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Good job, Shiro.
He thought to himself as he limply strolled across the desert sand. It wasn’t as if he tried to start a fight. He was looking for friendship as he just arrived in town a few weeks before. Sure he was Japanese and that his stature made him stick out, but to run him out before they ate the meal they hunted together was just cruel.
Especially when they chased him long enough with the tail between his legs.
The moon was high and bright, and what young man wouldn’t join a new pack as soon as he could. Camaraderie, friendship, something that make the new territory he had to be in feel homey. It wasn’t as if they had temporary members before, and Shiro was here for a good four years.
His stomach growled. He was really hungry and well the desert didn’t offer anything in the way of being a nourishing meal.
It was why he wanted to join a pack before the first full moon here. They were the only pack and apparently Shiro being a werewolf who’s form was that of a smaller extinct species was something to scoff at. He was still huge compared to any wolf, but the group comprised of mostly those who forms took after much larger timberwolves.
Yet, they chased him far from town with his tail literally between his legs.
Shiro showed his submissiveness and other pleasantries as he first entered and yet still they growled and snap their fangs at him. And- Shiro sniffed the air.
Meat. Fresh. Animal.
He stood still, sniffing the acrid air for a trail of that sweet, savory scent. North, not far.
Shiro pushed on, not wanting to expend the energy to race towards the source.
It was far past the cluster of shrubs and away from any shelter when the smell grew stronger. He circled the ground where the scent was strongest. He knew it was shallowly buried. His body anxiously fidgeted, food was desperately on his mind but it was possibly dead. His mind conflicted before the rumble in his stomach decided for him.
His paws started to dig into the fresh mound and he found a wooden box made of pine. The stench from it saturating the air. It was still smelling of freshness. Paws wouldn’t be able to open it but hands could. The sun was going to be up soon and the lunar sway over his body has weakened considerably.
Shiro inhaled as he focused on being human, ignoring the sounds as he closed his grey eyes. Soon he felt his thumbs and palms against the sand. The box was still there and it still smelled as good as it was in his wolf form.
He showed restraint as he carefully opened the lid. Not wanting to charge in like a beast, even alone Shiro had manners.
It was good that he did. There was someone in the box.
Thin silver chains were wrapped around a pale young man and the remains of a feast of a different type surrounded him. Shiro balked back, he didn’t smell human out here, but the telltale signs were there.
“Hey….” Shiro called out, reaching out to pluck a drained rabbit from the box.
The young man shifted, recoiling to the agony that the silver chains caused him. Glassy and unfocused eyes looked up at him trying to figure out who it was above him. Vampire, a bloodsucker who burn in the sun. Here in the desert, where no shade from the sun, was a vampire in a box.
“You’re going to be okay,” Shiro kept his voice soft as the vampire lost his strength and his head collapse on the bottom of the box.
Shiro let out a curse, despite the regular feedings the vampire appeared to be too restricted to even properly feed. The mess of eating around the vampire was a clever lie that he was properly fed. Shiro eyed what was suppose to be previous meals far away from the vampire, making it impossible for him to have a meal. The matted long black hair also told a story that this vampire was kept for a long time.
“Someone wanted you to be their pet,” he grimly remarked. It was the only way to explain this. He heard warning tales about people who wanted to ‘take care’ of the supernatural creatures, but often it turned out that humans really do not understand them. A werewolf is a big puppy. A vampire is a plaything with the excitement of bloodshed. A mermaid is a fish that lives in your swimming pool.
It was why they kept to themselves.
“I’ll get you out,” Shiro looked to find something to remove the chains. Silver was not only dangerous to the vampire but also him. Shiro wasn’t going to take his change getting hurt while rescuing the vampire. He lifted his head up to find something to remove the chain.
The sky was becoming lighter. Red and pinks erasing the darkness.
He looked at the vampire, whose eyes were shut. Shiro would go back on his word. The sun will be up and they wouldn’t be time to get the vampire to safety before the light scorches the vampire.
“I’m sorry! Tomorrow night! I’ll come back night for you. The sun’s almost. I’m sorry.”
The vampire didn’t move. Shiro hurried to place the lid back on the box. He shifted to his wolf form to speed up reburial, whining apologies to the vampire. He’ll be back for him. It was a promise.
He rested next to the vampire. When his strength recouped he noticed a lingering scent of human that the smell of food overpowered. There were three of them. He started to follow one of the trails and it led back to town he slipped between the shrugs and buildings of the desert as it led him to a house and inside there was a teenage boy. The growl was inside of him as that scent was same one lingering next to the vampire.
Humans are so cruel.
Shiro will return later tonight before going back to the desert for the vampire.
A hoverbike is way faster than a bolting on four legs, and very helpful when you need gloves, cutters, and a thick black blanket. The idea to follow the teens from their house to the vampire was off the table when he realized that his motorbike would be too loud and he didn’t know how long the kids would stay at the site.
The day was spent getting everything to make sure a vampire was comfy. Blackout curtains. No garlic and other anti-vampire herbs in the home. Some blood he bought from a butcher that he was said he was going to make blood sausage with. Shiro was proud that he made some homemade blood juice boxes out of that.
The vampire would be in no shape to attack and he made a promise to come back. He just hoped the guy wasn’t weak enough that he might have to find other vampires for aid. Vampires and werewolves don’t really ‘mix’ despite their overlapping similarities, but both creatures were territorial. There was some history too, mostly in the European parts that acted as a cautionary tale for both races.
Still, Shiro never grew up with that conflict and wasn't raised to keep to 'his own kind'. Besides, he family always teased him he was more like a werepuppy than a werewolf in how he was always so protective and friendly of others. It was in Shiro's nature to help.
Now he was hiding in the dunes near the vampire's spot after seeing the teens join up to head out into the desert. He rolled his stomach around on the dusty sand. He had to look deranged and ready to go to the throat. Shiro did wish he was bigger in his wolf form, but he had to make due and besides he was still bigger than most dogs and wolves.
The teenagers were now digging up the vampire. One had a delicious looking rabbit ready for the blood drinker. Shiro bristled his fur and worked on having enough saliva to add more dramatic flair.
They opened the box and Shiro pounced.
Under the full moon, a beast leaped from the darkness with a demonic howl. The beast was huge with dirt and grime over it and it’s mouth open with razor sharp teeth glistening with a string of saliva showing it’s hunger for meat, raw, human meat.
The teens screamed as Shiro growled as the teens scrambled away and kept running into the desert.
Shiro howled again and heard another terrified high-pitched scream.
Good. They won’t come back.
He wiped his maw with his paw and looked down at the vampire. Still alive. Shiro looked and saw that they dropped the rabbit in the dirt. He grabbed it in his jaws and dropped it down to the vampire to feast.
The vampire barely moved and Shiro panicked. He shifted quickly and went to put his clothes on and grab the chain cutters and gloves. He quickly donned the gloves and cut the thin silver chains. He made sure the sting of the silver wouldn’t touch his skin as he unwrapped the vampire.
He was small and young looking for a vampire. Most vamps often appeared in their early thirties, but the vampire was one that could be a college student at the university that Shiro was getting his Ph.D. at. The vampire had no interested in the rabbit and that made Shiro frown.
Vampires to his rudimentary knowledge can’t die from starvation, they become weak enough to just be undead dolls until some compassionate soul give them a good meal and wait a day for them to recover. Still, the vamp not feeding was worrying as Shiro gingerly lifted him out of the box.
He’s very light and still very small for a bloodsucker.
Then again, he shouldn’t be throwing stones at glass houses. His wolf form wasn’t the standard model of what a werewolf usually was. Grime and dust covered the vampire and Shiro noted to himself that the first thing to do when he was got home was to clean up the little guy. A good meal for him would come later after a bath and a change of clothes took place.
Plus it’ll allow Shiro to inspect to see if there are any wounds from the silver on him. The rags he wore covered most of his body and even in the moonlight with Shiro’s sight, it was hard to see if there were any cuts and other injuries the vampire may have. Regardless, the vampire was safe and as Shiro wrapped up the bloodsucker in the thick black blankets (for sun protection, just in case) hoped for quick recovery even though this is the first vampire he ever met.
Securing his passenger to his bike was a little harder than he predicted but it was faster than his idea for the worst case scenario. The blanket really helped cushion his passenger between the ropes and well, he’ll look less strange driving into town with a weak vampire on his bike. People would think he was kidnapping him or something.
The ride back was quiet despite Shiro’s nerves. The moon was still high in the night sky acting as Shiro’s guardian as he pulled into the detached garage of the little white bungalow he was renting. Being a lycanthrope meant that unless Shiro was staying with relatives, it was best for him to have no roommates and really good vacuum design for pets.
It worked out in his favor since he really didn’t want to explain the vampire-proofing he had done.
The vampire was oddly quiet and well still as Shiro picked him up over his shoulder and carry him to the front of his house. He hoped that wasn’t a bad thing, but his wild instincts were screaming ill tidings about the state of the distressed vampire.
Shiro unwrapped the blanket on the floor and the vampire rolled his head to face him.
“Hey. You’re safe. I’m Shiro. I’m… going to nurse you better.”
The vampire blinked at him with cloudy eyes. That’s not good, well he thinks it’s not good. Foggy eyes in most human-based races aren’t a good sign, but this is Shiro’s first vampire and all. At least the guy was still somewhat aware of his environment.
“We’re… uh, I. I’m going to clean you up first and clean for injuries.”
The bath was strangely easy as the vampire was still limbless except for an occasional roll of the head or blink. There wasn’t any cuts or misapplied stakes to the vampire. A lot of bruises though and the angry marks of silver’s bite on his skin. The silver chain was thin but it restrained the bloodsucker enough despite the clothes he wore. With no wounds to take care of, Shiro dried the vampire (whose hair was very black and very fluffy) and placed one of his old band t-shirt with an airbrushed unicorn on him for modesty.
The shirt practically made the vampire look like a child with how it swallowed him up.
Shiro bit back a laugh as it wasn’t kind of him to laugh at a helpless vampire. The vampire wouldn’t be able to throw a smart remark or a punch back at him. It wouldn't be fair. Shiro scooped up and bridal carry the vampire to the couch in his sparsely decorated living room.
As he placed the vampire down on the cushions and wrap him up in blankets, he saw the muscles in vampire’s arm twitch.
“You’re a fighter,” Shiro gently smiled, “I got some blood in the fridge for you.”
He turned and started to walk to the kitchen to grab a box when his sensitive hearing picked up the rustle of fabric. Shiro turned around and saw the vampire’s arm dangling out of the blanket.
“I know you just got out of… the situation, but please trust me. I’m not going to keep you here any longer than necessary.” Shiro hoped that vampire would understand as he went back to grab the meal. Really the vampire had a lot of good -even great- reasons to trust no one right now. Shiro did leave the first night he found him and even though he did make good on his promise, it wasn’t really a good base to build trust on.
Shiro grabbed a box and a straw, poking the straw into the box. When he walked back into the living room, the vampire hadn’t done anything else. Shiro knelt down and lightly touch the vampire’s hand.
“Can you suck on a straw?”
The vampire blinked and Shiro took it as affirmation.
He held up the blood juice box and straw as the vampire slowly opened his mouth. The vamp drained the contents slowly. It wasn’t going to be a huge meal for him, but enough to start whatever healing process a vampire has.
Shiro hoped the vampire didn’t notice how he looked away and felt his cheeks warm up when he saw the cutest fangs he has ever seen. They weren’t overly gigantic and limit speech like his grandfather’s nor super small like a human’s. The fangs were… cute. Perfect.
After the telltale noise of sucking on a drained juice box alerted him that the vampire finished his quaint meal. Shiro placed the hand back under the blankets.
“Rest up okay? I’ll give you another in about 2 hours. I heard it's generally best to have short meals while recovering,” Shiro flashed another smile.
He walked back to his bathroom for his own bath, noting the feeling of being watched as he left.
The weekend was up and sadly his academic scheduling meant that his classes start next week. Plus he was out of blood.
The good news was the vampire was moving around but hasn’t been able to walk or talk. They were communicating by gestures and blinks. He moved the vampire to his sole armchair and they watched a few old sci-fi shows together. The vampire did try to read his textbooks, but fine motor skills weren’t working with him just yet and turning the page was a futile act in the pursuit of knowledge of astrophysics.
And so Shiro returned to the grocery store to pick up his usual meal of beef and chicken as well his guest’s special diet. Everything went smooth as silk until he asked the butcher for more blood.
The butcher stared at Shiro as if the werewolf was holding some dark terrible secret, like he was in a cult, "I know what you're doing. Go buy some chewable iron supplements and mix 1 for every 2 cups."
"Wait-What!?" Shiro blinked.
"Iron helps the bats recover faster.” The butcher kept her stone-faced facade.
"I don't understand,” Shiro didn’t know if he should deny that he was nursing a vampire or lie by saying he had some dark ritual to do that call forth a defender of legend.
"You think you're the only one who buys this stuff? I worked here thirty years, puppy,” The butcher just shoved the container towards him.
And Shiro returned home to make up a steak for himself (after a decade of burning them, he finally was able to get it to his preferred taste), crushed some iron tablets and make a new batch of Shiro-brand vampire juice boxes.
He brought out their meals to the tv where his vampire patient was watching some ghost hunting show. Shiro hated the series, but even without his voice, the vampire made him laugh and smile by his sarcastic expressions and gestures in response to the investigators' mishaps.
“They’re not leaving those people alone,” Shiro hand a freshly packaged juice box to the vamp and sighed as one the ‘investigator’ kept calling out for a demon. Which is one sure fire way to piss off a ghost, they are the deceased and rather be treated politely.
“Thank you.”
Shiro blinked and looked at the vampire. It was a raspy voice and wasn’t what he expected the vampire to sound like at all. He expecting something British or vaguely European, not something American. Most of all he wasn’t expecting it sound slightly lower.
“You’re welcome,” Shiro gave a smile as the vampire enjoyed his meal.
They finished their meals in silence.
The next evening, Shiro hoped to find out more about the bloodsucker, mostly to see if he needed anything… or at least what pants size he was since he was living in Shiro’s band t-shirts.
When he rolled out of bed with a yawn, his ears picked up noises of strain from the vampire’s living room. He quickly shuffled over, feeling his pulse quicken with worry. Did the teens mask their scent and track them down? Was there vampire hunters and werewolf hunters in the area? Where will they go?
The worry was for not. The vampire had a pained expression on his face as sat on the beige carpet, legs twitching from overexertion.
“Did you-“
“Shut up,” The vampire covered his humiliated face with his hands, the long strands of black hair fall over to provide extra coverage.
“Hey, it’s okay. You made it a few steps from the couch. That’s a lot more than a few days ago,” Shiro walked over knelt in front of the vampire. “You really are a fighter.”
“I’m an embarrassment,” the vampire scoffed, “Who else gets to be some kids’ pet vampire? Got stuffed into a bag as I was feet away from my house and stuffed into a box with barely anything to eat. Not any other vampire but me.”
“Yeah, but I found you.” Shiro scratched the top of the vampire’s head just has his mother did before to soothe him.
“What’s the date today?”
As Shiro told him the vampire curled up tighter and in the quietest, broken, voice, “It’s been a year.”
Shiro frowned, the vampire was in that box for a year. Just waiting for his next meal or any light at all.
The vampire sat there, brooding like a true vampire, until he piped up, “You really are a werewolf.”
Shiro recoiled back in shock, “Wait, what?”
The vampire leaned back, using his arms to support himself, “You scratched my head like I’m a dog. You even went behind my ear. Humans don’t do that.”
“Huh. It was just something my mom did a lot to calm me down.”
Shiro took a good look at the vampire, the bloodsucker had a much better complexion and the angry marks from the silver were gone. It was all up from here. Then he zeroed on the vampire’s face. His brain lit up like lights at night time parade.
He was really cute. Not in an infantile way but in the objectively pleasing way. The vampire’s face wasn’t a translucent porcelain hue any longer but a healthy peach and his eyes that were fogged up were now a vibrant indigo. Due to the media’s portrayal of vampires, Shiro was expecting crimson eyes. The intense color between violet and blue in those eyes were still enchanting.
“I was trying to get one of those boxes from the kitchen,” The vampire snapped Shiro from being enthralled to kiss him.
“Oh. I’ll grab you one. Um, I’m Shiro by the way.” Shiro stood up.
“That really makes you sound like a dog.”
“Yeah and it’s not my first name,” Shiro laughed as he went to the kitchen, “It’s Takashi, Takashi Shirogane.”
“You’re new?” The vampire called out from his spot.
“Yeah. Going to college here. It's why I have the textbooks. I came across you while trying to bond with the local pack. It didn’t go well.” Shiro grabbed a box from the fridge.
“They don’t like foreigners. Especially non-human ones. They think it’ll mess their environment or ecology system or whatever they got here.”
Shiro plopped on the floor next to the vampire and handed him the blood, “Figures. I take it you’re a native here or something?”
The vampire nodded as he sucked the iron-enriched contents from the juice box.
“Ah okay. I guess the lady at the supermarket was really clued into things around here.”
“Margaret’s pretty cool if you talk to her after a while. She knows everyone’s order and knows there is some really weird stuff around here. Most of the veteran workers over there know who is what and what they like to eat. Two overnight people are vampires too.” The vampire emptied the box and licked his lips.
“So make friends with at least Margaret. Got it.” Shiro nodded.
“Hmmm, not everyone is friendly. The local wolves for instance.”
“Yeah, but they did help me find you in a weird way.” Shiro couldn’t help but smile. It wasn’t for his act of heroics, but that this vampire who hasn’t given his name or barely knew anything about was really nice. Nice and pretty. He also smelled safe, sounded pleasant in his ears, and his instincts weren’t flashing red.
“SHIRO! YOUR NOSE IS COLD!” The vampire flopped on his back.
“Ah! Sorry! I’m sorry!” Shiro pulled back, he didn’t know he put his face into the crook of vampire’s neck until the guy screamed.
“You really are a puppy.” The vampire broke into a laugh, mostly at Shiro’s hurt puppy dog eyes.
“Sorry,” Shiro rubbed the back of his head and stood up. “I’ll help you up.”
“Can you help me get to the armchair?” The vampire looked at his other favorite spot, the one that isn't the couch.
“Of course,” Shiro stretched out his arms to help pull the vampire to his feet.
After he settled the vampire into the chair, Shiro started to go the kitchen to fix himself a meal but a smile on his face grew when he heard it.
“By the way, I’m Keith.”
The next few days were spent similarly. Keith brooding over his lost time and Shiro helping the vampire out with recovering his strength enough to walk. There were little moments that Shiro enjoyed, with Keith talking their habitual viewing of ghost programs were much more entertaining. They laughed at how humans get misconceptions about the supernatural and how painfully easy it is to go unnoticed.
“I bet some of them were trying to sleep, jerks,” Shiro barked at the screen of two investigators holding up some device and shouting into the halls of some mansion.
“Another ghostly romantic date under the stars ruined by humans,” Keith laid his head against Shiro’s shoulder.
DING! DONG!
The doorbell rang and Shiro remembered.
A couple weeks ago, Shiro was given a group of three undergraduates to tutor. The study group helped paid the billed and Shiro would have some socialization. That was before he found the vampire in the box in the desert and decided that he really hope Keith would ask to stay.
He scheduled a date and time for formal introductions and the like. That was right now.
“Keith! I had a study group planned.” Shiro leaped from the floor.
Keith was here, pantless, and the blackout curtains… and he needed to grab the paperwork he printed out. He was a complete mess.
The vampire scrambled up from his spot and raced to Shiro’s bedroom and closed the door behind him.
Shiro straightened out his t-shirt and opened the door like a normal typical young adult human would when he was obviously not. There they all are Lance, Hunk, and Pidge. Altogether, starring at Shiro’s dark living room like he was crazy and not having a vampire in his bedroom.
“Soooooo….” Lance dragged the vowel on.
“Come on in, sorry for the curtains.” Shiro ushered them inside as he felt the judgment cast upon him.
The three looked around, inspecting the living quarters of a graduate student working on getting their doctorate while Shiro cleared the dining room table in his kitchen on the side.
“Oh wow, Shiro! I didn’t know you have a pet bat.” Hunk grinned at the tiny creature on the armchair, “Hey little guy. Sorry for disturbing your day.”
Shiro didn’t have a pet bat. He never had a pet before because being a werewolf you are somewhat like your own pet. In fact, as he spied the open door to his bedroom, he had suspicious for why the bat was even inside his house.
“I’ve never seen a bat like this one,” Pidge went over to where Hunk was and looked at the tiny flying mammal on his furniture. Lance trailed behind and eyeed the bat with utmost speculation.
“Yeah, he’s pretty unique. It’s why I have curtains.” Shiro was now working on his mastery of making up stuff so he doesn’t have to explain the real reason why he has curtains and blood.
Lance glared at the bat clinging to the armchair, "Shiro... you know that bat has a mullet.”
Indeed the bat did have a tuft on his head, but also the bat was really a vampire. A very upset vampire as the bat then glared at Lance before taking off and flying around Lance with swoops aimed for his head.
“SHIRO! YOUR BAT IS TRYING TO KILLING ME! I’M SORRY! IT’S A NICE HAIRSTYLE! VERY FITTING FOR A BAT!”
“That is one smart bat to know when it has been insulted,” Pidge commented dryly as Lance squatted onto the floor to protect his head and face.
“Most living beings have feelings,” Hunk didn’t move from his spot, “and you have to respect them.”
“I SAID I WAS SORRY! PLEASE DON’T KILL ME MR. BAT! I’M TOO HANDSOME TO DIE!”
“Keith, come on. I think he learned the lesson,” Shiro tapped his shoulder and the bat swooped down and landed on it. Shiro did not how he felt the tiny muzzle of the bat pressed into his neck as his hooked itself onto his t-shirt.
The group went off without any more interruption, Keith kept on Shiro’s shoulder and despite everyone seen to be really interested in how Shiro had a pet bat they completed everything Shiro wanted to do for the session.
When off they went, Shiro closed the door and turned around to see Keith in his usual disguise, pantless but wearing the oversized shirt.
“Sorry about that,” Shiro said sheepishly.
“I’m surprised they didn’t mention the blankets and pillows on the couch or the juice boxes.” Keith folded his arms.
It turned out Keith’s bat form allowed him to be out in the sun as the week Shiro started classes, Keith curled himself up in Shiro’s shirt pocket. Keith was pretty good at hiding and no one seemed to notice the little bat Shiro carried with him throughout his activities during the day. Keith often slept in the early hours and woke up around his evening class. Often with a little kick against his pec.
There were a few days when he was done when the sun fully set. After one night where he snuck Keith in as a bat to a clothing store to finally get the vampire some pants and clothes that fit, they ended up spending the night on the town.
His study group ran into them when they went out for burgers. It was then when Keith got the nickname of ‘human Keith’ to differentiate himself from ‘Keith’, Shiro’s pet bat. Shiro had to pull Keith away when the vampire got Lance into thinking that they were one in the same after Lance insulting Keith’s mullet …again. It was silly, frivolous and funny.
Keith didn't really want this to end. Sure, he should go see if he could get his identification and stuff back, but he was missing for a year. It's probably destroyed and he was written off as gone. Besides, who do you go to during the night to set up to get everything back? He couldn't exactly walk out in the sun.
There was something about the werewolf that made Keith smile. He wasn't like the usual wolves that tried to corral and cajole him into leaving his territory. He was welcoming and very much loyal.
He should have taken offense when out of Shiro's hearing, the small human with glasses from Shiro's study group asked if he was Shiro's boyfriend because Shiro named his 'pet bat' after him. Normally, Keith would outwardly deny and retaliate but he was with Shiro. The werewolf's presence calmed him down and made him control his more emotional impulses that plagued most vampires.
He shrugged it off. A non-answer completely. Shiro was nice and really handsome. A prize for most others, but Keith didn't know beyond that. Was Shiro interested in him past being a vampire in distress? He really couldn't say.
When the full moon came, Shiro said he was going to hunt. When Keith went to grab a blood juice box and tell Shiro he wanted to come along and maybe talk about their situation, Shiro was gone.
Before he could pout and sulk, Keith heard the howls in the distance. If Shiro ran into them it won't be good. Keith grabbed the hoverbike key and the first aid kit. They better not come across his Shiro. There have been wars when a werewolf decided that a vampire property has been disrespected and harmed. Keith would start a-.
Keith raced off into the desert before finishing his thought, following the sounds of wolves and hoping he wouldn't come across a Japanese wolf in need of saving.
He didn’t want Keith to leave, but it’ll happen eventually. Keith had a life before entering Shiro’s. In fact, Keith could be in the police department’s missing person file right now. There was more for Keith to do than just hang around a werewolf’s house, watching tv, and napping in his shirt when the werewolf was at classes.
And that was why Shiro told Keith during the next full moon that he was going out alone to hunt as a wolf. They became close, very close, but Shiro saved Keith. He couldn’t take advantage of Keith’s companionship anymore as the vampire was back to full strength as shown when he lifted the couch one hand to vacuum the carpet under it.
Shiro couldn’t shift his mindset correctly, tap into his wild nature aspects. Even with the smell of prey and mesquite in the air, the idea of Keith with his supernaturally colored eyes saying goodbye was clouding his thoughts.
He was a prime target for an ambush. The pack leaped at him with snarls and growls. Their size cowing Shiro into a ring of them. They didn’t want him here. He wasn’t a part of their pack, too different from all of them.
Shiro showed off his aggression, trying to stand his ground as a mist rolled in. He snapped his teeth and growled. He showed submission one time to them to join their group, but now he was standing on his own as a lone wolf. The werewolf didn’t need acceptance from a group, he found that and now he wanted to hunt in peace.
The mist made it hard to see the fray. Shiro bit and nip as he could and heard the other wolves mistaking others for him. It felt exhilarating that he may be able to pull this off, but then a leader found him and snapped his right foreleg.
Shiro yelped as the others were zeroing on him. The mist clearing as the giant timberwolf snuck his teeth back into his paw. Shiro struggled to get the vice grip off but his strength was vastly diminishing.
A ghastly howl came behind him. The werewolves lower their tails and whimper with fear. The timberwolf dropped Shiro’s paw as humongous black muzzle came over Shiro, drool dripping onto the timberwolf’s head.
The pack started to run away one by one with their tail between their legs. The timberwolf staring at the monstrous beast, stunned. The beast gave a roar and the timberwolf finally ran, leaving Shiro.
Shiro was alone with the black beast that was twice as big as the timber with rows of sharp teeth. It was mostly canine with some feline features, but with illuminated red eyes.
The beast picked up Shiro by scruff as if he was a puppy. Shiro whimpered a plea to the beast but stopped when he saw his hoverbike. The eldritch beast gentle laid him down next to it and encourage him to shift with a poke of its snout.
Shiro’s arm and hand were nearly mangled by the bites, he held back a cry for his stupidity before a cool hand massaged the black and white hair on his head.
Keith held some antiseptic in his other hand and offered Shiro a comforting smile and peck on his cheek, “Funny thing about vampires. Everyone knows we can turn into bats, but we can also turn into mist and really big wolf creatures too. Let’s bandage you up and go back home.”
Shiro smiled, knowing that Keith will make an extraordinary good nurse.