The initial shock of the man hugging you wore of quickly, a small smile coming to your face as you hug him back. "It's nice to see you." You hum, pulling back to look up at the freckled man. He pulls back still grinning.

"How have you been?"

"Um...good I guess." You laugh a little. "What about you?"

"I've been alright, come on in! Meet my foster family! Um... Your friend can come too." He glances at Smoker.

"Okay." You nod, smiling a little more and ducking inside the massive house. "This place is amazing..."

"Yeah! Pops buys the best!" He chimes cheerfully.

"Well, that's nice of him." You chuckle, looking around the living room he had led the two of you to. "Oh right. This is Smoker." You tell him, introducing the man with you with a smile.

"Ace, nice to meet you. I hope you've been respectful to my sis." Ace gives him a smile and firm handshake

"He has been don't worry." You giggle, looking between the two. Smoker just offers a smile.

"I would never do anything to upset her- on purpose that is." He assures,

"Right." You nod, looking back to Ace. "So is it just you and your foster parent here?"

"No, we're kind of like a Yakuza family." He admits with a slight chuckle. Your eyes widen a bit and you tilt your head.

"Is that right?"

"Yeah, you'll see." He leads you into a large dining room. "___ and her friend Smoker is here!" He chimes to the group of men and women.

"Welcome ___ and Smoker!"

"Hello." You wave, smiling at everyone. "It's nice to meet everyone." The largest man comes over to you.

"You've become as beautiful as your mother, it's nice to see you're well. Do you remember me?" He offers his hand. You take his hand frowning lightly.

"I'm sorry I don't...."

"That's alright, you were fairly young, and you were always focused on playing games with your brother." He rumbles. "I'm Edward Newgate. It's good to see you again."

"Aren't you a hunter yoi?" A blond man looks at Smoker closely.

"I am." Smoker replies easily.

"Well then, it's nice to see you again. Thank you for taking care of Ace." You hum, eyes going to the blonde speaking with Smoker.

"I thought you were family. Hey Pop, this is the hunter that took down that ghoul that nearly blew our cover." The blond hums.

"Ghoul...?" Smoker echoes.

"Think his name was Krieg." The blond hums.

"Oh, that ghoul." You look over at Smoker with a raised eyebrow, wondering if he knew what they were talking about.

"Oh right, the noisy ex-cop that kept threatening to eat people." Smoker nods.

"A hunter... Why are you traveling with my sister?" Ace questions. Smoker looks at him, glancing at you as if he wasn't really sure how to respond.

"She needed me..."

"Mhmm." You nod, giving Smoker a smile. "He has saved me more times than I can count. If it wasn't for him, I'm pretty sure I wouldn't be here." Ace blinks at that.

"Thanks, Smoker," He offers a smile to him as well. "Oh! Come see my room!" Ace suddenly pulls you from the room cheerfully. You giggle, following the excited man.

"Okay." This sort of welcome was so nice. You were so happy that Ace was so excited to see you. He slows his pace, opening his door.

"Let's see..." He goes in, "Oh, here's some pictures of us that mom left me and letters... She said that you were having trouble finding a home... So you can come stay here with us! Pop is really cool." He gives you a grin. You flip through the pictures, smiling fondly at them.

"I...I was having a hard time finding a home." You hum somewhat sadly. "And I would love to stay here for a while but..."

"You want to stay with Smoker huh? You two seem close..." He guesses lightly.

"I...yeah." You say, scratching your cheek lightly. "I want to see the world." He smiles.

"That's alright, I guess you found a home after all... Just be careful sis, it's dangerous out there for people like us."

"People like us?" You hum, looking up at him with a slightly raised eyebrow. You had figured that he was probably the same as you, but you wanted to hear it from him.

"You... You don't know what we are?" He asks in shock.

"Vaguely." You hum, looking down at your hands. "I just found out a few days ago actually so it's all still pretty new to me..."

"Wow... Hmm, I guess I can explain... Let's take a walk." He decides. You nod, giving him a smile.

"I would like that." Following him from his room you spot Smoker, giving him a small smile. "We are going to go on a walk. I'll be back in a little while."

"I'll wait for you outside then. Yell if you need me." He gives a slight nod, offering a smile.

"Will do." You chuckle, following Ace out the door. "So...what are we exactly? And why?"

"Well... We're Shapeshifters, I can turn into dogs and things like that... I guess our dad was one too, there's the why." You blink.

"So the Yorkie and the German Shepherd...both you?" You question him.

"Yeah! I wanted to be sure that Smoker wasn't trouble so I didn't show myself," He rubs his neck.

"Oh, I see." You chuckle lightly. "Out of the two of us, I believe I am the troublesome one."

"Heh... Well... I'm glad you seem happy, I always worried about you." He sighs lightly. You lean against him with a small smile.

"Well, I am doing alright. I am happy to have found you again. Now that I know where you are, I can come by."

"Yeah! We can have birthdays together again!" He chuckles cheerfully. "So, do you have any control of it yet? "

"No. Not really. I just keep randomly shifting when I get really scared. Then I have to calm myself down to change back..."

"Ah... There's a trick to that. It's not fear, it's adrenaline. Imagine changing into something, then imagine something that gets your blood pumping." He rumbles before diving forward and changing into the yorkie, barking cutely as he pivots around you, nipping your heels playfully. You giggle, skipping out of his reach.

"I guess I need to find something like that." Leaning down, you smile brightly at him. "I'm sure I will figure it out." He stands on his hind legs doing a little dance before changing back.

"I hope you do, the more you do it, the better for you." He chuckles cheerfully.

"Mhmm." You hum, nudging him with your shoulder. "Maybe we can hang around for a bit until I figure it out..."

"That'll be great! The guys will love you! We can change and hunt together! And hang out and- and catch up!" You giggle.

"Oh yeah! I can tell you all about my adventures. Though most of them have happened it the span of the last few days."

"Sounds fun! I'll tell you about mine! I missed you ___! I still remember the last birthday party!"

"Really?" You smile a bit. "I wish I would have remembered...I bet those are great memories to have."

"Yeah... You must've been through a lot after I left..." He frowns, rubbing his cheek.

"I try to block a lot out..." You hum, looking up at the sky. "It wasn't until recently that I started paying attention again. And that's what led me here."

"Sorry, I tried to get him to adopt you, but he said it was for the best." He murmurs. "The thing is, whatever - or whoever was after us when we were kids, they aren't here anymore..."

"Really? Do you have any idea what it may have been?" You question with a small frown.

"No idea. But we're safe now-" He looks back suddenly and motorcycles catch your ear. You stop, looking over your shoulder.

"No no no. How did they find me here..." You groan looking around and trying to find somewhere to run. "We need to go. Now."

"Um... Let's head back to the house." He suggests on alert.

"Yeah okay..." You nod, quickening your pace to an almost sprint. "If that's who I think it is....They are um....sorta trying to sell me."

"What?" He growls, stopping. "I'll rip out their throats." He breathes.

"No. No Ace we need to go." You stop turning and grabbing his wrist. "Please. I don't want you to get hurt..."

"I'm not going to let you be hunted like an animal ___, we're free." He meets your gaze. "I'm not going to run from someone who's threatening my family." You frown deeply, tugging on his arm as the motorcycles got louder. There was no way you'd outrun them. He offers a soft smile and the motorcycles appear in no time. A grin breaks across the leader's lip as they start to circle you before stopping.

"Finally found you kitten." Kid greets, getting off his bike. He reaches to grab you but Ace catches his wrist.

"Don't touch my sister. Goodbye." Ace rumbles with a smile before tossing him into Killer, making them and Killer's bike fall over. Before they can recover, Ace shifts into a large wolf, leaping on them and biting them, shaking his head viciously in a very animalistic manner.

You whine, backing away from the fight slightly. You didn't know how to help, and four against one wasn't exactly the best odds. The feeling of someone grabbing your wrist makes you look over, seeing the man that you remembered as Heat latched onto your wrist. You tug at it, growling lightly.

"Let go of me!" You yell, the last part coming out as a growl as you shift, and your mind goes completely blank. The next thing you saw, was the shocked faces of Kid and the rest of his gang. You didn't know why they were so shocked until you looked down at yourself, your arms and neck covered in blood.

"Holy shit..." Kid breathes, moving back slowly.

"Fuck this..." Killer suddenly says and they swiftly get on their bikes, retreating. You stand in shock, stumbling backward and tripping over something.

"W-what?" You mumble looking down to find Ace sprawled across the cement of the sidewalk, blood surrounding him. "No. No, I...I didn't do this." You shake your head, tears blurring your eyes. "I...this wasn't...I didn't..."

"___!" Smoker's call sounds. He soon appears, running up and coming to a sudden stop at sight of Ace. He swallows, looking back at you. "___... Are... You okay ...?" He carefully comes over, reaching for you.

"Don't touch me!" You almost scream, scrambling backward. "S-stay a-away!"