"He's going to get himself killed." 

Marquise looked up from where he sat at the table across from him. He'd been reading the book of laws for the town, since he was going to be a permanent resident. Their relationship had kind of taken off quite quickly, and let's just say that if he had been a female and Vrasje hadn't been undead, there would have already been plenty of pups on the way. 

"You mentioned that the vampire who has been stalking him is a pirate, right? Why would he kill him if he deals in werewolves?" Marquise asked, curious. 

Vrasje pursed his lips, then sighed as his attention returned to whatever he could see through the rain pattering against the window. 

"He deals in werewolf... parts. No one is dumb enough to try and take such a beast as a pet, but the claws, teeth, and especially the pelts, can fetch thousands with ease." 

Marquise felt his heart ache in his chest. 

"Why isn't he afraid of him, then? Werewolves aren't normally okay with other species," he said, suddenly worried that their go-between with the pack at the edge of the forest was about to disappear for good. 

Vrasje finally sat back down, but instead of staying across from him at the small table, he pulled his chair around and settled right next to him. Within seconds he was guiding Marquise's head forward with a gentle hand against his hair. The kiss was careful, but nervous. 

You won't let him get me.  

Vrasje hesitantly broke the kiss and leaned back in his chair as he spread his legs comfortably and looked up at the ceiling, clearly stressed. Even one of his fangs was poking out from beneath his upper lip. 

"I would hunt him till the ends of the Earth if he dared to even look at you, but..."

Marquise knew what he was thinking. 

"I won't blame you for not acting. I'm also a wolf, and I don't care for those who aren't my pack. Having him around is strictly contingent on the pup's wellbeing. Besides, have you not already warned him earlier? He's an alpha and he's not stupid. At least, I don't think he is. He's a damn good fighter either way, so if that pirate decides to try anything, he's going to at least have to earn it," he said, drawing Vrasje's attention back down from the ceiling. 

"You are correct. I have warned him and forced the vampire to leave once. I can do nothing more for him. If he decides to play into a pirate's clearly-visible plan, then so be it," Vrasje said before standing up and offering Marquise a hand. 

"You have studied for long enough today. Perhaps Pepper might want to come out?" Vrasje said, making Marquise cautiously curious. 

His love simply gave a quiet laugh at his expression as he reached down and picked him up... since his proferred hand had gone untouched. 

"I-I was getting up," Marquise mumbled even as he wrapped his arms and legs greedily around Vrasje's neck and waist.

"Mhm," was Vrasje's simple, agreeing response. 

He knew that he would have gotten up, but he'd probably told him about wanting Pepper out first so that he'd distract him and give him a reason to hurry things along. Thus, simply picking him up himself. 

"Anyways, I was wanting to see if I could groom Pepper today? We're going over to see Leo again and I'd love for my sweet pup to look a little less... scraggly." 

Marquise felt both of his wolves immediately perk up at the mention of their boy's name. 

It's only been a couple of days, you two. We haven't even had him sign the paperwork. And, he's not even old enough to change yet!

As if telling him to behave, again, Pepper suddenly took over and pressed his tongue to Vrasje's chin. 

You should be spoiling our mate and heir, not grumbling about nonsense. 

The... the audacity of this dog! 

You don't love lord Vrasje enough, and now you are trying to deny me his attention because you don't want an heir so soon. 

Marquise bit his tongue on a haughty response, mainly because Garlic was influencing him with his overly-excited happiness. 

I feel like I'm being double-teamed inside my own mind. 

It was exhausting. 

At least he hasn't locked you away again. We can still communicate freely... and I get to groom my sweet Pepper, Vrasje thought to him, making Marquise inwardly roll his eyes as he was carried through the house and up to their bathroom. 

A low table was set up with several towels already draped over its surface, but, of course, the first place he put Pepper was the bathtub. 

To his surprise, though, he was actually able to control most of the wolf's movements. It had been years since he'd been in control of his alpha wolf and the feeling was still just as exhilarating as the first time he'd shifted. 

"I told you he was a good boy. Just like you, love," Vrasje said as he knelt besides the tub and began gently wetting his coat with a pot of water. 

Marquise wiggled excitedly, the action partially spurred on by Garlic... and partially just his own honest excitement. 

"That's my sweet love," Vrasje cooed as he happily began his task of scrubbing, rinsing, drying, then trimming, his excessively messy coat. 

He wasn't sure how long they were in there, but after he'd been dried Vrasje got his prosthetic fitted to his bad leg, allowing him to stand much easier for the hair cutting portion of the grooming. 

I feel like you might have snuck over to the barber a few times when I wasn't paying attention to learn how to groom me...

"That's possible," Vrasje noted without even sparing him an embarrassed glance. 

You...

"Are handsome, wise, and the best mate an adorable pup can have," the man noted without an ounce of hesitation to his words. 

Thankfully, they were just about done, so the second Vrasje finished evening out his black coat Pepper ceded full control. Shifting back to his human form, Marquise quickly reached over and shoved his lover's shoulder. 

With a beautiful smile on his face, Vrasje lifted his own arms and gently grabbed Marquise's shoulders, spinning him around before tugging him backwards so that his back was to his chest.

"Time for your own haircut, love," he mused as he quickly but carefully began measuring his hair with his fingers. 

I'm sitting against you completely naked on a table and a haircut is the only thing you can think of doing? 

He was feeling a little frustrated. 

A cold brush of fingers against the side of his face snapped him out of his brooding a few moments later, though. 

"I will gladly ravish you this evening, love, but we said that we would go visit sweet Leo today. As they say, business before pleasure." 

Now he was grumpy again. 

"Let's go out for supper afterward, hmm? Maybe take our little one to eat. He could use some more meat on his bones," Vrasje said as he tugged gently on his hair here and there. 

I do like food...

They were finished in no time, allowing Marquise to get up and look in the mirror hanging above the wash basin. 

 Uh...

Glancing over his shoulder, Marquise raised an eyebrow. 

"Isn't this hairstyle a bit too cute?" 

It didn't scream alpha, at all. 

It did, however, say omega rather well.  

Returning his attention to the mirror, Marquise slowly felt his lips turn downward and his shoulders sag a little. Before he could really begin to despair, however, Vrasje's arms snuggly wrapped around his middle and tugged him backwards into a tight hug. 

"I gave you this haircut because I thought that it would look amazing on you, and I promise you that it does, but if you aren't keen on it, I will gladly change it as soon as it grows out a bit more," Vrasje said as he placed a kiss against his cheek. 

Marquise looked in the mirror again, giving his new haircut another chance. He still wasn't much of a fan, but if Vrasje liked it so much, he could just deal with it for a little while. 

He was just about to ask if he could do his love's hair as a bit of payback, but he immediately quieted that thought. He loved Vrasje's long hair. Especially when they were in bed. It was extremely nice to tangle his fingers in and yank on while they were getting hot and heavy. 

With a deflating sigh, Marquise nudged the man with his elbow, silently telling him to move aside so that he could go get dressed. 

"I'll leave it alone for now, but I want it changed once it grows out more." 

Vrasje followed him like a puppy, beaming with excitement. 

"Absolutely!" he chirped before blurring ahead and picking out several outfits for him to try on. 

Each one was cuter than the next!

"Where did you get all of these?" he grumbled as he lifted a pink silk dress shirt up with a frown. 

Vrasje had a folded checkered long-sleeved shirt draped over one of his arms as he smiled back at him. 

"I ordered all of this from the seamstress after she got your measurements!" 

All... of this? 

Now he was really beginning to feel like a doll. 

Vrasje set the clothing he was holding aside on the bed and stepped forward, pulling him into his arms again. 

"Love, you are the light of my life. You saw how I was before I understood what you meant to me. You are my lover, boyfriend, husband... whatever title you wish to have, I will give it to you without hesitation," he said, his tone completely honest. 

"I only purchased these items because I wanted to make sure that you had enough to wear until we could go out shopping together. There are a few other outfits I haven't laid out, too." 

Marquise watched as Vrasje walked over to one of the closets, then stepped inside with a wink. 

This man...

Biting back a scowl, he hurried after him, stopping right before he would have stepped into the large room. 

 Oh wow. 

Dark colored shirts, pants, and coats hung everywhere while boots in all shades of browns, blacks, and grays sat beneath them. There were easily twice as many garments in the closet than there were currently waiting for him on their bed. 

But I thought...

"Just teasing you a little, love. I would never force you to wear something you dislike... no matter how adorable you would look in it," Vrasje said as he rustled his soft hair and gave him one of the smiles the man saved only for him. 

This guy.

Grabbing Vrasje's shirt collar, he yanked him closer and pressed their lips together. It was an extremely brief kiss, but it got the point across. 

He was annoyed, but still appreciative.

To show it further without having to jumble up a mess of an embarrassing sentence or two, he simply stepped around his vampire and began getting dressed. In the end he decided on a pair of comfortable black pants, black boots, and to both their surprise, a stylish light blue shirt with reddish-pink ties going up the left side. His old friend would have been proud of his choice. 

He hadn't intended to wear anything the man had put out for him, but he couldn't ignore the light of excitement that flared to life in Vrasje's eyes when he simply glanced toward the clothing he'd selected. 

He could spare a tiny bit of his masculinity to please his lover. 

And thus, as soon as he was ready they were off! The visit to Leo's little house didn't last too long, but that was because they ended up going out to eat the second Vrasje noticed that the boy had, in his words, lost way too much weight. Even though, to Marquise's eyes, he'd gained at least five pounds. 

Vrasje had been sending the little family of two food so often that they'd started giving some of it away to the other locals who were struggling. The entire neighborhood was benefitting from his love's excessive generosity. 

 At the current moment they were sitting with Leo and his grandmother as the two devoured a large rack of ribs, two cheese and bacon potatoes, and a giant bowl of salad. 

It was entertaining to watch, and honestly a bit endearing, too. They weren't slobs, in the least, but they were clearly quite hungry. 

Or, more than likely, the food was just that good. 

Marquise remained silent throughout most of the meal as he, too, really enjoyed what the restaurant had to offer, but that seemed perfectly fine. Vrasje, on the other hand, spoke enough for all of them!

He had made sure, first and foremost, that Leo would be interested in being changed once he came of age. The boy gladly agreed, so that opened quite a large can of worms for their mealtime discussion. 

The grandmother was actually the one who looked a little nervous about the proposition, but Vrasje made sure to tell them that it was not an official contract until the day of the day he officially became a vampire. They had plenty of time to change their minds. 

One of the funniest parts of the entire lunch was the amount of compliments he got on his outfit and haircut as other regular patrons came and went. It actually got to the point where Vrasje had slipped his hand beneath the table to grab his inner thigh tightly, clearly jealous.  

It was absolutely adorable. 

After they ate they all leisurely walked through some of the upper class stores downtown. Him and Vrasje fit in perfectly with the growing crowd, but their two tagalongs didn't... at least, not right away. 

Within an hour Vrasje had gotten both Leo and his grandmother three sets of clothing each... and ordered three more for delivery by the end of the next week. 

Marquise had even picked out one outfit for his little one, as well as a pair of soft fur earmuffs for when it gets cold out. In fact, as they were on their way out of that store he also picked up a pair of warm gloves and fur-lined boots. Make that two pairs of boots. 

He had just paid when his eyes wandered to a really nice long-coat hanging up across the shop. It would look fantastic on Leo once he finished growing. 

I should stop spending all of his money. 

Before he could even turn away from the register completely, Vrasje had already taken down the coat and walked over to throw twice as much money as it cost onto the counter, then draped it over his shoulder before taking Marquise's arm within his own and heading for the door. 

Spend as much as you wish, love. I am not hurting for money. Especially when it comes to spoiling you both. 

They turned their attention to the young boy and elderly woman waiting for them outside of the store. Both of them had been apprehensive to accept so many gifts, at first, but the more they were given the more accepting they became. 

They had likely never been spoiled in such a way in a very long time, if ever. 

By the time they had finally all returned back to their little home, everyone's arms were worn out from carrying so much... except for Vrasje's. The man had taken nearly all of their bags, yet he didn't seem to struggle in the least during their entire trip. 

They had planned to let the two rest for the remainder of their evening and head home, but while Leo's grandmother did wander off into the only other room in the house to sleep off their long day, Leo quickly intercepted Marquise and tugged him over to his straw bed in the back corner of the tiny main room. 

"Can I see Mr. Pepper, by chance? Or Garlic?" Leo asked, his eyes wide with hope and excitement even though he also seemed tired, too. 

Marquise didn't mind, and when he looked back at Vrasje, the man had already taken his seat again and was sipping from a small cup of tea. 

Pepper it is, then. 

He stepped behind a small dilapidated screen and removed his clothing, then let Pepper take over. 

The wolf didn't hesitate to limp around the screen and right into the boy's lap... even though he didn't exactly fit. 

Leo didn't seem to mind, and after a good bit of petting, cooing about his new clean, soft fur, and a blissful belly rub, they were both out cold, snuggled up on the tiny bed of straw.