Chapter 177: The Cost Of Survival

Calis’ eyes went wide in alarm. "I did not mean any insult towards your cubs—"

"It is fine." Tera smiled. "Shiftless females tend to have cubs that take after the father, or mother if the father is shiftless. My daughters merely inherited their fathers’ beast types."

Then again, nature was doing a pretty kick-ass job in limiting a shiftless beast’s ability to have cubs.

Tera silently chuckled at that.

"A shiftless beast like me being born is extremely rare." She turned her attention to the water, her smile fading as a loving look crept into Tera’s eyes. "Even if I have one as a cub, it does not make them any less deserving of love. And I don’t believe they are useless either. One being born with something they couldn’t control does not make them any less deserving of love."

Calis stared at her, his chest heavy at the gentle look on Tera’s face. His internal thoughts had been trying to reconcile what he had been taught with what he had witnessed. But they shattered at Tera’s tender gaze.

He found himself feeling almost guilty for some reason.

But... a shiftless cub would not be able to survive their rigorous life...

"So the fear that shiftless females will produce weaker offspring..." Tera shrugged lightly, apparently not finished. "It is not based on anything real. Their cubs are as strong as any other beast’s."

Tera then shook her head faintly.

She genuinely didn’t understand what the fuss about shiftless beasts was. Them being weaker than the usual beasts was not supposed to be this much of a deterrent.

Then again, Tera was going to change this world into one that a shiftless beast could easily navigate.

And if any of her future cubs turned out to be one, they were not going to embody any sort of self-helplessness.

Beasts had no concept of science. No studies, no records, or even data passed down through generations. They operated on instinct, tradition, and whatever the oldest beast in the room said loudly enough.

’Hmm...’

Tera had a sudden thought.

It was going to be a hassle, but what if she taught the beasts to read and write too? Not only would that be done for records, but it would also help them to read architectural drawings and building plans for the future.

’That’s genius, what the hell?!’

[( ╹ -╹)?]

[What is it, Host?]

’Tch! Do not spoil this moment. Go away!’

[(o.o *)]

Tera wanted her mind at ease, not having some silly conversation and planning with the system. She would discuss it with it later. But for now, teaching a beast or two to read and write would be helpful. Those beasts could then go on and teach the others for her.

"How do you know all this?" Calis’ quiet voice broke through her thoughts, and Tera turned to look at him, caught off guard.

"What?"

"About shiftless beasts. You seem to know so much. About this and other things too."

Tera smiled and winked. "It is a secret."

[This system finds it entertaining that Host keeps attributing its research to mystery and intrigue]

’Urgh! You again!’

[(¬‿¬)]

Tera looked back at the stars, and her expression sobered.

"The path your pack is on," she said carefully, "does not seem like it will last."

Calis frowned slightly. "I don’t understand."

"Did your pack used to have more females?"

Calis stilled, and the careful composure he had been maintaining cracked just enough for Tera to see something raw underneath.

"Yes... We had more."

Tera watched his face. There was a sudden tightness in his jaw, along with the way his eyes dropped to the ground.

"They didn’t die from monster attacks, did they?" she whispered.

Calis’ head turned toward her so fast that the movement was almost a flinch.

He looked confused and alarmed at the same time, shocked at how much Tera knew.

"How..." he started, then stopped. "How would you know that?"

[...]

[(⊙_⊙)]

[How DOES Host know that?]

[This system did not provide that information]

’What do you take me for? I have eyes and a brain.’

The system went quiet, and Tera could feel its surprise.

But seconds later, her mood turned sour.

It was Tera’s turn for her mood to turn sour.

"Your females are young, Calis. Much younger than I expected, and they have been having cubs back to back for years."

Calis was confused by this. "That is how—"

"It is killing them."

He went still.

"A female’s body is not built to carry cub after cub without rest. It is harmful and it wears them down. I am guessing this is why you have lost females, especially the ones from your father’s generation?"

Calis was not breathing at this revelation.

Tera had simply found it odd at first. All the elders were males, yet no females, and there were so many young wolves. It was unfair. Was this just going to be a constant cycle of females not living till their proper time?

"You have seen the females in my clan. How do they look compared to yours?"

Calis stared at Tera, wide-eyed and unable to answer.

The females in Tera’s clan had looked far healthier and well fed.

"In your bid to repopulate the world with wolves like you," Tera said softly, "you have been destroying the very females you need to do it."

The words sat between them like a wound.

"I did not..." His voice cracked. He swallowed and tried again. "I did not know that. We have always... that is how it was done. The packs’ previous females had cubs in the same way. No one ever said it was dangerous..."

Calis was horrified.

Tera’s chest ached for him. He genuinely hadn’t known.

She thought about the first evening she had spent with Faelynn and the other females. She remembered the bouts of sadness that flickered behind their eyes mid-conversation, there one moment and buried the next. One of them had mentioned losing a cub during pregnancy as if it were something that simply happened.

It wasn’t something that simply happened.

With time, they would be the ones dying.

"You don’t have to abandon your bloodline," Tera inched closer to him. "Welcoming other beasts into your pack does not erase what you all are. You will still be wolves. Your cubs will still be wolves, even if it won’t be constant, but in the future, it will pay off. And at the very least, your females would not have to carry the entire weight of your survival on their bodies alone."

Tera wanted to touch his face for some reason. To console him, at least. She didn’t expect him to look so stricken by this.

Her hand was already raised when she remembered his previous request.

She held it back and sat away from him.

Tera sighed. "You only have four of them. Is that the future you also want for your female cubs when they’re older?"

Calis slowly shook his head, still dazed.

His mind was reeling.

Every certainty he had built his leadership on was shifting beneath him, and the ground he had thought was solid was turning out to be sand.

Tera’s eyes were growing heavy, and she laid back down to stare at the sky. But her eyes still trailed to Calis, who was staring into space.

Exposure was good. And...

"Your pack has a lot to learn," she whispered as her attention returned to the skies.

Her eyes closed, and the rush of the stream lulled Tera to sleep.

Calis sat perfectly still in the quiet, listening to her breathing slow and even out beside him.

He did not move for a very long time.