"Mommy, when are we going home?"
The cub's soft, milky voice instantly hushed the bustling hall.
All the werewolves turned to look.
Catriona bent down and crouched, looking at her son, and softly said, "We're not going back. How about we stay here? Doesn't your body feel better here? Aren't these people fun?"
Since Roderick was the child's biological father.
He also had the cold spring that could treat her son.
And there were so many of their kind here.
No matter how she looked at it, she felt it was more suitable for her child to live here.
At the very least, they'd need to stay for over six months.
Cedric raised his eyes and saw the people behind his mother wagging their tails at him, as if they were playing with him.
He pursed his little lips and asked, "Does Mom want to stay here?"
Catriona nodded gently, smiling, "Yes, I do. There are so many people here as cute as you, and just like you, they have pretty ears and tails, right?"
Cedric's eyes crinkled as he nodded earnestly, reaching out his tiny hands to hug Catriona. "Mommy, Mommy."
So Mommy liked his ears and tail.
The werewolves behind him also began cheering excitedly.
"She said we're cute!"
"She said our ears and tails are pretty. Good taste!"
"Awoo! Little cub! Live here with us and stay!"
Catriona listened, holding her son close, and smiled.
This place indeed offers a better environment for the child's growth, far beyond what she could provide on her own. Her son is no ordinary being; she can no longer raise him as though he were merely human.
She didn't want to experience the helplessness of her son falling ill and her not knowing what to do again.
They had come in a hurry last night, and all their important things were still at the previous house.
Upon hearing she wanted to go back to move things.
The werewolves immediately offered, "We'll help you move! The Alpha Roderick instructed us."
At that moment, Catriona received a message from an unknown number.
231-×××-××××: [Have Black and the others help you move. Tsk, if you're unwilling, I'll do it myself.]
Was this... Roderick?
She didn't understand. Why would she be unwilling to let Black and the others help move things? If she was, he'd come instead?
It was only later that she understood: she was the mother of Roderick's cub. In the world of werewolves, only mates bear young, and moving homes, as an act of intimacy, was traditionally the role of the male partner.
But her relationship with Roderick was complicated. He didn't acknowledge her as his mate and didn't want to help with moving himself, so he had called on Black and the others.
But if Catriona was dissatisfied and insisted that the cub's father help, he would begrudgingly come.
Catriona: "..."
She was speechless.
She had no idea that, in werewolf culture, moving house required a mate's help, making it an intimate affair.
Then what were moving companies for?
At that moment.
She, a bit bewildered and speechless, typed a reply: [Black and the others are great. Thanks for calling them to help; there's no need to trouble you.]
After yesterday's brief interaction, she found Roderick, this werewolf, quite difficult to get along with. His words were as sharp as if he'd swallowed dynamite—no comparison to the Black and others. No, they weren't even in the same league.
So, like humans, not every wolf was easy to get along with.
Just from the text, she could imagine his impatient face.
Even if Black and the others weren't available, she'd rather hire movers than have Roderick help.
She didn't wanted to deal with a wolf's moods, and her decision to stay was solely for her son.
After a long time, Roderick replied: [Hmph, suit yourself.]
?
What was with this person—or rather, this wolf? Couldn't he speak normally?
She wasn't troubling him, yet he seemed displeased?
Catriona decided to ignore him.
They set off in three cars from the manor.
As soon as the wolves left the property, they tucked away their ears and tails, driving just like humans.
"Wait, you all got driver's licenses?" she asked, shocked.
"Yep, I even have a human name and ID. My human name is Black Thornfield."
?
Not much different from your original name!! She thought.
In the last car, two male werewolves were talking.
"The Alpha Roderick actually asked us to help Catriona move. Looks like he really doesn't like humans."
"No matter how much you dislike it, you still need to keep your distance from Catriona. You know how possessive werewolves can be about their mates, right?"
"But... she's not the Alpha Roderick's mate, is she? The Alpha Roderick doesn't even acknowledge it."
"Fool! Admitting it is one thing! They shared the intimate night, and she's the mother of his cub! Do you really think the Alpha Roderick is as unmoved as stone?"
"I heard that, back then, when Alpha woke up in the snowy mountains, he mentioned once that he would go looking for that pure human woman after descending. But upon learning that she'd already left on her own, he never spoke of it again."
"What the hell? Really?"
"Keep it down! It's just what I heard!"
On the other side.
At the headquarters of Nightblade Corporation's office building.
Roderick was working, his amber eyes cold as ice.
It was just as well that woman didn't want him around; he was busy.
Moving houses... those male werewolves would be handling her personal items, her clothes, wouldn't they?
Touching her clothes would leave their scent.
Wait—touching her clothes... wasn't that indirectly touching her body?
Roderick's expression darkened instantly, and he stopped what he was doing.
After a moment, he took a deep breath to calm down.
It was none of his concern.
Whatever the case, it was none of his business.
He was well aware that the irritation gnawing at him now was nothing more than a werewolf's instinctual possessiveness.
All he needed was to be rational and overcome it.
Three minutes later.
He dialed Black. "Don't touch Catriona's clothes or personal items."
After hanging up expressionlessly.
He resumed work as if nothing had happened.
...
"Alright, thank you! Please send these back for me, and I'll move most of the furniture to my new place."
Her new home wasn't far, only about a thirty-minute journey.
Over the years of taking time off to raise her child, she'd worked many jobs.
It was only two years ago that she'd found stability, now having a modest amount of savings.
An older lady had transferred her flower shop, which she'd run for years, to Catriona before moving abroad to live with her daughter.
The flower shop was tiny, barely twenty square meters, and she ran it all by herself, bustling in and out. Later, she began selling flowers online, offering same-day local delivery, and business took off. With the small shop bursting at the seams, she steeled herself, pooled her savings, and opened a second flower shop.
She hired two employees for the second shop, and business was quite good.
She mostly managed the original small shop, as she had her child to care for and not much spare time or energy.
In fact, even if Roderick hadn't shown up, she had already planned to move out of this old apartment.
The new apartment, with two bedrooms and a living room, had been move-in ready for two months. She just hadn't found the time to relocate, and when she was finally about to move, her son fell ill.
For now, she'd have to stay at Roderick's place and figure things out later.
