I'm sorry, but please give me more credit than that. I might be a mutt, but I know that you wouldn't dare get that suit wet. My old friend was a master of fashion and he'd have a heart attack if someone got his nice designer suit even the slightest bit damp. So, I'm just going to chill here until my sweetheart and porcupine return. 

The guy just stared at him, shocked that he would even say such words. 

Wait a minute...

Looking down, Marquise stared at the fuzzy paws beneath the water. Confused, he slowly lifted one closer to the surface, then partially turned it over so that he could see some of the bottom. 

No way. These are not my toes! Where is my giant monster paw?! These pads look like tiny pink pinto beans! 

"What is your problem? Can you not even hear me? Get your butt over here before I—" Marquise shut him up with a narrowed glare and an abrupt splash of his little paw that had Kova jumping back even though the water didn't even come close to him. 

 If you're going to threaten someone, at least have the balls to back it up. 

Returning his attention to his paw, Marquise lifted it out of the water and booped his muzzle gently. 

Dear god, it really is mine and I'm super tiny. 

Ignoring the elder vampire glowering at him, he slipped back into the deeper water, then swam across the large tub before finding another ledge and hopping out. It actually took some effort. 

I really should just drown myself at this point, he thought as he looked down at his sopping wet little body. 

And I'm... what the hell color am I? It looks like someone just dumped a bunch of paint on me and got distracted until it dried!

Frustrated, he sat down and tried to get a better feel for his new other half. It definitely didn't have the unbridled rage and raw aggression of his previous wolf, and it definitely didn't have its bulk, either. 

I bet I don't even weigh thirty pounds, even with all of this water soaking my fur. I want a damn refund. 

"Alright, enough messing ar—" Kova's words were cut off again as he stopped coming closer abruptly, then hissed when he was forced to jump back because Marquise began shaking out his coat. 

Once he was done, he looked up at the other man with a bored expression, then flicked his tail and sauntered out of the bathing room with an air of authority that didn't fit his tiny frame. 

Of course, Kova hurried after him, silently fuming and glaring daggers, but he didn't care. 

Where did Vrasje put my potato. I need to drown my new sorrow in food. 

He was just sniffing his way toward the kitchen when he was suddenly lifted by a towel wrapped around his body!

"Alright, we're going out," Kova said as he tucked him under his arm like a fuzzy man-purse. 

Marquise glared up at him for a few moments before rolling his eyes and allowing the man to carry him. The guy wasn't the brightest, but there were plenty of eyes on them already. If he tried to do anything to him, there's no way he'd be able to hide it from Taru. Sure, the servants didn't like him either, but they also weren't going to take the fall for the guy. 

So, it wasn't too surprising when he was carried out the door, but then set down once out of view of the house. 

"You, what can I do to get you to leave Taru alone? What do you want? Food? Money? Why did he change you?" 

Sitting down, Marquise settled his long, bushy tail around his paws, then looked up with a raised eyebrow. 

I'd love to have a nice long chat with you, but you see, I'm a wolf right now and you clearly can't hear me, so...

Standing back up, Marquise walked a few steps toward a rose bush, then lifted his leg. 

"I can't believe that he changed you. There has to be something else. You had to have done something to him to make him save you," Kova said as he began to walk, mumbling to himself every few moments. 

Once he'd finished his business, Marquise debated if he wanted to stay with the peacock or return to the house. Unfortunately, the answer was obvious quite quickly. 

I'll take the fretting bird over the murderous waitstaff. 

So, he hurried after him, then began walking at his side, though just a fraction farther in front. Kova's rambling died down as they walked into the busier section of town. The smell of cooking food immediately pulled his attention in twenty different directions, but he knew better than to get too distracted. 

Lots of eyes were on him. Most of them were quite hostile already, too. 

"This is what your life is going to be like until someone catches you off-guard, you know? Then you'll be dead and Taru will be devastated. Not to mention that he won't be allowed to create another heir if he registers you, too." 

He knew how the heir system worked. It had been employed at the other city he'd lived in. He also knew that Kova's words weren't wrong. Hell, he was walking right next to a probably respected elder vampire, yet people were still not hesitating to send him menacing glares. 

I would be skinned alive if he wasn't beside me. 

Inwardly sighing, Marquise gave his coat one more shake after letting Kova walk a few steps ahead, then tilted his head. 

I guess there is one benefit to being this small. You dry really fast. 

"You hungry, dog?" 

Hello, yes, I am dog and I am hungry. 

He would never pass up a meal, no matter who was paying. 

Actually, I think there is someone I wouldn't dine with. That Olivia woman who pulled my hair. That actually really hurt. 

He flicked his tail as he followed Kova into a surprisingly bustling market area.

I wonder how she's doing... 

"L-lord Kova, what... why do you have that with you?" 

Marquise looked up at the person standing behind the first stall on their left and twitched his nose. 

First I'm a dog, then a mutt. Now I'm a that? 

He wasn't a fan of the continuous downgrades, but at least he couldn't get much lower, hopefully. 

"Don't worry about it," Kova said with an air of authority Marquise hadn't heard from him before. 

Sure, the guy acted haughty and stuck up, but he'd never heard him sound so mature. It was usually just flaunting and frolicking around his master, trying to garner his attention. 

The man immediately changed his expression and smiled at the elder vampire. 

"Of course, of course. What can I do for you today, elder Kova?" he asked as he quickly gestured to all of the dried meats he had hanging around his stall. 

I'll take one of everything, please. 

Kova looked down at him and raised an eyebrow. 

"What do you want?" 

Marquise was a little surprised that he actually got to choose, but at the same time, he wasn't really sure what some of the meats were. Kova seemed to catch on to his confusion and quickly began pointing out each item for sale and describing the flavors. 

By the time he finished talking about a fried turkey leg, Marquise was literally drooling. 

"I think he wants the turkey leg, and I'll take some chicken jerky," Kova said as he turned his attention back to the seller. 

The man quickly got their order packed up, then took Kova's money with a grateful "thank you, my lord!" 

They wandered for a few more minutes before Kova found another stall to buy drinks from. It was technically a little restaurant with a few tables and chairs behind it for patrons. Marquise hopped up on one of the unsteady chairs and waited until Kova walked over to him with a glass of lemonade for himself and a bowl of water for him. 

A large piece of apple pie joined their meal a minute later before the owner of the booth quickly dismissed themselves. 

Pie and lemonade... no wonder you're after my master. You have a sweet tooth. 

The turkey leg was absolutely fantastic! He was definitely the loudest eater in the entire area, but to his surprise, some of the people who had been glaring at him when he'd first been walking around were just quietly laughing at him now. He didn't mind laughter. That usually meant that they weren't planning anything nefarious anymore. 

"Here, let me at least cut that up so you don't sound, and look, like you're tearing apart a carcass," Kova said after a minute of his loud crunching. 

But I am tearing apart a carcass. A delicious one, at that. 

Marquise still leaned away and licked his muzzle as he watched the man cut up his food like one would do for a child. 

"There, now it at least won't be as loud. Here," he said as he stabbed a nice sized piece with a fork he'd taken from the owner of the stand, then offered it to him. 

Not minding being fed, Marquise quickly opened his mouth and took the proffered piece. It was chewed and down his throat in seconds, but Kova was ready and waiting with another. Then another. By the time he had finished his entire meal, with Kova's help, the man had barely touched his own. He'd just chewed on the small bit of jerky he'd bought and sipped his drink. 

That pie is probably cold now...

"Don't worry about it, it's still delicious," Kova before cutting into the juicy desert. 

"Here, open up," he said to Marquise after taking the first bite, who obliged immediately. 

The warm filling tasted like honey, apples, cinnamon, and a hint of vanilla. 

Damn this is so good. 

When he'd finished that bite, Kova was waiting with another on the fork after having taken a second one of his own. 

Okay, this guy isn't terrible. People who buy me food can't be bad, right? 

Once they had finally finished everything Kova got up and stretched a little. 

"It's been a while since I've been down here but the food is always great, no matter which stall you pick to eat from. Ready to go, pup?" he asked as he looked back at Marquise just in time to watch him fail as a werewolf and fall right out of his rickety chair. 

I... think I ate too much. I'm so tired and my paws clearly aren't paying attention to where they should be going. 

He quickly got himself up and shook out his coat, pretending like he hadn't just made a complete fool of himself. 

"Marquise!" 

Hmm? That sounds like—before he could figure out what was going on, Marquise was swept up into Taru's arms and held a tad too tightly against his chest. 

Oh, hello master Taru. We went out for some food and I ate a lot of it, he thought to the man with a little wag of his tail. 

The pie was really good, too. 

Taru remained silent as he looked down at him, making Marquise realize that he was still in his wolf form. 

Ah, about this. I'm really an alpha, but there was clearly some issue and something went wrong so now I'm kind of... a tad smaller than I used to be. 

"Did you find him, Taru?" 

Uh oh...

Taru immediately turned around with Marquise in his arms and grinned widely at the person who had just spoken. 

"I've got him, master Vrasje!" 

Oh boy, the look at Vrasje's face was one of utter horror. 

Marquise snuggled in a little closer as Vrasje silently walked over to them. He stopped barely a foot away, and his expression had only soured further. 

"You... not only did you pick a werewolf as an heir, but the... the smallest possible omega that's ever lived?!" 

Hey now, I'm sure you could find one smaller... that was just recently born. Maybe in a den in the wo—Marquise suddenly tensed up as Taru gently handed him over to Vrasje all of a sudden!

Master, where are you going?! Don't leave me with him, he doesn't like cute fuzzy things!

Instead of being worried, Taru just reached up and pat his head softly. 

"Master would never hurt you, no matter how poorly he speaks sometimes," he said, making Marquise pin his ears back in disbelief. 

But he smells like wolf blood...

Taru actually grinned at that as he lowered his hand back to his side. 

"We got into a little fight with that pack, but no one was killed. They retreated." 

They retreated? 

Looking up at Vrasje as the man glared down at him, Marquise tilted his head and flicked an ear. 

You let them leave? 

He was having trouble believing that. The guy was literally named murder, and his attitude toward wolves tended to match it quite well. 

Except, Vrasje didn't bother even replying to argue. Instead, he simply watched as Taru walked over to have a quick chat with Kova, then, surprisingly, the two began heading farther into the market area, side by side. 

"The hell?" Vrasje said as he finally began to move, unwilling to let his heir be alone with the peacock. 

I agree, follow them. He did buy me a nice lunch, but that doesn't mean he gets alone time with my master. Chaperoned only.  

Surprisingly, however, the two actually ended up talking about what had happened after they'd left to go hunting. Marquise couldn't hear them too well but Vrasje seemed obliged to give him a play by play as he heard each paragraph. 

He was actually considering hurting me too, though, Marquise finally replied once the majority of the story had been told. 

Vrasje held him a tiny bit tighter in response, but then replied out loud. 

"I figured that he didn't like you, but I knew that he wasn't stupid enough to risk killing you. His end goal is Taru, and if he hurt you in any way, that goal would be forfeit immediately." 

Taru really does care about me quite a bit, huh? Even as a wolf? 

Vrasje actually scoffed at that thought. 

"Care about you? The moment he saw your wolf I felt his relief nearly knock me over. Not to mention that he was immediately thinking how adorable your dog form was and how cute you would look with a good grooming." 

G-grooming? I'm a wolf! We don't go to the groomer!

"Master Vrasje! Kova knows of a really good groomer a little ways down this street. Let's go check them out!" Taru yelled as he waved at them from twenty or so yards up ahead. 

Looking up at Vrasje again, Marquise gave a quiet little whine and lowered his fuzzy ears. 

"Nice try, but I'm not having you shed all over my mansion," Vrasje said as he sped up toward the other two. 

I won't shed that badly, it's just that—wait a minute. Your mansion? You mean Taru's home? 

Vrasje remained silent until they were just about to the groomer's, then paused right outside the building to look down at him as Taru and Kova went inside. 

"No, after what happened today, and the other day with that female servant he had, you will be staying with me at my home. If Taru would like to live there as well, then he is free to do so, but you will no longer be allowed out of my sight."

You... you mean his sight, right? 

Instead of answering him, Vrasje just lifted him a little higher in his arms, then ducked his head a tiny bit as he stepped inside of the groomer's shop.