40 Familial Bonds (1)

Once they finished playing, Iris nestled into Kyro's hands. She was a bit tired, and taking a nap in his warm embrace sounded like a great idea.

While holding her, he went to the living room to watch TV. His choice was some kind of an action flick, so she just tuned it out, letting herself drift away. However, the peace didn't last long.

In around ten minutes or so, the doorbell rang. Kyro didn't let go of her when he went to the door, but his hold became tighter. She couldn't move and inch even if she wanted.

The delivery person was a young girl, around seventeen, and her eyes instantly strayed to Iris. "You've got a new pet?" she squealed. Without hi or anything, she rushed into the house and placed the packed food onto the coffee table, then returned with a bright smile.

"Can I touch it? It looks so adorable! What is it? A fox? But look at the ears! So huge!" Her eyes went wide, and she covered her mouth. "Am I being too loud? Scaring it? How well does it hear? I can touch it, right?"

Iris looked up at Kyro, wondering what he would say. She herself would have refused it right away the day before, but now… she was starting to see things differently. After almost ten hours of being able to do nothing because of her fox body, she was beginning to accept that her life had changed its course. She was a fox now and should accept that as something unavoidable.

It was inescapable that people would want to pet her when they saw her cute appearance—she herself would have wanted to pet this little fox if it wasn't her own body! Why resist then? It's better to try and use it!

Besides, the person before her now was an energetic young girl. There would be no harm in being petted by her. And she might even bring her treats next time! After three days of cat food, Iris was desperate for any kind of change in diet.

The deliverer extended her hand carefully, and Iris didn't shy away from her touch. Moments later, she even cooed to say it was fine. To her surprise, though, the girl jumped back with terror on her face.

"I'm so sorry! I didn't- What happened? I thought I just petted her, but… I'm so sorry!" Her voice was loud and panicky, and tears collected in her eyes. She was on the verge of starting to bawl.

'Huh?' Iris blinked a few times, then looked up at Kyro. Did he know what had happened? She didn't do anything, so what had happened. She felt as puzzled as the girl seemed to be.

"Irene, you didn't do anything wrong." Kyro didn't seem bothered by the tears at all. He was instead grinning, his eyes alight with mirth. "That was its exclamation of happiness, not pain."

"What?" the girl asked, disbelieving. She looked at Iris as if she was seeing a ghost. "But I heard…"

"Yeah. Watch it now."

Kyro scratched Iris' ear, and she started to purr, wanting to reassure the girl. Her voice wasn't as screech-like when she purred, but it wasn't too different. Or well, it wasn't cat-like, deep and rumbling.

The sound attracted the girl to come closer. She watched Iris with both amazement and distrust, a disbelieving frown still on her face. It didn't seem like her mind could compute a scream of a dying animal having the meaning of joy.

"You get used to it," Kyro said.

"If you say so…" The girl was still sceptical. "Anyway, need to run back, have a few more deliveries. Have a good evening!"

"Thanks."

When Kyro closed the door and they locked automatically, he let Iris go. Without waiting for him, she ran to the coffee table and jumped on it to sniff the food.

And fell back instantly. With her animal nose, she could smell a lot better, and the box hit her with a myriad of smells, all of them extremely strong. She sneezed a few times, then retreated a few more steps.

This food wasn't animal friendly! There was no way she could eat something whose smell alone could cause riot on her senses. Annoyed, she lay down where she was standing and eyed Kyro with a glare. What was he thinking, ordering food she couldn't eat?

Ignoring her, he sat down on the sofa and unwrapped everything. The smell that wafted over became even stronger, and Iris decided it was time to turn tail. She wasn't going to stay in the direct line of fire.

On her way out of the room, she noticed that Lucifer was already out. At some point earlier, he had made himself scarce, disappearing where he could stay unharmed by the smells.

'Smart cat,' admitted Iris and joined him on Kyro's bed.

But Lucifer didn't look happy to see her. He rose up, a monster of black fur and shining yellow eyes, and advanced on her. His every step was slow, menacing, but she was sure that if she moved even a centimeter, he'd be on her like a flash, his claws painting her beautiful sandy coat red.

Like a statue, Iris stood at the edge of the bed, her heart hammering a violent rhythm. She'd forgotten that Lucifer was acting civil only with Kyro around. This cat was a scheming mastermind, not afraid to lower himself in the now to reap gains later.

'And I fell for its trap…'

Iris cried in her heart. Everyone said that humans were the most intelligent species, yet she had been outsmarted by a house pet. What did that say about her…