Dimitri was looking forward to entering his house with slow steps, without making a sound.  But you do not always get what you want; as soon as he stepped into the living room,  a voice boomed - "Where were you?" The voice was stern, similar to that of a parent whenever they want their children to remember who the boss is and that they cannot get away with everything. His were not that scary, but they still frightened him.

"Dad..."

"I asked you about your whereabouts, son."

Son? I am dead.

Lance had a reputation in their coven. An eminent authority always lined his words, and it was enough to make anyone skittish. His undeniable presence demanded respect. He was a man anyone would be terrified of. After all, the calmest are the deadliest of all.

The coven was like a family to him, but Dima was his real family. He was a loving husband and dad. The smidge of fear his children carried in their hearts was not an outcome of a past incident as many might predict; it was the same as how human kids fear their parents. Normal.

"Out?"

"Oh, right! My bad. Of course, you were out," Lance declared in an oops tone, slapping a hand to his forehead and laughing like a maniac. Dimitri knew better than to fall for that laughter. "Sonja! Where are you, honey? Can you come here for a second, please?"

"Coming!" Dimitri's mom replied from somewhere in the hallway. Within a few seconds, she appeared in front of both the men. "What do you want?"

Sonja was a no-bullshit lady. To keep in check a man like her husband - who shoulders the responsibility of ample brash vampires - it was a quality she adopted quickly.

"You didn't inform me of our son's fifteenth birthday. You know I have a habit of forgetting sometimes."

Sonja regarded her husband with caution or rather like he had grown another ear. In the end, she decided to humor him. Meanwhile, Dimitri looked at him with ill-concealed panic.

This cannot be good. My dad never forgets. Never. The old man is planning something.

"Both your sons are grown-ups and in their twenties. What in the world are you talking about?"

"Oh, is that so? Then why is he being smart-mouthed and countering my concerns with ridiculous single words like a bratty teenager?"

Sarcasm was Lance's whiz card, his deadliest weapon and he never backs down from using it against his son.

"Dad, I am sorry." Dimitri moaned, regretful and apologetic. "I was just getting bored, so I went around wandering a little."

Lance solely let out one word in return - "Grounded." The word had Dimitri's jaw drop in disbelief.

"What?!"

"You. Are. Grounded."

Dimitri was perplexed.

"Dad, what are you saying? I-I am not a kid."

Dimitri's dad looked at him from head to toe and rhetorically asked - "Really?"

Dimitri looked at his father with a deadpan look and then veered to his mom. "Mom, wouldn't you like to say something to dad?"

Sonja turned to Lance, and scowled at him for two seconds while making eye contact. In the next two seconds, Dimitri saw her melt right then and there. He groaned.

"Mom!"

"Oh yes, I had to say something. Right. Honey..."

"Mom, no honey, be stern. He grounded your 24-year-old son. Your favorite son."

Sonja gave it another try. She turned towards her husband with resolution and what she said to him made their son want to cry with happiness as well as frustration. "I love you."

"Mom, I told you to do something and this is what you do?"

"I'll do something alright. I'll make you your favorite dishes for dinner every night until your punishment is revoked," Sonja said and took off for the kitchen.

I guess she is off to make me my favorite food.

Dimitri shouted a sarcastic thank you after her. She acknowledged with a "You're welcome" towards him and "Increase his punishment by a day. That's for saying he is my favorite; he is not" towards his dad and then disappeared with a laugh. Dimitri didn't see the point in complaining or asserting anything anymore and dragged his feet to his room.

The first thing he did upon setting foot into his room was to fall face-first on the king-size bed. After a few sighs and grunts, he rose from the bed and started parading back and forth. Getting into trouble with his dad was all that psycho wolf's fault according to him. After all, he was cranky because of the fleabag. He would not have talked back had the wolf not embarrassed him.

Every action has an equal and opposite reaction and Dimitri should have remembered this. He always thought he could mess with young werewolves, never taking a moment to himself to ponder the consequences. Never reasoned that one day somebody might make him taste his own medicine.

Chris messed with him and he could not even retort properly, fumbling to search for the right words to say. One of the characteristics Dimitri possessed was stubbornness, so he refused to ratify this truth.

The idiot! I'll get back to him someday. Yeah, someday when I ain't grounded, he snorted.

To top it all, the wolf ruined Dimitri's leisure time.

Being grounded was trivial. The duration was Dimitri's real concern. He was apprehensive he would have to sneak out of the window if his punishment stretched for more than four days.

Damn! I don't want to be the real-life version of Mavis.

A grown-up vampire like him should not know such references but animation movies had always been his guilty pleasure.

Knock-knock.

"Come in."

"How are you doing, dude?"

Dimitri turned his eyes upwards after hearing that sentence, especially the 'dude' part. "You can stop role-playing now. The role of the father of a 15-year-old doesn't suit you, dad." He paused before speaking again. "I speak from experience from when I was fifteen and you played the dad." Dimitri chuckled at his own words and saw his dad crack a smile.

"What do you mean by playing? I am your dad."

Not having anything further to say, they sat in the quiet. The silence severed when Lance started speaking. "I know all about your nightly rendezvous."

Dimitri paled, well more than his normal pale self. Upon noticing, his dad grinned to let him know that he was not mad. Dimitri knew he had more to say on the matter thought.

He let out a breath. "I didn't get in a fight, Dad. I didn't impair anyone."

"I know. I know you know when not to push others or when to be modest. I also know you don't go out of your way to harm or antagonize anyone to extreme levels, but that doesn't mean they won't harm you."

"I don't antagonize them at all, Dad." Lance gave Dima a pointed stare. That could only mean one thing. "You know."

"Yes, I do and that's what I came to talk to you about. It wasn't just anyone who you were provoking today. He has a reputation."

"Didn't look like it," Dimitri said, recalling the behavior of that lunatic man-child.

"I know. He looks calm. He is calm. But it doesn't mean he isn't dangerous. He is the calm before the storm. He is a werewolf. And a werewolf who did not have any compassion towards even their soulmate."

"But I have heard the opposite. That they kiss the ground their mates walk on, love on them like no one else. Also, I have hea-"

"Heard. You have heard these things. They are misconceptions. I have seen them. They are heartless. They go to lengths to do things they perceive as fine. The one you met today, he wouldn't back down if it came to a confrontation. And the pack members of that pack are loyal to a T. Now, I am not saying we'll lose. I am just saying that I don't want unnecessary spilling of blood of my coven members even if it is from a small injury. I don't want any blood particularly when the feud was caused by my son. Get that? Are we clear on that?"

"Clear, Dad."

Lance smiled and sprung to his feet. "Goodnight, Dima."

"Wait, Dad."

"What?"

"He said he doesn't have a mate. You think he would treat her like that for real?" Dimitri was mystified as to how and why his dad knew so much about that lunatic.

"Well, he doesn't have a mate now," Lance said with his focus elsewhere. Suddenly, his eyes were staring into his son's. The manner was of warning and it made Dima more curious. " He killed her."

And then Lance left Dimitri alone with his thoughts.