Puppylove

Chapter 2

"Blood?" She spoke with a surprisingly feminine voice when she was done eyeing him up and down. Alejandro blinked, not understanding the question, but it seemed he didn't need to. A sound of paws on the floorboards came from behind him, and a second later something heavy leaned against him. The moist noise of a canine sniffed the air at the back of his neck, then next to his ear. Before he could react, it thumped back on all fours on the floor. As it walked back to the living room, it firmly shook its whole body, as if it was wet. Alejandro glanced back to see it returning back to the sofa. The one at the door and the small one next to that one seemed more curious than cautious.

"Good." The woman stated firmly. "Clear for now." There was a note of careful optimism in her voice.

"I told you," Mr Mazie said calmly but firmly. The woman gave him a warning look, to which he didn't take kindly. He rose up slowly and leveled a warning look of his own toward her and the creature at her feet. "Now, collect your pack and leave. I'm done with you disturbing my guest and my and my daughter's breakfast." The woman looked ready to argue, but Mr Mazie pointed toward the door. "I'm done with the Bree politics, out." His tone was firm, but the calmness was starting to wear off. The woman let out a breath and scrunched up her nose for a moment in an odd way. The gesture would have been childish for a human to make, but as she was a were-creature of some kind, it read as more animalistic. Before Alejandro could analyze her any further, the woman turned and walked toward the door. Tilly put herself in between Alejandro and the woman as she passed, and when the creature following her passed Tilly followed it with her eyes and made herself to even more of a wall between him and it by putting her hands up on her side and standing wide. The creature seemed amused by this and calmly trotted after the woman. One by one, all of them followed her out the door, with the last one being the biggest one that had guarded the door. It glanced back curiously and briefly made eye contact with Alejandro, before galloping after the others. From the living room window, he could see five canine figures running down the road and disappearing into the distance.

Tilly sighed loudly in relief and relaxed, her back resting against Alejandro's chest for a moment. Alejandro patted her shoulder and stepped out of the corner she had shoved him in.

"Are you two okay?" he asked. Mr Mazie rubbed the back of his neck in the manner older human males often did when tired.

"They make life a bit hard sometimes. The Brees think they own the place." Mr Mazie sighed. Then he peered into the living room. "Did they make a mess?" He walked out of the kitchen to inspect the situation with the air of a middle-aged woman going, "Don't touch my throw pillows." Alejandro's eyes moved to the pan on the stove. Despite having no sense of smell for these things, he had a feeling something might be burning.

It wasn't, it turned out, although it might have done so soon. Alejandro did not care, as instinct took over and he started flipping the thin slices of pork in the pan and inspecting the countertop for spices. When he found none, he peeked into the cupboard. He took out some clear plastic tubes that had labels on them. In no time he had broken the two eggs that had waited on the counter into the pan, mixed them up and flavoured them with some spices that sounded fitting. All with very little thought or awareness of his surroundings.

"What are you doing?" Mr Mazie's sharp inquiry cut him off from his work. Alejandro turned to see Mr Mazie and Tilly staring at him and the pan, the handle of which he had still not let go of.

"Cooking, I suppose," Alejandro responded and turned back to the pan. "It was burning."

"You almost burned my bacon!" Tilly yelped, before turning to her dad. "He saved it."

"Why would a vampire know how to cook?" Mr Mazie didn't want to let go of the topic. "What are you planning?"

"I have been babysitting a pan since I was capable of standing up and holding a spoon at once," Alejandro stated gruffly. Now that the crisis was over he realized just how irritable he felt after being woken up.