His Obsession

Chase yawned as he pushed open the door to his apartment at dawn that morning. He stepped in, shutting the door behind him and locking it before tossing his keys into a bowl sitting on the buffet.

He walked across the wood floors of his living room, past his buttery leather couch and chair to the floor to ceiling window overlooking the gated community. He watched someone walking their Chihuahua, weaving around trees along the sidewalk below. Sleepily, Chase wondered if the dog would taste like chicken or bad tacos before closing the blinds and stumbling into his bedroom.

Emerald green silk sheets greeted him as he collapsed on top of the bed. He nuzzled into the sheets as he toed off his shoes and yanked off his clothes. Then he grabbed his favorite oversized pillow, one that faintly smelled of the forest and pack then cuddled up to the silk clad monster, beginning to doze.

The phone sitting innocently on the nightstand jarred him into wakefulness just as he had fallen asleep. A few swipes and Chase finally was able to answer it.

“This better be good.” He growled and a smooth melodious chuckle answered him. “Oh… it’s you.”

“I seem to have woke you, Mr. Damien.” Kyriak purred. “Been busy, I take it?”

“Yeah, been a long night.”

“It’s daytime, Mr. Damien.” The vampire readily informed him. “Almost seven in fact.”

“Which means I’ve only gotten twenty minutes of sleep.” Chase replied pointedly. He dug his head underneath his pillow and curled up in a tight ball.

“Ah. I see.”

“There a reason why you called?” Chase asked with a yawn and Kyriak chuckled again.

“Sin was most anxious as to your progress involving our case.” The vampire responded politely. “Is there any new developments?”

“We found your friend.”

“Really.”

“Yeah, has a head of white hair just like the one you left me.” Chase yawned and then continued, “He’s a bit nutty but it’s kinda cute.”

“What is his name?”

“Puck.”

“His name is Puck?” Kyriak chuckled, “His parents named him after the famous Shakespearian jester.”

“I think he named himself.” Chase muttered. “No self respecting mom and dad would ever curse their kid with a name like that.”

Another chuckle answered him and then, “What else do you know about our comedic friend?”

“He punched Luk. He knows more than he lets on. He has some sort of anti-magic vampire talent.”

“Anti-magic?” Kyriak inquired, a puzzled frown evident in his voice.

“I tried locating him with a spell an’ it didn’t work.” Chase answered. “If I hadn’t been eavesdropping on the crowd at the Jalapeño, I would never of I.D.’ed him.”

“So Puck is a vampire with an ability to nullify magic. He’s charmingly insane, highly intelligent and had some sort of disagreement with Luk. Correct?”

“Sounds about right.” Chase agreed with a yawn.

“Bring him to us. Tonight.” Kyriak ordered.

The werewolf groaned and threw the pillow off his head. He sat up and rubbed his eyes.

“Hey Spartacus, unlike you I kinda need to get eight hours of sleep.” Chase replied. “You’re going to have to wait until tomorrow night for your insane friend with the nice ass.”

“Oh?” the vampire on the line drawled in a curious tone.

“An operation like you’re askin’ takes some planning. First I’d have to sleep so I can plan out some way of getting the guy alone ‘cause he’s got some pretty protective pals. Then I’d haveta grab the most powerful sedative there is because I doubt Puck’s gonna go anywhere with me, despite the friendly attitude he’s displayed thus far.”

“So you are unable to do this job?” Kyriak asked mildly. “Despite claims that you and your pack are the best, you are unable to deliver a mentally addled individual to me by nightfall?”

“Damnit Kyriak, you know fucking well I need sleep!” Chase swore. “And Puck isn’t just some ‘mentally addled individual’. He’s a goddamn vampire, he’s got a witch with a crush on him and another vampire acting like a mother hen at his side. I will get my ass handed to me if I don’t have some sort of plan. And to plan I need sleep!”

Chase heard chuckling on the other end.

“You are exceptionally cranky in the mornings, aren’t you Mr. Damien?” Kyriak replied before a click and the dial tone greeted the werewolf.

************************

“You look like shit.” Medina said as way of greeting as him and Jirou walked into Chase’s apartment around noon.

“Hai leader-chan, didn’t you get any sleep?” the Asian man asked as Chase shut the door behind him.

Dark circles lurked underneath the werewolf’s jade green eyes, the scent of coffee drifted from the kitchen and mug sitting on the floor in the living room. Chase shuffled over and collapsed into the chair, reaching down and picking up his drink.

“I got a call from our employer and he says he wants our little paycheck tonight.” He told his men and took a sip from the mug.

“So you’ve been up all day, throwing back coffee, plotting on a method to please the customer.” Medina said and Chase nodded.

“Slave driver.” Jirou muttered. “I bet Ky’s real name is Claudius.”

“Emperor Claudius was Roman, Kyriak is Greek.” Chase retorted with a yawn. He took another sip of coffee with a wince. “But enough with the history lesson....”

“Jirou, since Porter has homework to finish, think you can whip up something that can knock out a vampire?” he asked.

“Always knew my veterinary science degree would come in handy.” The Asian man responded with a smirk. Chase let out a jaw cracking yawn and nodded.

“Obtain the stuff legally, ok?” He told Jirou as the man stood up to leave.

“Yeah, stealing drugs from an animal shelter or vets makes us look like desperate drug addicts.” Medina added. Jirou chuckled and waved goodbye to both men as he left.

A moment of comfortable silence passed between the two remaining werewolves, punctuated only by the sound of Chase rising from his chair to refill his coffee mug. Medina could tell something was on the younger man’s mind and he waited patiently for Chase to voice it.

“Medina, you’re pretty wise.” He said from the kitchen. “Think we’re doing the right thing?”

“The right thing?”

“Yeah.” Chase replied as he poured himself more coffee. “We both know Kyriak of Ephesus and his crew are bad guys—and Puck killed one of these bad guys.”

Medina heard him sigh before continuing.

“So why are we taking their money and capturing Puck? Doesn’t that make us the bad guys?”

“It makes us mercenaries.” Medina replied. “Whatever Sin, Kyriak, or his puta sister do or have in mind for Puck isn’t any of our concern.”

The sound of the carafe being situated back in place nearly obscured another sigh that escaped from Chase’s lips.

“What do you want, jefe?” Medina asked once his leader padded back into the room and sat down. “You want me to say for you to tell Kyriak to kiss our tails? Sorry Chase, my only duty is to protect not make decisions for you.”

Chase sipped his coffee deep in thought. His mind went back to the moment he first saw Puck. The first thing that drew Chase’s gaze to him was his unusual white hair. He sensed almost immediately what type of creature Puck was and that he wasn’t all that old at that. Certainly not older than Chase himself, who just celebrated his twenty second birthday.

Then there was the smile, a small bright and happy smile that seemed to light up the room. It made Chase feel strangely protective of Puck, as if he were something precious that needed him— and jealous that he wasn’t the focus of that merry grin.

Then Chase began studying Puck’s body, which his pack obviously knew he was doing. He was slender, built not quite like a man but definitely not like a woman. His facial bones were delicately carved, his shoulders broad and vaguely muscular. It was as if the Goddess herself had inventively molded attractive bits and pieces of both genders to create Puck.

It was then that he decided upon and made his move. Close up, Chase could see Puck’s wide eyes were a dark chocolate color with sweeping lashes. Fear radiated from the vampire, something the werewolf wasn’t too surprised about. Chase was much larger than him but he wasn’t expecting Puck to be so light. Another stab of protectiveness ran through Chase and he tried easing Puck’s fears by a bit of friendly banter.

Hi

H-hello. Okay, that was encouraging. Let’s find out who you are…

You got a name sweetie, he asked. It was an awkward position Chase held him in hence he held Puck more securely so to not to drop him.

Not sweetie Puck replied with an endearing breathlessly quality. Aww he’s so cute!

Chase began nuzzling him and it proved to be the last straw with Puck. It was at that moment the vampire elbowed and shoved him backward, leaving him lying on his back visibly stunned and with no few hurt feelings.

Oops, pushed him too far there, Chase remembered thinking as Puck yelled at him, referring to himself in the third person. Well at least I got his name.

As the night went on, Puck further endeared himself to Chase. He stood up for Porter and Chase plus gave the werewolf an amusing nickname. His little one liners—although undesired—were cute during the situation. Even Talisa’s crush on the oblivious Puck was adorable.

It was Talisa herself that clued Chase in that there was more to Puck than he realized. First there was Puck’s clumsy attempt hide how he knew Chase shoved Porter. Then there was his odd statement when the pack and him returned from their ill-fated hunt. Talisa’s own clumsy attempt to hide information followed by what Chase heard cemented his suspicions.

Chase had found Luk Jiang’s killer. His job was complete...however.

Presently the werewolf leader sighed and took another sip of bitter coffee.

“Why am I second guessing myself— and now of all times?” Chase muttered. “I’ve sent tons of other seemingly good people to obvious bad guys. What makes this job so different?”

“Because this time the person is an enigma.” Medina answered. “You knew everything there was to know about our previous targets.”

The one eyed man shrugged. “Here, you don’t know anything about Puck except he’s loco, deceptively powerful, easy on the eyes and Kyriak is interested in him. You like to have all the answers and none of them are available within our time limit.”
“So you think I ought to drop it and just do the job.” Chase replied and Medina shrugged again.

“I’m just here to ensure the Alpha’s adopted son doesn’t get himself killed with his chosen profession.”

Chase flipped him off, “I just knew you were still loyal to Mackenzie.”

The werewolf leader sipped at his coffee while the other man filled the comfortable silence of the room with inward musings. From the warm smile tugging at the older man’s lips, Chase could tell Medina was recalling how much the yappy little pup before him had grown.

When Medina and Chase had first met, both were vastly different people. Chase was a surly little boy who was snubbed by the other pups for not being born to their world. Medina was a young man who had a full head of jet black hair and both eyes set on being top dog. Their paths might have never crossed had not fate decreed otherwise.

A failed coup left Medina in the infirmary with the loss of his eye sight in one eye and burns all over his body. To make matters worse before the sunset the following day, his girlfriend informed him she didn’t go for ‘ugly lame mutts’ and dumped him for another woman.

The only bright thing in Medina’s life was the fact he was acknowledged as Mack’s savior which gave him the position of an honored bodyguard and all that went with it. Including a room inside Mack’s estate.

Medina’s first meeting with the household staff was also his first meeting with Chase. Mack was introducing him to the cook when a black blur sprang from Medina’s blindside and tackled his leader to the floor. His surprise and alarm melted away the moment he heard his Alpha laugh as he lay on the floor while a small black pup licked him to death. Mack picked up the squirmy canine and proudly held him up at Medina.

“Chase say hi to our new bodyguard, Medina.” The Alpha introduced. The golden green eyed wolf yipped at him. “Medina meet my son Chase Damien.”

From that moment on whenever Mack was busy with pack business, Medina would find himself dogged by a ten year old and his endless questions.

“Shouldn’t I be a gold wolf and not a black one since I’m blond in human form?”

“Is the reason there are so many packs and wolf colorings because your Goddess likes variety?”

“Has anyone met your Goddess?”

Medina was later surprised to hear from Mack that the only other person Chase normally spoke to other than himself was his friend Porter. His teachers couldn’t even get him to talk to them. His grades proved he knew the answers when his teachers questioned him in class. Chase just refused to speak to anyone but a select few. But when he did...

“Why is it you’re always yapping at me?” Medina recalled finally demanding one day. “If you’re not following me around asking me questions right and left as a human, you’re nipping at my heels in animal form. Why?”

“Cause I wanted to make you feel better.” Chase told him. “I heard people calling you names behind your back an’ when people call me names...”

Medina stopped ignoring Chase’s questions after that and began answering them.

“I have no clue why you’re a black wolf and not gold.”

“Packs are nothing more than a group of wolves who live in the same area and follow the same leader. As for the colorings, yeah maybe the Goddess likes variety.”

“The hell if I know if anyone’s met the Goddess! I leave that sh—uh, stuff to shamans.”

In the present Medina snorted and Chase arched an inquisitive eyebrow at him.

“You still ask me dumbass questions.” The older man replied and his leader nearly sprayed a mouthful of coffee all over himself.

“Fuck you, asshole.” Chase replied with a laugh.