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"Wait... do you want to die? Are you here to commit suicide"? Mark asked the young man, or as Mark would like to call 'Old Man', in front of him.

Zhane stared with bafflement in his eyes at the innocent eyes of the young boy. All Zhane needed to do was convince this kid to never come near him, perhaps like that Zhane could go ahead without ever killing his mate. "Why are you staring at me"? Mark asked, and moved his hand in front of Zhane's eyes.

"Mr. Old Man, you don't have to kill yourself. Whatever it is it'll pass. It will be alright." Mark comforted Zhane. It was ironic how Zhane didn't care for anything Mark blurted, and yet hearing those words come out of Mark was oddly...comforting.

"You are an idiot." Zhane mumbled.

"I get the highest scores in my class. I am not an idiot"! Mark argued with the man in front of him. For some reason Mark felt safer with this strange man more than he ever felt safe around his own classmates, typically the regular bullies.

Zhane let out an involuntary chuckle at that... only to realize that this was perhaps the closest thing he had ever done to smile since he was seventeen years old. "Kid, this is like a two storey building. No one will die from here unless it's a toddler." Zhane tried to speak softly, hoping to get him out of there. 

Why did Zhane care so much? Because something about a little kid being in the school at this hour felt inherently wrong. Zhane would do the same for any little kid if he found them in here at this hour, right? He wondered. "Mr. Old Man... are you okay?" Mark asked.

"You wanna know if I am okay?" Zhane was baffled by this kid's question. From the little interaction these two shared it was clear that this kid had no filter whatsoever, and yet Mark managed to say the words that triggered some sort of involuntary reaction in him. What reaction? Feelings.

"Kid, you shouldn't be asking me these types of questions. You don't know me at all." Zhane reminded the little boy.

"Yeah, but you smell nice. Like my Sunday morning breakfast." Mark added. Zhane would be lying if he were to say that he wasn't even a little bit curious what Mark was implying, but instead he took a deep breath and cleared his throat, getting up. 

"Look kid, I have a job. I can either drop you off, or if you are too scared I will call the police here and maybe they can drop you off at your house." Zhane suggested.

Mark thought for a moment, before he replied. "Did you break in here"? Mark asked.

"Mark, stop changing the subject"! Zhane snarled, earning a flinch from the little boy in front of him. Zhane immediately regretted reacting like that, so he cleared his throat and mumbled a quick, "I am sorry." 

"I am not changing the subject"! Now it was Mark's turn to snarl. "I am asking because if you broke in, I need you to break into the principal's office. Maybe he has my parent's number. He called them here the other day." Mark explained.

Having broken into multiple places, Zhane was an expert at picking locks, among other things. With a visible smirk plastered to his face, he declared. "Follow me, little one. Let's call your parents." 

As Mark leads the duo to the Principal's office, Zhane ensures to keep a lookout for any sort of unpleasant activity around, just in case. As soon as they are at front of the door, Mark declares. "We are here". 

Zhane overtakes Mark and with a little bit of effort damages the lock enough to be able to open it. Zhane smirks in Victory and brings in Mark along with it. He helps Mark for look for the files of his class, which Zhane finds at the top shelf. Being the taller one, he hands it to Mark and just let him deal with it.

After the fourth ring, someone from the other side finally picks up, "Hello." Zhane eavesdrops as he hears a familiar masculine voice that he couldn't quite place. 

"Dad, I am Mark." Mark declared.

"Mark!! Where are you? We have been worried sick. I called Mr. Dorris, but she said you never made it to your practice. We were about to go looking for you." The man, Mark's father, panicked on the other end.

"I am sorry Dad. I don't know what's wrong with me, but I fell asleep again." Mark informed his father apologetically. The momentary silence on the other end confirmed that perhaps this kid's father knew what was up, which is why Zhane couldn't fathom why they would keep his lycanthropic origins secret from Mark.

Zhane knew what was wrong with Mark. Transition in the earlier days of life can cause extreme levels of fatigue, especially even more so if your body is not ready for it yet. Usually boys transitioned at around thirteen to fourteen, but this kid went into a precocious transition because of his proximity to Zhane.

If it was reversible, Zhane would make sure he would do anything and everything to avoid Mark (Which he planned on doing anyways. He had enough on his plate, he didn't need a little kid latching on to him.) But nevertheless, Zhane felt bad for Mark as he knew how terrifying and painful the precocious transition can be, and it would be even more traumatic if without any knowledge Mark one day woke up looking like a wolf.

"Okay, I will wait." Zhane heard Mark say, when he realized he missed something from the other end. Mark turned around to look at Zhane and smiled. "My Mom and Dad are coming to pick me up. Thanks for helping me old man. You are a good person."

Zhane couldn't help but scoff internally. He couldn't help but think, 'If only this kid knew how many people I have killed in my life'. "Good for you. You wait here, I'll be on my way." Zhane turned around, determined not to be discovered by his mate's parents at this moment, but he felt a sudden tug on the hem of his shirt. Zhane halted and turned around to see Mark looking at him with expectant eyes. "Let go of me." he could have easily swatted the hand of this little boy, but for some weird reason, he didn't.

"I don't wanna stay all alone. It takes almost half an hour from my home. Can you stay till my Mum and Dad comes." Mark pouted. Zhane could almost feel himself agreeing to Mark in an instant. Damn! Turning down your mate's request is hard. 

"Kid, I got a Job." Zhane tried again. 

"Please." 

"..."

"..." 

"Ughh! Fine." Zhane sighed. "But only until your parent's come." Zhane was surprised how this kid got a hold of him. Never, did anyone ever could convince him to do something he didn't want to, then how come he gave in so quickly. Just because his mate was a kid doesn't mean it was okay to slip, to let himself feel whatever the crap this mate bond made him feel. Closing his eyes and taking deep breaths he tried to convince himself that he needed to find a way to fight this mate bond.

When Zhane finally opened his eyes, he was shocked to see Mark staring at him with inquisitiveness. "What?" Zhane asked with annoyance.

"Nothing. You seem... frustrated." 

"Of course I am. I am missing my job." Zhane snapped back.

"Sorry." Mark declared. "I just... don't like being alone in the dark." Zhane, skeptical of Mark's comment, tried to switch on the light, but to his surprise the connection was ripped, and therefore the darkness remained. "Do you work in a restaurant?" Mark asked.

Zhane, didn't wanna answer, but seeing how chatty Mark was he simply shrugged. While a pub wasn't technically a restaurant, it was similar. Zhane let out a sigh and asked. "Kid, let me give you some friendly advice, if after today you ever see me again... run." He declared.

"Are you threatening me?" Mark frowned.

"I am warning you. You do not want to be near me." 

"I dunno. I think I would like to know more about you. For some reason... you don't feel like a stranger." 

"Don't"! Zhane barked. "Don't trust those feelings. I am warning you... I am very dangerous." he declared.

Mark chuckled at that. "You know that used to be one of my tactics to avoid bullies. I used to threaten them." He added. "It wasn't useful." 

"You think I am bluffing"? Zhane asked in a low voice.

"I dunno. But even if you are not, the fact that you are warning me, is good enough. You won't hurt me... because I don't think you want to." Mark shrugged. Yeah, he was definitely smart.

"You are right, I don't want to." Zhane let out a smirk. "But If I have to... I won't hesitate." 

Mark stared at Zhane for a minute before mumbling, "No. I don't believe you would."

For some reason the confidence Mark had on Zhane was beyond frustrating. How could Mark, who was a simple kid, react like that? This was driving him insane.