Boris and the Vampire (Legends of Pinewood 2)

There's Always Puppies To Make Things Better

"Shit."

Aquila raised a brow at my crude, one-word greeting, while Xavier covered the ears of a young werewolf girl standing beside him with wide eyes. Of course, all the other ten pups standing at my doorstep heard me loud and clear.

'Shit' was the only word to describe the current situation, however.

In all the commotion surrounding Etienne and his dangerous secrets, I'd completely forgotten the first werewolf-human lesson was supposed to take place today.

At my place.

Where Etienne was still being a grump in Aquila's old room upstairs.

"Wait a moment Sally!" I called out as Sally wriggled herself free from Xavier's grasp and ran past me towards the toys stalled out in the living room.

There was no stopping her or the other pups, however. At the prospect of Sally getting all the good toys, they ran after her with a lot of noise; yelling, laughing, and feet stomping on the ground. A few of them yelled 'shit!' at the top of their lungs, imitating me. I cringed at the thought of the complaints from their parents that'd come later about uncle Boris teaching them bad words.

"What's going on?" Aquila asked me quietly, while the kids made a racket in the living room, already sounding like they were tearing down the place.

"The vampire's upstairs," I replied. Then I shook my head. "No bother. I'll just open the drapes and he won't be able to enter the living room."

Aquila narrowed his eyes and breathed in audibly. His gaze darted to the stairs. "He's not in my room, is he? With my plants?"

"Don't worry. He drinks blood. He doesn't eat plants." I held up my hands in an appeasing gesture, but it was no use.

With a thundercloud over his head, Aquila marched past me to the staircase and then ran up the stairs.

I pressed a hand to my forehead. I loved my family and my pack, but it was unbelievable how big of a chaotic disaster this already was from the moment they all walked into my house.

Xavier gave me a sympathetic look. "I'll try to keep the pups from breaking down your house," he offered.

I nodded and gave Xavier a pat on the shoulder before hurrying up the stairs after my nephew. "Aquila!" I called his name.

Of course Aquila didn't respond, and I caught him at the door of his old bedroom. He stood in the entrance, face to face with Etienne. I practically saw the coiled tension in his body.

"Aquila, stop," I demanded, grabbing him by the arm.

I looked at Etienne over Aquila's shoulder. He stood beside the flowers on the windowsill. They were all in full bloom, and somehow looked even better than they had under Aquila's care. He had trimmed the stem with scissors, it seemed. And I wasn't the only one who noticed.

"What the fuck did you do to my plants?" Aquilla snarled.

My mouth twitched, and I almost smiled. Out of all the things Aquila focused on, it wasn't the fact that Etienne was a vampire, but the fact that he had touched his plants.

Etienne just crossed his arms and wrinkled his nose. "I pruned them. As you should have done a long time ago."

"They're not yours, leech!" Aquila snapped. He wanted to storm into the room, but I stopped him by tightening my grip on his arm.

Etienne just raised a brow at Aquila's anger. "Fine. I won't, then. Have dead flowers next year for all I care."

"Come on, let's go downstairs, Aquila," I said, tugging on his arm. I needed all my strength to pull him out of the room and into the hallway. "We have a lesson to teach, after all."