Stepping up to elder Pretennon's front door, Silas pursed his lips and lifted his hand to knock. For some reason, he felt like he shouldn't, but there was nothing he could really do about it. Another one of his pack members had been attacked and was actually at the hospital and a second one had vanished earlier that morning. 

So, squaring his shoulders as he felt a nudge against his thigh from Verander's larger wolf, Silas lifted his hand a little higher and tapped against the door three times. It opened almost immediately, surprising him a bit before he noticed that he was being beckoned inside by a servant. 

"S-sorry," he mumbled as he hurried inside with Verander's wolf on his heels. 

They were led toward a side hall and, to Silas's surprise, again, others were already in line to speak with the elder vampire. Sebastian and Ruoka looked in their direction, curiosity in their already-wary eyes. 

What else happened? 

"Hello Sebastian... alpha Ruoka," he greeted as Verander's wolf stalked past them and into the room. 

He knew what the other wolf went to confirm, but he didn't want to see it. The scent of arousal was faint in the air, even in the hallway, and he could easily smell Pretennon's blood. They weren't there to confirm his former love's new mate, though. He would just have to push aside his emotions until later.

Stepping forward to stand beside the other two in the doorway, Silas nodded his greeting to a slightly-mortified looking Pretennon and a fidgeting Kandza. 

"I apologize for coming to see you on such short notice, but another one of my packmates has been attacked. He is not in good condition and another is missing..." Silas said in a steady, deep voice. He wasn't sure how he managed to sound so composed, considering his heart was beating frantically in his chest as it tried to manage the situation he'd walked in on. 

Pretennon returned his greeting nod before glancing toward Verander's wolf as it paced around the room. 

"Master, what do you think we should do?" Sebastian asked, continuing the conversation they had, no doubt, interrupted with their sudden appearance. 

Pretennon returned his attention to his heir and sighed. 

"It is honestly up to you, Sebastian. I dislike putting you in danger, but Marquise has a point," he said, then turned his attention back to Verander's pacing canine. 

"Might I suggest something that might help your situation?" he said after a few moments. 

Ruoka stepped forward and slightly in front of Sebastian, making Silas bite back a grin. 

Defending him against his own master, little alpha? 

Verander stopped at his side as Sebastian nudged Ruoka out from in front of him and nodded his agreement to listen to whatever his master wished to say. 

"Take Verander's small wolf with you. His Rain pack marks can easily be covered with dye and his larger wolf will come in handy if the situation goes bad. What do you think, Verander? Marquise requested my heir and his wolf to try and track down where our attackers are coming from. Would you care to assist them? I think it would be easy enough to trick them with just Ruoka wearing the collar, which would let Verander shift into his larger form if things went badly."

His first thought was to immediately say no, but his second thought was that it wasn't his decision. Looking down as Verander looked up, Silas raised an eyebrow at him, curious about what he was thinking. 

What does alpha Silas want me to do in this situation? 

Silas frowned at the man's sudden voice in his head. 

Why are you asking me? It's your decision, he replied back immediately as he glanced away... and unfortunately toward Kandza. 

The man's soft caramel eyes were dark with frustration and lust, making Silas quickly look away again. The floor was a great place to stare at, right? The floor would do. 

Alpha Silas is currently in charge of my actions. 

Oh... damn. He was right, but he didn't want to be in charge of such an important decision! He was about to tell the wolf to make the decision on his own when he was nearly nudged over by the excessively-fuzzy beast. 

Fine, fine!

"Verander will join you two on your mission... but we will need a little time to prepare. Let us meet back here in four hours?" he asked, earning a nod from the rest of the group present after a few moments of consideration. 

He wasn't exactly sure why he'd requested extra time, since there really wasn't anything they needed to do to prepare since he figured that Marquise would take care of dyeing the wolves, considering how careful he was with each of his plans. All they really had to do was supply the people who were going to go on the mission. 

Oh well. Let's go relax for a little bit before you have to go risk your life, he told Verander as they both dismissed themselves, then turned to leave. 

He breathed a stressed sigh of relief as they stepped back outside and headed toward his pack house. Their walk started out with a few random nudges, but as they finally made it back home and he headed up the stairs to his room, he was practically shoved to the floor as a nudge forced him to miss-step and trip on the last stair. 

It didn't hurt. He scuffed his hand a little and might have a small bruise on his chin eventually, but that was nothing to a werewolf. Yet, as he slowly pushed himself up into a sitting position, he couldn't stop a sniffle from slipping out as a random tear somehow found its way down his left cheek. 

The tear made it nearly to his chin before a warm, wet tongue lapped it up, stopping its descent permanently. 

"What are you doing, you big lug?" he mumbled as he pushed the giant wolf's muzzle away. 

The wolf didn't seem deterred, in the least. It shoved its fuzzy face right back into his space, then pushed him onto his side with a swipe of its massive paw. Normally, he'd immediately reprimand him for using such a dominant behavior toward him, another alpha, but he just didn't have the heart to be mad right then. 

He allowed the wolf to roll him this way and that, and even nibble at his hair. There just wasn't any fight left in him right then. His heart just couldn't stop pounding in his chest. Images of Kandza sitting in that room, nearly naked, with his mating bite on Pretennon's neck kept flashing before his eyes, eventually bringing a full set of tears to the surface of them as he rolled onto his belly and lifted a trench-coat covered arm up to cover his oncoming breakdown. 

Verander's cold, wet nose tried to nuzzle its way through his meager defenses, but he managed to stave it off just long enough for tears to stain his cheeks. Then he got a loud snort right next to his ear for his efforts...

Giving up on privacy, since he was kind of having his mental breakdown at the top of the stairs in his pack house, anyways, Silas pushed himself back to his feet and wandered into his room. He would have locked Verander out right away, but the wolf decided to headbutt the closing door, easily forcing it wide enough for him to saunter through. 

I really don't want to mess around with you right now.

Even though he thought that, Silas knew that Verander's larger wolf was stubborn beyond all belief. It's aggression had thankfully been getting more manageable, but that didn't mean that the wolf, in and of itself, was less stressful to deal with. It just changed its way of attacking him to nudges, shoves, and poorly-timed licks or nibbles. Well, at least it didn't leave scars anymore... for the most part. 

Once he was close enough, Silas closed his eyes and covered his mouth for a yawn, then fell into bed with a grunt. Except, he never ended up hitting the blankets waiting for him. Strong arms easily caught his falling body and gathered it quickly but calmly into a very naked lap. It was a bit awkward since the man was a little smaller than him, but Verander somehow made it work effortlessly. 

"Verander..." he grumbled in warning, though he knew that it would fall on deaf ears.

The man was becoming just as stubborn as his larger wolf. Though, thankfully the two entities were getting along a lot better now, and even taking turns in control. He could also see the larger wolf's personality shining through every once in a while in Verander's human's eyes. In all honesty, he was surprised that he was able to handle himself so much better in only a few days. Marquise had been correct in his decisions about dealing with the overly-aggressive wolf. 

Feeling fingers gently sifting through his hair had Silas tilting his head into the touch, then leaning away with a scowl directed down at the softly-smiling man looking up at him as he lowered his hand back to the bed. 

"What are you doing?" Silas asked with as bland a tone as he could manage around his inner turmoil. 

 Verander's smile widened slightly as he shrugged one shoulder. 

"I don't know. You were falling, so I felt like catching you."

What? I was falling into my bed, you darn mutt!

"Congratulations, you caught me. Now go get ready to go," he said sternly. 

When Verander didn't move his arm from around his waist, nor did he set him aside or seem interested in moving, at all, Silas frowned and furrowed his brow. 

"I am ready to go, but I don't think you are."

I... what? I'm not going anywhere.

"Alpha Silas, I will come back." 

Blinking, Silas settled a little more comfortably in Verander's lap as he tried to figure out what the man was getting at. 

"Of course you will," he replied, his confusion easy to hear in his quieted voice.

When Verander reached up to sift his fingers through his hair a second time, Silas didn't hesitate to lean into the touch and close his eyes. He really didn't feel well, but the attention was at least taking his mind off of his stressful thoughts and slowly, ever so slowly, calming his racing heart. 

When the sifting turned into gentle pets, Silas leaned forward and slightly down so that he could settle his forehead atop Verander's shoulder. He couldn't deny that he was enjoying the calming attention. Even his wolf was relaxing beneath the man's gentle hand. 

"I'll come back very soon. Take care of Sitkea for me until then, mm?" 

 Silas grumbled his acknowledgement, earning a chuckle from Verander. 

"What's so funny, you stubborn dog?" Silas mumbled as he finally leaned back enough to be able to meet the other man's bright eyes. He could see the larger wolf right beneath the surface, but for once, it seemed content to stay where it was and not cause any trouble. 

Verander tilted his head slightly and narrowed his eyes, then leaned forward a tiny bit. 

"It seems like you might have something on your face," he whispered quietly, his attention clearly on whatever he was staring at.

Silas glanced to the side at the large mirror hanging on the wall, but didn't see anything. 

Maybe it's so small that I can't see it from here? 

He had really good eyesight, though...

Turning his attention back to a grinning Verander, he lifted a hand and rubbed at his own cheek, but again, didn't notice anything out of the ordinary. 

"I'll get it," Verander said as he leaned up with a knowing smile. 

Silas fidgeted a little in the guy's hold, but didn't turn away... even after he felt the man's soft, warm tongue press a tiny lick to his cheek. 

"You... you're not a wolf right now," Silas mumbled, tripping over his own words as he reached up to run a finger gently over the little damp spot on his cheek. 

My face feels oddly warm. 

"I'm not," was all Verander said, making Silas purse his lips and reach up to poke the man's own cheek. 

"You're not supposed to do that in human form unless it means something important," he scolded, only to immediately shut his mouth when Verander reached up with his free hand and gently grasped the one poking at his face. 

Wait, why are you holding my hand? And looking up at me with those eyes and that smile? 

"I'll be back," he said instead of responding to his chastising words. 

You...

"You'll... be back," Silas mumbled helplessly in response as Verander lifted his hand to his lips and pressed a feather-soft kiss to his fingers.

(Edited)