Sometimes, he couldn't help but appear scary, Octo thought. He was aware that he had a rather imposing visage. Coupled with his personality, he could see why some people thought bad about him, that he was someone who had been abused or liked to abuse people. He often used that to his advantage; sometimes he preferred being left alone to his own devices. A glance was enough to make people stay away.

Other times, though, he did that without even knowing. As he put the folder down and looked at Richard, he saw the hyena flinch. He furrowed his brows, and the hyena looked away, his tail swaying nervously.

He put his face in his hand. Sometimes it really couldn't be helped. While he was rather… pleased… if one could even say that… at the plan, it still worried him.

So, they weren't going to scrutinise all canines in Barrowisle, but just keeping eyes on them. Their agents were to patrol the city and look for suspects, mainly wolves with red fur, but also those with other fur colours. They would make sure they only looked for wolves, so wolf-like species were discarded. Those who were deemed suspicious were to be watched until the suspicion could be disproven. The lower ranks of the police were also involved in this.

If anything, he thought this was just a waste of time. It was just so inefficient, and the fact that they thought they could do this in just two weeks is absolutely idiotic. Besides, it was very speciesist. If a word escaped, they could be seen as a speciesist organisation.

“Richard," he said, and the hyena jumped slightly in surprise. He hadn't been able to attend the final meeting a few days ago, so he could only meet them today. At first, he wanted to meet Ludwig, but he and the rest of the board of directors weren't around, so he could only meet Richard. It was nice to have his suggestion seriously taken into consideration, though. “are you, personally, sure this will work?"

Richard fidgeted, then looked at him. “Yes, sir."

He felt bad for meeting Richard instead of anyone else higher than him, but he now trusted the hyena more. “You don't sound like it."

Richard did not answer.

Octo put the folder down on the desk. “But I can see why. I do have doubts myself, but I am here just as an observer. I trust Ludwig to run this operation," He let out a frustrated sigh and crossed his arms. “despite my… doubts. Summer holiday, Barrowisle is going to be quite packed."

“Y-yes, sir."

“Nonetheless, I would appreciate it if Red Wolf were found in this operation, he was not to be killed on the spot." Octo looked away. “I have some questions." He bit his tongue to stop himself from continuing that sentence.

“Yes, sir. I'll tell that to Big Boss."

The panther looked at the window. The summer holiday was just in a few days. He was already free for the rest of the week. “I won't be able to come during the summer holiday. I have something else to be taken care of." He hoped this would be enough. Kevin and Tom might be on their radar and saving them through one operation might not be enough, but it was the least he could do for now.

Richard, seemingly less intimidated now, nodded at him. “Yes, sir. We will brief you on the results."

Max sat back down on the chair and looked around. They were going to Westeravne today. The excitement was in the air; everyone was enthusiastic about going there. Apparently, impatience was in the air too. They were in Andy's house, waiting for Vilkas to arrive. It was 20.05, five minutes past schedule and the husky hadn't arrived. Max didn't really mind that. They had two weeks just to relax and enjoy the holiday. Five or ten more minutes wouldn't hurt them.

Well, they had two hours of driving to look forward to.

Admittedly, he was a bit disappointed that he didn't get to spend the summer holiday at home. He wanted to spend the summer holiday with his family, but Octo was, uh, insistent on inviting them, so he decided to put it off and tell Hans to suck it up for another month. He'd told his family that he would come sometime later this year, though.

Andy's family was just about done celebrating Midsummer, too. The house decorations were still in place, and when they arrived earlier, Andy's parents made food for everyone. Max already had enough, so he could only receive the meals they prepared as snacks on the journey.

Anyway, that jackal guy, Mike, he seemed to have taken an interest in Tom. Max looked at them joking around with Lucas and squinted his eyes. He wasn't sure what he felt was jealousy, but… well…

At least the jackal was friendly and kept his distance, unlike a certain red wolf across them who was talking about cars with Andy and his father. Kevin had been behaving well these days. While he was still annoyed about that, he was no longer angry at him. Kevin had apologised, and as impossible as that might be, that was all that mattered. He was looking forward to mending his friendship with the red wolf.

Vilkas then came running towards the house, putting his luggage down next to the cars and breathing heavily. “S-s-sorry mates!"

Lucas sat up and walked to him. “I told you to come with me!"

“Sorry! I still had something to do!"

With the crew complete, Max stood up and clapped his hands, getting everyone's attention. “Well, now that everybody's here, let's get going. So, here's the plan." he said, then moved aside to let Octo speak.

The panther stood up and continued. “We'll take the outer country ring road so we can get there before night. We'll stop every half an hour or if anyone wants some breaks. Andy, Lucas, your cars are fully charged, right?"

“Aye."

“Yeah."

“Nice. Now, feel free to choose your ride."

They all said goodbye to Andy's father and mother, then scrambled to load their luggage into the cars. Max took his and Tom's luggage, going to Andy's car. He was fine with either of them, so it didn't really matter. “Vil, you wanna drive with me?" He asked Vilkas when they passed by each other. They didn't really have much time hanging out before, so Max wouldn't mind spending more time with the husky.

Vilkas perked up. “Sure. I'm taking th—"

“Nope, cute husky's with me!"

“Fuck off, Kev! Max, help me!"

The dog watched as Kevin dragged Vilkas away towards Andy's car, presumably because Octo was driving with Andy. He let out a chuckle at Vilkas' attempts to get free from Kevin's hold, despite his wagging tail. Instead, he went to Lucas' car now that Andy's car was full.

Wait, so that left him with…

“You wouldn't mind driving with me, mate?" Mike asked.

“No problem. Wait, I need to go to the bathroom first." Tom replied.

Max's smile turned into a frown and his fur bristled. Great. He had to drive with Mike. He put their luggage into the boot, trying not to let his ears go down. Mike's luggage was already there in the boot; somehow, he thought the jackal had already planned this.

He was closing the boot when he saw Mike getting inside the backseat.  The dog furrowed his brows at that.

“Mike, uh… what are you doing?" Lucas asked him from the driver's seat.

“Getting inside?"

“Uh… Tom and Max, they're boyfriends."

The jackal was surprised at that. He got out of the car and looked at Max and smiled sheepishly. “Sorry, mate, didn't know you two were boyfriends. Really, sorry."

Max just shrugged and closed the boot, just looking curiously at him and trying to appear like he didn't hear the previous conversation. “Uh, sure dude."

Mike then got into the front seat and whispered to Lucas, although he could still hear them. “Why didn't you tell me that?"

“I thought you knew."

“I did not! Argh, I didn't mean to do that!"

“To be fair, though, Tom usually didn't mind that. Max, well…"

Hearing Lucas, Max rolled his eyes, though his ears went down in embarrassment. Thankfully, Tom then came back and got inside the car with Max next to him. “Yup, all ready."

“C'mon, you're all set up?"

“Set up here." Max said, putting his seatbelt on.

“Okay, here we go!"

The drive was smooth. The traffic was quite bad when they were going into the outer ring road, but after that, it was a smooth one. Surprisingly, Mike was still chatty. Max didn't really have the time to talk to him before, but now he could tell that the jackal wasn't really planning to hit on Tom.

Since when did he become so protective of the wolf?

Since Tom told him about his past, maybe. He couldn't deny that one of the reasons that he wanted to be boyfriend with the wolf was that he wanted to keep him safe. Now, he learnt that Thomas was more than capable of keeping himself safe, which meant…

He really was bi, and he might really… get jealous rather easily.

No, he was not… was he? He always let Tom and Octo hang out with no problems. Maybe this time it was because Mike was a canine? He had Lucas, though, but Lucas is honestly too much of a good boy for him to even get angry with. Kevin meanwhile was a bit of an arsehole. Mike? He didn't even know him.

“Max, you're sleepy already?"

The dog shook his thoughts away and looked at Tom when he realised that he called him. Offering a small smile, he just pulled the wolf closer. “Nah, just enjoying the view."

“Uh… you know, there's Lucas and Mike…" Tom whispered to him as Max pulled him into his hold.

He whispered back. “They already know, Tom."

Admittedly it was kind of weird; they never showed any PDA, not counting hugs and embraces which were common anyway. Tom wasn't really the type to show PDA, and while Max had no problems with them, he still wasn't sure about being too open.

At first, he wanted to just screw it and hold the wolf's hand whenever and wherever he wanted, but apparently no one thought that he was the type to be touchy-touchy with a dude. Tom himself never expected him to do it, and the wolf told him that he didn't mind it. He just told Max to do whatever he was comfortable with.

“R-really? Mike, too?"

“It's fine, Tom" Mike then said, making the wolf's fur bristle in surprise. “I never thought that you're gay, though, but that's fine with me." He gave a chuckle. “If anything, I think Kevin's already trying to get onto Octo's lap in the other car."

Mike and Lucas laughed, while Max and Tom only chuckled nervously.

This was going to be quite a long drive.

Lucas turned the machine off and got out of the car. He had to admit, the landscape was beautiful here. Fields upon fields of wheat dominated the land with the lovely town looking like a small dot in a painting. The ring road in the distance seemed like a big divide running across the yellowish fields. It was warmer here than in Barrowisle, too.

“Heh, nice." Getting out of the car, Mike said next to him. “Where are we again?"

Lucas glanced at his phone. “Tilninger, Westfård shire. Still a bit more. We should get to Stad-an-Øjne soon."

“Nice."

A loud shout made them turn their heads. Kevin was barking excitedly at Vilkas who followed him unenthusiastically. Lucas crossed his arms and chuckled lightly at their antiques, while Mike laughed.

“Where's Tom and Max?" Andy asked him as he walked closer.

“Sleeping in the back seat. Tom is already awake, though, but Max's still sleeping." He chuckled. Max was too cute for him to handle. Really, being that cute should be illegal, especially with his big ears.

“Bet the wanker didn't sleep last night." The lion laughed. “C'mon, get me some photos!"

“Andy, we have to buy some water first." Octo told him, getting out of their car.

Andy deflated and grumbled as he unenthusiastically followed the panther towards the busier part of the town. “wE HaFTa bUY sOmE wATer FirsT, aye, aye, well."

He looked back at Vilkas who was taking photos of Kevin with Mike next to him. Wait, was Kevin naked?

Nah, apparently it was just that Kevin's t-shirt was the same shade as his fur.

Vilkas handed Mike the phone and walked away with his ears down when Kevin did a particularly obscene pose with a big tree in the background. “Thou take photos of that slut."

Mike laughed.

“Sorry. Not a great ride?" He asked the husky as he walked closer.

“I swear I'm gonna cut his dick and shove it up his mouth like seriously í kan hit nat már haven HIT IS NØJ! Kan awiman jan wolf te Norþ yeeten eð nat?!" He ended with a growl.

The black coyote stroked the black and blue husky's shoulder softly as he breathed heavily.

Vilkas took a deep breath. “Sorry, I was taken away." He huffed, tail waving in suppressed agitation. “I mean, I know we used to do each other during university, but he was such a horndog today, and I am the dog one! He kept groping me like I was a bolster or something! I mean, other times it's fine but he was being an arsehole about it."

“Sorry about that." Lucas said, softly stroking the husky's shoulder. “Wanna drive with me? I'm sure Mike would be fine with it."

“W-well…" He trailed off and crossed his arms. “Honestly, I think Mike would have it worse." Vilkas huffed again and looked at the two of them. Kevin was not making lewd poses now. “At least Kevin knew I wouldn't punch him in the face; Mike is straight so I want to spare him from Kevin's horniness."

Looking at Vilkas, Lucas furrowed his brows. However, when he realised the tone that the husky used, he smirked. “Right. Sorry. Didn't know you had it for Kevin."

“I am not crushing on him." Vilkas retorted angrily, but his tail was wagging rather excitedly.

“It's fine. I won't judge." The coyote said, still smirking. That funny feeling that he had towards the husky was slowly dissipating now, thankfully. He wasn't ready for that yet.

Said husky sighed and uncrossed his arms. “I mean, yeah, we used to fuck a lot during university times before he became boyfriends with that panther Octo." He gripped his muzzle, his ears going down. “But we agreed that those were just that, fucks. Besides, who wouldn't want to fuck the basketball ace?"

Lucas just watched the husky amusedly.

Vilkas then gave a mrf. “What the hell, what am I talking about? Fuck that wolf. Preferably with a half metre dick."

“Do you have that half metre dick to fuck him with?" Lucas smirked and raised his brows, his tails wagging.

Vilkas stared at him, then jabbed his side, making him guffaw. “Well, fuck you too."

“I'd like that! Didn't know you're a top!"

“Lucas I'm definitely gonna fuck you later!"

Standing back straight, Lucas could only hold back his guffaw as Vilkas looked at him in anger. The husky then narrowed his eyes and looked away, with embarrassment clear on his face.

When he realised what he just said, the coyote looked away. And he was the brave coyote who played the dangerous game of seduction with him.

The embarrassment was contagious as it was making him blush too, and suddenly he found the antenna of his car much more interesting than the blue husky. Memories of what happened in that private room in the bar and in the even more private living room of the husky's and his own flat resurfaced, and he found himself getting excited because of those. Vilkas was just next to him now, so close, so touchable…

“Jé høndjen wilt fø brøðe?"

Lucas yelped and covered his crotch with his tail when he realised that he was getting hard. Andy was walking to them, offering some bread. Vilkas took a small piece of it and munched it absent-mindedly, ears still low. “Jiv me þat."

The lion turned to him. “Ye, yote?"

“Er, yeah, thanks." He took it nervously. Good thing it was Andy who caught him.

“When are we gonna get to Stad-an-Øjne again?" Vilkas absent-mindedly asked.

Andy shrugged and leant on the bumper of his car. “In about half an hour I reckon."

“Good."

“Eh, Luc, ye brought some beer with you?"

Lucas shook his head. “Why would I bring beer?"

“But we're partying!"

Vilkas took another piece of bread from Andy. “Later in the night when we're in Westeravne."

Andy grunted in disappointment but continued eating his piece of bread. Vilkas meanwhile rolled his eyes and leant on the bumper next to him.

Gulping the piece of bread, Lucas took a deep breath. It seemed this holiday was going to be an interesting one.

After two hours of driving, Octo let out a nostalgic sigh as the familiar scenery of Westeravne came into view as he exited the ring road. Oh, he missed this city; it had been a while since he spent the summer holidays here. It felt like a lifetime ago, when he and Giovanni ran on the beach with a worried Nicholas running after them. They would spend the day just chasing each other or enjoying the city with Nicholas.

The panther could only shake the nostalgia away, though. Although he had no reason to be paranoid during the trip, he couldn't help but be cautious. If for some reason they were trailed, then this entire plan would be a failure.

In the backseat, Andy and Kevin were talking about being tired or something. He just ignored them and turned the music off in the car. On the front passenger seat, Vilkas looked really tired. “You're tired, Vil?"

The blue husky yawned. “Less from the driving and more from those two idiotic wankers."

The panther smiled sympathetically. He had to move Vilkas to the front to separate him from Kevin. Really, the red wolf was a huge mess when he was excited, even more so that now he knew just how close were Kevin and Vilkas. It didn't really bother him as they knew each other for longer than each other, though. At least he let them be together and didn't hog Kevin all to himself.

Although, that didn't excuse his jealousy. Kevin was his wolf, not Vilkas'.

Looking at the husky beside him, though, he could tell that the husky wasn't really fond of that either. No, he wasn't angry at Vilkas. If anything, the husky was a good guy. Kevin was the horny one.

He checked the mirror—yup Lucas' car was trailing them—and took a turn towards the villa. It was a few minutes before sundown; good thing they managed to get here before night. Like Barrowisle, the city centre was off-limits for cars. He planned to take the guys there later tonight. Westeravne was smaller than Barrowisle, but it was more diverse.

“Wow, things really are more colourful here!" Andy remarked.

“You mean people are more colorful here?" Kevin said.

That was true, though. As a port city, more people settled here compared to Barrowisle. Here, people had more colourful fur.

Vilkas chuckled a bit. “Well, this is in the western province."

They all laughed.

“That's Westfård shire for ya!"

“Right! I remember that time when I visited Hárkenstad!" Andy laughed. “I feel like the blandest, most boring lion there. Like, seriously, have ye ever seen a blue lion?! His mane was freaking blue! Blue canines can I understand but blue lions?!"

Octo just left the two to their own conversation and focused back on the road. He took another turn and they reached a seemingly private neighbourhood area. The villas were quite spaced here and it was higher than the other neighbourhoods under it. Sadly, it was quite far from the city centre. Their villa then came into view with a car parked in front of it and the panther drove quicker.

He let out a relieved breath and took his seatbelt off as they arrived. “Come on. Kev, take my luggage. I'll prepare the villa."

“God, my ass is on fire! And this time I don't have anything in it!"

“Finally!"

Getting out of the car, Octo stretched his body a bit, then walked towards the gate and rang the bell. Not long after that, it opened and a mouse invited him to come inside.

“Mr Octaviano, right?"

He tried to smile, he really tried to smile, but maybe he was more tired than he thought. “Yes, that's me."

An elk came forward. “Good afternoon." He smiled. “You're renting this villa for two weeks with no meals, no waiters, and two motorcycles."

“That's right." He nodded. “I'm really sorry for the unkempt fur, it took me a while from Barrowisle."

“Ah, Barrowisle." The mouse laughed a little. “You really make the best roasted ducks."

“We'll make one for you, don't worry." He chuckled, then took the printed receipt from his wallet and gave it to them. “Anyway, this is the receipt."

They took the receipt and smiled. “Here are the keys to the villa and the front gate, and these are the keys to the motorcycles and to the rooms inside. The rented motorcycles are in the garage with all the documents necessary. Welcome to Westeravne! We hope you enjoy your stay!"

He took the keys. “It's really a pleasure to visit."

They shook hands, then walked back to the front gate. Octo opened the gate fully while the mouse and the elk got into their motorcycle and drove away. “Put the cars inside, guys."

As they drove the car into the villa complex, he opened the front door. The panther smiled, hopefully they could be safe here and have fun in the meantime.

Notes:

“Í kan hit nat már haven HIT IS NØJ! Kan awiman jan wolf te Norþ yeeten eð nat?!" = I can't have it anymore THAT'S ENOUGH! Can someone yeet that wolf to the North or something?! (North here is referring to North Iceland)

“Jé høndjen wilt fø brøðe?" = You doggos want some bread?

“Jiv me þat." = Give me that.