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Alec dashed under the bridge, his bow in hand.
“Alec!” Isabelle shouted, diving under the swipe of claws coming towards her. "Alec, hurry up!“
Alec grunted in annoyance and didn’t bother answering, taking a running leap the second he hit the crest of the hill, loosing two arrows into the demons surging towards Isabelle and Jace before he hit the ground hard, rolling to his feet a second later. "Wasn’t going to risk hitting you!” he snapped, stepping in next to Jace, unsheathing his Seraph blade a moment later, swiping through the next demon that leaped for them both.
“We need to retreat!” Isabelle said. "Or we need backup immediately. We can’t hold them back!“
"We also can’t afford to let them run rampant through Central Park!” Alec snapped back at her, slicing another demon clean in half.
“Might be a good moment to call your friend, Alec!” Jace said, grunting as a demon shoved him back and he ducked under a slice of a poisonous tail, just barely.
Alec winced and looked at the battle. Jace was right. Fuck. He pulled back and lifted two fingers to his mouth, letting out a piercing whistle. "Come on, girl,“ he whispered. "We need your help.”
It took several seconds longer than usual, but the sound of barking echoed behind the demon horde. Alec spared a few seconds to be terrified for her, but then the sound of snarling and demons exploding into ichor came. He watched her claws sink into another shax demon as she bit into a ravener, flames licking at the corners of her mouth.
“Good girl,” Alec panted, swinging his blade up and through the ravener, until it was gone. "Such a good girl,“ he praised, even as she turned back to the rest of the demons. With her help, they made quick work of the rest of the demons, all three of them sinking into an exhausted pile next to a tree.
"Next time,” Jace managed, clearing off his blades. "When someone says that there’s probably nothing? Please send two patrols, Alec.“
"You got it,” Alec said, huffing out a small laugh. He reached out and pushed his fingers through Braeya’s fur and smiled down at her. "You saved us tonight. We owe you.“
Isabelle lifted her head and scowled. "Still can’t see her.”
Jace hummed in agreement, watching as Alec continued to pet the invisible dog in front of him. "Still weird, too. How big is she now? She still growing?“
Alec looked to the hellhound that stood, at full height, her head in the middle of his chest and smiled. "Very much still growing.”
“And you still have no idea why she shows up?” Isabelle asked, narrowing her eyes at her brother. "Somehow I figure that’s not likely.“
Alec didn’t bother answering, leaning down to press his forehead against hers, breathing slowly, her fur warm with the fire that was inside her. "Thank you for coming. I know it’s not as easy as it used to be.” At least, that was his guess, considering it took her a few seconds longer each time.
Braeya gave a huff and settled properly on top of her human, closing her eyes and relaxing.
Alec continued to pet her, smiling. "The two of you head back and get your paperwork sorted.“
"Alec, I think-”
“Come on, Izzy,” Jace said, shaking his head at her before he started to force himself upright. "I don’t think that there’s anything we can do right now to convince him to head back with us.“
Izzy bit down on her lip and stared at her brother. "Alec, you’ll be careful, right?”
Alec smiled at her and looked down at Braeya. "I will. She’ll keep an eye on me, promise.“
Izzy frowned, but followed Jace out of the park.
Alec leaned back against the tree with a sigh. "They’re getting more and more suspicious, now. Not sure there’s anything we can do about it, but we need to be careful.”
She whined and pushed at his leg.
“I know you want to follow me home, but it’s not like you can step on hallowed ground. We tried that, remember?” When she gave another irritated huff, Alec closed his eyes and let him relax. "Don’t worry, I’ll stay here as long as you want, I promise.“
It would have to be enough, for now.
~!~
Keeping Braeya a secret was a nightmare most of the time, especially as he got older, but Alec, between help from his siblings and being able to set his own schedule at the Institute, made due.
Unfortunately, now he had an additional complication, and that complication came in the form of a boyfriend. And while Braeya’s glamour worked on other shadowhunters (though he wasn’t sure why it didn’t work on him, but it might have something to do with the bite mark on the back of his calf that he kept glamoured), it probably wouldn’t work on someone like Magnus. Alec chewed on his lip as he settled against a tree and whistled for Braeya.
It was nice not to have to call her for battle all of the time, and he knew that she appreciated it, though she was more than strong enough to survive any demons they were fighting. It also helped, if he was right about his guess that certain poisons didn’t affect her from the demons. He wasn’t positive about that, but it made sense, in some twisted way.
Braeya huffed and settled next to him, a rumbling growl of approval escaping her as Alec started to pet her head.
"I’m not sure what to do,” Alec admitted, looking down at her. "I love Magnus, so much, and I want him to meet you, but I’m also worried about what he might say.“ He closed his eyes. "Jace and Izzy didn’t care, because you’ve proved that you want to keep me safe. Multiple times. That’s all they worry about. But Magnus? I don’t know what he’ll think.”
Braeya huffed.
Alec turned his attention to her with a raised eyebrow and watched as her form shimmered and shifted. In a blink, she was the size of a normal dog, rather than the size he’d gotten used to, the one almost as big as him in height. He rubbed the spot behind her ears and watched her sag in relief and relaxation. "Is that a hint that I should take you to visit Magnus?“
An echoing bark.
Alec laughed and pushed himself upright. "Okay. All right. Let’s head there. I’m supposed to be spending the night tonight, so you need to be on your best behavior.” He turned and headed for Brooklyn, smiling down at the sight of Braeya trotting beside him, weaving in and out of people on the street with an ease born of magic.
He stopped at the base of the building and frowned, looking at the buzzer. If he walked into the building with a hellhound, Magnus would likely not wait for him to explain. Alec took a deep breath and hit the buzzer.
“Who calls upon the High Warlock of Brooklyn?” Magnus drawled.
“Hey Magnus,” Alec said. He kept his finger on the button and looked down at Braeya. "Could you come downstairs?“ Alec heard a quick flurry of clothing over the intercom.
"Is everything all right, are you safe?”
Alec smiled. "I’m fine. I just…need to show you something. I couldn’t just bring her up.“ He could feel the confusion from Magnus, but he lifted his finger off the button and turned to Braeya. "All right, now, we need to make a good impression with Magnus, because I really love him and I don’t want him to get scared away, okay?”
Braeya huffed at him and Alec knelt down and hugged her tight.
“Alexander?” Magnus asked.
Alec stood up and smiled at Magnus. "Hey!“ He stepped closer and kissed Magnus softly, before backing up a step and gesturing behind him. "I have someone I want you to meet.”
Magnus’ eyes dropped from Alec down to the hellhound standing behind him and blinked. "Alexander, you know that…“
"That Braeya is a hellhound? Yeah. I’ve known for years now. I didn’t want to bring her in yet in case she set off your wards,” Alec said. "But I promise she’s of no danger to anyone. I just, uh, wanted her to meet you.“
"How…” Magnus took a second and shook his head. "Alexander, why do you have a hellhound following you? Why have you named her?“
Alec shrugged. "The second or third time I saw her, she kept coming to my rescue, so I decided she needed a name. The other shadowhunters can’t see her, not Jace, Izzy, or Clary.”
Magnus nodded, even though that was impossible. "How, where does she live?“
"I don’t quite know,” Alec admitted, looking down at her. When Braeya looked up at him, he pushed his fingers into her rough fir and scratched gently. "She comes when I call, and she always walks me back to the Institute. She’s never underfed, and is healthy as far as I can tell.“
"I can’t believe you’ve befriended a Hellhound,” Magnus muttered, pressing a hand to his face. "How can you even see her?“
Alec shrugged again. "I’m not entirely sure about that, either. But she bit me, at one point, early on. I’ve been able to see her ever since, so maybe it has something to do with that?”
Magnus took a few steps closer and knelt down in front of the Hellhound when she started to growl and held out his hand for her. "She’s not normally this size, is she?“
Alec laughed. "No, she’s normally much, much larger. This is small for her,” he admitted. "I didn’t…want to have to keep her a secret from you. I have to keep her a secret from everyone else.“
Magnus looked up at Alec and then back down to the Hellhound who was licking at his hand eagerly. He could see she enjoyed the taste of his magic and smiled, letting a few sparks escape from his fingertips for her to chase the taste of. "Thank you for telling me.” He looked down at her again. "Would you both like to come up?“
Braeya let out a bark, her tail wagging eagerly.
Magnus laughed and stood up. "Just make sure she doesn’t eat any of the cats,” he cautioned. "And then we’ll have to see if we can unravel some of her mystery because she certainly is fascinating!“
Alec bit down on his lip. "You don’t mind?”
“Alexander,” Magnus said, reaching out to take Alec’s hand, giving it a slow squeeze. "I am nothing but glad that you have had someone out there keeping an eye on you and protecting you when you needed it most. I admit I do want to hear more about the story of how you found her, but she will always be welcome in my home.“
Braeya gave a pleased bark and trotted closer to Magnus, nuzzling against him.
"Looks like you made a good first impression,” Alec said, glancing up at Magnus with a smile.
“I tend to be good at those. Now, come on. Dinner for all of us, then we can have that story,” Magnus said, opening the door to the apartment.