CHAPTER 234: RED TAIL

Felix returned from the dining room completely exhausted. Although it was still only early afternoon, he was absolutely drained. Perhaps not physically, but mentally. After the conversation he had with Lyla and her entourage, he was so tired that he didn’t even want to go to his pottery workshop to relax, nor did he have any energy to play with Vivi... He just put the girl on the play mat, gave her the safest sensory toys they had - custom-made for werewolf pups, so they were sturdy enough so that the pups wouldn’t be able to bite off chunks of it, which could lead to choking - and dropped limply onto the sofa.

Of course, he had known that it would happen sooner or later. It’s not like he could have his peace forever, not when living in the Bloodmoon Pack’s pack house. However, even if he had thought he had been mentally prepared... That didn’t mean that he wasn’t regretful and disappointed once the time had finally come. With a heavy heart, he mourned his quiet days.

Once again, he was questioning his decision to come to the Bloodmoon Pack. However, no matter how displeased he was with his current situation, he couldn’t say that he didn’t benefit from it at all... Thanks to Kade and his parents, his ’missing’ status had finally been withdrawn, which meant that no one was looking for him, and even if he was spotted somewhere, no one would report it to the Moonhill Pack. On top of that, he was given a comfortable place to live, clothes to wear, and had delicious meals served to him every day... It would be ungrateful for him to complain too much.

It was just some of the pack members, mainly the young Omegas, that were the problem. But he couldn’t exactly blame Kade, or the Bloodmoon Pack, for that. That was a universal thing that could happen in any pack. It was just a price he had to pay for having all of his other needs being taken care of...

All that he could do now was to stay vigilant, and act accordingly to his current status.

He let out a heavy sigh, and pulled out his phone, looking up table tennis videos and tips. Lyla didn’t say when the tournament was going to be held just yet, but Felix doubted she would give him any time to train. Still, even if he didn’t care about winning, he should at least do SOMETHING to prepare...

He was so engrossed in watching the videos, that he turned his attention away from Vivi. Not for long, of course, but for the moment. They were in Felix’s room, after all, just the two of them. The place had been baby-proofed, and the toys were all werewolf-pup-safe. In such an environment, where there was no danger for Vivi, it was normal to drop his vigilance a bit. But, as a result, he didn’t immediately realize that Vivi got bored of her toys, and started looking around. Then, she seemed to have spotted something, because she crawled out of the play mat, and started dragging her little, chubby body toward the bed...

When Felix finally noticed something and looked up, she was already almost hidden underneath it, only her butt and legs still sticking out.

Of course, that was still no cause for concern. It’s not like the bed was suddenly going to break and crush her or anything. If Felix hadn’t noticed it in time, it would only give him a little scare for a short moment, because she was out of sight, but he soon would have been able to find her by the scent.

That’s why he only chuckled, and slowly stood up. "What are you doing?" he asked, walking up to the bed and crouching down to pull her out. "There’s nothing interesting for you there... Huh?"

As he glanced underneath the bed to fish the pup out, he momentarily paused.

Initially, there was nothing under the bed. But when Felix had moved in, he put the boxes with Vivi’s toys, as well as some other stuff, there. It was just a habit - he had done it back in his house in Silverfall, in order to save space. There was no need to do this in his current room, as it was far more spacious... But it kept everything nice and organized.

The point was, the boxes were partially pushed underneath from both sides, obstructing the view, but since the bed was so big, they didn’t fill the whole space. There were large gaps between them. Gaps not large enough for a person to hide... But large enough for a relatively small animal.

And from the gap behind the box at the very back, near the wall, there was a red tail with a white tip peeking out.

Vivi, who was still crawling forward, had run into an obstacle in the form of one of the boxes, making a soft dragging noise as she tried to push it out of her way. This finally snapped Felix out of his daze. He grabbed Vivi, pulling her out from underneath the bed.

"Ah, ah!" Vivi called out in protest, wiggling her little arms and legs, but Felix didn’t mind it. He quickly put her down in her crib, before ducking underneath the bed again.

The tail was still there. Well, of course it was. No matter how sneaky the owner of the tail was, there were limits to what he could do, especially in this form...

Felix held his breath as he reached out, grabbing the tail.

It was warm. And very much alive. Although he couldn’t sense any presence, just a faint jasmine fragrance, now that he touched it, he had no doubt.

His heart was beating heavily in his chest, as he scooted deeper, to grab the fox properly before pulling him out. Then, he crawled from underneath the bed with the fox locked tightly in his arms.

The fox still remained unmoving, like a very life-like doll...

"I know you’re not a toy," Felix eventually said, lifting his brows. "So you can stop pretending."

And the fox blinked in response, meeting his gaze.

For a good moment, they stayed like that, looking at each other in a standstill, neither knowing what to do. In the end, Felix was the one to break the silence.

"You can stay here, if you want," he said with a sigh. "But don’t count on me if you get discovered!"

Of course, there was no need for Felix to give his permission. If Remi wanted to, he could have sneaked in anyway, just like he had done until now, or when they had first met. But if he had to do it, then he should at least stop hiding his presence from Felix!