I'm so happy people liked the last chapter! I have been obsessing over it for two days now and it is honestly giving me a bit of a break from collage applications and my summer plans. It might seem a little weird that I keep writing this in Marco POV but I think it's kind of cool to get an outside perspective on the three. For them their actions are totally normal so when someone comes in and is all WTF, what are they doing, its pretty fun. It will shift over to their POV soon!

Nala1220: Thank you for giving it a shot! I promise Sabo is in this chapter. Even though it seems like romance for the most part it's platonic but the line get blurred sometimes. Garp'ss around! But he's not really connected to the brothers so much. Dragon will play a bit bigger of a part. Law is A villain, but not THE villain.

Onmoraki: Thank you so much! That is the nicest thing I've heard!

OctaveTea: Thank you! I read all of the Grimm Brothers stories, their so great! Sabo makes an appearance here!

Mariachanne: Yay! I read that one too a couple of years ago! It was so cute!

L1109: Thank you! That's neat that you live in France.

Lostgog200: It's my favorite thing about writing this fic! I'm glad someone else enjoys it too! I promise I will explain how they met in later chapters, as well as Ace's and occasionally Sabo's actions towards Luffy. But for Ace I can say his possessiveness is partially due to saving Luffy's life when they were kids (More on this later)

Jisca: You will find out what all three of them are in this chapter!

Amaterasu-chan: Your comment made me laugh so much I promise I will explain it later but it's a little bit of both.

It was dark by the time they made it back to the cabin. Despite the gash on his leg, Luffy refused any help, insisting he was fine.

They had all seen much more than they had ever thought possible, and if Marco had to guess it wasn't over. They LITERALY weren't out of the woods yet. At least they were all still breathing, with the exception of the guard, but he could find comfort in that. It was actually all thanks to this kid, Luffy. He had helped them without a second thought, he had protected them despite the injury it caused.

Ussop wouldn't quit whispering that Luffy was leading them back to the cabin just so he could eat them, a thought Marco was desperately trying to ignore. He felt like if anyone was going to try and eat them it would be Ace. At the very least the guard had been right when he told them there were things in this forest that they couldn't explain.

"We're back," Luffy said happily as he flung the cabin door open, clearly not caring about the dried blood on the handle.

Unsure about what to do, they reluctantly followed him inside the house, shutting the door carefully behind them. Marco tensed as they entered, ready to run at any second. Adrenaline coursed through his system due to the stressful events that had transpired just minutes ago. Despite the caution it didn't seem like any one was intending to attack them.

It was strangely clean despite its rundown appearance; animal furs carpeted the floor leaving spots where the original worn wood peeked through. Although the cabin was quite small it had a distinctly cozy feeling as it centered around the fireplace on the opposite wall. Unsurprisingly the furniture looked old, but it clearly wasn't handmade.

"Welcome back!" A blond haired boy said getting up from the couch. He was a few inches taller than the unfriendly one, but he had a leaner build compared to the others muscles. Thankfully enough, this one was fully clothed and wearing a pleasant smile as if they had come over for tea.

"Did you find who you were looking for?" He asked again, addressing the group this time. His tone was polite and his accent was strikingly proper.

Marco nodded, not trusting his voice. He felt Ussop cowering behind his back in a desperate attempt to hide from the two older boys. A couple of hours ago he would have punched the kid for so much as touching him, but now he couldn't care less. It was funny what a day of running for your life could do to a social group.

"What happened Luffy?" He asked as his gaze shifted to the blood dripping down his leg. A small trail trickled between his toes and began to pool on the floor. Marco was starting to see why there was blood on the door, these people acted like it was water.

"I got scratched," He said sticking out his cheeks in a pout.

To their surprise the elder black haired boy let out a series of muffled sounds which Marco realized was laughter.

"Is everybody else okay?" He asked the group curiously.

Nobody said anything so he assumed from their silence that they were. "Come here so I can fix it." He said as he reached to the medical kit, which was open and on the table, for the gauze.

Luffy made his way over to the couch plopping between the two older boys.

"Sit down your making me nervous." He said holding Luffy's ankle to stop him from moving away in pain. "We don't bite." He added dryly as nobody stirred.

The grey eyed boy growled like he disagreed. As he turned his gaze to the floor, pointedly ignoring them, Marco couldn't help but wonder what they had done for him to dislike them so soon?

"What are your names?" Nami finally asked, bravely breaking the silence.

"I'm Sabo," The blond replied, closing the medical kit, "You met Luffy, and that one's Ace. He's not really great with new people.

That was the understatement of the century. He opened his mouth to thank Luffy but instead another question tumbled out.

"Why do you live in the forest instead of the town?"

For a horrible second he was worried he offended them in some way, but Sabo just smiled coyly glancing out the window. "Why indeed?" He mused. "A better question is how you five found yourselves in this mess?"

Marco frowned slightly as his question was dodged. But he was relived they hadn't taken offense. If they lived in the middle of the woods just to avoid the town then there was probably a good reason why.

So they told them the story of how a normal day had turned into a disaster. All of it had started going downhill when that man appeared.

"That's just Law," Luffy told them, "like I said he's a jerk."

"That's an understatement." Ace muttered rubbing his newly bandaged shoulder.

"The guards dead right? The werewolves killed him?"

"It looks that way." Sabo confirmed. He glanced over at Ace and the two shared a quick look, their faces unreadable. "The village is going to be up in arms about this."

"I thought Wolves only came out at night, what were they doing in broad daylight?" Marco asked tensely.

"I'm sure it's nothing important." Sabo lied easily as he stood up. "Anyways I think it's time for dinner. It's too dangerous for you guys to go back tonight. Luffy will take you to town when the light returns. You don't need to worry, you'll be safe, the wolves don't come here"

Marco bit his lip as they once again dodged the question. No doubt there was something going on that they weren't telling them. But it was hardly like he could do anything about it. Although it was a bit odd that these three teenage boys were living all alone in the middle of the wolf infested woods. No doubt they could hold their own, but why did they bother when they could simply live in the town? Where were their parents, so far he hadn't seen any sign that some sort of adult lived here.

Those thoughts weighing heavily on his mind he followed them to the kitchen, where the delicious smell of stew lingered tantalizingly.

The kitchen was another quaint room. A cast iron oven rested in the corner where the large pot sat, bubbling happily. The wooden table was small and the chairs were mismatched. A small cracked window above the sink showed the pitch black forest, stretching onwards besides them. Marco shivered as he stared at it, expecting to see a wolf appear from the brambles at any moment, but nothing came. Living in the city he had honestly never seen such darkness before. No doubt they had no electricity here, no wonder they were using fire instead.

After the kind of day they had no one was feeling particularly hungry. But no one was willing to decline their hospitality. They pitched in helping the three children set the table, abetting for the extra people by adding extra places.

As they dished out stew into the eight bowls Marco left to go get more chairs from the living room. He smiled for the first time all day as he heard Nami playfully teasing Ussop from the kitchen. It was a sad attempt but it still made him feel a little better. Having your life literally flash before your eyes really changed your perspective on things. Despite the delicious smell he just wanted to sleep and wake up tomorrow to realize that this had all been a horrible dream.

"Are you okay?" Luffy's voice broke him out of his thoughts. He looked up surprised seeing Luffy and Ace in the corner of the living room, nearly out of sight. They had disappeared from the kitchen a few minutes ago but with all the confusion nobody had noticed. Unsure how to precede Marco stood still, rooted to the spot.

"It's just a bite." Ace told the younger boy, "It's nothing I haven't had before. I'll live."

Luffy glanced at his tightly wrapped arm in concern like he wasn't entirely convinced but remained silent anyways.

Sensing his discomfort Ace nuzzled his nose reassuringly. "Don't worry so much idiot."

Feeling vaguely guilty Marco stepped away, his task quickly forgotten as he rejoined his friend in the living room. Soon afterwards Luffy and Ace reappeared with a silver flask which they discreetly handed to Sabo. However only himself and Zoro seemed to noticed.

They all sat down at the now cramped table and began to eat the stew. Unsurprisingly for forest dwellers, they had limited table manners, Sabo excluded. For such thin fit people they sure ate a lot, although he assumed fighting wolves took up alot of energy.

It was full of vegetables from the forest and a delicious meat that Ussop reluctantly asked about. Through the least amount of words possible Ace hinted it might be human meat, making all of them nearly choke. This sent Luffy and Sabo into a fit of hysterical laughter, as they thought this was immensely funny.

"It's only Rabbit." Luffy told them through gasping breaths as he clutched his stomach in pain caused from a laugh attack. "The other one is hanging right up over there. "Sure enough the twin rabbit was hanging in the kitchen waiting to be deskinned. Somehow, dinner with these three seemed to take his mind off of the day's events.

Despite everything Ace and Sabo clearly weren't ecstatic at the surprise visitors. But the blond seemed to have his own motivation for helping them, ones that he had clearly discussed with Ace despite the boys protests. Marco honestly couldn't blame them. He was sure there was a hell of a story how they ended up here and he didn't doubt they had to be extra cautious in these parts about who they trusted. There was also something else, something he couldn't put his finger on. Perhaps it was animosity? Clearly Ace held the most disdain for them, he didn't even try to hide it. Sabo came next but he was much more measured about it, concealing it under layers of politeness. Luffy on the other hand just seemed curious about them, he was by far the friendliest and open and it was easy to strike up a conversation with him. The only limiting factor of course was Ace, who would growl at whomever talked to him for too long. It reminded Marco vaguely of kindergarten jealousy.

After the giant pot of stew ran empty they hurried to clean the table and do the dishes. The tiny cabin had grown quite dark. They had a few battery powered lanterns hanging up in the halls but it was still hard to see. Sabo and Ace seemed to have no problem as they moved about freely in the shadows. Luffy had a little more trouble in the darkened areas and he occasionally had to feel his way along some places. But for the most part he seemed used to it. The others however were a complete mess. Marco barley caught himself from tripping over Ussop who had fallen a few seconds earlier and couldn't seem to get up. Ace clearly found amusement in their struggles so they took to following Sabo and Luffy out of the kitchen.

Back in the living room there was a stairway like ladder in the corner that was previously unnoticed. It led to the loft here the boys slept. Climbing in near darkness was horrifying but once again it didn't seem to faze them.

Their bedroom mirrored the rest of the house, small but cozy enough. There were two beds shoved into the darkened corner as well as a moth eaten couch against the far wall. There were a few loose clothes strewn across the room but aside from that it was rather tidy. If Marco had to guess he thought it would be Sabo's doing, as the boy seemed to have a knack for cleaning up after the other two. Luffy and Sabo gathered spare blankets and pillows as they made up a bed on the couch for Marco and Zoro. They turned the living room into another bedroom where Nami, Ussop and Thatch would be sleeping.

"Can't the wolves just break in here?" Zoro asked skeptically.

"The wolves don't come here." Sabo told him as he threw him a pillow.

"Why?" Marco asked.

"Because it's our spot," Luffy piped up as he pulled the red hoodie over his head and threw it haphazardly in the corner. Changing it out for an oversized shirt before laying down next to Ace.

"It a territory thing," Sabo said quickly. He looked like he had no intention of going to sleep yet. Something Marco found odd but not that abnormal. So he just nodded and let the conversation drop.

Despite how tired he was he couldn't seem to fall asleep. The events of the day kept replaying in his mind. Besides him Zoro seemed to have no problem, he defiantly seemed to be taking everything in stride. His eyes wandered up to the bed where Luffy and Ace were fast asleep, like they didn't have a care in the world.

Despite everything he still didn't know anything about them. But there was nothing he could do about it. So instead he listened to Zoro's quite snores, letting it rocking him to sleep. Hopefully when he woke up he would be back at home in his bed, and none of this would have happened. With that thought he drifted off into sleep.

Sabo smirked to himself as he slipped outside the house. It was pitch black but he had no problem. The moon was large tonight, which was no good. It would defiantly make things harder for him. Still he had no choice, stuff was going on in these woods that he couldn't ignore. It was their home after all.

Making his way through the trees he continued on the darkened path. The patters of paws and footsteps got progressively louder. He neared the clearing, cautiously pausing besides a tree, observing the scene in front of him.

Stretched out in the pale moonlight of the clearing stood and ensemble of human figures and wolves alike. Some were gathered on fallen branches and boulders and others merely stood, staying close to their packs. Dozens of glowing eyes, red and yellow alike peaked out from the darkness creating a horrifying nightmarish vision. They were here, undoubtedly, to talk about the same thing. A figure emerged from the group, singling himself out from the rest. Sabo instantly recognized him as Law.

"Thank you for meeting here with me." He said, the usual smirk in his voice. "I know we all want to discuss the same thing, the humans are starting to get angry. They have set a mandatory curfew for their village. We haven't fed off an actual human in nearly two month. I can't speak for everyone but personally I am growing quite hungry. I don't think we should have to suffer like this."

A second figure stepped forwards, this one with hair that seemed to reach upward like flames. He was Kid the leader of one of the largest wolf packs in the forest. He crossed his arms angrily. Almost as if challenging him.

"It's easy for you to say, you're kind isn't hunted by them. The existence of vampires is still unknown. If we staged an uprising like you oh so subtly hinting who do you think is going to suffer the consequences."

There were howls of agreement from the clearing a well as screams of protest.

"Who gave you the right to play leader?" Someone shouted angrily at him.

Law held up his hands innocently, the ever present smirk on his face. "Of course I'm not trying to step in anyone's way here. But due to the subsequent lack of an heir the noble leaders of my race choose me to represent their will tonight." His grey eyes flickered over to Sabo. "Unless of course someone wants to step in."

Sabo remained silent, the message was clear but he choose not to say anything.

"Want to tell the crowed why you saved the humans who wondered into the forest today? Don't tell me that human you're living with is making you soft?"

"Leave Luffy out of this," Sabo demanded sharply, "He has as much right to live here as you or me." No matter how much time had passed Law refused to let the subject drop, despite the fact that most had accepted it long ago. It was only him and ancient ones that seemed reluctant to let the subject drop, unable to differ from the old ways.

"Besides do you know what would happen if those children were to go missing? The humans would be up in arms. They would come charging in here with their guns and burn the whole place to the ground. Is that really what you want?" Sabo asked raising his eyebrow.

There was a small growl from the crowed as they thought about it, the image searing into their brains. There was only so far they could push the humans before they snapped.

"If we combine our forces we can over power them." Law said through gritted teeth.

"And what? Slaughter all of them, you know as well as I do that it's only going to bring more of them here, like it or not they out number us."

"So you think we should just stand down then? Wallow in our own hunger until we are weak enough so that they can just pick us off? Our species needs to feed upon humans, if we don't we will die. Not even you can deny that."

"He's right." Kid said after a moment. ""We mustn't cower from the humans, we are the superior race and it's time to prove it."

"Don't get overconfident," Law warned him dangerously. "Don't forget we are not of the same species. The superior one has yet to be determined."

Angry chatter broke out in the clearing as the wolves began to growl at the vampires. A few fights broke out as tensions boiled over. They were all hungry and fed up, not to mention worried about the increasing resistance from the village people. The vampires especially were getting desperate. Their existence was not known to the humans meaning that every kill they made was blamed on the wolves. But unlike the wolves they could not survive without the blood of humans. They craved what they did not have. While werewolves enjoyed human's meat and refused to back down from an easy meal, they craved it in lieu of necessity.

Sabo left the scene, it was clear there was going to be no further progress made tonight. There was too deep a rift between the species for them to simply ignore it. But apparently they seemed to think the humans as a big enough threat to team up for the first time in a hundred years.

"That was fun wasn't it?"

Sabo frowned as he instantly recognized the voice as Laws.

"What do you want?"

"Nothing in particular." The man promised, his fangs flashing dangerously in the pale moonlight. "I was just thinking that you are awfully noble."

"What are you getting at?" Sabo growled, not in the mood for mind games and power trips, Laws specialties.

"Well, all of us are pretty hungry since the restrictions put on humans started, so I just thought that was so brave of you to ignore your hunger for the sake of those pitiful weaklings. Unless of course, you weren't as hungry as the rest of us. Which would make sense of course, considering you have your own personal human."

Sabo frowned, not liking where this was going, "I don't know what you're trying to imply but stay away from my brothers."

"Or what?"

"I'll kill you," He replied immediately.

"Oh is that so?" The man said tauntingly, tapping his chin with his thin fingers thoughtfully.

"Is this just a game to you?" Sabo asked, unable to stop himself. Law had defiantly gotten under his skin tonight."

"Everything a game to me." He replied with a wry smile as he began to walk away. "You can't always be perfect, one day you will slip up."

Sabo stood still, staring at the point he disappeared before shaking his head softly. He had more to worry about now then Laws mind games. The two worlds were about to go to war with each other, while he wasn't particularly fond of either races this isn't what he wanted. Despite what Law thought, he knew he could protect Ace and Luffy, he wouldn't let anything happen to his pack.

When he got home that night he immediately went to the kitchen, careful so not to wake the sleeping children. Despite his feelings towards the human race (Luffy un-included of course) these children weren't responsible for their parent's actions. It would be disastrous if the humans tried to burn down the Forrest. He also didn't doubt that either the wolves or the vampires would try to double-cross each other in the process. Neither side would ever truly trust the other.

He sat at the table lost in thought until a small noise interrupted him. Luffy yawned widely as he walked up beside hin and sat down in the empty seat."

"What are you doing up?"

"Sunrise is in an hour. He said frowning slightly and gave Sabo a worried look.

Sabo looked out the window in surprise, "Had it really gotten that late?" The human children would be going home soon. They would be safe with Luffy, he wouldn't let anything happen to them. Despite being human he had grown up in these woods, he knew how to take care of himself.

"I think your leaking," Sabo said as he stared absentmindedly at the red strain growing on the once white bandage. Luffy must have moved around in his sleep as the bandage had come undone, falling loosely around his leg.

"It's still bleeding." Luffy said with a pout as blood trickled lazily down his calf.

Sabo laughed at that, "It's because you keep picking at it." He told him. "Come here."

Luffy scooted closer as Sabo unwrapped the bandages, his knees was indeed bleeding. A slow trail. Sabo watched, mesmerized by it as he leaned forwards. He lapped it up with his tongue, starting at the knee and following the trail down to his ankle. Luffy just laughed and tried to keep still, it really tickled.

"Did you go to that meeting thing?"

"Umhmm," Sabo mused more to himself then his brother.

"What did you find out?"

"Nothing good" Sabo said as he began to rewrap his leg. "It looks like the wolves and vampires are going to go to war with the humans."

Luffy said nothing, unusually silent as he stared down at the table.

Sabo watched him curiously. Despite everything that had happened to him Luffy harbored no animosity for the creatures in the woods nor the humans. Sabo and Ace had never asked him if he missed being around his own kind or not. He wondered what it must feel like to have the knowledge that your race is going to be killed and yet be unable to do anything about it.

"You should probably get going Lu, it's safer if you head out a little before sunrise," Sabo told him as he stood up.

"Okay," He laughed, back to his usual self.

As Luffy set about waking the human children Sabo tiredly climbed the ladder to their room, ready to go to bed.

.

The sun was barley peaking over the tops of the trees as the six of them started out the cabin door. Despite the rough night the weather looked promising. It was sunny and for the most part warm, despite winter being just around the corner.

They were all glad to be going home, but it was still too early in the morning to start a half day hike. Strangely enough Luffy seemed to have no problem with it. He seemed used to waking u early.

"Are they not coming?" Nami asked, referring to Ace and Sabo.

"They don't really like the town, besides their not exactly mourning people."

"Have you ever been to town Luffy?" Zoro asked curiously. Marco had been wondering the same thing.

"Yep!" Luffy relied brightly.

"Do you go often?"

"Usually it's around four or five times a year," He answered further puzzling them all. Why one earth did he live in the middle of the Woods.

"Have you ever thought about moving to town?"

"Nope!" He answered simply jumping over a fallen tree. Despite what they asked all he said was Sabo and Ace didn't like it there.

The group traveled on in silence after that, stopping around noon to eat lunch. Luckily enough they didn't run into anything else, although Ussop swore up and down that the bushes kept rustling. Zoro chatted happily with Luffy, the two talking like old friends. When he had woken up that morning Zoro was already awake, talking animatedly with Luffy about sword fighting or whatever. Strangely enough the two seemed to get on well, unusually well. This was odd considering Zoro wasn't really the type to have friends. He scared most people at their school.

When they finally burst through the trees to a grassy hill Marco let out a huge sigh of relief. The town stretched out below them, the roofs and streets clearly visible.

"Thank god," he breathed. He had never been so relieved to see the schools roof before.

They all began down the hill, stopping when they realized Luffy hadn't moved.

"Aren't you coming?"

"That's okay," He laughed, but it sounded more hollow than usual. "I need to get back anyways.

"So we'll see you later then?" Nami asked unsurely. Nobody bothered to clarify when 'later' was.

"Yea, see you later!"

"Luffy!" Zoro called just as the boy was about to turn away. "Thank you."

Luffy's face broke into his usual happy smiles as he waved at them, "Your welcome."

They made their way down the hill, all of them eager to be back. Despite the beauty of it the woods were a little lonely. Before they had even made it to the center of the town they were sighted, there were cries as the dead apparently returned from the Forrest, unharmed. They were home.

Luffy watched from the hillside at the figures before turning away, back in to the Forrest. He had gone only a few yards before a large black wolf emerged from the shrubs. Its grey eyes blinked at him questioningly. He smiled as he crossed the clearing to the creature. He wrapped his arms around its chest, his cheek rubbing the soft fur. The creature nuzzled his nose affectionately.

"Thanks Ace," Luffy laughed wiping his nose dry again.

"Let's go home."

Everlight18: Haha yea it's a red hoodie. I think the school believes it's important for the children to be in nature at least once in their lives and they clearly didn't think they would actually get attacked since it had never happened before. Once they graduate they ae likely never going to go into the woods again. Sorry about the misspellings if you could tell me where they are I would gladly go correct them. Yes Ace is a werewolf as this chapter showed. And Luffy and Sabo are his pack.

Guest: Yay! Thank you.

Yay! I'm happy I got this done, it took a really long time because it's over 5,000 words and most of my chapters are 1,000-3,000. All the follows made me really happy. I thought I would be lucky if I got five people to read this story but right now it's nearly thirty! Next chapter will be more Luffy/Ace/Sabo focused but I think the teenagers will come into it a little.

I don't know if the story will cover this or not but wolf packs typically range from 4-9 members. But in rare occasions they can go from 15-30, but that's usually the point they start breaking up into smaller packs. There can also be a pack with only two in it. So Sabo, Ace and Luffy pack of three isn't that odd, having a wolf, a vampire and the ONLY human in the entire forest in it is what makes it odd.