Chapter One: Welcome to the Neighborhood

The cool, autumn breeze scattered the leaves of the old oak tree onto the porch of Lexa Lupin's new home. She and her dog had just begun to move in, but Lexa wasn't making much progress; the weather was too beautiful to simply move boxes.

It was a tiny neighborhood, nothing out of the ordinary, at least, to the untrained eye that is. Upon further inspection, however, one would find that there were several Wesen, mythical creatures of legend, living on that street. But to that Lexa was no stranger; Wesen always recognized one another.

Her tiny victorian home had stood parallel to a beautiful, wooded park its whole life, and showed the signs of wear; a little hole in the porch here, a little mold there.

"It's just a bit of a fixer-upper, right Rom?" Lexa said, sitting down beside her husky, Romulus, and scratching him behind the ear. She slipped off her sandals and let the grass tickle her toes, enjoying the soft wind that ruffled her hair. The sun was high in the sky, signaling it was around noon, and she turned her face up to feel its warmth.
I could get used to this, she thought as she lay back in the grass. Romulus nudged her hand, signalling that he wanted to play.
"Sorry, Rom, your stuff is boxed up just like mine is, we'll both have to wait to play." she told the dog, patting him on the head. Just then she picked up a scent, an incredibly familiar one, and sat upright in the grass. Her hand went to her pocket where she kept a pinch of wolfsbane, an herb that hid ones scent from Blutbaden, wolf-creatures. It's not that she didn't like her own kind, but sometimes keeping one's identity a secret was a good thing.
She saw him then, walking down the street toward her house. He was fairly attractive, probably in his late thirties, wearing a wool cardigan over his flannel shirt. She fought to control her urge to woge, morph into wolf form, as he grew closer and closer. When he got to the edge of her lot, Romulus began barking, and took off towards the stranger.
"Rom! No, bad dog!" Lexa yelled at him, standing and chasing after him. The stranger had stopped walking, and for a moment morphed when he saw Romulus, fearing the dog would hurt him. However, the morphing had done nothing to affect Romulus; he'd seen Lexa woge so many times that he was accustomed to the Blutbad characteristics of red eyes and pointy teeth. He jumped up on the stranger, trying to lick him square in the face, and succeeding multiple times before Lexa caught up to him and caught him by the collar.
"I am so, so sorry." Lexa said, holding back Romulus and giving him a very serious look as the stranger brushed himself off.
"Oh, it's nothing. I'm used to the attention." The stranger then looked up from brushing off his clothing and noticed Lexa. He laughed sheepishly, "Umm, just kidding. I'm Monroe, I live down the street."
Monroe held out his hand as if to shake Lexa's, but she hesitated. For one, she was still holding Romulus by the collar, but she also didn't know if the wolfsbane would mask her sent if she actually touched him. Deciding she would risk it, she let go of Rom and told him to go lay down, brushing off her hand on her pants where the wolfsbane was concealed, and shook his hand.
"It's nice to meet you, Monroe. I'm Lexa, and that's Romulus. I just moved in, well, actually, I haven't quite moved anything in yet." Lexa laughed, gesturing to the moving van that still held almost all of her belongings. She had only moved a handful of boxes before getting distracted and laying down with Rom.
Monroe looked at the van and nodded."Well, yes, I can see that. But I can't really blame you for getting distracted. The weather is great today." With that he smiled, and almost on cue the wind blew and sent a few leaves cascading onto the ground around them. Lexa laughed, and nodded her agreement, but stopped when she noticed the quizzical look Monroe was giving her.
"What? What is it?" Lexa asked, afraid she may have accidentally woged in front of him. But he simply laughed and reached out toward her hair.
"Leaf," he said, plucking it off the top of her head before dropping it on the ground so it could rejoin the others. They shared a smile a moment, but as the moment grew longer, it began to grow slightly awkward. Lexa was about to excuse herself and return to her unpacking when suddenly Monroe spoke.
"I know you're in the middle of packing, but why don't you let me take you to lunch. Not as a date or anything!" he said looking suddenly bashful. "You know, as a sort of 'Welcome to the neighborhood' kinda thing. I can even help you unload your boxes when we're done. I'm not really all that busy, all I do is fix clocks all day." He blushed, realizing he had probably over shared, but Lexa found it all somewhat endearing, and after a moment of thought, agreed to lunch.
"Just give me a moment to put Romulus inside and shut the van, then we can go." she said, already heading back to the house.
Thankfully, one of the first things Lexa had pulled out of her car when they had arrived was Rom's food and water bowls. After filling both, she set them in the living room next to the door, and told Romulus to be a good boy. She shut the door behind her, and hustled to the van, which she had pulled her little Honda CRV behind all the way from Stanford. She grabbed her purse out of the front, locking the door, and went to the back to close the door to the storage unit.
"I guess we're not unpacking after all." she murmured, before turning around to ask Monroe where they were going for lunch.

Monroe had led her through the park across the street, all the way to the other side where a small cluster of family owned shops and restaurants stood. They went into a cosy looking restaurant that served just about everything, from grilled cheese to lobster bisque, all day long; Lexa liked it because that meant she could have breakfast at any time of day.
"How did you find this place?" she asked, as a hostess brought them waters and silverware, letting them know she would be back in a moment for their orders in a moment. Monroe looked up from his menu and smiled, pleased that she was impressed by his restaurant choice.
"Well, theres not many places this close to my house that have a special part of the menu just for vegetarians," he told her before laughing as he added, "Not to mention, my iPhone has a restaurant app."
Lexa looked at him, suddenly very impressed. He was a Wieder Blutbad, a reformed wolf. He didn't even eat meat anymore. He noticed her gaze and gave her a quizzical laugh.
"Sorry," she said with a smile. "I just hadn't expected you to be a vegetarian." He smiled and nodded.
"It's the flannel isn't it? It gives me a rugged, hunter-looking feel doesn't it?" he said, indicating his clothing. Lexa couldn't help but laugh out loud. He certainly had a sense of humor.
"So, where are you moving from?" he asked, closing his menu and looking up at her expectantly. She looked down a moment, suddenly nervous about being put on the spot.
"Stanford, California," she finally answered. "I just finished school there." Monroe smiled, impressed that she had gone to such a prestigious school.
"I went to Brown," he said, which surprised Lexa. Not that she thought he wasn't intelligent, it's just that Blutbaden weren't exactly all about higher education.
"What did you study?" she asked, intrigued by the Wesen in front of her. He might actually be the kind of guy she could hang out with.
"Religious studies, actually. I know, that's kinda lame, and not exactly something you can make a career out of, but I find it interesting. How about you?" he asked, trying to turn the attention away from himself. Religious studies actually made a lot of sense, for a Wesen, but not necessarily a Blutbad. They generally went into thing that require strength, thus why Lexa had shown surprise when he told her he went to college.
"I don't think religious studies is lame at all. Then again, I graduated with a major in anthropology and a minor in history, so I'm kind of the master on boring subjects. Not that religious studies is lame! I just, sorry, that came out wrong." Lexa blushed and put her head her hands, but Monroe laughed. He reached over and moved her hand from her face and Lexa could feel the warmth of his hand on her arm before pulled back.
"I promise, I'm not offended." he said, and with that, Monroe smiled, and took it as an opportunity to change the subject. "Have you decided what you're getting?"
Lexa took a moment to glance, yet again, at the plastic in her hands, before saying, "Yeah, I think so. Unfortunately, I'm not as strong as you." When he gave her a confused look, she added, "I've been trying to wean myself off of meat for years, but unfortunately I haven't been able to. I'm down to poultry now, however, which I consider a personal triumph considering my father insisted on red meat every other night for most of my childhood."
"My dad was the same way." Monroe said, smiling. "But I agree, it's certainly a difficult thing to give up. Pork was the worst for me; I guess its a white meat thing. But just poultry isn't too bad." Lexa smiled, and with that the waitress came for their orders.
Monroe ordered a vegan burger, and Lexa order a chicken caesar salad, and the waitress returned with both in record time. They chatted politely all through the meal, and Lexa could tell that Monroe was someone she definitely wouldn't mind to have hanging around.

Monroe walked Lexa back to her house, as promised, and they sat on the steps of the porch a moment, enjoying the way the afternoon sunlight shone through the old oak in the front yard. Lexa had let Romulus out and he was tracking some scent through the yard, as the two Blutbad watched him play.
"Thank you for lunch." Lexa said, smiling to Monroe who was leaning back on the step behind him. He nodded.
"And thank you for letting me accompany you. You aren't too bad of a meal partner." Lexa laughed, but Monroe continued on. "It's true, I've had much worse. Trust me."
Surprisingly, Lexa thought, I do. Monroe stood, and Lexa did too, assuming he was about to leave. They walked down to the edge of her yard, and Monroe turned to look at her.
"You sure you don't need any help with the boxes?" he asked, motioning to the truck that still held basically all of the things she had ever owned in her entire life.
"No thanks, I think I'm going to call some movers in the morning. They have to get the truck back anyway." They laughed, and Monroe shook her hand.
"It was really, really nice to meet you Lexa. I hope to see you again." Then he turned and looked at Romulus who had stopped to watch them in the yard. "And goodbye to you as well, Rom."

Monroe began walking back down the sidewalk in the direction he had come from just a few hours ago, when suddenly he turned back around.

"Oh, and Lexa," he said, a slight smirk coming to his mouth, "wear more wolfsbane next time."
Lexa watched, stunned, as he turned around and continued on down the street toward his own house. She put her palm to her forehead before turning to Rom.
"Oh gosh, Romulus. What have I gotten myself into?"
The apricot colored huskey cocked his head to the side, and followed his owner back into their new home, just intrigued by the stranger as she was.