I Would Rather Be a Rogue [BL]
Chapter 93: Ragged Ear

Chapter 93: Ragged Ear

Silverfall was a small town. Not so small that you would know all the residents, but small enough that after living there for a while, you might start to recognize people you pass by on the streets frequently. Especially if they had some memorable traits, such as bright, colorful hair, a particularly tall posture, a large scar across their face, a unique fashion sense...

Or if they were werewolves.

And there were quite a few of them. Having been in Silverfall for a good few months now, Felix could remember most of their scents and faces... He has been paying more attention to them, since they were the ones who could potentially sell him out to the Moonhill Pack if they ever realized who Felix was...

Although they didn’t even seem to notice him much, if at all. Especially recently. Perhaps Remi might have put some spell on him, like he did with Brielle, so that no one was able to pick up on the fact that he was a wolf?

Of course, he still remained cautious, wearing a hood or a baseball cap to cover himself up, depending on the weather... But as the days went by, he was growing less and less anxious. Eden has been around him for so long, and still didn’t have a clue regarding Felix’s real identity, despite his interest and gossip and so on, so how could a random werewolf on the street suddenly recognize him? That would have to be one crazy (and terrible in consequences) coincidence!

But coincidences do happen sometimes, to anyone, including Felix as well. Luckily, just not THAT kind of coincidence...

It was on a sunny afternoon, only a few days after Felix reconnected with Kade. He had gone for a walk with Vivi, and as it was particularly hot that day, he decided to stop by the ice cream parlor on his way back, and buy himself a scoop or two. He was slowly walking through the town, pushing the pram... When he passed by a werewolf, sitting by one of the tables in front of a restaurant in the town’s square.

Felix ignored him at first, just lowering his head as he passed by... But something bothered him. That scent... It wasn’t one of the wolves Felix frequently encountered, and yet he seemed familiar for some reason...

Naturally, such unexplained familiarity caused the Omega to tense up in alarm. For a moment, he contemplated whether he should just walk away, and return home as soon as possible, or try to investigate... And in the end, the second option won. After all, problems wouldn’t just disappear if you ignored them. It was better to find out who the werewolf was, and where that familiarity came from, so that he would be prepared for whatever may come. Probably it wasn’t anything serious, maybe Felix had just bumped into that shifter a long while ago and forgot, but it was better to make sure.

Thus, he turned back, and sat down by one of the tables, some distance away from the unknown wolf, but from where he could have a good view at him. He lifted the menu, covering his face, and started throwing surreptitious glances from above it...

The werewolf was a man in his late twenties, rather tall and muscular. He didn’t seem to be an Alpha, though, but a Beta, although Felix couldn’t tell for sure. He had brown hair and brown eyes. He had a beard, a very uneven one, that looked more like ’I haven’t bothered to shave in a few days’ type of beard rather than one deliberately grown. His skin was tanned, with a few pale scars visible on his exposed forearms. The clothes he was wearing suggested he was a physical worker, perhaps a construction or renovation worker, his black T-shirt and grey work pants all sweaty, dusty, and stained with paint or something. He didn’t have any distinguishing features, aside from missing the chunk of his right ear...

No matter how he looked, Felix couldn’t put his finger on where he might have seen him. The Beta most certainly wasn’t from the Moonhill Pack - thank Goddess for that! - nor was he an important member of any neighboring packs. He still could have been one of the less important members, but it seemed unlikely. Would Felix still feel a sense of familiarity with someone whom he had seen maybe a few years back, somewhere in the background? After all, he didn’t have many chances to interact with outsiders back then, so such meetings had been hard to come by.

The waitress came, and Felix ordered himself an ice cream dessert. Since he was already there, he might as well treat himself. It was more expensive than the ice cream from the parlor he was originally planning to get, but he was frugal on every other day. One slightly fancier dessert surely wouldn’t hurt.

He enjoyed the dessert, sitting in the shade cast by the large, red umbrellas, watching the fountain at the center of the square, while still casting furtive glances at the stranger Beta every now and then... But it wasn’t until the man had finished his meal and stood up, about to leave, that the realization finally hit Felix.

That ragged ear! Wasn’t that... the same as from that Beta who followed him once at night, a few months prior?

No wonder he found him familiar, but still couldn’t recognize him! It was because he had only met the man as a wolf, and didn’t know how he looked in his human form!

Felix instantly shot up from his seat, dropping the spoon by accident. It fell on the paved stone ground with a loud clang, causing some of the other customers to look his way...

And the Beta also turned back. His eyes met Felix’s...

And he flinched. He clearly recognized Felix. But all he did was quickly grab his things, and dash out of the restaurant.

"Wait!" Felix wanted to chase after him, but he barely made one step, before he stopped again. Even if he wanted to chase the Beta, he couldn’t... He couldn’t leave Vivi behind, after all, and taking her with him as he tried to catch the man also wasn’t an option.

"Damn it!" he could only swear under his breath, and sit back down to finish the dessert. He was no longer in the mood, but he didn’t want to waste food... And there wasn’t anything he could do at the moment anyway.