Hao Ren and Vivian waited until noon, but they still hadn't seen a trace of Lily.
The girl had a remarkably strong sense of time—at least when it came to mealtimes. As a husky, she would never give anyone a chance to steal her food, so under normal circumstances, she should have been home an hour before lunch. Especially since she'd promised to be back before noon today. Her late return left Hao Ren rather puzzled.
"This is the first time she's ever delayed a meal." Vivian carried the dishes to the table and looked strangely toward the front door. "Did something hold her up?"
"I'll give her a call." Hao Ren pulled out his phone and dialed Lily's number. After a while, he shook his head. "No one's answering."
Vivian and Hao Ren stared at each other. Finally, she spoke first. "Does she have any other friends or places to go around here?"
"No. She came here alone, just like you, and doesn't know the place at all." Hao Ren slowly rose to his feet, feeling more and more that something was wrong. "Besides, she never keeps things to herself when something happens. If there were a problem, she should've called to let us know right away. Could something have happened?"
"What could happen to her? Her combat ability isn't for show." Vivian said it offhandedly. "You're worrying too much."
"True. No matter what, she's technically a werewolf... or at least a vicious dog."
Although Hao Ren said that, the inexplicable unease in his heart did not fade at all. He didn't know where it came from. In theory, Lily had only been out for a few hours, and her phone was merely unreachable for the moment. That was nowhere near enough to make anyone nervous. Yet Hao Ren