mathis did know, in explicit detail the story that had been told to his parents by a young man from his pack who he didn't know too well before this. safe to say, mathis had his eye on him now. he stays calm, despite the rising pitch of chase's voice. he waits for a break in chase's rant to interject. "i heard his side of the story. i heard your mother's side of the story, even though she wasn't involved." he pauses for a beat, not getting into chase's familial drama, even though he had opinions on that as well. "i came to get your side, unless you don't want the chance to explain yourself to me. i could be a useful ally."

mathis watched the fangs slip through. there was a small, vicious part of him that like it. not because chase was upset, but because the flash of teeth made something in mathis sit forward in his chest. the wolf noticed before the man did, attention narrowing on the threat hidden under all that pretty, wounded outrage.

not human. not vampire either. that strange thing under chase's skin that was too warm, too alive. like the cold had never fully settled in his bones the way it should have. mathis still couldn't name it, but his wolf couldn't stop noticing it. he didn't like that. unnamed things became problems, and problems became weaknesses that he couldn't afford to have.

"i'm not lying." the words came out flat, because mathis had never seen much use in dressing up the truth when it was obvious. chase was pretty. dangerously so, but mathis kept that part to himself. "and don't apologize if you don't mean it." it wasn't a reprimand; mathis didn't care about manners for the sake of them, and he cared even less about forced apologies made to keep powerful families comfortable.