[C] Another day at the office

"Yes, but I've not been fucking doing it now, have I? I've been sat at home packing for our week away."

His eyes narrowed as she turned to walk away from him.

"I thought you had the decency not to flirt with someone else while we're going away for a week, tomorrow, I might add, to do a lot more than just flirt."

Now the initial anger had washed away, Khaliq was just disappointed.

"I had the decency not to. I thought you would have, too."

The Necromancer shook his head and turned around. "I'll see you at the bar," he called out. The little bell above the door rang as he wrenched it open.

His last few words stab through her like a knife, she did feel like she had cheated on him when in reality all she did was be a little playful with one of her clients, she hadn't even said anything that bad.

Still, when she heard that door chime she wanted to ran after him an apologize.

Instead she slid down the cabinet in the back room and sat on the floor with her head resting on her knees.

This holiday had been a bad idea, she was getting too attached to Liq and she knew that wouldn't lead to anything good.

The woman gave a small sniffle, wiping her nose on her sleeve as she just sat there, she didn't want to go to the bar anymore.

They both felt like they had gotten too attached.

Rai had been a lot of fun in the beginning. A good fuck that came back around over and over.

But now he was getting possessive of her. Not a good thing.

The Necromancer sighed as he flagged down the bartender. He needed a drink.

Then he was going to go home, unpack and call into work to tell them he'd be there tomorrow like usual.

Like any young Lycan her emotions fluctuated, anger turned to sadness which flared back into anger.

She gave a shuddered breath as a shaky hand reached up to wipe the tears from her eyes.

She needed to get out of here.

Leaving all of her stuff behind she bolted for the door, she ran until she reached the outskirts of town, tearing off her clothing and dumping it at the edge of the forest before shifting, running along on all fours.

If she couldn't stop herself from feeling she would just run and keep running until she was too exhausted to be upset anymore.

Not too long after Liq had sat down with the strongest alcohol they had on stock, a familiar face appeared at the Necromancer's elbow.

He lifted his hands and popped a party popper right by the Necromancer's ear, which resulted in a lot of abuse hurled in the Lycan's direction.

"So, where's your little whore? Thought you two would be partying together."

Liq shook his head. "Change of plans. Shit happened. Doubt we'll be doing anything any time soon. Fact, I'm pretty sure she's going to be avoiding me for the next few months."

The Lycan's lips pursed. "Really? You two had a fight? What about this time? Who would get to fuck who tonight?"

"She's flirting with others while wearing my marks."

Aodh had the audacity to laugh at that one. "You've spent too much time around Lycan. Best cut you off from your usual surfing buddies from now on. Did you tell her that's what upset you?"

Liq gave his friend a dirty look. Of course he did.

"And?"

"She said we're not exclusive."

Aodh rolled his eyes. "Seriously? All right. I'll be back in a second." He had something to do. "Oi, Aeker, going out on a run. Look after this one and the tot," he called across the bar before heading out, stripping off his jacket as he went.

Raisa was fairly small by Lycan standards, as all females were, but she was fast.

She ran through the forest, uncaring of anything that got into her way, simply plowing through branches and plants as she went.

Multiple times she had to correct her direction because she would run toward Liq's house on instinct.

she growled at herself as she finally came to a stop, panting heavily as she stood and looked at the ground.

This wasn't helping at all.

Aodh soon followed the woman into the forest.

His paws were loud as they thundered against the ground, his nose sniffing out the woman. He'd smelled enough of her on Khaliq in his time to be able to track her scent without thinking.

When he finally found her, he slowed to a stop.

All right, I'm here to kick some sense into you. Get your ass up and follow me. Now.

Aodh wasn't in much of a joking mood.

Raisa could hear Aodh coming, the man's scent and sound were hardly subtle.

She curled her tail around herself and gave a soft growl, she didn't want to go anywhere.

However regardless of personal feelings he was her Beta and he had given her an order.

Grudgingly she got to her feet and padded toward the man, following after him.

Aodh led the woman through the forest towards Liq's house.

He shifted back when he got to the Necromancer's front door and opened it up with the key they kept up on the top of the door. He knew his way around their place. He'd been here often enough.

"Go get some clothes from Fawzi's room," he barked.

Aodh disappeared into Liq's room. He had stored a few pairs of shorts here for emergencies where he was stuck without clothes.

She did as she was told obediently, heading into the woman's room and gathering the smallest clothes that Fawzi owned.

Rai settled for a pair of leggings and a long singlet, throwing a jacket over top as well as borrowing a pair of her flats.

She would be sure to bring it all back undamaged.

"What are we doing here Aodh?"

She asked, she didn't want to be hanging around, she wanted to go back to the mansion and curl up in bed.

"Getting clothes," he answered, reappearing in the hall wearing a pair of board shorts.

"The Last Stand doesn't appreciate naked women like Zo does."

He'd drag Rai to the club and sit her down in front of Liq even if he had to order her to go.

"He likes you, you know?" Aodh asked as he led the woman back out of the apartment, locking it up again.

"He just doesn't want to admit it 'cause he's a stubborn asshole."

"Getting clothes," he answered, reappearing in the hall wearing a pair of board shorts.

"The Last Stand doesn't appreciate naked women like Zo does."

He'd drag Rai to the club and sit her down in front of Liq even if he had to order her to go.

"He likes you, you know?" Aodh asked as he led the woman back out of the apartment, locking it up again.

"He just doesn't want to admit it 'cause he's a stubborn asshole."

Raisa scoffed softly as Aodh's question, crossing her arms over her chest defensively.

"I doubt that very much."

She replied, shaking her head, the red in her eyes was evidence enough that she had been crying, through she avoided looking at the man.

"The only thing he cares about is having a good time and money."

She didn't want to believe what Aodh was saying.

"If you think that's true, you're thick as he is."

Aodh padded down the street completely barefoot, leading her to the bar.

"If all he was looking for was a good time, why would he keep going back to you? Nothing like having a new partner every night. Never know what's around the corner. Better time there than having the same person over and over again, right?"

The Lycan's silver eyes pierced Rai. "He's upset because you were flirting with someone else with his marks on you. Think of it as a Lycan. His girl is off with someone else while he's claimed her." Aodh shook his head. "How would you feel if he went off to fuck someone just when you got done fucking him?"

Raisa's gaze looked down at the ground in shame as Aodh spoke, she knew that feeling, she knew it well.

"He has done the same thing to me, I've fed from him countless times and then he has gone off to work, just because I've kept my marks hidden like he has asked doesn't mean that they don't matter to me."

She growled at Aodh in return, visibly upset, how many women had he been with while her marks were still on his skin? too many to count, she could smell them on him everything he came back from work.

"I was never meant to be his girl, I tried my hardest not to get attached, I knew what we were meant to be, friend with benefits, that's it.

That's why...even during November, I never...I struggled through that because I thought he didn't want me and then he had the nerve to become possessive."

Her growling didn't affect him at all.

Aodh smirked to himself, more than a little amused. "Ask him how many girls he's fucked while the two of you have been fucking each other seriously. Just because he dances doesn't mean he tangos."

The Lycan snorted. "No, I'm right. You are as thick as him. Right, here's the plan. You march up to him, get down on one knee and propose. The two of you fly off somewhere beautiful for your wedding and when you come back, you'll have two point five kids and twice as many dogs."

He stopped when they were outside the bar. "Talk to him. have a serious conversation about what the two of you want."

Raisa glared at him, she didn't appreciate being made fun of right now.

Aodh did have a point, they got heated and both stormed off, at least she didn't have to worry about ruining their friendship if she told him, it had already been ruined.

"If I do this and he drops me flat on my ass, I'm coming after you."

She threatened before giving the man a small hug.
"Thanks Aodh." She murmured softly before padding into the bar more timidly then she had ever before.

She found Liq easily enough, even hunched over the bar the man stuck out easily.

Rai padded up behind him, tugging on the hem of his shirt softly.
"Liq...can we go outside and talk?"

"Yeah, you do that, princess," he snorted softly, returning her hug.

He slapped her ass as she pushed open the bar door, padding past her to pick up his son and give his fiancé a kiss.

Khaliq glanced up when his shirt was tugged on.

"You actually came?" He looked just as shocked as he sounded.

"Uh, sure." Liq stood, taking a step back when he realised he was rather close to her. After a moment, the man turned and headed towards the back door.

There was more privacy in the back alley.

"I wasn't going to, Aodh came and dragged me out of the woods."
She explained as she motioned to the clothes she was wearing.

"I had to raid Fawzi's wardrobe again."
She smiled sheepishly, she had to stop doing that, if they worked things out she would have to leave some clothes at his place.

Rai followed him out the back, breathing a soft sigh as they got into the evening air.

She held her hand up to silence him before he had a chance to say anything, she needed to get this out before she chickened out.

She took a large breath for speaking fair quickly.

"I understand why you were upset, I get the same way but I kinda have to live with it being a lycan and all so I just don't let it show but some days I swear I am going to go mad."

She paused for a brief moment to take a breath.

"You don't have to be mad about me flirting with Phil, I wasn't intending on doing anything with him, I haven't slept with another man since I started going at it with you, I don't even have his phone number so I was lying through my teeth when I told him I would call him, I only wanted to get return business.

I know we are only meant to be fuck buddies but I kinda fucked it up hard because I've gotten way too attached to you."

Liq stared at her as she blurted out everything that was on her mind.

She spoke fast, but Liq was used to fast speaking. English was a very slowly spoken language. Arabic was much faster spoken and he'd grown up listening to the speed of that language.

"So you fucked up because you got too attached?" he asked to clarify. He knew that feeling. "Me, too."

Liq crossed his arms over his chest, staring hard at the woman for a few long, long minutes.

"Where do we go from here?"

Khaliq didn't know what to do. He hoped that Rai had a better idea of what to do than he did.

Otherwise they'd both be fucked.

Rai cringed as he repeated the one part of her little confession that she hoped he had missed.

Her shoulders sagged as he said 'me too' as if some great weight had been lifted off of them.

"I...have no idea."

She replied glumly as she looked up at him with a shrug.

"I guess we find out what we both want from what ever this is and work on it from there?"

Liq nodded.

That sounded good.

Where to start?

"What do you want from this?" he asked, head tilted to the side a little. He wanted to hear what she wanted. How she wanted them to end up after tonight.

"I guess given what happened today we make it a rule that we don't get with other people while we are still marked by each other?"

She asked, she really didn't know where the limits were.

"We both know each other well enough to say that being exclusive isn't an option, especially with your work and our prospect of getting into the live streaming business."

Rai gave a little hum, with the exception of today she never had a problem with the way they were.

"I don't think anything really has to change with how we were, we just have to acknowledge that the other person has the rite to be possessive because we're kinda...a couple?"

Khaliq nodded thoughtfully.

"I don't mind you flirting with others. Just... tell me. The idea of some creepy bastard ripping into you when you don't want it sets me on edge."

The Necromancer sighed softly then pursed his lips.

"If you want it, let me know. If you don't wants it, I'll beat their heads in."

His lips curled upwards into a smile. "A couple. I like the sound of that." A real shock to him. Usually he avoided becoming a couple with anyone, but he liked the sound of it with Rai.

The Necromancer opened his arms, beckoning Rai for a hug.

"You're going to be beating in a lot of heads then."

She replied with a soft chuckle, it kinda came with the territory unfortunately, Lycan just had an animal magnetism about them, people were drawn to it.

"Me too."

She admitted with a smile as she went into his open arms eagerly, cuddling up against him before leaning up on her toes to press a kiss to his lips.

"Now I can keep guys at bay, 'Hey word of warning, my boyfriend is a giant.'"

A smile curled at her lips as she nestled in against him.