Chosen Mate Of The Beastmen Empire

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Her brain worked at lightning speed as she recalled the strategy she'd come up with that afternoon. She casually asked, "So, how did you break into Barbarians' stronghold? Is the rebellion completely crushed now? What's going to happen to their leader? Are you sending him back to Hilltop City?"

She figured talking business would help her dodge other topics. But Erik didn't take the bait. He just kept staring at her with those burning eyes. After a long moment, he suddenly propped himself up and leaned in, kissing her like a storm rolling over the horizon.

The little rabbit had traveled a thousand miles to deliver itself straight into the wolf's jaws, devoured until not even its bones remained-too late to cry about it

now.

The next day at noon, Nyx finally dragged herself out of bed, her limbs soft as noodles. Erik stayed right by the bedside, jumping up the second he heard her stir to help her wash and get ready.

The maids' chores got completely hijacked-they could only watch as the general, with hands used to wielding swords and spears, deftly twisted her hair into a neat, pretty bun.

Just as they started to marvel at it, a massive wolf's head poked through the doorway, scaring the daylights out of the young

maids, their faces turning pale in an instant. "A wolf! How can there be a wolf here?"

It was clearly a wild wolf-every strand of fur bristling with untamed energy, its frame sturdy and thick. Though it still had the look of a young pup, it was already bigger than most grown wolves. In its mouth, it carried a tiny rabbit, probably its snack.noveldrama

The maids trembled, torn between pity for the rabbit and terror that the wolf might turn its attention to them and take a bite.

But the gray-furred wolf didn't even spare them a glance. It padded straight toward Nyx with light, confident steps, then flopped down by her feet under everyone's nervous stares, rolling over to show its belly. A bunch of eyeballs nearly popped out of their sockets at the sight.

Nyx looked down, her eyes crinkling with a smile. She rubbed its fur a couple times with her bare foot and said, “Had enough fun out there? Back home now, huh?"

It was a wild wolf cub, after all. Though it was attached to her, that feral streak in its bones never faded. The moment it hit the wild, its blood kicked in, and it got all riled up.

They'd only settled in yesterday, and Nyx, seeing it didn't want to sit still, had let it loose to romp around in the mountains.

The wolf cub let out a little "woo" like it was playing cute, then dropped the rabbit from its mouth into her lap.

"For me?" Nyx touched the rabbit, checked it was still alive, then picked it up to look it over. That light yellow fur looked awfully familiar somehow.

She went quiet for a second, brushing off the weird thoughts popping into her head, then poked the cub's head with a helpless grin. "Why do you love catching rabbits so much?"

It didn't even eat them after catching them—just licked them like they were toys. It had a real thing for rabbits. Erik gave the cub a longer look. It never listened to him, and suddenly he thought it kinda felt like his own kid.

He shifted his gaze away and brought,up Nyx's questions from last night. "The barbarians took a big hit this time because some insiders slipped a sedative into the food they brought. Pretty much anyone who ate at the feast lost the will to fight and got captured by us."

"Monka and his foster father didn't eat the stuff they brought, so they didn't get drugged. We nabbed Monka, but the old guy was slippery and got away," Erik said, his eyes darkening.

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"We took three thousand prisoners this time-not a small number-but plenty of them slipped out in the chaos too. Those barbarians know Misty Ridge like the back of their hands. If they regroup under that old fox, they'll still be a threat we can't ignore."

The barbarian tribe used to number in the tens of thousands, but now only a few thousand stragglers remained. Most had been wiped out or captured in the last three months of fighting-technically, the rebellion was already as good as done. But he knew if they didn't stamp out this last pocket of resistance completely, the tragedy of Nevaton getting raided could happen all over again.

"Once I catch Monka's foster father, I'll haul them both back to Hilltop City," Erik said in a low, firm voice.

Nyx lowered her eyes, getting a clearer picture of how things stood. But she didn't say anything-like she hadn't even heard Erik talking-and just kept playing with the wolf cub, leaving the big Pale Wolf hanging.

Erik was speechless. "Are you mad at me, Nyx?" He knew he'd messed up, so he half-knelt down, resting his head on her knee in shame. "I got drunk last night, I-

"Drunk, my foot!" Nyx was torn between laughing and fuming. She lifted her foot and pressed it against his shoulder. "Just shut up."

She knew how much he could handle. They'd been apart so long, though, so she let it slide and indulged him pretending to be drunk this once.

Looked like even the honest guy wasn't that honest-once he got going with a little liquid courage, he was wilder than the jealous nut back at the palace.

“If you didn't like it, I won't drink again,” the big-tailed wolf said, sneaking a peek at Nyx's face. "Next time it happens, you

can kick me out."

Nyx wasn't totally convinced. This guy was probably banking on knowing her too well, figuring she wouldn't say she disliked it or ever really kick him out. Whatever. He only gets greedy about this one thing anyway-not a big flaw, she thought.

All the males at home were like this. Pale Wolf was already the most well- behaved, even if he usually got the short end of the stick against the sly little cat with eight hundred tricks up its sleeve. She could cut him some slack.

Nyx softened her expression and let out a vague little hum, leaving him to figure it out. Erik couldn't figure it out.

He was genuinely freaking out, clumsily pulling out every trick he had to smooth things over. If he could turn into his beast form right now, his tail and ears would definitely be drooping.

While the bosses sorted out their drama, the maids kept their heads down, not daring to make a peep. But they couldn't help sneaking peeks, thinking the general's groveling, spineless act wasn't all that different from the wolf sprawled out belly-up as madam's footrest.

Once they were out of the bosses' sight and into the courtyard, they started chattering like crazy.

"The mighty Expedition General, scared of his wife!"

"No wonder he never had a flock of pretty girls hovering around him!"

Arlong came stomping in from outside, dusty from the road, passing by the gaggle of maids. He overheard them whispering something like, "The general just got drunk, and now madam's twisting his ear and making him kneel to apologize, swearing he'll never touch a drop again."

Arlong was rendered speechless. After a beat of silence, he barked, "Talking behind the bosses' backs-what happened to your manners?

He chewed out the gossiping maids until they couldn't lift their heads, then strode off with his hands behind his back,

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thinking in his head.

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Knowing Nyx like he did, she wouldn't get mad over something petty like getting drunk at a victory feast. Erik must've done something else out of line.

And knowing his tolerance, the drinks at the feast wouldn't have been enough to make him act wasted. Looked like he faked being drunk to pull some stunt.

In the study, Erik listened to Arlong's work report, waved him off, then heard him clear his throat lightly. "Boss, didn't you prep a gift for madam? Why not bring it out to cheer her up?" If Nyx got happy, she'd forgive the boss's screw-up. "Gift?" Erik gripped the brush in his hand tighter, his face turning a bit awkward. He had prepared a gift for Nyx, sure-but right now, he didn't quite dare give it to

her.