* 𝔤𝔯𝔬𝔴𝔦𝔫𝔤 ╱ 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐠.

   “that’s  just  ——  did  she  steal  you?  i  haven’t  really  met  any  decent  vampires,  honestly.” finley raised an eyebrow when he said that it was irrelevant. well, it was relevant enough. “she  might’ve  bounced,  huh?  since  you  could  get  her  in  one  bite?  but,  shoot.  how’re  you  feeling?”

   wait  ——  what? finley looked at the man with a confused stare for a moment. adoptive mother? mother? vampire? the redhead looked the new wolf over, trying to figure out if he was just yanking her chain. vampires, in her mind, were not the type to go out and adopt someone. did she steal him? “that’s  ——  shit,  wow. she  still  around,  i’m  guessing?”

Rose furrowed their eyebrows at the comment, but didn’t comment further and simply chalked it up to older person being unamused. 

Not to mention unamused by any mention of her job. At the last mention of it, she hand-waved away the topic and turned the topic of conversation onto Rose. What was their day like? Well… tiring, to say the least. The last client to visit them confided that he thought a hunter might have been tracking his friend, as if Rose had any means of dealing with that. To be fair, that vampire was practically a kid. What was his name? Mason. He had been turned at age 16 and hadn’t coped well since.

“Not great,” Rose said, trying their best not to sound self-pitying. “I get food for one of my friends sometimes” not an outright lie, “and he’s worried about a friend of his for some reason, and I don’t really know how to help him. It’s a bit much sometimes.”

   “wait,  you  knew  about  us?  or  ——  that  we  were  real?  and  i  could’ve  been,  i  don’t  remember  that  night. so,  sorry  if  i  was.”

   finley didn’t know if she liked the answer the man gave her. sure, she was right  ——  but she was right. being a wolf wasn’t exactly a blessing to anyone. she walked in, turning to face him.  “i  am.  there’s  a  lot  of  us  in  town.  sorry  you  got  to  join  our  crew. really.”

   “buddy.  really?  okay.  i  mean  you  got  bit,  right?” she asked, looking his face over. “you’re  sweaty,  you  look  like  you’ve  been  through  it.  it  was  just  that  big  full  moon.  plus,  you  don’t  smell  human.  need  more?”

jonas sighed heavily and submitted. he opened the door even wider, moving aside to let finley in. “fuck. yes, i got bit — need more? no, not right now. this is a lot to take in.” he pauses. “so you’re a wolf, too...” he nods his head out of recognition.

   well, from what she could see  ——  jonas looked like shit. it only confirmed the suspicion that the she-wolf had about the situation. how did one go about asking if they were bitten? she couldn’t find a good way to figure it out. might as well go all in, right? “you’re  different.  that’s  what  brings  me,  if  i’m  being  honest.”

a nervous laugh escaped from his lips. “different? no — pfft, what do you mean by that?” his eyebrows knitted together, being confused and trying to play it cool. the man figured he looked like shit... feeling like it, too.

   finley was surprised by the new scent in the next door apartment. it always smelled human, until now. was it jonas? was it one of his daughters? there’s no way that it could be them. or at least that’s what she hoped. she knocked on his door, hoping to investigate —— and potentially aid,  if needed.

jonas turned his attention towards the door, wide-eyed. the closer he got to the door, the more he became anxious. what should he say? he was profusely sweating and his body ached like it never had before. “shit, okay,” he murmured to himself before opening the doorslightly, with half of his face making an appearance. “er, h-hey finley. what brings you to my door?”