Holly Wyatt stood frozen in place, staring at the snacks in her hands and blinking.
'Does the Wolf Clan give food as a mating proposal?'
The snacks in her hands suddenly felt scalding hot. Tossing them felt wrong, but so did keeping them.
Holly Wyatt didn't know whether to laugh or cry. She'd never imagined she'd get a confession from a ten-year-old wolf cub!
Who could have possibly seen this coming?!
'We've known each other for less than two hours. Is the Wolf Clan always this direct?'
Silas Thornton strode toward Holly Wyatt, his expression dark. With a large, well-defined hand, he snatched all the pink-packaged snacks from her arms. His voice was cold and hard. "You can't have too many snacks. You'll get cavities."
Holly Wyatt looked up, her gaze fixed on the black ears standing ramrod straight on top of his head. She let out a breath of relief and nodded lightly.
'Whew~ Thank goodness, thank goodness. The cub probably doesn't know that giving food to the opposite sex is a mating proposal. She's still young, she doesn't need to learn about this stuff yet. "Cavities" is a pretty good excuse, right? I remember that human cubs aren't supposed to eat too many snacks while growing up! Yep! I'm so smart! Hahahaha~'
'But in a bit, I need to go deal with that audacious little cub. Courting a mate is not something to joke about!!'
Holly Wyatt pressed her lips together. Faint dimples appeared on her cheeks as strands of hair fell to the sides of her face, hiding her smile.
She felt a tug on the corner of her clothes and looked down.
Snowy was clutching her hem, her round eyes wide with shock.
"Holly! You accepted Evie's snacks! Are you going to choose Evie as your mate when you grow up? You can't! I want to choose... Waaaaah."
Before Snowy could finish, a wolf scooped her up, clamped a hand over her mouth, and carried her away.
'Aaargh! That little cub Snowy can't keep her mouth shut! I just managed to fool the cub, and now she's gone and told her about that whelp Evie's mating proposal! I'm so pissed! So pissed! So pissed! It looks like I'll have to set up lessons for all the wolf cubs on human customs and habits! Also!! I need to emphasize that the matter of choosing a mate is very important! You can't just say things like that so casually. It's disrespectful!!'
Holly Wyatt watched as the tip of Silas Thornton's tail went rigid with anger, flicking back and forth in irritation.
She glanced hesitantly at the she-wolf holding Snowy.
It was a very slender she-wolf, with slim limbs and long, black hair. She looked a bit frail and seemed to be shorter than Holly. Her ears were red, and her tail was gray.
Her face was full of apology. "Snowy doesn't know any better. She's just talking nonsense. I'm sorry."
Holly Wyatt shook her head gently and took out her phone to type.
A drawing board suddenly appeared before her eyes.
To be precise, it was a magnetic drawing board for toddlers, decorated with a little wolf pattern.
Holly Wyatt stared at the hand holding the board. Perhaps due to nervousness, the veins on the back of the hand were bulging and distinct.
Her gaze traveled up the arm.
Silas Thornton wore a serious expression. "Use this. It's more convenient."
He glanced at the girl holding Snowy and explained softly, "That's Snowy's mother, Mia Thornton. You can call her sister."
'The words on her phone are so small. If other wolves want to read it, they'll have to get very close to the cub. Then wouldn't she be covered in the scent of those wolves who have no sense of personal space?! Right now, she smells entirely of those three little cubs! So annoying! So annoying! The cub was perfectly clean before, and now she reeks of that whelp Evie. I want to get rid of it!'
Holly Wyatt paused, then took the drawing board from Silas Thornton's hand. She put her phone away and looked up with a smile to express her thanks.
Then she looked down, picked up the magnetic pen, and as she wrote, she surreptitiously twitched her nose and sniffed her own hand.
'There's no smell,' she wondered.
'Not even a milky scent.'
'How can he smell the three cubs on me?'
'We were in the spacious backyard, not an enclosed space. Even if there was a scent, it should have dissipated by now, right?'
Holly Wyatt bit her lip, completely baffled, but didn't ask her question out loud.
She quickly finished writing and held up the board to meet Mia Thornton's gaze. "It's okay. I understand."
Mia Thornton's tense little face relaxed a bit, and she gave a shy smile.
Her grip on Snowy didn't lessen in the slightest. In fact, she steadily lifted Snowy into mid-air, the muscles on her slender arms bulging.
Holly Wyatt glanced at Snowy's short legs kicking and struggling with all their might. She paused, feeling a little bad for her, and wrote on the board, "Maybe you should put Snowy down?"
Mia Thornton blinked, looked down, and saw that she was holding Snowy so tightly that the cub's cheeks were squished into a ball. With an embarrassed laugh, she put Snowy down.
However, she still held onto Snowy's collar worriedly, afraid the cub would rush over to the human cub the moment she wasn't looking and spout more nonsense.
'That's the Lord of the Wolves' cub, after all.'
'Even if she's human, that doesn't change her status as the Lord of the Wolves' cub.'
Snowy puffed out her cheeks, crossed her arms over her chest, and huffed loudly. The ears on her head stood up defiantly.
Silas Thornton shot a look at Snowy, his tone severe. "Snowy, have you finished your lessons for today? Have you learned how to retract your scent?"
Snowy instantly deflated. She dodged out of sight and hid behind Mia Thornton, leaving only the very tip of her tail visible.
ZIP~
Then the tip of her tail vanished too.
'Hah. The little cubs have already learned to fight over mates, but they can't even retract their scents! What is there to fight over?!'
Holly Wyatt secretly covered her mouth to stifle a laugh.
The moment Silas Thornton turned to look at her, she immediately stood at attention, her back ramrod straight.
Meanwhile, all the food had been moved into the villa's kitchen.
Quinn Zeller put away his tablet. After giving Holly Wyatt a respectful nod, he walked over to Silas Thornton.
"President Thornton, today's new food delivery has been brought to the estate."
Silas Thornton gave a slight nod. "What about the drawing boards I ordered?"
"The order was a bit large, so they're on their way now. They're using a truck, so it should arrive at the estate this afternoon."
Silas Thornton nodded.
'Did I buy too many? No, not really. It was only a few tens of thousands. I actually think it's a bit on the low side.'
Holly Wyatt tilted her head in confusion, her gaze dropping to the drawing board in her hands.
'Drawing boards? A large order? Tens of thousands?'
'Aren't I the only deaf and mute person here?'
'How many drawing boards could we possibly need?'
Puzzled, Holly Wyatt flipped the drawing board over, thinking it might be disposable.
The board turned over in her hands.
The label in the bottom-left corner of the back was still new.
[Recommended Age: 3-5 years old]
Holly Wyatt: ...
*
"Awooo~ Awooo~" A piercing cry came from behind the kitchen. The wolves in the living room all turned to look.
Holly Wyatt didn't understand what was happening, but she followed the gazes of the other wolves.
Evie was being carried by a muscular, black-eared male wolf, who was walking over with a solemn expression.
The little wolf cub was held aloft, his entire body parallel to the ground.
Holly Wyatt pressed her lips together in shock and swallowed hard.
'This... A ten-year-old wolf cub in human form must be pretty heavy, right?'
'Carried with a single hand?!'
Trailing behind the male wolf were a menacing-looking Annie and a short-haired she-wolf with brown ears.
As he walked into the living room, Holly Wyatt realized the male wolf's left sleeve was empty.
She blinked in surprise. 'The male wolf is missing his left arm!'
But she quickly concealed her astonishment.
'A shocked or curious stare can be a form of harm, too.'
'As someone who is deaf and mute, I know this better than anyone.'