Chapter 21 [Couple's Interaction]
"You're here again."
Ever since Mela saved the mother wolf for the black wolf and helped her give birth to her cubs, the black wolf has been bringing prey to the cabin every now and then.
Sometimes it's a few wild rabbits, sometimes it's a lamb.
Perhaps because of the lush vegetation in the Dark Forest, these herbivores all grow up to be plump and round, with exceptionally strong legs for jumping, and they look very tender and bouncy.
The first time Silas saw a black wolf carrying prey, he would yell loudly into the house, "Mera! Lex! The big black wolf is here with a lamb! Come and see!"
After calling out, Silas flew to the lamb that the black wolf had placed on the ground, his beady black eyes scanning it back and forth.
Silas didn't know how to distinguish good from bad prey, but the size of this lamb was obvious to the naked eye, enough for them to eat for several meals, especially the four legs. Silas couldn't wait to reminisce about the juicy, spiced roasted lamb legs he had eaten before.
Out of respect for Mela, the black wolf allowed Silas to approach. It then sat down to the side, sticking out its tongue to lick the blood from the corner of its mouth.
Although Mela wasn't afraid of blood, she would vigorously rub the black wolf's big, furry ears because there was blood on her skirt.
Just in case, Black Wolf should clean himself up first.
“Let me see where the lamb is.” Hearing Silas’s voice, Mela slowly walked out of the cabin.
When Mela saw the chubby little lamb that the ewe had fattened up, she smiled and squatted down in front of the black wolf, patting its head. "Is this a special gift to thank me? I like it very much. I will enjoy this plump little lamb."
The black wolf let out another low whimper.
Although Mela didn't come to hug it, the black wolf took the initiative to rub its head against Mela's palm.
Then it turned its head and left without looking back.
The mother wolf was waiting in the cave with her four hungry cubs for her to bring back food.
Only with sufficient food can the mother wolf produce enough milk.
The wolf cubs, in particular, lived up to their mother's reputation as her offspring; their appetites were naturally larger than those of ordinary wolf cubs. They would howl and rub against their mother at the slightest provocation, indicating that they were hungry.
For animals, being able to eat means being healthy, so it seems that the mother wolf's difficult childbirth did not have much of an impact on her cubs.
This made Black Wolf both happy and deeply aware of the immense pressure he was under.
There was no other way; it and the mother wolf had separated from the pack and formed their own small family. Now that the mother wolf needed to stay in the den to take care of the cubs, the burden of hunting had to fall entirely on its shoulders.
Fortunately, black wolves are always agile, and with the arrival of spring, animals that were hiding away for the winter came out to forage for food and give birth to new life, so there was almost no place where wolves could hunt.
It just means it will take more trips.
For example, the black wolf needs to make a trip first to deliver the prey it just caught to the cabin, and then make another trip before dark to catch new prey and bring it back to its den to feed the mother wolf.
As the Black Wolf came more often, even Silas gradually got used to it and stopped being surprised.
At most, they'd give it a lazy glance and say, "You're here again."
That's considered greeting Black Wolf.
Generally, once a black wolf sees Mela or Lex and is sure that the prey it has brought will not be taken away by other animals, it will turn around and leave.
But Black Wolf's timing was off today; Mela was brewing a new potion and couldn't leave, and Lex was out.
So the black wolf put down the lamb it had brought and quietly stood guard to the side. After all, in its eyes, Silas didn't seem like someone who could guard his prey.
However, seeing that the black wolf had actually stayed today, Silas paused in his preening.
Although Silas had eaten every single prey the black wolf had brought him these past few days, the wolf's actions had actually left a thorn in the side of the petty-minded Silas. He always felt that the black wolf was trying to curry favor with Mela, not noticing that Mela would occasionally mutter:
"I wonder when Black Wolf will come next?"
"Sigh, I'm tired of eating rabbits lately. It would be great if Black Wolf could bring a lamb."
Damn it, it was bad enough that Lex was already stealing Mela's attention, but now does it have to squeeze in a black wolf too?
Thinking of this, Silas flew down from the windowsill and landed next to the already dead lamb. He pretended to walk around it once, picking and choosing among himself as he did so:
"This lamb isn't as big as the one we brought last time. It's barely any size. Its legs are so thin that even if we cut it off to make a roast lamb leg, there won't be much meat."
Faced with Silas's provocation, the black wolf merely glanced at it indifferently and let out a disdainful snort.
It was as if it were saying, "If it were you, you probably wouldn't even be able to hunt a lamb like this. What right do you have to be so picky here?"
?
Silas miraculously understood what the black wolf meant.
Then Sylas got angry.
It completely forgot that it was it that deliberately provoked the black wolf, which led to the black wolf's counterattack.
"How dare you underestimate me!" Silas snorted heavily through his nose. "I've brought back quite a few game to the cabin, including a stag in its prime. How about that? You can't hunt that, can you?"
Silas raised his chin triumphantly, only to find that he couldn't possibly look down on the black wolf while standing on the ground, since he wasn't even as tall as the wolf's leg.
So Silas flapped his wings and flew up, adopting an arrogant and condescending posture.
Even black wolves, without the help of a pack, dare not easily approach a male stag. A single thrust from its massive, branch-like antlers can send a wolf flying, or even leave a bloody hole in its body.
However, the black wolf stared at Silas with a suspicious look for a while. Could this raven be lying to the wolf? It didn't look like it could hunt a stag at all.
Silas puffed out his chest, meeting the black wolf's scrutinizing gaze without fear.
It wasn't lying.
Although the stag was mainly killed by Lex with an arrow, without Silas alerting Lex, Lex would not have known that there was a stag drinking water by the river a few hundred meters away, allowing him to find an opportunity to sneak up to the bushes, nock an arrow, draw it fully, and shoot.
The next second, the Buck was hit by the arrow and fell to the ground.
The arrow struck the stag in the neck, but failed to kill it instantly. The stag had already realized it was being targeted, and the next second after falling to the ground, it struggled to get up again.
Lex hurriedly fired a second and a third arrow until he saw the stag stop struggling and die completely. Only then did he take Silas, who had fallen onto his shoulder, and drag him all the way back to the cabin.
In short, while most of the credit goes to Lex, Silas believes he also contributed to the stag hunt.
Seeing that Silas looked very determined and didn't seem to be faking it, Black Wolf was unusually shaken. Could this seemingly weak raven really hunt a stag?
No, the black wolf shook his head violently. Impossible. This cunning crow must be lying to the wolf.
"What are you talking about?" Mela finally came out of the cabin.
Seeing the lamb next to the black wolf, Mela's eyes lit up. "Great! We can have lamb tonight!"
She was just talking about it a couple of days ago, wondering if she could ask Black Wolf to bring a lamb next time, because she was craving roasted lamb chops and roasted lamb legs.
As it turned out, the black wolf appeared first with the lamb.
"You and I are truly on the same wavelength."
Mela couldn't help but squat down, hug the black wolf's head, and rub her face against it.
The black wolf appeared calm and collected, letting Mela nuzzle against it, but inwardly it secretly breathed a sigh of relief. Fortunately, it had cleaned the blood from the corner of its mouth after the hunt, otherwise Mela would probably have been disgusted with it.
No matter whether Mela pinched the black wolf's ears or scratched its chin, it stood still, like a majestic statue.
It is only so close to Mela.
Like Lex, you're not allowed to touch it.
If Lex shows any intention of approaching it, the black wolf will immediately bare its fangs at him, as if to say, "If you dare come any closer, I'll bite you."
Of course, there are occasional exceptions.
For example, right now, Mela called out to the back of Black Wolf, "Lex, come here quickly!"
Out of respect for Mela's request, Black Wolf acquiesced to another set of footsteps approaching him and crouched down in front of Mela.
Lex went out today to pick wild cherries.
Mela has recently developed a strong craving for cherries, but it's only been less than three days since Ducwato last delivered them, and even Mela feels embarrassed to have him make a special trip for this again.
But when it comes to cravings, the more you can't have something, the more you crave it, to the point that Mela sighed and complained for several days in a row.
Left with no other option, Lex went out and searched everywhere for traces of wild cherry trees.
Surprisingly, he actually found it.
However, due to the lack of human care, these wild cherries are not very large and taste rather sour and astringent.
But Lex remembered a recipe he'd read about called Clove Cherry Puree. It wasn't difficult; you just needed to heat the cherries until soft, put them in a cotton bag, and cook them in a pot for several hours, stirring constantly to thicken the juice. Then you'd add honey and clove powder, and you were done.
In this way, even the sour wild cherries can become incredibly sweet, so that Mela won't find them too sour to eat.
With that in mind, Lex kept working and eventually carried back a whole basket of wild cherries.
Now, the branches of those wild cherry trees are bare, and the birds that want to find food don't even glance at them before darting away.
Mela saw the basket behind Lex, overflowing with wild cherries. Although they were smaller than the ones she bought at the market, they were still bright red and looked delicious.
So Mela grabbed a handful of wild cherries from the basket Lex was carrying, and after thinking for a moment, she went to get her own basket and put the cherries in it so that the black wolf could carry them away later.
"Take these cherries home and enjoy them," Mela said with a smile.
Although the black wolf brought her prey to repay a debt of gratitude, she couldn't just leave without showing any appreciation. After all, wolves should eat fruit, right? And these wild cherries were free anyway, so Mela generously filled her basket to the brim.
Lex could have reminded Mela that these wild cherries didn't taste very good, and that feeding them to a wolf would probably make its face scrunch up from the sourness.
But Lex didn't say anything.
Mela had mentioned before that this wasn't the first time she had encountered this black wolf.
At that time, Mela had only been in the Dark Forest for a short time and was looking around for herbs that she could use. Unexpectedly, she ran into a black wolf that had just left the wolf pack and was hunting alone. Due to its lack of experience, it accidentally let its prey wound its belly.
The black wolf lay on the ground, barely alive, with a large gash in its abdomen from which blood was flowing continuously. Even so, when it saw Mela trying to approach, it bared its fangs, attempting to scare away the audacious human.
However, Mela wasn't afraid of it at all. She walked over, squatted down, and patted the black wolf's head, just like she usually disciplined the disobedient Silas, "Don't be fierce, behave yourself, and I'll treat your wounds."
Black Wolf had never been insulted like this before. He was so angry that he wanted to get up and bite Mela to teach her a lesson.
Unfortunately, the black wolf was now at its last gasp. It couldn't even stand up, let alone stand up. Its sudden outburst of anger only made it kick its legs a few times, and it couldn't stand up at all.
"Oh dear, why are you so disobedient? Look at you, the more you move, the more blood is flowing from your wound." Mela patted the black wolf again.
But she didn't delay any longer. She took out the healing potion she carried with her, uncorked it, and poured a few drops into the black wolf's mouth.
Almost in the blink of an eye, the bleeding from Black Wolf's wound stopped, and after a while, the wound even began to show signs of healing.
"Your injury will heal soon, but as punishment for your misbehavior, I'm going to teach you a lesson." Mela smiled and stroked the black wolf's fur against the grain, then quickly and haphazardly rubbed it, making the black wolf look like a complete mess.
Black Wolf hadn't regained his strength yet and couldn't escape her clutches. He could only watch helplessly as Mela rubbed his heart, humming a song as she walked away.
Later, Mela never encountered the young black wolf again, but there was always a gaze following her closely after she left the cabin and ventured deep into the heart of the dark forest.
Mela knew that it was the black wolf she had saved who was secretly protecting her.
Upon hearing this, Lex suddenly recalled a few years ago when he and Mela rescued Bucky, during which he encountered a gaze that made him feel uneasy. At the time, he assumed he was being targeted by an unknown beast and was on guard to prevent any accidents from happening.
They eventually found Bucky, but the gaze mysteriously vanished.
Perhaps it was Black Wolf who was watching him back then. Lex thought thoughtfully that maybe it noticed a strange human had appeared next to Mela, so it was guarding against him for Mela's sake.
If that were all, Lex wouldn't have had to go through the trouble of using unbearably sour wild cherries to tease Black Wolf.
However, Lex recalled several times when his prey disappeared during his later hunting trips.
It must have been done by that black wolf.
Maybe it felt it had been watching Lex for so long and got hungry, so it just snatched Lex's prey away.
Lex watched helplessly as the black wolf, carrying the basket, disappeared into the woods, a half-smile playing on his lips.
"Wait a moment."
When Lex noticed Mela trying to pop a cherry into her mouth to taste it, he quickly reached out and stopped her.
?
Mela's eyes widened slightly at Lex's actions, and she looked at him, puzzled.
“Besides clove and cherry paste, I suddenly think that making mutton and cherry soup would be quite nice too, but unfortunately there are too few cherries, and I don’t know if it will be enough,” Lex said calmly.
There was absolutely no trace of lying.
"Is that so? Then I'll pass." Mela reluctantly put the wild cherries back into the basket, while eagerly anticipating how delicious the clove cherry paste and mutton cherry soup that Lex had mentioned would be.
Just thinking about it makes my mouth water.
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