Beauties and Beasts

Chapter 105: brought to you by the prodigal son

As I type this, a two-year-old giggles madly through hiccups as he pokes my nose and I try to kiss his fingers. It distracts him from sadly calling his brother's name, because big brother is at school rather than home playing with him. I don't care who you are, having kids is the best.

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Curtis moved ahead to meet his son before the child could think he could just approach his mother just because he brought a carcass. Half of it was instinct, demanding he meet the invader to his territory. The other was fear of how seeing the dead mermen could affect Shay's delicate mental stability. Ever since the incident with those damn rabbits she'd been quick to fear, quick to think the worst, and in need of much more comfort to feel secure once more.

And it was his fault. His failure as a mate. And to an unwordly female too perfect for him.

Which was why he couldn't let his son threaten that, no matter how much she loved him.

Thankfully, his largest son had learned his lesson and immediately cowtowed the moment he saw his father making his way towards him.

"What is this?" Curtis hissed.

"An offering," said his son softly. "To please father."

"Where did you hear that a dead merman would please me?"

"Brother," said the boy.

"You've been in contact with your brothers?"

"..."

Curtis put a hand to his face. What was wrong with his children's instincts? They should be protecting their territories viciously, especially from each other. He'd wondered this before when he saw the boys working side by side without a fuss, but now they were giving advice to each other?

Maybe this was the part of them they had inherited from their mother, whose world had, as far as Curtis had gathered, had no such instincts.

He didn't know what the spelled for him, who even now had to smother the urge to smash the child again for bringing a possible harm to his mother, even if was just mental.

"Where did you kill him?" First priority, though: making sure there wouldn't be a retaliation of some mer colony.

"In our--your bay," the child corrected himself quickly. So he wasn't stupid. "I think he came to find the one brother killed. We've marked the waters with our scales."

Good. So the kid's instincts worked that far, at least. So the merfolk would at least have no excuses to think them a threat. In the wild, it was well understood that one was safe as long as they didn't trespass into the territory of those stronger than you.

Despite his initial displeasure, Curtis did feel his heart softening at the fact the merman had been in his bay.

"Good on making sure he was in..." he took a deep breath. "Our territory first. That was very wise."

His son perked up his head, eyes brightening.

"However," Curtis cut in sharply. "Your mother's mind and heart have been damaged from the rabbits. A corpse of a beastman could upset her badly."

The child shrank back, and Cutis could smell the distress in the air. No child ever wished to bring harm to their mother. And this one also knew, especially, that Curtis did not care who it was that harmed his wife, they'd be mowed down like grass.

Still, this kid had gone to such lengths...such odd behavior. Before, Curtis would have never cared what anyone else's reasons or intentions had been. He wouldn't have cared about his children's wellbeing whatsoever. But that had been before he'd taken them on their first hunt, before he'd had the girls, including little Luna who looked up with him with adoring eyes, before he'd had his boys work alongside him and actually be of use, and before he'd seen the utter joy in Licorice on receiving his father's pleasure.