Clumsy Beast, Keep Your Paws Off

The room fell into a strange, suffocating silence. Rong Ye stood there like a criminal awaiting judgment.

No one spoke. Su Qinglan, Hu Yan, and even the cubs were silent. He stiffened.

"...Why is it so quiet?"

His eyes darted around nervously.

Left.

Right.

Up.

Down.

The three cubs had stopped playing completely. They were sitting in a neat little row, staring at him with wide, unblinking eyes.

"...Why are you all looking at me like that?" Rong Ye forced a grin, his fox ears twitching slightly.

But he got no response.

Even Xiao Yi tilted his head, as if silently questioning him.

Rong Ye finally couldn’t take it anymore.

"AH...!"

Like a bolt of lightning, he suddenly leaped forward. Before anyone could react...

Smack! Smack!

He planted two quick kisses on Su Qinglan’s cheeks.

Then...

Muah!

A bold one right on her lips. Su Qinglan froze completely. Her brain blanked out.

Rong Ye, however, moved like a man on a mission. In one swift motion, he grabbed her hands, squeezed them dramatically, and spoke at lightning speed, "Lan Lan, I see you’ve agreed! I’ll be back in a week, okay?!"

He didn’t wait for a reply. He immediately turned, lifted his leg, and...

"Escape successful...!"

Or so he thought. The very next second, his body jerked violently.

"...Huh?"

Rong Ye blinked. He tried to take another step, but he couldn’t. Slowly... very slowly... he turned his head back.

And then, his face froze. Two of his fluffy fox tails were firmly caught.

One in Hu Yan’s hand and the other in Su Qinglan’s hand.

Both grips were... very tight.

"...Heh..." Rong Ye let out a dry laugh, his smile cracking. "What a coincidence..."

Before he could say anything else...

YANK!

He was dragged straight back into the house.

"AHHH...!"

His feet barely touched the ground as he was pulled back like a captured runaway fox.

THUD!

He landed right in the middle of the room. Hu Yan and Su Qinglan stood on either side of him. Their expressions were identical. Both wore cold and dangerous expressions.

At the exact same time, both of them spoke...

"We didn’t agree."

Rong Ye: "..."

His ears drooped instantly. His tails, still trapped in their hands, trembled pitifully.

Rong Ye remained where he had been dragged back, his two tails still firmly caught in their hands, his usually lively expression now completely stiff.

The escape he had planned had failed so miserably that even he did not know how to recover from it.

Su Qinglan and Hu Yan stood before him, both staring at him with the same stunned expression, as if they could not quite believe what he had just tried to do.

For a brief moment, no one spoke.

Then Su Qinglan finally broke the silence.

"Rong Ye," she said, her tone calm but steady, "if you want to become stronger, no one is stopping you. We all support you."

There was no doubt in her words. It was the truth.

But before Rong Ye could feel relieved, she continued, her eyes narrowing slightly, "But what is this about leaving for a week?"

Her gaze locked onto him completely this time, leaving him no room to escape.

"What are you hiding?"

The question came out blunt and direct, without the slightest attempt to soften it.

Rong Ye’s heart skipped a beat.

He instinctively tried to look away, but her gaze followed him like a shadow, forcing him to face her. For a moment, he opened his mouth, then closed it again, unable to find the right words.

"I... I’m not hiding anything," he finally said, but even to his own ears, it sounded weak.

Su Qinglan did not respond immediately. She simply watched him, her expression calm, yet far too perceptive.

She knew him well enough by now.

The way he avoided her eyes, the way he spoke too quickly, the way he tried to escape... none of it was normal.

Something was wrong.

And then, without warning, a memory surfaced in her mind.

That man.

The one she had seen before.

From behind, he had looked almost identical to Rong Ye.

At the time, she had dismissed it as coincidence.

But now...

A faint chill passed through her eyes.

If that man had anything to do with this...

If Rong Ye was trying to leave because of him...

Then this was no longer a simple matter of training.

A cold, dangerous thought slowly formed in her heart as she remembered what happened to Rong Ye in their past life.

Rong Ye was her mate.

If someone was forcing him into hiding, then she would make sure that person paid the price.

A subtle killing intent flickered in her eyes before disappearing just as quickly.

Unaware of her thoughts, Rong Ye carefully glanced at her again.

The moment he caught that cold glint in her eyes, his entire body stiffened.

"...Is she angry?" he thought, his heart instantly rising to his throat.

A horrifying possibility flashed through his mind.

"...Am I going to be kicked out of the house?"

His ears drooped slightly.

"...For a month?"

"No, no..." he muttered inwardly, almost panicking.

Compared to that, being exposed did not seem so bad anymore.

At least if he told the truth, he might still be forgiven.

But then...

His thoughts faltered.

What truth could he even tell?

That he was weak?

That while the others had already broken through, he was still stuck, unable to move forward?

That now, when his past had finally caught up with him, his first instinct was not to face it but to run?

A bitter smile almost formed on his lips.

How could he say such things in front of her?

Wouldn’t she look at him differently?

Wouldn’t she think that her mate was nothing more than a coward?

The thought alone made his chest tighten painfully.

He had already been the weakest among them.

If he also became someone who ran away from his past...

Then what would remain of him?

Slowly, his hands clenched into fists. He did not dare to meet her gaze again. He did not want to see disappointment in her eyes.

But his silence only made the atmosphere heavier.

Hu Yan, who had been watching quietly all this time, finally frowned deeper, his patience clearly wearing thin.

And Su Qinglan, she took a small step forward. Her shadow fell over Rong Ye.

"Rong Ye," she said again, this time softer, but far more dangerous, "look at me."