Worthless

Now openly awake, Jian Yu looked at it with the same interest it showed towards him. Ten weeks old, maybe even less, judging from the size, the curiosity and desire to explore behavior, from the fuzziness of the coat. 

The mixture of colors of gray, black, and, white on the fur seemed to haven't spread evenly. They bunched up in one place and left the other places bȧrė, making its head look like a tricolored ball. 

When a whɨnė echoed weakly in the air, the attention Jian Yu had on that one pup shifted to the one lying on the ground, the very first pup that they saw injured. 

The Beta also finally noticed that it was the only one he had seen aside from the other that was black from the head to the tail. 

It perked Jian Yu's interest. Pure black was rare, while gray was common. This was the first time he ever saw a pure black wolf, making him wonder how beautiful and majestic it might be when it was fully grown. 

If only it survived. 

The poor pup kept on whining in pain from the injured hind leg while lying on its side. Unconsciously giving in to his conscience, Jian Yu had unknowingly inched closer. His body lowered into a squat and he reached out with his palm open. 

He had totally forgotten about the mother of the pups, who had stiffen momentarily with the black laced lips pulled back a little bit, baring the slightest of fangs. 

She had gone completely still, yellow irises watching the silverhead stranger, while the other clueless young ones were being their ignorant self, sniffing and pawing at each other. 

Being closer to the ground, the putrid smell of rotting meat left by the mother beside the injured one became stronger and Jian Yu almost gagged from the stench. Steadily, the Beta insisted on inching closer towards the small pup, becoming more and more bold when he realized the mother wolf had yet to show any aggressiveness. 

She was scrutinizing him, weighing and judging him with her sharp yellow eyes. 

He slipped out a white handkerchief he carried all the time and began slipping closer towards the pack. Only then did he finally get a good look at the injured little black wolf. Due to the darkness of the cave with limited source of light, Jian Yu couldn't exactly see the injury, but now, he could. 

He saw a painful-looking flesh wound under the dark fur, some dried blood had hardened surrounding the wound while some was still slightly wet from the continuous bleeding, and Jian Yu was sure he spied something white, protruding from the flesh. He could guarantee that it was a bone that was somehow dislocated. 

The silverette could only sympathize with the black little one. This was truly out of his area of expertise as he knew nothing about treating an animal. Not even his heroic amnesiatic brain could give a hand. 

Still, he insisted on doing something for the black little wolf as Jian Yu carefully placed his handkerchief on top of the wound and gave a gentle pressure, dying the white cloth muddy red. The black pup whɨnėd pitifully, its snout and whiskers quivered. 

When it whimpered, the silverette took a quick glance towards the mother of the wolves, only to find her watching him silently, only observing. Perhaps she knew she was going to lose one of her litters sooner or later and she couldn't do anything about it but accepted the cruel fate. 

Slowly and gently, Jian Yu wrapped the white cloth around the wound while the pup whimpered and kept on flicking its tongue in and out as if tasting the air. The silverette knew it was something a canine did when feeling distress. 

"You poor little thing," Jian Yu murmured, brushing the back of his hand against the scalp of the black little wolf. He rubbed the head and let his pheromones roll out in gentle and reassuring waves. 

One of the perks of being Beta was that almost all beta's pheromones had a calming effect. 

He had wondered if it might work on animals but turned out he needed not to worry. The effect was instantaneous. While his calming pheromones rolled out, even and controlled, the whɨnės and whimpers quietened, the laboriousness of its breathing had also evened out. 

While emitting his pheromones, Jian Yu used his other hand to reach for the old piece of meat and directed it closely to the pup, directing feeding it from his palm. The injured pup, probably driven on by hunger, munched on the piece of meat right off his hand until there was nothing left. 

Its ears perked up as if regaining some energy. Even though there wasn't any meat left, the black little wolf kept on ŀɨċkɨnġ his palm vigorously, bumping its snout on Jian Yu's hand. 

The wolf pup's tongue lolled out and continued ŀɨċkɨnġ at Jian Yu's fingers, bringing a smile onto the Beta's face. It's tail thumped on the ground. If only it was healthy, that tail would be wagging happily. 

Jian Yu went from rubbing it behind its ear to stroking its whiskers. The rubbing session went on and on until Jian Yu had to plant his buŧŧ down on the ground to avoid cramps and continued stroking its back. 

Occasionally, Jian Yu would take a glance at the mother wolf from his peripheral vision to see her reaction but she didn't seem to mind him touching one of her litters, which brought a relief to him or he would have to lose one of his limbs. 

Hi all! I've been thinking and contemplating a lot about something. When I first wrote this, I didn't actually expect it to be a kinda old England style of setting, so the names were randomly given. Now that we are halfway through, what do you think if I westernized "Jian Yu"'s name? The same goes to Han and Rei. Or should I just leave them be? 

Please tell me in the comment section! 

Thank you! And happy reading!