When a Well-Raised Son Grows Up - Chapter 6

Chapter 6

The wolf’s eyes suddenly snapped open from what appeared to be a long, deep sleep. In the pitch-black darkness, a fierce red eye glowed with an unusual color.

The wolf’s pointed ears perked up as he stared at the sleeping Abella.

It seemed as though he was checking to ensure she was truly asleep. When she didn’t respond to his gaze, he stood up and stretched his hips back.

“Okay…” Stretching his front legs forward and his hind legs backward, the wolf extended himself fully, shook out his fur once, and slid off the bed.

The sound of claws meeting the floor echoed through the quiet room— not loud by any means, but enough to be heard in a room otherwise filled with silence.

The wolf scratched his ears once with his hind legs, then glanced over at Abella. She was still lost in dreamland.

The wolf moved quietly, attempting to soften the sound of his footsteps. Nevertheless, his claws produced a subtle ding, ding, ding.

Unhappy with the noise, the wolf, now revealed as Carlisle, briefly shifted into human form and staggered to the front door. With a grunt, he unlocked it.

Once outside, Carlisle transformed back into his wolf form. He turned to face Mount Lyle, the place where Abella and he had first met.

“That’s going to cost me a lot of money in the future…” Her words echoed in his head as he drifted off to sleep.

Abella remained unaware, but Carlisle was quite perceptive. Living on the edge, he quickly noticed things like that.

He recalled how Abella often fretted about money while tending to her herbs.

“If I don’t want to be abandoned…” ‘I have to be useful.’ Carlisle remembered Abella leaving him in the mountains with a somber expression.

He quickly brushed it off. “No, she brought me back.” “So… so I have to help her before she abandons me again.”

The small furball slipped into the darkness and headed for the mountains swiftly, but there was something peculiar about his stride. His hindquarters seemed to limp as he raced up the mountain.

It was evident that this wolf ran differently than most, and at a slower pace.

* * *

“Carl?”

Abella couldn’t conceal her surprise as she opened her eyes to the unwelcome morning light. She must have been too shocked because Carlisle, who shared the bed with her, clutched a pheasant in his mouth, looking as if he had rolled in the mud.

Abella didn’t know how he managed to catch a pheasant so much bigger than himself, but there he was, staring at her, his tail gently wagging as if waiting for her to wake up.

“You, you, you…” Abella’s mouth dropped open in embarrassment. Carlisle shook his head innocently, dropping the pheasant to the floor with a thud.

“You, you… what the heck…”

“You caught a pheasant…? Did you go to the mountains? Alone? Opening the front door I left locked? In the middle of the night? Why on earth? No. Besides, do you know how to hunt…?”

‘Then you can live in the mountains by yourself, can’t you…?’

One by one, these thoughts popped into Abella’s head. She stared at the pheasant in a daze, then turned to Carlisle, who was covered in mud.

“Did you go to the mountain?” Carlisle gave a small nod. Abella’s complexion darkened.

“Why?” Her expression hardened, and Carlisle flinched slightly, appearing puzzled.

“I thought my mom would be happy if I brought her a pheasant…” Carlisle’s tail stopped wagging at the unexpected reaction. His red eyes flashed with confusion.

After a moment, he realized that things weren’t going well, and he started to paw at Abella.

“King…”

“Baby…”

“Ching…”

Carlisle tried hard to soften Abella’s expression, which had stiffened, as if to say, “Don’t be angry.” He rubbed his cheek against her leg and nuzzled her, trying to be affectionate in an unwolfish way.

Abella stared at the pheasant blankly. She wasn’t angry. She just didn’t understand.

“Why?”

“I asked,” wondering why this little boy was out hunting in the middle of the night. Abella looked down at Carlisle, who was squirming against her.

Carlisle frowned as he watched Abella’s face, unable to relax despite his best efforts, and then quickly shifted into his human form.

“Umuah.” As a toddler, Carlisle’s tiny hands went straight for the hem of Abella’s skirt, and he called out to her in a stuttering voice. “Mommy, Ma…”

Abella locked eyes with Carlisle at the call, and then, as if she’d been waiting for it, he added, “Food money, food money.”

“Money…?” “Mommy, Money…” She paused at the words Money, Money, and Pheasant.

“No way… Did you know I was worried about Money…?”

The evidence was too clear to say no. Otherwise, why would the little boy have brought the pheasant? Abella felt a strange sensation. She hadn’t intended to make him pay for his food or make him uncomfortable.

“You’re so quick.” Abella looked at the tiny hand clutching the hem of her skirt and let out a small sigh. Then she picked up Carlisle.

“We should wash up first. You’re all muddy from the rain.” Her voice softened as she eased her stern expression. Carlisle smiled awkwardly as he followed her lead.

* * *

Abella washed Carlisle’s muddy body thoroughly. Whether or not he realized Abella’s frustration at having to heat the water again today because of him, Carlisle simply purred in pleasure at her hands scratching all over his body.

When he got out of the tub after his bath, Abella was startled to see him purr and splash water everywhere.

Abella chuckled softly at his puppy-like behavior, then glanced back at the pheasant he had hunted.

I know Carlisle is a wolf, but he’s still just a pup, and he’s taking down a pheasant that looks like it’s three times his size.

I was intrigued but also relieved. ‘If he can catch a pheasant, he can catch a pheasant…’ At least he won’t starve to death in the mountains.

It was a moment that made Abella realize she had been worrying about him all day yesterday for nothing.

“Yeah, look at this. He can take care of himself, right?” Abella blurted out.

She scratched the back of her head awkwardly, contemplating the idea of sending Carlisle back to the mountains after the rainy season.

“It’s better that way. It’s not like I’m going to be responsible for him for the rest of his life… and I don’t know what to do about it. He’ll just have to live in the mountains as a wolf.”

“Baby,” Abella called out to Carlisle as he rubbed his body against hers to dry his still-damp fur.

I was more comfortable with the title than the name, so out of habit, I called him “baby.” Carlisle stopped what he was doing and looked at Abella, ears perked up.

“Pheasant, did you catch that for mommy?”

I had heard that one day our neighbor Esha got a sparrow or a mouse or something in return for feeding the stray cats. It seemed to me that the pheasant Carlisle had caught was no different.

“Aww!” Carlisle gave a short cry of approval. Abella stroked his head gently. His tail wagged a little faster from side to side as he seemed to enjoy the touch.

When Abella calmed down a bit, she realized that the pheasant had been captured out of concern for her—a pure, innocent, feeling. Suddenly, instead of the surprise she had felt before, a small warmth sprouted in her heart.

“Thank you…” As Abella expressed her gratitude, Carlisle’s eyes lit up, and he couldn’t hide his delight.

He bounced up and down on his little paws and yelped, yelped, yelped! He cried, his tail wagging from side to side as he moved so fast that you’d think he was flying through the air.

Carlisle’s pheasant would be enough to keep them alive for a while.

‘You caught it for me…’

‘We shouldn’t sell the pheasant and spend it on frivolous things; we should sell it all to buy meat for you.’

With that thought, Abella pulled Carlisle into a tight embrace.

* * *

Carlisle’s nightly hunts did not end that night. Every night, once Abella was asleep, he would sneak out of the house and head for the mountains.

In the morning, he would return covered in leaves and grass, often with a pheasant, rabbit, or other mountain game in his mouth.

Initially surprised by his nightly adventures, Abella now smiled and praised him for it, thinking it would help him maintain his wild instincts for when he returned to the mountains in the future.

“Besides, it’s pretty good money…”

In the first place, the amount of money a humble herbalist could make and the amount of money a skilled hunter could make were on a different scale.

Thanks to Carlisle’s hunting exploits, Abella’s table had been bountiful lately.

“He can get home and back on his own, he’s a good hunter, and he seems pretty smart.”Abella thought as she watched Carlisle play with his tail in his wolf form.

He seemed to be playing with his tail for a while, then he got up and paced around the room. Wolves being wolves, he was a little stuck in the house.

“I’m feeling much better, and the rainy season is just around the corner…” Abella looked at Carlisle with pride. “I’m sure you’ll be fine in the mountains.”

Though she didn’t show it, Abella was slowly preparing to part ways with Carlisle. “Don’t get too attached.”

With that, she picked up the salad on the table.