Chapter 122: Flavour Induced Overload
A visible shudder ran through Calis from the base of his skull to the tip of his tail.
’WTF?!’
Tera had never thought such a reaction was possible outside cartoons.
Ignorant of his surroundings, Calis chewed slowly as if he wasn’t sure the sensation was real and needed to verify it.
The meat was soft, it was hot, it was sweet in a way that raw meat had never been, and there were flavours in it that he had no names for. The texture yielded under his teeth instead of resisting, and something fragrant and warm spread across his tongue with each bite.
No meat he had ever eaten had tasted like this.
Calis jerked back slightly, still chewing, his crimson eyes fixed on Tera with an expression of pure, unguarded shock.
"What did you do to this meat?"
"I... just roasted it."
"What is in it?"
"Nothing. Just the meat."
"How is it so soft?"
"The fire made it soft."
"How is it so—" He paused, chewing again, his brow furrowed with concentration. "Sweet?"
"That is just how it tastes when it is prepared properly."
Calis swallowed and stared at the remaining meat on Tera’s stick with an intensity that made her slightly concerned for its safety.
His face was composed, and it had returned to the stoic mask of a wolf who was above such trivial things as food enjoyment.
But his tail was beating the ground like a drum.
Thump. Thump. Thump. Thump.
The rhythm was so enthusiastic that it was stirring up small puffs of dirt with each impact.
[Calis’ Favourability: 7% → 17%]
[The wolf alpha’s worldview has been permanently altered by roasted meat]
[This system notes that the quickest way to a wolf’s heart is, apparently, through his stomach]
The wolves nearby had been watching the entire exchange with expressions ranging from horror to fascination. Their alpha was wagging his tail like a pup who had found a bone.
"Did the leader just... wag?" someone whispered.
"Shut up!"
"Don’t let him hear you!"
"I want to try the meat!"
Another wack!
This time from a fellow wolf. "Are you stupid?!"
"But Alpha Calis tried it!"
"You will NOT go near that fire—"
The argument was cut short by a blur of movement.
Two cubs had broken free from the nearest group and were sprinting toward Tera with the single-minded determination of creatures who had smelled something life-changing and would accept no barrier between themselves and it.
A wolf male lunged after the first cub. His hand closed around the scruff of the pup’s neck.
"No! Do not run toward the—"
The cub twisted and bit the male’s hand.
"OW—"
The wolf released the cub in shock, and both pups completed their sprint to Tera’s side, skidding to a stop so close that they nearly knocked the meat stick out of her hands.
They didn’t speak, whine or even ask.
The cubs simply opened their mouths and stared up at Tera with the silent, absolute expectation of creatures who believed, with total conviction, that this female existed solely to put food in their mouths.
Their tails were going so fast they were practically blurred, and the sound almost convinced Tera that a small helicopter was nearby.
"Oh, wow..."
She looked at Calis to find him just as shocked as she was by the sudden cub attack.
With a small laugh, she tore strips of the meat and placed it in each cub’s mouth.
For one beautiful moment, both of them went completely still, their tiny faces scrunched in concentration as the flavour registered.
Then they burst into tears.
It was silent, and Tera’s blood ran cold.
’WHAT DID I DO?!’
She whipped her head toward Calis, who was already half on his feet. "I didn’t do anything! They just ate it and started—is the meat dangerous to cubs?! SYSTEM!"
[Host, why are you shouting for me?!]
[ꉂꉂ◟(˃᷄ꇴ˂᷅๑)༡]
’Be serious! Is there something in this meat that is harmful to children?!’
[Host]
[The cubs are not in pain]
[They are overwhelmed because they have never eaten something this delicious in their entire lives]
[Their tiny brains are experiencing a flavour-induced emotional overload]
[.·°՞(≧ᗜ≦)՞°·.]
[Host’s reaction is priceless!]
’THEY’RE CRYING BECAUSE IT’S GOOD?!’
[Yes!]
Before Tera could even process this information, both cubs launched themselves onto her lap.
They climbed her body frantically, trying to reach the meat and grab it from Tera who was already raising the stick above her head.
One cub grabbed fistfuls of her silk-leaf top and hauled himself upward, his tiny claws catching the fabric as his tear-streaked face pressed against her chest.
The other cub shifted into his wolf form mid-climb, and his small, furry body scrambled up Tera’s side. His paws slipped on the silk leaves, and in a desperate bid for purchase, he latched onto Tera’s breast with his front paws, using it as a climbing hold.
"OMG! Calm down, you two!"
Calis grabbed the two cubs by the scruff and pulled them away from Tera, a stern look on his face as he scolded them.
"Behave yourselves!"
One cub licked his own nose and whimpered.
But Calis’ admonishment, for the first time, had created the opposite effect.
Like a summoning call, more cubs appeared.
They exploded out of the shadows in a wave of fur and flailing limbs, tiny wolves and human-form children alike, all converging on Tera’s position with the overwhelming goal of stealing the meat from her.
"The cubs have gone wild!" someone shouted.
"Protect them from the fire!"
"I told you that shiftless wolf was going to harm our pack with—"
"FORGET THE FIRE, THEY’RE GOING TO EAT HER!"
The wave of cubs started trying to scale Tera like a tree.
"Eek!" Tera shrieked, trying to protect both her food and her body from the wave of tiny predators.
But Calis was already moving. He grabbed one cub by the back of its neck and peeled it off Tera, only for two more to immediately take its place.
Luth was among them.
The small female wolf had somehow wormed her way past the others and was now standing on Tera’s thighs, her front paws planted on Tera’s chest, her wet nose pressed directly against Tera’s chin.
And to think Tera had thought the cubs in her clan were chaotic. These ones were feral!
"ENOUGH!" Calis’s voice cut through the chaos.
Every cub went still, even if their tails continued to wag.
Tera met Calis’s eyes, her face flushed, her arms covered in tiny scratches, and her hair sticking out in fourteen different directions.
A number of the wagging stopped, and a few cubs whined under Calis’ glare. He was angry at how they had treated Tera.
Tera let out a tired smile and was about to thank Calis and, at the same time, tell him not to be so hard on the cubs when she noticed the wolves had moved closer.
It looked as if they had also been entranced by the meat.
Faelynn was standing near the edge of the group, her composure still intact, but her hand rested on her pregnant belly, and her crimson eyes were fixed on the meat with the quiet desperation of a pregnant female whose cravings had just been activated by something she didn’t know existed.
Tera looked at the small amount of remaining meat on her stick. Then at the sixty-seven wolves slowly converging on her position.
Her plan had been to impress the clan with her technical skills, but not once did she think roasting plain meat would accomplish this much of an effect.
Not even the Dow clan had reacted this strongly to her roasting when she had first met them.
’Damn...’
Tera was grateful for this magical meat.
"Bring your meat, and I will prepare it for you."
They flinched, surprised Tera had spoken to them, until Calis snapped them out of their stupor.
"Bring your meat!"