Balthazar led me back to the dining hall, carrying the tray as if it held the crown jewels. Rurik was already there, standing by the window, arms crossed. Vali was pacing on the table, which was... well, at least he wasn't eating the furniture anymore.
"The young master's lunch," Balthazar announced, placing the bowl on the table.
Vali stopped pacing. He looked at the bowl. He sniffed.
It smelled like meat. Good meat. The raw venison garnish was right on top, glistening and familiar.
But underneath... that rich, savory aroma of the stew. It was confusing him.
"It's meat, Vali," I said, keeping my voice calm. "Just... two ways."
Rurik watched, his expression skeptical. "He'll eat the raw part and throw the rest at you."
"Just watch," I murmured.
Vali reached out a tiny hand and scooped up the raw tartare. He ate it happily.
Then, his fingers brushed the stew. He licked them.
His eyes widened. The Sun-Root sweetness, the depth of the stock, the savory sear of the meat... it was a flavor explosion for a kid who had only ever eaten plain, raw muscle.
He didn't throw it. He picked up the spoon (clumsily) and took a bite. Then another. Then he picked up the bowl with both hands and started drinking the stew.
Silence descended on the dining hall. Balthazar looked like he might cry. Rurik looked like he'd been hit with a stun spell.
Vali finished the bowl. He licked it clean. Then, he let out a small, contented burp... and his eyelids started to droop.
The protein rage was fading. The complex carbs from the root vegetables were hitting his system, stabilizing his blood sugar for the first time in who knows how long.
He sat down on the table, yawned, and curled up into a small, white ball. Within seconds, he was asleep.
"He's... sleeping?" Rurik whispered, as if afraid to wake him. "In the middle of the day?"
"He was exhausted," I said, crossing my arms. "Running on adrenaline is tiring. He just needed a full belly and a balanced meal."
I turned to Rurik. The Grumpy Wolf looked... lost. The anger was gone, replaced by a stunned, almost vulnerable relief. He looked less like a terrifying Marquis and more like a tired dad who had just gotten his first break in months.
"You..." he started, looking from his sleeping son to me. "You fixed him."
"I fed him," I corrected. "He's a growing boy, Lord Jaeger. He needs nutrition, not just blood."
Rurik walked over to the table. He reached out and gently, so gently, brushed a lock of white hair from Vali's sleeping face. It was a tenderness I hadn't expected from him.
He looked up at me, his icy-blue eyes intense. "I misjudged you, Lady Primrose. I... apologize."
An apology? From the Wolf Lord? Okay, that's progress.
"Apology accepted," I said. "Now, about my fee..."
"Name it," he said immediately. "Whatever you want. Gold? Jewels? A new building?"
"I want you to enroll him," I said simply. "Bring him to the Little Whiskers Daycare every day. Let me handle his meals. And..." I paused, a sly thought crossing my mind. "...tell your friends."
Rurik blinked. "My... friends?"
"General Khanda," I said. "I hear he has a... spirited... son as well."
Rurik actually let out a short, rough laugh. "Spirited is one word for it. Arrogant little tiger is another."
He looked at me, a new respect in his gaze. "Fine. Vali will attend your... school. And I will speak to Rajah. If you can tame a Wolf, you can certainly handle a Tiger."
He paused, then added, his voice lower. "Thank you."
I nodded, turning to leave before my face got any redder. "Just doing my job, My Lord."
As I walked out of the fortress-like estate, I felt a thrill of victory.
Two down. The Snake and the Wolf.
Next up: The Tiger. And I had a feeling he was going to be a whole different kind of challenge.
---
The next morning, the "Little Whiskers Daycare" felt less like a school and more like a powder keg waiting for a match.
At 8:55 a.m., Alistair dropped off Jasper. The delicate snake-kin was currently clinging to my leg like a shivering barnacle, glaring at the door.
At 9:00 a.m., Luna dropped off Clover. The little bunny was happily munching on a carrot stick, humming a tune.
At 9:05 a.m., the match arrived.
The door didn't open; it flew back against the wall with a bang.
Balthazar, the stiff wolf butler, stood there, looking apologetic. And standing in front of him, vibrating with energy, was Vali Jaeger.
The Demon Cub marched in. He had a bandage on his finger (probably from a furniture incident) and a look of pure, chaotic determination in his pink eyes.
"FOOD LADY!" he bellowed. "I'm here!"
The reaction in the room was instant.
Clover took one look at the predator—who was genetically hardwired to eat her kind—dropped her carrot, gave a tiny squeak, and scrambled under my long skirt, trembling against my ankles.
Jasper, however, didn't hide. He unpeeled himself from my leg, stepped in front of me (and the quivering lump in my skirt), and hissed.
"Go away," Jasper spat, his golden eyes slitted. "You're loud. And you smell like wet dog."
Vali stopped. He sniffed the air. He looked at the pale, skinny boy blocking his path.
"You smell like cold soup," Vali retorted. Then he leaned to the side, trying to see past Jasper. "Hey! I smell rabbit! Is it snack time?"
"No!" Clover wailed from under my skirt.
Vali's eyes lit up. "Chase?"
He dropped into a crouch, his little wolf tail wagging furiously, ready to pounce on the toy hiding in my dress.
Jasper bared his tiny fangs—which I knew were actually venomous.
Okay. Wolf vs. Snake vs. Rabbit. Predator vs. Venom vs. Prey.
If I didn't intervene in the next three seconds, my daycare was going to become a crime scene.
CLAP!
The sound cracked through the room like a gunshot.
"freeze!" I commanded, using my "Head Chef during dinner rush" voice.
Vali froze mid-pounce. Jasper snapped his mouth shut. Even Clover stopped shaking.
"Vali," I said, pointing a wooden spoon at him. "In this house, we do not chase the other clients. Clover is a friend, not food. And Jasper, we do not hiss at guests."
"He started it," Jasper muttered, crossing his arms and looking away.
"He wants to eat me!" Clover whimpered.
"I just wanted to see if she squeaks!" Vali defended.
I sighed, rubbing my temples. Cooking for them was the easy part. Managing them was the war.
But luckily, being a Top Chef wasn't my only skillset.
Most people didn't know this, but before I was plating foie gras for Michelin critics, I was a broke culinary student trying to pay tuition. And where did I work for two agonizing summers?
The "Tiny Tots" Community Center.
I knew how to de-bone a duck in thirty seconds, but I also knew how to de-escalate a toddler tantrums using nothing but a stern look and a distraction.
"Aprons," I announced. "Everyone. Now."
I herded them to the small tables. I put Vali as far away from Clover as possible, with Jasper acting as a moody buffer in the middle.
"Today," I said, placing a bowl of colorful dough in front of them, "we are learning 'Gentle Paws.'"
Vali looked at the dough. "Can I eat it?"
"No," I said.
"Can I fight it?"
"No."
"You have to shape it," I explained. "Vali, you have strong hands. But if you squeeze too hard, you crush it. You have to be gentle. Like... holding a baby bird. Or a bunny friend."
Vali frowned, poking the dough. He squeezed it. It squished through his fingers.
"See?" I said. "Ruined. Try again. Gentle."
For the next hour, the shop was filled with the sounds of squishing dough.
It wasn't perfect.
Vali made a dough-wolf and immediately used it to decapitate Jasper's dough-snake.
Jasper retaliated by meticulously sculpting a dough-wall to block Vali from looking at him.
Clover made a tiny dough-carrot and hid it in her pocket so Vali wouldn't steal it.
But... they weren't fighting. They weren't biting. And no one had been eaten.
I watched them from the counter as I prepped lunch. Vali was chaotic energy. Jasper was silent intensity. Clover was pure anxiety.
They were a mess. But they were *my* mess.
"Food Lady!" Vali yelled, holding up a mangled lump of dough. "Look! I made a rock!"
"It's beautiful, Vali," I lied effortlessly.
"Mine is a fortress of solitude," Jasper whispered.
"Very architectural, Jasper," I nodded.
The bell jingled again. The morning session was over. Balthazar was back to check on his young master, probably expecting to find the room destroyed.
Instead, he found Vali covered in flour, arguing with Jasper about whether a rock could beat a fortress.
"Did he..." Balthazar started, looking around for blood. "...Did he behave?"
"He's learning," I said, wiping flour off Vali's nose. "He has a lot of energy. We're working on 'gentle hands'."
Vali looked up at Balthazar. "I made a rock! And I didn't bite the bunny! Yet!"
Balthazar looked at me with something approaching awe.
Two days in a row without a biting incident.
"Same time tomorrow?" I asked.
Vali answered for him. "Yes! I have to smash the Snake's fortress tomorrow!"
"You will try," Jasper said coolly, not even looking up.
I suppressed a smile. I had a Wolf. I had a Snake. I had a Bunny.
Now... a Tiger.