What was he supposed to say to such a thing? Ruoka was much more to him than just food. Just having the pup at his side calmed his terrible disease and made his life manageable. Just the thought of losing him made Seba's heart race painfully in his chest. 

"I will take my leave for the time being. Consider my words, and come find me at the Rain pack house north of here when you are ready to answer my proposal," the alpha said as he stood from his seat. 

Clearly sensing his movement, Ruoka hurried to hop down from Seba's lap, then step aside so that he could rise from his own seat. 

"I will consider your words carefully," he said as he stood tall, though he knew his face had likely gotten quite pale.

He also knew that he would need to feed again after such a stressful situation, and might just finally relent and take from Ruoka. The pup needed fed again before he considered such a thing, though. 

I will get you whatever you need for him, his master's voice said quietly into his mind, drawing a small smile to Seba's face as he followed the two toward the door. He stopped a few steps back as the alpha walked outside, then turned to look at them. When he produced a small vial of something from his coat pocket and handed it to Pretennon, Seba tilted his head, curious but suspicious. 

It didn't take but a few seconds for the scent of strong, sweet-smelling blood to drift into his nose once Pretennon handed it to him. 

"Please consider that as a parting gift, and if you accept, an idea of what you could have at your disposal in the near future."

With that, the alpha gave a slight nod and turned, disappearing into the night. 

Seba released a small breath of air that he hadn't realized he'd been holding as his master closed and locked the door. When the man turned to him, his eyes were curious, yet also the slightest-bit suspicious. 

"That is quite a parting gift," he said as he reached forward, silently requesting the vial of dark blood back. 

Seba gave it up immediately, even though his fangs were already aching for it. 

"It smells delicious, but you must always be careful when consuming an alpha's blood," Pretennon said as he made his way toward the kitchen, his words drawing Seba to follow right behind him. 

He was curious as to why, but he knew that his master would clarify his words in time. When they got to the smaller room he watched as Pretennon set the vial on the counter, then went about building a large plate of food. The pup at his side began to lick its lips, realizing that it would be meal time soon... and there would be quite a bit on his plate. 

"Alpha blood can invigorate even the sickest human," Pretennon began, making Seba immediately glance back at the small glass tube on the counter. "But, it is a kind of contract, of sorts, too." 

Contract? 

"I'm not sure why he isn't simply offering money like he had with other wolves, though," Pretennon said as he set a rather impressive slice of steak on Ruoka's plate, even though it was already loaded up with several yellow squash, cut apples, and a few slices of bread. He was seemingly more than complacent with spoiling the pup as much as he wished.

Seba caught on after the plate got higher than Ruoka's last massive meal, making him finally, hesitantly, speak up. 

"That's more than enough for him..." he said nervously. 

Pretennon added two pieces of dried jerky and another slice of the pork Seba had bought previously before turning to face him with a smile that looked much more like a warning than anything else. 

"I will spoil my grandpup as much as I wish... unless you plan on creating an heir anytime soon?" 

 Err...

"I-I'm glad that you like Ruoka as much as he loves food," Seba said as he watched his master put the heaping plate on the floor. 

To his surprise, Ruoka spared him only a brief glance before pouncing on the  meal with fervor. 

Pretennon stepped closer and retrieved the vile after that, leaning against the counter as he held it up. 

"If you drink this, then alpha Rain will have partial control over your actions whenever you decide to feed from him." 

What the...?

"It would never be full control, but he'd be able to get you to submit to some things that you might normally be hesitant on... like signing something to officially release Ruoka from his servitude," Preto said, making Seba quickly look away from the enticing blood. 

"There are many, many vampires and humans who would willingly give themselves to an alpha in order to be allowed even a drop of their blood, though," he added. 

Seba bared his teeth and turned his attention out the window. 

"I have no such interest. Blood is blood to me, and I have Ruoka. I do not need an alpha trying to control me... no matter how good their blood is." 

Pretennon grinned and uncapped the vial, making the sweet scent that much stronger. Seba quickly swallowed the saliva that pooled in his mouth due to it. 

"Then, If you don't mind?" Preto asked, raising the vial a little higher. 

You... are going to drink it? 

"Of course. I would not waste such a valuable treat. I'm an elder vampire. There is little he can do to me, even if I fed from him regularly," Preto said as he promptly tossed back the blood. 

Seba considered requesting to taste what little remained at the bottom of the vial, but he held himself back. If the blood was that powerful, he would get addicted for sure. 

"I will go speak with him now and decline his request," Seba said as he abruptly turned and headed for the door. 

He felt his master's eyes on his back as he moved, but the man said nothing. Right as he was stepping outside Ruoka caught up to him, a large chunk of the steak from his plate hanging from his jaws. 

"You're a bit special, huh?" Seba said with a chuckle as he closed the door and began heading north. 

It was already dark out, but his eyes were decent enough, and there were plenty of torches hanging about. In fact, it was so well lit that even quite a lot of humans were milling about. He wasn't exactly sure where the alpha estates were located, but he figured that if he simply continued north, that his nose would eventually pick up the correct scent. 

They were just walking past a long alleyway some ten minutes or so after having started out when something black and fuzzy suddenly appeared from the mouth of it and barreled into Ruoka, sending the two creatures flying head over tail into the path of an oncoming carriage! Before Seba could think, he was darting out in front of it and scooping up the two small wolves.

Thankfully, he managed to slide far enough across the road that he just got grazed by one of the carriage's wheels. It tore the back of his new coat and, from what he could tell, added a bit of a burn to his skin. 

Sighing, he looked down at the two pups in his arms, then frowned as one of his eyebrows went up. 

The new wolf, a small black one with bright caramel eyes, was almost as tiny as his own pup. It had its jaws locked onto the edge of the big piece of meat that Ruoka hadn't somehow lost in their tumble. Of course, his own pup wasn't too keen on letting it go, at all. 

"Um... we can work this out," he said awkwardly as he carefully set the two back on the ground before getting himself up and dusting off his pants. By the time he was done Ruoka was becoming quite vocal about his disapproval over sharing his meal. 

Seba was going to intervene, but it honestly didn't seem like the other wolf was really trying to take the food, so much as it was just enjoying teasing his pup. It even sat down as Ruoka put more effort into pulling his food free, but made little headway. 

Since there didn't seem to be an all-out fight starting anytime soon, he took a few moments to look over their new guest. As far as wolves went, he was small, probably somewhere around sixty pounds. He had a normal shaggy black coat, but at the very tip of his tail was a small tuft of white fur mixed into the darker color. 

He was just thinking that it looked kind of cute when he heard Ruoka whine, drawing his attention immediately back to their little situation. 

Alright, time to play peacekeeper. 

"Ruoka, we're going to let him have a little piece," Seba said as he knelt down in front of them and reached for the meat. 

His pup looked absolutely forlorn at the thought of sharing even a tiny morsel, but he couldn't blame him. It wasn't like Ruoka ever interacted with others. The pup always got his own food and never had to share anything he was given. 

"You did bring that out of the house when you know that there are a lot of wolves in this town. Let this be a new lesson for you. We will leave our dinner at home from now on," Seba said as he carefully used one claw to cut off the small portion that the other wolf had managed to grab. 

As soon as the food was freed the new wolf quickly gobbled it up, swallowing before either of them could even blink. 

"You don't look malnourished..." Seba said as he eyed the wolf again, drawing its attention to him for a surprisingly-adorable head-tilt. 

"And your ears seem a bit too big for that head of yours," he added, not liking that he was thinking such things about such a dangerous creature. 

An angry grumble drew his attention back to his own pup, who had quickly finished his much-bigger portion of meat before inching closer to the newcomer while baring his teeth. The black wolf, though, didn't seem to mind. In fact, it licked its lips, then jumped back a foot or so, only to bow with the front half of its body and swish its tail with curious excitement. 

Ruoka, unfamiliar with the gesture, pinned his ears and growled again, but when the other wolf just began bouncing around him, staying just out of reach of Ruoka's now-swiping paws, Seba couldn't help but grin. 

"He's trying to play with you, Ruoka." 

The look he got in return for such information nearly had him bursting out laughing. Playing had never been something he'd bothered to teach his pup. There had never been a need, since he couldn't exactly play with the local wolves, and the humans and vampires in town would have thrown a fit if he'd even sniffed their dog's butts. 

"He doesn't know how to play," he eventually told the other wolf, making it finally stop its hyperactive behavior and plop back down to sit on the ground. 

Ruoka took that opportunity to get in a good swat with his paw, landing the hit right on the poor pup's nose. It grunted from the assault, but then caught the next paw right between its teeth before it could land a second hit. 

This is so strange.

His own pup was clearly taken by surprise and, finally, had his instincts kick in as it whimpered up at him, its eyes widening with confusion and terror. 

"Alright, alright," how about this?" Seba said as he reached forward again, easily removing Ruoka's paw from the other wolf's mouth. 

"How would you like to come back with us and have a bit more food? You don't look starved, but you do seem like you could use a few extra pounds." 

The look of betrayal he saw on his pup's face was priceless, and partially the reason why he was making the offer in the first place. If they had to live in such a city for who-knew-how-long, then they had better start getting used to some of its occupants. 

Looking back at their new friend as he danced around in a circle, clearly excited about the offer, he knew that the little guy would probably be their best bet at getting Ruoka a little more used to other wolves. Of course, he didn't plan on staying forever, and they would eventually go back to their own home, but trying a little couldn't hurt... could it? 

So, they turned around, his previous goal set aside for another day as they headed back toward the house. It didn't take long before they were walking back inside, drawing Preto's attention as the man stopped ascending the stairs to look down at them. 

"Ah?" 

His master hurried to descend once he saw their new guest, curiosity burning in his eyes as he looked over the small creature. 

"Another one already?" he asked, making Seba quickly shake his head. 

"We were on our way to alpha Rain's home when he suddenly came running out of an alleyway nearby. He sort of crashed into Ruoka, then took a bit of his steak before trying to play with him." 

Preto stared at the new wolf with a quizzical expression that Seba couldn't quite read, but when nothing seemed to come of it, he offered his master a smile. 

"I figured that we should at least get used to being around wolves, so I asked if he'd like to come back for a snack." 

Those words got his master chuckling as he knelt down and reached forward. The new pup quickly took the offer of a pet and nudged its muzzle right up against the man's hand. 

"Nice to meet you, too. You are the first Ghost wolf I have seen so far." 

Ghost wolf? 

"He's from the Ghost pack. The only way to really tell, so far, is by the faint white color they mark their tails with," Preto said, gesturing to the pup's swishing tail. 

"Oh, I thought it was just a natural color mixed in," Seba said, drawing a smile from his master as he gently scratched the wolf behind its left ear. 

"For their alpha, it is natural, but all the others add the color as a way to show respect." 

That was actually pretty cool. It was subtle, but also a clear way to distinguish pack members from other's in the area. 

Seba was just about to ask another question when their new friend's ears perked up and he tilted his head back, sniffing the air for a few moments. When it began following its nose toward the small kitchen, Seba looked up at Preto. His master grinned back and hurried after the wolf not a second later, clearly excited to spoil yet another pup. 

"I guess Preto is claiming him for a while," he said with a hint of humor to his words as he looked sideways at Ruoka. Except, his pup wasn't at his side where it should have been. Instead, he noticed the last bit of fur from the tip of Ruoka's tail as he hurried to follow Preto and their new acquaintance into the kitchen. 

I feel like we're going to have two very plump wolves by the end of the night. 

The enthusiastic sensation he felt in the back of his mind from his master was more than enough confirmation for him. 

(Edited)