Chapter 102: The De-Fanging And Soren’s Final Word.
While everyone was still caught up in their happiness and excitement about Neve’s pregnancy, Soren himself tried to calm everyone down.
The crowd was getting too loud. Too chaotic. People were talking and celebrating and asking questions all at once.
Soren raised his hand and his voice cut through the noise like a blade.
"Everyone, please," he said firmly. "The reason I called for this announcement wasn’t finished."
The crowd quieted down, turning their attention back to their chief.
Cael held Neve’s hand tightly, not letting go for even a second. His thumb was rubbing gentle circles on the back of Neve’s palm like he was trying to reassure himself that this was real. That Neve was really here. That Neve was really carrying his cub.
"What’s happening?" Cael asked, though his eyes never left Neve’s face.
"Bella is getting punished," Neve answered quietly.
Cael’s expression darkened immediately.
"Punished?" he asked, his voice carrying a sharp edge. "Isn’t she supposed to be banished? Or better still, dead? Soren isn’t giving proper justice for everyone she had hurt. Everything she had done to try to destroy you."
Neve looked back at where Bella was being dragged back to the front of the crowd. The guards forced her to kneel on the hard ground in front of everyone.
She was struggling and fighting them but they held her firmly in place.
Suddenly, Soren spoke again.
"The punishment will now be given," he said, his voice carrying authority and finality.
He turned to look directly at Cael.
"Cael," he called out his name.
The entire village understood what that meant. Cael, as the head of the punishment committee and as a high-ranking member of the leopard tribe, was being called upon to perform the de-fanging. It was his duty. It was his responsibility.
Neve’s grip on Cael’s hand tightened immediately.
Panic flooded through his chest.
"Don’t do it," Neve whispered, looking up at Cael with pleading eyes.
Cael looked back at him, conflict clear on his face.
"But, it’s my duty," he said quietly. "I have to do this. It’s my responsibility as a warrior and as part of the tribe’s justice system."
"I’m definitely not stopping you from punishing her," Neve said, his voice steady despite his feelings. "I wouldn’t even mind if you killed her by hacking her head off. I wouldn’t care. But."
He paused and placed his other hand on his stomach, where the cubs were growing inside him.
He did not know if it was superstition or just genuine feeling, but he did not want Cael to hurt anyone on the day of revealing that he was going to be a father. He did not want the father of his cubs to shed blood on a day that should be joyful and pure.
"But let someone else do it," Neve said.
He looked up at Cael’s face and saw the hesitation there.
"Please," Neve added, his voice barely above a whisper.
Cael touched Neve’s face gently, his hand cupping the red panda’s cheek.
"You don’t need to say please," Cael said, his voice soft. "I’ll do anything you want. Anything at all."
He turned to address Soren directly.
"I’m sorry, chief," Cael said, still holding Neve’s hand. "I’d rather not ruin my mood by shedding blood. Not today. Not on this day."
Soren’s expression immediately hardened.
"Cael, that’s your duty," Soren said, his voice carrying clear disapproval. "This is not something that can be delegated. This is your responsibility. No one else is to do it for you."
"I’m allowed to take a break from my duty, aren’t I?" Cael asked. He tilted his head toward the other men he had gone out hunting with. "Besides, you can ask one of them and they’ll gladly do it, right?"
He looked at the group of hunters who had come back with him.
They cheered loudly in response, lifting their small weapons and tools into the air. They were ready. They were willing. They wanted the honor.
Some of the beastmen from the village even lifted their hands to volunteer. Even the man who had been a victim of the golden frog poison stepped forward, clearly wanting to be the one to punish Bella for what she had done.
Cael smiled, looking back at Soren with a knowing expression.
"Do you see?" he said, waving his hand across the field of volunteers. "More than enough volunteers. There’s no shortage of people willing to do this. You can choose any of them."
Soren’s frown deepened considerably.
He was angry. Neve could see it in his expression. His jaw was clenched. His eyes were sharp. But Neve could not quite understand why Soren was so upset about this. Cael was just asking for someone else to do his duty. It was not like he was refusing completely. He was just asking for help on a day that was important to him.
Soren took a moment to compose himself.
"Only one may step forward," he said finally, his voice tight with controlled emotion. He was not happy with how everything was happening. Maybe it was ever since Neve had broken the news of his pregnancy. Or when everyone suddenly volunteered, making it seem like the punishment was not a serious and solemn responsibility but rather something that many people wanted to do.
One of the volunteers stepped forward.
It was the man who had been poisoned by Bella. The man whose life Neve had saved. The man who owed Neve everything.
Bella’s eyes went wide when she saw who had volunteered.
"Don’t touch me," she screamed, thrashing in the grasp of the hefty beastmen who were holding her in place. "No! Let me go!"
She turned her head desperately to Soren.
"You have to order them to let go of me," she pleaded. "No! I’m begging you!"
But Soren did not move. He did not say anything. He just watched as the events unfolded.
The hefty beastmen held Bella firmly in place, pinning her arms and her head so she could not move or resist.
The poisoned man stepped forward with the tool that was specifically designed for de-fanging. It was sharp and very painful.
Bella screamed as he approached.
"No! Stop! Please! I’m the daughter of the former chief! You can’t do this to me! You can’t!"
But the deed was done quickly.
Both of her fangs were pulled out. Both of them. The primary weapons of a leopard beastman. Gone.
As soon as they were removed, Bella fell face flat on the floor, her body going completely limp. She was crying. Actually crying. Her entire body was shaking with sobs.
Blood dripped from her mouth where her fangs had been removed. Without them, she looked different. She looked weaker. She looked vulnerable in a way that Bella had never looked before.
Soren’s voice cut through her crying.
"From now on, no one must interact with her," he announced to the entire village. "Give her no food. Offer her no shelter. Do nothing with her. From now on, she is on her own. She is a pariah. She is nothing."
A villager stepped forward with a question.
"What if she does something else?" the villager asked. "What if she tries to hurt someone again?"
"Yes!" another voice shouted from the crowd. "Isn’t it better we just kill her now? Kill her!"
"Yes! Kill her now! End this!"
More voices joined in, calling for Bella’s death. The crowd was turning bloodthirsty. They wanted vengeance. They wanted finality.
Soren looked over at Cael where he was standing with Neve held close against his body. Cael was smiling at Neve. He was not even paying attention to the chaos happening with Bella. His entire focus was on his mate and the cubs growing inside him.
Soren’s mind was working through something.
’If I agree to them killing Bella, that means I’m accepting my brother’s suggestion. He’s been suggesting it all along. And if I kill her now, it means I’m following someone else’s advice instead of leading with my own judgment. As chief, anything I say is right. My word is law. I don’t need it. I don’t need anyone telling me what to do.’
He raised his hand and his voice boomed across the village square.
"My word is final!" he said, his voice carrying absolute authority.
Everywhere went silent.