Chapter 13: Chapter 13: Okay. Before anyone starts biting anyone, I can explain.

Immediately, Kael moved back, and the cubs stumbled back too, staring at her with shock.

Swanly looked at the things in her arms.

Then she looked at them.

Then she looked back at the things again.

A metal pot, a packet of rice, a lighter, medicine, gauze, a small bottle, a spoon, a cup, and a few other things that absolutely did not belong in a cave behind a waterfall.

For one second, Swanly’s mind went blank.

Then she remembered.

Primitive world.

Modern things.

They did not mix.

Of course they were staring at her like she had just pulled the moon out of her armpit.

The cubs were pressed together near Kael’s feet. The eldest stood in front of his brothers again, but his tiny bravery was fighting for its life. His ears were flat. His little tail stood straight up. His eyes were round and bright as he stared at the shiny pot in Swanly’s hand.

The second cub hid half his face behind the eldest’s side, but both his eyes were still open wide.

The smallest cub peeked between his brothers, his little nose twitching so fast that Swanly almost forgot she was in trouble.

Kael stood behind them, one arm slightly raised, his body already angled in front of the cubs. His face was calm, but his eyes were sharp. He was not afraid like the cubs.

He was ready.

That made Swanly swallow.

One wrong move, and this beautiful panther man might decide the pot was a threat and fight it.

Swanly tightened her arms around the things and forced out a laugh.

"What?" she asked. "Why are you all looking at me like that?"

No one answered.

The waterfall roared outside the cave. Mist slipped over the stone floor. Far beyond the silver curtain, the forest called with deep bird sounds, clicking insects, and the long, low cry of something large moving between the trees.

Inside the cave, all four beast people stared at her.

Swanly slowly turned her head toward the back wall she had just been facing.

Then she looked back at them.

She could almost see what they had seen.

She had walked to a dark corner, stared at a wall like a mad woman, stood there silently, then returned with strange objects that had not been there before.

Lovely.

Wonderful.

Very sane behavior.

Swanly lifted one finger. "Okay. Before anyone starts biting anyone, I can explain."

Kael’s gaze did not soften. "Explain."

The cubs nodded at once.

The smallest whispered, "Mama explain wall."

The second whispered, "Wall give shiny."

The eldest frowned very hard. "Wall dangerous."

Swanly stared at him.

The eldest stared back with the serious face of a baby guard who had just found a national threat.

Swanly nearly laughed, but Kael’s eyes were still on her, and that kept her mouth under control.

She cleared her throat.

"I know magic."

Silence.

Kael’s eyes narrowed.

The cubs blinked.

The smallest tilted his head so far that one of his ears flopped.

"Ma... jik?" he repeated slowly, as if the word tasted strange.

Swanly nodded with all the confidence of a woman lying for survival. "Yes. Magic."

The second cub’s mouth opened a little. "Magic eat?"

"No."

The eldest asked, "Magic bite?"

"No."

The smallest asked, "Magic lick?"

Swanly closed her eyes for one breath. "No. Magic does not lick."

The smallest looked deeply disappointed.

Swanly adjusted the things in her arms. "Magic means I can bring things out when I need them."

All three cubs stared at her.

Their little faces changed at the same time.

Fear slowly turned into wonder.

Wonder turned into joy.

Joy turned into the kind of innocent belief that only babies could have.

The smallest bounced once on his tiny paws. "Mama magic!"

The second’s eyes shone. "Mama strong?"

The eldest puffed his little chest. "Mama strongest."

Swanly’s heart almost folded in half.

They believed her so easily.

Too easily.

It was unfair how cute they were.

The smallest tried to run toward her, then stopped, looked at the pot, looked at her face, and slowly backed behind his brothers again.

Swanly lifted the pot slightly. "This will not bite you."

The cubs all looked unconvinced.

Kael still did not speak.

He was watching her too closely.

Swanly looked at him and lifted her brow. "What? You don’t believe in magic?"

Kael’s face did not change.

Swanly sighed. "Are you always this quiet? Gosh. You stand there looking like a forbidden forest statue and expect me to guess your thoughts."

His ears flicked.

That tiny movement annoyed her because it was cute.

Everything about him annoyed her because it was too good-looking.

Kael was wet from the waterfall, the ends of his black hair still dark and dripping against his shoulders. His hide skirt sat low on his waist, and the old scars on his chest made him look dangerous instead of damaged. His golden eyes were fixed on her with that calm, hard look that made her feel like he could hear every lie before she even finished saying it.

He was beautiful.

That was the problem.

Not soft beautiful.

Not clean beautiful.

He was wild beautiful.

The kind of beauty that made the cave feel smaller. The kind that looked wrong beside plastic medicine and a metal pot, because he belonged to teeth, rain, blood, stone, and the deep green forest outside.

Swanly hated how much she noticed.

She also noticed that his burned fingers were still red.

That helped her brain return to its job.

"Sit down," she said.

Kael looked at her. "Why?"

"So I can treat your hand."

"It will heal."

"I did not ask it for its opinion. Sit."

The cubs gasped softly.

The smallest whispered, "Mama command Papa."

The second whispered, "Papa angry?"

The eldest looked at Kael with the same face a tiny soldier might use while waiting for a war horn.

Kael stared at Swanly.

Swanly stared back.

His eyes moved to the things in her arms, then to her face. He still did not believe her. She could see it. But he did not attack. He did not shout. He did not force her to explain.

Slowly, he sat on a flat stone near the cave wall.

Swanly walked toward him.

The cubs followed at a safe distance, all three moving like little spies.

When Swanly knelt in front of Kael, he became still again.

Too still.

As if her nearness was not normal.

As if every small touch had to be prepared for.

Swanly tried not to think about that.

"Give me your hand."

He hesitated.

She frowned and grabbed his wrist herself.

Kael’s fingers twitched.

The cubs leaned forward at once.

The smallest whispered, "Mama hold Papa."

The second whispered, "Papa no run."

The eldest nodded very seriously. "Papa brave."

Swanly almost laughed, but then she saw Kael’s face.

He was not laughing.

His eyes had lowered to her hand around his wrist, and the hard look in them had cracked. Just a little. Just enough for her to see something warm and painful underneath.

He was happy.

Not loudly.

Not openly.

But his whole body had softened by a tiny amount. His tail moved once behind him, slow and careful. His ears tilted forward, then back, like he did not know what to do with the feeling.

Swanly’s chest hurt.

This was not even a hug.

This was not even romance.

She was just holding his wrist to clean a burn.

And he looked like she had given him something precious.

"Don’t move," she muttered, because being gentle for too long made her uncomfortable.

She opened the medicine and poured a little clean water onto the cloth first. Kael’s eyes sharpened when he saw the water come from a clear bottle, but he said nothing. Swanly cleaned the burn carefully, her fingers light against his skin. His hand was large, warm, and rough with old marks. The burn was not terrible, but it had blistered along the side of two fingers.

"This will sting a little," she said.

"What is sting?"

Before she could explain, she applied the cream.

Kael’s jaw tightened.

The cubs saw his face and immediately reacted.

The smallest squeaked. "Papa pain?"

The second crawled closer. "Mama hurt Papa?"

"No, I’m helping him," Swanly said quickly.

The eldest looked at the cream with suspicion. "White mud."

"It is not mud."

The smallest sniffed. "Smell strange."

"Yes. Medicine smells strange. That’s how you know it’s doing something important."

The cubs accepted that with complete trust.

Kael did not.

But he stayed still.

Swanly wrapped gauze around his burned fingers, then checked the bite on his arm again. She cleaned that too, more carefully. He watched her the whole time. His gaze did not leave her face. It made her feel hot under her skin, but she refused to look up because the moment she looked up, she knew his eyes would do something unfair to her common sense.

When she finished wrapping the bite, she tied the bandage neatly.

"There. I’ll change this every few hours. The medicine should help it heal faster."

Kael looked at the bandage.

His fingers touched the edge of it like it was not cloth, but some kind of mark.

"It is strange," he said.

"Yes, well, your world is strange to me too. We are even."

He did not pull it off.

Instead, he looked down at the white bandage with a quiet expression.

It felt tight.

It felt strange.

It smelled like her hands, the sharp medicine, and something clean he did not know.

But she had placed it there.

She had touched him without hatred. She had worried over his wound. She had scolded him because she did not want him hurt.

Kael wanted to keep the strange white wrapping forever.

Swanly saw his face and narrowed her eyes.

"Don’t get attached. I said I’m changing it later."

Kael looked away.

The smallest cub whispered, "Papa like white mud."

The second nodded. "Papa happy."

The eldest looked proud. "Mama fixed Papa."

Swanly pointed at them. "Nobody call it white mud again."

The smallest opened his mouth.

Swanly stared him down.

He closed it.

Then, behind them, something rustled near the waterfall entrance.

Kael moved before Swanly even understood the sound.

One breath, he was sitting.

The next, he was in front of her and the cubs, body low, shoulders tense, claws already half out.

The cubs rushed backward into Swanly’s legs.

A small beast animal shot through the waterfall curtain and stumbled into the cave.