Baby System: I'm the Beast World's Only Hope!-Chapter 243: Episode 241: Race you home!

The boar was five meters away. Four. Three.

"Come on," Roxy hissed, her violet eyes narrowing. "Come and get it."

Just as her muscles coiled to spring, a blur of grey and black fur erupted from the treeline.

They moved with a synchronized, predatory grace that made the wild boar look clumsy in comparison. Two massive wolves,nearly the size of ponies, slammed into the boar from opposite sides.

The grey wolf clamped its jaws onto the boar’s neck, shaking it violently, while the black wolf went for the hind legs, hamstringing the beast in a single, fluid motion.

The boar didn’t even have time to squeal again. It was over in seconds. Dust and leaves settled around the thrashing pile of fur and muscle.

Roxy stood frozen, her dagger still raised. Her heart hammered against her ribs, but the adrenaline of the fight instantly morphed into a different kind of shock.

"Axel? Onyx?" she breathed, the weapon slipping from her fingers to the grass.

The wolves released the carcass. They turned their massive heads toward her. Their eyes, bright, intelligent, and fiercely happy, locked onto hers.

They yipped, a joyous, puppy-like sound that betrayed their fearsome size.

Their shifted. The terrifying predators dissolved, replaced by two young boys who scrambled to their feet.

They had grown. Oh god, they had grown. They were no longer the small, round-cheeked children she had left. They were lanky, their limbs stretching out, their hair wild and windblown. They wore simple leather loincloths that looked like they had been made by Ren.

"MAMA!"

They launched themselves at her with extreme joy.

Roxy opened her arms wide and caught them, her heart swelling with so much joy and excitement.

The impact knocked the breath out of her, sending her tumbling backward onto the soft grass. The Imperial Silk dress, already ruined, was now covered in mud, boar blood, and wolf scent.

She didn’t care. She laughed, a broken, sobbing sound of pure joy as four arms wrapped around her neck.

"My babies!" Roxy cried, burying her face in their hair. It smelled of earth and forest and home. "My sweet, sweet babies! Look at you! Look at how big you are!"

She pulled back, framing Axel’s face with her hands. He had a smudge of dirt on his nose and a grin that stretched from ear to ear.

"Mama, did you see?" Axel beamed, puffing out his chest. "I hunted a lot of game! I caught three rabbits yesterday! And now this boar! I told Daddy Ren I smelled something weird, and we tracked it!"

"You were amazing," Roxy wept, kissing his forehead, his cheeks, his nose. "You looked like a warrior! A true Alpha!"

She turned to Onyx, who was clinging to her waist, his dark eyes shimmering with tears.

"And you, my quiet storm," she cooed, peppering his face with kisses until he giggled.

"I helped track it," Onyx said softly, his voice serious despite the happiness. "But mostly, Mama, I have been very persistent with my studies. I learned the map of the Northern Territories. And I learned to count the stockpile. So that I can help Mama manage the house!"

Roxy’s heart swelled so much she thought it might explode.

"You are so smart," she sobbed, hugging them both tight again. "You are the smartest, strongest boys in the world. I missed you. I missed you every single second."

She held them there in the grass, rocking back and forth, soaking in the reality of their solid, warm bodies. The nightmare of the Deep Spires, the fear that she would never see them again, finally shattered.

Goosebumps ghosted her skin and she shuddered, mostly out of relief that the fear seemed non existent now, she came back to her babies.

"You miss the children more than us?"

The voice was deep. It rumbled through the ground, vibrating in Roxy’s chest. Roxy froze. Her head snapped up.

Standing at the edge of the clearing, leaning casually against a massive oak tree, was Torian. He looked exactly as she remembered, yet somehow even more solid. He wore his usual fur-lined vest, his arms crossed over his broad chest. His expression was stoic, but his gold eyes were burning with an intensity that could start a forest fire.

"Torian," Roxy gasped.

She untangled herself from the twins and sprinted the ten feet between them and launched herself on him, like she was some kind of baby koala.

"Oof!" Torian grunted as Roxy slammed into him, wrapping her legs around his waist and her arms around his neck.

He caught her instinctively, his large hands gripping her thighs to keep her steady.

"I missed you!" Roxy screamed, burying her face in the crook of his neck. "I missed you, you big, grumpy tiger! I missed your voice! I missed your smell!"

She pulled back just enough to look at him. He was trying to maintain his composure, trying to be the calm, but his ears were turning a suspicious shade of red.

When last had he held her in his arms?

She felt fuller, and she looked more beautiful despite the dirt on her, despite being underwater for a while, her skin was soft, luscious and paler.

"You have been gone a long time, Roxy," Torian murmured, his voice rough. "The house... felt empty without you."

Roxy laughed. She grabbed his face and kissed him.

She kissed his lips, his jaw, his eyelids. She bit his earlobe gently. She slobbered him with affection like an excited puppy.

"Roxy," Torian groaned, his composure cracking. " The children... are watching."

"I don’t care!" she mumbled against his mouth. "Let them watch! Mama loves Papa Bear!"

Torian’s face went from red to a deep, burning crimson. The feel of her body against his, her curves, the silk dress, the sheer enthusiasm of her greeting, was eliciting a reaction that he definitely could not hide in a loincloth.

"Roxy," he warned, his grip on her thighs tightening dangerously. "You must... get down. Now."

Roxy pulled back, breathless. She saw the flush on his cheeks and the dark hunger in his eyes. She felt the tension in his muscles.

She grinned. A wicked, playful spark lit up her violet eyes.

"Why?" she teased, wiggling slightly in his grip. "Is the tiger waking up from hibernation?"

Torian closed his eyes and let out a long, suffering sigh. He promptly unhooked her legs and set her firmly on the ground.

"You are a menace," he grumbled, adjusting his vest. "Even after months away."

Roxy winked at him, blowing a kiss. "Later~"

She turned back to the twins, clapping her hands together. The energy was coursing through her veins now, the fatigue of the swim, the walk, the grief of leaving Zale, it was all replaced by a manic, euphoric need to be home.

She couldn’t wait to see the others.

"Alright, boys!" Roxy announced, pointing at the dead boar. "Drag that beast! We are having a feast tonight! Fresh pork!"

Axel and Onyx cheered. They grabbed the boar’s legs, ready to haul the massive carcass.

"Leave it," Torian interrupted, stepping forward. He easily hoisted the entire boar onto one shoulder as if it weighed nothing more than a sack of feathers. "It is too heavy for the pups. I will carry the meat."

Roxy knew it was a lie, her boys were strong enough to carry it! He looked down at Roxy, his dark eyes softening.

"Go ahead," he said gently. "Everyone is waiting. Especially Iris and Tanith. They have been... difficult... without you."

Roxy giggled. The sound bubbled up from her chest, light and free. The excitement was overwhelming. It felt like electricity zapping under her skin, a rush of dopamine so potent it felt like a physical climax.

She looked at the path leading west. She could almost hear Kaelen sharpening his spear and Ren complaining about the vegetables. 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎

She kicked off her ruined shoes, digging her bare toes into the dirt.

She turned to Axel and Onyx, a wild grin on her face.

"You heard him!" Roxy shouted, crouching into a sprinter’s stance. "Race you!"

The twins’ eyes went wide with delight. They dropped into crouches, ready to sprint.

"Last to reach the house is a loser!" Roxy screamed.

[You are just a kid.]

Oh puhlease, let a woman be whatever she wants.