I'd built my house on the outskirts of town for a reason.

The good people from Pinewood all thought it was because of my work. I fixed all kinds of things for anyone who asked, often in trade for a free dinner or a low fee. I was the good citizen who took the needs of others into account and ensure nobody was forced to 'enjoy' listening to my hammering, drilling, shredding, and sawing all day.

Of course, I was that considerate, helpful neighbour they all thought I was. But being considerate was only part of it. The biggest reason I lived away from the others was so we wouldn't immediately be exposed as supernaturals the moment one of the younger werewolves had a little oopsie with an uncontrolled shifting.

I'd had some close calls over the years, but always came out unscathed. Thankfully, so had everyone else. That was a miracle in itself because the humans seemed to smell it when you didn't want them to come poking around.

Honestly. Why was it that every time I did not want anyone around, someone came poking?

Tonight, it was Xavier's father and mother. They kept the romance alive by going on walks together and diving into the bushes beside my house to make out. Good for them. A little less good for me as I was forced to listen to them giggling and exchanging saliva, sometimes more.

While I was inclined to tell the young people off for fooling around beside my house, I always left Xavier's parents be. For starters, it would be too embarrassing for all parties involved if I confronted them. They would be left wondering if I'd known they were there every time (yes, I had), and I'd be admitting I knew they were there but didn't confront them the first two-hundred times. At some point, the window of opportunity passed, and you just had to live with these things.

Besides, I knew Mr. and Mrs. David had met at a bonfire night long ago. They'd probably been sneaking off alone longer than I'd been alive, and who was I to get in the way of their tradition?

I was content burying my head below a pillow and waiting until the two lovebirds left. But then I heard the window in the room next to mine open with a squeak. I jolted upright in my bed immediately and dashed to Etienne's room.

Etienne stood beside the window. He looked at me over his shoulder.

"Don't you dare!" I hissed.

Etienne grinned, turned back to the window, and called out, "Hello? Is anyone out there?"

I closed my eyes and rubbed my temples as the kissing sounds outside abruptly stopped, and I heard Mrs. Davis gasp in surprise.

"Oh, hello!" Mr. Davis called out sheepishly from outside. "Sorry, we didn't expect anyone to notice we were here. Who are you? Where's Boris?"

"Hi, I'm Etienne," Etienne introduced himself politely. "Wait a moment, Boris and I will come downstairs!"

Etienne turned to me with a triumphant expression. "Well? Let's go downstairs to greet your kind, horny neighbours."

I curled my lip up in a snarl. "This is not over, vampire," I warned him.

"Really? It seems to me I won this one, wolf."

Etienne stepped past me with a shit-eating grin and went down the stairs. Cursing under my breath, I hastily followed him. I couldn't leave him alone with two humans for even a second. He was a vampire. A fed vampire, but still a vampire.

"They can't see your red eyes!" I warned him.

In response, Etienne turned off the lights in the hallway so his eyes wouldn't be noticeable in the dim light before opening the door.

"Hello!" he called out jovially. "How lovely to meet you, despite the late hour. As I already said: I'm Etienne. A pleasure."

Etienne didn't offer his hand for a handshake, and to my relief, neither did either of the Davies as they introduced themselves. It seemed like the situation was odd enough to startle them into not minding their manners as much.

"Oh! It's kind of dark here, isn't it?" Mr. Davis said. "No matter! Nice to meet you. I'm Tom Davis,"

"And I'm Melinda Davis," Mrs. Davis introduced herself next, smoothing her raven hair and subtly pulling a leaf out. "A pleasure."

"So, what brings you here, Etienne?" Mr. Davis asked, "We rarely get newcomers. Especially not with no one knowing they're here." He darted a questioning glance at me.

Etienne kept his charming, close-lipped smile plastered on his face. "I'm here to visit Boris, of course."

"Oh?" Mrs. Davis asked. "Are you friends, or...?"

Mrs. Davis practically bounced with enthusiasm, and I could almost see the gears in her head turning. She loved love and always wanted to find people partners. Her son Xavier used to be her focus, but now that he had a mate, her reach had started extending to other people. It was bound to be my turn at some point since she constantly made remarks about me living alone.

Unfortunately, Etienne seemed to catch onto Mrs. Davis' unfortunate matchmaking trait as well. A sense of dread filled my stomach at that spark of recognition in his eyes.

"I live with Boris now," Etienne replied. "I I needed a place to stay, and Boris kindly offered me to live with him."

"Is that so? Where are you from?" Mr. Davis asked.

"I'm from the greater Logoria area," he replied, being surprisingly truthful.

"A discussion better saved for a less ungodly hour," I tried to cut in. "It's very late and you must be tired from your long trip, Etienne."

"Nonsense, I don't mind, Boris." Etienne waved away my concerns. Then he leaned closer to me, knowing exactly what it'd look like, and turned back to Mr. and Mrs. Davis. "I'm very happy to get to know more people in this town. I want to meet all your friends."

"You're a long way from home," Mr. Davis said. "What brought you here, Etienne?"

"Right here?" Etienne shot me a meaningful look. "I guess I'm here because of Boris."

Shit. He didn't explicitly say anything to keep his plausible deniability, but he certainly implied and the Davises ate it up like cake.

I crossed my arms. "Aren't you here to study, Etienne?" I asked sharply.

Etienne nodded and winked at me. "Of course. That's what I tell everyone at home, at least."

Mr. and Mrs. Davis both chuckled at his 'joke' and it seemed Etienne was going to do whatever he could to make them believe we were a couple.

I opened my mouth again to protest, but Mrs. Davis beat me to it. "Oh, Boris. Don't be shy. You know we're super excited to meet your... special friend."

"No," I sputtered, but I was clearly fighting a losing battle. 

The Davises had already decided I was simply being shy about having a brand new partner. It didn't help my case that I'd never had any lovers in all the years I'd been living in Pinewood. There had been casual encounters with other werewolves outside of town, sure. But they were discreet, short, and over the moment we'd reached our mutual satisfaction. But for as far as Mr. and Mrs. Davis knew, I had dated nobody in years.

Etienne gloated beside me. I refused to look at his face, but I just knew he was. Already he had Mr. and especially Mrs. Davis wrapped around his pale little finger.

"You simply must invite us to have dinner together soon." Mrs. Davis beamed. "I need to learn more about the person who finally captured Boris' heart."

"I would love that, but... Boris?"

Etienne turned to me. He bit his lip, playing the part of an insecure lover so perfectly. If I denied we had any sort of relationship now, it'd look like a lie. Like I was the asshole, refusing to admit I had a relationship with the man living in my house.

Etienne lived with me, and I couldn't keep that a secret forever. And Mr. and Mrs. Davis wanted to see me dating someone so badly they'd made it very easy for the vampire to spin the narrative in his favour.

"Certainly," I said through gritted teeth. "We can have dinner together sometime."

Mrs. Davis clapped her hands, seemingly unaware that the tension between Etienne and I certainly was not the kind of tension she thought it was. "Fantastic!" she said. "It's late and we should really head home now, but we'll swing by tomorrow if that's okay with you."

Great. That meant I had to get rid of the vampire somewhere between now and tomorrow around dinner time.

"Sounds like a plan," I said. "I'll make sure there's a nice, completely vegan meal and a cup of tea waiting for you."

"Oh, you're going vegan?" Mr. Davis asked with wide eyes. "I never thought I'd see the day! You're always asking for steaks so rare they're almost running off your plate."

"If you want to know the truth, Etienne here told me he is a strict vegan—so strict he can't stand the sight of blood and meat actually—and of course I'll be accommodating," I said, glancing smugly at Etienne to see his reaction. If he was going to throw me under the bus, I'd do the same to him. 

Etienne grimaced for a millisecond before going back to his upbeat act.

"So, if you don't mind, I'll make absolutely sure there's not a single drop of blood on our plates, or anywhere near this house, as long as Etienne is here," I added with a smile just to rub it in further.

"Well, meat or no meat, I look forward to what you come up with," Mr. Davis said, rubbing his hands.

Mrs. Davis looked less enthusiastic, probably because she thought her butchery would lose me as a customer, and with it, a good chunk of their income.

We bid Mr. and Mrs. Davis goodnight and went inside. The moment their footsteps faded into the distance, Etienne glared at me."Vegan? Really? You can't even eat vegan food! You're a wolf!" he called out.

"I'm a werewolf," I corrected. "In my human form, I'm decidedly an omnivore, even if I prefer meat. I'll be fine. You, on the other hand, will look quite weird tomorrow when you don't eat your greens. Can a vampire even eat food?"

Etienne clacked his tongue. "Of course I can eat. But it would be like you eating literal trash with no nutritional value."

"Then I will look forward to you turning as green as the beans on your plate when you're made to eat trash. Hope it tastes hat way to you too." I shrugged. "At least I would be looking forward to it if I wasn't going to cancel. You and I both know it's against the rules for you to speak with the people of Pinewood before your month is up."

"I beg to differ," Etienne replied with a raised brow. "Your rules never said anything about people coming to this house and seeing me here. You only told me I couldn't go near the townsfolk, which I wouldn't be doing in this scenario since they are coming to me."

"You're a slippery mosquito, aren't you?" I said, but I with mostly angry at myself for leaving any sort of ambiguity Etienne could argue about in my rules.

"I prefer the term cunning," Etienne pleasantly replied. "Cancel all you want tomorrow. The bat's out of the bag now. They know I'm here. And even if Mr. and Mrs. Davis don't come to your house, people are going to wonder why you keep me locked up in here. Especially now that we're as... intimately involved as we are, my love."

I gave the vampire a hard stare. "This does not change anything," I warned him. "No biting and trying to get blood from these people, and you cannot tell them what you are."

Etienne fake-gasped. "I would never. Haven't you heard? I'm a strict vegan nowadays."

"Good," I said. "Sweat dreams. Enjoy dreaming of my delicious, entirely bloodless meals."

Etienne scoffed as I turned my back on him and trudged up the stairs to go back to bed. Though, I had a feeling it'd be hard to fall asleep tonight with the huge amount of trouble I was now in heavy on my mind.