Just a Taste

“It’s alright.” Because it was. Bella knew that Wolfie was on edge and didn’t take a single bit of offense by the snapping. All weres were a little on edge just then, some kept their temper in check but some, especially when they tried to fight it? Well, she had seen them snap before. Some even got violent- but usually those people had a predisposition for it. Wolfie, however, she knew didn’t have that.

One thing she knew she didn’t have to worry about was him getting violent. He was too kind for that. Language was one thing but despite his size and strength? She knew she was in absolutely no danger.

“You are just stressing yourself out, my friend,” she soothed. “I know you like to keep yourself busy but there are times when you need a breather. And this may be one of them.”

He had to calm himself down again, digging his nails deeper into the meat of his palm, unconcerned by the fact that they’d leave crescent moon shaped cuts in their wake. They’d heal fairly quickly thanks to his weretiger constitution, but the sting gave him something to focus on. If Wolfie could just focus, he’d be able to get himself together enough to begrudgingly take Bella’s advice and head home. There he’d deal with the rest of the nasty side effects that come with spending heats alone. 

“Walk with me?” The weretiger asked after a few moments of silence. He’d deemed himself calm enough to rush off to his apartment but he really didn’t want to do it alone. Even though he knew he’d still be by himself at the end of the day, a few more minutes with Bella would make him feel a bit less like he was walking himself to his own self-enforced imprisonment. 

“Why torture yourself like this? I may not know what it feels like but I’ve been in town my whole life. I’ve seen how bad this can get for people.” In truth, Bella felt a little lucky that she never had to go through that. As often as she lamented that being anything but human would make it easy for her to know who he could tell what to in town because she’d have her own built-in supernatural beacon? She was glad she had never had to experience heat.

She would definitely go crazy.

“If you’re worried about the restaurant, I’m sure it’ll be fine,” she tried to reassure him “And you have plenty of friends around not going through this who I’m sure would be willing to help out to keep things running smoothly until you’re back to, well, for lack of a better term- normal.”

“I don’t know!” Wolfie snapped, digging his nails further into the palms of his hands until he could feel the skin give under the pressure. It didn’t hurt, not that much, and it would heal in minutes but it said wonders about how well he was holding things together. 

Shock and guilt followed immediately after his harsh words, hitting him like a ton of bricks and etching themselves across his face. His wide eyes held Bella’s gaze for a moment before darting away, focusing on the sign across the street for discount tires. “Fuck, I don’t know. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean...” 

Why couldn’t he hold it together any longer? He was cursing for goodness sake. Maybe it was the fact that Bella was giving him permission to let go? 

God, he hated his heat. 

“You ready to give up and go home yet, Wolfie?”

Bella had been watching him. Not to be strange or creepy in any way. It was simply because she knew that the man was a were and seeing a were when the town was in heat actually working? Oh, well, that was a rarity in and of itself. She had been in own her whole life, had known about the supernatural that whole time. She had seen weres go through heat before and usually they hid as best as they could. None of them wanted to try to focus on the real world when their own bodies were rebelling against them. Even back in high school that was the case.

“You’re pushing yourself too hard, Wolfie,” the human said after a moment, head cocking slightly to the side as she gazed at the weretiger. “I know how dedicated you are to the restaurant but you’re just making yourself suffer for no reason. Everyone would understand if you went home and tried to deal with everything far away from here, my friend.”

Wolfie just sighed, avoiding Bella’s gaze.

 He knew she was right, she knew she was right, it was only a matter of him accepting the facts and hightailing it out of there to go deal with himself for the next few days. He just couldn’t bring himself to do it, he couldn’t leave his restaurant just because he wasn’t feeling so hot. Heats were a part of life and he’d had to deal with them for years, he just wanted to prevail for once. He wanted to win against the unyielding pull of his body, he wanted to do what he loved most despite the frustration and anxiety. 

“I can’t, Bella. I should but I can’t. I...I can’t explain it in a way that makes any sense, not even to myself, but I can’t.” 

“Taking advantage of the good weather, Falkowski?” Nova teased the fellow werecat. They may not have been the same breed of were but cats were more rare than their wolf counterparts so every time she met another feline? She was always happy to know them, found some kind of comradery in them. The town itself was comforting in itself as they knew that they could mostly be themselves but it was nice to be able to know others like themselves.

“I don’t often see you outside of your restaurant. Don’t tell me the workaholic himself is slacking?” she teased.

“You know I couldn’t let it go to waste, Almeida.” He laughed, brushing his sweaty hair back out of his face. These were the kind of interactions he lived for, the kind he wouldn’t have been able to find as easily in a big city. Wolfie loved the sense of community that came with establishing himself in a small town - especially one chock full of the supernatural. Despite being so small, it was easy to find people like himself, people who could relate to and share the world from the eyes of a werecat. 

"Me? Never. You know what they say - ‘ain’t no rest for the wicked.’” Wolfgang joked right back, used to people teasing him about his tendency to take on a lot at once. As long as it made them smile and he finished what he needed to, he was happy. 

“Speaking of - what’s got you out and about so early? I don’t usually see you on my morning runs.” 

Midway through the day, things were not going well. His smile was forced and unconvincing, his sweat stuck his shirt to him in really uncomfortable ways, and he was just about done with the anxiety that bubbled in his chest for no reason. Wolfie - being the workaholic he was - decided against heading home for the day and instead took a short break out front, leaning against the restaurant and letting the cool air send refreshing shivers down his spine. 

But even with the breeze, he didn’t stay cool for long.

Letting his head fall back against the brick of the storefront, Wolfgang sighed, digging his nails into the palms of his hands in a half-assed attempt to keep his mind off his real frustration - unshakable sexual desire. It was getting harder and harder to ignore, to push to the back of his head, and he knew deep down he’d have to leave early if he wanted to save himself from shame and embarrassment.

God, he hated his heats. 

Hal laughed, waving his coffee mug to Wolfgang briefly before taking a sip of it. “True, true. I guess you’re a grown man too. Not some teenager.” He said into his cup. He shifted, “You’re right- the weather is getting real nice out here. Your ma already put in an order- she gets so excited with those flowers. When you see her, let her know that it’ll be delivered by the end of next week.” He said with a smile. 

“So they tell me. Still not sure when that happened,” Wolfie laughed, settling his hands on his hips. “I’ll be sure to let her know, Hal. Thanks, by the way, for making her smile.” If there was one thing the weretiger wanted most, it was to make his mom happy. She always did so much for him, for everyone, and never asked for anything in return. He made it his job to do the same for her. 

“Oh! I hope you like pie. She’s decided to start thanking people with baked goods again and you’re first on the list.” 

Hal had always been an early riser- and a night owl- and a pretty much everything in-betweener- but he never expected to see others out, when he was up early. Still clad in pajama bottoms and shirtless, he’d made his way out to the mailbox, coffee in hand, and was surprised to see Wolfgang outside, already up and working out. He offered the younger man a smile, leaning against the mail box. 

“Up and running already, Wolfgang? I thought you young fucks liked to sleep in.” He said, teasing tone heavy in his voice. 

  “I think you’re forgetting that this young fuck has a business to run,” Wolfie laughed, shaking his head. Hal was a friend, not a super close one, but a friend nonetheless. His mother liked the flowers he sold and, more often than not, they ended up decoration Holy Smokes to whatever extent she desired. In the spring she got extra crazy with them, something about bringing the feeling of ‘new beginnings’ indoors for the customers, and he didn’t question it. She was better with those kinds of things than he was, and in the end, it always ended up feeling like him. “Besides, it’s real nice out this morning. I couldn’t let weather like this go to waste, not after the winter we had.” 

Maybe it was due to his weretiger genetics or perhaps it was just a personal thing, but he’d always enjoyed exercise and the satisfying rush of endorphins that came with it. As a rule of thumb, he put his own wants and needs behind those of others, but his morning run was something he let himself have. It was the quickest way to wake up and get going, especially when he’d had only a few hours of sleep, and it never failed to put him in a good mood - so he considered it a win-win. 

Jogging his normal route, earbuds in place and his steady rhythm set, Wolfgang let the familiar scenery fly by with mind appreciation. He’d never gotten over how beautiful East Stroudsburg was, not even after five years of living there, and probably never would even if he took the same path every day. There was always something new to see, something interesting to contemplate as he moved past, and someone pleasant to talk to whenever he’d run into them. 

Even when he’d fallen into the perfect pace, his muscles burning pleasantly and the adrenaline heightening his senses, he’d break the whole thing to say hi to a friend. It was no different that morning, Wolfie had spotted a familiar face and gradually came to a stop to exchange pleasantries, sure to catch their eye before he did so in case they were otherwise occupied.

It was almost entertaining hearing that, being thought of as someone’s daughter when Sparrow herself was so often seen as people’s mother. True, with Wolfie it was definitely a friendship rather than a parent-child relationship but the point still remained. For a very single girl in her late twenties? Sparrow Suthcliff had a whole lot of people out there that considered her a mother figure- and it didn’t bother her one tiny little bit.

“Well, I’ll definitely have to pop in and say ‘hello’ while I’m here.” The truth was she liked Wolfie’s mother. There was something warm and comforting about the woman, like she knew all of the worries and concerns a person might have and could make them all go away. Many times the witch had thought that her friend was exceedingly lucky to have been raised by such a wonderful and loving person. Not everyone was quite so lucky. “So? Did I hit the nail on the head? Are you running yourself down to empty as usual?” From anyone else it might have sounded judgmental but when Sparrow said it? It was filled with nothing more than concern.

“Perfect, she’ll love that,” he beamed, leaning forward on the counter so that his weight rested on his elbows. Like this, Wolfie was almost eye-to-eye with Sparrow, which was nice yet strangely intimate since he usually towered over her by at least a foot. The weretiger was always amazed by the warmth and love Sparrow managed to display for nearly everyone in the town, he could see why she’d been dubbed ‘town mom’ - her energy reminded him of his own mother’s. Maybe that’s why he liked her so much. 

“Do I even have to answer that? You’ve hit the bullseye, you always do. I wouldn’t say I’m running on empty, but I’ve kept myself pretty busy. With my degree and Holy Smokes, I don’t even have time to realize how much I’m doing,” he laughed, glad they were still experiencing the mid-day lull so he could have a proper chat with his friend. Not that Wolfgang didn’t appreciate every one of his customers, but it had been ages since he’d idly talked to a friend and he’d missed it. “I’m happy, though. You know me - the most content workaholic in the world.” 

Ezra thought a playdate for Clayton’s dogs was a great idea. Clayton would never set one up for them so it was up to Ezra to make sure that they made friends. Besides he always liked having an excuse to make his friends come over. He was a homebody but still a social butterfly so life could be hard at times. The want to see people and be social always warring with the want to stay home on his couch snuggled up with his cat. 

Isabella was down for a nap but would no doubt be up soon enough after Wolfie and Alastor came over. The dogs always got so excited to see each other. He found it funny that Clayton’s dogs were so friendly when their owner wasn’t such a fan of making friends. He knew they had arrived before he heard the knock on the door. The two dogs had run over and started acting insane so he knew Alastor had to be on the other side of the door. 

Opening the front door he watched as all three dogs greeted each other and started running around the house. Grinning he moved aside so his friend could enter. “Looks like they’re already started acting insane. How are you?”

Chucking as the dogs rushed to greet each other, Wolfie shuffled indoors, quickly unclipping Alastor’s leash from his collar so he could freely run through Ezra’s house without dragging the weretiger along with him. “I don’t think they ever stop, but this definitely makes it worse. It’s fantastic, isn’t it?” 

Pulling off his shoes so he didn’t start tracking dirt through his friend’s nice house, Wolfie set them by the door before following Ezra from the entryway. “I’m great. Busy as always, but I wouldn’t have it any other way. What about you? How’s everything going?” 

Wolfie was very fond of both Ezra and his family, but he’d never really had a chance to get to know them as well as he did the witch. But they made Ezra happy so it was easy to assume that they were just as wonderful as he, even if the few times he’d met them weren’t much to go on. It was the small things like not knowing the people closest to one of his best friends, that really brought home the fact that he needed to make more of an effort to spend time with those he cared for. He loved his work and his schooling, yes, but above all else, he held the belief that family was of the highest importance. Whether it be by blood or by choice, he’d do anything for the people he deemed family...including giving up everything he’d ever worked for. 

While perhaps not the healthiest mindset, there was no changing it.