Chapter 270: Snake King’s Cuddle Buddy

For one complete second, Ren’s deeply stressed brain genuinely considered holding up her hand and yelling, “Swiper, no swiping!” at him. She desperately hoped that Vex would just snap his fingers, say “Oh, man!” and magically disappear back into the bushes like a defeated cartoon villain.

But this wasn’t a children’s show.

Viper pushed Ren firmly behind his broad back.

“I will not let you take my King’s mate!” Viper threatened, his voice dripping with venomous intent.

Vex wasn’t the least bit threatened by the display. He simply rolled his orange eyes, letting out a heavy, incredibly bored sigh.

“Stand down, snake,” Vex drawled, adjusting the heavy straps on his shoulders. “I’m not here for your King’s cuddle buddy.”

Ren peeked out from behind Viper’s muscular arm, her green eyes narrowing in deep suspicion. “Then why are you following us, Vex?” she finally spoke, her voice laced with venom. “To harass me one last time before I leave?”

Vex smiled, looking quite amused by her accusation. His thick, orange brows raised high on his forehead as he looked at her.

“You are too self-centered,” Vex scolded her playfully, clicking his tongue. “Believe it or not, not absolutely everything in this forest is about you. We both just happen to be going in the exact same direction.”

Ren crossed her arms tightly over her chest, the emerald silk of her indestructible dress shimmering in the faint moonlight. She wasn’t buying his innocent act for a single second.

“Am I supposed to believe that?” Ren asked flatly.

Vex shrugged his broad shoulders, entirely unbothered. “Believe what you want.”

Ren stepped slightly to the side, gesturing with her hands down the dark, winding forest path. “Walk ahead of us, then. Be my guest.”

Vex let out a soft, velvety chuckle, but he stayed firmly rooted exactly where he stood. “I think not. I don’t trust your scaly escort to not strike me from behind the moment I turn my back.”

Viper hissed loudly, his fangs lengthening at the sheer audacity of the accusation.

“Viper won’t do that!” Ren promised fiercely.

Vex smirked, his fluffy orange ears twitching. “Snakes are called snakes for a reason, my dear. They simply cannot be trusted.”

Ren narrowed her eyes into a lethal glare. “The exact same thing can be said about foxes! What guarantees do we have that you won’t attack us while our backs are turned?”

Vex’s smirk only widened at the flawless logic. He tilted his head, looking highly entertained by the standoff they found themselves in. “Well then. Should we just stand here in the dirt until sunrise?”

The three of them stood in absolute, tense silence for a long moment, the nocturnal insects chirping loudly around them.

Then, Viper slowly leaned his head back, keeping his eyes locked on Vex, and whispered quietly over his shoulder to Ren.

“I have an idea,” Viper whispered seriously.

“We walk backwards to keep an eye on him.”

Ren looked up at Viper and slowly blinked. She could tell by the incredibly grave, determined look on his face that the snake beastman genuinely thought he had just pitched a brilliant, foolproof tactical maneuver.

’Walk backwards?!’ Ren screamed internally. ’It is pitch-black out here! I can hardly find my footing while walking forward!’ Ren let out a heavy sigh and leaned in to whisper back. “Okay, how about this. You can walk backward, and I will walk forward.”

Viper’s eyes widened a fraction. To the fiercely loyal snake beastman, that was an even more brilliant idea!

Vex’s large, fluffy orange ear twitched. His lips pressed tightly together as he fought back a bark of highly amused laughter.

“Keep your distance,” Ren warned Vex sternly, pointing a threatening finger at the fox.

Vex only smirked in response, offering a polite, mocking bow.

With the terms of their ridiculous truce set, they began to move. Ren marched forward, walking very, very fast. She was practically speedwalking through the dark ferns, desperate to put as much distance between herself and the Fox Shaman as physically possible.

Poor Viper struggled immensely as he frantically tried to keep up with her rapid pace while walking completely backward. He almost tripped over massive tree roots several times. Protruding dried twigs snapped against his back, and sharp thorns cut into his arms and legs, but he absolutely refused to take his eyes off Vex for even a fraction of a second.

He was the guard of the Snake King, and he was absolutely not going to lose his King’s mate to this trickster fox ever again.

Vex had been entirely silent for most of the walk, casually strolling behind them with his heavy, lumpy wool sacks.

“You might want to consider slowing down,” Vex called out, a thick layer of amusement lacing his smooth voice. “The snake can hardly keep up with you.”

“I am fine!” Viper barked immediately, nearly tripping over a rock as he defended his honor.

Still, Ren immediately slowed her pace to a much more reasonable stroll. Viper really didn’t deserve to feel the effects of her bubbling anger. She was furious at Vex, yes, but she was mostly furiously frustrated with herself.

As they walked through the quiet woods, Ren thought about her bizarre, overwhelming attraction to the fox.

She had every single reason in the world to completely hate him. Yet, whenever he touched her, she couldn’t help but desperately want him to touch her more. When he forcefully kissed her, she wasn’t disgusted; she melted. And when he looked at her with those dark, wicked orange eyes, her heart beat so fast it felt like it was going to burst out of her chest.

Ding!

[System: Oh, my goodness! I just love the ’enemies to lovers’ trope!]

Ren’s eye twitched violently.

Despite her distaste, she was blushing furiously. Vex was the BIGGEST red flag she had ever met in her entire life—both in her world and in the Beast World! He was the literal mortal enemy of two of her husbands!

She had allowed him to go entirely too far, far too many times. Even now, as she walked through the freezing woods in her silk dress, Ren could still vividly feel the phantom sensation of his skilled tongue working between her legs.

Just the memory alone made her thighs clench.

Her body was an absolute, traitorous rebel. But as she marched toward the swamp, Ren made a fierce, unyielding vow to herself. Her hormones might be completely out of her control, but she swore that Vex would never, ever have her heart.

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