"Hey, Hugo, do I look like 28?"

Hugo glanced up from his paperwork.

"Are you creating a Tinder account?"

"No. Answer the question."

Tiny crinkles around Hugo's eyes revealed his amusement when he answered: "No, you don't look 28."

Then he went back to his paperwork.

Nick contemplated this. Perez had said something the last time they'd met that he couldn't get out of his mind: he'd called himself old.

Of course, to assume that Perez might be immortal solely based on that statement was ridiculous, right?

Nevertheless, even if his assumption was incorrect, Nick still wanted to talk to Perez again and get some answers, not only about himself, but maybe about the killings, too.

"I'm leaving," he told Hugo as he grabbed his coat.

...

He arrived at Perez's place ten minutes later.

Nick was about to knock on the door, when he spotted (or rather smelled) the werewolf he was looking for by the parrot cages in the garden.

His wolf came alive for the first time today, partly because it sensed that Perez, an Alpha, was near, and partly because it was hungry.

"What took you so long?"

Perez turned around, smiling, his long, blonde hair falling loosely on his shoulders. He was holding a banana in his right and a half-eaten chocolate bar in his left hand.

"I wanted to thank you."

Nick stopped walking, keeping a safe distance between him and those annoying birds.

"Don't thank me. I'm glad I could help you out, cub."

He took a bite from the chocolate bar and then dropped the banana in one of the cages. The parrot in it, a red one, flapped its wings excitedly and started devouring it.

Meanwhile, it took all of Nick's will power not to devour the parrot.

"Why do you keep them?"

Perez chuckled. His eyes were following the movements of his birds as he answered.

"Because of the temptation, you mean? I think it's a fun challenge. Plus, they're nicer to look at than chickens."

He took another bite out of his chocolate bar. "If this is too difficult for you, we can talk somewhere else."

Embarrassed, Nick directed his gaze to the ground. It would be less distracting, for sure.

He shrugged, not wanting to make a big deal out of it. Perez took his reaction as a 'yes' and closed the cage door. Then he led the way to his house.

They sat down in the kitchen, a room that Nick remembered all too well.

Now that they were inside, Perez's smell was stronger and Nick was feeling a bit sick.

"Shoot."

Nick looked at him, puzzled.

"Well, you must have questions. I'm here to answer them."

Okay, then, Nick thought.

Here goes nothing.

"Are you an Alpha?"

"Yes."

"Where's your pack?"

"Next question."

Perez smiled, but Nick could see the pain in his eyes. He clearly didn't want to talk about his past.

"Are you.."

Nick felt silly asking, but this entire situation was odd, so he might as well.

"Are you immortal?"

"Yes."

Nick's eyes widened. "You're kidding," he stated matter-of-factly as he felt his heartbeat quickening.

"No, I'm not kidding."

Perez calmly leaned back in his chair.

"You're immortal, too. Luckily, you met me when you did, because you would have definitely noticed at some point. And absolutely freaked. I'm surprised you haven't figured it out yet, actually, but I'm assuming you haven't been a werewolf long enough?"

Nick didn't answer.

His wolf was running around in his tummy, but all it did was make Nick feel even more sick.

He could kiss his life as he knew it goodbye, could never see his friends or family again because they'd obviously notice his appearance never changing with age.

He could never see Kate again.

"I- I can't be. You're making this up!"

Perez caught his eyes. They had an almost magnetic pull that made it impossible to look away.

"Nick, when were you turned?"

Nick swallowed. That was a bad memory, one he rarely visited.

"On my twenty-fourth birthday. I've been like this for.. roughly four years, now."

He didn't offer any more information.

"Then you'll look 24 for the rest of your life, cub. I know this is all a bit overwhelming, but think of the many advantages living forever entails."

Nick didn't want to hear about the advantages, all he wanted was to be human again.

His wolf was pressing against his insides, sensing his mood. Combined with the bad smell that was radiating off of Perez, it was a recipe for disaster.

But the longer Perez kept his gaze fixed on Nick, the more he felt.. at peace. His concerns were floating to the back of his mind.

Perez continued: "On some level, you must have known already. You must've noticed that you heal quicker than any human, for starters."

Nick nodded.

He had noticed that, but he'd never thought that a consequence of being able to heal quicker could be immortality.

He should have been anxious, but the tranquility coming from Perez suffocated any unwanted emotion.

Even his wolf stopped making a ruckus and instead obediently lowered his head, which made Nick want to lower his own. An invisible pull commanded him to.

He was about to do it, when Perez suddenly broke the stare.

In an instant, every real emotion came flooding back. Nick had to blink a few times while his mind struggled to return to reality.

"Sorry, I don't like doing this, but you seemed.. on edge," Perez apologized.

Nick could only stare at him in awe.

Being able to hypnotize people was one perk of being an Alpha, apparently.

"How old are you?" he asked.

Perez's eyebrows shot up in surprise.

"I was turned when I was 34. I've been a werewolf for.. 101 years."

Nick's jaw dropped and Perez laughed.

"I know, I'm ancient."

"How have you been able to survive so long?"

Nick suddenly saw Perez in a whole new light.

"Oh, well, that's a good question. In the beginning, I was a bit like you, you know, figuring things out as I went along. Then a pack took me in. I owe them so much."

He suddenly looked sad, but caught himself straight away. The sides of his mouth were pointing upward again in no time.

"So, that's how. Support. I've also learned to control my wolf."

"How?"

Controlling his wolf.. that seemed like an impossible goal to reach. As if agreeing, the animal inside him started running around impatiently again, making him nervous.

"It's a necessary skill to have if you want to be an Alpha. It wasn't easy, I'll tell you that much. But maybe I can try to teach you sometime. If you'd like that."

A friend, a mentor - Perez was everything he'd ever wanted.

Nick pondered if now was the right moment to touch on another subject.

"That's very kind, uh-"

Nick didn't want to call him by his last name, but couldn't recall his first.

"Lewis," Perez offered.

"Lewis," Nick repeated. "I'd love that. But.. I was hoping that I wouldn't have to control it."

Lewis tilted his head to the side, confused. Nick took a deep breath.

"Do you, by any chance, know of a cure?"

****

(That's why in the first or second chapter I wrote that Nick didn't look his age, because he's actually immortal but he didn't know it at the timeeee)

Stay tuned for the next one!!

Thank you so much for reading and don't forget to vote and comment!