Chapter 77

About a month had passed.

Thanks to Grondil’s obsessive, round-the-clock feeding regimen, Lino’s health had clawed its way back—if not entirely to normal, then at least to the very edge of it. However, “normal” merely meant returning to Lino’s usual weight, not the robust health required of a pregnant body. This technicality kept Grondil in a state of hyper-vigilant paranoia.

“I really wish you’d put on a bit more weight.”

“Anything more is impossible. His stomach and bladder are already so compressed that he can barely eat a few bites before needing the restroom,” Erin countered.

Grondil ran a hand through his hair. “It’s driving me insane.”

For the past two weeks, Lino hadn’t been able to leave the bed for anything other than bathroom trips. It was half by choice, half by force. Even to his own eyes, his limbs were alarmingly gaunt, making the massively swollen belly carrying three beast cubs look entirely disproportionate. He looked like a terminally ill patient—and given the strain on his body, he essentially was.

Because Grondil’s true form was a beast, the babies growing inside Lino were destined to be born in beast form as well. Lino had already confirmed this through the ultrasound, staring at the tiny, distinct animal skeletons. A normal person’s sanity might have shattered at the realization they were incubating literal beasts, but after enduring countless rounds of savage, rough mating with a real monster and somehow winding up pregnant in a male body, Lino merely looked at the scans and thought, ‘Even their little toe bones are cute.’

Ultimately, the culprits behind Lino’s rapidly deteriorating health were those very same ‘cute’ little terrors. Lino hadn’t taken the prospect of childbirth too seriously. Told that beast fetuses were significantly smaller than human ones, he had complacently assumed that one good push would send them sliding right out. He even reasoned that it would be vastly easier than taking Grondil’s cock. In his beast form, Grondil’s anatomy was so horrifyingly gargantuan that just looking at it induced a panic attack. If his tight hole could somehow swallow that monstrosity whole, surely pushing out a few tiny cubs would be a breeze.

However, Lino had severely overlooked a crucial detail.

While a single beast fetus might be smaller than a human one, he wasn’t carrying one—he was carrying three. And they were relentlessly energetic, pummeling his internal organs with kicks at all hours of the day and night, ensuring Lino hadn’t experienced a deep sleep throughout his entire pregnancy.

Lying flat on his back meant the crushing weight of the fetuses suffocated his organs. Lying on his side caused everything to violently shift and pool in that direction. Sleeping on his stomach was obviously impossible, and sitting upright made his spine feel like it was snapping in two. The only reprieve came when Grondil propped him up against his chest, cradling him at a slight angle, which allowed Lino perhaps an hour or two of fitful rest. But even then, the moment one of the three troublemakers started squirming, Lino would jerk awake in a panic. Proving their monstrous lineage, their kicks were violently strong—sometimes forcefully enough that his stomach skin visibly jutted outward.

“Ugh… I’m dying.”

Trembling arms strained as Lino barely managed to heave his upper body up. Calling it ‘sitting’ was generous; he was awkwardly propped up on his elbows, barely supporting his own weight against the mattress.

“Restroom?” Grondil, who had been maintaining a vigil in the chair beside the bed, instantly stood to support him.

Lino kept his head bowed, offering a small nod. From this angle, Grondil had a perfect view of Lino’s nape, beautifully flushed in a soft crimson. He swallowed hard against the sudden influx of saliva. Having been forced into celibacy for months, seeing Lino so utterly vulnerable was tantamount to exquisite torture.

I really am no better than an animal. 

Mentally cursing himself for getting turned on while his mate was practically wasting away from carrying his litter, Grondil quickly justified it with the indisputable fact that he was, in fact, a beast. Thus absolved, he dipped his head and pressed his lips firmly against the vulnerable skin of Lino’s nape.

A wet, sticky smack echoed in the quiet room.

The faint pink of Lino’s neck instantly flared into a deep scarlet. Gripping Grondil’s forearm tight, Lino leaned heavily into him, desperate to reach the bathroom. He didn’t urgently need to pee, but that single kiss had jump-started an entirely different kind of urgency between his legs. Lino already considered his current body—emaciated limbs attached to a grotesquely swollen belly—to be a repulsive sight. The absolute last thing he wanted was for Grondil to catch him popping a stiff erection looking like this.

With the due date looming, his stomach had expanded to mirror a full-term human pregnancy—perhaps even larger. He was carrying three beast cubs, all infused with Grondil’s dominant bloodline, guaranteeing they were monstrously sized even in the womb.

“Ugh…”

A sharp groan slipped past his lips the moment his feet touched the floor.

It felt as if his entire pelvic floor was threatening to give out. It was a bizarre, indescribable agony—after lying down for so long, standing up caused everything inside him to sag heavily downwards, bringing with it the terrifying sensation that his organs might literally spill out. His sapped legs vibrated like aspen leaves in the wind. Without Grondil holding him up, he would have collapsed directly onto the floor.

Before Lino could even manage half a step, Grondil swept him up into his arms. Entirely unfazed by the daily routine, Lino leaned comfortably against Grondil’s broad chest as he was carried to the en-suite. This happened multiple times a day. However…

“Uh… I need to go… Aren’t you going to step out?”

“Hm?”

For some reason, Grondil planted Lino in front of the toilet and refused to leave. Even just that morning, he had politely waited outside the door. Now, he stood immovably behind Lino, even gesturing toward the porcelain bowl with a tilt of his chin, urging him to get on with it.

“I don’t mind, so go ahead.”

Well, I mind… Lino shot him a thoroughly panicked look. Misinterpreting the glare entirely, Grondil reached out, grabbed the hem of Lino’s dress-like maternity wear, and yanked it straight up.

“Gasp…!”

“There. I’ll hold it up, so let it all out.”

He then brazenly moved to unfasten the loose drawers. Lino scrambled to stop him, but because he was so thin everywhere except his stomach, his clothes hung off him like rags, allowing Grondil to effortlessly strip his lower half bare.

“Ah…!”

“Hmm… Looks like you need to release something else entirely… Want some help?”

A wicked smirk tugged at the corners of Grondil’s mouth as he murmured against Lino’s ear. Lifting his leg slightly, Grondil used his toes to hook the waistband of Lino’s fallen drawers, dragging them entirely off his thighs. The smooth, perfectly filed edge of his toenail lightly trailed down the back of Lino’s sensitive thigh.

“Hnng…”

The teasing friction wrung a soft whimper from Lino’s throat. His knees instantly buckled. Snaking a muscular arm around his waist to keep him upright, Grondil pressed his lips to the shell of Lino’s feverish ear.

“You can barely stand as it is. Let’s just drain you once so you can finally get some proper sleep.”

Lino dropped his head, his body shuddering violently as he felt the scorching, rigid heat of Grondil’s erection grinding heavily into his cleft. When he finally managed to force his mouth open, his voice trembled.

“B-But… this is too much…”

“I know exactly how you feel, so just let me take care of you tonight. Once those brats are out, I’m not going to let you sleep even if you beg for it.”

“Hnn…”

Grondil guided Lino forward until his palms rested flat against the tiled wall. Keeping one arm anchored firmly around his waist, he reached down with his free hand, curling his thick fingers around Lino’s semi-hard length. He began to stroke him, sliding up and down the smooth shaft in a slow, agonizingly deliberate rhythm.

“Ah, nnng…! Hnn, ah, haah…”

A heavy, building wave of pleasure traveled up his cock, pooling molten heat in his lower abdomen. Shifting the arm wrapped around his waist, Grondil began to massage the swollen mound of his stomach with extreme care, ensuring the muscles didn’t cramp. Instinctively, Lino began bucking his hips back into the master’s unforgiving grip. Slick beads of pre-cum wept from his slit, coating Grondil’s palm in slick moisture.

“Haah, mmn, ah…!”

Biting down hard on his lip, Lino shook his head back and forth, entirely overwhelmed by the conflicting demands of mounting pleasure and his desperately full bladder. Panic clawed at him; he genuinely couldn’t tell if he was going to come or piss first. Utterly oblivious to Lino’s internal crisis, Grondil tightened his fist and aggressively increased the tempo.

“G-Grondil. Ah…! Please, let… go… hnn!”

“My hand? Ah, is this what you want?”

“No, that’s not—! Ah, aahn!”

Knowing perfectly well why Lino was begging for release, Grondil cruelly pressed his thumb directly against the slit, dragging it in tight circles across the sensitive head. Smeared in slick pre-cum, the glans glistened under the bathroom lights. The flushed shaft throbbed furiously, looking like it was seconds away from erupting.

“It’s, it’s coming…!”

“What is? Your piss? Or your milk?”