AN: happy birthday dante (Incognito4713)! i hope you have a great day and enjoy this little fic, just for you : )

Jack growled as Hayate yipped back at him, their little dog's butt in the air, tail wagging playfully. Jack pounced and Hayate ran through the trees away from his friend.

"Do you think Jack can understand him?" Roy muttered, leaning his head lose to Riza's. his breath tickled her cheek and she smiled.

"I don't know, can you?"

"… Fair point."

Riza chuckled. "We're werewolves Roy, not dogs."

He shrugged. "Same thing."

Rolling her eyes, Riza pushed herself up from the new swing they had purchased for their porch. The house Roy had spent months building with the help from their friends was finally complete and they had just moved in last week. It was perfect, everything they had dreamed of. It was much larger than their cabin – something Riza missed was the cosiness that smaller home had – but they needed the extra space for Jack to run around in. The six-year-old never stopped and while it had worn them down more than a few times, they wouldn't have had it any other way.

The idea of having more children had not been dismissed either. They lived long lives and Riza wasn't opposed to having more. Apparently, she had another two hundred years to until she was no longer able to give birth safely.

Plenty of time.

"Jack!" she called to her son. He was about fifty metres from the house, running around with Hayate. His wolf form towered over the Shiba – he was the same height as Riza in her human form now – but Hayate didn't let that intimidate him. Perhaps they could understand each other. As soon as Riza brought Hayate home from LA when going to meet with Sam, Jack instantly clicked with the pup. They were inseparable, Hayate following Jack everywhere he went. The pup even attended his school lessons, snoozing peacefully at Jack's feet throughout.

Jack's ear perked up at his mother's call, his head turning to face her.

"It's time for lunch," she beckoned entering through the glass doors leading to their kitchen. There was a bark and a set of heavy footsteps hitting the forest floor.

"Not in the house!" Roy barked, causing Jack to skid to a halt before the porch, stopping a few centimetres away from the steps. "You'll break the wood of the porch," Roy reminded him. Jack whined, then huffed and changed, a pout on his face. "Don't give me that look, Jack," Roy admonished as Riza chuckled, pulling Jack's sandwich out of the fridge. They had both already ate, but Jack was having so much fun with Hayate, they were loath to put a stop to it.

"You would break the door if you tried to fit through it as a wolf," Riza explained further, offering the plate to her boisterous son with a smile. She understood his excitement. Being a werewolf was "one of the coolest things ever!" and it was a struggle to try and coax him out of his wolf form almost every day.

"No, I wouldn't," he muttered childishly, but his head was bowed because he knew his parents were right, he just didn't want to admit it. He is so like Roy, Riza thought, and grinned. Jack perched himself next to his father, who pulled him into his lap. Jack squawked in surprise, his food almost going flying. Hayate eyed it like a hawk, just waiting for his to drop to the floor so he could hoover it up.

"Roy," Riza scolded half-heartedly. She couldn't be too mad because Roy was grinning as he ruffled Jack's hair, who squirmed and tried to escape his father's hold. The second time Jack's plate almost flew out his hands, Riza snatched it back with a sigh.

"Come here," Roy beckoned, kissing Jack's cheek, who stuck his tongue out in disgust in response to Roy's affection.

"Dad!" he whined, still squirming.

Roy laughed, his head tipping back as the sound left him. Riza felt her chest warm as she watched them both. It was times like these when she realised she really loved her family. Being able to add even more members to it would be a blessing. However, as Jack continued to struggle, Riza sighed. She knew how this was going to go.

As if on cue, Jack jumped up from his father's lap, turning to glare at Roy, who grinned right back at him, unashamed of showing his son love. Roy then started to move slowly, his hands reaching up towards Jack's hair once again. Jack ducked and took a few steps back, an excited smile spreading across his face as he realised the game that was about to begin.

Roy lunged for Jack, who jumped off the porch laughing, changing into a wolf in mid-air. Hayate barked beside him, little feet dancing happily as his playmate was back. Both Jack and Hayate's tails wagged eagerly, awaiting Roy to take the game further.

In one swift move, Roy hopped up onto the porch railing and sprang off high into the air, changing into his black wolf while he was airborne. Riza sighed as she watched, shaking her head. She certainly knew where Jack got his flair for dramatics from. A howl pierced the forest as Jack and Hayate begun to run as fast as they could from a pursuing Roy.

Riza smiled as she watched them run off into the distance, the sound of their paws and panting breaths still reaching her even though they were out of sight. After a few minutes, she heard Jack's voice again.

"Dad!" he whined, but he was laughing.

"Come here."

"No!" Jack shrieked. Roy laughed and Riza heard a scuffle.

"Come on, time to go and eat. No more complaining about not being able to be a wolf in the house, okay?"

"Okay," Jack replied dutifully.

"I didn't spend a year building that house just for you to break it. Your Uncle Havoc would not be happy with you if you break his porch." Jack giggled and Hayate barked.

There was silence as Riza awaited their return. She didn't even jump when Roy landed heavily on the porch, trying to give her a fright. Nonplussed, Riza turned to look at his grinning face, a look of mild disapproval on her own.

"Speaking of breaking the porch," Riza replied, raising an eyebrow as she heard the wood groan at the impact Roy hit it with. "You'll be the one who breaks it at this rate."

He only grinned in response, bending down to kiss his wife.

"No, Hayate, it's okay," the heard Jack say. "Let me eat and then we'll play again, okay?" The dog barked back, his tail lowering sadly.

Both parents shared a look, then turned to their son.

"What was that, Jack?" Riza asked.

"Hayate was asking if we can play again just now."

"You can… understand him?"

Jack blinked back at them, looking between his mother and father. "You can't?" When they didn't reply, he shrugged and took his plate from Riza's surprised grasp. Her hand flopped back to her side. "Come on, Hayate. Let's go!" The two disappeared into the house, Jack talking animatedly to the dog who just barked back at him.

Deciding to test a theory, they both changed into their wolf forms (not on the porch). Jack was talking again, but he was talking to their dog.

"What about a game of tag after lunch?" Jack asked, tone completely at ease, not at all concerned that he was conversing with a dog.

"Yeah!" Hayate responded. Roy and Riza's heads turned sharply to face one another.

"Did he just…" Riza asked, still not believing it, despite the evidence.

"Can we really understand him?"

"I have school tomorrow so we can't play then."

Hayate whined. "School's boring," the pup replied, and Jack laughed.

"It is, but I have to go. I need to become super smart like Mom and Dad."

"That's cute," Roy replied, his nose bumping Riza's own muzzle.

"They're really smart!" Hayate replied. "Mom always buys me my favourite food. The one Dad gets isn't that great. I thought he might have noticed by now that I don't really like it but he hasn't and it's hard for me to tell him. He doesn't talk to me like you do."

"I'll tell him, don't worry," Jack reassured Hayate.

"They might be smart, but they're not as smart as you. They don't understand me like you do."

Riza could picture the grin on Jacks' face. "Yeah, you're right!"

"Is our dog dissing us?" Roy asked, his mouth pulling back to show his teeth, displaying his distaste.

"Only you," Riza replied, licking his muzzle affectionately, thoroughly amused by their dog's thoughts.

"Who would have thought it?" Roy added, changing back onto his human form. "We can understand dogs." He grinned. "Not so crazy a suggestion now, is it?" Riza rolled her eyes and shoved him playfully. Roy laughed and kissed her cheek.

"We've never really come across dogs since we moved into this life," Riza reasoned. "We had no reason to know we could talk to them."

"Do you think it's just dogs, or can we talk to other animals too?"

Riza shrugged. "I don't know. Only one way to find out. Like they say, every day's a school day."

Roy grinned, wrapping his arm around Riza's shoulder, both ascending the steps of their porch and into the house. He pressed a kiss into her hair, his hand locking into hers as Riza's own arm raised to meet the one around her shoulders.

"Very true."

thanks to a prompt I found on tumblr, I begun to toy with the idea that werewolves can understand dogs, and it gave me the perfect opportunity to introduce hayate to this story : D