Chapter 428: Too many drunks.

As the doors clicked shut behind them, Hunter scratched the back of his neck. "So... what’s going to happen to old man Claw now? He just executed a guy in the middle of our lounge."

The grand patriarch sighed, rubbing his temples. "Well, the law has to take its course. But since he is a senior citizen and was under severe emotional distress, the court will definitely take that into consideration and pardon his crime."

Achilles snickered, leaning against the pillar again. "Honestly, he can just claim temporary insanity. ’Your Honor, I lost my mind for five seconds.’"

Zyra nodded slightly, looking at the spot where the old man had been kneeling. "To be fair, the man was truly not thinking in the moment. He just reacted."

"I’ll hire him the best lawyer’s money can buy," Hunter offered, flexing his arm. "He saved me in ways I cannot explain."

Alessa rolled her eyes and waved her hand. "No need for that, Hunter. The Claw family has enough money to buy an entire law firm. They can manage this themselves."

"Besides," Derek chimed in with a grin, "the old man actually helped us get rid of a big evil today. Saved the state the cost of a long trial."

Arrow snorted and pointed a thumb toward Zyra. "Hey, give credit where it’s due! The boss lady did all the hard work with that video and truth water. No one else deserves the credit!"

"That’s true," the grand elder muttered, shaking his head in disbelief. "I always knew the mayor was a dirty, greedy politician with blood on his hands... but I honestly had no idea he was a full-blown serial killer! Good riddance."

Bianca hated to be the voice of reason but she figured she needed to be one as everyone was patting themselves on the back for a job well done. But, they had forgotten what mattered the most: justice.

"Do you all realize that Logan was in the middle of confessing when he was gunned down?" She shoved Achilles from behind for no reason at all. "He was naming all of his victims that died. Celeste Claw was not the only one that deserved justice. Somewhere out there, families of missing people are spending everyday waiting for their loved ones to return home, not knowing that lions ate and shit them out."

The grand elder winced. "Can’t you frame your words better?"

"You know what I mean, grandpa." She replied quickly. "Elder Claw should be jailed for his crime of denying the world a list of who knows how many names."

Hunter nodded. "I agree with you on that list. If we can’t get it from the mayor, his aides and closest guards should be arrested and given some truth water."

Alessa rushed out, as if the job had been given her directly. Arrow followed five seconds ago, looking a little too excited for Achilles’s liking.

"I for one still can’t believe Lita was his daughter!" Loveline said loudly, drawing everyone’s attention to her side. "Her life would have been so different if she had been raised by him."

As the conversation about Logan continued, Zyra excused herself and went to check on the beasts. She walked down the stone path, glad to get a little break from the morning drama.

When she reached the pavilion, she stopped dead in her tracks. A second later, she snorted, covering her mouth as a burst of laughter escaped her. The pavilion was unusually quiet, except for a wild orchestra of snorts, whistles, and deep, house-shaking snores. Every single beast was out cold, sprawled across the floor in the most ridiculous ways imaginable.

Right in the middle of the first open play room lay Tyrant. He wasn’t looking very fierce right now. He was lying completely on his back, all four paws sticking straight up in the air like a dead beetle. His tongue was flopped out the side of his mouth, and every time he breathed out, his lips flapped softly.

"Look at you, Mr. serious," Zyra whispered, shaking her head. "Where did all your dignity go?"

She took a picture to show him the next time he said that she was immature.

Next to him was Spice. The snake was tied in a literal knot. It had somehow wrapped itself around a wooden pillar, looped through its own tail, and was hanging upside down like a strange piece of decoration. The tail flicked once, as if she were chasing something in a dream, before going limp again.

Over in the corner, the drake was curled into a tight ball, but he had managed to drape a large wing over Achilles’s eagle like a thick blanket. The eagle didn’t seem to mind at all_ it was fast asleep, squished under the drake’s heavy scales, making tiny, rhythmic squeaks with every breath.

And then there was the squirrel. It was lying face down on a plush pillow, arms spread wide. Suddenly, its whiskers twitched, its nose wrinkled, and it let out a small, squeaky mumble.

"I’ll get you... you walnut thief..." the squirrel squeaked softly, kicking one tiny leg. It let out an evil laugh.

Zyra giggled, stepping carefully over a stray tail. "How much did they drink exactly?"

[As much as you drank host.]

She went through the rooms, observing the condition of her beasts. Finally, Zyra found Red Sun half hanging out of a window! His fur reeked of wine and someone had dyed half of it yellow! A single trail of drool was slowly making its way down to the floor from the monkey’s mouth.

Zyra returned to the first floor and placed the heavy wooden box of toxin eaters on the stone floor with a soft thud.

"Scotty," Zyra said softly, looking up to the beast caretaker she had summoned. "Take these and mix them into their drinking water. They’re going to have the mother of all headaches when they wake up so add some instant healing pills as well."

"On it, Boss," Scotty replied with a grin, picking up the box. "Though honestly, watching them try to walk later might be worth letting them suffer a little."

"Don’t be mean," Zyra laughed.

[Scanning current health status of the beasts,] Beauty’s smooth voice chimed in her head.

Zyra paused, waiting for any bad news.

[All I detect is extreme exhaustion,] Beauty continued, sounding almost amused. [And some, like Red Sun, are still very intoxicated from the alcohol. Next time, don’t make my beasts drink.]

Zyra looked back at Tyrant, who let out a loud, snorting gasp before going right back to his heavy snoring. She couldn’t help but laugh again as she turned around and walked out into the cool mid morning air.

How was it her fault that the beasts were drunk? It wasn’t like she forced wine down their throats. They had eaten, drank a lot and celebrated her wedding harder than the bride and groom! Perhaps they didn’t deserve toxin eaters. Maybe they needed to learn a lesson on the dangers of alcoholic beverages.

Raising beasts was truly like raising teenagers.