Her Beasts Volume Four

Motherly Love

The next day, Iris couldn't help but fidget as she watched her young cubs. She felt guilty to be leaving them behind for, at least, two weeks while she was away trying to negotiate with the mermaid tribe. As it was still breakfast time, all of Iris's mates couldn't help but grow worried as they watched Iris's expression get worse. Basil, assuming his young cubs were being too rowdy and bothering Iris, stood up, abandoning his breakfast, as he went to shoo the cubs from the kitchen. Iris grabbed his arms, stopping him in his tracks as she asked

"Where are you going? You haven't finished your food yet."

Basil gave Iris a gentle smile as he reassured

"I'll finish it later. You seem too distracted by the cubs to eat. You should worry more about taking care of yourself, for all of our sakes."

Ember scowled as he looked at the annoying cubs. He was certain that his hatchlings wouldn't be nearly as burdensome to their female as these young, teething fox cubs. However, before anyone else could even begin to think of shooing the cubs away, Iris quickly clarified.

"No, leave them be! They aren't bothering me. I'm just worried about leaving them for so long."

Ember looked baffled as he questioned

"Why would you be so worried about that now? At least, now, they don't have to worry about you dying. The three of us can keep you safe and I doubt Caspian, Hazel, and Fern will have a difficult time protecting four cublings."

Fern nodded in agreement as he added in

"The cubs are quite well-behaved, they won't get into any trouble. They don't run around on their own and the boys don't play too rough with their sister. There really isn't anything for you to worry about, I can handle them."

Basil smirked as he retorted

"Of course they are well-behaved! How could they not be with you as their mother? They have to live up to your name and grow up smart and strong!"

Iris shook her head exasperatedly at her mates. While it wasn't entirely unexpected, their sense of family bonds was still a bit lacking in Iris's eyes. She knew it was likely confusing to her mates that she actually worried about all of her young cubs feeling loved and cared for, but she still couldn't help but protest.

"I'm not worried about them getting hurt in my absence. All of you are perfectly capable of protecting and looking after our cubs. I'm more so worried about them on an emotional level due to both of their biological parents being gone. They can't even communicate with anyone but Basil right now since no one else is from the fox tribe. Although, I'm still not sure how much they even can say given they are still not even a year old yet."

Basil raised his eyebrows questioningly as he replied

"What do you mean by that? They are old enough to understand most of what we are saying already and they can communicate their basic needs. Maybe it isn't quite the same way of communicating as what we are doing right now, but they will figure out how to string words together and communicate effectively long before they mature. Although, of course, it will take some adjustment for them to get used to their bodies again when they first shift."

Iris wasn't sure what to make of Basil's explanation. Was their cubs understanding more or less than a toddler would understand in the modern world? Right now they were still a few months shy of one years old, so any amount of communication beyond gibberish was likely to be advanced compared to babies humans had. Brushing that aside, Iris tried to redirect the conversation

"Well, alright, but that's beside the point. Thin about it, you all would feel lonely if I was gone for two weeks, wouldn't you? Why should our cubs be any different?"