Felicity's Beast World Apocalypse

"She laughed," Exile whispered to himself, his pupils dilating until his eyes were entirely black. "She laughed because she is safe. I will keep her laughing. I will kill the sun if it makes her squint."

Damien, walking beside him, rolled his eyes. "You’re going to be a problem, aren’t you?"

"I am the solution," Exile hissed back.

As sunset marked their first day of travel, orange groves yielded to open highway. The road to Bowral was long, dangerous, and many, but for the first time, the group felt like a singular, terrifying force.

Felicity leaned against Lucan’s fur, gazing at the rising stars. Victor’s presence behind her was a wall of ice and fire; the men’s obsession around her wrapped her like a warm blanket.

"Victor?" she called out.

"Yes, little one?"

"When we get to Bowral... can we find a library? I want to read the cubs a story that isn’t about zombies."

Victor looked at the dark horizon, where he could sense a horde of thousands moving in the distance. He felt the Selective Annihilation humming in his fingertips, ready to erase the very concept of a threat.

"I’ll find you every library in the world, Felicity," he promised.

Felicity rode Lucan’s back for hours, but as midnight’s chill crept in, exhaustion from her heat overtook her.

"She’s shivering," Damien murmured.

He didn’t wait for permission. In a fluid motion, he moved alongside the black panther. Damien didn’t shift; he preferred the tactile intimacy of his human skin against hers. He reached up, his arms locking around Felicity’s waist and lifting her effortlessly from Lucan’s back.

Lucan let out a low huff—a protest fading as he realised Damien could provide warmth his beast form could not.

Damien pulled her tight, wrapping them in his cloak. Felicity let out a tired hum, nestling into his neck, her blonde hair catching the faint moonlight.

"Better?" Damien whispered, his voice silk against her temple. His Nerve Dominion thrummed—a lullaby calming her entire body.

"Mmm. Much," she whispered back, her wit softening into a sleepy haze. "You’re very bossy, Damien. Has anyone told you that?"

"Every day, little fox," he murmured, his arms tightening around her with an unhinged possessiveness. "Sleep. I have you. Nothing in this darkness is fast enough to reach you before I shut their hearts down."

The caravan moved for hours under apocalypse night’s velvet press. Only the thrum of paws, the creak of supply carts pulled by ocean-beastmen, and the distant, guttural scream of a stray zombie were silenced instantly by a flicker of Lucan’s teleportation.

As dawn’s first bruised light bled across the horizon, painting the wasteland in ash and pale gold, the pack slowed.

They had reached a plateau overlooking a valley that led toward the long stretch to Bowral.

Damien had held Felicity against his chest the entire night, his Nerve Dominion acting as a silent cradle that kept her asleep and undisturbed. But as the sun hit her eyelids, she stirred, her blonde lashes fluttering open against his neck.

"Morning, grumpy number two," she murmured, her voice a soft, sleepy bell. She pulled back, looking at Damien’s sharp, possessive features. "You’re still staring at me. Do you ever blink, or is that a snake thing?"

Damien’s jaw tightened, his arms instinctively locking tighter around her. "I blink when I’m certain the world isn’t trying to steal you."

"Well, I’m still here," she laughed, patting his cheek before wiggling to be let down. "And I’m starving. If I don’t get a breakfast wrap in the next ten minutes, I might actually bite someone. And I don’t think I have the teeth for it."

The caravan came to a halt. Sarge signalled the perimeter, and Snow Team fanned out instantly, their eyes scanning for threats. Leaf Team remained closer, their Level 95 auras creating a cold, invisible wall of protection around the centre of the camp.

Ivan stepped forward, his lion-like gaze sweeping the horizon. "I’ll stay out here," he said, his voice a deep rumble of authority. "I want to keep an eye on the scouts. Victor, take her in."

Victor nodded, eyes glowing with his new power’s residue. He took Felicity’s hand as she triggered the shimmer. The veil parted, and the husbands, minus Ivan, slipped into the forest space.

The transition jarred every time. They moved from grey dust and death to a vibrant, sunlit meadow scented with eucalyptus.

Felicity didn’t walk; she burst into motion. Releasing Victor’s hand, she raced through tall grass, blonde hair streaming. She spun, arms wide, laughter echoing. She jumped a stream, blue eyes alive with impossible joy.

"Look at the butterflies!" she shouted, pointing at a pair of blue-winged insects. "Victor, look! They aren’t trying to eat anyone!"

The beast husbands stood at the edge of the clearing, their brains collectively stalling.

Exile was the worst. He stood frozen, his pupils so dilated his eyes were entirely black. His mind was a frantic, unhinged landscape of obsession. She is a miracle, he thought, his pulse hammering in his throat. She is a golden sun. Look at the way she moves... so soft, so fragile. I want to wrap my coils around her and squeeze until she’s a part of my own skin. I will build a cage of emeralds for her. I will kill the wind if it blows too hard against her face. My mate. My queen. My little life-giver.

Voss was the first to move. "Felicity, come here. It’s chilly in the shadows of the house. You need to change."

Felicity pouted, skipping back toward them. "I’m fine, Voss! I’m warm from all the spinning."

"No," Voss said, his tone leaving no room for argument. He manifested a soft, thick winter dress from her space, a fluffy, white knit piece that came with a hood adorned with long, floppy bunny ears.

Lucan’s eyes lit up the moment he saw it. He stepped behind her, helping Voss pull the dress over her head. When he flipped the hood up, the bunny ears flopped over her eyes.

"My little bunny," Lucan purred, his voice thick with a dark, predatory affection. He nipped at her earlobe, making her squeak.

"I’m not a bunny," Felicity huffed, trying to adjust the hood. "Bunnies are prey. And honestly, with all of you around, I think I’m more like... a very well-guarded snack."

The wit made Damien smirk, but the "snack" comment made Exile’s tail (even in human form) twitch with a violent need to protect.

"Right," Felicity said, clapping her hands together. "Breakfast. The boys outside are working so hard, and the cubs need strength."

She headed toward the unlimited grocery store at the clearing’s edge. The beast husbands followed like obsessed bodyguards. She swept the aisles with comic focus, humming as she loaded supplies.

"Okay, Victor, hold these wraps. Damien, get the juice boxes. Voss, I need the heavy-duty sandwich trays."

In thirty minutes, the kitchen was chaos. Felicity, kindness bordering on divine, assembled breakfast wraps, eggs, bacon, and cheese for the outside men. She packed sandwiches and juice for the cubs—and Tommy.

"Tommy is a big rhino, Felicity," Victor reminded her as she tucked an extra juice box into a bag.

"He’s a sweetheart, Victor. And he likes the strawberry ones," she said firmly. "Everyone deserves a treat"

When the veil shimmered again, and the group stepped back onto the dusty road of the wasteland, it was like a bomb of pure light had gone off.

Felicity didn’t just walk out; she came out bouncing, her bunny ears flopping with every step as she twirled in her new dress. She was a vision of white fluff and golden hair against the bleak grey of Orange’s outskirts.

"Breakfast is served!" she chirped, holding up the trays.

Snow Team and Leaf Team froze.

Sarge blinked, his heart doing a strange, painful somersault in his chest. Ash, Kai, and Sam dropped to their knees, not just to eat, but out of a sheer, religious awe.

"I think..." Marx whispered, staring at Felicity as she handed him a warm wrap with a bright smile. "I think I could fight a whole army by myself right now. I could jump over the moon. Did you see the ears? The ears, man. I’d die for those ears."

Dimitri remained standing, his arms crossed, but his Silence Domain flickered for a split second as Felicity approached him.

"Here, Dimitri," she said, handing him a tray. "You look like you haven’t eaten in a hundred years. And please, try to relax your face. You’ll get wrinkles, and you’re far too handsome for that."

Beside him, Felicity was a vibrant burst of blonde and blue against the bleak Australian scrub. She had finally stopped twirling in her bunny-eared dress, but the wit she’d found during her heat hadn’t vanished.

"Victor, if you keep glaring at the horizon, you’re going to set the bushes on fire by accident," she teased, poking his arm. "And I don’t think the environment needs any more help being ’annihilated’ right now."

Victor’s jaw softened, just for a second. "I’m testing my range, little bird. The further I can sense, the safer you are."

"Well, sense a little less and eat a little more," she countered, handing him a breakfast wrap.

She turned her attention to the rest of the pack. The ocean-beast members of Leaf Team, the only ones strong enough to haul the massive supply carts through the night in their human forms, were finally resting. Their muscles, corded and slick with sweat, were slowly relaxing as they took the food she offered.