“Do we own this place,” Killian asked. He took his suit jacket off, unbuttoned his waistcoat. “I like it.”

“No. It’s a rental,” Gisco said. “Boss, we need to talk.” 

“Of course. I understand you must be getting hungry and we’re in a veritable buffet right now.” 

“Well, that is also going to happen. I know you don’t like when I indulge my appetites.” 

“I’m not a vegetarian myself,” Killian said as he slipped out of his jacket and unbuttoned his waistcoat. “Speaking of which, can the cook make us something?”

“American homes don’t come with cooks. This isn’t Medieval France, boss. I ordered delivery and it should be here shortly.” 

“Are you going to eat the person delivering it?”

“No. It is apparently being delivered by a drone, a kind of robot.”

“Like in Jules Verne?” Killian was bent over, working his feet out of his shoes. He groaned in pleasure as his feet expanded, grew fur and claws. He propped his feet up on the short tea table. “The humans have been very inventive.” 

“Are you tired?” Gisco asked. He was stalking the door. He could hear the hum of something he thought might be a robot, but was not entirely sure. 

“Of course I’m tired. I hate planes. Hate them. The one from North Carolina to here was better, as it was just you and I and that dog. I never want to fly in one where I can’t get up and walk around again. Why don’t they have lounges like trains used to?”

“I don’t think either of us have or want educations in engineering, but I understand that the University of Seattle is one of the best ones in the world. Would you like to apply?”

“Fuck you,” Killian said affectionately. “I don’t like this place. It’s made of stone and metal and I saw not a single deer as we drove from the airport to the hospital where the Lady Iris spends her time. That place was vile. It doesn’t smell as badly as the last hospital I was in, but the smells are all foreign and strange. If metal and stone developed a perfume, it would be the hospital. I hate it. I just want to convince her of my love and go home.” 

“About that, boss,” Gisco said, pausing to accept the bag of food from what seemed to be a flying robot that said thank you in English to him and then flew away. He was careful to keep the door mostly closed so Killian didn’t see the abomination. “That’s what we gotta talk about.” 

“What? There is nothing to talk about, Gisco. I love her. She is my luna. I will not leave without her.” 

“Yeah, okay,” Gisco said, setting the bag down in front of Killian on the tea table. “Steak, sweet potatoes, and waffles. There should also be a latte in the bag.” 

“Excellent.” Killian opened up the bag enthusiastically and was very happy with his very rare steaks. “Now, explain to me what your concerns are.” 

“You are a good man, Killian Marlow, Lance. I would and have followed you around the world and into more battles than I remember. You are honorable and kind.” 

“And?”

“Things have changed. I know you had a lovely time with the Lady Iris and for as long as I’ve known you that would mean that the two of you are paired to each other. That’s not true anymore.”

“Nonsense! How could that change? What if she falls pregnant?”

“I’m sure she’d be fine, Kilé. She’s probably on birth control. If she didn’t want the baby, she’d terminate the pregnancy. If she did, she’s got a fine income and would be able to provide for any offspring just fine.”

“She can’t enjoy working at that place! Her father must have sold her to it. Did you find him?”

“I did find Lady Iris’ father. He’s been dead for ten years and he barely knew her. He was not present in her life. You know... how you like to hunt in the rain, and you’ll come home soaked down to your undercoat, a giant ball of soaked fur and blood? Can you understand that some others might not find that idea enjoyable?”

“They are not wolves.” 

“You are not a doctor. Her time at the hospital is like a hunt for her. Her prey is disease and injury.” 

“That,” Killian said, leaning back, the steak held in his hands as he chewed on it, not caring that his shirt definitely needed to be professionally laundered afterwards. “That can’t be true. Do you remember Keats? The medical profession killed him.” 

“A thing of beauty is a joy forever. Of course I remember Keats. I remember you cried for a year after he died. I still swear you wanted him carnally.”

“So what if I did. I don’t want Iris to meet the same fate.”

“And when she really accepts that you are a wolf, and she worries when you hunt, will you stop and just buy chops from the local market?”

“No.” 

“See? A lot has changed while we hide away on our island, my lord. If you want to be with the Lady Iris, we’re going to have to live here in Seattle and respect her path through the medical sciences. You should take a degree at the University, familiarize yourself with this new world.” 

“I am not a boy. I do not wish to sit in classes and wear a scholar’s robes. Is that where she studies?”

“She does. You can’t get into the medical school. They’re very selective, but we could get you into an undergraduate in engineering or history.” 

“How many days a week is she at this place?”

“Five days a week.” 

“Fine. Set me up to teach history classes.” 

“Oh no, boss. You’re not going to be teaching. You have to earn the qualifications for that. You also need to improve your English.” 

“We could just go home!” 

“We could,” Gisco agreed. 

“I won’t leave without her.” Killian said firmly, now sipping his iced latte. “This is very good. Can you arrange one for breakfast for me, please. I need to be awake by noon. She said we would have a phone call at two PM.”

“Will do. Alexa, wake us to Track Iris at noon,” Gisco said. 

“Alarm set to Track Iris for noon tomorrow,” a female voice said. 

Killian nearly bathed in his latte. “Who is that? Who is here?”

Gisco held up both hands. “Now now, it’s okay. Alexa is a stationary servant, but very useful. She’s not a person. See that small black column on the table by the window? That’s Alexa, but you can ask her all kinds of things and she can order food or other items for you, just by asking her to do so, in case I’m not here.” 

“I can take care of my self. I could even venture out into this hive of death and find a restaurant. They do have restaurants, do they not? Why couldn’t Iris live in Paris!”

“Because she’s American. Her ability in French is remedial at best. Might as well be speaking Latin to either or me.” 

“You refuse to learn Latin as you’re still angry over Carthage.” 

“Well, the destruction of Carthage was very traumatic and exactly. I don’t know what Americans have against other languages, but it doesn’t seem to be a popular subject.”

“Carthage was a long time ago, Gisco. You’ve killed more people since then than died that day.” 

“Yes, but I kill them one at a time and not in front of their children. I do not make the streets run red with blood like your side did.” 

“I wasn’t there, Gisco. I’m not that kind of werewolf.” 

“I know,” Gisco said, sinking down into a chair as if his bones had all gone to jelly, “Or I’d have killed your ass centuries ago. Look. I’m sorry, but you’re going to have to get into a different headspace over Iris. You can’t command or seduce her to leave her life and you shouldn’t try.”

“She is a woman.” Killian said firmly, as if that meant the cultural things it had meant two hundred years before.

“And now flying machines bring us food. Alexa, what year is it?”Z

“It is 2024.” Alexa replied. 

“So I should treat her like a man,” Killian picked up a sweet potato piece and licked it. “Are you sure this was meant to be eaten?”

“Yes, it’s a sweet potato fry. They’re delicious. I know you want this woman, boss, but the modern world has this thing called enthusiastic consent. You can’t just carry her off and expect her to be content once she’s wed.”

“It worked for Eleanor.” 

“It did not. There were reasons she spent sixteen years locked in a tower. Do you want that for your Iris?”

“No, of course not. I will improve.” 

When the alarm went off at noon the following day, he woke with all the confidence of a school boy who had never wooed so much as a sonnet from his quill let alone a man ready to draw out the woman he loved. 

Gisco had brought the custom made treadmill for him and it was set up in the workout room next to his bedroom, so he took a run, in his wolf form. He showed, dressed, tried on five different cravats, settled for the tie that Gisco had set out for him, then ordered five dozen roses to be sent to the hospital, in sets of half a dozen each, to be given to patients who were long term. 

Iris was three minutes late calling him, but he smiled as if she were the full moon lighting his night. “Iris.”

“Killian. What the fuck are you doing in Seattle?”

“It’s lovely to see you,” he said. “I’m sorry for overstepping in your work place yesterday, Iris. I was just afraid for you. You’re important to me.” 

“I know we got really intense on your little island, Killian, but I don’t, not for second think you’re actually a werewolf or that I’m your ‘luna’. I’m home now. I’m going to be very busy for the next six years, possibly longer. I will never be your housewife.” 

“I understand that medicine is your hunt and I will support you in that endeavor. May I have the honor of taking you to dinner, at your convenience? We can start over, without the weight of the island upon us, my lady.” 

“Fine. Pick me up at six. Pick some place where I can set my books out on the table and study.”

“Would my place be acceptable? I’ll cook.”

“Fine, but if you try to put the moves on me, I will kick your ass.”

“I would be delighted to spar with you, my lady. If you have boxing gloves, you should bring them.”