Boris and the Vampire (Legends of Pinewood 2)

They Happen in the Worst Possible Way

During the day, the people of Pinewood and I were relatively safe.

Etienne couldn't go into the sunlight, and it wasn't cold enough in autumn to simply walk into town covered by a coat, hat, and scarf without looking suspicious. Besides, he was sulking in his room after the garage incident, anyway. 

I used my precious hours of freedom to head outside, and headed for the Apple supermarket first.

Aquila and Xavier were going to have their first class about humans with the young werewolves tomorrow evening. And on the off-chance I couldn't get rid of Mr. and Mrs. Davis and they insisted we had our dinner date, I needed ingredients for a vegan meal as well. 

I avoided people in the streets as they'd definitely ask about my brand new boyfriend, and thankfully, Mrs. Apple from the supermarket had her own issues. The moment I walked in, she immediately started ranting about her own daughter, who had finally broken the news that she wanted to leave Pinewood and was applying for college. Mrs. Apple was so preoccupied with suddenly losing the heiress to her grocery store, she completely forgot to ask me anything.

Instead, it was Xavier who caught up to me on the street while I was on my way home again. 

His lips curled up in a wide grin. "What is this I hear from my parents?" he asked. "You've found yourself a boyfriend?"

Xavier looked far too pleased with himself. So eager at the chance to turn the tables on me and giving me crap for a change. I'd teased him plenty of times when he and my nephew Aquila clearly liked each other, but both couldn't seem to spit it out. It was only fair he'd get to do it back, I supposed. 

I chuckled, shaking my head. "Alright, fine, go ahead. Lay it on me. What did you hear?"

Xavier's nudged me between the ribs with his elbow. "That a very pale, extremely pretty man has moved into your house while nobody even knew he existed."

I snorted. "I'd say he thinks he's pretty more than he is actually pretty."

Xavier darted a glance around, then leaned in and asked in a lower voice, "What is he? A fey?"

"Not quite. My 'brand new lover', Etienne, is a vampire and he's dangerous. Stay away from my place and tell others in town to stay away, subtly, if you can too."

"A vampire?" Xavier's smile disappeared and his eyes grew wide. "Like, one that drinks... blood?"

"Yes. That's what a vampire is," I replied dryly.

Xavier's eyes grew even wider. "But why? Is he actually your lover?"

I wish I had a good explanation to give. I didn't, so I could only shake my head. "No. Just stay out of trouble and try to keep others out of trouble too, alright? I have to go."

I patted Xavier on the shoulder and continued walking. Slowly. 

After bringing the groceries home, I'd have a pack meeting to attend to in the woods nearby, and I wasn't exactly looking forward to explaining why I suddenly had a 'new lover' nor that the vampire had talked to the townsfolk in the first place. It'd probably be an hour filled with lots of complaining and people getting upset over this matter. I was already tired at the thought.

Etienne's blatantly manipulative and threatening behaviour wasn't in his favour. Still, I had to give it to him: he hadn't broken any rules. I couldn't send him away for licking the blood off my thumb. Hell, even a werewolf might do that if he was new to transforming. We were no strangers to bloodlust and getting high on the scent of fresh blood from a prey. It'd be hypocritical, even if our cravings were more under control as we grew older and more experienced with being in our wolf form. No adult werewolf lusted after human blood. If they did, they were an anomaly and not the rule.