I arrived home only a day after leaving for what I thought would be an entire month. I hadn't been excited at the prospect of being in the fey woods for that long... but I was even less excited to be back.

In my haste to leave, I'd also left some of my favourite sweaters at the tree house. But I was certain Ivana would send it my way later—it'd been a conscious choice to leave my suitcase anyway, considering I didn't want to look Etienne in the eyes and tell him I was leaving.

And now I was in my living room again. Alone.

I spent most of my days in Pinewood alone, and it wasn't something that bothered me most of the time. Having to keep a certain distance from the townsfolk was part of the protector job. Unfortunately, being alone also left me a lot of room for ruminating, especially after fucking up as royally as I had. The empty living room acted as a constant reminder of what I'd done.

When Aquila had moved out to live with Xavier, my house had also felt empty the first few days... yet, it wasn't entirely the same this time. I knew I'd see Aquila again. And Etienne had demanded a lot of attention from me, even more than my nephew. I stupidly kind of missed it already. His presence in the house. Having someone to pester.

Not that I'd ever admit missing a vampire. It simply wasn't in a werewolf's nature to live alone, and I was fully dedicated to blaming this unexpected hollow feeling in my stomach entirely on that. I simply reacted this way because living together for a few days reminded me of preferring community over solitude deep down.

Maybe it would not be a bad idea to talk to Ivana about it. Not wanting to live alone, that was. It wasn't good for me to keep suppressing my natural instincts to safeguard the humans if it led to mistakes. I'd always assured my pack leader it was no problem for me to be alone, but maybe it was.

If a pretty vampire with a hint of tragedy to him could fool me this easily, I was clearly on my own too much.

Even with my fellow werewolves, I often fell into the observer role. I was the one who noticed long ahead what things could go wrong, and I was the person people ran to if they needed someone trustworthy to fix a mess.

I was not the one in peril; I was the one who stayed calm and stopped the crisis.

It was strange to be the one needed 'saving' this time. I'd rather not think of it at all, and thankfully, I didn't have to. Etienne was no longer my problem, and I would probably never see him again. After I'd removed every trace of his presence in my house, I could continue with my life as if we'd never spent time together.

Resolutely, I walked to the stairs and up to Aquila's former room where Etienne had slept the past few days. I marched to the bed and plucked all the bedding off. I bundled it all up in my arms and brought the entire pile to my washing machine.

Etienne had slept underneath these sheets and despite his extremely subtle scent, I could still smell his scent on the fabric. After opening my washing machine, I hesitated.

I'd probably never see Etienne again. Was it really so bad to keep something with his scent in it... just a few days longer? The sheets would lose their scent in time anyway, so there was no need to already get rid of it.

I scowled. Exactly for even thinking this, I should get rid of the sheets as fast as possible so I could start forgetting the vampire. Cursing under my breath, I threw the sheets into the washing machine with far more force than needed. Then I immediately added some scentless detergent and turned the machine on before I could change my mind.

With balled fists, I stomped down the stairs and plumped down on the couch. I grabbed a book but already noticed I wasn't really reading after a few minutes. With a sigh, I put the book away again to make some tea. On my way to the kitchen, I caught a glance of my scowling face in the mirror and the sight made me chuckle.

I was sulking like Aquila. Like a pup who was told he needed to sleep. I should go out and hunt. That'd do me good.

Unfortunately, my plans were interrupted before I could shift. Footsteps approached. A single pair of familiar boots.

It appeared Mr. Davis was alone tonight, too.

"Boris?" he called out, my name sounding like a question. "What are you doing back so soon?"

I let out a deep sigh. "We broke up," I lied easily.

Thankfully, Mr. Davis didn't seem to notice my 'practiced' line. He just frowned. "Oh no, I'm sorry to hear that."

"Yeah. Well." I shrugged. "You're not going to see him around anymore. It's definitely very over."

"Oh." Mr. Davis shifted his weight uneasily. "Well, then..." He patted my arm. "I'm very sorry to hear that and take care."

After exchanging some more pleasantries, Mr. Davis made himself scarce. I was grateful I ran into Mr. Davis, and not Mr. Davis. He didn't pry like his wife did, though I knew they'd talk. I knew Mrs. Davis would scold him later for not asking for more details.

As Mr. Davis left, but there was still more lurking in the dark. The bushes rustled. I let out a deep sigh as I walked over to the bushes. Reaching into them, I pulled out a werewolf pup by the scruff. He wriggled and whined and then changed back into a boy.

"Danny," I warned him as I set the kid down on the ground.

Danny pouted. "I know, I know," he whined as we'd had this argument countless times before; I'd lost count of how many times I'd plucked Danny out of the bushes and sent him home to his parents. "I just wanted to see the vampire again."

I frowned. My first impulse was to ask why, but I refrained because I didn't want to turn this into a discussion with a five-year-old. "He's not here," I said.

Danny's eyes went round. "Where is he then? He can't be out because it's light outside!"

"He's not going to come back to Pinewood, Danny," I said, not sure if I was lying or not. But I was pretty sure Ivana would never allow him to see the werewolf pups again, so it might as well be true.

Danny pouted. "But why?" he whined.

"Because vampires can't live with humans, Danny," I said, before pausing for a moment. "Or with werewolves."

It almost sounded like I was convincing myself, too. How sad. Shaking the thought off, I gave Danny an encouraging pat on his shoulder.

"Now off we go, Danny," I said. "Shift into your wolf form and we'll go to your parents together."

"Okay..." Danny's shoulders slumped. He looked at my house and narrowed his eyes as if he thought I was lying. But eventually he relented, and I brought him home to his worried parents.

When I went to bed later that night, I purposely left all the drapes downstairs open, as it was no longer needed to close them.

The days that followed were peaceful. I didn't look for the vampire and tried not to think about him as I did my job. I fixed two cars and a fridge, went hunting, and helped one of my human neighbours build a fence.

Still, my mind wandered. I wondered how that smartass vampire felt about me suddenly leaving the treehouse and having Ivana there instead. Was he mad? It was likely he was mostly mad about getting this far with seducing me and then being interrupted by the pack leader.

The bottom line was: what did I expect to gain out of this, anyway? Etienne and I could certainly never be together. If my community found out we'd spent even one night together, they'd never look at me the same way.

I thought I was done with the vampire, but on my fourth 'normal' day, I heard a familiar rustling in the bushes. Glancing through the open window, I sighed and stuck my head outside.

"No, Danny, the Etienne is still not here!" I called out.

Danny stepped out of the bushes and I could immediately tell something was wrong. The little pup was completely out of breath, his eyes wide, and his gaze panicked.

"Danny, are you okay? What happened?" I asked. I flexed my muscles, ready to fight or shift in case it was needed.

"The vampire," Danny panted. "The vampire is in trouble!"

"Slow down, Danny. Explain to me what's going on." I kept my voice calm, but a shard of ice plunged into my chest the moment the pup mentioned Etienne and trouble. My heart raced, and I couldn't hide that.

"I went to the old factory. He's there, and he's hurt!" Danny looked near tears now. "I know I wasn't supposed to go there and I'm sorry, but I heard voices, so I peeked inside."

"Bob's factory?" I muttered, staring at the road ahead.

I frowned.

The old factory was abandoned now, as Bob had moved to a new location. The building was supposed to be empty. Bob and I had agreed we'd tear it down together next summer after he finished up the required paperwork. But for now, it was a perfect, secluded spot for a group of angry werewolves to ambush a vampire.

"Go into my house, close the door, and stay there, Danny," I said. "Use the phone and call Ivana. Tell her what you just told me. Can you do that for me?"

Danny wiped his face and nodded, determined.

"Good." I gave the pup's shoulder an encouraging squeeze. "I'm counting on you."

"And you better save him, Boris!"

I grimaced. I wouldn't be saving Etienne. Not in the long run, at least. And if the fight had turned into werewolf against vampire in the old factory, I wasn't sure if I could choose Etienne's side at all. But for Danny's sake, I agreed. "I will, Danny."