Title: Wolf Pack
Chapter Title: The Observation
Author: Baby Blues
E-mail: purely_blissful@hotmail.com
Rated: NC-17
Disclaimer: Not mine, but the story is.
Summary: Buffy and Angelus study each other from a distance, ending up with their own conclusions about one another.
Dedication: To the designers of 'Wet Seal' (used to be called 'Contempo'), I love your clothes!
Excerpt:
~Buffy: You were watching me.
~Angelus: Yes. I was . . . Why? Is there some sort of law that states that I'm not allowed to?
~Buffy: I think there is . . . especially when I'm stripping down to nothing.
~Angelus: I believe you're the only one complaining.
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Buffy watched him as he played with the twins in the playroom. A few months had passed by. A few more encounters with Angelus as well, including stolen kisses, unexpected touches, unanticipated laughter, careless flirting, and light teasing. If she was anyone else, she would've already puked at the sight of the two of them. But then nobody has seen their endless encounters that usually ended by her leaving in the middle of the game.
"Hey, Angelus," Dylan said, his face marred with a frown.
"What is it?" he asked as he caught the football the small boy threw at him.
"Maybe you should ask him, Cole," Dylan said with a serious nod.
"No way! You're the one who wants to know!" his brother laughed.
"Oh, no . . . don't tell me you guys are already after the birds and the bees talk?" Angelus chuckled as he flopped down on one of the chairs inside the large playroom with the Disney characters painted neatly on the walls of the bright and cheery room.
"The birds and the what?" Dylan asked with the cutest confused look on his young and handsome face.
Angelus shook his head with a grin, and Buffy made herself more comfortable as she leaned against the doorway, waiting to hear what was about to take place in the innocent playroom the twins often occupied.
"Cole and I were just thinking about something," Dylan began, being the more serious and wisest one out of the twins. "We know you won the Blood Moon Battle and Buffy won the Moon Dance."
"Yeah," Angelus answered slowly.
"Aren't you supposed to be together?" Cole finally interjected.
Buffy's eyes widened.
Moon Goddess . . . even the eight-year old twins were wondering about her and Angelus. She knew the pack was getting nervous about the fact that she won't just take her place as Angelus' mate. They wanted the bond between the new leader and the pack to become official with a marriage and a child. It was a way to keep Angelus grounded and more dedicated to the pack. Not only were they disappointed and a little pissed off at her because of her prude ways, but they were also scared about the future of the clan.
"Well . . . she's . . . a tough girl," Angelus said with a fond smile.
"Mom and Dad are worried that you two won't end up together," Dylan said, "The entire pack too."
Angelus frowned at that. He knew the clan was getting antsy. He needed a wife and a child that would forever tie and link him to the pack . . . because at this moment, he could walk out any minute without looking back. He could just let some other lone werewolf have dibs on the pack and they can't do anything about it.
But either way, he wouldn't leave the pack for anything. He still wanted to conquer the world with werewolves . . . and second, there was Buffy.
"We will end up together. No worries," he smiled. "And plus, c'mon, guys. You two are what? Eight? You should be playing and goofing off while you learn how to add and subtract, not worrying about a pair of adults," Angelus smiled before lunging at them, throwing them over his shoulder like they were a sack of potatoes as they laughed at his antics.
"Yeah, but then this is you and Buffy," Dylan tried to reason, his chuckles dying down.
"Yeah, you two are like . . . our favorite people," Cole added, "And we hate seeing Buffy so sad."
Angelus put them down and frowned. "What do you mean?" he asked curiously, beginning to believe that the twins were more observant than him. As a good leader, his senses had to be keener than the other's. He knew things from Kendra and Xander's late night make out sessions in the game room, to Cordelia and Gunn's sudden secret affair, Joyce's quiet cries in her room every other night, and to Faith's constant midnight stroll through the town. But children had a much sharper sense when it came to the little things that were around them, and for that Angelus praised them . . . especially when it concerned Buffy.
"Like when she's cooking dinner, she has this faraway look on her face and she starts biting her lip. And she only bites her lips whenever she's sad," Cole explained.
"Sad or confused," Dylan corrected.
Buffy stood up and entered, not wanting Angelus to know anymore about her constant daydreaming and thoughts about him whenever she was alone. Or thought she was alone anyways. Children were more attentive than adults, she should've remembered that from her psychology classes.
"Hello, kids," she greeted brightly.
"Buff!" the twins yelled as they launched themselves at her.
She laughed, kneeled down on the plush carpet of the playroom, and embraced them in her arms, her eyes catching Angelus' stormy dark eyes at the sight of her. She cleared her throat and pulled away form the little ones. "Come. We're gonna wash up, go to dinner, then we check your homework," she said.
Cole groaned, but Dylan just smiled, hoping to catch her attention from his job well done in his math homework. She may be destined for Angelus, but it didn't mean he couldn't try to win her devotion.
Buffy turned to look at Angelus, "Fifteen minutes," she announced before turning and walking away with a twin each holding one of her hands.
Now that was a picture worth remembering.
Buffy felt his gaze on her as she led the pair in the bathroom to wash up. "Hey, Buff, when am I gonna start shavin'?" Cole asked curiously as he soaped his hands, working up a lather as he studied his face in the mirror.
Buffy smiled and ruffled his hair. "Just wait a few more years," she winked.
"Cole said he found a chest hair yesterday," Dylan said, examining his cheeks for any hints of a beard coming its way as well.
His twin brother stood high and proud as Buffy heard Angelus give out a small chuckle by the bathroom doorway. "It's true. I'm becoming a man."
"Yes, you are," Buffy humored as they rinsed their hands, dried them, and headed out the bathroom door.
She felt Angelus walk beside her as they walked down the staircase with the twins chatting about some kid's show they had watched during the afternoon.
"Something on my face?" she finally asked him when everyone began taking their seats of the dining room table. She sat on the right of the head table where he sat, the perfect place for his werewolf queen to sit.
He smiled and gently caressed her soft lips with the pad of his thumb. "No, just the most gorgeous features I've ever seen on a woman."
"Flattery will get you no where," she replied back, quieting her voice when Wesley took his own seat in front of her.
"You sure about that?" he asked with a wicked gleam in his eyes as the older women of the clan started serving dinner.
His gaze strayed on her the entire night. She couldn't believe his straightforwardness. Everyone around the dinner table noticed and smiled and exchanged knowing looks as they continued to chat about the upcoming events, circumstances that sounded troubling, and other pack business they were all concerned about.
"The town's getting curious," Molly, the twin's mother said worriedly.
"We need to ease their suspicions," Alex agreed. "They might start coming by, taking peeks as we change to wolf form and back."
Angelus tore his eyes from Buffy for the moment and nodded gravely. He knew this would come up sooner or later, he was just glad it was sooner. A better way to get rid of the problem earlier so he didn't have to worry about it later and when there was so much more to worry about.
"I've decided that we should go out to town more," he said, "Get to know the residence. Even make a few friends."
The large dining room quieted and Angelus nodded. "I know that you all never have done this in Pennsylvania, but you must understand, suspicions will arise and we can't have that. Not now, not when we're still settling down."
The dining room murmured their agreement and understanding. "Buffy and I will have a walk around town," he said, his eyes back on her. She gazed back at him in surprise, "After all, it seems as though our food supply is getting low . . . especially with the appetites of the growing twin males," he winked.
The dining room was silent as they eyed the pair diligently. Searching for some sort of sign that would finally bring them together.
"Are you up for it, Buffy?" Angelus asked, with almost a hint of mocking sarcasm in his dark eyes. 'Don't try and defy me, lover,' he added silently.
Buffy continued to stare at him. "I don't really have a choice in the matter, do I now?"
Angelus shrugged. "That's not the point."
"Of course it is," she said cheerily, adding her own mocking tone.
The pack leader smirked. "It's not a command, my dear," he said, his voice low and soothing to her ears, "You will . . . because you want to."
Buffy glared at him. She knew that he had concluded that she did want to go on this "walk" with him. It was clearly written in his eyes. But what got her angered her the most was that it was true, she did want to spend some time with him and he knew it.
"If we must," she replied, knowing it was the lamest attempt to keep her pride in this battle that he obviously won.
The pack continued with the plans until the end of dinner. Some of the males and a few of the older females, along with Angelus, discussed more of the future plans in the living area while the others left them in their chat. After finishing cleaning the dining room and the kitchen, Buffy decided to call it a night and headed up to her room for a good night sleep.
She drew her top over her head, revealing her bare breasts in the safety of her bedroom. Her knee length white skirt soon followed, leaving her in a lacy white underwear. She massaged her shoulder as she took a white hair tie from her vanity and pulled her hair up in a twist as she snatched her abandoned clothes from the floor and threw them in the hamper.
She grabbed a white silk shirt her father had owned from her closet and drew it over her head. The garment was large and cool against her skin as it fell to her knees.
"I know you're there," she said as she looked out her window and into the dark night.
A light chuckle followed as she turned to look into the dark eyes of Angelus. "You were watching me," she said as he opened the door to her bedroom even wider so he could lean casually against the doorframe.
"Yes. I was," he nodded as he took in the site of her tanned legs against the brightness of the white buttoned down shirt, "Why? Is there some sort of law that states that I'm not allowed to?"
"I think there is . . . especially when I'm stripping down to nothing," Buffy said, crossing her arms against her chest as she glared at him.
"I believe you're the only one complaining," he smirked.
"I rest my case," she said, and turned to look out of the window.
"About tomorrow . . . "
"It's a date."
He looked startled and Buffy had to smile. He wasn't the only one who could play games.
"What?" she asked innocently.
Angelus grinned. "Finally coming around, lover?" he asked as he slowly stepped further into the room.
Buffy smirked back.
She was coming around . . . which was a frightening yet intriguing thing. Her attraction and lust towards him had become ten times greater from what she started off with.
"Don't act so smug about it, LOVER," she snapped as he backed her against the wall by the window, "I may be getting there, but I'm still far off."
He nipped at the flesh below her jaw and she moaned. "Maybe," he breathed, his nostrils recognizing the smell of chocolates that she was surrounded with, "But you'll be there soon enough."
"Do you promise?" she whispered huskily, nipping back as he growled.
"Don't push me," he warned and kissed her neck before licking it.
She laughed and gently pushed him away as she stared at him with stormy blue eyes. "Play time's over. I need to sleep," she said, gently leading him out of her room before shutting the door in his face.
"You're a tease," he called out with a laugh.
"And you love it," she shot back.
"Damn right I do," he mumbled quietly as he walked towards hid own bed chambers with an aching longing to be with her protruding between his legs.
Continue to Chapter 14: The Walk
Back to Chapter 12: The Courting