Why Am I In the Beast World?!

Chapter 36- Pups and Cubs

     Audre watched as the leopard disappeared into the distance, a small grin still playing on her lips. It wasn't until the Chief had gotten her attention that she looked away.

     "Glad you're here Audre. Come this way." They motioned Audre to follow her as she led her through a small opening in the stick fence and brought her to a primitive hut.

     Just as they approached the hut, Audre was quickly met by a group of wolf pups that began to jump up on her leg.

     "Oh, I am so sorry-" the Chief began saying, but Audre did not hear her.

     When Audre saw the wolf pups bounding out of the hut, she was hit with a cuteness overload so high that she squealed, and before the Chief could properly apologize, she was already on the ground petting and playing with the puppies.

     "Oh my gosh. You're all so cute." Audre squealed in a baby voice as she pet one of the pups that were wagging its tail and attempting to lick Audre's face. "Just the cutest! Yes, you are!"

     A pair of arms interrupted Audre's bliss as it reached down to snag one of the pups that were jumping up on Audre's arm. "Come here, Arlo. That's not how you treat a guess."

     Audre looked up to see a tall wolf beast-man with brown curly hair reprimanding a little pup in his arms. "You can't go jumping up on our guest. It's impolite."

Audre found it kind of amusing seeing the male reprimanding the little pup. Especially since with the freckles dotting his nose and his hazel-doe eyes, he looked somewhat like a child himself.

     Audre felt bad as she cradled one of the pups in her arms. For a moment she had been confused but had quickly remembered that in beast world stories, beast-man were often born in their animal forms, and the pups she was playing with were likely little beast-men.

     "I don't mind. They're so adorable." She said as she got to her feet.

     "Come on you two. Let's get inside." the Chief said as she picked up her other two pups to bring them inside the hut.

     Audre followed the chief and the male into the hut. Once inside, Audre set down the pup who was getting fidgety in her arms, and watched as it ran off to play with its siblings.

     Audre took a moment to look around the hut. She found that the inside was quite spacious in comparison to the tree hole she was used to. While the tree hole was about the size of a small bedroom in the modern world, this hut was about the size of a living room.

     The hut seemed to be mostly made from large sticks as the main structure, with moss and clay filling in the gaps, while the roof seemed to be mostly made of straw.

     The hut had an animal skin rug laid out, and various utensils sat atop a makeshift stone shelf in the corner. Next to the shelf were furs, hides, animal skins, and clothing set in a neat pile.

     The male went to occupy the pups as the Chief sat down on the animal skin rug.

     "Come sit," she said as she patted the spot in front of her. "We can talk while Koda watches the pups."

     Audre did as the Chief said and sat down. As she did, one of the pups decided to scamper over and crawl in her lap.

     "You want to sit with me?" Audre giggled as she pet the little pup.

     "Mason. Go play with your brothers so mommy can talk to our guest." The Chief said to the little pup causing him to whine in protest.

     "Mason, listen to your mother and come back over here," Koda told the pup in a stern voice.

     The pup huffed in irritation before running back over and tackling one of his brothers. Audre found the whole scene amusing and she couldn't help but smile.

     Seeing Audre's smile and her fondness for the pups the Chief said, "Seeing how much you like the pups, I'm sure you'll be excited to have cubs of your own."

     "Ha?"

     "Don't tell me that you've never thought about it?" the Chief said. "With you acquiring mates, it's merely a matter of time before you'll have little ones of your own."

     Audre gave a nervous laugh. "Well, I guess it's not something you initially think about."

     'They may be cute, but that doesn't mean I'm ready to be a mom. No way!'

     "Well of course if you need any advice in the future, I'll be happy to help." the Chief went on. "Perhaps you may be lucky as well and have a female cub. That would truly be a blessing from the Beast Goddess. Don't you agree Audre?"

     'Most definitely not!'

     Audre nervously tugged at her hair. "I guess whatever happens will just happen."