shower.

Sydney concentrated on her meal while her mates accompanied her to eat. Even Ray sat in the dinning table this time round and there seemed to be nothing abnormal about it.

What were you guys doing in the forest?" Sydney asked once the vortex in her stomach was slightly filled. She had been holding herself back from asking but couldn’t anymore. If not for Caden, she would have gone over to see what made them so busy.

Wait a few more days...you’ll find out." Ash who at her left assured her. He picked out meat and wrapped it in leaves before feeding it to Sydney.

A few more days wasn’t that long. Sydney didn’t probe and finished her meal, however because she had been running around, she was extremely exhausted. She was not a weakling but living in this world taught her how to be extremely lazy. So, once her belly was full, her eyes begun to close and she dozed off from the dinning table.

Ash who was closest to her held her head when it tilted over to his side. Even her hair was still damp. I’ll send her to he’d first." He spoke softly and the other nodded. Gently, he carried his naughty mate over to the bedroom and lay her down in the stone bed. Because her hair was wet, it had gotten a darker shade of red. He sighed helplessly and found a piece of fur to help dry her hair completely before tucking her in.

Ash’s emerald eyes glazed over for a while and lowered his lips to kiss her forehead. His emotions were a little complicated. He got up and walked away from home for a while after letting the others know that he’d only be back the following morning.

*

Under the setting sun, Ash set off and headed out of the city settlement. His speed was neither slow nor fast but his mind kept flooding with voices that were both familiar yet foreign. His encounter with Sydney in his childhood had a great impact on his life but right after he met her, he felt like a part of him had gone missing.

He initially didn’t want to think too much of that matter but ever since Ray came by, he was assaulted by not only dreams that were strange, even voices that were unfamiliar haunted him.

He couldn’t loose himself Infront of his mate much less the others at home. He could only excuse himself and find a place to seculed himself. The sky gradually darkened and not long after, he came to a small mountain range. This was the cave that took him to Sydney but the same cave that cut him from her. He slowed down his pace but the voices in his mind intensified.

He staggered on his feet and shifted to his human form to hold himself from stumbling. The headache seemed to be returning ten times fold from the usual. He clasped at his black hair almost tugging then out from his scalp. He groaned before continuing to stagger towards the entrance.

Beads of sweat begun to form on his forehead as he gritted his teeth to bare with the pain. His surroundings seemed to run in circles and he couldn’t hold himself up anymore. He fell to the ground naked with shallow and bartered breathes.

"Do you have to do this?" A young male’s voice asked as he looked at Ash struggling on the ground.

"Are telling me to wait for that white monster to first appear before him? It’ll be useless then!" The other ones retorted angrily.

But that doesn’t change the fact that Ash is our father. We can’t treat him like this!" Another spoke.

"This is only a little bit of what he deserves! If he had been straightforward in his actions and not held back, then mother wouldn’t have died!" The young male who was emotionlessly torturing his father seethed.

"But mother is alive right now! Isn’t that enough?" The slightly softer voice asked.

"Since you think it’s enough, why don’t you go and stand Infront of mother and tell her how you are her son! I’ll want to see how it will turn out! And besides, mother is alive because of our collective efforts! Once Zery is eliminated from the picture, I see no use of her mates! We’ll take her away from here and leave them to wander!" The rougher voice left no room for negotiation.

Although Ash’s consciousness was slipping away, he was familiar with those voices and he also clearly heard what they said. He was shocked that he passed out.

The softer looking male with white hair came over with a skin hide and covered his father up. He hoisted him and carried him into the cave under the gazes of his brothers.

After placing his father down, he looked at the others. "What?" He asked gently.

Nothing! The two replied and shrugged.

"Now what?" A female voice came over. She looked like a eight to nine year old.

We wait!" The rougher voice said. His green eyes shifted over to the end of the cave and through the water like substance that floated in the air, he could see another world at the other end.

The world where his mother came from!

Initially, he had only been a helpless cub who could only run away while his mother was fighting and hurting but that wouldn’t happen again! Not under his watch!

"Where did you dispose Uncle Ray off to?" The young female asked.

"I sent him to the city of beasts. Depending on his adaptability, he should have already blended in with mother. It also seems like Uncle Shawn finally regained his memory! Only father is the remaining one!" The softer male voice reported.

Good! Then let’s keep everything according to plan." The rougher voice spoke before exiting the cave. The others followed suit.

They had been forced to grow up in their infantry, to the point of using unheard of means to fasten their shifts into humans, all for one thing...to get another chance to meet their mother...even if it’s one more time!

*

*

Sydney woke up in the middle of the night from thirst. Feeling the movement, Shawn who was cuddling her woke up at the same time. "Are you okay?" He asked his eyes clearing out of any sleep.

She shook her head. I’m thirsty. I’ll go down to get some water." she said and crawled out of Shawn’s embrace avoiding waking up the others. Shawn silently followed after her.

The door was pushed open and Ray woke up. He had moved his grass nest to the door and slept there so when Sydney pushed the door open, she banged the poor guys’ head.

I’m really sorry!" Sydney didn’t stop apologising even when Ray told her it was fine. He was really not hurt but the little mountain that had formed on his head said otherwise. It was red and very swollen.

From a dark corner outside the house, a pair of eyes observed the situation at home. It was warm and cozy but it was fragile at the same time. One single mistake and this whole thing would crumble to smithereens. They couldn’t bare to let that happen and had to keep their existence a secret for now.

The little girl in her brother’s hands looked at her mother with tears in her eyes. She missed her so much!

"Don’t worry! You’ll be meeting with mother soon!" The young male assured his little sister