When they returned carrying so many hares and a bear hide, the won who had already set up the cooking area outside could only smile helplessly.
Only Zuri frowned when she saw what they were carrying.
"Ground hares in this season? Did you catch so migrating ones?" she asked. "But they don’t migrate during the heat."
Terek let out a laugh that imdiately drew the attention of those who hadn’t been paying attention.
"It’s all thanks to the hard work... or maybe the smart work of the kid who hunted every single one of them by himself. He sohow lured them out and hunted them without even a single mont of struggle."
Zuri blinked in surprise.
"All seven of them? He hunted them alone?" She jabbed her elbow into her mate’s stomach before adding, "Did you tag along just for the sake of it?"
The verbal and physical jab had no effect on the man.
"The elders are supposed to watch their children do the labor. That’s the whole reason we raise them in the first place, bhahaha!"
His booming laughter carried an infectious energy that soon had the others smiling as well.
Luke shook his head and dropped the red at beside the hearth.
"They’ll need another round of cleaning." He said.
"I will handle that," Laila said quietly as she carried over a wide basket filled with water.
Luke didn’t offer to help. The won of this world were naturally strong enough to carry twenty or even thirty liters of water without much difficulty.
As Laila crouched beside the at, she asked, "Has the cleaning been done?" If not, she might need Ginna’s help.
She was not very good with cleaning the innards. She has ssed up a few tis in the past that caused the at to turn foul.
Thankfully, Gustav answered first.
"I cleaned them, Laila. While these two were busy goofing around, I handled all the skinning and cleaning myself."
Terek and Luke actually had an underwater breath holding contest which Luke won.
Luke snickered as he crossed his arms.
"You took the initiative. What’s the point of complaining now?"
Gustav raised a hand in surrender and left it at that.
Luke then looked at Laila.
"Where’s Monica?" He didn’t see her outside.
Terek caught that. Luke had called his mother by her na, but since he was busy chatting with his mate, he let it slide and decided to ask Gustav about it later.
Well, it was not very unusual for n to call their mother by their na, Luke has always been the gentle kid who respected his parents. And it’s strange since he is still called Gustav "father".
"She’s inside preparing drinks," Laila replied. After a brief pause, she added quietly, "And... she was feeling a little dizzy this morning."
Luke frowned at that. He didn’t hear anything about that from her this morning. After a brief pause, he nodded and told her,
"Thanks for telling ."
He headed straight into the house and soon heard footsteps approaching from the kitchen.
He stepped forward.
"Ah!"
Monica yelped in surprise as the pitcher nearly slipped from her hands.
"Caught it."
Luke caught it with one hand before calmly setting it on a nearby table.
Without another word, he placed a hand on her shoulder and gently guided her toward a chair.
"Luke?" Monica asked. "What happened?"
She looked genuinely bewildered by his serious expression.
Luke sat her down and silently took out a clean needle, pricking her thumb.
Monica imdiately realized what he was doing.
"Did Laila tell you?" she asked, displeasure creeping into her voice. "That girl... I specifically told her-"
"To not tell that you’re unwell?" Luke cut in. "Monica, I should be the first person to know when sothing is wrong with you. This isn’t a matter of choice. It’s a necessity."
His voice remained gentle throughout, but the firmness in his eyes made it clear that he thought she had made a mistake.
"I... I just don’t want to beco a clingy, delicate woman who needs her mate to fuss over every little bout of dizziness," she said.
Even as she spoke, Monica knew the argunt would fall on deaf ears.
They had already discussed this more than once. By now, she understood that hiding these things from him was wrong, but old habits were hard to break. It would take ti for her to adjust.
Luke simply shook his head and checked her condition.
The system returned its report within seconds.
[Low sugar, possible dehydration, and early symptoms of high blood pressure.]
A warning bell imdiately rang in his mind.
The system had already alerted him about dehydration several tis before. Now high blood pressure had been added to the list.
That was definitely not a good sign.
"Alright," Luke said at last. "Tonight, I’m making a schedule for you. Your als, your sleeping and waking hours, how long you’re allowed to work, everything."
Monica sighed in resignation.
"Okay, I understand. But for now, let’s go outside. The others are waiting."
"Let them wait."
Luke crouched in front of her and took her hands in his.
Looking into her eyes, he spoke gently.
"Monica... I don’t want to scold you, but I think you understand how it feels when soone you care about doesn’t take care of themselves. That day when I ca back crushed and depressed, would you have let go hunting that sa night?"
She imdiately shook her head.
"No. Absolutely not."
"See?" Luke said. "When you know sothing is wrong and still don’t do anything to prevent it or fix it, it’s unfair to the people who care about you."
Monica let out a slow breath.
"I understand your concern," she said calmly. "And I promise I’ll take better care of myself from now on."
She cupped his cheek and added,
"Whatever plan you prepare for , I’ll follow it."
Satisfied, Luke grinned and pecked her lips.
"Love you."
A faint blush spread across her cheeks, and she smiled back at him.
At that mont, the door of the room across from them opened, revealing an unexpected sight.
"Hmm?"
Luke slowly rose to his feet. Monica stood as well, though the shock on her face was far greater than his.
The man who had been struggling with his injury until that very morning was now walking normally.
His eyes were red, and a smile of pure elation stretched across his face as Lex stepped out of his room with Dalia at his side. Tears still lingered in her eyes.
That’s when Luke rembered sothing.
Zuri.
She had a healing skill. She must have been the one who healed Lex.
Lex quietly walked over to him.
Luke crossed his arms.
"Well, isn’t this quite the occasion."
"It is," Lex replied, the happiness in his voice impossible to hide. "It’s... all thanks to Zuri and you that I’m standing on my own feet again."
He raised a hand and rested it on Luke’s shoulder.
"Thank you... brother."
"..."
•••••••
A/N:- I hope you liked the Chapter.
The images are on discord. To reach discord, if you can’t find the link, search my na on discord and send friend request.
hayden_greyhart
User Comments
0 comments from readers