Chapter 154: Prince Charming Stays Clean

Ren’s solemn expression cracked. Her eyes widened in surprise, and a genuine smile began to spread across her face—before she caught herself. She crushed the smile instantly, replacing it with a scathing glare as she looked up at the silhouette framed by the moon.

“You sure took your time waking up,” Ren rasped, her voice thick with congestion.

Vex grinned down at her, casually scratching his orange fox ear.

“You are very loud for such a small female,” he teased, his voice light.

Vex’s bright orange eyes shifted past Ren to the corner of the pit. He spotted Viper, who was still aggressively facing the mud wall.

Vex winced, raising a hand to caress a tender, throbbing bump on the back of his head. His eyes narrowed dangerously.

“Blame the stupid snake,” Vex spat. “He hit me on the head with a rock.”

Ren waved her muddy hand dismissively. “Viper is sorry. He—”

“I am not sorry,” Viper’s voice interrupted from the corner, muffled slightly by the dirt. “An enemy of my King is an enemy of mine. I should have used a bigger rock.”

Vex’s tail twitched with irritation.

Ren looked between the two. “Are you guys going to fight? Because if you are, can you maybe do it after I get out of this toilet?”

She looked at Vex expectantly. “Well? Come on. Hop in. Help me up.”

Vex looked down. He saw the sludge. He saw the excrement. He saw the black, sticky muck that coated Ren from the neck down.

He wrinkled his nose, his ears twitching in disgust.

“Can you climb out?” Vex asked hopefully.

Ren’s mouth fell open. She stared at him in disbelief.

“Are you serious?” she asked, her voice rising an octave. “If I could climb out of here, do you think I would still be standing in poop water having a conversation with you?”

She gestured wildly to her shivering body. “I am sick! I am naked! And Mr. Loyalty over there won’t even look at me, much less touch me to help me get out!”

Vex studied her. She was shaking violently, her skin was pale and almost translucent under the moonlight, and she looked like she was about to tip over.

“You really shouldn’t be naked in your condition,” Vex scolded, shaking his head like a disappointed parent. “It is not good for the flu.”

Ren let out a hysterical, wheezing laugh.

“Oh, thank you, Dr. Fox!” she shouted sarcastically. “I completely forgot to consider my sickness when I stripped off my clothes and jumped into a mud pit for a spa day! Just get in here and save me!”

Vex took a sniff of the foul odor rising from the pit and recoiled.

“Absolutely not,” he said firmly. “I am not getting covered in that.”

He stood up. “Stay there. I will be right back.”

“Wait! Vex!” Ren cried out, but the fox’s head disappeared from the opening.

Ren groaned, leaning back against the cold wall. She slid down slightly, her legs trembling.

“You cannot trust the fox,” Viper said from his corner. “He is a trickster. He has likely left you now. You should just wait for King Syris.”

“I know I can’t trust him,” Ren muttered, closing her eyes. “But if I stay in here any longer, I am going to lose my mind.”

It wasn’t just her mind she was losing. Her body was failing.

Breathing was becoming a chore. Her nose was completely blocked, forcing her to gasp through her mouth, sucking in the cold, foul air. Her limbs felt like lead weights. Every time she blinked, the moon above seemed to split into two, then merge back together in a dizzying dance.

’I’m going to pass out,’ Ren thought hazily. ’And if I pass out in this water, I’ll drown in poop.’

Just as her knees were about to buckle, a shadow reappeared above.

Thwack.

A thick, sturdy vine dropped into the center of the pit, splashing mud onto Viper’s back.

“Grab on, Little Rose,” Vex called down, bracing his feet against the edge of the pit. “I will pull you up. Try not to slip.”

Ren took a wobbly step forward. Her hands, slick with mud, wrapped around the rough bark of the vine. She gripped it as tight as her weak fingers would allow.

She turned her head to the corner.

“Viper,” Ren said, her voice serious despite the slur caused by her fever. “You need to go to Syris and Kael.”

Viper stiffened.

“Tell them I am safe,” Ren instructed. “Lead them to the tree. I will be waiting for them there.”

She paused to wheeze, her chest rattling.

“If they know I am safe… maybe they will stop fighting the Black Tiger. Maybe they will run.”

Ren’s brain was painting a picture of a heroic 2-vs-1 battle. She imagined Syris and Kael working together to take down the monster.

Little did she know, it wasn’t a team effort. It was a 1-vs-1-vs-1 free-for-all death match.

“The fox is not safe,” Viper argued, his voice strained. “If you could just wait a little longer…”

“I can’t wait,” Ren whispered.

Viper wanted to stop her. He wanted to grab her and keep her safe until his King arrived. But his loyalty was a double-edged sword; he couldn’t turn around. He couldn’t touch her naked form. He was paralyzed by his own code.

“Ready?” Vex called out.

“Pull,” Ren gritted out.

The vine went taut.

Ren’s feet left the sucking mud. She rose slowly, swinging slightly in the air.

“Viper!” Ren called down one last time, looking at the back of his head. “Promise me! Promise me you will stop them! Ensure Kael and Syris don’t die!”

Viper stared at the mud wall. How could he promise something so impossible?

He never told Ren the truth. All three Beast Kings were trying to kill each other.

“I…” Viper hesitated.

He felt the weight of her trust.

“I promise,” Viper lied weakly, guilt gnawing at his gut.

’Only King Syris will be left standing,’ Viper told himself. ’That is the only truth.’

“Thank you,” Ren whispered.

She smiled at his back, though he couldn’t see it.

A second later, her muddy feet cleared the rim of the pit. Vex grabbed her by the arm and hoisted her over the edge.

She was gone.

Silence returned to the pit.

Viper stood there for a long moment. Finally, knowing the coast was clear, he slowly turned around.

He looked up at the bright moon shining down on the empty hole.

“I hate this forest,” Viper muttered miserably. “I want to go back to the swamp.”

He sighed and walked to the wall. Digging his fingers into the dirt, he began to climb out.

He needed to find his King. He needed to tell him that Vex had taken his mate.

’Lead them to the tree?’ Viper scoffed internally as he hauled himself over the edge.

There was no way that fox was going back to the tree. He would find somewhere else to hide.

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