James picked up the tapir carcass in his jaws and trotted directly toward the yellow silhouette.
Zack was still pacing in the clearing, looking thoroughly deflated as he stared at the brush where his prey had vanished. But as James drew closer, the wind shifted, carrying a familiar scent. Zack's head snapped up.
"Big brother?!"
Unlike his own musk, James had a much cleaner, less pungent scent due to his active grooming and unique traits, making him instantly recognizable.
Reunited after more than a month, James felt a rare sibling affection and wanted to give Zack a proper greeting. However, Zack ignored James's face entirely, his wide eyes locking onto the freshly killed Californian
Tapir dangling from James's jaws.
That look of pure, starveling desperation made James want to swat him across the ears.
"So that's how it is? I've been gone for weeks, and I'm still ranking second to a piece of meat? Splendid."
Still, James let go of the carcass, dropping the 500-pound tapir directly in front of his younger brother. Seeing Zack's ribcage pressing hard against his hide, it was clear he hadn't had a proper meal in days. If he was desperate enough to hunt solo, the rest of the family was likely in the exact same position.
"ROAR~~"
Zack gave an ecstatic roar and buried his muzzle into the tapir, tearing away massive chunks of meat. He bolted down nearly twenty pounds of fresh flesh before finally slowing down, letting out a heavy, satisfied burp.
When Zack finally looked up from his meal, his eyes widened. James wasn't alone anymore. Standing just behind him were two incredibly strange companions: a fat, oversized rodent with orange teeth, and a white female Sabertooth.
Zack's simple mind completely stalled trying to process the scene.
James had no intention of explaining the logistics of his new entourage. Instead, he gave a low, inquiring rumble, pressing Zack for information on their parents and Zoe.
Zack's response made James's heart sink.
"The parents are heavily Injured".
Zack couldn't articulate the details, but he immediately turned and signaled James to follow him. He led James to the site of the midnight clash. The signs of a brutal war of attrition were cut deep into the earth—splintered wood, flattened ferns, and tufts of coarse, sandy hair. The scent left behind in the mud belonged to a American Lion.
Next, Zack tracked down toward the riverbed, showing James the remains of the neighboring Xenosmilus pair.
The carcasses had been completely hollowed out, leaving nothing but a pile of crushed, white bones glinting in the daylight.
Piece by piece, the timeline solidified in James's human mind. The American Lion had invaded, slaughtered the Xenosmilus couple for their territory, and then pushed onto his parents' border. His mother and father had fought the giant to a standstill to protect the den, resulting in a mutual, exhausting draw.
"ROAR~~"
James turned to Aurora and the Giant Beaver, issuing a low command for them to hold their positions in the safety of the sparse juniper woods and stay out of sight.
With the remaining portion of the tapir carcass split between them, James and Zack trotted back to the family den.
Inside the cavern, the scent of fresh blood instantly jarred the parents from their listless rest.
Thinking it was the American lion, both parents looked toward Zoe, who was sleeping cluelessly. Her bones were visible beneath her skin, and the fur that was once a vibrant golden color now looked dull and grayish-yellow.
They had already prepared themselves to sacrifice their old bodies to carve out a path for their children. If the lion came, they would fight to the death and give their cubs a chance to escape.They both looked at each other .
Then dragged themselves to their feet, their eyes locking onto the entrance of the cave.
But the scene of America lion charging didn't appeared instead it was Zack who was dragging a carcass of tapir .
Then behind him a familiar face, their hearts were finally at ease .Seeing James return was a profound shock to the parents, but the sheer, primal drive for food overrode their curiosity. Without a formal greeting, they lunged at the carcass, tearing into the meat with feral intensity. Zoe tried to squeeze her way into the front, but she was quickly muscled out, left to chew on the tough hide of the hindquarters.
James watched the chaotic family dinner with a grim, understanding smile. In the Pleistocene, sentimentality came after a full stomach. Food was always the absolute priority.
Once the 500-pound tapir was reduced to polished bone, the sickly, lethargic aura in the cave began to lift. The parents' eyes regained their alert, sharp intensity as the nutrients hit their systems.
"ROAR~~"
The family was whole again, but looking at the jagged lacerations covering his parents' chests and shoulders, James felt a deep bitterness.
He inspected their wounds closely. Fortunately, the damage was strictly structural to the muscle and hide—no broken bones or ruptured joints. James silently accessed his interface, burning a small portion of his reserves to convert into *Healing Points*, applying the subtle cellular acceleration to their bodies. With time, they would mend perfectly.
With their bellies full, the parents finally padded over to James, affectionately nuzzling his neck and using their rough tongues to groom his golden fur.
After a brief exchange of warmth, the exhaustion returned, and they settled into the dirt to let the food and healing take effect.
James stood up, his gaze turning cold as he looked out the cave mouth. He had no intention of lingering here.
His original targets—the Xenosmilus pair—were already dead. But a far more dangerous threat had taken their place. The American Lion was sleeping right on his family's doorstep. If he didn't cut this cancer out immediately, his family would eventually be consumed.
"ROAR——"
James turned to leave. Zack, seeing his brother's posture, gave a resolute grunt and fell into line behind him. Zack wasn't the useless glutton he used to be; he had faced the lion, he had hunted solo, and he refused to stay behind. James didn't object.
The brothers returned to the juniper boundary, regrouping with the beaver and Aurora.
The hunt for the lion was officially active.
James led the group into the old Xenosmilus territory. The air here was heavy with a thick, pungent musk—the signature scent of a male Panthera atrox. The territory had a new king.
It was early afternoon, the hottest part of the day. By all accounts, the lion would be deep asleep inside a shaded hollow or cave. As long as they kept their footfalls quiet, they held the tactical advantage of surprise.
James surveyed the terrain, selecting a narrow bottleneck between two rocky outcrops. He turned to the Giant Beaver and gave a signal from his claws to dig at this place .
The rodent went straight to work, its paws moving like mechanical shovels. Ever since it realized its engineering could large large cat like Aurora, its work ethic had evolved. It dug with frantic, proud energy.
Within a few hours, a massive pit took shape—broader and deeper than the one that had held Aurora.
James didn't stop there. He scoured the riverbed, gathering jagged shards of limestone and heavy, splintered branches. He even used the thick, calcified bones and claws from the old Ground Sloth carcass he had cached near here, commanding the beaver to drive them firmly into the dirt at the bottom of the pit, points facing up.
Finally, they woven a grid of thin willow branches over the opening, layering it with ferns and a dusting of loose soil until it was indistinguishable from the surrounding forest floor.
Done.
This wasn't just a holding cell anymore; it was a lethal puncture trap. If the American Lion fell into this, the sheer weight of its 350kg body would drive those spikes straight through its vitals.
"ROAR~~"
Aurora had watched the entire process with a look of growing realization. As the disguise was finalized over the hole, her ears pinned back instinctively, and she took three deliberate steps away from the area.
Looking at the innocent-looking patch of grass, a shiver ran through her hide. She looked at James, her blue eyes filled with an intense, processing curiosity.
"How did this golden cat's mind work? To hunt without teeth, to kill without ever touching the prey."