"We only show them when we're in the manor," Annie answered eagerly. "It's really comfortable to have our ears and tails out. When we leave the manor, we have to hide our ears and tails so we aren't seen by humans."
"But you're different, awoo." Annie shook her head, looking very wise. "You're the cub of our uncle, the Lord of the Wolves, so you're allowed to see."
Holly Wyatt blinked. "Then how do you hide your ears and tails?"
Annie explained, "We have to learn the basic secret techniques of the Wolf Clan from the time we're little. Hiding our ears and tails is one of them. We also have to learn to conceal our scent, because wolves are very territorial! Only family members can trade scents with each other. You can't let outsiders leave their scent in your territory, otherwise it's seen as a provocation! Cubs are an exception to this rule. But once a cub grows up, they're not allowed to just leave their scent wherever they want."
Holly Wyatt nodded with fascination. She couldn't smell anything on the little wolf cubs. 'Maybe only other wolves can sense it.'
All she could smell was the sweet scent of milk.
'Silas Thornton has a faint orange scent... Is that his natural smell?'
'Is it because he so brazenly marked me with his scent that I'm able to smell it?'
Her fingertips twitched, and she subconsciously wrote, "Then do you know what Uncle, the Lord of the Wolves, smells like?"
"No idea!"
"No idea!"
"No idea!"
The three little ones chorused.
Annie's expression was exaggerated. "We have no idea what our uncle, the Lord of the Wolves, smells like! He's the Lord of the Wolves; his ability to conceal his aura is really, *really* strong. No one's ever smelled it. Plus, he never shows his ears and tail, not even here at the manor. None of us three have ever seen his wolf form. But my dad told me that our uncle is a huge, massive black wolf! And he's a solid color, without a single stray hair. He's so handsome!"
"Our uncle, the Lord of the Wolves, can do lots and lots of things, too! His jumping ability is the best in the Wolf Clan. He can leap between really high mountain peaks. I remember Dad saying that he can jump straight down from a three-thousand-meter-high summit! That's the highest record in the history of the Wolf Clan! His muscles are the strongest in the Clan, too! And his hearing is amazing—he can hear things two hundred kilometers away! We can only hear things from one or two kilometers away…"
When it came to Silas Thornton, the words just came pouring out of Annie all at once.
'If she knew what color Silas Thornton's underwear was, she'd probably tell me,' Holly thought.
But as Holly Wyatt stared at Annie's constantly moving lips, her mind began to wander.
She recalled the tuft of black fur Silas Thornton had left on the table at the breakfast diner.
When she left, she had picked it up. That same tuft of fur was in her pocket right now.
Holly Wyatt rubbed her fingertips together and carefully interrupted Annie's speech, writing, "Are black wolves considered handsome in the Wolf Clan?"
"It's not that black is handsome!" Snowy said seriously. "It's wolves without any mixed-color fur that are handsome! We rarely have solid-colored wolves. Most of us are a mix of a few colors."
Snowy pointed to the red tips of her own ears. "My ears aren't pretty!"
Holly Wyatt raised an eyebrow in surprise and quickly shook her head, writing, "No, they're very pretty. You're very pretty, Snowy. The red on your ear tips is very cute."
Snowy's cheeks gradually turned red. With a giggle, she buried her face in Holly Wyatt's palm, nuzzling against it affectionately.
'My heart is about to melt!'
'Who could resist a wolf cub acting cute!?'
'No one!'
'No one could possibly resist!!'
Holly Wyatt furtively brushed Snowy's soft little cheek with her fingertips, a smile tugging at her lips.
"Holly!" Evie's face was serious, like a little grown-up wolf. He pointed to his own ears proudly. "What about me?"
Holly was stunned for a moment, then she understood.
'The little wolf cub wants a compliment.'
She quickly nodded emphatically, tapping her pen on the word "pretty" in her notebook and circling it.
The corners of Evie's mouth turned up slightly before he forced them back down.
It caused his face to twitch, which was strangely funny.
"What about me? What about me?" Annie pushed Evie aside, pointed to her red-and-white ears, and even swung her red tail around to the front, wagging it nonstop.
Holly nodded, picked up her notebook, held it up for Annie to see, and drew a bigger circle around the word "pretty."
The smile on Annie's face widened, and her red tail wagged back and forth happily, occasionally thumping against the stone tabletop.
Holly was worried she would hurt herself.
Evie glanced at the bigger circle in the notebook, his mouth turning down in a pout. He silently scooted away from Holly.
Three seconds later, he scooted back.
*
"AWOOOO~" A wolf's howl echoed from the distance.
The three little ones beside Holly immediately stood up, tilted their heads back, and howled, "AWOOO~ AWOOO~"
Holly blinked, not understanding what was happening.
The three little ones howled for about half a minute before stopping.
Their little faces were flushed as they excitedly pulled Holly along. "Let's go! Let's go! Piggy is here with snacks for us!"
Holly was completely baffled.
'Pigs?'
'Is the world of the Wolf Clan... this fantastical?'
'Do pigs just deliver themselves to be eaten??'
*
「In the living room of the manor's central villa.」
Looking at the so-called "Piggy" before her, a trace of apology flashed across Holly's face.
The so-called "Piggy" turned out to be Silas Thornton's human assistant, Quinn Zeller…
'And here I was, thinking it was a real pig…'
It wasn't really her fault. After all, this manor was full of wolves—real wolves.
'Oh! Wait! There's also a four-hundred-year-old rabbit!'
Silas Thornton walked in from outside, followed by several burly wolves wagging their tails. They were carrying what looked like hundreds of pounds of meat into the villa, one after another.
His assistant, Quinn Zeller, held a tablet, checking off the food items one by one.
Holly secretly peeked at the tablet.
'That dense spreadsheet is terrifying to look at!!'
'But it makes sense. There are so many wolves in the manor.'
Besides, she had just had breakfast with Silas Thornton that morning, so she knew how big a wolf's appetite could be.
'Looks like supporting his clan really is expensive for Silas Thornton.'
Silas Thornton's dark eyes swept over Holly, his serious expression softening for an instant.
'Awooo~ I hope my cub is getting along with the little ones. I made sure to warn the three of them to be gentle with my cub, not to raise hell like they do with the other wolves in the clan!'
Holly blinked, glancing at the three wolf cubs who had just dived into a pile of snacks in the living room.
She now had a deep understanding of those two words: "raising hell."
Silas Thornton sat on the living room sofa, staring at the three little ones crawling all over the snacks Quinn Zeller had just delivered.
'What is wrong with these cubs!! My cub would never do that! My cub is so well-behaved!!'
Holly covered her mouth to hide a giggle.
Silas Thornton looked helpless. In a deep voice, he commanded, "Get down from there!"
The three wolf cubs immediately popped their heads out of the snack pile. They shook the wrappers hanging from their ears, gathered up a bunch of snacks, and stumbled out.
Evie, holding some snacks in pink packaging, shyly shuffled toward Holly.
Both bold and bashful, he shoved the snacks into Holly's arms, then turned and ran off, the tips of his ears bright red.
Holly stared blankly at the various snacks in her arms and licked her lips.
'AAAAAHHH!!! DAMN IT! That wolf brat Evie is trying to seduce my cub!! He's even courting her with food! DAMN HIM!! AAAAAHHH! I'm going to beat his butt black and blue!!'