Trapped in Beast World: My Husbands Are All Animals! Novel

---- Chapter 53 The Place Had Been Robbed Saving some seeds had always mattered. That was how they made sure there was food not just today, but year after year. By the time the wheat was fully harvested, the sun was already high overhead. A few mate had ended up filthy from head to toe, dust ground into their skin, the itching almost unbearable. "You all worked hard. Once we get home, I'll cook something good," Ardenia said. "There's water up ahead. Go rinse off first. The wheat awns can really irritate your skin." "It's driving me crazy," Calder said, scratching nonstop.

"My beast-hide shirt is covered in this stuff." "Hang in there. I'll make you a new one later," Ardenia said. Anew shirt? Calder's eyes lit up. He leaned in and planted a loud kiss on Ardenia's cheek, then headed for the river in high spirits. After stepping out for a while, Ardenia knew something was ---- wrong the moment she walked back in. The place had been robbed. The kitchenware was gone, every last piece. Even the clothes she had hung outside the cave to dry had disappeared. Halden had washed those clothes before they left, so he noticed it right away, too.

In the Tribe, stealing was considered a serious crime, so it was rare for any therian to sneak around taking someone else's things. "Who did this?" Tobias snapped. "They even took my little fork." He was genuinely furious. That fork was the only thing Ardenia had ever given him. He still had not learned how to use eating sticks. If |don't have my fork, how am | supposed to eat? Halden was not thinking about the tableware at all. His mind was stuck on one thing: who had taken Ardenia's clothes. There is still... something in there.

---- His expression darkened, and he spun around without hesitation to look for Quincy. Vesper and the others followed close behind. Meanwhile, Julia sat inside the cave, wearing herself in all of Ardenia's rough linen clothes, layering them over her body. Does that ugly thing even deserve to wear this? These rough linen clothes are the same kind I saw nobles wearing in the capital when | went there with the Fierce Lion Tribe. | wanted one back then, too, but it was way too expensive. It cost two hundred horned sheep just for a single piece. I really do not know if Ardenia's mates are blind.

They actually traded something this valuable for that ugly thing. Can she even pull it off? | am Ardenia's mother. If Ardenia is too ugly to make it look good, then she should have shown some respect and given it to me instead. Those pottery pieces and tools, too. That ugly thing really has no conscience. She has all these good items and never once thought to send them to me. Instead, she hides everything for herself in that dirt pile. ---- Just thinking about it makes me furious. And she still thinks she can compare herself to Iris? When | think about Iris, my heart tightens.

| have no idea how she is doing right now. "This is all that d*mn Ardenia's fault!" "Who are you calling d*mn?2" Halden's voice came from outside the cave, cold and sharp. Because it was the chief's cave, he had not gone in. He ended up hearing Julia inside, cursing Ardenia. Back then, because she is Ardenia's mother, a few of us still treat her with a bit of respect. Now that we see how badly she treats Ardenia, that last trace of respect is wholly gone. And | can smell Ardenia on her, faint but unmistakable. She must have taken Ardenia's clothes.

Thinking that far, the urge to kill in Halden's heart eased noticeably. Good thing it wasn't taken by a male from the Tribe. But I'm still mad. When | got here, | heard a therian in the Tribe saying Quincy went to the city to trade for salt, so Julia is taking Ardenia's stuff while everyone's away! "I'm Ardenia's mother. What's wrong with me saying a few things to her?" Julia stepped confidently out of the cave. Sure ---- enough, she was wearing Ardenia's clothes. Halden's brow furrowed, and the murderous urge flared up again. He couldn't believe what he was seeing.

Julia had somehow shoved Ardenia's underwear over her head like a hat and even flipped the lace over, slanting it across her forehead. When Ardenia caught up from behind, she froze. Julia had her panties on her head. "What are you two looking at?" Julia said, arrogance dripping from every word. "Ardenia, I'm your mother. | grabbed a couple of your clothes. Are you really gonna try to snatch them back from me?" She fixed Halden and Ardenia with a proud, challenging stare. In my opinion, Ardenia is a complete waste, but, of course, Quincy says the Beast God has guided her.

How is that even possible? I'm not buying it, not for a second! "Give it back." Halden's voice was cold enough to freeze water. His eyes narrowed on the underwear perched on Julia's head, his pupils suddenly sharpening like a predator's. Ardenia, standing to the side, could feel it clearly. Halden was holding himself back with all his strength. ---- The few others who had just arrived were utterly stunned. Why wouldn't Halden want Julia's linen tunic? Isn't that worth way more than that scrap of fabric on her head?

Julia flinched at Halden's sharp shout, her body jerking back a step before she even realized it. Halden reached out, his eyes locked on hers without so much as a blink. Honestly, Julia was a little scared of Halden. He didn't talk much, and being a high-level therian in the Tribe, the sheer weight of his presence was enough to make her knees weak. The commotion had drawn a crowd of Therians. Julia tried to look fragile, hoping to earn a little sympathy, but then Vesper joined in too. The five mates crowded the cave entrance, sealing it off tight and trapping her inside.