The preparation took three days.
Three days of Naga obsessively checking and rechecking their supplies. Three days of Leo pacing the cave perimeter, muttering about "optimal defensive formations" and "emergency extraction protocols."
Three days of Alex trying not to vomit on everything while simultaneously being force-fed nutritious foods and wrapped in so many protective layers he felt like a burrito.
"This is excessive," Alex said, looking down at himself.
He was wearing: enchanted leather armor from the system mall (150 SP, promised to distribute impact force and prevent bruising), a cloak with scent-dampening properties (the same one from the temple heist), soft boots designed for silent movement, and underneath it all, a specially commissioned soft silky fabric made from the skin of flying baqua that lives in tree holes weaved by the Serpent Tribe's weavers that was apparently designed to "support the female's changing body during gestation."
It was basically a magical pregnancy girdle.
Alex hated it.
"It's necessary," Naga said for the fourteenth time, adjusting the cloak's clasp with meticulous care. "Your scent is already stronger due to the pregnancy. We need every advantage."
"I smell like a walking buffet to predators, got it," Alex muttered.
Leo appeared from the depths of the cave carrying what looked like a very fancy walking stick. "I carved this from ironwood. It's weighted for balance and has a hidden blade in the handle." He demonstrated by twisting the top, revealing a wicked-looking knife. "Just in case."
"Just in case of what?! I'm pregnant, not going into combat!"
"Exactly," Leo said seriously. "Which is why you need options that don't require physical exertion."
[System: Your mates have entered Full Paranoid Parent Mode. There is no escape. Accept your fate.]
Alex sighed and accepted the murder-stick.
"Fine. But if I have to use this, something has gone terribly wrong."
"That's the idea," both mates said in unison.
They set out at dawn on the fourth day.
The journey to Wolf Territory would take approximately two weeks on foot—or in Naga's case, on coil. The route Leo had mapped out took them through neutral territory first, skirting the edges of several smaller tribes before crossing into the contested borderlands between Lion and Wolf territory.
"The wolves patrol heavily," Leo explained as they moved through the early morning mist. "They're suspicious of outsiders, especially after the last territorial dispute with the Bear Tribe. We'll need to announce ourselves properly before we cross the border, or they'll assume we're invaders."
"How do we announce ourselves?" Alex asked from his position on Naga's back.
(He'd protested being carried. He'd lost that argument in approximately four seconds.)
"We send a herald," Leo said. "Someone they won't immediately attack."
Naga's coils tightened slightly. "And who exactly qualifies as 'non-threatening' to a pack of territorial wolves?"
Leo's ears flicked back. "Me. If I go in my beast form, alone, carrying a peace offering, they might listen before they bite."
"Absolutely not," Naga hissed. "You're not walking into enemy territory alone."
"It's not enemy territory, it's—"
"Anywhere that might attack you IS enemy territory."
Alex held up his hand. "Boys. Let's table the 'who walks into danger alone' argument until we actually reach the border. We've got two weeks. Plenty of time to come up with a plan that doesn't involve anyone being heroically stupid."
[System: Diplomatic Skills +1! Also, pregnancy is making you sassier. The babies approve.]
The first week of travel was surprisingly peaceful.
They moved through dense jungle that gradually transitioned to rolling hills covered in silver-barked trees that Leo called "moonwood." The forest was alive with sounds—birds, insects, the occasional roar of something large and distant. But nothing approached them directly.
Partially because Naga's presence alone was enough to send most creatures fleeing.
Partially because the scent-dampening cloak was working overtime.
And partially because Alex's pregnancy pheromones, when they did leak through, created a weird sort of "back off or else" zone around them—other predators could smell that he was claimed, pregnant, and traveling with two extremely protective mates. Most weren't stupid enough to test that.
Most.
On the eighth day, they encountered their first problem.
It started with Leo's ears going flat against his skull.
"Something's following us," he said quietly, golden eyes scanning the treeline.
Naga had already sensed it. His coils bunched, ready to strike, while his upper body remained perfectly still—a predator's stillness that promised violence.
Alex's hand went to the ironwood staff. "How many?"
"Many," Leo said. "At least. Fourteen. Canine scent. Not wolves—too small. Jackals, maybe? Or wild dogs."
As if summoned by the identification, fourteen sleek forms melted out of the shadows.
The largest one—a male with a scar across his muzzle—stepped forward.
"Well, well," he said, his voice rough and amused. "What do we have here? A snake, a lion, and..." he inhaled deeply, and his eyes went wide. "Oh. OH. Is that—?"
"How dare you get in our way," Naga said, his voice flat and dangerous. "Don't want your lives anymore?"
"How can that be?" Scar-Muzzle shrank a bit, though his eyes never left Alex. "You're traveling through our hunting grounds carrying something that smells absolutely delicious. And we were just curious."
One of his companions—a younger male with nervous energy—licked his lips. "Is he pregnant? He smells pregnant. How is a male—?"
"Doesn't matter," Scar-Muzzle interrupted. "What matters is he's vulnerable. And his protectors—" he eyed Naga and Leo with calculating interest, "—are outnumbered."
Leo's eyes narrowed, moving to flank Alex's other side. " Bold of you weaklings to stop two apex predators with extremely little patience. I would reconsider your thinking process."
The dogs spread out, forming a loose circle.
Alex's heart was hammering, but he kept his voice steady. "We're not looking for trouble. We're just passing through."
"Then leave the pretty pregnant thing with us," Scar-Muzzle said with a growl that showed too many teeth. "As a toll for safe passage. We'll take good care of him."
[ Told ya, beastmen will do anything to get a female in their tribe, including fighting predators way more powerful than them. ]
System shot out of nowhere, sending pang of shock to Alex's tense ribcage.
" Where did you popped out from? "
[ What nonsense. I was always by your side.] System said swinging its tail left and right.
"Over my dead body," Naga said, raising his body to his full length, tongue flickering as he looks down on those jackels, his voice a cold certainty.
"That can be arranged," Scar-Muzzle replied.
[System: Combat Encounter Initiated! Enemy: Wild Dog Pack (4) Threat Level: Medium Recommendation: Talk fast or fight dirty. Preferably both.]