.

Marco moaned as he rubbed his bruised nose. He hadn't expected their plan B to be laying on the ground.

"Luffy?" Usopp asked unsurely as the boy sat up yawning. "What are you doing here?"

"Zoro called me." He said obviously. "But I fell asleep waiting for you guys."

"Who the hell is this kid?" Sanji interrupted clearly not one for surprises.

"Luffy," Marco answered simply. He wasn't really sure how to describe him beyond that.

"Yea, I got that part thanks," Sanji said irritated as he raised his flashlight to the kid's face. Temporarily stunned, Luffy immediately raised his hand to shield his eyes.

This seemed to amuse Zoro as he snorted, "He's human jackass."

Sanji glared at the man, stepping closer to him ominously. "I can see that now, but thank you oh so much for your help."

"How did Zoro call you? There's no phone reception in the forest… and you don't have a phone." Thatch asked as they watched the two of them fight.

Luffy rustled around in his hoodie pockets pulling out the gaming device from a few days ago. "With this!"

"It uses proximity range and radio waves instead." Zoro said as he broke apart from Sanji, "I thought we would need his help if we were going to make it through the woods alive."

Usopp's eyes went wide as he looked at his friends, "Really you guys are going to help me?"

They all nodded, feeling the growing dread dissipate slightly with Usopp's tearful face.

"You're the best!"

"Shut up."

"I mean it! Thank you, guys."

Marco shrugged turning away and scratching his head embarrassed, "Whatever kid. We should probably get going, there are two wolves still on our trail."

They nodded in agreement as they once again began running. The moon was high by now, but it offered little light as it barely managed to make it through the thick tree branches.

"So this kid… Sanji prompted refusing to let it drop.

"We met him the last time we were here," Marco said annoyed.

"What do you live in the woods?" Sanji said sarcastically.

"Yep!"

He jumped in surprise, clearly not expecting that answer. "Are you serious, it's dangerous here you know?"

"I know," Luffy said, stating the obvious.

Before they could continue a loud howl broke out from the woods. It sounded unfortunately close, but it was impossible to pinpoint the exact location. Just as Marco opened his mouth the shout for them to run Luffy spoke, or more like screamed. He cupped his hands to his mouth and yelled, almost like he was answering back.

There was a moment of silence as they all stared at him like he had gone insane. Usopp's face paled considerably.

"Are you crazy?" Sanji asked kicking him in the face. "Do you want it to find us?"

"He already knows where we are," Luffy argued, rubbing the sore spot on his head.

"Not like it matters now," Marco said, "Get to the trees as fast as you can, it looks like we have no choice but to go off the path."

With no more time to argue the four of them followed him. Just as they were about to cross over into the tree line Marco paused.

"Luffy, what are you doing, come on?"

Luffy glanced over at him curiously. He hadn't moved an inch from the path. The bat hung limply from his fingers but he made no effort to use it.

Marco frowned but lowered his own weapon, signaling for the others to stop. His heart was racing rapidly as adrenaline surged through his body, but he shoved it back down. He trusted Luffy's instincts. He had lived here his whole life after all. If he wasn't scared then they shouldn't be either. But apparently, his feelings weren't shared by everyone.

Sanji pushed past Marco and began sprinting back to the trail. He grabbed Luffy's wrist and tried to pull him off the trail and out of the way. Luffy let out a surprised cry as he was pulled off balance. Never the less he dug his heels into the ground, stubbornly refusing to leave.

"What are you doing?"

"Do you have a death wish kid?"

Before Luffy could respond the sleek black wolf emerged from the bushes. Marco's warning caught in his throat as he stared at the creature. Its black fur glistened in the moonlight, but there were dark stains on its pelt and around its mouth. There was no doubt who had won the fight between the two wolves. But this time there was nothing to distract it. Its yellow eyes cut through the darkness, almost as if scanning them.

Marco raised his weapon carefully, getting ready to shoot. Wolves were vicious creatures, his short time in the woods had taught him that much. If you showed them any mercy you wouldn't live to regret it. But even as his finger closed around the trigger Zoro was at his side, pushing against his and shoving his aim off. The gun went off with a hollow bang as it ricocheted off the treetops uselessly. Marco tried to yank it out of his friend's grasp but the younger teen refused to relinquish it.

Sensing that threat gone the wolf approached the two of them still on the path. Its eyes narrowed dangerously at Sanji as a low growl escaped its throat. Letting go of Luffy's wrist Sanji raised his own rifle, pointing it at the creature with the steady hands of an expert. But like what had happened with Marco Luffy stopped him, only before he could even put his finger near the trigger.

"What are you doing kid?" Sanji said angrily as he tried to wrestle the gun back.

"It's Luffy, not kid," Luffy said annoyed. He managed to finally dislodge the gun by kneeing Sanji in the face.

"Luffy, what are you doing, RUN!" Usopp said desperately from his spot in the trees. Luffy continued to ignore him as the wolf charged, its attention finally off of Sanji now that he had let go of Luffy. He didn't even try to defend himself as the creature barreled into him. Marco watched helplessly as both of them went down. Luffy knocked flat onto the ground as the black wolf towered over him.

But instead of ripping into him like they were all expecting it leaned down and nuzzled his cheek. Laughter soon filled the silence as it began to relentlessly lick his face. Luffy tried to roll away from the onslaught of slobber but the creature had him trapped between its enormous paws.

For their part, the teens were shocked. With the exception of Zoro, they were all gasping like stranded fish.

Even though it was small for its species it towered over Luffy. Wolves were made to be the perfect hunters; stealthy, strong, night vision, perfect sense of smell, and acute hearing, not to mention the teeth and claws. They were made to kill people not to act like house dogs. They were wild for a reason. Still, here they all were, watching the fearsome wolf play with the teenager. It seemed to understand how fragile humans were and in turn, was cautiously gentle.

Marco watched transfixed as he remembered to close his jaw. He hardly even noticed as Zoro let go of his gun.

"It's not going to try and kill us right?" Usopp called to Luffy nervously. His voice broke as the creature shifted its gaze to him.

"You don't recognize him?" Luffy asked as he struggled to shift the wolf off of him so he could sit up. As he did the creature brought its head up, resting its chin on Luffy's head protectively.

The pose was eerily familiar to Marco as his initial response died on his tongue.

"Ace?" He asked unsurely, surprising even himself. Large grey eyes blinked up at him in response.

"Are you serious?" Thatch asked in surprise as he came to stand by Marco's side. "But he was a person, how can he be a…."

Ace watched them with interest from his spot on the floor besides Luffy. His expression was no longer dangerous or threatening like it was to Sanji. He turned to his brother and let out a low whining growl which Luffy responded to with a laugh.

"I'm fine now," he promised.

Ace made a shuffling sound as he sniffed the bandage around his neck.

"You guys worry too much."

By this time they had stopped arguing in order to watch the two of them.

"So you guys know a wolf somehow?" Sanji asked as he pulled himself up off the dirt path.

"It's definitely looking that way," Marco agreed still surprised. "But we thought he was a person."

Sanji nodded in understanding, although he still looked annoyed. "You're thinking of pure blood wolves. If this Wolf has a human form then he's mixed blood. There is human somewhere in his lineage. He can shift freely between forms."

Thatch's jaw once again dropped open as he processed what he said. "Like a werewolf? That's actually real."

The blond cook rolled his eyes, "Sure, like a werewolf."

"But… if that's Ace," Usopp began, "then why was he following us?"

Luffy looked over curiously at the wolf who only let out a growl of reply before laying back down.

"He saw you guys in the forest so he started following you to see what you were up to," Luffy translated.

"He did save us from that other wolf," Thatch recalled.

"Shouldn't we be discussing this later?" Zoro asked as he stared up at the dark night sky.

"We're going to see Usopp's grandma, she's sick in bed," Luffy told the creature.

Ace gave a half snort that needed no translation. He clearly did not think this was a good idea. But either way, he remained silent, rising to his feet.

"At this rate, Usopps grandmother is going to die of fright," Sanji said retrieving his gun from where Luffy had dropped it.

"So Luffy? How do you know a wolf?" He asked as they once again began to make their way down the path.

"He's my brother."

"Urm… ok…" Sanji replied unsurely. "If you say so." He opened his mouth to ask further but decided better and turned his attention back to the trail.

"You knew!" Marco whispered angrily to Zoro. It honestly scared him how knowledgeable the man had become lately, especially considering how poorly he did in school. "That's why you stopped me from shooting him."

"I had a hunch," he admitted, "but Luffy confirmed it when he refused to run away."

"Do I even want to know how?"

"Well for one thing he growled at us like three times, I thought you noticed."

Marco thought back to that night, he had thought that was a bit odd. But at the same time as long as one of them didn't sprout wings he didn't care. But the more he thought about it Ace definitely acted differently from Luffy and Sabo.

"Fine, you win this round," he hissed annoyed, determined not to have Zoro explain things to him anymore.

They continued on in silence, watching intently for any sign of danger. Occasionally they would see the haunting yellow glow of a wolf's eyes, but just like before Ace's presence seemed to keep them away.

"So how did you guys meet these two?" Sanji asked, "Because you definitely left it out of your town report.

"Three," Thatch corrected, "and we left it out because they asked us too. I was a little confused at the time, but this makes a lot of sense."

"They saved us when we were lost in the woods dart brow," Zoro muttered angrily.

"What did you say!"

Ignoring their fight Luffy turned his attention to Usopp. "Where did you get that gun?"

Marco looked at the sniper rifle in his hands, "I was wondering that as well."

Usopp looked down his face unusually serious, "It was my dad's, I thought he wouldn't notice if I borrowed it…. Why do you ask?"

Luffy opened his mouth to respond but was cut off by a sharp growl from Ace. He raised his bat with a frown as he scanned the surrounding trees.

"What's wrong?"

"Vampires, a lot of them," Luffy said looking around.

Ace gave a small growl from the back of his throat as he took off into the trees.

"He'll hold them off," Luffy said turning to the group, "We need to go."

They didn't need to be told twice as they took off down the path.

"Will he be okay alone?"

Luffy nodded, "Ace is really strong."

Marco grit his teeth but kept running.

.

Sabo crossed his arms as he leaned again the pillar. Thankfully nobody had given him any heed. All around him vampire nobles shuffled, clearly nervous about what the announcement would be. At the front of the room, all seated at a long table were the purebloods. Sabo easily picked Dofliamingo out of the crowd with his bright blond hair and fluffy boa.

Sensing the angry gaze the man turned to him and gave him a confident smirk. To which Sabo responded by flipping the man off.

This was the absolute last place he wanted to be right now, but based on the circumstances he didn't have much choice. Still, it wouldn't be good if one of his family members saw him. He hadn't seen them in years and he tried very much to keep it that way. Overall these years they had caused him nothing but trouble. At least he had yet to see Law, maybe the man wasn't coming.

Doflamingo rose, silencing the mass of nobles with a flick of his wrist. They watched with unhidden fear and anticipation.

"I'm so pleased you could all be here with me today." He began. "It had been a while since we have gathered like this. But the need to discuss the troubling issues brewing near our home front has become apparent."

The crowd began to murmur as they caught on to what he was implying. He again silenced them before continuing.

"The humans are becoming more cautious. Yet at the same time, the hunters have become bolder. They tramp all over our territory and even set up traps in our northern borders. While we starve."

Cries of outrage broke out from all around. They were hungry and they were growing desperate.

"So, in order to fix this we made a pact with the wolves, they proposed raids, throwing the human own actions back in their face. If they invade our territory and slaughter us we will do the same. Together, with the wolves, we will take back our forest and our food supply."

There was a moment of silence before protests broke out from the crowd.

"Let's kill them!"

"We will never be able to trust the wolves."

"Our kind doesn't need help from the likes of them."

Sabo frowned as he tuned them out. This was taking a dark turn. He had never considered both species were serious about this team-up. Undoubtedly they were going to betray each other immediately afterward. But not before they practically wiped the humans out. The carnage in this three-way war would be catastrophic. It could destroy the forest and surrounding areas.

But there was something even more disconcerting. Ever since the death of Gold D. Rodger, the king of Wolves, no one had been able to successfully lead them. They had broken up into their separate packs. How could they have possibly gotten all the wolves to unite under one name? Was he simply lying, or was it much worse?

Pressing between the bodies Sabo made for the door, ignoring the prying eyes of Doflamingo as he passed. He had to tell Ace. He broke into a run as soon as he got outside. Pressing his legs to move faster as he zipped through the forest. The moon was full tonight, sending down just enough light to see normally. Strangely enough, there was no sign of the wolves that usually infested these parts. Didn't those idiots understand that if they tried to wipe out the humans there would be consequences? The humans weren't as weak as they gave them credit for. They would retaliate, hard.

Finally nearing their house he came to a stop, a piece of paper hanging from the door caught his attention. It was held in place by the familiar green hunting knife.

Hey Sabo,

Went to go find Luffy, be back in a couple of days.

-Ace

Sabo frowned as he tore the note off the door looking around. Of course, they were gone. That was too bad. Being back in the vampire lair after nearly a decade he was looking forward to getting home as soon as possible. Being there had reminded him why he had left, how much better off he was now. But the house was empty.

He reached up to pry the knife out of the door, tucking it into his own belt to give back to Ace later. He hoped they were okay, Luffy was still hurt, what could have possibly been important enough for another mini adventure? But he would be fine, Ace was with him after all. The dream once again flashed through his mind but he shook his head. He couldn't think like that.

He opened the door and entered the dark house. Making his way carefully to their empty bedroom. As he flopped onto his unmade bed he sent out a secret prayer that they wouldn't find themselves in too much trouble. Ironically enough a few years ago he hated being around people. The vampire nobles grated on his nerves so much he did everything in his power to steer clear of them. Spending most of his time aimlessly wandering. But now… he really couldn't stand being alone.

A kid no older than seven stared up at him curiously. His dark eyes were wide, showing not even a hint of fear which Sabo found extremely odd. He had never been this close to a human before and he was honestly a little unsure about how he was supposed to act. He watched Sabo transfixed like he was about to perform some circus act. As he opened his mouth to say something the little boy brought up his hand, touching his fangs.

"That's so cool!"

Sabo blinked, taken back, "Erm… thanks." He said unsurely. In his experience, humans didn't act like this. They were scared of vampires and wolves not curious. Maybe this one was defective in some way.

"And you're sure he's human?"

"Pretty sure," Ace said from his spot behind Sabo. It was almost as if he was hiding from the kid.

He didn't know it at the time but that was the day his family became complete.

.

They ran faster through the trees, catching glimpses of the vampires between trees. The ones who hadn't followed Ace were quickly gaining on them.

"Guns are going to be pretty useless against them," Sanji advised.

Luffy held back, firing his crossbow at a spot between the trees. It hit its target in the shoulder as the creature howled. Stooping to one knee, he reloaded and fired, once more meeting his target.

The final creature stumbled towards them, tearing the arrow out of his shoulder. Its eyes glowed red in the darkness of night. But before it could get closer to them, Ace reappeared, human this time. Just like the first time they had met him he was only wearing black shorts despite how cold it was outside. He growled at the creature, leaving no room for argument. It glanced a final time at the teenagers before switching its gaze to the wolf between them and taking off.

"That's Ace I take it," Sanji whispered to Thatch who nodded.

Before anyone could say anything else they were interrupted by a loud bang. A gunshot. Ace leaned up to sniff the air, scowling.

"What is it?"

"Hunters," He said grimly.

"That's great!" Usopp said, "They can help us."

Luffy however did not share their sentiment as he tensed up. Turning on his heels, away from the sound. But he didn't make it as much as a step when Ace was by his side. He caught him around the waist stopping him in his tracks.

Luffy gave a cry of surprise as he squirmed to get free.

"Luffy calm down," Ace whispered in his ear. If he was right things were about to get worse.

He did not even hear his words as he twisted around, desperate to get free.

Ace's arms disappeared replaced by harsh and calloused ones.

He kicked free, hitting the ground running. They were chasing them, he could hear the sounds of their trampling feet right behind him. They were getting closer. He closed his eyes as he ran faster. He couldn't get caught, not again. But it was too late, once again strong arms closed around him, cutting off his escape route. He screamed in terror.

Ace felt a pang of guilt as Luffy screamed. But as much as he hated doing this he knew it was unavoidable. Considering what happened last time he had run away. Still despite what he said Luffy wasn't listening. His eyes were wide with fear.

Ace looked up just in time to see a group of hunters rush towards them, their guns raised and pointed at them.

"That's ones a wolf!"

"Let the kid go NOW!" The leader screamed.

Ace glared at them, as Luffy screamed again.

This wasn't good.