My Encounters with Werewolves

The Moment I Knew

As I held the dog in my arms, I was still slightly unsure. But the warm body in me confirmed that it had indeed chosen me.

Rubbing the dog's head, I stepped back while crouching, only to be caught off guard as the dog suddenly reached out with its front paws and placed them on my shoulders.

This unexpected gesture of affection made me lose my balance, and I fell back, landing on the ground with a dull pain in my rear. The manager quickly came over to help me.

The dog, seemingly surprised that it had knocked me over so easily, looked at me with its golden eyes, a mix of curiosity and surprise. Didn’t it realize how big it was?

The somewhat heavy front paws withdrew from my shoulders, and it took a step back, sitting on its haunches, its tail wagging slightly with a hint of unease.

The manager reached out to help me, gripping my arm.

The dog suddenly bared its teeth, emitting a low, threatening growl from its throat, its gaze becoming sharp and icy, startling the manager.

The brief, but intense sense of intimidation made the manager instinctively release my arm and step back several meters, while I remained seated on the ground, equally surprised by the dog's change in demeanor.

So it wasn’t a mute dog after all; it could make sounds, just not unnecessarily. After the initial shock, I was grateful that it was intact.

Seeing the manager retreat, the dog’s expression returned to a calm and harmless demeanor, its ears folding back. It approached me.

I stood up, brushing the dust off my long down jacket.

“Manager, I’ll take the dog with me. Thank you for looking after it this morning.”

The still somewhat dazed manager nodded blankly, “Oh, Miss Yuan Zi, you’re welcome.”

I brought the dog back to my room. Liu Mei and Ouyang Jing messaged me in group chat, asking how it went. I told them I had brought the dog back, and they immediately rushed over to see it.

As soon as they entered the room, Liu Mei reached out to pet the dog. However, it sidestepped her hand and lightly hid behind me, seemingly unwilling to be touched by her.

“Did it deliberately avoid me just now?” Liu Mei asked, puzzled.

Ouyang Jing replied, “It seems so. It went right behind Azi.”

Unconvinced, Liu Mei sniffed her hands, muttering, “My hands are clean, and there’s no strange smell.”

I was somewhat familiar with this behavior. Initially, when I tried to pet the dog, it also avoided me.

Now it didn’t mind my touch, but others couldn’t? That’s odd; the front desk manager interacted with it just fine earlier.

I looked at the dog, stepped aside, and said, “Xiaojing, you try.”

Eager to pet the dog, Ouyang Jing approached. If the dog had inadvertently avoided Liu Mei, it outright dodged Ouyang Jing.

Just like a child resisting being picked up by a stranger, the dog refused Ouyang Jing’s attempts.

“Maybe it hasn’t gotten used to your scents yet. I couldn’t touch it initially either,” I could only explain this way.

Neither of them dared to force the dog, fearing the newly adopted stray might not obey. They could only hope I’d train it and allow them to pet it later.

However, the dog’s mood remained stable. Even if it didn’t let them pet it, it wasn’t aggressive towards them.

From our interactions so far, it had only bared its teeth when the manager tried to help me.

Thinking about it, I realized I couldn’t understand its logic. How could it interact well with the manager and yet growl at him?

When we gathered at noon, I finally met the resort owner’s large dog, who also spotted the dog by my side.

Indeed, one Czech Wolfdog resembled mine, but its fur was gray-black, while mine was pure gray and larger.

The other dogs were curious about the new stray, but they couldn’t come closer, held tightly by the owner’s family.

“Woof! Woof!”

“Awoo—”

The enthusiastic dogs barked excitedly at my newly adopted dog, wagging their tails. However, my dog, which stood by my leg, merely glanced at them, exuding a particularly calm and cool demeanor.

With a backpack slung over my shoulder, I patted its head and explained the dog’s origin to a shocked Minister Lin.

On the ride back to the city, my colleagues, though initially startled by the presence of a dog, were accommodating and didn’t kick me out.

However, they moved me to the back seat to avoid unsettling colleagues who were afraid of dogs.

Throughout the journey, I shopped online for the equipment needed for a large dog. By the time we arrived home at 2 p.m., I had already spent five to six hundred yuan.

But I knew the first thing to do after adopting a dog was to take it to the vet for a thorough check-up.