Swimming?
Cedric's eyes lit up at his dad's words, his little tail giving a slight wag. He wanted to shift into his full wolf form and swim, but then Mom...
He gripped his bunny fork tightly, his big eyes lowering slightly. Though his mom said she wasn't scared and that she liked his ears and tail, he still didn't want to show his pure wolf form in front of her.
Turning into that furry body with four little paws, unable to speak and only able to howl—werewolves could understand him, but his mom wouldn't know what he was trying to say and might get worried.
Maybe it was better not to.
"By the way, cub, how long can you swim at a time?"
"Cub, can you swim in your pure wolf form?"
Roderick's words reminded the werewolves. Growing up on the snowy mountain, they had to learn many skills—jumping ability, swimming speed, climbing ability, running speed...
The cub had grown up in the human world. If Catriona raised him on her own, he might be raised as a human child.
But since Alpha Roderick had found him...
Alpha Roderick should probably train and assess the cub's abilities.
Alpha Roderick was so strong; maybe he hoped his cub could keep up with him too?
Cedric didn't know how far he could swim at once. Recently, his dad had only taken him for a swim in the bathtub, and he hadn't yet tried swimming in a pool.
Brownie sighed, "In our werewolf clan, every werewolf has to learn to swim. The fish in the Heavenly Mountain Snow Lake are so fresh and tender. My mother didn't leave me a single fish tail; she made me go down into the lake and catch them myself."
"When I was young, I wanted to eat the fish in there so badly that I practiced hard, and eventually, I ate my fill of snowfish."
To train the cubs' swimming ability, the werewolves would bring them to the snow lake, where they'd chase schools of fish and bite into snowfish, getting more energized with every bite.
Hearing this, Cedric licked his small lips.
"I have a lake here too," Roderick said, looking at the cub. "There are plenty of fish in it. If you catch them, they're yours. How about it?"
Cedric's eyes widened, his little heart pounding. He licked his small sharp teeth, then turned to look at his mom.
He wanted to eat them.
He really wanted to eat something alive; that desire had grown stronger recently.
But his mom...
Then he saw his mom smile at him. "Well, baby, you'd better work hard and catch a lot. Mom wants to eat fish too."
Cedric clenched his small fist, nodding hard, his little tail wagging nonstop, his chubby face puffing up—clearly happy.
He'd eat five himself and give the rest to Mom.
After hearing Catriona's words, Roderick's mind filled with new thoughts.
There was a natural lake by the lawn at Luna Palace.
Only the family of three came; the other werewolves, under Alpha Roderick's intense gaze, all claimed to be busy and didn't join.
Hiding behind his dad, Cedric transformed into his pure wolf form—a chubby little black wolf cub with short, perky ears, a fluffy tail, and short, pudgy paws.
Solid.
He looked much chubbier than in his human form.
It seemed that in his pure wolf form, his chubbiness had nowhere to hide—it was all on display.
He felt a bit embarrassed and didn't want his mom to see.
"Baby, where are you? Let Mom see you?"
Hearing this, Cedric hid further behind his dad's leg.
Roderick glanced at Catriona, who was still moving slowly after her recent surgery. Bending down, he scooped up the little wolf cub, who had been trying to hide.
Cedric's eyes widened, his chubby, fluffy body giving a little howl at his dad.
Roderick spoke in a low, serious tone, "If you keep hiding from her, that's what will scare her."
"Awoo..." Cedric whimpered softly.
Roderick paused, then asked, "Are you embarrassed because you think your pure wolf form is too chubby?"
The little wolf cub nodded vigorously, clearly feeling embarrassed, covering his eyes with his little paws.
Roderick continued, "So it's okay if I see it?"
"Awoo..." The little wolf cub nodded even more firmly.
In his mind, he and his dad were in the same boat, both just bundles of black fluff.
Mom was different—fair, so beautiful, and always smelled nice. He didn't want to embarrass himself in front of her.
Roderick:...
Roderick smirked, giving the little wolf cub a gentle pinch on the back before heading toward Catriona.
Cedric:!!!!!!!
Roderick chuckled softly, "Worried about appearances in front of your mom? Save that for when you find a mate you like."
And then...
Catriona saw the tall man walking toward her, carrying a chubby little wolf cub in his arms.
She had long come to understand that her son wasn't an ordinary human.
Seeing that fluffy wolf cub, she could barely contain her excitement. She'd always adored small, furry animals, and her son rarely took on this form.
It was almost a little disappointing.
But she'd always respected his wishes—if her son didn't choose to show his true wolf form, she wouldn't push him, even if she longed to see and hold him like this.
"Ahhh, Cedric, you're so cute!" She reached out her hand, and the shy little wolf cub extended his two small paws, diving into his mom's embrace.
But he didn't lift his head, keeping his little paws over his eyes.
Suddenly, his mom gave his belly a gentle squeeze.
"Not bad; all that milk and meat you've been eating hasn't gone to waste."
Catriona petted her son's soft, furry back over and over, her heart melting. She bent down and gave him a kiss, hugging him a little tighter.
He was just too cute! She didn't want to let go, wanting to carry him everywhere. And in winter, he could even double as a hand warmer.
Wasn't he just the perfect, no-battery-needed hand warmer?
Roderick glanced enviously at the wolf cub. Catriona seemed to adore their son's full-wolf form—did that mean she'd like his too...?
He figured the only difference between his full-wolf form and his son's was that his was a bit bigger.
Just... a bit bit bit bit bit bigger.
She could even lie on top of him and sleep.
