FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

"Really Martin, I'm fine. You don't have to fret so much." Jake said sternly, arms folded over his chest and lazily staring out of the car window.

The big black furred wolf at the steering wheel kept glancing in the rearview mirror with his green eyes, making his worry obvious to Jake despite his neutral expression.

"... I haven't said anything." The black wolf, Martin, said in a low rumble.

"How long have you been assigned as my bodyguard?" Jake asked, gazing up at the clouds far above the city's tall buildings as they kept driving towards the outskirts of town.

"24 years." Martin stated.

"Then it would make perfect sense that I would've learned quite a bit about you during that time." Jake sighed, looking down at his necklace with the silver paw pendant.

"Sound reasoning." Martin admitted, still casting the occasional glance in the mirror.

"So we're in agreement that I would know you pretty well then because of that." Jake said, finally looking up to meet with the wolf's eyes in the mirror.

Martin nodded.

"So stop fussing already! You big mutt!" Jake said, poking his tongue out at the black wolf's reflection.

"I'm not fussing!" Martin exclaimed with a whine, folding his ears down and pouting.

"You are too! The silent treatment, the awkward glances, the way you refrained from giving me a pat on the head. If you worry anymore you'll be a gray wolf before we reach the estate." Jake held a hand up over his muzzle and snickered. "Heheh, poor Martin is going to be a baldie before he's 50."

"But-..." Martin stated, whining again. "You went out yesterday and you didn't even say anything! How am I supposed to-..."

"Martin." Jake said firmly.

That got the big wolf to shut up obediently.

"When have I ever put myself in a situation that I wouldn't be able to handle by myself, without alerting you first?" Jake said plainly. "Besides you know how I feel about the constant hoovering. Isn't it bad enough that you live in the same building as me?"

Marti let out another pitiful whine. But Jake didn't fall for his theatrics. He knew the wolf too well to take his huffing seriously.

"Guess that's another thing I'm going to bring up when I meet him. Tell that idiot to loosen your leash a little bit." Jake grumbled, looking back out the window. "He's already in trouble for summoning me like this on such a short notice."

"Please don't give the Master any problems when you meet with him. He's just worried-..." Martin started but Jake cut him off.

"How could I possibly give him problems when he is the problem. I'll remind that overgrown pup what a fool he is." Jake yawned, almost bored thinking about what's to come. Although the words he spoke seemed less than friendly there was no malice in his voice. In fact, Jake sounded more amused than anything, even though he was admittedly a bit annoyed at the situation.

Martin didn't say anything else, knowing he was fighting a losing battle. Silently the wolf said a prayer for the one who had summoned Jake in the first place.

---

It was a few minutes later that they pulled up in front of a majestic, modernized looking estate that had once upon a time been a lordly Manor. It was a building which had been in the Silverman's possession for generations, and although much of the original building remained as it was, it hadn't completely avoided the passing of time and the evolution into the modern era.

A fair bit of land stretched to all sides of the estate, gardens, flower beds, hedges, hedge mazes, fountains, the whole shebang. And a little bit further away was the woods in which Jake spent a fair bit of his childhood playing in. A fantastical forest stretching for miles at the foot of a mountain.

Once the car stopped at the end of the very long driveway Jake opened the door and jumped out before Martin had time to circle around and open it for him.

He marched straight up to the big, sturdy front door and opened it with enough force that it bounced off the walls.

The grand foyer opened up before him, a crystal chandelier hanging from the ceiling and a red carpet going from the entrance towards the grand staircase up ahead.

He had barely taken five steps before a cheery voice called him from the landing above.

"Oya? If it isn't Jake! Are you here to chew Lance out?"

Jake turned his eyes upwards and saw a beautiful timberwolf woman with her wavy hair dyed pink and wearing a bright green dress with a flower motif. The contrast in colours almost made Jake's eyes water as the bright pink clashed horrible with the bright green.

"Hey auntie Gabby. Yes, I'm here to whoop his ass. Where is he?" He looked up at his aunt, who leaned against the balustrade of the landing above him, and looked back at him with a wide smile.

"Where indeed... My precious brother-in-law isn't a very good hider as you know, but I think he might be cowering in his office right about now." She curled her pink hair around a finger and giggled.

"Thanks auntie Gabby." Jake turned his feet in the direction of the aforementioned office.

"Take care now Jake, and try not to get any blood on the carpet, it is very annoying to get rid of." She waved him off cheerfully as he set off at a rapid pace down the well trodden path he had traversed many times before.

Down the hallway and up a second set of stairs, around a corner or two until he found what he's been looking for.

Another big, strong looking black wolf wearing sunglasses that obscured his eyes. Standing in front of a door with his arms crossed, looking intimidating in his black suit.

"Alex." Jake said, coming to a stop in front of the big wolf, looking up at him with his brows furrowed. "What on earth are you wearing?"

Alex barely budged, save for a poorly concealed wag of his tail.

"Are you trying to look like a bouncer or something?" Jake wondered aloud, eyeing the wolf up and down.

"Oh no, don't tell me... he made you wear this?" He looked up and saw Alex nodding shortly.

"Good grief... I'm... I'm so embarrassed for you." Reaching out with a paw, he laid it on Alex's forearm sympathetically. "I feel you Alex. I will liberate you from this hell."

Silently, Alex nodded again and stepped aside, freeing up the path ahead to the office.

Calm as could be, Jake cleared his throat, straightened up, standing as tall as he could get, and reached out a paw as if he was about to knock. Then he hesitated, his ears twitching and flicking. Listening intently for any sounds behind the door.

Seemingly changing his mind, he took a step backward, looking up at the big black wolf again.

"Alex, would you kindly open the door for me." Jake said plainly, staring at his reflection in the wolf's sunglasses.

Alex cocked his head to the side, obviously confused by the request. But then he nodded and went to open the door anyway.

*CRASH*

A dark shadow leapt at Alex the moment the door opened, and for a confusing moment there were two large figures wrestling on the floor, growling and snarling fiercely.

Jake sighed and stuck his paws in his pockets, watching the two wolves rolling around on the floor for a few minutes before growing impatient.

"Hey!" Jake shouted to snap them out of their horizontal tango.

The two wolves froze and looked up at him.

"Jake!" Said the gruff looking timberwolf happily, even though he held Alex pinned to the floor beneath him like it was nothing.

"Dad, why were you waiting to ambush me from behind the door?" Jake was fighting hard not to smile at the whole situation, as well as seeing his dad effortlessly pinning his own bodyguard to the floor.

"How did you know I was behind the door?" The grim looking timberwolf asked astonished.

"I didn't hear the scratching of a pen or tapping of a keyboard, nor a voice if you'd been on the phone. Ergo, I suspected an ambush from the get go." Jake stated his conclusion with a withheld eye roll.

"Is that why you sent Alex in first?" His dad asked, staring amazed at him.

"Yes. And speaking of Alex, please get off him so he can breathe."

Looking underneath him, Lance only now noticed Alex was struggling wordlessly below him.

"Oh! Sorry about that Alex, I thought you were an intruder when I realized that you weren't my son." He got up on his feet and held out a paw for the other wolf to grab, which he did, and in an amazing feat of strength got pulled up on his feet as if he was as light as a feather.

"Next you have to tell him how sorry you are for dressing him up like a bouncer." Jake said firmly, crossing his arms with a frown.

At his word his dad deflated, visibly shrinking next to the other wolf.

"S-Sorry Alex, you can go get changed now..." Immediately Alex left, only sparing a glance to Jake and gave him another nod.

They watched him leave until Alex's black tail whipped around a corner and the two of them were left alone.

Jake watched Alex leave while keeping his dad in sight in the corner of his eye. Warily on edge for another ambush.

"Right. Come inside so we can talk." Lance turned on his heel and walked back into his office with Jake following a couple of steps behind, out of arm's reach.

It was an impressive home office with many bookshelves along the walls and glass-paned shelves displaying family heirlooms and old scrolls of parchment. A luxurious chair behind a sturdy desk stood with its back against a wall with paned windows that almost reached from floor to ceiling, and on each side of the desk were a couple of double doors that lead out to the balcony just outside overlooking the gardens beneath and the vast forest beyond the estate's grounds.

Jake stole a glance at his dad. The timberwolf was about a head shorter than Victor, but that didn't mean he was any less imposing than the doberman. His fur was rugged and mostly grey with a little brown mixed in, with a little darker around his back and top of his head, which made it easy to mistake him as having a permanent scowl. In addition with his startlingly sharp yellow eyes and a grizzled muzzle with a scar of a claw mark running across it, it gave Lance Silverman the appearance of a most intimidating man, and for the most part he was rather intimidating in his sharply tailored suit.

But Jake knew better than anyone who Lance Silverman really was.

The door closed behind him and he'd only taken two steps inside his dad's office when he saw it, what he'd been looking for ever since he first saw his dad.

Lance's tail tip twitched, almost imperceptively but Jake noticed it in the nick of time and threw himself out of the way just as a pair of strong arms swooped at the area he'd been standing in a second ago.

He made a somersault as he landed and increased the distance between him and his dad, immediately getting to his feet and spinning around ready to counter the inevitable hand reaching out to him.

Just as he predicted, he used the back of his hand to smack aside a burly paw as it stretched out towards him. He traded a few more swift blows in which he fought off the larger wolf's long, strong arms. Like a heavyweight boxer trying to punch water his strikes merely glanced off Jake's deflective blows.

In a drastic attempt to close the distance Lance dove forward, sweeping with his arms again.

This time, instead of dodging to the sides, Jake jumped and grabbed hold of his dad's shoulders as leverage to vault over him.

The timberwolf crashed into the hardwood floor and Jake landed gracefully behind him.

In the blink of an eye Jake had thrown himself on top of his dad, seized his arm and twisted it around his back and pinned him to the floor. Copying the exact method Lance had used to pin Alex down, but this time the timberwolf was the victim to a fox much smaller and weaker than he was.

Valiantly Lance struggled against his opponent but Jake didn't budge. He dug his knee down in the back of his dad and twisted the arm further.

It was a silent struggle, save for a few grunts from the large wolf.

Finally, after a minute of trying to throw his son off, Lance taped the floor twice. Conceding defeat.

Immediately Jake released the grip on his dad's arm and fell backwards, sitting down on his dad's back with a big exhale.

"You're getting slow, old man." Jake huffed, wiping his brow with the back of his wrist.

Lance quivered beneath him, not looking at him. One might have mistaken it for suppressed anger but what came out of Lance's mouth was a sob.

"My son is so strong...!" He said joyfully and Jake could feel his dad's tail beginning to wag behind him, picking up pace rapidly.

"Please don't cry, you're embarrassing me." Jake groaned. Then he yelped and wrapped his arms around his dad's neck when Lance decided to jump up on his feet.

"I can't help it! I'm so proud of my son that it makes me cry of joy!" Lance's tail never stopped wagging as the big wolf started running in circles around the office with Jake holding onto him for dear life.

Throwing the balcony door open, Lance stepped outside and took a deep breath, pointed his muzzle to the sky and howled.

A loud, clear howl that echoed across the grounds beneath, like a stone tossed in a lake it sent a ripple over a vast distance, reaching far and wide.

Within seconds of Lance's powerful howl there came answering howls from all over the estate.

Jake could distinctly hear the grounds keeper responding, as well as the cook, a few of the maids, the head butler, Alex, Martin, his aunt Gabby, as well as a few others he recognised easily.

It was impossible for him to resist. Having grown up surrounded by wolves, there was at least one thing that has ingrained itself in Jake's brain. The desire to join in on a good howl!

Throwing his head back, Jake let out a loud howl of his own. It was a near perfect imitation of a wolf's howl, but it was a howl only Jake could make.

"That's the spirit!" Lance laughed, stepping back into his office and kneeling down to drop off Jake onto the floor.

"That's one way to announce that I'm back home." Jake sighed with a smile, running his fingers through the fur on his head.

"What do you mean? It is the only way to announce that one of my sons is home!" Lance stated firmly, plopping down in the chair behind the desk while Jake took the seat facing the desk.

"Maybe in 1605, but these days we have this nifty little invention called the telephone we can use to communicate over long distances." Jake said with a voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Hmpfh! A phone is all well and good but nothing will ever beat a loud reverberating howl. Us Silverman are famous for it!" Lance puffed his chest out proudly.

"Dad, the Silverman family is famous for the silver we sell. The howling is just a habit." Jake snickered, watching his dad's baffled face.

"That my own son would dare contradict me!" Lance said in an offended tone, slamming his fist onto the desk.

Although he said it with the broadest of smiles on his muzzle.

"One of these days the power of the howl will be used against you." Jake said with a grin and a shake of his head.

"I welcome a challenge. If they are worthy enough to challenge me." Lance snorted, leaning forward in his chair to observe the fox in front of him closely.

"Now tell me. What's this I've been hearing about a girlfrie-..." Lance said seriously but Jake cut him off mid sentence.

"Let me stop you right there, dad. Before you ask me any questions I have a few things that I need to say first. Then you can decide whether or not you still want to ask me those questions I know you want to ask." Jake crossed his legs and his arms, turning his muzzle slightly upwards to gaze coldly at his dad.

Lance peered back at him but said nothing. He simply put his hands together and leaned back in his chair.

"First thing first. I'm 33 years old, and as much as I know that you will always look at me as your precious baby boy, the undeniable fact is that I'm a grown man. I can go where I want, do what I want, and make any mistake just as anyone. Martin keeps me safe discreetly and does his job perfectly well without your interference. Next time you want to summon me, have Alex come get me after calling to ask if I'm free to come." Jake said all of this in a long rambling breath.

"Second would be the manner of rumor mongering and everyone jumping to conclusions before I can defend myself. I do not have a girlfriend and I'm not in a relationship." Jake kept his dad under a fixed gaze as he spoke. The large wolf didnt move an inch under the fox's barrage.

"Third. Getting called home to the family estate simply because I was out and got drunk, you would've known how I was going to react to this yet you did it anyway." Jake sighed at the end of his lecture. Looking at his dad and waiting for an answer.

Lance closed his eyes and appeared deep in thought, mulling everything Jake had said in his head.

For a long while neither of them spoke. The only sound came from the gentle breeze in the trees outside that drifted inside the office from the still open balcony door.

"Can't I even ask where-..." Lance started.

"No." Jake said immediately. Not too quickly he hoped. The last thing he needed right now was for his dad to get too curious about where he went for real.

"Awh." Lance's ears drooped.

Another moment of silence passed before Lance opened his mouth again.

"Did you at least have fun?" He asked slowly, measuring his words carefully.

Thinking for a moment, Jake decided that the question wasn't too dangerous to answer.

"I did." He said with a nod. Trying not to think about everything that went down last night lest he would start to blush from the very thought.

"I'm glad to hear that." Lance said brightly.

Once again they lapsed into silence.

Lance appeared thoughtful, looking down at his clasped paws with a look in his yellow eyes that told Jake that his dad's mind was miles away, thinking hard.

Relaxing somewhat, Jake unfolded his arms and uncrossed his legs and adopted a more comfortable sitting position.

How often had he been called to his dad's office simply because his dad wanted to prod him for answers? Too many times to count now.

The first time had been a terrifying experience for Jake. It happened not long after he had been adopted and attended his first day of his new school. His dad suddenly called him to his office 'to talk' he said. But when he arrived he was swooped into a bone crushing hug and Lance barraging him with question after question.

Jake smiled at the memory of his mom scolding his dad for terrifying him so.

"How's work?" Lance asked suddenly, pulling Jake back into the here and now.

"Huh? Oh, work. Right, right. It's been more or less the same since last time you asked, except..." Jake hesitated. "I have an assistant now." He said cautiously, not wanting to lie to his dad about his life but also trying not to tell him more than he needs to know.

"An assistant?" Lance asked, his ears perking, his curiosity piqued.

There was no getting out of this now.

"Yeah. His name is Victor Sorensen, he's a doberman pinscher. It's his first time working as an assistant but he's a hard worker and a quick study. He's only been with me for half a month but he's already as efficient as Reggie." Jake said proudly, no doubt in his mind as he compared Victor to the head butler of the Silverman estate.

"Really now? As good as our Reginald, you say?" Lance scratched his chin, looking amused.

"Well far be it for me to doubt my own son, but somehow I find that hard to believe. How could a young upstart pup like that hold a candle to our veteran Reginald?" Lance grinned, folding his arms over his chest decisively.

"Maybe I'll have to prove it to you then." Jake said with a foxy grin of his own.

"How do you propose to do that, son?" Lance said, intrigued.

"I'll bring my assistant to the family gathering as my plus one, then you'll see what peak perfection is." Jake said smugly. Now he had secured a water tight reason to bring Victor along with him without raising suspicion.

"Hrm, I see..." Lance suddenly got a warm smile painting his grizzled muzzle, looking across the desk at his son with a knowing look in his eyes. "Very well! I look forward to seeing this... Mr. Sorensen in action then. See if he's all that you've made him up to be." Lance nodded in a final sort of way.

For the next thirty-or-so minutes the two of them talked. Lance, as always, wanted to know everything that's been going on with Jake down to the last detail. And Jake interrogated his dad about what the family had been up to, if there was any news he hadn't heard yet.

"Now that you mention it..." Lance said, looking pensive. "I don't know if Gabriella told you yet, but it seems Ayden has been invited to a birthday party next weekend. It's delightful to hear that he's finally making some good friends. Poor boy is having enough trouble just being who he is." Lance sighed, scratching his cheek.

Jake thought about his cousin. He was a sweet wolf just barely 18 years old, not very tall and rather thin. It was true that he didn't have a lot of friends and it was partly because of his surname, Silverman, which tended to intimidate the other kids. But the real reason Ayden had few friends was because he was mute. And add being very shy on top of that, Ayden tended to be by himself, even among the rest of the family. One of the few people who he communicated with apart from his parents and brothers was Jake.

"He is? That's awesome, I'm going to have to video call him and ask him about it later." Jake wagged his tail, he was very fond of Ayden and he was sure he'd be happy to tell him about his new friend.

"There's no need to video call him. Ayden is here with his mom today so you can go talk with him after we're done here." Lance reached for one of the drawers on his desk, pulling it open and rummaging around in it.

"What do you mean? We aren't done yet!? Didn't you drag me here just to nag me about my life?" Jake asked, shocked beyond belief.

Lance laughed, finally extracting an envelope from the drawer and holding it up.

"This." He said, holding out the letter. "This is for you."

Jake reached out and took the letter, looking at it and then at his dad.

"What is it?" He asked.

"Why don't you open it and find out?" Lance replied.

Looking down at the letter again, he shrugged, and ripped it open and read the contents quickly as it was a very short letter inside of the envelope.

"This is... an invitation?" Jake asked with uncertainty, looking up at his dad again.

Lance nodded seriously.

"To do what, exactly? The letter didn't really specify..."

"A camping trip. It's an old Silverman tradition where the men would hike up the mountain to a secret spring and spend a week learning special silversmithing techniques with the patriarch. Of course that was in the past, the secret spring isn't exactly secret anymore. It's actually a hot spring owned by the family, and instead of going up there to train for a week it is more of a weekend getaway for the guys these days."

"If it's a tradition, how come I've never heard of it until now?" Jake asked.

"Well... there never seemed to be a good time to bring it up. You were always working so hard, even as a kid you always seemed so busy keeping up with your studies and getting used to the family. Then you grew up before I knew it and moved out and got a job..." Lance's face looked sadder and sadder the more he talked about it.

Seeing his dad's face made him feel guilty. He'd always been so grateful to his parents for taking him in and taking care of him, and not giving him away after they had children of their own. So he swore to himself that he would be a good son for them, getting top grades, helping the family however he could.

But he couldn't lie to himself that he didn't feel like an outsider sometimes, even with all the love and affection he was showered with. Which is why he started working as soon as he was able to, with a company unaffiliated with the family so that he couldn't take advantage of their name and then moved out by himself so that he wouldn't be seen as a burden.

"Oh." He said, ears splayed as he winced. "Uhm... well, if it isn't too late I would love to go on this camping trip. When is it and who else will be joining?"

"I was thinking the weekend after the family reunion, most of the family should remain in town by then so we'll be a sizable group. I think the only ones who couldn't make it were Gordon and his son Russel, they both had prior plans for that weekend."

Jake let out a whistle of admiration. "How the hell did you manage to rope almost all of the guys into coming on a camping trip the weekend after a big get-together? Don't they all have a wicked busy schedule normally?"

Lance grinned, showing off his sharp fangs. "Your daddy has his ways, he has his ways." He said mysteriously.

This made Jake perk an eyebrow, questioning the legitimacy of his dad's words.

"So you're blackmailing them?" He asked, watching his dad's face for a reaction.

"Most certainly not!" Lance said, puffing his mighty chest out. "That is not the Silverman way."

"But we have been known to use our fortune to get our ways from time to time through history." Jake pointed out.

"Those were always for the greater good, as you well know. It was never used for personal gain." Lance said, pouting a little.

"So if it wasn't bribery, then what?" Jake felt like he needed to know, just in case his dad had done something foolish again.

"It's simple." Lance paused, putting his hands together and twiddling his thumbs almost lazily. "I asked them if they'd like to go and they said yes. The twins were the most ecstatic about it."

"So no trickery this time? You didn't threaten anybody or kidnap anyone?" Jake asked cautiously, making sure to cover all his bases before he could consider the subject dropped.

"What do you take me for, a common hoodlum?" Lance huffed.

"Well-..."

"Don't answer that." Lance said shortly, cutting Jake off, making him chuckle.

"If that's the case, then I'm looking forward to a fun camping trip with the guys then." This made his dad light up like a Christmas light and he positively radiated happiness.

"Wonderful! I'll text you the details later, if not just tell you directly at the reunion."

"Don't you mean howl me the details?" Jake asked, poking his tongue out at his dad.

"Son, do not think I wouldn't upturn this desk to get you." Lance said with another grin, and that shut Jake up pretty quick.

"Alright, I think that was all I wanted to go over with you. You may leave."

Jake nodded and jumped down from the chair, getting on his feet. He'd just turned around to face the door when he was grabbed from behind and pulled in by a pair of strong arms.

"Dad, wait no!" He called out, too late! His dad had pounced over the desk and caught him in a bone crushing embrace.

"Can't let you leave without getting a proper hug!" Lance announced loudly, nuzzling into Jake's neck as he hugged the little fox tightly into his chest, murring and huffing happily while his tail wafted faster than a windshield wiper on the highest setting.

"Can't... Breathe..." Jake coughed and wheezed as he was crushed by his dad's immense strength. The big and tall wolf swayed his torso from side to side and made Jake's feet dangle in the air high up from the floor.

"Mhhhm!" Lance squeezed his son tightly as if he hadn't seen him for decades.

It took Jake almost five minutes of struggling and pleading to finally be put down again, coughing and gasping for air.

"I love you son." Lance said more seriously, leaning down and planting a kiss on Jake's forehead and giving his ear a nice rub.

"I.. huff.. love you too dad." Jake said in between breaths, his face flushed red, still a little out of breath from the squeezing hug. One would think he'd be used to his dad's excessive hugging force by now, but it feels like his dad has just been getting stronger over the years.

"Okay! Now I'm fully energized! I can get back to the last bit of work I meant to do earlier."

"Don't just push work off to call me over either!" Jake shouted, finally snapping.

Lance laughed and Jake could even hear Alex chuckling from behind the door.

"Wolves. I swear." He sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose between his eyes.

"What can we say?" Lance said with amusement, sitting down behind the desk again. "We're loyal to a fault."

"That's putting it mildly." Jake said quietly, huffing.

But still, finally free from his dad's clutches he quickly excused himself and dashed out of the office before he could get pounced again. He saw Alex out in the corridor, now dressed much more casually in a black tank top with a skull motif on it and black jeans.

"Looking much better now, Alex." Jake gave the wolf a thumbs up and Alex gave him a thumbs up in return too while grinning amusedly at him.

Walking away at a leisurely pace, he finally felt like he could let his guard down. Without the threat of a wolf pouncing at him, Jake strolled through the lengthy corridors adorned with portraits and paintings, statues and suits of armor on display, and big open windows that filled the corridors with lots of natural light and a good view over the garden outside.

Almost on instinct Jake let his feet carry him outside and towards one of the hedge mazes.

He had walked these pathways so many times in the past that he knew the layout of every hedge maze like the back of his hand.

And this particular one was a little bit special compared to the other ones.

Because it had a secret in it that only Jake had discovered.

As he neared the maze he could see a massive weeping willow in the center, completely cut off from the rest of the maze by a tall wall of hedgerows.

The aesthetic of it meant that you'd be tempted to find the tree in the center but since there was no actual way to get there you would end up wandering for hours never finding it.

Jake entered the maze and walked with confidence the path he knew so well, making turn after turn until he wound up at a dead end.

To anyone looking into this corner of the maze they'd see immediately that it was a pointless dead end and therefore would never step down this way.

But that's exactly what Jake did. The closer he got to the end the more it stood out to him.

It was difficult to tell with all the green foliage, but there was something like a thoroughfare between the branches in the far corner.

You wouldn't be able to tell that it was there unless you stood right in front of it and looked right at it. A very small gap, just large enough for Jake to pass through without getting caught by the branches.

As he squeezed through, he came upon one of his favorite places in all of the Silverman estate.

Directly underneath the willow tree, surrounded by its flowing branches and leaves like a curtain to cut yourself off from the rest of the world. Time seemed to come to a stop here, with only the breeze to disturb the stillness and the silence by rustling the willow's branches, making the huge tree murmur and sigh with the wind.

And sitting underneath this majestic tree, with his back against the trunk and his nose buried in a book, was a wolf.

He was not much bigger than Jake is, despite being younger, but he was definitely thinner than Jake. He wore a hoodie and baggy jeans and had let his hair grow long and dyed it neon blue. At a first glance he could be mistaken for a delinquent. But when he had his nose in a good book, Ayden's light blue eyes sparkled beautifully behind his glasses, giving him a completely harmless appearance.

The sight alone brought a smile to Jake's lips as he approached his cousin.

The sound of a twig snapping made the young wolf look up from his book and he smiled widely when he saw who was approaching him.

"Hello Ayden." Jake said, both out loud and using his hands to convey the message using sign language.

"Hi Jake!" Ayden put his book down and signed his reply, positively beaming back at him.

Jake had to suppress the urge to squint at him because it felt rather like trying to look at the sun when he smiled brightly like that.

"Good book?" Jake asked, pointing at the book in Ayden's lap.

Ayden nodded fervently, picking the book up and showing the cover to him so he could read the title.

"Moonlit Journey." Jake said, reading the text aloud. "What's it about?"

Ayden's tail whipped up a frenzy as he signed as fast as he could to summarize the book he'd been reading.

This was the closest thing Ayden could get to rambling, and Jake almost couldn't keep up with the gestures and quick movements of Aydens paws.

"So it's about a direwolf trying to find a pack to belong to but on his journey he makes friends with other animals and later realizes that they are his real pack?" Jake asked to make sure he got the gist of it.

Ayden nodded again, clutching the book close to his chest.

Then he paused, looking Jake up and down curiously.

"What?" Jake asked, looking down at himself to see if there was anything wrong.

Looking back at Ayden, he could see him signing a question for him.

"Different? Different how?" Jake blinked, a little surprised.

"Has something good happened?" Ayden asked, peering at him with his light blue eyes brimming with curiosity.

Jake stared at his cousin, opening his mouth to answer, hesitated, then closed it. He swallowed before he opened his mouth again.

"What do you mean?" He asked slowly, staring at Ayden who continued to look him up and down.

"It's like you're glowing." Ayden signed after a moment's thought, cocking his head to the side.

"Glowing?" Jake scratched his forehead, pondering Ayden's choice of words.

Ayden nodded.

"You remind me of Damian when he would be gushing about his girlfriend when they first got together. Remember?" Ayden held his paw in front of his mouth and made a few hoarse inhales and exhales.

The mute wolf's equivalent of a laugh.

Jake couldn't help but laugh too thinking about it.

Damian was one of Ayden's older brothers, and Jake could clearly remember how Damian would go on and on about his new girlfriend when they first got together a year ago. Constantly talking about how it was love at first sight and ideas for marriage in the future.

"Does it have anything to do with what happened this morning?" Ayden asked once they stopped laughing.

"The who and the what now?" Jake asked, blinking confusedly.

"Is the reason you're so happy because of what happened this morning that made you forget about your brunch plans with Theo today?"

Jake's mouth fell open again, but this time he was unable to close it for several moments. Which caused Ayden to start laughing again. The younger wolf's whole body heaved as he laughed hoarsely. He was laughing so hard he clutched his arms around his tummy in an attempt to stop his heaving.

Finally managing to close his mouth, Jake scratched his neck awkwardly as he waited patiently for Ayden to finish laughing his ass off.

Thinking about it, it wasn't too strange that Ayden had heard the gossip from Theo himself, considering he was Aydeon's oldest brother.

Once he finally managed to stop and calm down, Jake stepped forward and kneeled down on the grass in front of Ayden.

What followed next were several minutes of a completely silent conversation between Jake and his cousin as the fox didn't want to be overhead.

Jake told Ayden an edited version of what happened last night.

Instead of telling the whole truth he said he had been invited out to drinks by a new friend of his and that he had a really good time with him and got a little carried away with his drinking. Which ended up with his friend having to take care of him after he blacked out.

Omitting any details about it being a strip club and other details Ayden didn't need to know.

Even if Ayden was one of the few people Jake fully trusted and had confided with many secrets. He didn't feel like going into too many details about the passionate lovemaking he might or might not have had this morning, it was not really the kind of conversation he should have with his 18 year old cousin.

"Is he your boyfriend?" Ayden asked completely out of the blue. Staring intently at him while Jake felt his cheeks and his ears burn red with embarrassment and shock.

"Of course not!" Jake signed hastily, glad he didn't have to use his voice for this conversation.

He had almost forgotten he'd come out of the closet to Ayden. He was one of the few people who knew he was gay and the only one in the entire family he had told.

In the past when Ayden refused to interact with anyone besides his parents, Jake made the effort to learn sign language and told Ayden a bunch of secrets to gain his trust. Some of those secrets included the gap in the hedge maze to the weeping willow, how scared Jake was of disappointing his parents, and the big reveal of him being gay.

"Are you sure he's not your boyfriend? I mean." Ayden signed while grinning at Jake's shocked expression. "You've never gotten blackout drunk before, or missed any brunch plans. Are you telling me all it took for this to happen was for a friend to take you to a bar?"

Jake looked away, grumbling when he could hear Ayden laughing again.

"Why is it always so frustrating to talk with you wolves?" Jake muttered out loud, making Ayden's laugh intensify.

After a minute or so he looked back, seeing the blue haired, bespectacled wolf smiling warmly back at him.

Ayden didn't sign anything else but that expression was clear as day to Jake.

You can trust me.

He sighed, scratching the back of his neck before signing back an answer.

"He really isn't my boyfriend, but I do like him a lot." Jake smiled weakly back when Ayden closed his eyes and wagged his tail, letting the conversation come to a stop, with only the willow disturbing the peace.

When Ayden finally opened his eyes again, this time it was Jake's turn to ask a question.

"Is it true you're going to a birthday party next weekend?" He asked, watching Ayden nod.

"What's their name? And how is this the first time I'm hearing about you making a new friend?" Jake shuffled forward closer to Ayden, making the wolf fan his ears back and tuck his tail in his lap to cover up his shyness.

"He's just a guy at school that's been hanging around me lately." Ayden explained shortly.

"Apparently he has been around long enough to get you to accept a party invitation. C'mon, tell me." Jake blinked rapidly at the wolf, gazing at him with big round eyes. He might not be able to pull off the puppy dog eyes, but he could manage a pretty convincing begging face when he wanted to.

"Fine. Ugh." Ayden signed with an eye roll. Followed by a hand gesture that made Jake let out a mock gasp.

"Ayden! Watch your language!" He said, batting at Ayden's paw, making them both snigger at their foolishness.

"His name is Elliott, and I think he's a mixed species. For the most part he looks like just an ordinary jock stag but his fur is shaggier than a regular stag and his irises look more predatory despite their warm green colours." Ayden tapped his chin in a thoughtful manner, as if he was picturing his friend in front of him.

"He's the captain of the soccer team and like I said, seems to love hanging around me recently for some odd reason." Ayden shrugged.

"But you still accepted his birthday party invitation?" Jake questioned, watching his cousin nod again.

"He has been nothing but kind towards me, even if he's a bit... eccentric." Ayden brushed his hair out of his eyes, looking down at the ground, apparently thinking deeply.

"He keeps asking me questions about books I've read and if I could teach him some sign language so he could understand me better." Ayden signed with a smile and a wag of his tail.

"How did you first meet?" Jake asked, still refraining from using his voice. Once they started their silent conversation it felt natural to continue using sign language to communicate rather than having Jake carrying on a one sided verbal conversation.

"He bumped into me in the library. Literally. Knocked the books I was carrying out of my arms, including my notebook. He started apologizing profusely and began picking up the books before I could do anything. Then he saw my notebook. It had landed with the pages open and he could clearly see one of my short stories scribbled in there." Ayden blushed.

Signing that he felt so embarrassed he could die.

"So what happened?" Jake urged his cousin on, completely enthralled in the story.

"He quickly shut the notebook and picked it up, handing it over to me with the rest of my books. Then he asked me if it was me that had written in that notebook. When I nodded he said he thought writing was cool but he could never wrap his head around it. Then he asked if he could read what I wrote." Ayden paused here and pulled his knees up to rest his chin on top of them, silently looking at Jake for a little while.

"When I shook my head he seemed disappointed, but said that he understood. Then he started asking me about the books I was carrying and it sort of spiraled from there..." Ayden sighed, but not in a bad way. More like a sigh Jake would pull when dealing with his family. Extremely infuriating but also fondly at the same time.

"It started out with him just visiting me one or two times a week, then it became three times a week, then it was every school day. And at first it was just him asking me about books but then he started asking me about homework and if I could tutor him. Sometimes he'd show up in the library, say hello, then he would just grab a book at random and sit down across from where I'm sitting and read." Ayden wrapped his arms around his knees and looked at Jake imploringly, as if he's asking his cousin to make sense of this.

"Well." Jake said out loud, shuffling forward on his knees so he could ruffle Ayden's blue hair. "It sounds to me like he really wants to be your friend and makes an effort to show it. I'm happy that you've found such a well meaning friend, Ayden." Jake smiled warmly at his cousin, who only blushed and buried his face against his knees.

"Right." Jake said and stood up, making Ayden look up at him as he brushed dirt and grass off his pants.

"I'm heading off now, Ayden. I've got somewhere to be soon, and now that I've been released from my dad's clutches I should get moving before he finishes his work."

Ayden's ears drooped and let out a whine. But still he nodded and signed his gratitude to Jake.

"It was really nice seeing you again. We should get together again soon, perhaps sometime before the reunion, how's that sound to you?"

At this Ayden lit up and his tail started to wag joyfully, nodding enthusiastic at the notion of an outing with his favorite cousin. The young wolf scrambled up on his feet and practically jumped at Jake and wrapped his arms around him in a soft hug.

Although Jake saw it coming from a mile away, he didn't mind it if Ayden would pounce him for a hug since he wasn't as big or strong as many of the other wolves in their family. He braced himself so he could return the hug properly, and hid the fact that he was smiling widely by burning his face in the grey-ish fur of Ayden's neck.

After they broke apart Ayden signed to Jake to wait for him and went back to pick up his book from the ground.

"Want me to walk you out?" Jake asked and held out his hand.

Ayden nodded and smiled brightly as he grabbed the outheld hand and followed after the short fox as he began to trace his way back through the maze.

Once they exited the maze Jake steered Ayden in the direction of the manor, oblivious to the fact that he was still holding his hand. He'd gotten so used to doing it that he didn't even give it a second thought. And as Ayden didn't protest about it he had no reason to let go.

They had almost reached the building when the terrace glass doors swung open and a group of women came walking out, all chattering amongst themselves and giggling.

At the front of the group was a tall, slender, beautiful timberwolf lady, wearing a stunning cerulean dress adorned with jewels and gemstones. Her hair was long and white as starlight, and she kept it flowing freely behind her as she walked. She was just finishing saying something to one of her companions when she noticed Jake and Ayden.

Her face changed from a polite curve of her lips into a big warm adoring smile when she saw them.

"Hello boys. Out catching some of that fresh air?" She said in a delighted tone, her gray eyes twinkling.

"Hi mom." Said Jake, immediately feeling Ayden's grip on his hand tighten and noticed how he tried to hide behind him. With little effect due to how short Jake was.

"Yes, we were finishing up a walk around the gardens. I was on my way to leave right now so I'm glad I bumped into you before I left." Jake tried steering the attention away from his cousin, as he saw many of the women in his mom's company throwing the two of them curious glances.

"But I can see that you're busy so don't let me hold you back." He tried shuffling to the side while shielding Ayden from the group of strangers.

"There is no need for that, just give me a moment and then we'll talk." Jake's mom turned to the women waiting behind her.

"Please excuse me ladies, I need a moment to talk with my son. If you would all follow Mary, she will lead you to our destination." She told the women congregated behind her and then gestured to the maid standing at the doorway, as if she'd been waiting out of sight until the lady addressed her.

The maid in question curtseyed after everyone's attention fell on her. She was a red wolf, wearing a typical French maid suit, and who walked with quick decisive steps making her way to the front of the group.

"If you would follow me, please. I will take you to the rose garden." She bowed to the group at large and led them away, all while the group kept whispering amongst each other and throwing glances at Jake and Ayden.

"I'm sorry about that. I'm hosting a salon to show off our jewelry and was just about to have tea in the garden. I didn't mean to surprise either of you." She smiled warmly at them, especially Ayden who had shrunk significantly behind his cousin.

Lorie Silverman was the complete opposite of her husband. Where Lance was gruff, intimidating and imposing. Lorie was fair, serene and imperious. Complete opposites but with the same energy. One look at either of them and you could tell that they were people not to be trifled with.

"I hope you weren't too mad at your poor dad when he summoned you on such short notice. I know how much you hate it when he does that." Lorie stepped up to him and fondly petted him on the head.

Jake immediately leaned into the petting and closed his eyes comfortably.

"Mom, please. You and I know that this is better than the alternative." Jake could hear his mom snicker softly as she continued to pet him.

"I fear that you are correct, Jake. Maybe we should look into installing a titanium door to your apartment so that he can't barge in uninvited again." Lorie spoke of the time not long after Jake had moved out.

His cellphone had run out of batteries because he hadn't managed to find his charger yet.

So as a result, when Lance couldn't reach his son via phone, had come charging into his apartment personally, almost kicking the door off the hinges and burst in on Jake right as he was stepping out of the shower.

That day Lance learned a very important lesson about boundaries and privacy.

"He still has a small dent on his forehead from where you hit him with the shampoo bottle. He seems oddly proud of it too, talking about what great aim you have." Lorie giggled loudly when Jake groaned.

"It's not that I don't mind coming here to visit so frequently, but why is it so hard for him to give me a heads up first?" Jake opened his eyes and looked up at his mom, whose smile turned into a small grin.

"You two are so alike yet so different, it's delightful to see. He is the unstoppable force and you are the immovable object. He likes being challenged and you are a formidable opponent to him, one of the few people who can really rival him. And you know he thinks actions speak louder than words." Lorie leans down and pushes her lips to his forehead to give him a fond kiss.

"He loves you very much, and so do I. You are our precious son, and we're both so proud of you." Lorie stood back up and beamed down at him.

"Geesh mom, not in front of Ayden." Jake said, blushing fiercely at the sudden heartwarming moment.

"Heh, Ayden doesn't seem to mind. Do you, dear?" Lorie directed her question to the lanky wolf curled up behind Jake. Who jolted at suddenly being addressed, standing up straight. He was blushing, but had a small smile on his lips while keeping his eyes down, avoiding eye contact with his aunt.

"I'm glad that you came along with your mother to visit today, it's always a delight to see you, Ayden. Gabriella should be finishing up her business soon if you'd like to go and wait for her." Lorie spoke kindly and with a warm smile, easing the shy wolf's trepidation somewhat.

Ayden tugged Jake's sleeve to get his attention, and when he looked at him he signed something.

"He said he wanted to walk me to my car." Jake translated for his mom.

"Mhh." Lorie hummed, a little amused. "I see"

"Well I shouldn't hold you longer than necessary then. And I have my guests waiting for me." Lorie wrapped her arms around Jake in a tender embrace while she reached out to pet Ayden fondly on the head.

His mom's hugs were much softer and less taxing than his dad's hugs that's for sure. Even Ayden leaned into the petting he received, wagging his tail slowly.

"Take care now, both of you. Of yourself and each other." One last squeeze and she let go, giving them one more smile before she turned and walked away towards the rose garden.

Immediately Jake spun around and looked up at his cousin.

"Are you alright Ayden?" He asked, worried. He knew Ayden was bad with crowds due his shyness, and there were quite a lot of strange adults suddenly showing up in a place Ayden usually lets his guard down.

Ayden inhaled and exhaled, relaxing his shoulders, then looked down at Jake and smiled, nodding.

Jake returned the smile and held out his hand for his cousin again. "I believe you wanted to walk me to my car?"

Ayden's smile turned into a grin and he took hold of Jake's hand and nodded again.

Together they walked back inside and through the lengthy corridors, tails wagging slowly behind them as they walked.

Once back outside, this time at the front of the estate, Jake spotted Martin's car parked to the side and pointed at it to direct Ayden's attention to it.

Martin was waiting for them by the car, leaning up against it and keeping his eyes to the sky. Apparently gazing at clouds to pass the time.

He looked down at the sound of their approaching footsteps.

Jake could feel Ayden flinch at the sudden movement but then he relaxed almost directly afterwards. It would seem Martin still intimidated him to some degree.

"Thank you for walking me to my car, Ayden." Jake squeezed Ayden's paw reassuringly and gave him a smile when he caught his eye.

Reluctantly Ayden released Jake's hand, and he signed something to him.

"Was there something more you wanted?" Jake asked, tilting his head curiously.

Martin remained standing by the car silently watching the young, blue haired, bespectacled wolf and the short, white furred fox sign back and forth for a moment. At one point he saw them looking at him and he perked his eyebrow as they carried on their silent conversation.

After a few minutes Jake shrugged and seemed to agree to something because Ayden's tail wagged up a frenzy and hugged his cousin tightly.

"I'll text you later next week, alright Ayden?" Jake said as they separated. Ayden nodded and turned to face Martin, who still had barely moved while silently watching them. The younger wolf signed something then did a short, polite bow. Martin blinked a little shocked, looking to Jake for an explanation.

"He said thank you for keeping me safe." Jake translated, shaking his head with a small smile.

"I'm just doing my job..." Martin said uncertainty, scratching his cheek while looking at Ayden with his bright green eyes. "But it is my pleasure to do so, so you need not worry." The big black furred wolf returned a small bow of his own to Ayden, who nodded with a smile before turning to Jake.

Jake expected one last hug from Ayden. If there was one thing he had learned from growing up with wolves, apart from howling that is, is that they love to hug. Specifically, they loved to hug him.

But Ayden didn't go in for another hug like he expected. Instead, he reached out a paw and pet him atop the head. This was a bit of a curveball for Jake, and it caught him off guard for a moment, but as always he quickly regained his composure and took the petting he received with strides, closing his eyes and wagging his tail happily.

"Okay." Jake said when Ayden pulled his paw away. "Take care Ayden, and I'll text you when I have a definite answer, okay?"

Ayden nodded, and while watching Jake leave he turned to give Martin a small wave.

While Martin was busy responding to the wave with a wave of his own, Jake took the chance to open the car door by himself before Martin had a chance to do so for him. It was a small pleasure denying the wolf an opportunity to act like a proper bodyguard, and Jake would seize any chance to do it when it presented itself like this.

Before Martin had even opened the door to the driver's seat Jake had already taken his seat and buckled in. He was waving to Ayden while Martin got in the car. When he turned to look forward he could see the wolf's ears drooping sadly.

"You can drop the act Martin, you know I won't fall for your theatrics." He rolled his eyes as Martin started the car.

"Awh." Martin said, disappointed, and his ears perked back up instantly.

Silence fell over them as they left the driveway and started the drive back to Jake's apartment.

Jake was mulling today's event over in his head. A lot had happened and it was barely past noon now. It feels like such a long time ago he woke up in Victor's apartment. Jake would never admit it to his dad, but he was eternally grateful that he made Martin pick him up today instead of Alex. Both wolves were directly working under his dad but Martin was loyal enough to Jake that he wouldn't divulge any sensitive information that his dad didn't strictly need to know.

Information like where he picked Jake up this morning.

He shudders to think about what his dad would do if he knew the exact location he'd been picked up. Hire a private investigator to track his son's footsteps? Possible. Interrogate every resident to find out what they knew about an arctic fox being in the building? Also possible.

He groaned and rubbed his face. Just the thought of what could happen is bad enough, he doesn't need to imagine further.

To distract himself he looked out the window as they drove though the city. He watched the buildings they passed, the trees planted every so often to keep the city green and lush, and the people walking on the sidewalks.

It was almost therapeutic watching other people going about their daily life.

You could never know what was going on with a person just by looking at them.

Every so often they would slow down to stop at a red light and give Jake a closer look at the random people milling about outside.

An otter wearing a tank top and shorts had a gym bag slung over his shoulder, and Jake assumed it was swimming gear just from the looks of it.

A secretary bird lady with a big yellow sunhat and flowery dress was chatting merrily to a fruit bat girl also wearing a sunhat, but hers was all black as well as the dress she wore. Perhaps they were best friends despite being complete opposites of each other?

This was one of Jake's favorite pastimes, people watching.

His own problems seemed miniscule when he could see other people and realize that they were just like him. Just a person going through life.

They stopped at another red light and Jake's eyes jumped from person to person.

Then he froze.

There was no mistaking that big back and those pointy ears. Sitting inside a café with his back turned towards the window Jake instantly recognized Victor's large figure.

Pressing his nose against the window Jake tried to catch a glimpse of who he was talking to, as it was very obvious he wasn't alone in there.

Just as they began to drive again Victor raised his arm to take a sip from his drink and that gave Jake an unobscured view of a... spotted hyena? He only got a brief moment to take in the leather jacket the hyena wore and the multitude of piercings he had in his ears, eyebrow and nose. And the expression on his face... From the very brief moment Jake could see the hyena's face it seemed like the hyena was pissed about something, wearing a big scowl.

Then the view disappeared as they drove away and he lost sight of them. Falling back in his seat, he felt an overwhelming curiosity to find out who that was. A friend of Victor? Seems likely, Victor is the kind of guy to be friends with anyone. Maybe another co-worker at the strip club? Also a possibility.

But he'd never know for sure unless he asked Victor directly, and that felt... very intrusive to ask suddenly. Besides, what does it matter if Victor wanted to meet a friend for a cup of coffee? It was none of his business what he did on his time off.

...

But still, he was curious.