Chapter 7

But as Abella watched Carlisle moving around the house, chopping salad, she sensed something was amiss. There was an oddity in the way his small body moved with excitement. It seemed awkward, like a squeaky piece of wood, and there was a subtle limp, as if one hind leg was uncomfortable.

Concerned, Abella spoke up, “What’s wrong? Is your leg bothering you? Did you get hurt while hunting?” She had been quietly observing Carlisle’s behavior.

“Sweetheart,” she cautiously called out to him. Carlisle barked and turned to look at her, stopping his lively movements. His left hind leg was slightly raised, indicating some discomfort.

It was clear that his leg was bothering him. Abella squinted and examined his hind leg before asking, “Is your leg hurt?” Carlisle shuddered and shook his head, indicating that he wasn’t hurt.

“Ouch!”

“But it seems like you injured your leg…”

Abella was determined to make sure Carlisle’s every scratch and bruise were tended to before he returned to the mountains. She closely examined his hind leg.

Something in her gaze must have alarmed him because he flinched and moved backward. However, no matter how she looked at it, Carlisle’s leg didn’t look good, and Abella’s face showed her frustration.

“Oh no… He must have hurt himself while hunting.” When Abella tried to examine his leg, Carlisle, sensing her suspicions, hurriedly scurried away, almost as if he wanted to hide his injury.

“Wait a minute, sweetheart. Will you come here, okay? I’m not going to hurt you; I just want to take a look.” Despite her gentle and soothing voice, Carlisle shook his head vigorously and ran away from her hand.

“Sweetie, I won’t hurt you, just let me take a look.”

“Pfft…”

Carlisle’s gaze shifted to Abella, filled with caution. Even his fluffy black fur bristled, indicating nervousness.

“Mommy won’t hurt your leg,” Abella reassured, concerned for Carlisle. However, he shook his head and swiftly darted under the couch.

Abella hadn’t anticipated him avoiding her like this, and she paused, momentarily puzzled.

“What should I do? I can’t send him back to the mountains with a bad leg… or anywhere else, for that matter.

In the wild, legs are crucial. If a predator loses a leg, it would starve, and if a herbivore loses a leg, it can’t escape predators and becomes vulnerable.”

She cleared her throat and changed her tone, “Baby, are you sure you don’t want to come over here?”

She lifted him gently drooping eyes and glared at Carlisle, who was hiding under the couch.

“Mommy’s not mad at you” she said. Carlisle’s eyes shifted nervously as he thumped the floor with his tail, hoping to gauge if Abella’s mood had changed.

“It’s not like Mommy’s doing anything bad. She’s just trying to help you because you’re hurting, hiding in a dirt pit, and you deserve to be scolded.”

“Ching… ching…” With the lowered tone of voice, Carlisle, previously hidden under the couch, let out a grunt and started crawling out.

“If anyone saw me, they’d think I was a very, uh, baby eater.”

“Gah…” Her tail, once confidently reaching for the sky during her recent stay at Abella’s house, drooped to the floor. Carlisle, his body flattened, shivered as he watched her.

The little bundle of fur appeared quite pitiful in his frightened state, and Abella briefly questioned if she had been too harsh.

“Come here.” Abella crouched down to eye level with Carlisle, patting the floor with her hands. Carlisle stiffened but took a step, then two, toward her.

Her voice went back to its normal soft tone, “Wouldn’t it be nice if you actually listened to your mother?” while she caressed Carlisle’s head.

“It’s not like you’re hurting anywhere else; it’s your leg, and how important are legs to a wolf…”

“Grunt…” Abella picked Carlisle up and gently ran her fingers between his ears and the bridge of his nose.

“My baby, let me see…”

She gathered the black ball of fur into her arms and settled onto the couch, examining his left hind leg, which seemed uncomfortable. Carlisle stiffened, his eyes widening.

“Does it hurt here?” Abella inquired, but he remained unresponsive, rigid as a log, clenching his teeth and shivering.

“Are you injured?” Abella delicately stroked the fur on his hind legs, being exceptionally careful. “That’s strange; I don’t see any injuries…”

After examining his hind legs for a while without finding any injuries, Abella gently set Carlisle down on the floor. He trotted over to a corner and curled up as if waiting.

“I guess I’ll just have to keep an eye on him for a few days,” Abella thought with a raised eyebrow. Carlisle’s eyes remained wary.

* * *

Convinced that Carlisle, with his injured leg, was going out hunting at night, Abella asked him to stay away from the mountains for a while.

Not stopping there, worried he might sneak out to hunt, she added a double lock to the door to prevent him from opening it.

With a second lock higher up, Carlisle, being still short in his human form, couldn’t unlock it.

“KING…” As expected, after sneaking out of bed for night hunting despite Abella’s pleas, Carlisle stood at the door, uncertain of what to do.

He tried the unlock, but it didn’t budge. After a while, he gave up and scratched at the door in his wolf form, leaving light marks with his claws.

“Ouch…”

Then, instinctively, he howled. Carlisle’s mouth fell open in surprise, and he quickly checked if Abella had been awakened.

Fortunately, she still seemed to be lost in her dreams.

“Pfft…” Carlisle’s expression darkened. Closing the door like this meant he wouldn’t be able to go hunting, and Abella would likely start worrying about money again.

“When I’m no longer useful…” Carlisle shuddered, squeezing his eyes shut as he recalled the day he had been severely injured and left on the mountain.

“No…” Thoughts raced through his mind. “My mom will abandon me, think I’m a worthless carnivore, and hate me.”

The first time he brought home a pheasant, Abella was surprised, but the savvy Carlisle knew that he had sold it, ensuring they could buy food without worry. That’s why he couldn’t stop hunting at night.

After much thought, Carlisle transformed back into his human form and dragged his dining room chair across the wooden floor. The dragging sound echoed through the house, but he persisted.

Positioning the chair in front of the front door, Carlisle stepped on it and reached for the top lock. The door creaked open, the sound filling the static-filled house.

After some effort, he managed to unlock all the locks and gracefully descended from the chair with a swish.

“Phew…” Despite appearing as a child of about four or five years old, his non-human form allowed him to move quite nimbly. He still limped a bit, suggesting his left leg was still bothering him.

After successfully unlocking all the locks, Carlisle smiled with pride and opened the front door to leave the house.

But then…

“Honey.” Before Carlisle could grasp the doorknob, Abella appeared seemingly out of nowhere and grabbed his wrist.

“What are you doing?” Her voice resonated heavily through the house, now carrying a firm anger.

Carlisle’s body stiffened. His eyes, typically wide with panic, now became round. He forced his unwilling head to turn slowly, and upon meeting Abella’s pink eyes, glowing menacingly in the darkness, he instinctively knew that this time she was genuinely angry—really angry.