“We need to go on a date before I kill him.”

The look Remi gave Quinn when he lifted his gaze from the bread he was kneading was full of scolding.

“I mean it.”

Remi’s hands halted. “I would love to go on a date with you.” There was a measured pause. “Please find a little more patience in your heart for him.”

Grumbling across the kitchen, Quinn managed to avoid promising anything, give Remi’s crown a kiss, and steal a biscuit off a baking tray all in one loop of the island. A tea towel whipped his butt on his way out, and he knew a topknot would be shaking with disapproval.

"Be ready to leave in half an hour," Quinn called behind him.

He had somehow swung from 'if this man doesn't get out of my house, I'm going to combust,' to 'if I don't get out of this house, I'm going to combust.' Wes was weak, but physically fine, and he hadn't broken anything or drawn any neighbourly attention, so Quinn couldn't find a reason to not trust him home alone for a few hours. Maybe that was the desperation for private time with his mate talking. They were never truly alone; it was aggravatingly pack-like.

There was no plan, he just needed his mate and he needed fresh air, and the anonymity that being out amongst the humans offered them. Missing their painting class had left him feeling off-kilter. Although it wasn't a date as such, it was time for them to spend together as a couple that wasn't chores or sex. There was something intimate about painting side-by-side... which Quinn could never have foreseen when he booked the lessons months earlier.

There was no answer when he knocked on the guest room door, so Quinn opened it anyway. If it were Remi on the other side, he wouldn't dare. But Wes was a moocher under their roof, he should respond when someone gives him the good grace of knocking.

Lounging like a fat cat, Wes was spread atop the covers with feet dangling off the edge of the bed. The blinds were up, and he was sunning himself in wolf form beneath the light coming in through the windows. At the sight of Quinn, his breath quickened, bouncing his thin fur, and his ears pricked up. Something about the appearance of a fellow werewolf, sprawled in their natural skin, without care or concern, flashed irritation in his stomach.

He didn't miss it. He didn't even notice the urge to run wild in the woods on four legs. He didn't long to lead the pack with only his instincts and experience to keep them safe on track. Not at all.

"We're going out," Quinn told him. "Don't leave the house, make a mess, or attract any human attention while we're gone."

Wes scrabbled to a polite sitting position on his hind legs: a picture-perfect postcard of a big dog waiting for a treat. He gave a minute nod, and Quinn returned it, shutting the door behind him.

If he was treating him like a true alpha, he would have bowed his head proper, or jumped down off the bed to prostrate himself. The thought was ridiculous and Quinn brushed it away.

Bread put aside for proving under a white tea towel (not the same that had cracked across Quinn's butt), Remi hopped up the stairs to change. His leafy green sweatpants and matching hoodie were adorable, but when he reappeared at the top in the picture-perfect pumpkin patch outfit, Quinn could quietly concede that the change was worth it.

"Where are we going?" Remi asked when he reached the bottom. The moment when he dropped below Quinn's height on the stairs was always satisfying. Tall enough still to kiss with only a head tilt from Quinn, but small enough to require a sweet upward pull of eyes and chin from Remi. It made him look like he was pouting and pleading for Quinn's affections, although he was probably just wondering what his big foolish mate was doing staring at him with a goofy grin.

"Shopping." The decision had not been made prior to the word leaving his mouth, but there was nothing else to do with such little prep time. Shopping and a nice lunch would fill an afternoon just fine.

Remi's eyes lit up. "At the supermarket?" He had heard tales of Quinn's trips to the super-sized stores, and was eager to see all of the produce himself one day.

"Not that kind of shopping." Quinn took his hand and lead him outside. "Fun shopping - for wants, not needs."

Remi nodded, and Quinn knew without a word needing to be spoken that groceries to test out recipes with were a want for Remi. He would just need to show him what other things could be browsed and purchased in the wide world of human shops.

"So many cars," Remi whispered with his nose against the window. He had seen car parks before, and packs tended to have a collection of vehicles for member use, but the ten-story parking tower in the city centre was a whole new world.

"Lots of cars means lots of people, so make sure not to get lost while we're out, okay?"

Remi nodded, his nose squishing up and down on the glass.

They finally found a space amongst the weekend crowd of cars, and Quinn hurried to Remi's side to open his door before he could unbuckle his seat belt. When he did, he held out a hand and Remi placed his in it with a shy smile. A shift in the energy, and they were suddenly a pair of gooey-eyed teenagers, playing with their crush for the first time. This was the human's way of playing, though, instead of furry rough-housing out in the forest, avoiding the amused looks of elder wolves who had experienced enough in this world to simply smell the raging hormones on you.

Dawdling up the main street, Quinn watched for any interest in Remi's eyes beyond his general curiosity at the humans milling around. Any shops or items he might like...

"Do you like those clothes?" Quinn asked, nodding into a shop showcasing brightly-coloured knitwear on all-white mannequins.

"They're cute. Do you like them?"

"I don't think they'd suit me." And no doubt wouldn't come in a tall or wide enough size to accommodate his frame. "But why don't we see if they have something for you?"

Quinn led Remi around the shop like a museum steward, flicking through the racks on his behalf and holding up things he might like. Remi was too skittish to adventure out around the store by himself yet, maybe one day Quinn could sit with the bored human boyfriends while Remi ran wild. Not that he would be bored, a Remi fashion show was always a treat. They didn't find anything quite right, or maybe there was too much and Remi was overwhelmed. Either way, they headed to the exit fairly quickly. As they passed the curved poufs that the men were sitting on, a few looked at them with jealousy.

One sneered, "they're clothes for girls."

Quinn halted halfway through the door. "What did you say?"

The man looked as though he were going to repeat himself for a moment, but at the incredulous looks of the other men, shrugged and looked away.

"I am not a girl," Remi announced softly.

The man suddenly found his voice again at the appearance of a smaller opponent. "Not my fault you look like one."

Suddenly, his shirt was in Quinn's fist and his feet weren't on the floor. "You got a problem with my boyfriend?"

"Nah!" he squawked, fingers scrabbling at the grip just below his adam's apple. "Just- a boy in make-up is weird, right? Long hair and that- girly shit."

Quinn tightened his fingers at the man’s collar, ensuring his knuckles dug into his skin. "You keep your girly shit to yourself," he snarled.

The men, who didn't appear to know the rude bastard prior, had jumped up as though to intervene and immediately stopped in their tracks, thinking better of it - thinking of their own necks.

"Apologise, you fucking idiot" one said.

"Yeah, you were asking for it and now you got it," another encouraged. "Just say you're sorry, man."

A shop assistant, followed by a half-dressed woman, came sprinting from the dressing rooms.

"How did I fucking know it would be you picking a fight, Dave?" the woman screeched.

The shop assistant, an almost-adult with a lanyard, and a wire sticking out of his ear, looked lost once he reached them.

"I said I was sorry!" Dave called back to the woman.

"No, he didn't," Quinn corrected. "He just insulted my boyfriend, and said nothing else."

The woman looked between the three of them, her eyes particularly lingering on Remi - perhaps this pair needed a two-for-one coupon on butt kickings.

"Oh my god," the woman groaned through her teeth, turning back to Dave. "This is about the fucking haircut again, isn't it?"

Stubborn, but clearly lying, Dave responded, "No." He struggled to look away while dangling from Quinn's grip.

"I'm sorry," the sales assistant squeaked. "But I will have to call the police if you two don't stop this." For some reason, the ‘p’ word wasn't enough to concern Quinn even slightly.

"He deserves everything he gets," the woman said with a sigh. "Please don't call them."

The man struggled once more, and Quinn gave him a warning shake.

He gasped, "Look, I'm sorry, alright?"

"Say it to him," Quinn growled, nodding at Remi.

"I'm sorry, okay?"

Remi hesitated. "Okay."

Quinn opened his hand and Dave's knees weren't prepared for impact on landing, he stumbled to the floor in a sprawl, swearing under his breath.

The woman stepped in closer to them, attempting to cover herself with the half-buttoned dress she had either been trying on or taking off. "I'm so sorry, my love." Her smile was apologetic, and her eyes a little nervous. She avoided looking at Quinn, keeping her focus solely on Remi. "This is all him being an idiot because I want that cut, too - the one from that actress in that faerie show! Oh, what's her name..." She nodded to Remi as though he would know, clicking her fingers between them like it would summon the name from the air.

Quick on his toes, Remi made a show of thinking before saying, "I can't remember either!"

"Doesn't really matter!" the woman said with an awkward laugh. "Anyway, I love the wispy, floaty hair she has but my idiot man thinks short hair is for boys." She rolled her eyes and gave him a look of disgust. Dave had managed to drag himself back up onto his pouf now. Dignity not to be seen. "He's been seeing all this stupid stuff online about women becoming masculine and it's got his pants in a bunch over me wanting to copy her style - like it's going to transform me into a whole new person or something!"

Dave mumbled something to the guy next to him about a 'slippery slope' and got given the cold shoulder. His girlfriend's eyes flared.

"Enough out of you. And no pizza for lunch," she said through tight lips. "As soon as I'm dressed we're going straight home."

Dave didn't argue, although he tried to give the other men a look as though he didn't care what his girlfriend said anyway. The men avoided eye contact with Dave.

The woman apologised again and scurried away with her dress clutched to her. The sales assistant hovered, twiddling his lanyard. The men looked in all directions but each other, or Remi and Quinn.

Uncomfortable silence held the gleaming store for a beat.

Quinn took Remi's hand and they stepped outside. He halted them right as the door shut.

"Want me to go back in and smash his face?"

Remi jolted, looking up with worry written all over his own face. "But... he apologised?"

"But are you upset?"

Remi shrugged. "I don't know... more confused. And I don't want any fighting."

"Okay.” Quinn nodded to himself, shaking off his frustration as best he could without slamming Dave through the front window. “I think we need lunch before we tackle another shop."

"Pizza?" Remi suggested with a weak smile.