Sebastian's eyes widened as the door creaked open. 

This... was not what I was expecting. 

Ruoka was evidently taken by surprise, too, because he could feel the wolf's confusion in his mind. 

Remain on guard, master. 

He understood, but he did drop his more stern expression as the young girl, who couldn't have been more than seventeen or so, offered him a toothy grin. 

"Hello, I couldn't help but notice that you had two werewolves with you when checking in. You must be new to the area, as we don't normally allow werewolves as pets here," she said truthfully, and with only a tiny hint of disappointment in her voice. 

Sebastian nodded his agreement as he forced his body to relax a little. 

"I understand the rules of the area, though I'm very new. These two wolves do, in fact, belong to me, but I have to have them. You see, I was changed into a vampire many years ago because I was terribly ill with cancer. Unfortunately, while it definitely helped keep my illness at bay, it didn't heal it."

As he spoke, Seba could see the girl's disapproving stare slowly change. It was honestly just making the situation even more confusing. 

"That's a terrible lot you've drawn for yourself, sir," she said in response, making Sebastian nod solemnly.

"What are their names?" she asked suddenly, making Seba almost give their real ones. 

Instead, he bit his tongue for a moment and then gave a half-shrug. 

"I just call them Brown and Black."

The young girl laughed at his pathetic names, and honestly, he chuckled a bit at them, too. They really were absolutely terrible. 

"Funny names you got there, but why do you have two? That big one looks like it could manage you quite well. The other... it's quite tiny in comparison."

Okay, here we go. 

"He has for quite some time, but it's been wearing him down lately, so I picked up Black outside the city a few days ago. He's not the best behaved yet, but he's learning quickly... I just wish that he was a little bigger. I don't know how well he'll sustain me when I'm finally unable to feed from Brown," he said, forcing himself to sound frustrated at Verander's tiny wolf. 

The girl nodded her agreement as she looked past him to compare the two. Her gaze, in particular, stayed on Ruoka far longer than Seba was comfortable with. 

When she finally returned her attention to him with a bright smile, Sebastian knew that the situation was about to progress. 

Stay calm, master. 

"I actually know a dealer who prefers little wolves. Thinks they make decent pets or something. Tames them good and sells them off away from London. He does pretty well with the business, but it's not really my thing. Last time I paid him a visit he had some bigger wolves. Ones he wasn't sure he wanted to try selling as pets... Perhaps, would you be interested in trading your little one for a different one, closer in size to Brown?" she asked as her eyes searched his face for any sort of negative reaction. 

"You really know someone who sells wolves?" he asked, sounding a bit skeptical on purpose. 

It wasn't that he didn't believe her, though it was a surprise. He just knew that such a thing was definitely not normal in London. Heck, it would be hard to manage werewolves in general, even if catching them for such things was allowed. 

The girl lifted a finger to her lips and glanced around, then gestured for him to follow her as she started down the hall. 

Sebastian nearly began following without giving either wolf so much as a glance, knowing that they would normally follow him, anyways. Thankfully, Ruoka nudged his mind right before he was about to step out of the room. 

Oh, right. 

He... wasn't the best actor. 

Thanks, Ro. 

Turning back to the two, he calmly walked over and grabbed his small bag of clothing, then, after putting it on his back, picked up both leashes and headed out the door with a wolf on either side. 

Verander was doing his best to act like a rambunctious pup as he swayed this way and that, sniffing the ground and stopping enough to make even Sebastian honestly annoyed. 

When he finally managed to catch up to the girl near the top of the stairs, she was giggling again. 

"You weren't joking about that one needing training. He was lying there so nicely that I almost thought you were trying to mess with me, but he clearly hasn't walked on a leash much yet, has he?" she said as she headed down the stairs beside him. 

Seba nodded, glad that Verander was better at pretending than himself. 

"He definitely needs some work on a leash," he said before they both fell quiet as they walked the remaining distance out of the inn. 

When they were a good distance away, lost in thick throngs of people, he finally spoke up again. 

"You're sure your friend really wants this scrawny pup? He'll really trade me a bigger one?" he asked, his voice doubtful, as if she were possibly wasting his time. 

The girl nodded as she turned into a small alleyway between a bakery and a hat shop. Verander gave him a bit more trouble at the entrance to the darker area, but the girl doubled back before he could even question her and grabbed the leash from his hand, then yanked on it, hard. 

Verander yelped and staggered forward, pretending that he had a sharp prong collar on instead of the simple noose Sebastian had fastened beneath his fur. 

He quickly got into a heeling position at the girl's side, drawing a pleased grin to her face before she looked up at Seba, offering the leash back. 

"You clearly did some training with him already, but you gotta be more forceful. They're stubborn if you let them get away with things they shouldn't be doing," she said as Sebastian took the proffered leash, nodding in understanding as he did so. 

They continued their trek down the alley, then into two others before the girl finally lead him into the back of what appeared to be an old shoe factory. It had long-since closed down and was nothing much to look at... until the girl he was following walked over to a small dusty area, then leaned down to push an old, worn red carpet away from a door in the floor.  

Found it. 

They still had to confirm that the wolves were there, though. He couldn't hear any howling, and it was definitely possible that it was a decoy area to try and keep snoopers away. 

We have to go down, he thought to Ruoka and Verander. 

They both nudged his mind with acknowledgements as Seba carefully followed the girl down a dark concrete staircase. The farther they descended the more humid it got, as if they were going deep underground quickly. 

When they finally got to the bottom and his shoes stepped down into what felt like moist dirt, he realized that his assumption was likely correct. He wasn't given much time to dwell on that thought because he was abruptly snapped to attention by a sudden slam far above their heads as complete darkness fell upon them. 

"Right this way, sir," the young girl said as she held up a small lantern that had just enough of a flame burning inside its dusty, blurred glass to make sure that they didn't trip over their own feet. 

Sebastian kept both wolves close as they walked past dirt wall after dirt wall. There was nothing extraordinary about the tunnel they were in that would suggest any wolves were nearby. There were no cages, collars, leashes, muzzles, etcetera. He couldn't even hear any hint of a canine besides Ruoka and Verander's light panting. 

I smell them, Ruoka said abruptly.  

Seba nearly stopped in his tracks at that information, but forced his feet to keep moving as they followed the girl down a slope in the tunnel. 

How many? he replied. 

Verander was the one who responded curtly. Many. Likely the ones we are missing, and then some. 

And then some? 

Sebastian desperately wanted to take a closer look at the walls, but he didn't dare act out of character. Instead, he kept his eyes forward and on the girl. 

"How much farther...?" he asked, letting some skepticism slip into his voice as they turned a slight corner, then were met with another set of stairs. 

"Only two more minutes or so," she said as she cheerfully hopped down the stairs, making the lantern's light sway back and forth. 

We're ready, Ruoka thought to him at the same time Verander nudged his leg from the opposite side. 

He heard Ruoka growl into his mind immediately in response, but he quickly mentally shushed him as they finally stepped onto solid tile flooring. 

"Right over here, sir," the girl said as she heaved open a solid wooden door that had to weigh at least as much as she did, if not more. 

No way she's not a vampire. 

While the entire walkway had been devoid of any sign of life, the moment those doors opened bright light shone from a plethora of torches hung high upon the brick walls and voice after voice melded into one loud cacophony of gibberish. 

Okay, he couldn't bring his mind to understand what the heck he was looking at. Jaw hanging open, Seba stared around the massive underground complex. 

How is this even here? Weren't we just looking for a few werewolves? 

He could definitely smell them now, though he still couldn't see any yet. There was also another scent in the air that made his stomach twist uncomfortably. 

Why does it smell like rotting flesh? 

"Hello there, young man."

Sebastian closed his mouth and turned to look at a small group of men heading their way. A few of them looked like bodyguards, but the others? 

White coats... are they really doctors? 

Fumbling with his previous farce, Seba licked his lips and held out his hand for a handshake as one of the doctors did the same. The man's grip was uncomfortably-firm before he released his hand and immediately turned his attention down to Verander. 

"Oh my, Sissy said that she found me a smaller wolf, but that one is quite a lot smaller than even I've ever seen," he said as he reached toward Verander's muzzle. 

He couldn't blame the wolf for growling and bearing its teeth at that moment. If someone reached right for his own face, he'd probably do the same thing. The guy took the hint and retracted his hand, but his widening smile proved that he wasn't deterred in the least. 

Looking back up at Sebastian, the man gave a slight nod to his right, but didn't move in that direction at all... 

Instead, Seba jumped and spun around as he heard the giant door behind them slam shut. When he turned back around a moment later, the faces now staring at him didn't look nearly as friendly as they had before. 

"Lord Sebastian, heir of elder Pretennon... and alpha Ruoka, so nice to finally meet you both face to face," the doctor said as more and more people began to appear around them. 

Oh no...

"If you wouldn't mind, please be so kind as to follow me?" the man said as he finally turned around, clasped his arms behind his back, and nonchalantly began walking through the mass of people that was still gathering. 

Ruoka?

Their cover was blown, but it wasn't too surprising. 

They haven't mentioned Verander yet, and we haven't seen the other wolves, either, his wolf noted logically.  

He also hadn't needed to mention that escape was impossible at that moment, as there were plenty of crossbows aimed at them and Seba could easily smell a mixture of holy water and silver amongst the weapons. 

Right, let's at least try to keep our last secret and finish our mission. We'll find the other wolves first, then worry about getting out. 

Steeling his nerves, Seba calmly walked behind the doctor as they headed toward a massive flight of winding stairs in the middle of the giant cavernous compound that appeared to be carved into giant reddish-brown rocks. 

We can still do this. Just play along as best you can until we find all the wolves and don't let anything slip about Verander's larger one. 

It sounded pretty simple, but he couldn't lie about how unnerved he felt by the whole situation they'd unexpectedly walked into. He was also terrified for the two wolves at his side as they drew closer and closer to their destination, because the smell of rot not only grew nearly unbearable with each step, but it became abundantly clear exactly what was rotting as they finally got to the top of the stairs.

A dead wolf...

It looked off, though. Besides the amount of rotted flesh and missing fur present on its body, it still looked like it was... 

Breathing. 

It's... breathing. 

(Edited)