It’S A Cat, Adopted By A Wolf Family? [EN]: Chapter 32

“Anyway.”

Ethan glared at Clyde, who spoke amiably first.

“I am Clyde, assigned by Jackal to be the temporary guard for the young lady.”

“……By Jackal?”

“He told me to protect the young lady from all sorts of evil things.”

“…….”

“Unless there is something special, I will not guard inside the mansion. But now we are in the training grounds, so please follow my guard.”

Clyde flicked his fingertips, signaling Ethan to step away. Ethan, instead of moving away, tried to come closer to me but suddenly frowned.

His hand, which had been stroking me, was covered in thick white cat fur. His black vest was also a mess.

‘Ugh, why does shedding have to happen now…….’

I felt upset and shed a few tears.

* * *

“Lena! It’s a disaster. The shedding has started.”

After excusing myself from Ethan, I went to my room and paced back and forth. The cat fur falling from me began to pile up on the floor.

Lena smiled kindly and reassured me.

“Don’t worry, miss. Since wolves have thick fur, you can just return to your wolf form every evening and brush it out.”

“Lena, please sweep under my feet once.”

Lena, whose eyesight was poor, tilted her head and swept under my feet with her hand. A handful of white cat fur was gathered.

“Oh my, you’re shedding even in human form? Usually, when you’re in human form, less fur falls out…….”

“Ugh…… Maybe it’s because I’m a baby wolf and my fur is soft. I guess I have a little more fur, too.”

Lena chuckled and rummaged through the closet.

“I know best that our young lady’s fur is abundant and soft. I’ll prepare white clothes for you.”

“I think I should tie my hair up a little tighter, too.”

Lena changed my dress to a white one and re-tied my hair. Every time she brushed my hair, Lena’s admiring voice burst out.

“Our young lady has quite the shedding for a wolf.”

“E-Everyone was like this where I used to live.”

“It’s the time when all the animals in the mansion are shedding, so no one will pay special attention.”

Lena gathered my hair, which was usually tied in pigtails, into one and twisted it up into a round bun.

Thanks to that, after tying it up, it looked like I had a huge cupcake on my head because of the volume of hair.

“Oh my, how cute. This hairstyle suits you well, too.”

“Thank you, Lena. I wish I had something to wear on my head, but is there anything suitable?”

“Let’s see…… There’s a pretty veil.”

Lena put a veil on my head and chuckled, saying that dressing me like this made me look like a bride getting married.

“Lena, I’ll be back!”

I gathered the bottom of the veil and tied it under my chin. The bride instantly turned into a thief, but this way, less fur would fly around…….

“Achoo!”

“Where did this fur come from?”

The dignified dog beastmen [humanoids with canine features] guarding the mansion saw me spewing fur and pursed their lips.

“I’m sorry!”

Holding the veil tightly, I ran to the study. Looking back, there were faint traces of white fur on the red carpet.

What should I do? The cleaning staff will have a hard time. I quickly became depressed and opened the door.

“Kitty, you’re here?”

“You can watch the soft paw class today.”

“…….”

Inside, there were three wolves, including Ethan. Ethan’s clothes were a much brighter color than before, and my brothers were in gray clothes.

‘Oh no, all my fur will stick to them.’

I hesitated for a while before finally entering the study. Theo, Deon, and Ethan’s eyes widened at my outfit.

“Kitty…… you look like a fairy.”

“Who are you going to choose as your groom among the three of us?”

Theo and Deon smiled brightly and approached me. I flinched back and shook my head.

Puff puff―

“See? I’m shedding a lot of fur right now.”

“Oh, shedding is all like that…… Oh.”

Slender, soft fur was floating in front of Deon.

No, come back!

I cried out in my heart, but because I stretched out my arm, unfortunately, more fur started to fly around.

My fur was different from wolf fur and floated around very well.

“A-Achoo!”

My brothers seemed very embarrassed, probably because they were seeing cat shedding for the first time. The fur will continue to fly around for the next week.

I felt a lump in my throat when I thought that I was the only one in this huge mansion with fur flying around.

“Ethan, can we take a break from today’s class?”

“Where are you going?”

“I’m feeling depressed, so I think I need to go for a walk for a while.”

“Soft paw, together…….”

“I want to go alone, brothers.”

I said in a gloomy voice and fastened the veil. As I turned around and took a step, tears fell.

My vision was blurry, and I didn’t know where I was going. I just ran to an open place where I could smell the grass.

This was the first time I was so bothered by shedding. It was natural. Mom always flew fur together with me by my side.

I sat down on a suitable hill and buried my face in my knees, crying silently.

‘Mom…… I miss you.’

I realized once again that there were no small animals like me in the Gridwolf mansion.

I wasn’t big enough to take revenge on Jerian yet. The wolf mansion was comfortable and gave me a lot of food, but…… Mom wasn’t there.

No, Mom isn’t anywhere now.

I looked up at the sky. The tears were getting colder, and my cheeks felt like they were freezing in the cold wind.

Poof―!

I turned into a cat and faced the wind as it was. I was going to fly away all the fallen fur like this and then return to the mansion.

Every time the wind blew, the fur flew away. I mumbled softly, looking at the sky.

“Mom, are you doing well? With Dad, Oppa [term of endearment for older brother], and the little ones?”

Of course, no answer came back.

“I miss you. So much.”

Again.

“……I’ll be cheerful again once the shedding is over.”

In the end, a trembling voice came out. I curled up into a ball and sobbed quietly so that the wolves wouldn’t be surprised by the sound of my crying.

* * *

Theo, Deon, and Ethan packed thick blankets and immediately set out to find Kitty. It wasn’t difficult to figure out where the heartbroken baby cat had gone.

White fur remained like afterimages along the path Kitty had taken.

The velvet curtains on the windows next to the hallway had fur stuck to them up to Kitty’s height.

“Cat shedding is different from wolf shedding.”

Theo said. Deon also looked pitiful, as if he hadn’t expected it.

“She’ll be very upset if she feels like she’s the only one who’s different. Soft paw has always been cheerful.”

Ethan didn’t add anything and took the lead.

The three wolves were soon able to find the hill where Kitty had sat down.

‘Why did Kitty have to be in the dandelion hill…….’

When the wind blew, the dandelion seeds flew towards the sunset all at once. The largest dandelion in the middle was spewing white fur.

Ethan quietly watched Kitty sobbing. Just by looking at her raising her head as if looking at someone in heaven, he could tell who Kitty needed.

“I don’t think there’s a place for me. You two comfort her well.”

“Ethan, why don’t you come with us?”

“I was in the lead the whole way here.”

“It’s okay. Tell her to contact me when she can start the class again.”

I’m not family, so I won’t be of much help. Ethan handed the blanket he was holding to Theo and Deon and left.

Theo and Deon tilted their heads and moved quietly. Kitty, who hadn’t noticed the presence of people because she was sobbing, chattered towards the sky.

“Mom, it’s so cold and lonely without Mom.”

Hiccup. Kitty’s body shook. Theo and Deon wrapped Kitty in a blanket and answered in a gentle voice.

“We’re here, Kitty.”

“……!”

“Soft paw, come in here.”

Kitty, who was suddenly wrapped in a blanket, looked around in embarrassment. Theo and Deon plopped down on the grassy grass.

“Ah, my fur will get on you.”

“Then let’s do this.”

The two turned into wolves and bent their bodies like a crescent moon, gently embracing Kitty. Small Kitty was trapped in the middle of the wolf donut.

Her body quickly warmed up with the wolves’ body temperature and thick fur. Kitty wiped away her tears and sobbed.

“Thank you for coming.”

“Kitty, do you miss your mom a lot?”

“A little…….”

“Soft paw, it’s natural. Soft paw’s family will miss you too.”

“Really?”

“Yes. They’ll think of you more during shedding season. How can they forget such soft fur?”

Deon stroked Kitty with his tail.

“So let’s go in. Your brothers will brush you diligently.”

“Everyone is worried about Kitty.”

Kitty smiled shyly and rubbed her face against the two wolves’ bodies in turn.

“You two are really warm and kind to me, even though I’m just a temporary family member.”

“That’s because you’re our sister.”

“Even if it’s temporary, we’re family. Family is supposed to take care of each other.”

Kitty looked up at the sky, surrounded by warm wolves. The sunset had already ended, and the dark navy sky had taken its place.

“Can I look at the stars a little more? I’m a baby wolf who knows romance.”

“Yeah, sure.”

“If you know any constellations, teach us too.”

“Okay. If you connect this star and this star in a triangle, it’s Pisces, and if you connect this star and these three, it’s the Salmon constellation…….”

“…….”

Although they didn’t understand, the two wolves listened attentively to Kitty’s constellation explanation.

The three returned to the mansion shortly after. As Theo and Deon instructed, all the employees of the mansion had changed into light-colored clothes.

The carpets and curtains were also changed to white, so Kitty’s fur wasn’t very noticeable even if it flew around.

“Young lady, you’re back!”

“We were worried because it was cold.”

“Hehe, I’m sorry.”

The three gathered in Kitty’s room. Theo sat on a chair, placed a cushion on his lap, and patted it.

“I’ll brush you, come sit here, Kitty.”

Deon picked up a small animal brush that Lena had prepared in advance.

Kitty trotted to Theo and sat facing him on the cushion. Theo chuckled and pointed out Kitty’s mistake.

“Kitty. If I’m going to brush your hair, you shouldn’t sit facing me, but the other way around.”

“That’s not it.”

Kitty smiled coyly and kissed Theo on the cheek. While Theo was frozen, she jumped up and briefly kissed Deon on the cheek as well.

“Thank you for coming to pick me up, brothers.”

Poof―!

Kitty turned back into a cat and settled on Theo’s cushion. She didn’t forget to bury her face in her soft paws to hide her embarrassment.

The two wolves were so caught up in a strange emotion that they couldn’t move for a while with their wolf ears and tails out.

After a while.

Jackal and Caris, who had belatedly heard about the shedding commotion and rushed to Kitty’s room, entered the room quietly.

Kitty, Theo, and Deon were sleeping side by side on the rug in their animal forms, and Kitty, buried between the two, looked very cozy.

Caris found something and smiled.

Above the three’s heads were three clumps of fur that had been gathered by brushing. It seemed they had fallen asleep while brushing each other.

Caris gazed at the lovely sight and asked in a trembling voice.

“……Jackal. Would our daughter have always looked like this if she had lived?”

“…….”

Jackal covered the three children with a blanket and silently put his arm around Caris’s shoulder.