I pointed at the mess in the living room to Ethan. "Then do the chores for me. Wash these clothes. Remember not to mix clothes with dark and light colors together. The dishes in the sink have been soaking for three days, so they may be a little greasy..."

Here came the cheap part-time helper, right?

"..."

Ethan said nothing and just turned around to get a cloth.

I lay down on the couch and started scrolling through my phone. I did not notice that when Ethan was picking up the cloth, his nail accidentally scraped the corner of the table, leaving a shallow scratch.

He stared at the scratch for two seconds, then lowered his head and started wiping the table carefully.

For the next week, Ethan became my full-time housekeeper.

I relied on him more and more.

When I worked overtime until late at night, there was always a hot meal waiting when I got home. He could not cook anything complicated and could only get pasta or fried eggs right, but he handled the heat perfectly. The eggs were crisp on the outside and soft inside.

When I had period cramps, he somehow came back with a bundle of dried wormwood despite me not saying anything and put it beside my pillow. He said, "These will keep you warm."

When I casually said that the flowers on the balcony were dying, he moved them by the windowsill the next day and set a basin outside to catch the rainwater. He said, "There's chlorine in the tap water. It's not good."

But the things that were abnormal about him never stopped.

While his body temperature was about the same as a normal person's during the day, it would get cold at night to the point that touching his arm at night felt like touching a cold stone.

No matter where I was, he always watched me from the corner of his eye. If I went near another man, even the delivery man, his wolf ears would quietly perk up and his tail would stiffen, and he would whine very softly.

He would stand on the balcony for half an hour every night before dawn and face the moon, letting out low howls. It wasn't loud, but the windows didn't exactly block the howling either. When I asked him why, he only said, "Habit."

Once, I invited my colleague Lisa over. When Ethan brought out some fruits, he did not hide his tail well, and half of it came out.

Lisa's eyes went wide. She tugged on the hem of my shirt and whispered, "Why does this werewolf you brought home keep staring at you? And a normal werewolf wouldn't get stuck mid-transformation. He even put your plate right in front of you and his off to the side. That is territorial behavior. He has marked you as 'his!'"

I did not take it seriously. "The doctor who treated him said he is a rogue. The reason he's stuck half-transformation is because there's some kind of toxin in his system that hasn't been cleared yet. He has just been exiled too and doesn't understand the rules of human societies. That being said, he's very capable. Look at how shiny he cleaned the floor."

Lisa hesitated. Before she left, she said, "You should at least read 'Werewolf 101'. Rogues are not like pets. When they obey someone as their master, they act like you're their only hope. Those who have just been expelled become even more attached especially."

I gave it a thought. Other than howling at night and staring at people, Ethan did not seem to have any real problems. Not to mention he was so capable too, so I did not think much of it.

But one night, when I got up to go to the toilet, I saw him on the balcony. He was howling softly at the moon with his wolf ears and tail fully exposed. Moonlight poured over him, and he looked like a wolf trapped in the human world all alone.

I did not disturb him and went back to my room quietly. Then, I suddenly felt that he might be far lonelier than I had imagined.

I was working late into the night this time. As soon as I turned into an alley, a drunk man staggered into my path.

"Hey… Hey, young lady… Why don't you have a drink with me?" He reached out and grabbed my wrist. His fingers were so sticky that it was disgusting.

I immediately darted backward and held my phone tightly. "Don't touch me! I already called the cops!"

"Cops? Who are you trying to scare?" The drunkard let out a cold laugh and grabbed my collar with his other hand. I squeezed my eyes shut, but the groping I was expecting never came.

A dark figure dropped in front of me with a heavy thud, carrying a familiar scent.

It was Ethan.

His hood slipped down onto his shoulders and his wolf ears stood straight up. His dark brown eyes locked on the drunk like he was prey. "Let go."

The man froze for a second, then roared at him. "Who the hell are you?! Get lost!"

He shoved Ethan's shoulders.

Ethan did not budge, and instead his nails extended with a clack. Those nails were reflecting a pale gray light, as he let out a low growl. "Just try and touch her again."

The drunk man's hand froze in midair and his face turned white as he was crushed by Ethan's primal presence. His eyes fixed on Ethan's wolf ears, and he felt his knees go weak. He immediately spun around and bolted, yelling, "Monster!"

Only my heavy panting could still be heard in the alley.

Ethan turned to me right away, his hands closing around my arms. I could hear his voice getting tight. "Did he touch you? Did you get hurt anywhere?"

I shook my head, still rattled. "What are you doing here?"

The tips of his ears drooped a little and his fingers brushed the red marks on my wrist. "I follow you every day and only leave after I see you go into your office. I was afraid something would happen because you're working so late tonight, so I came to look for you."

I could feel warmth blooming in my heart. I had just opened my mouth when he suddenly crouched down and looked at my ankle. "Did you twist your ankle? You hesitated when you were dodging him."

"A little. It doesn't hu..." Before I could even finish, he had already slipped off my high heels. His fingertips held gently along my ankle carefully. "Does it hurt here?"

"A… A little," I said.

He did not answer and took out a small cloth pouch from his pocket. He poured out some crushed herbs into his palm and pressed them over my ankle. Then, he tore off a strip from his shirt and wrapped it up properly. "Herbs from the pack. It will quickly bring the swelling down."

Watching him lower his head, I suddenly asked, "You follow me every day. How did I never notice?"

He looked up. The tips of his ears were red. "I was afraid you would think I was annoying. But I can't let anything happen to you. You're my... Master. You're also the person I have to protect."

I couldn't say anything except to reach out and touch one of his ears. It was soft and warm.

He stiffened for a moment, but he did not pull away. His voice lowered. "I'll take you to work and pick you up from now on. I won't let you experience this again."

After that night, Ethan and I became even closer.

He stopped sleeping on the couch. Instead, he slept on the floor next to my bed, sometimes with his tail brushing against my hand. I got used to his body temperature and his quiet company. I even felt that this rented apartment only felt like home when he was there.

One night, I could not help ruffling his hair as I asked with a smile, "Ethan, do you like me a lot?"

He looked up at me with his bright eyes and nodded. "Yes."

Things started to change a month later.

Ethan's body temperature kept climbing. Sometimes, he would even shake all over. When he looked at me, his eyes were full of unsaid pain. Even his tail was hanging low, and he seemed to have lost his usual spirit.

I was getting especially anxious when I thought his wounds were infected or that he had caught something else, so I rushed him to the hospital in the middle of the night.

The doctor knew some common knowledge about werewolves. He frowned even more after he finished examining Ethan.

I nervously asked, "How is he, doctor? Are his wounds infected?"

The doctor shook his head. He stayed silent for a long time before he finally said, "He isn't sick."

"If he isn't sick, then why is he like this?" I became even more panicked. "It feels like his energy has left him completely. He has never been like this before."

The doctor pushed his glasses up and spoke slowly. "He is probably a Rogue who was cast out of his pack. Rogues prefer to be alone, but once they recognize someone as being close to them, they develop a strong need to bond. His fever and shaking come from wanting to mark you and form a bond with you. At the same time, he's afraid you will turn him down. That conflict makes him restless."

"Mark me?" I asked as I stared at the doctor as my mind went blank.

"That is correct," The doctor nodded. "A rogue has no pack to rely on, so he treats the one who saved him and took him in as his only family. His dependence on you is not like a simple master-servant bond. He wants to commit himself to you so that you belong only to each other. Think about how carefully he looks after you and how tense he gets around any man near you. All of that comes from that possessive instinct."

I stood there for a long time before I finally understood what Lisa had meant before.

Ethan's fever and his clinginess were all because he liked me and wanted a deeper bond. Yet I had been treating him like free help for housework, and I kept telling myself he was just shy and still sick because he was just exiled.

When we got home, Ethan was standing in the doorway of the bedroom. His tail lay flat on the floor, and the tips of his ears showed through his hair. His eyes were full of guilt like a boy who had done something wrong.

"Ethan." My voice shuddered a little. "Do you... want to mark me?"

He stepped closer and nodded, his voice soft. "I feel awful."

"Then why didn't you tell me?" I asked.

"I was afraid you would hate me." He looked away from my eyes. "You brought me back to your home and took me in. I… I didn't want to make you upset."

My chest started to hurt.

He had felt that way for a whole month, but he forced himself to endure it because he was afraid of upsetting me. All that time, he kept the apartment clean and kept protecting me and taking care of me in silence.

"I'm sorry." I walked over and took his hand. "I was the one who didn't understand. I'm the one who made you suffer."

He lifted his head to look at me, with faint light in his eyes. His tail wagged slightly.

I spent a long time reading up on it before I finally understood what 'Marking' meant. A werewolf would bite the neck of the one close to him, leaving a mark that belonged only to him and build a bond between the two. Only then would his agitation ease.

I was nervous, but when I looked at Ethan's sorry expression, I gritted my teeth. "Let's do it. But… Be gentle."

Ethan stared at my neck.

He gulped.