While it was tempting to spend the rest of their lives cuddling on the bed, Faun still had a long list of recipes he was itching to try.
The picnic was two days ago, and since then he had more or less moved into Declan's room.
Even his clothes and plushies were slowly making their way into their now shared room. It made Faun's heart swell, butterflies dancing in his stomach.
He was currently in the kitchen, baking. He had sent Declan off to buy a couple ingredients from the grocery store.
He found out too late that a couple important ingredients were missing so he got his sweet mate to help him get them. It was also a relief to finally get Declan out of the kitchen.
It wasn't that he didn't like when Declan was all over him, which was all the time, but it was a little hard to bake properly with a well over 6 feet tall human clinging to him. He also didn't want Declan hurt.
Even after telling himself all that, Faun found himself staring at the time every couple minutes, worrying for no reason.
Declan should be back soon, right? The grocery store wasn't even that far.
He had to physically restrain himself from picking up his phone to call because it had barely been ten minutes since Declan left, there was no way that he would be back already.
But he only kept getting distracted, nearly ruining his baking; his tail flicked back and forth to show his unsettled state.
So when the doorbell rang, he immediately hurried to the living room to answer it, not stopping to think that Declan would absolutely not knock.
He was so distracted that he didn't even remember to hide his ears and tail away, flinging open the door with a blinding smile.
"Declan!"
Faun's smile fell off his face so fast, slamming the door in the next breath as he struggled to quickly lock it, scrambling backwards.
'Werewolves!' There were werewolves at the door!
Faun felt his heart sink to the bottom of his stomach, frozen in place on the ground where he had fallen in shock.
How had werewolves found him? Was Declan okay?
A harsh thump on the door broke him out of his frozen state, forcing him to scramble to his feet.
He couldn't just sit on the ground and wait for them to get him, he had to do something.
His first and only thought was to tell Declan, so he went with it, rushing to the kitchen to grab his phone.
The thumping was getting louder now, it was evident that they were trying to kick the front door open.
'Shit!' He was running out of time.
With shaky hands, he speed dialed Declan, his wonderful mate picking on the first ring.
Declan let out a little smile when he saw Faun's call coming in, he had been staring at his phone thinking about calling but of course Faun gave in first.
He was already on his way back to the cottage; he might have hurried the entire way there and back, but he just wanted Faun to have his ingredients on time, yeah, that was it.
"He…"
"D-Declan?" Faun's panicked voice cut him off.
Declan's smile disappeared, instantly going on full alert. "Faun? What's going on?"
"I-It's… There's werewolves at the door, I-I thought it was y-you…" He tried to explain, the panic in his voice getting worse.
Declan's blood ran cold, the light leaving his eyes. "Shit! Lock everywhere and stay in the room, I'm coming right now." He said quickly, tossing the grocery bag he was holding to the side.
He didn't have the presence of mind to notice but he was roughly where he had first heard Faun's voice.
What he did notice was the incessant thumping that he could hear through the phone, at first it had made him frown but now that he knew the reason behind it, he felt sick.
The cottage wasn't far anymore but it felt like it was a continent away when he broke into a run.
Faun did as Declan said he should, although all of his instincts were telling him to escape into the woods. He couldn't leave his mate behind though.
How far could he even run before the werewolves would catch up with him? When would he stop running?
Suddenly bone deep tired, Faun sat at the foot of the bed, his tail curled up around him.
He was too distraught to bother hiding his ears and tail, not like it would make any difference because they would just scent him out.
He flinched when he heard the front door give in with a loud bang; how long would it take before they got to him?
Would Declan even be able to do anything? He would just end up making Declan a target just like himself.
They found him unerringly, no surprise there, his scent left a bright trail.
Faun curled around himself tighter, his ears pressed against the side of his face. He felt sick with dread, what would they do to him?
He clutched his phone tightly in a hand, itching to call Declan again, even if it was just to hear his voice.
But Declan said he was coming, wouldn't calling him, only slow him down?
He could hear the door start to rattle from the powerful kicks and his heart thudded painfully in his chest.
He hadn't gotten a good look at the werewolves but he saw that they were dressed in all black, suspicious black shades on.
There was no doubt about it, they were definitely here for him.
His heart rate tripled when the door was broken in with another loud bang, making him flinch violently.
He was too terrified to look up, hunched over himself even as he braced himself for the worst.
He had run from them his whole life even when he was too young to comprehend why. It had piled on the trauma which only worsened his terror, freezing him in place, making him unable to fight back or even try to run.
The two werewolves slowed down when they finally caught up to their prey.
The dark haired one glanced from a trembling Faun to his partner like he hadn't been expecting to catch him so easily.
"Another dead fucking end." He grumbled, brown eyes shrewd behind his glasses.
"Not yet." The blond one spoke up, holstering his gun.
"I don't think bringing back some random hybrid is going to save our necks."
"Shut it for a sec, Ash." The blond one tossed to his partner, slowly making his way over. "This hybrid said something important."
The one he referred to as Ash took off his glasses and tossed it on the ground, looking on with curiosity.
"Hey," The blond werewolf patted Faun's arm, making no reaction at the terrified sound the hybrid made. "Where's Declan?"