With his bounty truly complete Michael finally turned his phone back on.

After the screen booted up, his fractured screen was swamped with numerous messages and missed call notifications. At the top of the message pile was several uppercase lines of apology as Alexander asked him to pick up his call.

Michael gave in and called him back. The phone barely rang before the other end picked it up. In the background Michael could hear others talking as Alexander excused himself to head outside.

“Baby, I mean it. I’ve missed you.”

“What did I say about call me baby right now?” Michael growled and kicked the bits of loose asphalt beneath his feet. To tell the truth he didn’t mind Alexander’s pet name for him, but right now he wanted his husband to be a bit more serious. It always felt like he was flirting when he called him ‘baby’.

“Sorry, sorry, Baby. I mean Michael.” Alexander kept his tone low and Michael could only assume it was not to be overheard.

“What your situation?” Michael cut straight to the point.

“Neil Kitt. Handsome, young and a wereleopard. Side character with middling plot relevance.” It was a half decent character setting. Though for Alexander the most important was being hot, that way once Michael saw his face, he would forget his grievances.

“I see. I can only report more of the same. Hunter Clarke. Human, fae hunter who dies within three scenes.” He kicked a large pebble and watched it ding into a surrounding tree. It left a decent dent in the trunk.

“Michael…” The words were a warning as Michael sighed.

“Are you really worried about me dying so easily?” The other side remained silent as Michael continued. “I’ve got some magic resistance as well as a gun. I’ll be fine.”

It still didn’t fully satisfy Alexander as he leaned against one of the large trees that grow in the pack’s land. It was humid out, so he only walked around in a pair of shorts and sandals, fully adapting to the tropical way of cooling down. “I’m your husband. How can I not be concerned? Even with a gun, you said you were human. I think it’s best we meet up.”

Michael huffed but still nodded. “Of course. I just finished a bounty. So, I have a bit of cash in my pocket. Where do you want to meet?”

“Due to my setting, I’m being kept a close eye on by the pack so I can’t travel too far.”

“Where’s your current location?” Michael had already looked over a map of the state several times while plotting his world building road trip. He was sure there were some nice places they could meet up at.

Alexander quickly sent over the coordinates and Michael saw he was basically in the middle of the state above Lake Okeechobee. Not too bad of a drive from the HQ, probably an hour or so. But he also didn’t want to run into people he knew so he selected a small town on the east coast about an hour and a half away.

“How does a small seaside town sound? There’s a town call Marina’s Call about two hours from you. It seems like a good meet up spot.” It also served a secondary purpose of building up the world.

Alexander quickly looked up the town and found it cute as he nodded. “Normal meet up spot?”

“The first diner we see.” He confirmed with a blank expression. The Archive seemed to be working like normal so the first diner will be called Lucille’s Diner and it will have a minor retro theme and a good greasy breakfast.

“Of course.” The line was silent for a moment as Alexander tried to think of something to say, but as he was about to speak Michael spoke up.

“Can you make it out tomorrow? I don’t want to delay this too long.” His tone was flat, completely dedicated to business as Alexander nodded.

“Yea. I’ll go talk them into letting me out for a bit.”

“Good. See you tomorrow.” Michael went to hang up.

“Wait!” Alexander cut in. With a small smile he added in, “I love you.” The silent static from the other side of the phone was palpable as he could practically see the finger above the end call button.

Luckily, Michael wasn’t heartless as he grumbled. “Love you too.” The call then ended as he pocketed the phone. He rubbed his face to hide the slight blush that crawled across his cheeks. Biting his lip, he cursed. “Trash demon.”

Time slowly passed as Alexander looked at his phone with a soft smile. Even when moody, he missed that man. Pocketing his phone, he headed back into the house with a brighter mood. Trisha noticed her cousin’s suddenly improved attitude as she looked over from the sink.

“Who called?” She put the remaining dishes on the drying rack as Alexander leaned on the table. His abdomen muscles rippled beautifully, and she felt the sudden urge to punch him in the stomach. Back in the day she used to be just as ripped, but 3 children and a busy life had made it difficult for her to return to the gym. It’s not like Rusty cared, but she had always been proud of her core.

“My boyfriend.”

Her jealous thoughts were suddenly wiped away as Trisha blinked a few times. The words still didn’t process as she looked blankly at her cousin. Wasn’t this man the one who nearly got caught by his witchy one-night stand?

“I’m not joking.” Alexander casually added while ignoring the doubt on her face.

“And how long have you guys been supposedly dating?”

He just laughed. Then came up with an arbitrary date. “About 5 years. Though it was mostly long distance because of his circumstances. We had a massive argument a few months ago before the incident and have been on break. Then with everything else that’s happened, I haven’t had the bandwidth to deal with him. But he finally called me back for the first time today.”

“Uh huh.” It wasn’t like Trisha cared that Neil had a boyfriend, but she had never heard of this. Then again, how would she? She doubted even his parents knew about it. Wait did that make the first person he told? The sudden weight of the situation hit Trisha as she froze. It wasn’t like she was archaic, gay marriage was legal. Hell, they had a few gay mated pairs in the pack, and she had watch shows where people had come out. She could do this! Be the accepting cousin, but it just felt so out of left field that her mind was still buzzing.

She had to be supportive but there were a few things she needed to make sure of first. “Is he a wereleopard?”

“No, human.” Alexander casually threw the words out while stealing an orange from the fruit bowl. He peeled it with a sharp nail and began to eat as Trisha held her head. The male part was no longer the issue. A human!? The feeling of an oncoming headache pounded at her temples as she gritted her teeth.

“Your boyfriend is a human? Does he know you’re a wereleopard?” This might work if the boy was ignorant of the supernatural world. At least Alexander wouldn’t have broken any of the codes. If he knew, then she might have to straggle Neil herself. Supernaturals who carelessly reveal their status to civilians could be subject to punishment depending on how badly they fucked up. The codes of secrecy are quite tight, especially among werebeasts.

“No. I never got to it.” Alexander could sense her agitation and he wanted to poke her a little bit more. But he also needed her help to get a day pass as he put on his best repentant face. “It’s a regret of mine. I think that’s what caused a lot of stress on our relationship.”

“It’s best you didn’t tell him. How would a normal person react if you told them you turned into a giant cat during a full moon? It probably would have ended the relationship even faster.” Though Trisha’s eldest was only 8, she had sense a few of her younger pack members fall for humans before. It rarely ended well. Between the codes, pack dynamics and the general mental strain, it was hard to have a relationship with human civilians.

“Anyway, what did he want? I would guess it was to fully break it off, but you seem too happy.” She dried her hands on a hand towel and leaned against the counter to face him.

“He wants to meet up and talk.”

“Oh. Oh.” The last word was drawn out as she scowled and crossed her arms before letting out a long sigh. “You want me to help you get a pass out of the lands, don’t you?”

“Are you a psychic too?” An apologetic smile crossed his face as he put his half-eaten orange to the side.

In no mood for his teasing, Trisha slide over to him and grabbed the back of his head. With a harsh push she made him partially bow as she messed up his hair. “Are you stupid?! Really? Did you lose your brain or something?! Less than a day ago you were nearly killed because you fucked around and now, we finally got you here, you want to leave again for another booty call!”

“It’s not a booty call!” This was a half-truth. With how Michael sounded earlier, he would have to work a little bit to get him into bed. “He’s just a normal human. No ties to the supernatural or anything. We won’t be meeting up too far away either.” He looked at her with pathetic eyes.

She stared a little longer, the skepticism clear on her face until she finally broke her silence with another sigh. “Where are you meeting?”

“Marina’s Call.”

“How long will you be gone?”

“Just over night.”

“Really?” She kept a grip on his head, trying to exert some level of dominance on him as he nodded.

“He’s also busy at work so he can’t take much time off. But he really wants to talk face to face.”

“What’s this boyfriend’s name?”

Alexander froze for a second. They had exchanged in world names earlier, but he was so used to calling him Michael. Thankfully, his memory was good. “Hunter Clarke.”

Trisha looked at him a little longer before she pushed aside her doubts. She wanted to say no, but she couldn’t deny his entire mood change was a massive improvement compared to the sulky agitated Neil from earlier. If this boy could really get her cousin in a good mood, she might even consider putting in a word with Richard to have him introduced to the pack after a proper screening.

“Fine, I’ll cover for you. But you only have a day. If you’re not back by 4 PM the next day I’m not responsible for any troubles.” Ultimately, she gave in and released her hold on his head. “Stupid young love.” She hissed but couldn’t deny her own romance had been similar. Her mother did not approve of Rusty at all. Mostly because he was a Werewolf and she didn’t think werebeasts should mix. How could she stop her cousin? If she tried, he might even run off and not come back. It was better to give him a little slack on the leash.

“Sister Trisha, you’re the best!” Alexander enthusiastically hugged her from behind. If only she could see the devilish grin that slithered across his face. That was way easier than he thought it would be. But if the job was done with less effort who was he to complain?

A/N

I'm posting this early because I just finished my curse of Strahd session and my Gothic Lolita barbarian dwarf tried to outrun Strahd with charmed Ireena on her shoulders. Failed all her grapple checks to try and hold back the vampire bastard while our charmed druid ended up casting hold person on Ireena so Strahd could just pick her up and leave. The whole session was a cluster fuck, but a lot of fun. It definitely changed...a lot of things. But we're level 4 now, yea~! Basically I'm very hyped by the session, so I wanted to post even if this is my second to last fully edited chapter at the moment.