7. Think

Slowing to a calm walk, Drake panted heavily as he watched his large paws move along the edge of the forest. He'd needed to leave when the old woman had come. She had clearly never dealt with a werewolf before, because she seemed to think that it was wise to try and boss one around.

Hmph. Not even my boss bosses me around. I'd kill him and piss on his corpse. Love you, War.

Grumbling, he turned and began a light jog down the sidewalk. Humans were staring at him, and several supernatural things were glaring, but he didn't care. Hell, he almost wished they'd try something so he could finish blowing off steam.

I'll just go after Warden. He needs a good beating, anyways. He thought as he turned onto another street a few moments later. When he finally stepped into the pet shop after having managed to bite and turn the alley side door handle, of which he'd left unlocked, he shifted and headed up to the apartment.

And the idiot left this unlocked. Perfect.

"Hey, War!" He yelled as he stomped inside. Drake looked around for a moment before his eyes stopped on Warden. Surprise made his eyebrows raise ever so slightly. His friend sat up and tucked his wings against his back, making them disappear. The hand that wasn't holding him up rubbed at his pale forehead.

"Dude. You look like someone hit you on the back of the head, repeatedly. Did that grandma pet shop owner lady do it? Cause I need to go pay her if she did." He said as he sauntered in, watching as Warden forced himself to his feet and stumbled toward the kitchen.

He could tell that the guy wanted to cuss at him or take a swing for mocking his headache, but clearly his head hurt too much to do either. Instead, Warden disappeared into the kitchen and began banging around.

"Make me something, too!" Drake yelled before he set his attention on the rabbit huddling next to a lump of blanket in the corner that had to be Cerat. Mm, rabbit.

"Hey there, C. Please tell me you or your old lady friend hit War." He said as he squatted down in front of him. When he got no answer he licked his lips and stared down at the carpet. He knew they needed to get through to Cerat somehow, but the guy had completely shut down besides taking care of the rabbit.

And I can't turn into a rabbit. Just a horny wolf with no morals and a taste for cats.

Deciding against shifting, Drake stood and walked over to Warden's suitcase, not interested in his own. Removing a pair of pajama pants, he tugged them on, then leaned over and picked up the drink Warden had made Cerat earlier. It was untouched, unsurprisingly.

Staring at the cup in his hand, he caught Cerat glancing up at him from just beneath the blanket. You're starving, hun. Yet you hate what you become when you drink blood and I don't blame you one bit. Shaking his head, Drake made his way to the kitchen. Setting the cup down in the sink, he went to the fridge and pulled out the container of spinach. He thought about taking the iron pills he saw sitting on the counter, but decided against it. Baby steps.

Ignoring what Warden was currently cooking, he headed back over to Cerat and sat down in front of him, but faced away. After counting to twenty in his head, Drake carefully opened the plastic container he held and took out a single leaf of spinach. He hated the stuff with a passion since it tasted like the chalk he'd eaten in second grade, but if Cerat would eat it...

You. Leaf. You better make him eat you or I'll murder you and all your friends.

Satisfied by his threat, Drake slowly reached back until his hand rested against the soft comforter, palm up with the single leaf in it. The wait really bothered him. Being a werewolf and still quite upset with his best friend, Drake would have given almost anything to have something to do while he sat there. Even plucking his friend's stupid feathers would have been better than nothing.

When he finally felt something nudge against his palm, his spirits shot up, but then dropped abruptly when he realized that it was the rabbit after a quick peak behind himself. He had to bite back a snarl as the thing sniffed at the spinach. Go away or I swear I'm gonna eat you when he's not paying attention and just tell him you got adopted! By my stomach...

Drake was about to let a warning growl slip anyway as he faced forward again but froze when he felt hesitant, cold fingers brush against his palm softly. A second later he realized that the leaf was gone and hurried to replace it with another.

Progress was extremely slow at first. He felt Cerat take each leaf, but didn't hear chewing until several minutes had passed. Everything in him screamed to turn around and confirm what he knew was happening, but instead, he forced himself to remain calm and just added a new leaf to his hand.

The process repeated for about ten minutes before Warden walked in with two plates of food. Drake would have bared his teeth, silently telling him not to enter, but it had been almost a minute since Cerat had taken any spinach, so he figured that he had had enough for the time being.

Withdrawing his hand, Drake returned the leaf of spinach to its container and snapped it shut, then got to his feet. Thankfully, Warden seemed to know better than to discuss what had happened, considering the fact that they weren't allowed to not feed him blood, and just silently handed over the extra plate of food after he'd run the spinach back to the fridge.

Drake took the plate and dropped down into one of the rickety chairs near the tiny dining table. He didn't hesitate a second before digging into the chicken drumsticks and potato. The potato had been clearly nuked in the microwave and the chicken was dry, but he couldn't care less. And his wolf, couldn't care even lesser.

When they both finished their meals, Drake took the plates to the kitchen and rinsed them, then loaded them into the dishwasher. The sound of someone knocking met his ears not a moment after he started the appliance. Okay, it's either grandma again or the microchip person. As luck would have it, when he swung the door open, it was the latter.

I'd like to hit him with a ladder. Surely there's one around here somewhere.

"I'm a telepath, Drake. And I would not appreciate being attacked with a ladder for just doing my job." The man grumbled as he stalked past him.

A telepath, huh?

Smirking, Drake started bringing up images of the scenes from his last bout of sex. It had been quite eventful and brought out some of his darker side with chains and a blindfold. Mr. Telepath's face remained stony at first, but when they all stopped in front of where Cerat was hiding in the large comforter, Drake could see the red splotches on the man's cheeks.

Lesson one, Mr. Telepath. Never tell an angry horndog that you can read his mind.

The man grunted and removed a small item from his coat pocket, then knelt beside Cerat.  He gave the rabbit that ran over to greet him a disgusted look and quickly nudged it away. Not wanting something bad to happen; Or, well, worse, Drake hurried forward and  wrapped his arms around Cerat.

When the man pulled the top of the blanket down and started feeling around Cerat's neck, seemingly looking for loose skin, Drake had to grind his teeth together and focus to keep the nervous vampire in his arms calm. The guy might have lost a good deal of his strength over the three months since he'd been changed, but he was still a vampire. When the injection came, Cerat yelped as the plunger forced the tiny microchip into his cold skin.

Immediately, Drake began to lick the small wound as blood slowly ran from it. A low growl also escaped his parted lips, telling the man that he had better get the hell away from him, or else. Wisely, Mr. Telepath hurried to his feet and darted for the door, and of course, left no pain medication or antibiotics. Drake pursed his lips and looked down at the guy in his arms, realizing that Cerat was shaking quite a bit. Especially his jaw.

Aw baby.

Quieting his growl, Drake dug under the blankets until he found the small tube of numbing medicine they'd used earlier, having a feeling that it would be there. He undid the cap and carefully added a small amount to his finger, then gently slid it between Cerat's lips. Thankfully, Cerat seemed a bit more understanding, or was at least in a good deal of pain, and didn't fight Drake as he applied the gel. He had no doubt that actually chewing the spinach had hurt, but he was extremely glad that Cerat had eaten the small amount anyway.

"Better?" He asked when Cerat relaxed against his chest with a quiet sigh.

Instead of answering verbally, Drake watched the little vampire scoop up the bunny near his legs and snuggle it against his chest. The scene brought a smile to his face and Drake squeezed Cerat in his arms a bit, then leaned over and licked his cheek.

"I'm glad."