Our Family Has Fallen

The lively law education class had ended in just over an hour, but the impression it left on them would likely be profound.

”Off duty, off duty,” Lance said, hurrying to leave as soon as he stepped down from the platform.

The sheriffs received overtime pay for extra hours, but he didn’t. He’d be a fool not to leave.

However, once the major headache of the Romani was dealt with, William finally had the energy to address another matter.

”My Lord, there’s something else I need to report to you.”

”What is it?” Lance, who was ready to clock out, was somewhat curious upon hearing this.

”It’s about those five wild wolves—I can’t train them,” William said, his expression somewhat helpless.

The Lord had dumped five wild wolves on him, and it worried him greatly.

Training dogs was most effective when started from puppyhood; dealing with several adult wolves full of wildness was genuinely difficult for him.

Busy dealing with the Romani during the day and struggling with the wild wolves after work, William had lost a fair bit of hair these past few days. His once golden locks were now as messy as a bird’s nest.

”Is it because they’re too wild?” Lance didn’t make things difficult for him. After all, their inability to be trained wasn’t strange, considering they weren’t pups.

”No, it’s that I’ve discovered they’re all female wolves, and they’re showing signs of pregnancy.”

”Ah...” Lance paused for a moment upon hearing this but quickly understood. He turned his gaze towards the illusory Wang Cai at his side.

He’d been wondering why that dog Wang Cai ran off and wouldn’t come back; it turned out there were she-wolves out there.

No wonder those wild wolves had followed Wang Cai even when he was severely injured, relentlessly searching even after leaving their pack.

The reason was simple: within a wolf pack, only the Wolf King had mating rights. Pregnant she-wolves would not be accepted into a new pack; even if they were, their cubs would likely be killed by the new Wolf King upon birth.

Damn it, Wang Cai had incurred this romantic debt outside, and he, the master, had to help settle it.

Perhaps sensing Lance’s strange look, Wang Cai seemed to shrink back a little, as if it knew it had been exposed.

However, Lance wasn’t too displeased; instead, he looked rather pleased.

Five wolves, each potentially birthing three to five cubs, would soon provide Hamlet with ten to twenty wolf cubs carrying Transcendent Bloodlines. If trainable, they could become excellent battle pets, perhaps even stronger than hunting dogs.

”But that’s not the most important thing. These wolves are used to freedom. They get extremely stressed when caged, struggling so much they often injure themselves. I’m worried they won’t be calm enough to give birth,” William said, adding his concern that the current environment wasn’t suitable for housing them.

”Let’s go take a look.”

At this point, Lance wasted no more words and quickly headed to where the wild wolves were being kept.

It was the yard of a detached house allocated to William. Several iron cages were placed there, covered and separated by cloths to prevent them from being agitated by their surroundings.

But as soon as Lance and his companions stepped in, the wild wolves began to struggle violently. Loud noises erupted from the cages, and the cages themselves shook from the impact.

”I can’t do anything with them. I don’t dare to starve or train them; it’s even difficult to let them out,” William said helplessly. Wolves and dogs were different, not to mention he couldn’t bring himself to be harsh with these wolves.

Lance didn’t blame him. He went forward and lifted the cloth off one cage, revealing a wolf with a venomous, crazed look in its eyes. Its fur was bristling, and its mouth was torn and bloody from biting the iron bars, blood and saliva smeared on its face.

Seeing this, Lance suddenly realized he’d been too complacent. Capturing them and just dumping them on William without a second thought had led to this situation.

”It looks so fierce~” Boudica had also followed to watch, but her innocent heart could see something deeper. ”But it’s really scared right now.”

Lance could also see that its ferocity stemmed more from being trapped—cornered, with no escape, driven to a desperate struggle.

Since they hadn’t seen him for two or three days, the wolves seemed to have forgotten Lance. This made him realize the current situation was even more his own fault.

Reality isn’t a game; one can’t just click a mouse to instantly produce squads of well-trained soldiers.

Similarly, one couldn’t just capture a few wolves and expect to tame them easily without any care.

Lance knew that the army wolves and police dogs he envisioned were likely a long way off.

But the next second, he did something that surprised both William and Boudica. He actually opened one of the iron cages. Unsurprisingly, the wolf charged straight out, lunging to bite him.

At this sudden attack, Boudica instinctively moved to act, and Fergus instantly tensed, ready to charge. But Lance raised a hand, stopping them both.

”Nobody move. Let me handle this.”

Facing the attacking wild wolf, Lance showed no panic. He didn’t strike back but simply reached out as it leaped, grabbing the scruff of its neck with one hand and pressing it to the ground with the other.

Against his strength, no matter how the wild wolf struggled, its paws scrabbling at the dirt, it was all futile.

The overwhelming pressure of his strength gradually calmed the wolf. This was partly because it was already in poor condition and quickly ran out of energy after a brief struggle.

Under the immense pressure, the frenzy in the wolf’s eyes subsided, replaced by a degree of clarity. When Lance met its gaze directly, it even looked a little pitiful.

Lance slightly relaxed his grip but maintained eye contact, observing its expression.

His hand began to stroke it gently, and his voice softened with a soothing tone.

”We’re not bad people. We won’t harm you.”

At the same time, Lance activated Flesh Reconstruction. As he stroked the wolf, he continuously healed it, alleviating its pain. This would create a positive association.

The stroking wouldn’t cause harm; instead, it would feel good.

Wang Cai’s ethereal body also appeared, making licking motions beside the she-wolf. It couldn’t make physical contact, but this was an instinct etched into its soul.

Soon, even when Lance completely released it, the wolf showed no signs of its earlier aggression. Instead, it lay down obediently, warily observing Lance.

My word, you’re the real dog trainer here, aren’t you? William thought, watching from the side.

However, he also knew most people couldn’t manage this. Just the thought of easily overpowering a wild wolf with sheer strength would put most people off; William knew he himself wasn’t capable of it.

The truth was, Lance could do this for a simple reason: Wang Cai was beside him, and Wang Cai knew the wolves’ behaviors intimately. It was, in effect, a combined effort of suppression from both Lance and Wang Cai.

”Go get some water and food.”

”These wolves only eat meat, and it has to be bloody raw meat. They won’t eat anything else.”

William was a professional dog trainer. He had specially prepared dog food, but these wolves wouldn’t touch it, so he had been buying live chickens and fresh meat to feed them.

But Lance wouldn’t coddle them. Eating raw meat for a lifetime would mean they could never shed their wild nature.

”Cook it before feeding it to them. Go buy a few pounds of meat; I’ll train the others.”

Lance continued to stroke the wolf’s head. Even when he looked away, it didn’t attack again.

These animals are extremely sensitive to human emotions; they can detect the slightest hint of fear.

It was precisely because the wolf sensed Lance’s fearlessness and overwhelmingly dominant aura, realizing that struggle and resistance were futile against this man, that it naturally submitted.

William departed. Boudica, however, had become intrigued and wanted to try her hand at it too.

But Lance couldn’t let her; she was too rough, and it would be troublesome if the wolf got hurt.

”Just watch it, that’s enough. Go on, you can touch it.”

Hearing this, Boudica’s slight frustration vanished. She squatted down near the wolf, which tensed up. But Lance gently stroked its head, drawing its attention back to him. ”Don’t be afraid. No one will hurt you.”

The soothing worked; it merely glanced at Boudica and then made no further movements.

”Hehe! I touched it!”

Boudica was as happy as a child, overjoyed at touching the wolf’s fur.

She had often wanted to pet Wang Cai when she saw Lance doing so, but Wang Cai never let her. Now, although this was a lesser substitute, she had finally managed it.

Boudica’s simple, joyful mood also seemed to affect the wolf. Its tense nerves gradually relaxed, partly because it too was exhausted.