(My friend has a pretty kitty)

His hands were a mess. Silas winced as he pulled a leather glove over his injuries, hiding them from view before doing the same for his other hand. He really didn't want to do what he was about to, but he knew that he couldn't fight it any longer. It had only been a day since he'd imprinted on the little wolf pup named Sitkea, but his inner wolf was already restless. He'd told it time and again that the pup was clearly well taken care of, but after the first few reassurances, it began to disregard his words. It wanted to check on the pup... needed to check on it. 

Once he'd finished tugging his boots on and added a knife to his waist for some extra protection, he stepped out of his room and headed down the large, winding staircase. Surprisingly, Kandza's wolf greeted him at the bottom, its tail swishing back and forth with interest. 

As much as he wanted to still be upset with his beta's choice of love interests, he knew that he couldn't force Kandza to change his mind. However, he also didn't want him to come with him right at that moment, either. He did want some space to himself. 

"Just going for a walk. I'll be back before this evening." 

Kandza whined a little and tried to follow him for a few steps, but Silas wasn't interested in messing around today. He had something to do that was already stressing him out enough, he didn't need to bring the beta he loved, but couldn't have, along for the likely humiliation.  

Alpha, it is my job to make sure that you are safe, Kandza said to his thoughts, making Silas turn around. 

Golden caramel eyes stared back at him with hesitant hope that he'd change his mind. 

"You may not follow me this time, Kandza. There are plenty of other things that you can do today as pack beta, but I do not need assistance on this matter," Silas said, making sure that his words held enough authority to get the point across, even if it secretly hurt him to be stern with him. 

Kandza, thankfully, took a step back and bowed his head, acknowledging that his assistance was not needed for the time being. He hesitated for only one more moment before turning and heading across the large mansion toward the nursery area. 

Relieved, Silas turned back around and stepped out into the beautiful, bright morning. There wasn't a cloud in the sky as he made his way east, stopping at a pastry vender to pick up some breakfast along the way. He got himself two spiced sausages dipped in honey and rolled up in a thin layer of egg bread. It definitely wasn't something he'd ever eaten before coming to London, but it was absolutely delicious and took care of his sweet tooth a little too well. 

He happily munched on his meal as he walked, nodding to pack members as he passed them. Everyone was in such a great mood, and even the few wolves he noticed from the Ghost pack as he neared their territory were surprisingly playful and running about. 

Maybe he won't try to attack me today... 

It was unlikely, considering how many scars he already had from the overly-aggressive man, but he wanted to at least try and be optimistic. He was just about to turn onto the smoothed dirt road that lead deep into the forest that surrounded the Ghost pack house when his instincts told him to turn around. 

Oh. 

Silas immediately knelt down to scoop up Sitkea as he ran right into his arms. 

"You knew I was coming to see you, didn't you little guy?" he said as he slowly stood, then hugged the little pup that was already trying to gnaw a hole through his nice white shirt.

Wait a second. If you're here, then...

It didn't take him long to realize that there were hostile eyes narrowed on him. He easily found their owner leaning against the corner of a brick hat shop only fifteen or so feet away. He was dressed in a pair of worn black pants and a form-fitting shirt with a black leather jacket over it. It was odd seeing him out and about in public, and as a human, at that, but at the same time, he was very close to the forest, and they were also technically in his awarded portion of the city as far as territory went. 

Okay, just stay calm and maybe he will, too. 

Swallowing down his worry, Silas slowly walked across the dusty street, stopping about a yard away from the man. Verander seemed to think his caution was humorous because his lips, which had previously been tilted downward, rose at the edges as he bared a single fang. 

Forcing himself to stay calm, Silas bowed his head slightly in greeting. He knew that he should have set Sitkea down, or handed the pup over in general, but his hands didn't want to obey his mind. 

Verander uncrossed his arms from his chest and pushed himself off the wall, straightening to his full height without looking away from him for a single second. 

I feel like he's about to go crazy, but I really hope he can keep his wolf in. 

They were in public and there were quite a lot of humans around, too. A ferocious werewolf fight was not something that needed to happen right then. He was just about to apologize and force himself to hand Sitkea back to the man when something caught his attention, making his gaze lower from Verander's. 

A... tail? 

Just as he was about to look back up, having gotten dangerously distracted, he felt Sitkea squirm in his arms to the point that he had to set him down or risk dropping him altogether. The second the pup's paws were back on the ground it bounded over to Verander and latched its tiny little razor-like teeth onto his thick, fluffy tail. 

Silas held back a wince as he watched, glad that he couldn't simply manifest a tail to be chewed on. 

But wait a minute... he definitely didn't have a tail a minute ago. 

Lifting his eyes back up to the man's, he noticed the hint of humor flashing amongst the aggression and... something else. He wanted to question him about it, but at the same time, he'd never managed to get through a full conversation with the man before he got attacked. 

Sitkea is doing well. Let's not chance it and just be glad that you got to see him without any bloodshed. 

"Thank you for taking good care of him, and I'm sorry that the imprinting happened. It wasn't intentional," he said before forcing himself to turn and start walking down the shaded street. 

He needed to remove himself from the situation before it became dangerous, but he also knew that turning his back on an aggressive werewolf wasn't the best idea. He was stuck between a rock and a hard place and decided to try and take the least provocative way out. 

Unfortunately, his tactics didn't seem to be working. The sound of footsteps following him soon met his sensitive ears as he continued on his way. Little kids ran about everywhere as the eastern market began to become boisterous with energetic attendees. He got shoved more than a few times as he tried to weave his way through the bustling crowd. 

The werewolves amongst the crowd knew not to get too close, but the humans were more careless. Besides, while they all knew of his existence, most had not been directly introduced to him, so of course they wouldn't know who they were running into. He honestly didn't mind it, though. It was nice to not be seen for once. Well, he was definitely being seen by some of the young ladies flitting about the busy streets, but it wasn't as an alpha werewolf. It was simply as a well-dressed, handsome young man. 

He ducked his head as someone carried a massive platter of bread and meats above everyone's head. His mouth began to salivate as he smelled the fresh warm bread, salami, and other sliced meats it had on it. 

I should have bought four honey sausages...

It took a lot to feed a werewolf in general, but considering his wolf was larger than every other one in his pack by a good amount? He definitely should have eaten more. 

I'll eat again once I get back to my own territory. 

He could still sense Verander nearby, but the man had fallen back a bit for some reason. Either way, it gave him a chance to breathe and slow his own pace a bit so that he didn't continue getting shoved about. 

I hope Sitkea isn't still attached to his tail. He could easily get stepped on...

That thought immediately had him stopping and spinning around within the bustling crowd, his heart suddenly thrumming with fear. When he couldn't immediately pinpoint Verander's form amongst the massive crowd his wolf whimpered from his human mouth. 

He knew better than to retrace his steps in order to try and find the insane werewolf that had been following him, but would his own wolf listen to reason? Of course not. 

You are a damned masochist, he told it as he began to weave back through the crowd. 

He got about halfway back to where he'd first met Verander by the hat shop when the man's presence simply vanished. His brow furrowed as he tried to focus, but his concentration was constantly broken by people bumping into him or yelling to each other near his ears. 

Overwhelmed and frustrated, Silas pushed his way out of the throng of people to eventually stumble into a quiet alleyway. He gave his head a good shake as he took in a deep, clean breath of air. To be perfectly honest, he expected Verander to suddenly appear right in front of him and attack, but when he simply stared at the empty alleyway, he wasn't sure what to do. 

"He's really not here?" he asked himself as he looked around the surprisingly-clean passageway. 

Silas turned in a circle several times as he tried to quell his paranoia. On the fourth, and likely final turn before he headed down the ally to finally return to his territory, he noticed a strong, deliciously-sweet smell. He immediately spun back around to face the entrance of the alleyway. 

Uh oh.

Verander stood in the opening, his thinner form not taking up much space, but the self-confidence he exuded easily made up the rest of the empty area. Silas tried to keep his focus where it needed to be, but the guy had something in his hand that even had Sitkea pawing at his leg instead of nibbling on his tail. 

When the guy didn't even take a single step forward, even though he could clearly see the wolf raging behind his eyes, Silas swallowed his nerves and let his weakness for food do the talking. 

"What is that?" 

Verander slowly looked down as he raised the item in his hand. Silas noticed that the man's claws were out and digging into the fresh bread, but that didn't make it look, or smell, any less appetizing. 

"I don't like human food," Verander replied, making Silas frown. 

Then why did you get it? 

Biting his tongue on that comment, Silas replied, "it looks like smoked pork with cinnamon and honey wrapped in bread." 

God damn that sounded and smelled so good. He could hear his stomach growling as he announced every ingredient, too. 

He watched in silence as Verander considered his words before slowly getting down on one knee. It appeared like he was trying to set the large amount of food on the ground, but each time he tried Sitkea was there to snatch anything his little teeth could sink into. 

When he finally released a deep, threatening warning growl, the pup stopped for exactly two seconds to look up at him, then blinked twice and tilted its head before immediately going back to attacking the mouth-watering treat. 

He managed to do some pretty good damage to it before Verander heaved a frustrated sigh and lifted it above the pup's head. 

"This is not for you!" 

Silas rubbed at the back of his neck, utterly confused by the man's antics. 

If you don't like human food, and you didn't buy it for him, then what are you doing? 

He got his answer when Verander finally picked up Sitkea by his scruff and set the food down against one of the brick buildings. The little pup struggled with all its might and squeaked and squirmed to try and get back to its tasty target, but Verander was having none of it. 

 When the man straightened back up and looked at him, Silas raised a curious eyebrow. They stared at each other for a few more moments before Silas lowered his gaze the slightest amount, not wanting to start a fight over something so simple. 

"Eat it," Verander finally said, making Silas blink in surprise, then look back up just in time to see the other alpha's back disappear around the corner with Sitkea. 

What... just happened? 

Silas waited a few minutes until he was sure that Verander wasn't coming back before walking forward and picking up the torn-apart food. Most humans probably would have just left it for lost considering all of the bite marks on it, and the fact that it was sitting on the ground, but he was a wolf, first and foremost. 

Standing back up, he licked his lips and spared one final glance back toward the empty entrance of the alleyway. 

Thanks for the food, I guess...

Turning, Silas began his walk back to his own territory, snacking on the delicious meal as he strolled. He had gone to check on Sitkea and actually gotten to do it without earning more scars. In fact, he somehow earned a delicious second breakfast.

Definitely a better day than I had thought it'd be. 

(Edited)