Leo lay on the ground, letting out dissatisfied whines.
But the pup on top of him seemed to have already determined that he wouldn't get angry, and paid no attention to his protests. The little one was sprawled all over him, vigorously rubbing both of his wolf ears.
"Ugh…"
Leo couldn't help but whimper.
A werewolf's ears are thin and soft—their most sensitive spot.
Having them touched a few times was one thing, but being rubbed like this now was… ugh, it felt so good!
Leo felt as if electricity was surging from the spot the pup was rubbing, shooting down his spine all the way to the tip of his tail, making his big tail wag furiously. His whole wolf body felt tingly and numb.
So this is what it felt like to have his ears rubbed. It was amazing, so comfortable…
Leo stopped trying to hold himself together. He simply yielded to the little vampire's weight pressing down on him and collapsed onto the grass.
Actually, this was the normal reaction for a werewolf getting their ears rubbed—they genuinely loved having their ears rubbed.
It was just that most werewolves found it too embarrassing to be whining and rolling around on the ground like this, feeling it was beneath a werewolf's dignity, so most of them refused to let others touch their ears.
But Leo considered himself a wolf, not a man, so he didn't care about dignity or pride. He happily lay on the ground, going "woof woof awoo" to tell the little vampire to rub harder.
The vampire pup obliged readily. After the ears, he moved to the back of the neck, then the ribs, then the rump and tail, and even the upturned belly… Fufu ran his hands all over the little white wolf sprawled on the ground, thoroughly satisfying his furry craving, while making the little wolf whimper with pleasure.
Only after he'd had his fill did Fufu lie back on the grass, completely content, and hug the little white wolf as he said:
"Little doggy, you're so pretty! Your fur is so thick, and it feels so nice to hug you. What's your name?"
Those words jolted Leo, snapping him back to reality.
He couldn't speak in wolf form. To talk, he'd have to shift back to human, but then Fufu's brother would recognize him… And besides, the pup had just said he liked his thick fur and how nice he was to hug. If he turned human, he wouldn't have thick fur anymore.
No, he couldn't shift. Leo looked at Fufu guiltily and silently licked his muzzle.
Seeing this, Fufu tilted his head, looking a bit confused at the little wolf, but quickly caught on:
"You don't have a name? Then can I call you Little White?"
Without waiting for Leo's answer, he sat up and grabbed the little white wolf's front paws.
"Hi, Little White! I'm Fufu. Can we be good friends?"
Good friends? What was a good friend… Leo stared at Fufu, his ice-blue eyes full of bewilderment.
Fufu smiled: "Good friends mean we play together every day, eat delicious things together, and tell each other all our secrets—that's what good friends are!"
Hearing this explanation, the little white wolf's ears perked right up—wasn't this just like forming a pack with him?!
His lifelong wish had always been to form his own pack! Fufu would be the first member of his pack.
Leo was instantly overjoyed. Mimicking Fufu's gesture, he pressed his front paw against the other's hand and gave it a shake—a sign of agreement.
Fufu was delighted too: "Yay! Fufu has a good friend now!"
He stood up, then turned back and grabbed the little wolf's front paws:
"Xiao Bai, we're going to be best friends forever."
The little white wolf also stood up and used canine friendship etiquette—he flared his nose, sniffed Fufu's face, then gently nuzzled him with his snout and licked his cheek twice.
"That tickles…"
Fufu couldn't help but laugh.
Fufu told Xiao Bai to wait where he was, then ran back to the castle, stole a big pile of jerky and small bread rolls from the kitchen, along with his favorite cherry tomatoes, and brought them all to the forest. He spread them out on a big rock, tore open the wrappers one by one, and fed them to Xiao Bai.
Xiao Bai's favorite was the jerky, and he ate quite a few of the bread rolls too, but as for the cherry tomatoes—after eating two, he refused to touch them anymore.
Fufu imitated his brother's manner, putting on a serious face and lecturing him: "NO! No picky eating."
Unfortunately, Xiao Bai didn't listen at all, so Fufu had no choice but to reluctantly eat all the remaining cherry tomatoes himself.
After the picnic, the two cubs lay on the grass for a while, then got up and chased each other around, playfully wrestling. The forest of Nosferatu Manor was vast, more than enough space for the two little ones to play.
They played until dusk, when the watch on Fufu's wrist started beeping—it was Papa calling him home for dinner.
Only then did Fufu notice the dim yellow sky on the horizon.
He had to tell Xiao Bai: "Xiao Bai, I need to go home now. Let's play again tomorrow."
With that, he turned and headed toward the castle.
Seeing him about to leave, Leo instinctively followed, reluctantly brushing against Fufu and blocking his path.
The little white wolf was about the same size as Fufu, but since he walked on all fours, he was much shorter—standing about waist-high to Fufu. When he blocked the way like that, he nearly tripped Fufu.
Fufu laughed and ruffled his head: "Xiao Bai, do you want to come home with me?"
Come home? Leo froze for a moment, regaining a bit of his senses. Of course he couldn't go home with Fufu.
So he backed up a few steps, whimpering "woo woo" as he shrank away.
Fufu waved at him and continued walking home.
But he hadn't gone more than a few steps when the little white wolf came nuzzling up again, blocking his path.
This time, Fufu genuinely tripped, tumbling right onto the little wolf's back and flattening him to the ground.
The two cubs lay piled on top of each other, Fufu sprawled on the little wolf's soft, thick fur. He laughed and couldn't resist rubbing his hands over it a few times.
The little wolf lifted his head and pushed his snout into Fufu's chest, nuzzling.
His heart felt a little lost. Hadn't they agreed to be best friends and join his pack? Why was he still leaving?
He had thought Fufu loved life in the big forest just like he did.
Fufu hugged him: "Alright, I know you don't want me to go. Tomorrow, Xiao Bai—tomorrow I'll come back to play with you."
With that, he patted the little white wolf's head once more, stood up, brushed the dirt off himself, and headed back toward the castle.
This time, the little white wolf didn't block his way. Instead, he stood in place, watching the little vampire's retreating figure with a hint of loneliness.
Even if he wouldn't stay in the forest, Fufu was still his first best friend—his first friend who genuinely liked his wolf form and didn't force him to become human.
Leo could only watch Fufu walk away into the distance, then turned around and slipped back alone into the depths of the forest.
Of course he wasn't sad—he was the strongest Alpha Wolf… but even a strong Alpha Wolf could miss his best friend.
As dusk settled, Leo climbed up the hillside and gazed quietly toward the ancient castle.
A warm light emanated from there. His good friend lived inside.
After watching for a while, Leo slid down the hillside and ran to the fence of the courtyard outside the castle, sticking his snout through the gaps to sniff the fragrance of flowers and fruit in the yard.
Faintly mixed in was that distinctive milky scent of Fufu.
Leo surveyed the fence around the courtyard. It wasn't particularly tall, and the gaps at the bottom were wide enough—if he tried hard, he might be able to squeeze through and go find his good friend…
Just as Leo was thinking this, he suddenly caught a strange scent mixed with rose fragrance, wine, and the smell of blood.
This was clearly not Fufu's scent.
And Leo could tell—this scent… belonged to a powerful being.
Was it Fufu's brother?
At that thought, he immediately pulled his snout back, retreated a few steps, and ran back into the forest.
He really wanted to play with Fufu, but if he might run into the other's brother, then forget it. He didn't want to be recognized and have Rex notified, then forcibly taken away and sent to kindergarten.
He didn't want to go to kindergarten. He just wanted to stay here and play with Fufu.
Ever since she'd made Little White her friend, Fufu never felt lonely again.
Every afternoon, while her father was busy with work, Fufu would slip into the forest to find her puppy friend.
Little White was a wonderful playmate—not only did he love playing with her, but he was also especially good to her. Although Little White couldn't speak, Fufu could feel it.
Every time she went into the forest to find Little White, he would give her gifts—sometimes bouquets of flowers, sometimes little mushrooms.
Once, Fufu mentioned she wanted to find some red leaves to pick and use for a collage. The very next day, Little White had gathered a big pile of red leaves and given them to her.
That kind of leaf was rare—each tree only had a scattered few. Fufu really had no idea where he'd found so many.
Of course, she also brought Little White plenty of gifts, mostly food.
Fufu discovered that Little White's tastes were very different from hers. His favorite food was dried meat strips, followed by milk. He was also fairly enthusiastic about cookies, bread, and various candies, but he showed little interest in fruits—Fufu's favorite.
Even under Fufu's enthusiastic recommendation, he'd only take a symbolic bite or two before refusing to eat any more. Fufu had no choice but to reluctantly eat the rest for Little White.
Through this primitive bartering, the two little ones forged a deep friendship.
Once, Little White mysteriously tugged at Fufu and led her to a hillside, then used both his paws and snout to push aside the layered vines and leaves.
Fufu leaned in to look and let out a "wow"—Little White had actually dug a small earthen den there and wanted to invite her inside to play!
Fufu immediately crawled in, and Little White followed.
The den was narrow and small, just big enough for the two of them to snuggle together.
Fufu nestled against her puppy friend, leaning into his soft, fluffy fur, and felt as if she had returned to her mother's side, back to the little cave she'd shared with her mother. She felt an extraordinary sense of safety and warmth, and before she knew it, she had drifted off to sleep. She slept until dusk, when she was awakened by her father's calls.
During this time, his good friend Little White would curl up beside him, her fluffy body wrapped around him, serving as his pillow…
Fufu and Little White were just that close.
But what Fufu found a bit strange was that even though he and Little White were already very familiar, whenever he tried to bring her back to the castle, or bring his Papa to see Little White, she would lower her ears in fright, and then, ignoring his attempts to stop her, turn around and run off at top speed, leaving only a snow-white silhouette behind.
Fufu was very puzzled by this. But after telling his Papa about it, Papa thought it was only natural.
"It's just shyness! After all, she's a little animal. She probably hasn't seen many people, so it's normal for her to be shy. Plenty of children are shy too."
Fufu tilted his head and thought about it, but couldn't understand at all.
But since Papa said it was normal, then it must be normal. Fufu set his mind at ease.
When Papa heard that Fufu had found himself a beautiful and gentle dog friend, he was very supportive, only telling him to be careful when playing with the dog, and not to get hurt. If he got hurt, he should call for Papa right away—there were medicines and a Medical Pod at home that could treat him.
Fufu didn't take this seriously. He was just playing with Little White in the forest. He was such a smart and sturdy little bat, and he could fly—what could possibly be difficult for him? He wouldn't get hurt.
One afternoon, when Fufu went to the forest to find Little White, he brought along his beloved bouncy ball, and the two of them played a game of catch together.
It was one of their favorite activities.
However, their game of catch wasn't like the typical owner-and-dog game where the human throws the ball and the dog fetches it. Instead, the two of them stood facing each other, throwing and catching the ball back and forth, just like true playmates.
Fufu loved this way of playing. He and his Papa often played like this too.
Although Little White didn't have Papa's Space-type Ability, she was very agile. Even if Fufu threw the ball crooked, or threw it too high, she could leap up and catch it with precision—when she landed, her thick fur would tremble all over, and she looked absolutely magnificent!
But Little White made mistakes too, like this time.
Fufu threw the ball crooked, and she jumped diagonally to catch it. Not only did she fail to catch it, but her snout ended up knocking the ball.
Her strength was much greater than Fufu's, and with one knock, the bouncy ball went flying off at an angle.
This time, the little bouncy ball flew far, far away. After landing, it bounced along the hillside, rolling further and further down the slope, picking up speed as it went.
Little White immediately sprinted after it, her whole wolf form turning into a streak of white as she chased the ball.
Fufu ran after her too. The two of them ran at top speed, but could only watch helplessly as the little ball went "plop" and fell into the stream.
The stream water was a bit deep, with mud at the bottom. Uncle Uther had told him not to go near it.
Fufu knew the ball wouldn't come back, and was about to call Little White back, when he saw that she had no intention of stopping. She followed right behind the ball and jumped into the water.
With a "splash," water sprayed everywhere in the sunlight.
Fufu was startled. He hurried over and crouched by the stream, calling out, "Little White! Little White!"
Fear rose in his heart, and he was about to call for Papa, when he heard another "whoosh" from the stream, and a big spray of water burst up—Little White broke through the surface and leaped onto the shore!
In her mouth, she held the ball. Little White nudged Fufu's hands open with her snout and placed the ball in his palm.