I looked at the clock. 1:00 PM.
Nap time.
The dreaded hour. The impossible hour. How do you get a hyperactive tiger, a feral wolf, and a freezing snake to sleep at the same time?
"Alright, troops," I announced, clapping my hands. "Mats out. Lights down. It's Nap Time."
The reaction was immediate rebellion.
"SLEEP IS FOR THE WEAK!" Arjun yelled, dropping to the floor to do crunches. "THE ENEMY NEVER SLEEPS! IF I SLEEP, THE SQUIRRELS WIN!"
"I'm not tired!" Vali howled, bouncing on his mat. "I want to hunt!"
"It is... cold," Jasper whispered from his fort. "I cannot sleep in this... icebox."
I sighed. Okay. Divide and conquer.
I walked over to Arjun. "Soldier."
He snapped to attention on his back. "YES MA'AM!"
"General Khanda left specific orders," I lied effortlessly. "He said that 'Power-Naps' build muscle mass. If you don't nap, you won't get your post-workout 'Power-Protein Bar'."
Arjun's green eyes went wide. The threat of missing a protein snack was too great. He went limp instantly, squeezing his eyes shut. "RECHARGING! SIR!"
One down.
I turned to Vali. He was still chewing the jerky, vibrating with energy.
"Vali," I whispered. "You know who sleeps the most? The best hunters."
Vali opened one pink eye. "Really?"
"Oh, yes. Lions? Wolves? They sleep all day so they have energy to... pounce at dinner." I tucked his blanket around him. "Do you want to be too tired to pounce on your dinner?"
The logic of a predator appealed to him. He grunted, curled into a tight ball, and hugged his jerky strip like a teddy bear.
Two down.
Then, there was Jasper.
I walked over to the cushion fort. The poor kid was shivering. The shop was warm for a mammal, but for a cold-blooded Snake-kin, "room temperature" was basically a refrigerator.
"Cold..." he chattered, his pale skin looking even greyer than usual.
I didn't have a heater. I didn't have a magic spell.
But I did have a wolf.
I looked at Vali, who was radiating heat like a small, fur-covered furnace. Wolves ran hot. Snakes ran cold.
It was a terrible, brilliant idea.
"Vali," I whispered, nudging the wolf cub. "Hey. Wake up for a sec."
"Mmph?"
"Jasper is cold," I said. "Wolves sleep in piles to stay warm, right? It's a... pack thing?"
Vali cracked an eye open and looked at the shivering pile of cushions. "Snakes are slimy."
"Snakes are smooth," Jasper corrected haughtily from inside the fort, though his teeth were chattering. "And dry. Unlike you, drool-face."
"If you let Jasper sleep next to you," I bribed Vali, leaning in close, "I'll put extra 'wild-mince' gravy on your dinner. The really savory kind."
Vali's ears perked up. Gravy was his currency.
He sighed, a great, dramatic, long-suffering sigh. He reached out a paw, grabbed the shivering Snake Prince by the back of his silk shirt, and yanked him out of the fort.
"Hey!" Jasper squeaked.
Vali ignored him, dragging the snake into his own nest of blankets and curling around him.
Jasper froze. He looked like he was about to bite. But then... he felt it. The intense, radiating body heat of a healthy, well-fed werewolf.
Jasper stopped struggling. He blinked. His shivering stopped.
"Oh," he whispered. "Warm."
He didn't pull away. Instead, he wiggled closer, burying his cold face into the wolf's warm fur. Vali grumbled something about "cold toes," but he didn't kick him out.
Five minutes later, I stood back and looked at the miracle.
Arjun was snoring, twitching slightly as he dreamed of pushups.
Vali was fast asleep, drooling slightly.
And Jasper was curled up tight against the Wolf's stomach, sleeping deeper and more peacefully than I had ever seen him, acting as a little spoon to the Demon Cub.
And Clover? She had hopped over and squeezed herself right between Arjun and Vali, using the Tiger's leg as a pillow.
A Tiger, a Wolf, a Snake, and a Bunny. All sleeping in a pile.
I slumped against the counter, wiping sweat from my forehead. I had survived another day.
The bell jingled softly.
I put a finger to my lips and turned around.
Standing in the doorway were three very powerful, very terrifying men. Lord Rurik Jaeger, General Rajah Khanda, and Archduke Cassian Argentis (with Alistair). They had all arrived at the same time for pickup.
They froze.
They looked at the pile.
Rurik stared at his Demon son cuddling a Snake.
Rajah stared at his Hyperactive son actually sleeping.
Cassian stared at his Untouchable brother sleeping peacefully against a filthy wolf.
The silence was heavy.
"Is he..." Rajah whispered, tears actually welling in his eyes. "Is he... napping?"
"He's recharging, General," I whispered back.
Cassian looked at me. His golden eyes weren't cold or calculating for once. They were just... stunned.
"He's not shivering," Cassian murmured.
"Body heat," I explained simply. "Wolf-kin run hot. Snake-kin run cold. It's thermal dynamics."
Rurik crossed his arms, trying to look grumpy, but I saw the way his shoulders relaxed. "Hmph. My son is a radiator. Who knew."
They stood there for a long moment, three of the most powerful men in the empire, watching a failed fox-kin wipe a counter while their children slept in a pile of inter-species peace.
I wasn't just a chef anymore. I was the keeper of the peace.
And I knew, in that moment, that my value as an asset had just tripled.
---
The next morning, the Little Whiskers Daycare felt less like a school and more like a cold war.
The Nap Time Treaty of yesterday had dissolved the moment they woke up. Today, the three heirs were aggressively ignoring each other.
Jasper was back in a cushion fortress, reading a picture book with an air of supreme snobbery.
Arjun was doing silent squats in the corner, vibrating with suppressed energy.
Vali was lying flat on his stomach, staring at a dust mote with intense, predatory focus.
The silence was heavy. It was boring. And bored predators were dangerous predators.
I looked down at Clover, who was hiding behind my skirt, clutching a carrot plushie.
"Clover," I whispered, crouching down. "This is too quiet. If they don't burn off some energy, Vali is going to eat the table leg again."
Clover nodded solemnly.
"Do you know any games?" I asked. "Something you play with your sister? Maybe you could... teach them?"
Clover's olive eyes went wide. "Teach... the Snake? the Wolf? And the Tiger?"
"You're the Senior Student here," I encouraged, smoothing her lilac hair. "You know the rules of the daycare better than anyone. Go on. I'm right here."
Clover took a deep breath. She puffed out her tiny chest, adjusted her dress, and marched into the center of the room.
"Attention!" she squeaked.
Arjun snapped to attention instantly. "YES MA'AM!"
Vali rolled over. "Huh?"
Jasper lowered his book, raising a skeptical eyebrow.
"We are going to play... 'Sleepy Sheep'!" Clover announced.
I listened to her explain the rules. One person walks around the circle, tapping heads, saying 'Sleepy Sheep... Sleepy Sheep...' until they choose someone and yell 'WOLF!' Then the Wolf has to chase them back to their spot.
My mouth twitched. Wait a minute. That's just 'Duck, Duck, Goose'.
It was hilarious. A universal constant across dimensions: children running in circles.
"I will participate," Jasper said, standing up with dignity. "It sounds... strategic."
"I want to be the Wolf!" Vali yelled, jumping up.
"Negative!" Arjun shouted. "We must establish a formation first! Also...you are already a wolf."
They sat in a circle on the rug. It was a surreal sight: a deadly Wolf, a powerful Tiger, and a venomous Snake, all sitting cross-legged around a tiny, fluffy Bunny.
Clover started. She walked around the circle, tapping heads.
"Sleepy sheep... Sleepy sheep..." She tapped Vali's silver head. "WOLF!"
Vali roared, "I AM THE WOLF!" and scrambled up.
Clover shrieked—a happy shriek—and sprinted around the circle. Vali slipped on the rug, paws scrabbling, and Clover dove safely into his empty spot just as his jaws snapped at empty air.
"Safe!" Clover cheered.
Vali huffed, crossing his arms. Now he was "It."
The game went on for ten minutes. It was surprisingly functional. Arjun played with military precision, tapping heads like he was knighting them. Jasper played with terrifying stealth, walking so silently no one knew he was behind them until he whispered "Wolf."
It was going great. Until it wasn't.
It was Vali's turn again. He was prowling behind Jasper.
"Sleepy sheep..." Vali muttered. Then, he grinned, exposing sharp canines. "WOLF!"
Jasper scrambled up, surprisingly fast for a cold-blooded kid. He darted around the circle. Vali roared and gave chase.
But Vali didn't run around the circle.
He saw the curve, did the math, and decided physics was for losers. He cut straight across the center of the circle, leaped over Arjun's head, and tackled Jasper just before he reached the spot.
CRASH.
They tumbled into a pile of limbs and cushions.
"GOTCHA!" Vali crowed, sitting on top of Jasper. "I win! You're lunch!"
Jasper shoved him off, his face flushed not with exertion, but with cold, reptilian fury.
"FOUL!" Jasper hissed. "You cheated!"
"Did not!" Vali barked, tail wagging. "I caught you!"
"You cut across the circle!" Jasper pointed a shaking finger. "The trajectory requires a circumferential path! You went through the diameter! That is a violation of the spatial rules!"
"I took a shortcut!" Vali argued. "Wolves don't run in circles! We hunt!"
"It's cheating!" Jasper yelled, his golden eyes narrowing into slits. "You are a dirty, rule-breaking canine!"
Vali growled, the sound low and dangerous. "Who are you calling dirty, you slime-tube?"
"VIOLATION DETECTED!" Arjun yelled, jumping in between them, looking delighted to be involved in a conflict. "Unsportsmanlike conduct! Penalty kick!"
"Shut up, stripes!" Vali snapped. He shoved Arjun.
Arjun shoved back. Hard.
Jasper hissed and bared his fangs.
"Okay! GAME OVER!" I shouted, rushing forward as the friendly game disintegrated into a three-way species war.
I grabbed Vali by the back of his shirt just as he tried to bite Arjun. "Vali! No biting! Jasper is right, you have to run around the circle!"
"Rules are for preys!" Vali snarled, thrashing in my grip.
"The rules keep us from eating our friends!" I countered, setting him down firmly on a "Time Out" stool.
"He is uncivilized," Jasper sniffed, brushing dust off his pristine clothes. "I refuse to play with barbarians."
"And you," I said, pointing at Jasper, "no name-calling. 'rule-breaking canine' is not polite."
The door chime rang.
I froze. The shop was a mess. Cushions were everywhere. Vali was in timeout growling. Jasper was sulking. Arjun was doing angry pushups to vent his frustration.
And standing in the doorway, looking at the chaos, were three very large, very distinct shadows.
It wasn't just one dad today. It was the "B.A.Ds".
Lord Jaeger, General Khanda, and Archduke Argentis had all arrived at the exact same time. And they didn't look happy about the noise.