Four is a Pack

Posted originally on the Archive of Our Own at http://archiveofourown.org/works/47394316.

Rating: Explicit
Archive Warning: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Category: M/M
Fandom: One Piece (Anime & Manga)
Relationship: Monkey D. Luffy/Portgas D. Ace/Sabo/Trafalgar D. Water Law, Monkey
D. Luffy/Trafalgar D. Water Law, Portgas D. Ace/Trafalgar D. Water
Law, Sabo/Trafalgar D. Water Law
Character: Trafalgar D. Water Law, Monkey D. Luffy, Portgas D. Ace, Sabo (One
Piece), Bepo (One Piece), Shachi (One Piece), Penguin (One Piece)
Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Werewolf, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting,
Werewolves, Slow Burn, Bottom Trafalgar D. Water Law,
Werewolves!ASL, Veterinarian!Law, Foursome - M/M/M/M, And a bit of
murder
Language: English
Stats: Published: 2023-05-24 Words: 30,278 Chapters: 2/2

Four is a Pack
by betsib

Summary

Law recently moved to a small town in the middle of nowhere to work as a veterinarian.
One night, two brothers call him in for an emergency as their dog has been poisoned.

Except the dog is a wolf.

Law soon finds himself adopted into a small werewolf pack, and the three leaders keep
paying special attention to him.

Notes

Playing somewhat loose with werewolf lore, poisons and veterinary work (apologies to any
veterinarians out there). Also not actually THAT explicit but erring on the side of caution.

This started because I saw a fanart of ASL flirting with Law and my brain went "yes good"
so here we are now.

See the end of the work for more notes

 Chapter 1

“She should be alright now,” Law said, gently clapping the snout of the miserable, pregnant sheep
in front of him. “Keep her in a separate pen for today, and call me if there are further
complications.”

“Thanks, doc,” the farmer said. “You know, I was a little worried that the new veterinarian was so
young, but you’ve been doing a great job so far.”

“You’re not the first to say that,” Law said wryly.

“Oh, don’t take it the wrong way,” the farmer laughed, clapping Law’s shoulder a bit too hard.
“We usually get the older folk who want to retire in a few years. Not many younglings want to
move out here to nowhere.”

“I’m not that young,” Law pointed out.

“Pah, you’re what, thirty?”

“32.”

“See? Barely an adult and already a veterinarian!” the farmer laughed. “Shame my daughter is off
in college. You two would have made a fine pair.”

Law tried to laugh it off. It was hardly the first farmer who had tried to set him up with a relative.
Being employed and single in a small town was a great insult to every eligible bachelorette within
a 50 kilometre radius, apparently.

“I’m not looking to start anything with anyone, I’m still trying to settle into my role here,” Law
said.

“Of course, of course. Can’t blame me for trying, though,” the farmer laughed. “Drive safe!”

Law walked back to the car. It was a bigger, clumsier vehicle than he usually preferred, but it was a
four-wheel drive and had enough power to, hopefully, not get stuck when the roads got muddy or
snowy. Which was often, out here. Or so he'd been told.

Law had only lived in Colubo for a bit over three months and he already missed the city. He missed
his friends. He missed having access to a blackboard's worth of different coffee. He missed reliable
internet access. He missed not having to drive an hour to the next town over to buy anything other
than basic groceries.

At least the job was good. He worked at the only vet clinic in town, and they dealt with both
household pets and farm animals, so there was a lot of variety from day to day. They didn’t have
resources for any major surgeries or the like, that was all done in the next town over, but with both
townsfolk and nearby farms as customers, there was plenty to do.

Law parked outside the clinic and headed inside. Crocus, his colleague and boss, greeted him by
handing him a cup of coffee. Law gratefully took it. It had been a busy morning, and he was in dire
need of caffeine.

“How did it go?” he asked.

“Fine,” Law said. “Tonjit’s horse is recovering well, it doesn’t look like there will be
complications. Mason’s sheep are mostly fine, though the ewe he was concerned about had her
foetus the wrong way. I managed to turn it around, but there may still be concerns about dystocia
at the actual birth.”

“Good,” Crocus said. “And how many hearts have you broken?”

Law rolled his eyes. “Just Mason bringing up his daughter. Again,” he said. “I think they are just
trying to tie me down to the town so they won’t be left without a veterinarian when you retire.”

“Or it’s your pretty face,” Crocus said, barely glancing up from his newspaper. “The older ones are
still suspicious of your tattoos, though. Think you have a violent past.”

Law supposed that wasn’t wrong, though the tattoos had nothing to do with it.

“This is coming from the man who gave me a knife as a welcome gift,” Law said instead.

“It’s more than just a knife, kid,” Crocus said. “You keep it on you, right? Might save your life
someday.”

“I doubt it, but I still have it,” he said, fishing the multi-tool knife out of his pocket.

“Good,” Crocus said, then checked the time. “Almost time for Mrs. Wiles to bring in her cat.
Careful, she bites.”

Law downed the rest of his coffee. “The cat?”

“The owner.”

Law snorted. “I’m on it.”

At least it was never boring.

***

Law got a call in the middle of the night. That was the downside to the job, he supposed. He was
always on call.

“Hello, my dog ate something poisonous and is not doing well. Can you come to the clinic?”

“I’ll be there in ten minutes.”

Law yawned as he rolled out of bed and threw on some clothes. The apartment building was close
to the clinic, so once he got in his car it took barely three minutes to drive there. Usually, if he
wasn’t in a hurry, he would just walk.

There were already two people waiting as he hurried to the entrance to unlock the door.

“Bring him in,” Law said as he unlocked the door. “What did he eat and how long has it been?”

“We think wolfsbane, and we're not sure, he started behaving oddly maybe half an hour ago,” the
taller of the two said. They moved to get their dog from the car as Law went inside to prepare the
clinic.

He stared as the two brought the dog in and lay it down on his examination table. That was a huge
fucking dog.
Scratch that, it wasn’t a dog at all.

“That,” Law said calmly. “is a wolf.”

“Oh, he’s a wolf dog. Mixed breed,” the blonde one said.

Law did not believe him, but the animal in question seemed to be in pain, whimpering quietly on
the table, so he left the details for later.

“I see,” Law said. “Has he vomited?”

“Yeah, he did in the car on the way here. There was blood in it,” the shorter one said. He sounded
distressed.

Vomiting was good. The blood was not.

“You said wolfsbane, as in monkshood?” Law asked, and the blonde one nodded. A race against
the clock, then. Law estimated the wolf's weight, getting four tablets of activated charcoal. He
would be lying if he said he wasn’t a little intimidated going near the wolf’s mouth, let alone
getting the tablets in. Law didn’t usually deal with predators, and those fangs did not look friendly.

Still, it was an animal in pain. Law could deal.

Breathing was a bit strained, but seemed to be from pain rather than obstructed airways. Law
checked the heartbeat. Irregular, too slow. Getting slower. Shit.

“I’m going to have to have to start a heart massage,” Law said. “If we’re lucky, I won’t have to
operate.”

It was a slow, tiring process, but it was working. The wolf’s heart beat returned to normal.
Eventually the heart was able to keep the pace on its own.

Law sighed in relief.

“He’s stable for now, but we’re going to have to keep monitoring him, and flush the system of-”

He trailed off. Something was happening with the wolf. It was- growing?

“Well! Thank you so much for your help!” the blonde one said, throwing an arm around Law’s
shoulders and turning him away from the table. “You really saved us, I don’t know how-”

Law dodged under his arm to turn back to his patient. The younger man was attempting to carry the
wolf out, except it wasn’t a wolf anymore.

“What the fuck,” Law said, staring at him. The younger one started booking it out.

“Well you see, it’s-” the blonde one said, but Law ignored him.

“Bring him back NOW!” Law roared. “Whatever else the fuck is going on, he’s still poisoned!”

The blonde one stared at him for a moment. “Bring him back, Luffy.”

Luffy sheepishly returned, holding a young, naked man in his arms, with the last patches of fur
turning into skin as Law watched.

“Put him back on the table,” Law ordered. He had no idea what the fuck was going on, but he
could freak out after his patient was okay.

He listened to his heart, and frowned. The irregularity was back. Not as bad as it had been, but
worrying nonetheless.

“I’m going to need to try and stabilise his heartbeat again,” Law said. “This time, don’t fucking
move him! ”

“Sorry,” Luffy said. “It’s just-”

“I get it,” Law said, then started the process. “Will he turn back again?”

“We don’t know,” the blonde one said. “He’s sick. It could happen.”

“I was going to give him an IV help to flush the toxins out,” Law said. “Do you think that would
complicate a transformation?”

What the hell was he even saying? Did he really just ask that?

“It should be fine,” the blonde one said.

After a while, Law checked his heart again. He was stable, for now, so Law moved on to the IV.

“Um, are you sure about that? I mean, he’s human now?” Luffy said.

“It’s fine,” Law assured him. “I went to med school.”

For two years, until he realised his PTSD was too severe and he couldn’t handle seeing humans cut
open, so he had decided to change paths to veterinary school. He had still managed to graduate
ahead of his peers.

He checked the heart again, and the young man was still stable. Law sank down a chair, suddenly
exhausted.

“So,” he said. “What’s the deal? Shape-changers? Werewolves?”

“Werewolves,” the blonde one confirmed. “I’m Sabo, this is Luffy, and the one on the table is our
brother Ace.”

“Trafalgar Law,” Law introduced himself, mostly by habit. “So you are the infamous ASL-
brothers.”

“You’ve heard of us?” Luffy grinned.

“Practically everyone in town seems to have a story about you three,” Law said. “Are you all
werewolves, then?”

“Yes,” Sabo nodded. “You’re taking this remarkably well.”

“I think I just haven’t processed it yet,” Law said. “The movies say werewolves heal faster than
humans. Is that true?”

“Yes,” Luffy said. “We just need to eat meat and we’re fine.”

“That’s not entirely accurate,” Sabo sighed. “We heal fast from wounds, but we’re still vulnerable
to toxins.” Sabo looked over at Ace. “Especially wolfsbane. It's worse for us than regular humans.”
Ace must have been lucky, then. That could have been so much worse. “How did he get
poisoned?”

“We don’t know. It must have been in something he ate, but I don’t know how,” Sabo said.

Law sighed and rubbed his eyes. “I need coffee,” he said. “Do you guys want some?”

Sabo agreed while Luffy made a face. They stayed with Ace while Law went to the kitchen to
mechanically fill the coffee maker and turn it on. He stared absently at it.

So, werewolves were real. He felt like someone somewhere in his medical or veterinary path
should have informed him of that. Unless this was all a dream and he was still asleep in his bed.

No. No, he was not going to doubt his senses or his reality again. Law sat down by the table, head
in his hands. He knew what was real. He could feel his hands, he could count his fingers, he could
keep his breath steady. One breath at a time.

He let himself relax, the threat of a panic attack fading again. He was getting better at noticing
them, and keeping calm. Usually, at least.

“You all right?”

Law looked up to see Luffy looking at him.

“I’ll be fine, just tired,” Law lied. “Did something happen?”

“No, Sabo just said to check on you,” Luffy said. “Just in case you were freaking out.”

“ I’m fine, ” Law repeated, just a little too aggressively, and Luffy frowned at him. Law sighed. “I
just need coffee.”

Luffy smiled. “Nami is like that too, in the mornings.”

“It’s 3 am,” Law reminded him. “Is Nami another werewolf?”

Luffy shook his head. “No. She’s pack, but not a werewolf,” he said. “There’s just me, my
brothers, Zoro, Robin and Chopper who are wolves, but the pack is a lot bigger.” He smiled. “I
guess that includes you, now.”

“It does not,” Law said sternly. The coffee maker was finally finished, and Law got up to fill two
cups. He took a deep sip from his, already feeling a little better.

“Why not? You saved Ace, and you know about us now,” Luffy said as Law walked back to where
Sabo was sitting and handed him the other cup.

“I’m just doing my job,” Law said, then looked at Ace’s very human form on his table. Sabo had
placed his coat over him at least, for some semblance of modesty.

“Did Luffy invite you to the pack?” Sabo smiled.

“” Invite” implies he asked me, so no,” Law said. He took his time finishing his coffee, then put
the cup down to check Ace’s heart. Still a steady rhythm. A little slower than a healthy person, but
not worryingly so. His breathing was normal, as well.

As Law was looking him over, his eyes slowly opened, then blinked in surprise at Law.
“It’s alright,” Law said, keeping his voice calm like he was talking to a scared animal. “You’re
safe, and your brothers are here.”

“Who-” Ace started, but was interrupted as his brothers flocked around him.

“Ace! You’re awake!” Luffy exclaimed.

“You had us worried,” Sabo added.

“Sorry about that,” Ace gave a sheepish smile, then attempted to sit up. Law assisted him without a
word. There were no pillows or anything to prop him up, so Law kept his arm behind his back,
steadying him.

“Since he’s awake, you can probably take him home,” Law said. “I’d normally keep under
observation for a day, but this isn’t a hopital and I have no idea what I’d tell my boss. Make sure he
drinks plenty of fluids. No physically straining activity for a couple of days. If anything happens,
call me or a doctor.”

Sabo nodded, but Ace gave Law a weird look. “Who are you?”

“This is Torao, he’s pack now,” Luffy grinned, and Law scowled at him.

“I’m not. I’m Trafalgar Law, veterinarian,” he said.

Ace looked at the other two. “You took me to the vet?”

“Well, you were in wolf form,” Sabo said helplessly. “What else were we supposed to do?”

Ace laughed, then bowed his head towards Law. “Thanks for taking care of me, doc.”

“Be very careful what you eat for the foreseeable future,” Law said, then moved aside for Sabo to
take over as he carefully removed the IV from Ace’s arm. The skin around the needle had already
healed, and he ended up causing a bit of bleeding as he removed them. He supposed they weren’t
kidding about werewolves healing fast. That made Law feel a bit better about letting them go, at
least.

He watched Sabo carry Ace back to their car, then moved to clean up the clinic. He checked the
time. 4 am. Law sighed. He supposed he should head home and shower, at least, before his
workday could begin for real.

***

Colubo had exactly one cafe/bar/restaurant. The food was surprisingly good, but there was only one
main dish per day. Law usually checked the menu every monday when he walked to work. He
wasn’t a frequent customer, but he visited when there was something he liked on the menu and he
couldn’t be arsed to cook for himself.

He was enjoying a plate of rice and fish (it had a fancier, french name on the menu, but it was rice
and fish) when someone sat down in front of him, with a tray filled with at least twice as much
food as Law had.

Law looked up in surprise, only to see Ace grinning at him.

“Hello, doc. This seat taken?”

“It is now, apparently,” Law said, rolling his eyes. So much for a quiet dinner on his own. “How
have you been feeling?”

“Good. No lingering effects,” Ace said. “You know, it’s weird. I didn’t even know there was a
new vet in town and now it suddenly seems like everyone is talking about you.”

“The Baader-Meinhof Phenomenon,” Law nodded.

“The bad what?”

“Frequency illusion,” Law said. “It's when you learn something new and suddenly see it
everywhere.” He paused. “At least I hope that’s the case. I don’t want the town to be talking about
me.”

“Don’t worry, it’s mostly good things,” Ace said.

“Mostly?” Law said. “Great.”

Ace laughed. “You know how the rumour mill works. The old ladies are having the time of their
life discussing your tattoos.”

“And yet they still try to throw their unmarried granddaughters at me,” Law said.

“That’s what you get for being new in town,” Ace said sagely. “So, the pack is having a party on
Saturday. You should come.”

“For the last time, I’m not part of your pack,” Law scowled, then lowered his voice. “Should you
even say that out loud?”

“It’s fine. If anyone’s listening it’s just what we call our group,” Ace said. “And Luffy decided you
are, so that’s how it is.”

Law glared at him. “Don’t I get a say in this?”

“Usually, no. And relax, doc,” Ace said. “For non-wolves, it's just another word for friend. And
you could probably use some, being a newcomer and all.”

Law hesitated. He wasn’t wrong. It had been a lonely few months, with nothing but work. Law
wasn’t particularly social by nature, but it had been a long time with no purely social in-person
contact. He was this close to accepting an invite to watch football with a bunch of farmers.

At least the werewolf party sounded more interesting.

“Alright,” Law relented. “Where and when?”

Ace grinned.

***

The brothers lived in a house a bit outside of town, surrounded by forest. As Law drove up the
road, he thought it seemed like the ideal place for the werewolf brothers.

There were already a few other cars in the driveway when Law parked, and he could hear music
and laughter coming from the house.

The door opened before he could knock, and he almost crashed into a muscular green-haired guy.
"Luffy's new friend?" the guy asked, stepping aside after Law nodded.

“Torao!” Luffy yelled excitedly as he entered, then plastered himself against Law’s waist. “You
came!”

“Yes, hi,” Law said, a little uncertain. “Are you drunk already?”

“No,” Luffy protested.

“He’s had one beer, he’s an absolute lightweight,” a pretty, redheaded woman said, holding a can
in Law’s direction. “Want one?”

“Sure, I can have one ,” Law agreed. “I’m technically on call.”

“Aren’t you always?” the girl said, then proceeded to pry Luffy off him. “I’m Nami, by the way.”

“Law,” Law introduced himself. “And pretty much, but Cobb’s two cows are gonna give birth any
day now, so I may have to run.”

“You work too hard,” Ace appeared behind him and threw an arm around Law’s shoulders.

“You of all people should be very glad I do,” Law pointed out, to which Ace just laughed.

“You’re not wrong,” he said. “Come on, let’s introduce you to everyone!”

It was a weird night. It seemed that no matter what, at least one of the brothers were at his side.
Luffy kept hugging him, but he kept hugging everyone, so Law didn’t take it too seriously. Ace
kept putting his arm around Law's shoulders, which also didn’t seem unusual. Sabo thankfully
didn’t do more than clap his arm while laughing at a joke once, but he also hovered nearby.

Maybe they were just making sure he didn’t end up sitting alone in a corner somewhere, or maybe
they were unsure about bringing a new person around their friends. Not that they had anything to
worry about. The “pack” were all a bunch of weirdos, but they seemed like decent people. They
also seemed somewhat divided into Luffy’s friends, Ace’s friends, and Sabo’s friends, and Law
wasn’t really sure in which camp he belonged, if any.

At least he managed to find a couple of people among the crowd that he vibed well with. Nico
Robin from Luffy’s group was one. She was a published horror writer with a background in
archeology, and watched the surrounding insanity with calm amusement. Still, she must have been
a little insane, too, given that she was married to the mechanic who lost his trousers one hour into
the party.

Another one was Marco, from Ace’s group, a geriatrics doctor who worked primarily in the
retirement home in Goa. It was not a field of study Law had ever been particularly interested in, but
it was nice, talking to someone else in a medical field. He had a calm temper and a wry sense of
humour, and Law easily took a liking to him.

From Sabo’s group, Law mostly interacted with Sabo himself. He was quick to joke and join in his
brothers’ crazy ideas, but Law discovered he was very intelligent, and possibly quite calculating. It
was something Law could appreciate even if he was a bit distrustful of it. But Sabo made him
promise to play chess with him one day, so that was something to look forward to.

As the night went on, people started trickling off, going home to sleep or, in the case of most of
Ace’s friends, start the one hour drive back to Goa. Law wasn’t looking forward to heading back to
his empty apartment, but he didn’t want to overstay his welcome.
He looked around for one of the hosts to tell them he was heading off, but despite sticking to him
all night, none of them were suddenly anywhere to be seen.

“Have you seen Luffy or his brothers?” Law asked Franky, who was at least easy to find. And one
of the few other sober people, lack of trousers notwithstanding.

“Oh, they took off with my wife and Zoro to do wolf things,” he said. “They’ll be back soon. Want
a cola?”

“Sure,” Law sighed. At least he had an excuse to stick around for a bit. “Designated driver?”

Franky laughed. “Always. I’ve got some implants that disagree with alcohol,” he said. “Hence,
cola.”

Law nodded.

"So you're a vet, Torao?" Franky said. "You must love animals."

"I suppose," Law shrugged. He was starting to accept that all of Luffy’s group were using the
nickname now.

"Got any pets?"

"No, I've never been in a position to take care of any," Law said. "I've always kinda wanted a dog,
though."

"And now you've got three," Franky grinned. "Congratulations."

"Very funny," Law rolled his eyes. “I only met them a few days ago, I’ve hardly adopted them.”

“But they’ve adopted you,” Frank said. “You’ll get used to it.”

“Everyone keeps saying that,” Law scowled.

“It’s not a bad deal, you’ll never want for friends,” Franky laughed. “But it’s your choice how
involved you want to be.”

“Tell that to Luffy,” Law said.

“He can be obnoxious, but he’s actually really good at telling how people feel,” Franky said. “If
he’s dragging you around, he can probably sense that you’re lonely.”

Law was saved from having to answer that by his phone ringing. “Sorry,” he told Franky, then took
the call. A short conversation later, Law got on his feet.

“Emergency call, I need to head off,” he said. “Could you tell Luffy and the others for me?”

“Sure. Go save lives,” Franky said, raising his cola in Law’s direction, and Law headed off towards
his car.

It had been a fun evening, really, if a bit tiring. He supposed there were worse ways to make
friends.

***

A few days later, Law was making a house call to a nearby farm to check up on a bovine patient.
“She’s healing well,” Law gently patted the cow. She had to have an operation a few weeks ago. It
hadn’t been done by him, though he had made the referral. “You can put her back with the others,
now.”

“Good, I think she’s been lonely,” the farmer said. “Speaking of which-”

Law barely refrained from sighing.

“Rumour is you’ve been hanging out with Portgas D. Ace,” the farmer said. “Maggie said she saw
you two having dinner at the Baratie a few days ago.”

“We did, yes,” Law frowned. “Is that a problem?”

“Not at all, not at all,” the farmer said. “Just some friendly advice; that boy has a bit of a reputation
for breaking hearts. He’s not a bad kid, but if you’re looking for something serious you may want
to rethink it.”

“I’m not looking for anything,” Law said. “We’re just friends.”

“Of course, none of my business,” the farmer said. “But, if you do swing that way, I have a
nephew-”

Law wanted to scream.

***

Sabo texted him later that day, asking if he wanted to come over for a movie night. Law had no
plans, so he agreed, and drove over there after work. Ace opened the door before he had time to
knock.

“Hi,” he smiled. “Heard the car.”

“Hello, heartbreaker,” Law said. Ace raised his eyebrows as he stepped aside to let Law in.

“What now?”

“I’ve had three separate clients warn me that you will break my heart,” Law sighed. “Just because
we ate dinner at the same table last Thursday.”

Ace grinned. “Small town. Rumours fly.”

“I wish they didn’t,” Law asked. “What did you even do to get that reputation?”

“Wild teenage years,” Ace said, wiggling his eyebrows. “Want the details?”

“Three separate girls confessed to him on valentine’s day when he was sixteen and he took them all
out on the same date,” Sabo said, appearing from the kitchen with a bowl of popcorn.

“Hey, they were all on board with it. Two of them are still married,” Ace said.

“And there was that time you were cheating on that cheerleader with the preacher’s son,” Sabo
continued.

“For the last time, I never dated her. She made that up!” Ace protested.

“I see. A totally undeserved reputation,” Law deadpanned.

“Exactly,” Ace said. “So don’t worry, your heart is safe with me.”

“I’m touched. Truly,” Law said wryly, turning to Sabo. “Where’s Luffy?”

“He went running with Zoro, they should be back soon,” Sabo said. “Do you want a beer? Or a
soda if you’re on call?”

“Soda is fine,” Law said, frowning slightly as he disappeared into the kitchen again. “What’s the
dynamic here? Does he just enjoy taking care of people?”

“It’s how he shows affection,” Ace agreed. “That and kicking your ass.”

Law snorted. “I see.”

“So, Law,” Ace spread out on the couch as Sabo came back with drinks. “You know of my sordid
past and Sabo’s aspirations to become a maid, any skeletons in your closet you want to clean out?”

“Like what?” Law asked.

“Left any broken hearts of your own behind in the city?” Sabo asked. “And for the record, I do not
want to be a maid.”

“Shame, you’d look great in the outfit,” Law teased him without much thought. “And just my
friends. I’ve been single for a while now.”

“Bad breakup?”

“Not really, just a guy wanting me to be something I wasn’t,” Law said, taking a sip of his soda.
Horribly sweet. “Figured I was better off without the drama.”

“All the grandmas will be so sad to hear,” Ace said. “What will their lives mean without the
drama?”

“They will be fine, they seem perfectly capable of manufacturing their own drama if there’s none
to be found,” Law said.

“You’re not wrong,” Sabo smiled. “Did you know you were in a biker gang in the city but had to
move out here because your pregnant girlfriend got arrested for drug abuse?”

“That’s…intricate,” Law said.

“It’s your tattoos, you inspire them,” Ace said. “Is it just your hands or do you have more?”

“I have more,” Law said. He wasn’t about to strip to show his chest, but he pushed his sleeve up to
his shoulder.

“Nice!” Ace exclaimed. He took Law’s arm to have a closer look. His hands felt warm against
Law’s skin.

"Are you looking at the ink or feeling me up?" Law asked drily.

"Both. You're more muscular than I realised," Ace grinned. "Do you work out?"

"I used to. I haven't done more than go for evening jogs since I moved here," Law sighed, taking
his arm back. "Though I suppose I've been lifting a lot of sheep lately."
"We've got a gym in the basement, you're free to use it whenever," Ace said.

"Zoro practically lives there when he has time off work," Sabo added.

"I could spot you if you want," Ace said.

"I might take you up on that," Law said.

***

Over the following weeks, Law spent a lot of evenings at the wolf house. At first they explicitly
invited him, but eventually the repeated message of “you can just come by whenever, everyone
does” actually stuck. He still insisted on actually knocking, though.

“You don’t have to, we can hear when you arrive,” Ace told him.

“Maybe, but you might be busy, or not at home,” Law pointed out, and Ace shrugged.

“If it makes you more comfortable,” he said. “But you’re always welcome.”

“We’ve known each other for about a month,” Law said. “Shouldn’t you be a bit more careful who
you give free access to your house to?”

“You’re fine. And besides, we can smell who's been there,” Ace said. “You’re pack, and this is the
pack house. That’s all there is.”

“I could be a serial killer for all you know,” Law said.

“Doubt it, the only blood I ever smell on you is animal blood, and usually not a lot of it,” Ace said.

“You know there are ways to kill people that doesn’t involve blood, right?” Law said. “Maybe I
strangle them. Or poison.”

“Or tie them to a railroad track and watch from a distance while twirling your moustache,” Ace
grinned.

“I’d be shit outta luck, considering the lack of railroads around here,” Law smiled. “But good
effort. We’ll make an evil minion of you yet.”

Ace laughed, throwing an arm around Law’s shoulders as they walked into the living room, where
Sabo and Luffy were playing video games..

“Law is going to make me his evil minion,” Ace announced.

Sabo snorted. “I don’t know if “evil” or “minion” are more unlikely.”

“You’re just jealous you’re not invited to our evil empire,” Ace said, sitting down on the couch and
patting the empty space beside him. Law rolled his eyes, but went to sit down.

“You look tired, Torao,” Luffy said.

“Don’t I always?” Law scowled. “Shachi says the bags under my eyes are probably permanent at
this point.”

“Shachi…your friend from Sabaody, right?” Ace asked.

“Yup. He, Bepo and Penguin are actually coming to visit me in a few weeks,” Law nodded.

“I want to meet them,” Luffy said.

“That can probably be arranged,” Law said, not mentioning they had expressed the same sentiment
the moment Law mentioned having made new friends. “It’s not like there’s a lot to do in town, so I
doubt we’ll be busy.”

Luffy grinned at him.

“What?” Law asked.

“Your eyes go all soft when you talk about them,” he said. “They must be good guys.”

“They are, but my eyes do not “go all soft”,” Law protested, and Sabo clapped his shoulder.

“Keep telling yourself that,” he said. “And I won’t tell you that your scent changes as well.”

“ Werewolves, ” Law grumbled. "Actually I've been wondering about something."

"Oh?"

"How does it work?" Law asked. "The werewolf thing, I mean. Is it bites?"

"Bites or blood," Ace nodded. "I've been one since birth, but Luffy got bit as a kid."

"There were territory disputes at the time," Sabo said. "Luffy got caught in the middle."

"Bites have to go really deep to turn someone," Luffy said. "Look! I still have the scar!"

He lifted his shorts on his left side, showing a large, ugly scar on his thigh. Law leaned forward to
get a better look.

"How do you still have normal movement in that leg?" Law asked.

"Werewolf healing," Luffy grinned. "Though at the time I thought I would die. Ace was crying."

"I was not," Ace said. "Anyways Shanks took care of the werewolf who did it, and Colubo was
considered his territory for a while until Pops took over."

"Back up, who is Shanks and who is Pops?" Law asked.

"Shanks leads a pack down south, but they roamed around at the time," Luffy said. "He is super
cool."

"Luffy idolises him," Ace grinned. "Anyway, Pops used to lead the pack in Goa and took over
Colubo too after a while."

"Ace was in his pack for a few years until he died," Sabo said.

"Just Ace?"

"Like Luffy would ever agree with someone else being the leader," Ace snorted. "And Sabo was
too busy studying."

"After Newgate, that's Ace's Pops, died, his territory was divided between his pack, since they
couldn't agree on who should take over," Sabo explained.
"Ace got Colubo, but it's our territory now," Luffy said. "We had already protected it for years at
that point, it made sense to share it."

"Marco and Izo got Goa, Thatch got Foosha to the south and Teach got Graytown to the east," Ace
said. "Though Thatch also died two years back, so I think Teach handles both now."

"Same Marco that was at the party?"

"That's the one," Ace nodded. "He's a good friend. I don't see Teach very often these days."

"I missed when Sabo became a werewolf in all this," Law said.

"Oh. I asked Ace to bite me when we were sixteen," Sabo said, showing Law a scar on his left arm.
"Hurt like hell, but it's been worth it."

"Looking to turn, Torao?" Luffy asked.

"No thanks, I have enough problems without adding monthly lunacy to the mix," Law said, then
frowned. "Is that even a real thing?"

Ace laughed. "Sort of. Things can get a bit, intense during full moons."

"We had to lock Luffy up as kid. He went crazy when the moon was full," Sabi said. "I was older,
so it was a bit easier for me, but I still had to be alone or with other wolves during full moons for
the first year or so."

"You learn to control it," Luffy shrugged. "But everything just feels more. It's wild."

Law shuddered at the thought. "Yeah, I'll pass.”

“Can’t blame you. Some really do lose their minds, and start killing people,” Sabo said.

“There’s a reason packs are so important,” Ace nodded. “They keep you sane.”

Law nodded. “I’m familiar with that.”

Without his friends, he would definitely have gone insane by now. Even if they sometimes drove
him crazy.

***

Another day, another scheduled house call at a nearby farm. Law had just parked when he heard a
familiar voice.

“Torao!”

Law looked up to see Luffy approaching him from behind the barn.

“What are you doing here?” he asked, confused, but Luffy just grinned.

“I work here,” he said. “Well, here, and every other farm when they need extra hands.”

Made sense, Law supposed. He knew Ace was a fireman and Sabo worked for the mayor's office,
but Luffy had never mentioned having a job.

“Farmer Campbell isn’t around?”

“Nah, he had a family emergency or something, I didn’t ask,” Luffy said. “Come, I’ll show you
Daisy and Lily, they are the pregnant sows.” He gestured for Law to follow. “Oh, and if you could
take a look at The Mayor before you go, too. He smells a bit off.”

Luffy had a great hand with animals, Law realised. They clearly loved him, but in a respectful way,
like the leader of a flock. Or a pack, Law supposed.

Luffy laughed when he said as much.

“Ace says it’s because we’re roughly as smart,” he said, gently patting the pregnant pig. “But,
yeah, I’ve always gotten along well with animals.”

“Never thought of making a career out of it?”

“Nah, I’m fine just helping out. My priority is the pack, anyways,” Luffy said. “And most jobs
need you to have a degree, and I never went to high school.”

“How come?” Law asked.

Luffy shrugged. “It seemed boring, and I suck at reading. Besides, Ace tried and dropped out, and
he is better at it than I am,” he said. “Sabo went, though. He even went to university, for some
political something or other.”

“Makes sense for him,” Law nodded.

“You went to university, too, right?”

“I have a doctorate,” Law pointed out. "So yeah, I spent a ridiculously long time studying. Can't say
I'd recommend it."

“You know, I like you, Torao,” Luffy said. “Some people get all snobbish when they hear I didn’t
go to high school, especially the ones with fancy degrees.”

“We’re both knee deep in mud in the same barn,” Law pointed out. “Doesn’t really matter how we
got here.”

Luffy laughed.

***

Sabo actually invited him to play chess the following evening. Law had almost forgotten about the
conversation they had about it during the party, but he happily agreed.

As it turned out. Sabo was the best opponent Law had had in a long while.

He played chess with his friends sometimes, but he always won, unless he was really drunk or
losing on purpose. For a while he thought they were letting him win, but he had tested playing
worse on purpose, and he had observed them playing with each other, and Law was simply better
at thinking several steps ahead. His friends were much more in the present, which Law tended to
lose track of. They balanced each other out that way.

With Sabo, on the other hand, Law had to concentrate to keep up. He lost the first game, not
miserably, but he hadn’t realised what he was up against at first and ended up at a disadvantage.

“Best out of three?” he suggested, not willing to go down without a fight.

“Think you can take me?” Sabo smiled.

“We’ll find out.”

Law won the following game. He suspected Sabo made a similar mistake, based on how Law had
played the previous game. The third one, however, both of them were giving their all.

Ace briefly came to watch, but lost interest after five minutes and fell asleep on the couch. Luffy
ran past at one point, took one look at what they were doing and went on his way, deeming them
“boring”.

Law wasn’t bored, rather the opposite. He was enjoying the challenge.

“Check mate,” he finally said, moving his new queen into position. Sabo raised his eyebrows,
looking over the board, then his shoulders slumped.

“Dammit. I fell into your trap, didn’t I?”

Law smirked. “You were too eager to eat my pieces when given the opportunity,” he said.

“I thought you were losing your troops too easily,” Sabo sighed. “Cold hearted.”

Law snorted. “I’d rethink my strategy if these were actual people.”

“You should play against Robin, you guys have a similar approach,” Sabo said. “I can’t believe I
didn’t notice.”

“Well, you’ll know for next time,” Law said. He got up and stretched his back. They had been
sitting for quite a while and his back made a protesting noise as he moved.

“Getting old?” Sabo asked, and Law gave him the finger.

“You’re only, what, four years younger than me?”

“Yup,” Sabo nodded. “Want a massage?”

“Cooking, cleaning, massages… someone will hit the jackpot getting you as their husband one
day,” Law laughed. “But no thanks, I’m fine.”

Sabo’s ears turned a little red, and Law wondered if that comment had been inappropriate.

“Sorry, didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable,” Law said, and Sabo shook his head.

“Not at all. It was a nice compliment,” he smiled, and Ace’s head popped up behind the couch.

“Are you getting married, Sabo? When’s the wedding, and will there be cake?”

“No cake for you,” Sabo said. “Though I should get started on dinner.”

“I should head home,” Law said. “This was fun. We should do it again.”

“Next time I’ll beat you,” Sabo promised. “Why don’t you stay for dinner? Luffy would be sad if
you left without him getting to hang out with you.”

“I…suppose? If it’s not an inconvenience,” Law said, a little unsure. “Do you need any help in the
kitchen?”
Ace looked interested. “You cook, Law?”

“Not well,” Law admitted. “Good enough to feed myself.”

“More than can be said for my brothers,” Sabo sighed.

“Hey! I’m the grill master and you know it!” Ace protested.

“He wishes,” Sabo said. “But no, I got it. Go relax. It’ll be an hour or so.”

They went back to the living room to hang out for a bit.

"Did you ever find out where you got that wolfsbane poisoning from?" Law asked.

"No, it's a mystery," Ace said. "Maybe it had gotten into the sandwich I got at the store somehow."

"Ace, wolfsbane is very poisonous," Law said. "To humans as well. If it had gotten into the town
food supply we would have heard news about it."

"Then I honestly have no idea," Ace said. "Must have been a weird fluke." He smiled, bumping his
shoulder into Law's. "Good thing you were around, Doc."

"You were lucky," Law said. "Ingesting even a little bit can make your heart rate fatally slow, or
stop entirely. You had one foot in the grave when you got to me."

"I know. I try not to think about it," Ace said.

"Is it dangerous to be a werewolf?" Law asked. "From your story about terriories it seemed so."

"Not particularly, it's just been a rough couple of years," Ace said. "Pops was old and sick, the
heart attack was not unexpected, really, though it seemed sudden at the time. Thatch wasn't much
older than me, though."

"How did he die?" Law asked.

"We don't really know, seemed he just went to sleep and didn't wake up, Ace said. "Marco said
maybe he had a brain aneurysm or something.

"There wasn't an autopsy?"

"He died in wolf form," Ace said. "We don't revert back if that happens."

"I see," Law said, a cold feeling in his gut. "Ace, don't take this the wrong way, but… do you have
any enemies?"

Ace blinked. "Not really. You don't think anyone would try to kill me, do you?"

"You tell me," Law said. "I'm probably wrong, but from an outside perspective it seems
suspicious."

"Because of Thatch?" Ace asked. "He was the sweetest guy, he definitely didn't have enemies."

"Wolfsbane made you change form, too," Law pointed out. "You didn't change back until after I
stabilised you. And it could easily cause heart failure in an elderly person."

"Law, are you saying someone poisoned all three of us?" Ace asked.
"No, I'm just saying it looks suspicious from the outside. You know the circumstances better than I
do," Law said.

"I don't see why anyone would do that," Ace said.

"Then I'm probably wrong," Law said. "Just keep it in mind. If someone did try to kill you, they
will probably try again. Be careful what you eat."

Ace sighed. "You're crazy," he said. "But fine. I'll be careful."

***

A few weeks later, it was finally time for Bepo, Shachi and Penguin to visit. They were staying the
weekend, and Law couldn't wait to see them.

He was practically buzzing with excitement. When they texted that they were close, Law went
downstairs to the parking lot to wait.

When Shachi’s van rolled around the corner, Law almost felt nervous. It had been several months.
Sure, they had kept in constant contact over the internet, but what if something had changed? What
if things were different now?

“Law!” Bepo yelled, jumping out of the car as soon as it stopped. He ran towards Law with his
arms wide, and Law helplessly opened his own to receive him.

“I’ve missed you so much!” Bepo said, holding tightly enough to make it a little hard to breathe.
Law didn’t care. His friends were here.

“Hey, stop hogging him!” he heard Shachi say, and Bepo took a step back to let the other two
replace him in Law’s arms.

“Did you get taller?” Penguin asked. “I don’t remember you being this tall.”

“Maybe you shrank,” Law suggested with a grin. “It’s good to see you all. Thanks for coming.”

“Well, who can say no to a vacation in the middle of nowhere,” Shachi grinned.

After they had settled in, Law took them out to the Baratie.

“It’s the only option, and I’m not gonna subject you to my cooking on your first evening here,”
Law said, to laughter and a few protests from Bepo.

Sanji was working the counter, and he nodded towards Law when he approached to pay.

“Right, Luffy mentioned you were getting visitors,” he said. “Paying together or separately?”

“I’ll pay. They drove six hours to get here,” Law said, before anyone behind him could protest.
Well, only Bepo would have, but still.

A while after they had sat down, Sabo and his friends from the Mayor’s office entered. Late work
lunch, Law supposed. He passed by their table before getting food.

“Hi, Law, are these your friends from Sabaody?” he smiled.

“Yup, Shachi, Penguin, Bepo,” Law introduced them. “This is Sabo. He’s a friend.”
“Hope you’ll enjoy your stay,” Sabo smiled. “If you feel up for more company, me and my
brothers would love to have you all over some time.”

He moved on and Law relaxed a bit. Mixing friend groups was always a hassle, but he supposed he
should be thankful Sabo was the first they met. Ace and Luffy were far less, well, sane. At least on
the surface. After knowing them a while, Law was pretty sure they were all equally unhinged.

Shachi nudged him. “You did manage to make friends!” he laughed. “I was half worried you were
lying about it to make us feel better.”

Law rolled his eyes. “I don’t know if I managed so much as had friends shoved down my throat,”
he said, then glared at Penguin who was about to open his mouth. “ Not literally. But you’ll see
when you meet them. Luffy especially can be a bit intense.”

“Is he your favourite?” Shachi asked.

“I don’t have a favourite,” Law scowled. “I just mean he is very friendly.”

“Oh no, he's friendly! The audacity!” Penguin laughed. “So when can we meet them?”

“...I’ll call and see when they are available tomorrow,” Law agreed.

They spent the evening catching up in Law’s apartment, laughing and catching up. Law hadn’t felt
so relaxed since he moved. Sure, he was comfortable with Luffy, Ace and Sabo at this point, but it
wasn’t the same.

When they finally stopped talking, an hour after they turned off the lights, Law fell into a peaceful,
dreamless sleep.

Maybe that’s what it meant to be pack.

***

Law called Sabo, but it was Luffy who picked up.

“Hey, Torao. Do you and your friends want to hang out today?”

Law blinked in surprise, then realised Sabo must have overheard the conversation at dinner
yesterday.

“If you guys aren’t busy,” he said.

“Nah, it’s Saturday,” Luffy said. “Hey, do you guys want to go horseback riding?”

“Horseback riding?” Law asked, glancing over at his friends.

Shachi shrugged. “I’m in.”

“Sweet, come over to Tonjit’s stable at two. It’s going to be great. I’ll see you then!”

He hung up.

“Apparently we’re going horseback riding at two,” Law told the rest of them, who were giving him
strange looks.

“Well. That was fascinating,” Penguin said. “You had no chance.”

Law scowled at him. “I could have declined.”

“Yeah, but that’s what’s interesting: you didn’t,” Shachi grinned. “Usually you would tell anyone
that’s trying to railroad you to fuck off.”

“He’s not trying to railroad me, he’s just excited. All the time,” Law said. “It’s exhausting.”

“You like him,” Bepo smiled.

“As a friend. He’s fun,” Law said. “And infuriating. You’ll see.”

“Oh, we will,” Shachi grinned. “Shame we can’t bring popcorn.”

Law threw a pillow at him.

***

Law was familiar with Tonjit’s stable, and the man himself. His favourite horse, Shelly, had gotten
injured in a hunting accident some months back, and Law had made frequent visits to check in her
progress. She was an older horse, but healing well, if slowly, and Law expected her to make a full
recovery. She wasn’t well enough to be ridden yet, though.

She was outside the stable in the enclosed pasture when they arrived, and Law made a beeline for
her. He wasn’t there on the job, but he might as well check in on her since he was there anyways.

She came to the fence to greet him as he dodged in under it to enter the pasture. She gently bumped
him with her muzzle to ask for scratches.

“Hey, girl. How have you been?” Law asked quietly.

He heard a chuckle behind him. “This the friend we’re here to meet?”

“Yes, her name is Shelly and she is my new best friend,” Law said seriously. “You guys are fired.”

“Hey!” Shachi protested as the others laughed.

“Can’t say I blame you. She is beautiful,” Penguin nodded. They approached the fence with some
caution.

“Don’t worry, she’s friendly,” Law said. “Probably the easiest patient I’ve ever had.”

Bepo carefully stretched his hand through the fence to pet her, and unsurprisingly she let him.
Shachi and Penguin hung back a bit, but they had matching smiles on their faces, looking amused.

“You know, it’s always funny seeing you with animals, Law,” Penguin said. “Your grumpy face
doesn’t change but you get all soft and gentle.”

Law scowled. “I do not.”

“You kinda do,” Bepo said. “Sorry.”

“Well, it’s my job,” he deflected, then looked up to see Luffy exit the stable, followed by his
brothers. They were decked out in riding gear, though Ace had neglected to wear a shirt, as usual.
The smiles on their faces looked like Shachi’s and Penguin’s, meaning they probably overheard all
that. Or maybe Law was reading too much into it.
“Hey, Torao!” Luffy shouted as they approached. “How’s Shelly doing?”

“She’s recovering well,” Law said, giving the horse one final pat before ducking out of the pasture
to introduce his friends to each other. He was a bit nervous, if he was honest.

“Pleased to meet you,” Shachi grinned as introductions were done. “Thanks for taking care of Law
for us.”

“We were a bit worried when he moved away alone,” Penguin added, and Law made a face at
them.

“You’re not my parents,” he grumbled.

“Don’t worry, we’ll take good care of your son,” Ace laughed, the bastard. Law gave him the
finger.

“Wow, you’re super tall,” Luffy told Bepo.

“Sorry,” Bepo said.

“Why? It’s awesome!” Luffy said excitedly. “You get the biggest horse! Come on, I’ll show you.”

Bepo gave Law an unsure look as Luffy started dragging him away, and Law took pity on him and
followed them. Shachi and Penguin fell into step with him immediately.

“Any of you ridden before?” Sabo asked them as they walked.

“I’ve tried it for a while a few years back,” Shachi said.

“Oh, yeah, you dated that horsegirl,” Penguin said. “I tried riding a bull once, but never a horse.”

“Did you date a cowboy?” Ace asked.

“He was flirting with a rodeo girl at a fair and got talked into it,” Law said, still remembering that
particular heart attack. “He lasted two seconds and got a concussion.”

“And they never let me forget it,” Penguin sighed.

“Nor should you,” Law said. “Bepo grew up on a farm so he probably knows the basics.”

“What about you, Law?” Sabo asked.

Law sighed deeply. “I’m here to make an absolute fool of myself,” he said. “I’ve read several
books on riding related injuries on horses but I’ve never been on one.”

“Really? You’re a vet and you’ve never ridden anything?” Ace asked, with a teasing glint in his
eyes.

Law rolled his eyes. “I wouldn't say anything , but nothing relevant,” he said, and Ace laughed.

At least he knew the horses, if only in passing, and the mare Luffy led him to had a very mild
temper. She probably wouldn’t throw him off, at least.

Law managed to get into the saddle without help, so that was one embarrassing moment avoided.
Penguin and Bepo did not, but Shachi did, with some effort. Luffy made it look so easy.
It was actually kind of fun. They didn’t do anything complicated, just went in circles in the pasture,
with Luffy in the lead. The animals easily followed him without much prompting needed. They
moved on to basic steering, and Law struggled a little before getting the commands down. Once he
knew what he was doing, the mare followed his lead without problem.

Eventually they dismounted.

“My ass is sore,” Penguin said. “But that was fun.”

Shachi clapped his shoulder. “It’ll pass in a bit.”

“How are you feeling?” Law asked Bepo, who had been nervous and had trouble controlling his
horse.

“I’m fine. I haven’t been on a horse since I was a kid, so it was a bit of a mess,” he said. “But I had
fun.” He turned to Luffy. “Thank you.”

Luffy grinned. “Any time,” he said, then looked at Law. “You controlled her pretty well.”

“You gave me the kindest horse of them all,” Law pointed out.

Shachi shook his head. “Preferential treatment.”

“I just went according to size,” Luffy laughed. “They are all pretty chill. Well, except mine, but he
obeys me.”

Sabo invited them all for dinner afterwards.

“You sure? We all smell like horse,” Bepo said, and Law almost laughed.

“It’s fine, I work here sometimes, so I smell like horse all the time,” Luffy said. “So does Torao.”

They gave him a look.

“What? It’s true,” Law shrugged. He usually went home to shower between barn or stable visits
and social ones, but he suspected it didn’t really matter to the wolves. “If they haven’t complained
by now, they aren’t going to.”

Luffy laughed. “You smell fine, Torao.”

They went to their separate cars to drive over to the wolf house.

“They seem fun,” Bepo commented. “Though I think Ace was flirting with you.”

“He does that. It doesn’t mean anything, it’s just how he is,” Law shrugged. “Like how he doesn’t
like shirts for some reason.”

“Well, if I had his muscles, I’d do the same,” Penguin said. “Besides, you used to do it all the time,
too.”

“Sure, in summer. When it’s hot,” Law said.

“Maybe he thinks it’s hot around you.”

“Stop it,” Law grumbled. “I have enough people gossiping about my lack of love life as it is.”
***

Sabo actually allowed Law and Bepo to help out in the kitchen for once, perhaps because there
were more mouths to feed than usual. As Law understood it, Sanji was usually in charge of larger
group meals, while Sabo handled everyday cooking. It was still an impressive feat, considering
how much his brothers ate.

Sabo was making a rice-and-fish dinner, and Bepo nudged Law.

“It’s your favourite, isn’t it?” he smiled.

Law shrugged. “I’ve been over enough times, they know my preferences by now,” he said, then
turned to Sabo. “Still, I appreciate it.”

Sabo just grinned. “I still remember what happened when I tried to offer you bread. The face you
made.”

“Oh no,” Shachi giggled from the other room. “Didn’t you read the instruction manual? “Do not
offer bread” is right next to “do not give orders” and “do not disturb when studying”.”

“There’s an instruction manual?” Ace laughed. “Damn, how come we didn’t get a copy?”

“You know, I don’t think those two need food today,” Law told Sabo, who just laughed.

“Can’t say it wouldn’t be helpful,” he said. “You can be hard to get a grip on.”

Law scowled.

“Who ever reads manuals anyway?” Luffy unexpectedly came to his rescue. “You just have to turn
things on and see what happens.”

…or maybe not.

Penguin laughed. “Yeah? Been turning him on, have you?”

“I’m going to murder every single one of you,” Law told them, holding up the knife he’d been
using to chop vegetables. “Except Bepo.”

“Don’t worry, Law. I’ll help you hide the bodies,” Bepo said. “But let’s eat first. I’m kinda
hungry.”

Law relented. He never could say no to Bepo.

Dinner went fine after that. When they finally got back to Law’s apartment, Law noticed the others
were sending him amused looks.

“What?” he eventually asked.

“Nothing,” Penguin said. “You told us not to gossip about your love life, so we won't.”

“I don’t have a love life,” Law said. “Is this still about Ace? I told you, he just likes flirting.”

“If you say so, Law,” Shachi sing-songed. “Dibs on the first shower.”

***
They spent the next day together just hanging out as the four of them, but headed over to the wolf
house in the evening on the promise of s'mores. They were in the middle of preparation when
Law’s phone rang.

“Sorry, hold on a sec,” he said, then went outside to take the call. He returned inside about five
minutes later, and found his friends in the middle of what looked like a serious conversation.

“...best take it slowly and carefully,” Bepo was saying.

“Carefully with what?” Law asked, making Bepo jump.

“Potatoes!” he said. Law narrowed his eyes. He was clearly lying. To Law. Which basically never
happened. Unless the conversation had been about him, Law supposed. Maybe Bepo was giving
them a “how to not piss Law off”-speech.

“...alright. I won’t ask,” he conceded.

“Was there an emergency?” Sachi asked, and Law shook his head.

“No, they just needed some advice. New dog owners,” Law said. “Though I could go back out if
you want to finish your conversation.”

He raised an eyebrow at them, and some of them at least had the decency to look sheepish.

“We were done, I think. It wasn’t anything bad,” Sabo said, ever the diplomat. “It’s just, they’ve
known you for far longer.”

“Yeah, don’t worry, Law,” Shachi grinned, throwing an arm around Law. “We didn’t share that
story with the dandelions.”

“I hate you,” Law told him.

“Well, now you have to,” Ace grinned. “What happened?”

“If you tell them, I will tell them about the girl in the clown shoes,” Law threatened. It was mostly
for show. As far as stories Shachi could have brought up, that one wasn’t the worst, just a bit
embarrassing.

***

Ace started up a campfire in the yard while the rest of them looked for sticks to use for grilling.

“This feels very summer camp,” Penguin laughed.

“Not much to do around here, we have to make our own fun,” Law said. “Though I agree, it’s a bit
silly. Metal skewers would work just as well.”

“We use those for the meat,” Luffy said. “S'mores are meant to be done on wooden sticks, silly.”

He said it like it was a rule of the universe, like gravity.

Shachi laughed. “You heard the man,” he said. “Less complaining, more gathering sticks.”

At least getting sticks and making little pointy ends to them was easy enough. For Law, at least.
Shachi seemed to be having trouble.
“Shit,” Shachi swore loudly. “My stick broke. Who has the knife?”

“Just a moment, I’m using it,” Penguin said.

Law took the multi-tool knife from his pocket and handed it to Shachi. “Here.”

“Um, thanks,” he said. “Do you just carry this thing around with you?”

Law shrugged. “My boss gave it to me as a welcome present. Said I should keep it on me at all
times “just in case”,” he explained.

“In case of what exactly?” Penguin asked.

“Car trouble, probably,” Sabo said, with a tray full of marshmallows. “The roads are fine now, but
after rainstorms or snow they won’t be. It’s not as big of an issue nowadays, with cellphones to call
for help, but a lot of older folks swear by pocket tools.”

“Well, convenient for me, I guess,” Shachi said, handing Law back the knife before impaling some
marshmallows with his new sharp stick.

It somehow became a party. There was laughter, drinking and Ace and Luffy trying to catch thrown
food with their mouths, something Law’s friends were eager to participate in. Law sat back,
watching the insanity unfold before him.

“You look happy,” Bepo told him as he sat down beside him, handing Law another beer.

“Do I?” Law asked, raising his eyebrows. He was pretty sure he hadn’t been smiling.

“You do. I’m glad you’ve found a place here,” he said. “Though I’m going to miss you.”

“I’ll come visit as soon as I can,” Law said. “Ikkaku offered to give me a discount if I come see her
so I basically have to go, anyways.”

“You’re getting another tattoo?” Bepo asked. “Where?”

“I don’t know yet. Hips maybe,” Law said. “We’ll iron out the details before I get there.”

There was laughter from the other side, as Ace and Luffy both missed whatever had been thrown at
them. Law rolled his eyes in amusement.

“You don’t have to worry about me,” Law told Bepo. “At least I’ll never lack for entertainment
with those idiots around.”

Bepo laughed and Law looked over at his friends, smiling. It was a good night.

***

Bepo, Shachi and Penguin left early the following morning to start the long drive back to Sabaody.
Law was hugged by each of them in turn, and then all together, before they got in the car and drove
away. Law felt strangely cold, like their presence alone had warmed him up. He didn’t regret
moving to Colubo, but he would miss them so much. Again.

He went to work as usual, having quite a lot of catching up to do after two days off. Luffy texted
him about halfway through his shift, asking if he wanted to come over after work. Law gratefully
accepted. He probably would have gone over there anyways, if he was honest. He wasn’t looking
forward to returning to his empty apartment.
He vaguely wondered if Luffy knew that, or if it was just a coincidence he asked.

Sabo opened the door when he knocked, holding oven mitts in one hand.

“You know, you’re the only one who still knocks,” he said with a smile.

“If you’re in the middle of something I could have waited a bit,” Law pointed out.

“It’s fine. Sanji brought over dinner, I’m just heating it up,” Sabo said. “Luffy and Ace are
downstairs, competing in who can lift more.”

“Sounds like an injury just waiting to happen,” Law said. “And you’re not participating because?”

“Because it’s an injury waiting to happen?” Sabo suggested.

“Don’t pretend you wouldn’t be goaded into it anyways,” Law said. “I’ve certainly been, though I
wouldn’t compete with werewolves.”

“Oh?” Sabo asked curiously.

“My ex had a competitive streak a mile long,” Law shrugged. “I mean, so do I, but only on certain
things. He wanted to compete over everything. ”

“Doesn’t sound very fun, long term,” Sabo said.

“It didn’t last long term,” Law said. “So, how come you’re not down there?”

Sabo scowled. “I already lost,” he said. “I blame my desk job.”

Law patted his shoulder in sympathy. “If it makes you feel better, Zoro would probably beat both
of them.”

“Hey!” came a shout from downstairs.

“He would not!”

“ Now I feel better,” Sabo laughed. “So did you win? Against your ex?”

“Constantly,” Law smirked. “Never in pure strength, but anything I could outsmart him in.”

“Guessing you didn’t date him for his brains,” Sabo said. It sounded vaguely like he was fishing
for something, but Law wasn’t sure what.

“Honestly? I dated him for his dick,” Law said. “Not a great idea, in hindsight.”

Sabo snorted. “So what would you look for in an ideal partner, then?”

“I’m not really looking,” Law said. “And the farmers have finally stopped trying to set me up with
people, so don’t you start.”

“I’m not,” Sabo laughed. “I’m just curious. You don’t want another relationship at all, then?”

Law shrugged. “I’m not looking for one, but if it happens, it happens. It’s not like I’ve joined a
monastery.”

“That’s fair enough,” Sabo said.

“What about you, then?” Law asked. “You looking to head back into dating?”

“I’m considering it,” Sabo said, just as Ace and Luffy came back upstairs.

“So who won?” Law asked them, honestly glad for the change of subject.

“We ran out of weights,” Luffy pouted.

“We’ll have to buy more,” Ace agreed.

“Or you could just arm wrestle,” Law said. “I know it’s not exactly the same thing, but close
enough.”

“Torao, you are a genius!” Luffy exclaimed, dragging his brother over to the dinner table.

“Not there! You’ll break the table!” Sabo shouted. “Let’s settle this at the log table outside after
dinner. And I’m back in!”

“We’ll just beat you again,” Luffy grinned. “Torao can be the judge.”

“Joy,” Law said. “Next time, let’s compete in something I can actually join.”

“Werewolves aren’t that much stronger than normal people,” Ace said. “Well, not in human form,
at least.”

Law looked at Sabo, who shrugged.

“A weak werewolf would be like a strong human, but a strong werewolf…”

“I get it,” Law said. “And if your wolf forms are even stronger, I’d say I’m outmatched.”

“The half-form is the strongest one, but it’s kinda hard to maintain,” Luffy said.

Law blinked. “Sorry, half-form?”

“Yeah, we can do the transformation sort of half way,” Ace said. “We usually don’t, unless we
have to fight someone strong. It makes it really hard to think.”

“Show me?” Law asked, and they exchanged glances.

“Sorry, Law, but with the full moon so close, it would be hard to keep control,” Sabo said. “Some
other time, maybe.”

“Don’t worry about it, I would prefer not to get mauled,” Law said lightly, and the brothers
laughed, though it sounded slightly nervous.

“Yeah, there’s that,” Luffy said, looking like he was hiding something. He had a shit poker face.
Law raised his eyebrows.

“I’m missing something here, aren’t I?”

“It’s just werewolf things,” Sabo said dismissively. “Also I think dinner is ready.”

Law was still suspicious, but he let it go. It probably wasn’t his business anyways.

Things returned to normal levels of insanity during dinner, after which Law got utterly bored
watching Ace and Luffy in an armwrestling standstill for ten minutes. He eventually declared it a
tie, to the loud protests of all three of them.

Still, it wasn’t a bad way to spend an evening, and when Law eventually headed back to his
apartment, he didn’t feel quite so alone anymore.

***

He didn’t see the brothers over the full moon, but got some utterly incomprehensible text messages
from all three of them, mostly looking like keysmashing. He responded with a simple “?” and
chalked it up to the werewolf version of drunk texting.

The evening after, he asked if he could come over after work to use their gym again, to which Ace
gave a thumbs up and a “sorry about whatever the heck that was yesterday”.

Ace kept him company in the gym, joining in on the workout. Law was a bit self-conscious about
how out of shape he was, especially compared to Ace in all his shirtless, sweaty glory.

Stretching afterwards was the same, too.

“I used to at least be able to touch my toes,” he scowled.

“Considering you have legs for days, that’s an achievement,” Ace laughed. “Want me to help push
you?”

“Sure,” Law agreed thoughtlessly, regretting it only seconds later, as he felt Ace behind him, gently
pushing him forwards.

Ace was so close to him, hands touching his back. Law could feel the heat coming off him. Law
turned his head to meet his eyes, and Law’s breath hitched at the way Ace was looking at him. It
had been so long since he had been close to anyone, since he had been touched. He hadn’t thought
he cared, but now…

Law was pretty sure Ace would fuck him if he asked.

He didn’t ask. Instead, he looked away, and withdrew, muttering a “thanks.” Ace wasn’t just some
stranger he met in a bar that he could jump into bed with for a night with no complications. He was
a friend, his brothers were Law’s friends, and it all had the possibility of becoming very, very
complicated.

“I should probably get going,” Law said, feeling sweaty and hot for several reasons. “Actually, do
you mind if I use your shower before I go?”

“Go for it,” Ace said, though his smile looked a little strained. Fuck. He could probably smell all
the things Law was feeling right now.

Law fled upstairs to the bathroom. Just his luck, he passed by Luffy and Sabo on the way, and they
both gave him weird looks.

Great. Things might get complicated anyways and he didn’t even get the fun part.

***

He had been a bit apprehensive about returning to the wolf house, but two days later Luffy asked
him to come over, and Law didn’t have a good reason to decline. Besides, if he was honest, he kind
of missed them.
They looked nervous about something when Law arrived. Luffy especially was practically
bouncing on his feet.

“Alright, out with it,” Law said.

“Out with what?” Sabo tried, but deflated as Law raised his eyebrows. “Alright, fine. We need to
talk with you about something.”

“I take it I won’t like it,” Law said, crossing his arms.

“It’s nothing bad,” Luffy promised.

“Law, would you-” Ace started, but was interrupted by Law’s phone ringing.

“Sorry, one sec,” Law said, turning away from them. “Trafalgar Law, Colubo veterinary clinic,
how can I help?”

“Really, Law?” a chillingly familiar voice said on the other end. “A veterinarian? And you had so
much promise.”

Law’s heart stopped.

In panic, he ended the call. He stared down at his phone as it dropped out of his hands. The world
tilted. He couldn’t breathe. There was a ringing in his ears and a sharp, iron smell in his nose, and
he couldn’t breathe.

He thought he could hear Doflamingo laughing.

“..aw? Law!”

“Torao, what is happening?”

“He’s having a panic attack, Luffy. Don’t crowd him.”

Their voices helped. Law closed his eyes. He was 32 years old. He was in Colubo. He was
surrounded by friends. He was safe.

For the moment, at least.

He forced himself to concentrate on breathing. In and out, until he had calmed down enough to
open his eyes.

He was on the floor, apparently. He didn’t remember falling. Ace was kneeling beside him, a hand
on his shoulder, while the other two hovered nearby. They looked scared.

Great. He had freaked them out.

“I’m okay,” Law said. “I’m sorry for- I’m okay.”

“You’re not okay, Torao,” Luffy said. “You’re terrified. What’s wrong?”

“I’m- It doesn’t matter,” Law said, attempting to get on his feet, but his legs were shaking too
much. “I need to-”

What was he going to do? He should leave, first of all. Get into his car and drive away somewhere,
send a message to Crocus to resign, leave his phone behind, then change his name and go
somewhere else. He should have done that in the first place. He shouldn’t have been dumb enough
to think Doflamingo wouldn’t get out, or wouldn’t come after him or-

“Law, breathe,” Ace said. “What do you need? How can we help?”

“You can’t. I need to go,” Law said, but his legs still weren’t cooperating.

“You’re not going anywhere in your condition,” Sabo said calmly. “Try to calm down, okay? I
could make tea.”

He was right, Law supposed. He was in no condition to drive. He took a deep breath.

“All right,” he said slowly. “Tea is good.”

“Come on, I’ll get you to the couch,” Ace said, then more carried then helped him over there. It
was more comfortable than the floor, he supposed, but did nothing to stop the storm in his mind.

A furry head appeared in his lap. Law blinked, then recognized the small scar under the wolf’s eye.

“Luffy, what are you doing?” Law asked, but the wolf just nudged his hand with its snout. Law
sighed, too tired to resist, and buried his face in Luffy’s fur.

It should be weird, he supposed. It was weird, given that Luffy was a person, not a dog, but his fur
was soft and comforting and helped him not think for a moment.

When Sabo returned with tea, Law was a little calmer. Luffy remained in wolf-form with his head
on Law’s lap, and it was weirdly soothing. There was a reason dogs were therapy-animals, he
supposed.

Ace sat on Law’s other side, quietly watching as Law drank the tea. The tea was good, not too
strong. Sabo had put honey in it, and it was sweeter than he would usually like, but exactly how he
made it when he was ill or upset. Law idly wondered how Sabo knew. Maybe he was in cahoots
with Bepo.

“Sorry for freaking out,” Law finally said.

“Don’t worry about that,” Ace said. “What happened? Who was that on the phone?”

“Ace,” Sabo said in warning, but Law shook his head.

“It’s fine. It’s just-” he took a deep breath. “It’s someone from a long time ago. I thought he was
still in prison.”

“Who is he?” Sabo asked.

“My former foster father,” Law said. “He was -is- not a good person. His brother was more of a
father than he was, and-” Law closed his eyes. “He killed him.”

Law felt Ace put an arm around him, and didn’t resist as he pulled him to lean on him.

“I was thirteen years old. I watched it happen, and I went to the police. He didn’t think I would,
because…” Law trailed off. “It doesn’t matter. The point is, I got him arrested. And now he is out,
and he’s going to come after me. I can’t stay here.”

“Yes, you can,” Luffy said, suddenly human and naked at his side. One of Law’s hands was still on
his head, buried in his hair. “In fact, you should stay here. With us. We can protect you.”
“Luffy, he is a murderer! I’m not going to risk him hurting anyone I care about,” Law said.

“Law, Luffy is right,” Ace said. “You’re far safer here than you would be anywhere else. And
we’re werewolves! What could happen?”

Law glared at him. “Do I have to remind you how we met?”

“Ace isn’t wrong,” Sabo said. “We have a network of contacts here in town. If we put them on
alert, we will know the moment someone new arrives.” He smiled. “We’ll keep you safe.”

“Why?” Law asked. “This is not your problem, it’s mine.”

“Hey!” Luffy said angrily. “You’re pack! It is our problem.”

“I never agreed to be part of your pack,” Law said.

“Yeah? Too bad, you are, ” Ace said.

Law scowled at him. “For fuck’s sake, I’m trying to-”

“Protect us. We know,” Sabo said. He sat down on the coffee table in front of Law. “Why is it
okay for you but not for us?”

“Because it’s my problem, and he’s dangerous!”

“So are we,” Sabo said.

Law looked up at him. There was something about the way he said that made chills run down
Law’s back.

“We’re werewolves,” Ace said quietly. “This town is our territory, and it’s not the first time
someone has challenged that.”

“The police can’t always handle everything,” Luffy said. “So we take care of it.”

Law was quiet, watching each of them in turn.

“Have you killed anyone?” he asked.

“Yes,” Sabo said. “Only when we have no other choice. Like Luffy said, the police can’t handle
everything.”

“Oh,” Law said stupidly. He supposed he should have expected this, the moment he learned about
werewolves. He had honestly tried not tho think too much about the whole werewolf-thing. It was
too insane, leading to too many questions, too much doubt about his perception of reality.

“Is that okay?” Ace asked, and Law snorted.

“No, it’s not. You’re what, in your mid-twenties?” he said. “And you’ve been protecting this town
since you were kids, haven’t you? That’s why there are so many insane stories about you three.”

Sabo smiled. “To be fair, some of those stories are just us being idiots.”

“Still, you shouldn’t have had to kill anyone,” Law said, then looked down at the cup in his hands.
“Alright, I’ll stay. But no one is allowed to take any unnecessary risks.”
“Including you?” Sabo smiled.

Law rolled his eyes. “Fine. Including me. Deal?”

“Deal,” all three of them said, and Luffy gave him a hug.

Law awkwardly patted his back. “Put some fucking clothes on. Please.”

Ace snorted. “You should probably get used to it if you’re going to live here. Someone is always
naked when we don’t have company.”

Law blinked. “Sorry? Live here?”

“Easier to protect you that way,” Sabo said. “You can take the guest room. We can go pick up your
stuff in a bit.”

“Hold on a fucking moment!”

“Well if you don’t want the guest room, you can share my room,” Ace grinned, and Law glared at
him.

“Fine. The guest room it is,” Law gave up. They were right, anyway. He was not going to be able
to sleep alone, knowing Doflamingo knew where he lived.

Ace drove them to Law’s apartment to pick up his stuff. Law argued that he could have driven
himself, but honestly he was glad he didn’t have to. And that they were all there with him.

As he unlocked the door to let them in, it occurred to him that this was the first time any of them
were in his apartment, despite having been friends for months. That…that was probably a failure
on his part. It just had never made sense to invite them to his tiny place, when they had a whole
house at their disposal.

He probably still should have, as a decent friend. They were risking their lives to protect him and
he had never even invited them over.

“Nice place,” Ace commented, unknowingly hammering the point home.

Law took a deep breath, trying to think of what he would need for a few days away, but it was hard.
Guilt and fear was fighting a war in his stomach, threatening to make him fall apart again.

“What was it about?” he asked, desperate for something else to think about. “You were going to
talk to me about something.”

“Oh, that,” Sabo said. “It’s not important right now.”

Law looked at them. “It seemed pretty important.”

“Sure, but not compared to this,” Luffy said. “What do you need to bring? Can we help?”

“I…alright,” Law said. He went to his wardrobe and dug out a travel bag. “Just throw some clothes
into that, I don’t care what. I’ll get the rest.”

He ran around the apartment gathering toiletries, electronics, anxiety meds, anything he could think
of.

“It’s alright, Law,” Sabo said gently. “If you miss anything, we can come get it.”
“I know. I know,” Law said. “But we shouldn’t. If Doffy knows about this place, he could set up a
trap or something.”

“So take what you can’t replace,” Ace said. “Like these.” He held up a pair of leather trousers.
“You wear these?”

“Ace,” Sabo said warningly, but Law snorted, latching on to that tiny piece of normalcy.

“I did,” he said. “It used to be those and heeled boots to pick up one night stands in Sabaody. Not
so sure they’d fit me now.”

“Maybe we’ll find out. I’m packing them,” Ace grinned.

“Why heels? You’re tall enough already,” Luffy said.

“I’ve worn them since I was a teenager,” Law shrugged. “I still do, though with barely any height.
Too many muddy stables.” he paused. “Mostly it was because heels make my ass look better.”

He threw in the rest of his things in the bag and closed it. “Alright, that should be enough.” He
swung the bag on to his shoulder, trying not to wince at the weight. “Let’s go.”

“Torao, I could-”

“Let’s go,” Law repeated, already heading for the door.

They drove back in silence, but Law felt a little better, at least.

***

It felt weird, staying in the brothers’ home. The sounds were all different, and Law jerked awake
every time the wood creaked. It was an old house, he reminded himself. Old houses made sounds.
The werewolves had better hearing than he did, anyways, so they would know if something was
wrong. He was safe.

He still couldn’t fucking sleep.

At 2 am, he gave up, figuring if he walked around for a bit, maybe he could sleep later. Maybe he
could get a glass of water or something.

He made his way downstairs and had just walked into the kitchen when there was a crash from the
stairs, and all three brothers rushed into the kitchen. Law raised an eyebrow at them.

“What are you doing?” he asked.

Ace looked sheepish. “We heard you went downstairs and thought you might be-”

“-leaving,” Luffy said, then smiled. “You weren’t, were you?”

“Obviously not,” Law said, gesturing vaguely to the pyjama pants, the only thing he was wearing.
“I just couldn’t sleep. Sorry to wake you.”

“It’s fine,” Sabo said. “Nice tats.”

“And nice tits,” Ace added. “You should walk around shirtless more often.”

“I do at home. Lucky you,” Law smirked, then went back to the sink to get the glass of water he
came for. “I’m not going anywhere. You can go back to bed.”

“But you can’t sleep, right?” Luffy said. “Would it help if we slept with you?”

“You may want to rephrase that,” Law said idly. “And no. I’m not a child. I don’t need someone to
hold my hand to sleep.”

“No one would judge you,” Sabo said. “These are extreme circumstances.”

“And if it makes you feel better, we sleep together all the time,” Ace added, “It’s a werewolf thing.
When the pack stays over we’re all in a big pile.”

“We could be wolves, if you’d be more comfortable like that,” Sabo added.

“You make it sound like you want to sleep with me,” Law said.

Luffy shrugged. “It’s a werewolf thing,” he echoed.

Law finished his water. “Fine,” he said. “I give up. But if I wake up to anyone naked in my bed in
the morning I’m neutering the lot of you.”

The laughter that followed was only a tiny bit nervous.

The bed wasn’t really made for one tall guy and three large wolves, but they somehow managed to
fit, with Ace at his back, Luffy at his front, and Sabo somewhere around his feet, close to Ace. It
was a weird situation, and Law vaguely wondered how they had managed to talk him into this. He
was the plan-maker of his own friend group, he was usually the one having to convince others to
do things, and yet he was powerless against these three idiots. Well, two idiots and Sabo. Law
vaguely wondered if it had been his plan all along, though Law couldn’t figure out what he got out
of the whole thing.

Unless he just really enjoyed warming Law’s feet.

Yeah, okay, things were just getting weirder the more he thought about it. Law sighed, and buried
his face into the fur of Luffy’s back instead. It made him feel better.
 Chapter 2

He woke up when his alarm went off in the morning, and felt disoriented and sleepy when he tried
to find his phone. He usually woke up before his alarm, but he must have slept deeply, for once.

The wolves looked at him as he stumbled out of bed. “I have work,” he reminded them, then
grabbed some clothes and headed off to the bathroom. A shower later he almost felt human again.

Sabo was in the kitchen when Law went downstairs, and Law gave him a wave on his way to the
door.

“Ah, wait! Do you want breakfast?” Sabo shouted after him.

“I’m fine. I usually don’t eat until lunch,” Law said. Sabo gave him the same look Bebo usually did
when Law refused to eat, so Law escaped out the door before he could comment.

Work was blissfully busy. He barely had time to think of anything but the cases at hand. By the
time his shift ended, he hadn’t thought of Doflamingo for hours. He had also forgotten to eat lunch.

He probably shouldn’t mention that to Sabo.

Only Sabo was at home when Law returned. He was in the middle of dinner preparations, saying it
was going to be another half an hour or so. After offering help and being declined, Law headed
upstairs. He settled with his laptop on the desk in the guest bedroom, and saw that Bepo, Shachi
and Penguin were already in a group video call. Law had missed the invite by working later than
usual. Plus the additional time it took to drive to the wolf house.

He joined anyway, figuring they wouldn’t mind.

“...so I said, “those are my peanuts”,” Shachi was saying. “Hey, Law! Working late?”

“Something like that,” Law agreed. “How is everyone?”

“Before that, where are you?” Penguin said. “You’re not at your apartment.”

Right, the background. Law should probably have turned the laptop to face a blank wall.

“Is that the brothers' house?” Bepo asked.

“I’m staying with them for a bit while getting some things sorted,” Law said. “So what was that
about peanuts?”

“Nevermind the peanuts,” Shachi said. “What’s wrong, Law? Are you in trouble?”

Fuck . He couldn’t tell them. He didn’t want them to worry, or worse, insist on coming over. It was
bad enough that he was risking his werewolf friends.

“It’s fine,” he lied. “It’s nothing serious. I just can’t be in my apartment right now.”

His friends were silent for a while.

“Law,” Bepo finally said. “You know we’re here for you, right? Whatever you need.”

“I know,” Law said, ignoring the lump in his throat. He didn’t deserve them. He really didn’t. “So,
how are you guys doing?”

This time, they let him change the subject. The conversation was familiar and easy until Luffy
popped his head in to tell him dinner was ready.

“Tell Luffy we said to take care of you for us, alright?” Penguin said before Law logged off. Law
didn’t, but by Luffy’s grin, he heard it anyway.

***

Law had to work an emergency on Saturday the week before, so Crocus gave him Wednesday off,
as that was the day with the least appointments. Part if Law would have preferred to work, if he
was honest. Law had too much time to think when he wasn’t working, and his usual distractions,
mostly books, were all back at his apartment.

At least Luffy was home, saying he didn’t have any work lined up for a while. Law wondered if it
was for his sake. Even if it wasn’t, he should probably offer to pay the bills for the time he stayed
with them. Though he suspected that was a conversation to be had with Sabo, not Luffy.

“So, what do you want to do, Torao?” Luffy asked. “Got anything planned?”

“No,” Law admitted. “Any ideas?”

Luffy’s eyes lit up, and Law almost regretted asking.

Half an hour later, he found himself in the forest, looking for beetles for…some reason? Law had
no idea.

“I once found one that was this big,” Luffy said excitedly, holding his fingers with about ten
centimetres between them. Law hoped he was exaggerating.

“And if we find one?”

“I’ll take a picture and send it to Usopp, Chopper and Robin. We have a competition,” Luffy said.
“Usopp is in the lead this year, but I have the record overall.”

Law nodded absently, wondering how they roped Robin into it. Maybe the same way Law had
been.

“Does it matter what kind?” Law asked.

“Nah, as long as it looks like a beetle,” Luffy said. “Usopp likes to look up the fancy names, but I
don’t really care as long as they look cool.”

Strange beetle hunt aside, it was a nice day for a forest walk, and helped Law familiarise himself
with the area surrounding the house. It made him feel a bit more secure, that the forest beyond the
house was no longer a big, green unknown.

He spotted a few decently sized beetles, including a shiny red-ish one that Luffy got excited over
and named “Rhino”, for some reason.

“Why?” Law asked.

“It’s a rhinoceros beetle,” Luffy said. “Pretty much the biggest we’ve got around here. It’s a great
find!”
Law blinked. “I thought you said you didn’t care what kind?”

“I don’t, but I guess some things stick,” Luffy laughed. “The point is, the beetle is cool! We need
to show the others!”

Law was forced into a selfie together with Luffy and the beetle, which he let climb on his hand.
Apparently Luffy’s hand was the measuring stick when determining the size of the beetles. Law
shook his head at the entire thing, but at least Luffy was having fun. And Law had been too busy
looking for beetles to get lost in his own head the entire morning, so there was that.

Luffy apparently didn’t expend enough energy on the forest walk, so when they got back to the
house, he was running around the house and garden in wolf form while Law found a book and
settled down on the couch. It was one of Robin’s novels, probably a gift from her to Sabo.

After a while Luffy joined him on the couch, still in wolf form, and Law absentmindedly scratched
his ears.

Luffy licked his face.

“No, down,” Law said automatically, then frowned. “What the fuck, Luffy?”

Luffy kept looking at him innocently, like a dog would. Law wasn’t fooled.

“If you’re going to act like a dog, then I’m going to treat you like one,” Law told him, getting a
hold on his shout. “Now, when was the last time you had a deworming?”

Luffy gave him a look, then turned human. Law was left still holding his pouting face.

“I get it,” he said. It was kinda cute, really. Law let go of him with a laugh.

“Personal boundaries, Luffy,” he said.

“I didn’t think you’d care. You’re always friendly with the animals.”

“Because they are actual animals, Luffy,” Law said. “And I generally don’t want them to lick my
face either.”

“But you don’t mind if they do.”

“Not particularly, no,” Law said. “Now, at least pretend to be a human and go put on some
clothes.”

Luffy laughed. “You have hang ups, Torao.”

“I don’t think I’m the weird one here,” Law said wryly.

Luffy just laughed, but he did head off into his room to get dressed.

***

The following day, Law was relaxing after work, reading the horror novel he had picked up the day
before. He liked Robin's style of writing, but some of the protagonist's mental issues were a little
too familiar for comfort.

He happily put the book down as Ace approached him.

“You smell of dog,” Ace said, wrinkling his nose as he sat next to Law.

“And cats and a hamster, I believe,” Law said. “Possibly the cows from two days ago, if your nose
is as good as you brag it is. Why is the dog special?”

“Because,” Ace said, nuzzling his face into Law’s shoulder. “You’re cheating on us with other
dogs.”

Law stared at him for a moment, before bursting out laughing. The surprised look on Ace’s face
made him laugh even harder.

“What’s so funny?” Luffy asked, sticking his head into the living room.

“Ace thinks I’m cheating on you all with other dogs,” Law snickered.

“I mean, you do kinda smell like that, Torao,” Luffy said.

Law rolled his eyes. “Yes, Mrs. Gardiner’s chihuahua is a great threat to the pack,” he said. “She
must be defeated!”

“It’s not like that,” Sabo said. “It’s just- it’s the smell of you being close with other canines, you
know. Outside the pack.”

Law fell over on the couch laughing. Every one of them, even Sabo, was being ridiculous. He
couldn’t remember when he last laughed this hard.

“Yes, I’m getting real close to the Holmes family’s cocker spaniel,” he said between laughs. “She
likes to give me kisses all over my face.”

“Torao,” Luffy pouted. “It’s not funny.”

“It’s fucking hilarious,” Law said, still snickering. “I’m a vet, you dumbasses. I’m not gonna stop
handling dogs just because I have three at home.”

Ace grinned. “Are we your dogs, Law?”

“I quote: “cheating on you with other dogs,”” Law said.

“Yeah? Does that mean we can also,” Ace moved, and Law found himself pinned underneath him,
“leave kisses all over your face?”

Law blinked up at him, then scowled. “I will punch you.”

“Might be worth it,” Ace laughed, but he rolled off at least.

“I tried that, Torao doesn’t like it,” Luffy said.

“You did what?” Sabo asked sharply.

“He licked my face in wolf form yesterday,” Law answered. He sat up again, just in case Ace got
any other ideas.

“Luffy,” Sabo chastised him.

“What? He looked lickable,” Luffy pouted.

“Did you punch him?”Ace asked.

“Like I said, wolf form,” Law said. “I’m not punching animals.” He narrowed his eyes at Ace.
“Unless I have to.”

Ace grinned, but held up his hands in capitulation. “Relax, doc, I’m not going to lick you.” He
paused. “Well, unless you want me to.”

“I don’t,” Law said. “Sabo, please reel in your brothers.”

Sabo just laughed. “I've tried for years. It never works.”

"Liar," Law said. "You haven't tried. You join in."

Sabo smiled. "Guilty. You know me so well already."

***

Marco was at the house with Ace when Law came back after work. It looked like he was walking
in in the middle of a serious discussion. Law hesitated.

“Hey,” he greeted them. “Want me to head upstairs so you can talk?”

“Not at all. Come join us, Law,” Marco smiled. “I wanted a word with you actually.”

“Oh?” Law asked, curious. He walked over to them, and Ace moved his legs so Law could sit
down on the couch beside him.

“I told Marco what you said about the wolfsbane,” Ace said.

“I thought you said it was just my imagination,” Law said.

“I thought so at first, but,” Ace said. “I guess I just wanted to see what Marco thought.”

“And I agree it’s suspicious,” Marco said. “We didn’t think there was anything odd with Pops’
death. It wasn’t his first heart attack, so I didn’t even question it.”

“And all of us loved him,” Ace said, voice breaking ever so slightly. “We never thought anyone
would want to hurt him.”

“And maybe no one did,” Marco said. “After what happened to Thatch, I had a bad feeling, but we
had no idea how it happened. But with your description of Ace’s symptoms, it does seem… well,
two is a coincidence, but three…”

“...is a pattern,” Law nodded.

“I’m not sure we would have realised it, if Ace had died,” Marco said. “Toxicology is not my field,
and I doubt I would have been able to think straight. I certainly wasn’t, after Thatch. Or Pops.”

“So who benefits?” Law asked, and Ace and Marco exchanged a glance.

“It points to Teach,” Marco said. “He took over Thatch’s territory after his death. On our
suggestion.”

“It was the logical choice,” Ace said quietly.

“And he would have known that,” Marco said. “We’ve known the guy for years, and he’s always
been a bit odd, but I never would have imagined…”

“We don’t know anything for sure yet,” Ace said. “Maybe it’s not him. Maybe it’s all a
coincidence.”

Law looked at him. “You don’t even believe that,” he said quietly, and Ace looked away.

“Regardless, we need more evidence,” Marco said. “I’ve contacted some people to make subtle
inquiries about the state of things in Teach’s territories.”

“So, we wait,” Ace said. “I hate waiting.”

Law could relate. He was basically spending every day just waiting for Doffy to make his move,
and Law hated how powerless he felt. If he had been alone, he probably would have gone insane.

Maybe that’s why it was taking so long. Maybe Doffy just wanted him to suffer as much as
possible before taking his revenge.

***

The dark thoughts bled into his dreams that night. Law wasn’t sure what was real. Three large
beasts morphed into a bloodsoaked carpet, Cora’s frozen, smiling face, Doflamingo’s laugher, a
heart in his hand, still wet and bleeding, Lammy’s unseeing eyes staring up at him.

It wasn’t real. None of it was real! It had been, once, but not now. Not now! He was safe. He was
surrounded by friends and he was safe. He just needed to open his eyes.

Do you think there’s anywhere I won’t find you, Law?

Doflamingo’s words rang in his ears, but he wasn’t there. It wasn’t real.

Something touched him, and Law screamed.

The sudden sound of his own voice was enough to wake him up at least. Or maybe he had already
been awake.

Law found himself on the floor of the guestroom, on all fours and breathing heavily. Around him
he could see the brothers, naked and in human form, looking at him in worry. Ace was frozen with
his hand in the air. Probably the touch he felt.

“I’m- I’m sorry,” Law managed, slowly sitting up.

“It’s fine. Are you alright?” Sabo asked.

“I’ll be fine. It was just a nightmare,” Law said. “Sorry, they aren’t usually like this.”

“Don’t apologise,” Luffy said. “Can we help? Should I turn?”

“No, I just-” Law got on his feet, ignoring the trembling of his legs. “I need a moment.”

He fled to the bathroom. He wasn’t sure why, exactly, he just needed to get away from the brothers
and the concern in their eyes. Law splashed his face with cold water.

They cared. They cared so fucking much. Law didn’t deserve it. He had never deserved it. And he
had no idea how to handle it.
Bepo, Sachi and Penguin had been easier. Their friendship had been built slowly, on Law’s terms,
at Law’s pace, and there had always been room to step back.

This was different. His relationship with the brothers was wild, moving faster than he was
comfortable with and he had no idea where it was heading.

Or, he had some idea, but it seemed ridiculous.

After washing his face a couple of times and taking several deep breaths, he emerged from the
bathroom. The brothers were waiting in his room, but they had at least put on some pyjama
bottoms. That made it a bit easier, he supposed.

“How are you feeling?” Sabo asked.

“I’ll be okay,” Law said.

“Do you want us to leave?” Luffy asked.

Ace didn’t say anything. Law realised that he hadn’t since Law woke up.

“It’s fine. You can stay if you want,” Law said. He walked over to where Ace was sitting on the
side of the bed, and sat down beside him. “I’m sorry, I wasn’t in my right mind. Did I hurt you?”

Ace blinked in surprise. “What? No, I’m fine,” he said. “It’s just, you screamed when I touched
you, so I thought you’d want me to stay away.”

He looked scared, Law realised. He was usually so cheerful and confident, but he looked genuinely
scared that Law might not want him around. It must have been going on for a while, for it to spill
over now.

Law reached out to him, then pulled him in for a hug. “Don’t be fucking stupid.”

Ace froze for a moment before returning the hug, hard enough to hurt a bit. Law wondered if this
was the first time he had initiated contact with any of them, in human form at least. He couldn’t
remember. Probably a bad sign, considering how often they touched him .

“I’m bad at this, and you probably know that by now,” Law confessed. “But just because I’m not
all over you guys all the time doesn’t mean I don’t want you around. Aren’t you guys supposed to
be able to smell things like that?”

“We can,” Sabo confirmed, with a small smile on his lips. “But it’s not the same as hearing it.”

“I’m sorry,” Law said, to all of them. Ace was still holding on to him.

“It’s fine, you have a lot of things on your mind right now,” Sabo said dismissively.

“Besides, Bepo warned us,” Luffy added.

Law blinked. “Bepo what?”

“He told us you’re kinda crap at receiving and giving positive attention, despite their best efforts,”
Ace said into his shoulder.

“He’s not wrong,” Law sighed. “He’s had to deal with my shit for years, poor guy.”

“He loves you,” Luffy pointed out.

“I know, I know,” Law said. He let go of Ace. Ace seemed a bit reluctant to let him go in turn, but
once he did Law let himself fall down on the bed again. “He’s one of my best friends. If he gave
you the “Trafalgar Law 101” introduction course, it’s probably accurate.”

“There’s an entire course? Bepo’s been holding out on us,” Ace laughed.

“He just gave us a short speech while you were on the phone,” Luffy said. He plopped down on
the bed beside Law.

“Approach carefully, no sudden movements?” Law asked.

“Something like that,” Sabo said. “Are you going to try to sleep again?”

“I usually wouldn’t, but I feel better,” Law said. “And I have work tomorrow.”

“Again? It’s Saturday,” Ace said. He lay down behind Law on the bed. “Do you ever not work?”

“I have Sunday off, barring any emergencies,” Law said. “And a three day weekend next week.”

“Any plans?”

“I was considering heading to the city to see my friends, but that was before-” Law closed his eyes.
“Guess I’ll just stay here, maybe read some books.”

“And hang out with us,” Luffy grinned. “We could hunt beetles again!”

“Alright,” Law agreed, then yawned. “Okay, new try at sleeping. Sorry to keep you all up.”

Ace chuckled. “No worries, man. Good night.”

Law relaxed. It occurred to him that they hadn’t turned into wolves, but he decided he didn’t care.
They were the same people anyways, so what did it matter?

***

Law had played many games of chess with Sabo by now. They weren't keeping score, exactly, but
by Law's estimate, Law won a bit over half the games.

Tonight was no exception. Sabo put up a good fight, but he seemed a bit distracted, and kept
looking up from the board and at Law.

"Do I have something on my face?" Law eventually asked.

"No. No, it's nothing like that," Sabo insisted.

"Then what is it?" Law asked. "Check mate, by the way."

Sabo looked at the board in surprise, then back at Law, who smirked at him. Sabo moved forward,
and for a split second Law thought he was going to punch him.

Sabo kissed him.

Law blinked in surprise. Sabo’s hand was on his cheek, gently urging Law’s mouth to open. Fuck
it, Law thought, then leaned into the kiss. It felt good. It had been so long and it felt so fucking
good .
“Sabo, wha-” he heard Luffy say. “Hey!”

Sabo jerked back in surprise. Law looked around, still a little dazed, and saw Luffy and Ace
standing in the doorway. They looked furious.

“Sabo. What. The. Fuck ,” Ace said, stressing every syllable.

“I didn’t mean to, I just-” Sabo said. He looked lost, for once.

Shit. They must have crossed some sort of line Law hadn’t been aware of.

“Um, I should-” Law tried, finding no intelligent words, then opted to flee to the bathroom.
Cowardly, perhaps, but he didn’t understand what was happening and why.

And honestly he needed a moment to compose himself. That kiss had been intense. Law splashed
his face with cold water to calm down.

He could still hear the brothers arguing when he finally emerged. He considered ignoring it,
chalking it up to none of his business, but clearly it was his business.

“... Luffy too,” Sabo was saying.

“I was a wolf, it didn’t count!” Luffy protested.

“It absolutely counted,” Ace said. “How the fuck am I the only one able to keep it in my pants?”

“Like you haven’t been flirting from the start,” Sabo said.

“But Ace didn’t actually do anything,” Luffy said. “He just-”

Law cleared his throat. The argument stopped, all of them turning to him instead. It was a bit
intimidating.

“I can’t help but feel like I’ve broken some kind of rule I didn’t know about,” Law said, crossing
his arms. “Anyone care to explain?”

The brothers looked at each other, then Ace sighed. “We were going to talk with you about it,” he
said. “But then Doflamingo happened.”

“So we figured we’d wait until you felt safe,” Luffy added.

“Wait for what?” Law asked.

“Simply put,” Sabo said. “We like you. Romantically.”

Law blinked. “I’m sorry, what?”

“Come on, Law. You can’t tell me you haven’t noticed,” Ace said. “We’ve been all over you from
the start.”

“You guys are all over everyone,” Law pointed out. “And I picked up on the sexual attraction at
least, thank you very much, but that's not what you're asking for, is it?”

“You can’t smell it, so maybe it’s not as obvious to you,” Sabo said. “We all noticed it from each
other immediately.”
“It led to some fights,” Luffy added. “Then we figured we’d just let you choose.”

Law narrowed his eyes. “Choose what, exactly?”

“Who you want,” Luffy clarified. Like it made any more sense.

“What makes you think I want anyone?” Law gritted his teeth. He was overwhelmed and felt
backed into a corner, and he didn’t know what to do.

Ace gave him a wry smile. “You do. We can all smell it.”

“Especially after that kiss,” Sabo added.

“So what? It was just a kiss, it doesn’t mean anything,” Law said, and fuck, that was too harsh,
wasn’t it? Sabo visibly winced, and he was usually the one keeping his poker face.

“I’m sorry,” Sabo said. “I shouldn’t have, I just couldn’t resist. We didn’t mean to bring it up like
this.”

“Why me?” Law asked. “Just because I’m new, or because I’ve been around a lot?”

“It’s not like that,” Ace said.

“Isn’t it?”

Luffy frowned, then walked right up to Law, who resisted the impulse to take a step back.

“I’m in love with you,” he said, and Law wanted to protest, but how could he, when Luffy looked
at him like that? “Can I kiss you?”

“No,” Law found himself saying, taking a step backwards. “I don’t- I don’t know what to think of
all this.”

“Take some time” Ace said. “We don’t need an answer right this second.” He paused. “Even if it
would be nice.”

Law looked at each of them in turn. His head was starting to hurt.

“I’m going to take a nap, I’m exhausted,” Law eventually said. “Don’t follow me.”

He walked back to the guest room and closed the door behind him. His mind was swimming.

What the fuck was he supposed to do?

***

The next few days passed unbearably slowly. Things were awkward between Law and the brothers.
He still had no answer for them, and he offered to move back to his apartment to give all of them
space. They wouldn’t hear of it, and Law was honestly grateful. It had been over two weeks since
the phone call, but Law wasn’t naive enough to believe he was safe.

He kept up work as usual, and that helped distract him a little, at least. Even if the clients could get
irritating.

“So, rumour has it you haven't been sleeping at home for some time,” the farmer said, too casually
for someone blatantly sticking his nose into Law’s private life. Law gritted his teeth. He was
examining an injury on one of his cows, and it wasn’t looking good.

“That so?” he said noncommittally, hoping he would get the hint.

He didn’t. “They say you’re staying with the ASL brothers,” the farmer continued. “Which one are
you dating?”

“No one,” Law said. “We’re friends. I’ve just been staying with them for a while, for personal
reasons. ”

“Alright, alright, I won’t pry,” the farmer said, with all the sincerity of someone planning to
continue doing just that. “It’s probably for the best, anyways. They are good kids, but have never
managed to hold down a partner for long.”

He was dangling the bait, and Law would be lying if he said he wasn’t curious. Still, asking would
probably make him a hypocrite. He made a “huh” noise, and left it at that.

The farmer apparently took it as encouragement. “My daughter dated the blonde one for a while,”
he said. “Smart kid, could have gone far. But she said his brothers always took priority, and he kept
rescheduling things because “something came up”. And he isn’t as nice and calm as he seems, you
know. She was right to dump him.”

“That doesn’t make him a bad person,” Law felt the need to point out. He supposed farmer’s
complaints made sense, though, knowing what he knew about the whole werewolf thing. Law
suspected Sabo hadn’t dated this girl long enough to let her in on that.

“Of course, of course,” the farmer said. “And then there’s the politics. Did you know he’s a
communist?”

“I did know that, yes,” Law said, but the farmer wasn’t paying much attention.

“And then there’s the other brothers. Well, I warned you about Ace already,” the farmer continued.
“A real playboy, that one. Shame too, he has such a good hand with kids. Of course, it wouldn’t
surprise me if he had a few of his own, the girls in Goa always had looser morals than we do here.”

“Look-” Law started, but the farmer just went on.

“And who even knows what’s up with the youngest,” he said. “Sweet kid, but a bit simple. If I
didn’t know he dated that cougar a few years back I would have thought he had no sex-drive
whatso-”

“ Enough!” Law shouted. The farmer stopped mid sentence, blinking at him. “Stop fucking talking
shit about my friends to my face! I don’t care who they have dated!”

“Oh, I-” the farmer mumbled. “I meant no offence.”

“Sure you didn’t,” Law said, turning back to the cow. “And she isn’t doing well. The wound is
infected. Did you keep her separated from the rest of them like I told you to?”

“She, um, might have gotten out.”

Law wanted to punch him. “I see. I’ll do what I can. And this time, do as I fucking say! What the
hell was the point of calling me here otherwise?”

The farmer didn’t say much more for the rest of his visit.
He had a few more farmsteads to go to before he headed back to the clinic. As he drove, he realised
he probably shouldn’t have gone off on his client like that, but he couldn’t bring himself to regret
it. He vaguely wondered if he was fired.

Judging by Crocus’ smiling face as he arrived at the clinic, it didn’t seem so.

“Anything to report?” he asked. Law sighed, gave the usual update on the animals, and then added:

“Also I yelled and swore at a client.”

Crocus laughed. “I know. His wife called,” he said. “Apparently her husband was shocked and
insulted and didn’t talk for an hour. She said I should give you a raise.”

Law blinked, then huffed a laugh. “The poor woman.”

Crocus clapped his shoulder. “Officially, I don’t condone yelling at the customers, but unofficially,
if they’re being assholes, tell them so,” he said. “Out here, you get the respect you demand. Can’t
let them walk all over you.”

“That’s… good to know,” Law said.

“That’s why I hired you, instead of finding someone more experienced,” Crocus smiled. “You
seemed like you would be able to handle it.”

“You never said anything.”

“Figured I’d let you find out on your own,” Crocus shrugged. “You made way it longer than I
thought you would without snapping. What was the breaking point?”

“He was gossiping garbage about my friends,” Law admitted.

Crocus looked at him with something like respect in his eyes. “That’ll do it,” he said. “Take the
rest of the day off, kid, and spend some time with those friends of yours. You’ll be busy at the end
of the week anyways.”

Right, he was supposed to go to Goa and shadow surgeries for a day. In the mess that was his life
he had forgotten about that. He had been looking forward to it as a learning opportunity, but now
he wasn’t sure how to feel.

He drove back to the house, finding the brothers in the garden.

“What’s going on?” he asked as he exited the car.

“Perimeter check. We've been circling the town, but we didn’t find anything unusual,” Ace said.
“You’re home early. Everything okay?”

“Crocus gave me the rest of the day off,” Law said. “Sorry to make you go through the trouble.”

“Oh, it’s not just because of you. We do this regularly,” Luffy said. “Just a bit more often now.”

“It’s about protecting the territory,” Sabo said. “Making sure there are no threats, that no one’s in
trouble or dead in a ditch somewhere, that sort of thing.”

“You take care of the town, huh,” Law said.

“Yeah, it’s our home,” Luffy grinned. “I’m starving. Is there anything to eat?”
“I could make an early dinner,” Sabo suggested.

They turned to walk back towards the house.

They really did take care of their own, Law thought. In their own way.

And people in town clearly didn’t see that. Law felt angry on their behalf again. They didn't
deserve all those rumours flying around about them.

“Torao?” Luffy turned around to look at him. “Why are you mad?”

Fucking perceptive werewolves.

“It doesn’t matter,” Law said. He walked up to join them, throwing up an arm around Ace’s
shoulder, while bringing in the other two with his other.

“Torao, what-”

“Hey!”

Luffy and Sabo stumbled around under his arm, crashing into each other. Ace, meanwhile, was
laughing.

“Not complaining about the hug, man, but what gives?”

“Shut it,” Law said. “You guys are great. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.”

He let them go and walked ahead of them into the house. He heard Luffy laugh behind him.

“You’re so weird, Torao.”

Law supposed he was right.

***

Luffy agreed to drive him to and from Goa. Law had tried to argue that he could go alone, but they
wouldn’t hear of it.

“I visit farmsteads alone all the time,” Law pointed out.

“Within our territory,” Luffy said. “Goa is Marco’s, but it’s a bigger town, harder to control.”

“Luffy is right. If someone wanted to grab you, it would be the best place,” Sabo said, and Law
was forced to concede he had a point. So Luffy drove him to the veterinary clinic in the morning,
and Law spent the day shadowing surgeries. He had established a pretty good rapport with the team
there, mostly through phone calls and emails.

He was in a pretty good mood when he eventually exited the building and waited for Luffy to come
pick him back up.

“Well, look who it is!”

Law looked up at the familiar voice, only to see Eustass fucking Kid walking up to him with a grin
on his face.

“Eustass,” he greeted him. “What brings you out here?”

“Road trip. And I could ask you the same question,” he said. “You’re far from Sabaody.”

“I moved,” Law said simply.

“So I-” Eustass frowned, then was suddenly in Law’s space, making Law back up against the wall.
“What the fuck is this?”

“What the fuck is what?"

"You. What the fuck is that smell?" Eustass said.

"Get out of my face,” Law said angrily, but Eustass didn’t move. “I mean it. I will fucking punch
you.”

“Or I will.”

Eustass was suddenly yanked away from Law. Eustass growled as he turned around towards Luffy.
Who was baring his teeth.

“Stay away from him!” Luffy said.

“Or what? I don’t smell your mark on him,” Eustass snarled. “Really, Trafalgar? You replaced me
with this pup ?”

Something clicked.

“You've got to be fucking kidding me!” Law exclaimed. “You’re a werewolf, Eustass? And you
accused me of holding out on you?”

“Well, you were,” Eustass said, a little sheepishly, but he didn’t take his eyes off Luffy.

“What am I, a fucking werewolf magnet?” Law asked. “I’m done. I’m absolutely done.”

He turned around and started walking away.

“Hey!” Eustass shouted after him.

“I’m leaving,” Law said. “Right now. And if you don’t come with me, Luffy, then I’m taking the
bus. I’m done with this werewolf bullshit.”

He didn’t look behind him as he walked towards the parking lot, but he soon heard running steps
behind him, and Luffy appeared on his right side. Neither of them said anything as they got into his
car and started driving away.

Law started calming down a while after they got on the road.

“Were you finished in town?” he asked. It wasn’t an apology, but Law could admit he acted rashly.

“Yeah,” Luffy said. “Who was that?”

Law sighed. “My ex. I didn’t know he was a werewolf.”

“Really? You dated that guy?” Luffy asked.

“I did. For about a year,” Law said. “Don’t judge me.”

“I’m not,” Luffy protested. “Well, maybe a little. He seemed like an ass.”
“He is. Though he cares for his people,” Law said. “You would probably like him, if you weren’t
both trying to fuck me. Apparently.”

“Torao,” Luffy said. “”It’s not just about that. You know that, right?

Law sighed. “I know. It would be easier if it was.”

They drove in silence for a while.

“We’ll still be your friends,” Luffy eventually said. “No matter what, or who, you choose.” He
made a face. “Even if it’s your ex.”

That was weirdly comforting to hear.

Law snorted. “You don’t have to worry about that, at least. I’m never getting back together with
Eustass.”

Luffy frowned. “You’re still attracted to him.”

“So what? He’s attracted to me too, but we’ve been there, done that, and it didn’t work out,” Law
said. “And I have no interest in trying again.”

“He does.”

“Too bad for him. But honestly I doubt it,” Law said. “I just hurt his pride by breaking it off.”

“I don’t think that’s all that was.”

“Does it matter?” Law groaned in frustration. “Tell me the truth, do I have some, I don’t know,
weird smell that attracts werewolves or something?”

Luffy gave him a weird look. “No. Why?”

“Two is a coincidence, three is a pattern, four-” Law frowned. “I don’t even know what four is.”

Luffy chuckled. “You smell nice. But it’s not some secret werewolf catnip,” he said. “I guess we
just all noticed you because of what you did for Ace, and things spiralled from there.”

“You don’t think you guys have just made it a challenge against each other?”

“I know what I feel, Torao,” Luffy said, sounding a bit angry. “You can’t rationalise it away.”

“Sorry,” Law said quietly. “I just- I don’t understand it.”

“You’re so smart, Torao, but you’re dumb about the weirdest things,” Luffy said. “We like you.
That’s all there is to it.”

Law was quiet. What could he even say to that?

***

Ace was home alone when Law returned from work the following day. There always seemed to be
someone home, regardless of when Law returned. He wondered if they had made a schedule for it.

He decided he didn’t want to know.

“Have you heard anything from Marco yet?” Law asked instead.
“He’s working on it, but he’s being tight-lipped,” Ace said. “So no, nothing about Teach or his
potential wolfsbane supplier.”

Law snorted. “You realise it’s a common plant, right? Especially around these parts. He doesn’t
need a supplier.”

“Huh,” Ace said. “I don’t really know plants. What does it look like?”

“Purple, the flower is shaped like a hood or a weird hat,” Law said. “That’s why it’s also called
monkshood.”

Ace rolled on his feet. “Think we could find any?”

“Probably. They are in season, I think,” Law said. “Who are you planning to poison?”

Ace laughed. “No one, I just want to know what they look like.”

They headed out the door together, with Ace leading the way into the forest. It was an early
evening, with the sun still fairly high in the sky. Perfect weather for a forest stroll.

Law filled his lungs with fresh air as they walked. There were moments like these he was happy he
had moved here.

“Enjoying yourself?” Ace asked. Things were still a bit awkward between them, but Law could
almost ignore it. If only he didn’t have that soft look in his eyes while meeting Law’s.

Fuck. Why were things so complicated? If it had just been one of them, anyone of them, he would
have bedded them already.

Probably. Law was fully aware he had hang ups.

“And now you’re not,” Ace frowned. “What happened?”

Law sighed. “My brain happened,” he said. “Sometimes I think myself into a corner.”

Ace nodded thoughtfully. “I get that. I used to do it all the time,” he said. “It still happens
sometimes, but my brothers, my friends, you… it all helps.”

“Me too,” Law said.

“Even if I annoy you half the time?”

“Everyone annoys me half the time. Including myself,” Law said lightly. “There’s always the other
half.”

Ace laughed. Law liked his laugh. It had a carefree vibe to it, despite the owner being more
complex than was obvious at first glance.

Heartbreaker, indeed. He had a feeling Ace’s own heart had been broken far more times than he
had returned the favour.

And he had still handed it to Law, and Law had no idea what to do with it.

They walked in silence for a while, until Law spotted something purple on the ground.

“Here we are,” he said, walking over and kneeling down to get a closer look. “Yeah, these are what
we’re looking for.”

Ace bent down beside him. “They look kinda funny,” he said, and started reaching out.

Law quickly grabbed his hand. “Don’t touch that!”

“Seriously? It’s poisonous just to touch?”

“Yes. Usually it would probably be fine, though you could get rashes or worse, but Sabo told me
werewolves are especially vulnerable to it,” Law said. “Best not risk it.”

“Oh. Alright,” Ace said, looking down at where Law was still holding his hand. Law let him go.
He refused to blush about it, he wasn’t some teenage girl with a crush. His face wasn’t
cooperating, though.

“Again, you were incredibly lucky to survive,” Law said, getting back on his feet and looking
away. There were quite a few of the flowers in the clearing, apparently. It looked quite pretty.

“So you keep saying,” Ace laughed, a little nervously. “How do you know so much about them,
anyways?”

“I had a class on common poisonous plants at university,” Law said, then picked a random
direction and continued walking. “Pets and farm animals eat them, sometimes, so you have to
know what you’re dealing with. And I looked them up again after meeting you guys.”

“Is there an antidote?” Ace asked, falling back into step with him.

“No,” Law said. “All you can do is try to stabilise or restart the heart. And flush the systems, if the
poison was ingested.”

Ace made a face. “The world is always a bit more dangerous than you realise, huh?”

“You’re telling me ,” Law snorted. “A few months ago I had no idea werewolves were real.”

“At least you took it really well,” Ace said. “I’d say you were more freaked out when we told you
that-”

Ace interrupted himself, but Law got the message. He sighed. “It was more unbelievable to me,
yes.”

“I get it,” Ace said, and Law supposed he did. “But you believe us now, right?”

“I do.” It was a weird thing to admit. “I think Luffy would have kicked my ass if i didn’t.”

“He’s straightforward. If he tells you something, that’s how it is.”

“Or that’s how he believes it is, anyway,” Law said mildly. “I asked him for details about the
werewolf thing once and there were so many “that’s just how it is” and “its a mystery”.”

Ace snorted. “Anything in particular you want to know?”

“Luffy told you I met my ex, right?” Law said. “Eustass mentioned something about “not smelling
Luffy’s mark” on me. What does that mean?”

“Oh,” Ace said, and hell, he was blushing again. “It’s, um, a bite, of sorts. To mark someone as
your mate. Not everyone does it.”
“A bite, but not deep enough to turn you?” Law asked.

“I don’t think so, it’s like, a vow? I guess? Or marking your territory, depending on who you ask,”
Ace said. “I don’t know. I’ve never done it. It’s kind of a huge commitment.”

“So it’s permanent?”

“No, it fades after a year or two, but people usually redo them,” Ace said. “I think they become
permanent if you redo them a couple of times.” He looked at Law. “Why are you asking me?”

“Because Eustass was very fond of biting me,” Law said. “I just wanted to make sure there wasn’t
anything there.”

“We would have noticed. If there was something, it’s long faded,” Ace said. “Did you enjoy it?”

Law raised an eyebrow. “Are you asking me if I like it rough in bed?” he said teasingly.

“I-” Ace said. “That is not fair.”

“No, I suppose it’s not. Sorry,” Law sighed, then looked around. “We should probably head back
before it gets dark. I know it’s not an issue for you, but I would prefer to see where I put my feet.”

When I'm not putting them straight into my mouth.

Ace nodded, and led them back the way they came. It was almost dark by the time they got back to
the house.

***

Sabo woke him up in the middle of the night.

“We’ve got company,” he said, and Law was instantly wide awake.

“Where and how many?” he asked.

“Two vans parked outside. Luffy and Ace are scouting,” Sabo said. “Get dressed. Just in case.”

Law got out of bed and did as he asked without further comment.

“Are you okay?” Sabo asked. “I expected you to…” He trailed off.

“Panic? I still might,” Law admitted. “If things go badly, just-”

“I’m not going anywhere without you,” Sabo said stubbornly.

“Assuming he doesn’t know about it already, you guys being wolves are our best weapon. They
won’t expect you,” Law said. “If you see an opportunity to turn things in our favour, take it. I can
protect myself for a bit, and he’s going to want to talk to me first, anyway.”

“What makes you so sure?”

“They are here, and the building is not on fire,” Law said grimly. “Trust me.”

Sabo slowly nodded. “No unnecessary risks,” he reminded him.

“Too late for that,” Law said. “Can Luffy and Ace hear me? If they can pick them off one by one
quietly, that would be best. Start with whoever they leave to guard the cars when the rest enter the
house.”

Sabo waited. “They can hear you,” he said. “The leader just gave the order to break in. We need to
get into a better position.”

“What do you suggest?”

“The attic. The stairs are narrow, so they will have to go one on one.”

“No,” Law said. “You hide. I’ll let them see me head up there. You flank them, pick them off
quietly while they are focused on me. Can you do that?”

“You want to use yourself as bait,” Sabo said. “Law, I'm not going to let you sacrifice yourself for
this. This isn’t chess.”

“I told you, when it’s real people, I’ll rethink my strategy,” Law said. “I’m not going to be a
sacrifice, just bait. So can you do it?”

There was a bang downstairs as the door broke down.

“Alright,” Sabo said, features already changing. “This had better work.”

Law hoped it would.

He hurried out of the room and to the top of the stairs, meeting the eyes of one of Doffy’s men.
Then he saw the man behind him.

The years in prison had not been kind to Donquixote Doflamingo, but he was unmistakable with his
greying blonde hair and penchant for sunglasses and pink coats. For a moment Law stood frozen,
staring at him. For a moment, Law was thirteen years old again, looking at his foster father
emptying a gun into his brother, the man Law actually saw as a parent.

The moment passed.

Law turned around, hurrying up the stairs to the attic, ignoring the shouts behind him. There was
no door, so as soon as Law reached the top of the stairs, he grabbed the first object he could find,
an old, broken kitchen chair, and used it as a battering ram against his pursuers.

The man took the hit straight to the face, falling down into the guy behind him. Law readied the
chair once more.

It wasn’t a fight he could win, he knew that. That wasn’t the point. He hoped he was providing
enough of a distraction to give the others a chance to take care of things quietly.

Eventually, sooner than he had hoped, a guy slipped past him, and it was over. They threw him
down roughly on the floor, and Doflamingo walked up to him, his heels clicking ominously on the
wooden floor.

“That wasn’t much of a fight, Law. I thought I taught you better than this,” Doflamingo said. He
stopped in front of Law, while his men hung back a bit, ready to get involved if Law tried
anything. With their backs towards the stairs. Good.

“Yeah,” Law said. “I guess you were a shit teacher.”

Doflamingo kicked him. Not hard enough to do serious damage, but hard enough to make a point.
So Law would still be conscious for the rest of the conversation, he supposed.
“You cost me everything, Law,” Doflamingo said. “Did you really think I wouldn’t come find
you?”

“You should have stayed away,” Law said. His voice was shaking a bit, but he got on his feet.
Doflamingo gave him an amused smile.

“Come now, Law, you should know better than this,” Doflamingo said. “You can’t win alone.”

“I know,” Law smiled. “That’s why I’m not.”

There was a howl outside, quickly joined by two more. Law’s smile got wider.

Doflamingo frowned, gesturing to one of his men to go check it out. He didn’t make it past the
stairs. There was a scream, quickly cut off, then a large shadow moved into the room, attacking the
other man before he could react.

“Looks like you’re the one who is alone, now.”

Doflamingo looked behind him, seeing the large wolf on top of his guard. Luffy. Law was relieved
to see he was alright. Ace and Sabo followed up the stairs, eyes almost shining in the limited light.

“What did you do?” Doflamingo asked. He actually sounded scared. Law could hardly blame him.
The wolves gathered around him, their paws leaving bloody prints on the floor.

“Not much. Good things come to those who do good things, I suppose,” Law said.

“You’ve made your point, Law,” Doflamingo said, clearly realising he was out of his depth. “I’ll
leave you alone. I won’t come back.”

“I wish I could believe that,” Law said. “But someone once taught me not to give my enemies the
chance to regroup.” he paused. “I guess your lessons stuck, after all.”

“Law, we can talk about this,” Doflamingo said.

“Tell that to Cora,” Law said. “Though he won’t be where you’re going. Goodbye, Doffy.”

Doflamingo threw himself towards the stairs, but he didn’t even make it two steps before the
wolves were on him. His screams were drowned out by growls as all three wolves attacked. Law
felt sick. He should have been the one to do it. Instead, he watched his friends tear Doflamingo
apart. It was over in seconds.

As the wolves moved away, Law looked at the body of his former foster father, dead and bloody
on the ground. How many times was this now, that someone he knew had been murdered in front
of him? His parents and sister, Cora… and now Doflamingo.

And this time Law had pulled the trigger.

His friends may have done the deed, but he was the one responsible. He waited to feel something,
regret, guilt, sadness, but it didn’t come. He only felt guilty for the trouble he had caused his
friends, nothing for Doflamingo himself. Nothing but relief.

He wondered what that said about him.

“What do we do with the bodies?” Law asked. No one answered him at first, then Ace turned back
to his human form. He was still covered in blood, but it wasn’t his own.
“We’ll pile them in their vans and drive them out of town,” he said. “We’ll run back.”

“We know a place to put them where they won’t be found for a few weeks,” Sabo added. “It’ll look
like they were killed by wild animals, no one will trace them back here.”

Law nodded. “How can I help?”

They exchanged looks, then sighed. “Help us collect the bodies. We should leave before dawn.”

It took them almost half an hour to find everyone and haul them into the vans. Sabo and Ace drove
off quietly, leaving Law and Luffy behind.

“We should clean up the blood before it dries,” Law said, heading back towards the house. Luffy
followed him.

“Torao,” he said. “Are you okay?”

“I’ll be fine,” Law said. “Later. Right now I just need to be useful.”

Luffy looked at him for a moment, then nodded. “Alright. Let’s get a mop.”

It took hours getting the house clean, or at least clean enough that nothing was visible. Law
suspected Luffy could still smell the blood, but he didn’t say anything. For the first time in his
career, Law called in sick to work. Crocus was thankfully understanding, telling him to get plenty
of rest, and Law promised he would, and then proceeded to walk around the garden with a hose,
spraying down any bloodstains he could find.

“I think that’s enough, Torao,” Luffy eventually told him, and Law had to admit he was probably
right.

“Send me the water bill for this month,” he told Luffy, who looked like he was about to protest. “I
mean it.”

“Torao, you don’t owe us anything,” Luffy said. “We helped because we wanted to. That’s all.”

“I know. That doesn’t mean I can’t at least try to repay you,” Law said.”After what you did, for
me…”

He didn’t have the words. Luffy gently patted his arm and smiled at him.

“Torao. Go take a bath, then go to sleep,” Luffy said. “I’ll do the same after you’re done.”

Law supposed there wasn’t much else he could do.

He did feel a bit better after showering. Luffy had been taking a nap on the floor, but woke up as
Law exited the shower.

“Your turn,” Law said, then hesitated a bit. “Afterwards, if you want to join me, you can.”

Luffy grinned at him. “See you in a bit then.”

Law went back to the guest room and put on his pyjama pants, then got into bed. It was weird to
think how Sabo had woken him up, just a few hours earlier. It seemed like a lifetime ago. Law felt
exhausted, but it wasn’t until the bed shifted as Luffy came to join him that he managed to fall
asleep.
He woke up some time later, and found Ace and Sabo had joined them on the bed. Law’s heart
ached as he looked at them.

They still considered him pack. They still thought of him as a friend. They still wanted him.

So how the fuck was he supposed to choose one of them?

***

Law moved back to his apartment in the evening the same day. It felt a bit rude, after all they had
done for him, but honestly he needed space. Despite their protests, maybe they needed some, too.
Or maybe Law was just trying to make himself feel better.

His apartment was just as he’d left it, and yet quieter and emptier than he remembered. He had
gotten used to the constant noise, he supposed.

He lay down on the bed, planning to get some more rest, but it was too quiet. It felt like the walls
were closing in on him.

He used to be so good at being alone. How was it that he already craved company after just an
hour?

On a whim, he invited Bepo, Shachi and Penguin to a three way video call. They did it every week
or so, but it was the first time in a long while Law had initiated it.

“Fucking hell,” Shachi swore. “You look terrible, Law.”

Okay, so maybe the video-part had been a bad idea, but he wanted to see his friends. Hell, he
wanted them to be there. Video call was the closest he could get.

“It…it was a rough night,” he said.

What else could he say? “I committed murder last night, spent hours cleaning it up and am kinda
torn up about the fact I don’t feel worse about it”? The weird thing was, Law was fairly confident
they would be on his side about it all, but if he was ever to confess about that particular crime, it
wouldn’t be in a way that could potentially be recorded.

“And not the good kind of rough, looks like,” Penguin said. “You’re back at your own place? Did
you have a fight with your friends?”

“Is that why you look like that?” Bepo asked, always so concerned for him.

“No, this was all my own bullshit,” Law sighed. “But that’s all resolved now. So I’m back here.”

“Did they seriously let you go back without-” Shachi started, then interrupted himself. “Without…
um…”

Law narrowed his eyes. “You fucking knew they had feelings for me, didn’t you?”

Shachi sheepishly looked away from his screen.

“No offence, Law, but it was kind of obvious,” Penguin said. “They said they were going to talk to
you about it.”

“Well, they did. Bit over a week ago,” Law said.

“I take it it didn’t go well, since you’re back at your place,” Shachi said. “Or are you dating one of
them now?”

“No,” Law said. “I don’t know what to do.”

His friends were quiet for a while. It was unusual for Law to admit something like that. He was the
plan guy. The one with the ideas. That had always been his role in the group.

And now, he was utterly lost.

“Law,” Bepo finally said. “You know how they feel about you. How do you feel?”

“With the way things have been…I haven’t really had time to think about it until now,” Law said.
“They’re asking me to choose.”

“Ouch, rough,” Shachi said sympathetically.

“I get it if you don’t want to hurt anyone,” Penguin said. “But all you can do is be honest.”

“It’s not that simple,” Law said. “Did I tell you I met Eustass in the next town over a few days
ago?”

Their reactions ranged from surprise to disgust to concern.

“Are you alright, Law?” Bepo asked. “I mean, you two didn’t…”

“No, that’s over and done with,” Law said. “But it brought up some concerns. I’m not- I mean, you
guys know I’m not the easiest guy to be around, and relationships-”

“Law,” Shachi said. “I never said anything because I knew you were torn up about it, but I was
happy when you and Eustass broke up. You guys were terrible for each other.”

Law blinked. He didn’t expect that.

“It’s true,” Bepo said quietly. “I don’t think you have to worry about things ending the same way
with someone else, especially not the brothers. You started as friends. You’ve been through a lot.”

“Bepo is right. They know you,” Penguin said. “Not saying it will last forever but, if you want it, I
don’t think you should let previous relationships hold you back.”

“And if you don’t want it, just tell them so,” Bepo said. “They would rather know.”

“I suppose,” Law conceded. “It doesn’t make it any easier.”

“Give it some time, see who you miss the most,” Shachi said. “Can’t say I envy you your
dilemma.”

“Speaking of,” Law said, eager to change the subject. “How are things going with that girl you
were going to ask out?”

Shachi, thankfully, took the hint, and started happily talking about this girl he met at the flower
shop, and Law leaned back listening to his friend’s relationship drama. At least it was far less
complicated than his own.

***
The following week passed in a blur of work, nightmares and worrying about his relationship
issues, but nothing changed until Friday arrived.

Law had been up since 3 am, having been called out to a farm to assist with a emergency, and he
was tired and grumpy. He parked his car, and was already exiting when he realised he had driven
to the werewolf house by habit. He stopped, looking at the building.

He missed them. All of them. He missed them so freaking much. But he was never going to be able
to choose between them.

Screw it, he decided, heading towards the house. He was tired of dancing around it, tired of
missing them, and just tired in general.

He knocked on the door.

A moment later, Luffy opened it, looking surprised but happy to see him.

“Torao, hi!” he smiled. “You don’t have to knock, you know.”

“People do that when they visit someone,” Law said. “Are Ace and Sabo at home? I need to talk to
you all.”

“They’re around,” Luffy said. His smile faded a bit. “Did you make a decision?”

“Sort of,” Law said tiredly.

Ace and Sabo appeared, looking as nervous as Luffy did. They joined him in the living room.

“Do you want something to drink? Tea?” Sabo asked, but Law shook his head.

“No, this won’t take long,” he said.

“Well, I can’t tell if that’s comforting or worrying,” Ace said lightly, but his smile didn’t quite
reach his eyes.

“So, I’ve been thinking about it,” Law started. “And I’ve come to a conclusion.”

“Which is?” Luffy asked impatiently.

“The gist of the matter is this; I’m not going to choose,” Law said, watching all of them frown at
him. “I can’t, so I’m not going to.” He paused. “I’m here if you want me, in whatever way you
want me, but you’re going to have to decide amongst yourselves, agree to just be friends, or share.”

He watched his words sink in, then got on his feet. “Ball’s in your court. Think about it,” he said.
“I’m heading home.”

“Wait!” Luffy exclaimed, as all three of them got up to stop him. “Just wait a moment, Torao. Let
us talk about this.”

“Luffy, I’m very tired,” Law said.

“Go take a nap while we talk,” Ace said. “Just… we haven’t seen you in a week! Don’t leave yet.
Please.”

Law sighed. “Alright. I’m heading to the guest room,” he agreed. “Wake me up when you’re
done.”
The brothers were surprisingly quiet as he moved upstairs. He fell down on the bed and closed his
eyes, vaguely wondering what he would wake up to.

***

Someone very gently shook him awake. Law blearily opened his eyes to see Ace on the bed beside
him, looking down at him with a grin. The other two were standing nearby.

“Hey,” Ace said. “You said to wake you up when we’ve talked.”

“I did,” Law said, failing to stifle a yawn. He tried to rub some sleep out of his eyes.

There was a chuckle behind Ace.

“Torao is so cute,” Luffy said.

“I’m a grown-ass man,” Law gumbled.

“An adorable grown-ass man,” Ace grinned. “We talked it through, and we agreed.”

“Agreed on what?” Law asked.

“To share,” Sabo clarified. “We’ll work out a system later, for now we’re rock-paper-scissors-ing.”

“Which I won,” Ace laughed. “So, can I kiss you?”

Law stared at them. He had honestly not expected this outcome. He figured they would realise how
ridiculous they were being, and tell him they should just be friends or something.

Still, if this was what they wanted, Law definitely wasn’t complaining.

He reached out for Ace’s necklace and used it to pull him closer. “Alright,” he smirked.

Ace’s eyes widened for a moment, like he hadn’t really expected Law to agree, then he pushed
their lips together with enough force to make Law fall backwards on the bed. He chuckled against
Ace’s lips, at the way Ace was consuming him, but it felt good. It felt so good . Law buried his
fingers in Ace’s hair to keep him where he was, just in case he had planned on moving.

Eventually he did pull back, grinning down at Law.

“As much I would like to continue this, and keep you all to myself,” Ace said. “We did agree to
share.”

He rolled off Law, and Law saw a quick game of rock-paper-scissors between Luffy and Sabo.
Luffy grinned as he won.

“It’s only fair, you already got a kiss,” Luffy reminded Sabo, then joined Law on the bed. “Hi,
Torao. Can I kiss you now? ”

Law rolled his eyes and pushed their lips together, getting a surprised yelp from Luffy as a reward.
Luffy recovered quickly, giving as good as he got, pushing Law further into the bed. Compared to
Ace, Luffy had no idea what he was doing, but he was very enthusiastic and learned quickly, and
Law found himself struggling to keep up.

The room felt hot, and his trousers were too tight, and fuck, they could probably all smell how
turned on he was. Fucking werewolves.
Luffy smiled widely as he pulled back, but at least he looked as much of a mess as Law felt like.

“You smell amazing, Torao,” Luffy said.

“You really fucking do,” Ace said. “You better get in there fast, Sabo, or I’m going another round.”

“Like you won’t demand one anyways,” Sabo said, moving to straddle Law, his face close enough
to touch. “You sure this is what you want? Because if it keeps going like this, and you keep
smelling like that, I don’t think any of us will be able to stop.”

“I told you, I’m here if you want me,” Law smirked. “In whatever way you want me.”

“Fuck,” Sabo murmurned, then instead of Law’s lips, went straight for his neck. Law gasped for
breath as Sabo sucked on the sensitive skin, sendings shivers of pleasure down his spine. Sabo’s
hands started wandering down Law’s chest, opening the buttons on his shirt, and if he was going to
stop this, he needed to do so now.

He didn’t. He didn’t want to.

He met Ace’s eyes through half closed lids, and heard him growl.

“If you’re not going to be using his mouth…” Ace said, and Sabo chuckled against Law’s skin.

“Well, he did want us to share,” Sabo said, opening the last button on Law’s shirt and letting his
hands wander freely. “So let’s share .”

Law felt a shiver down his back at the words. He saw Sabo smirking at him, then his vision was
obscured by Ace capturing his lips again in a truly obscene kiss. Law closed his eyes, letting
himself enjoy it all. His breath hitched as he felt someone sucking at one of his nipples, and
someone else was opening the buttons of his jeans, and Law had no idea which hands belonged to
who, only that they were touching him, and he wanted more. He needed more.

He could feel someone finally freeing him of his jeans and underwear, and almost sighed in relief
straight into Ace’s mouth. He didn’t think he’d ever been this hard in his entire life.

“Ace,” Sabo said, voice sounding strained. “Could you go get supplies?”

Ace groaned, then let go of Law’s mouth. “Alright. Don’t go anywhere.” He rolled off the bed,
hurrying out of the room. Law was left dazed and naked, with Luffy nipping on his neck and Sabo
between his legs. Both still fully clothed.

Law huffed. “Well, isn’t this a role reversal,” he said, trying not to feel self-conscious. They clearly
liked what they saw, after all. “Are you guys going to get naked, or is it just going to be me?”

Luffy laughed, immediately withdrawing to throw his shirt off,

“Maybe we’re afraid you’ll just tell us to get dressed again,” Sabo said with a smile, but he started
unbuttoning his shirt as well. Law watched them both greedly, though the shows they put on were
very different from each other, with Sabo slowly disrobing and Luffy unceremoniously throwing
his clothes off. Naked, however, they weren’t much different, both hard and watching him
hungrily.

Ace returned, handing Sabo a bottle of lube and a packet of condoms before casually dropping his
shorts, as well. “So, how are we doing this?”
Sabo looked down at Law. “I’m going to fuck you. Objections?”

“None,” Law said. “But it’s been a while, so it’ll take some prepwork.”

“Good,” Sabo said, letting his lubed fingers run over Law for a second before gently prodding at
his entrance. Law found it a little hard to breathe. He wanted it so badly.

“We taking turns, then?” Luffy asked, kissing the side of Law’s face.

“Probably for the best, I can take two at most,” Law said, placing a hand in Luffy’s hair to guide
him to his lips, kissing him as Sabo added another finger, moving them inside him.

“Two, huh,” Ace said, and Law felt the bed shift as he joined them on Law’s left side.

“Another time,” Sabo said. “I want to see his face.”

“Greedy,” Ace laughed. “But I get it.” His voice turned lower, and Law felt him gently caress his
arm, before bringing his hand to his lips in an almost gentlemanly kiss. “I guess we enjoy the show
for now, Luffy.”

“No, I’m busy,” Luffy protested, withdrawing from Law long enough to form the words. “What
happened to sharing?”

Sabo snorted, and his fingers hit something to make Law’s breath hitch. “It’s fine if you
participate. I want him to feel good,” he said. “I just want to be able to see his face.”

“I guess that’s okay,” Luffy said, pulling back only to kiss Law’s neck instead. “But I’m going
next.”

“You guys are ridiculous,” Law said, moaning under Sabo’s fingers. “It’s fine already, I can take
you.”

“Are you sure?” Sabo asked. “I don’t want to hurt you.”

“Let me put it this way: either you fuck me right now or I’m kicking all of you out of bed,” Law
said. He couldn’t take this anymore. He really couldn’t. Luffy chuckling against his skin didn’t
help any.

“Harsh words,” Ace said. “Best do as he says then.”

“Fucking hell,” Sabo muttered, and Law felt empty as he withdrew his fingers, only for something
larger to prod at his entrance a moment later.

Ace and Luffy kept him steady af Sabo slowly pushed into him, then out, then further inside. Law
threw his head back against Ace’s shoulder, gasping for breath. He had been a bit too hasty, he
knew that, and there was pain, but not nearly enough to outweigh how good it felt.

Sabo started moving faster, and Law’s brain went sluggish. All he was aware of was Sabo inside
him, Ace’s hands on his chest, Luffy’s mouth on his neck, various sensations he didn’t know who
to credit for. Then someone touched his dick, and Law lost all coherent thought. All he knew was
pleasure, building higher and higher until it all exploded in white.

When Law opened his eyes, dizzy in the afterglow, he realised Sabo must have followed shortly
after him, as he lay half collapsed on top of him. He ran a hand through Sabo’s hair, chuckling
slightly.
“That what you wanted?” he asked, and Sabo looked up at him.

“More or less. My brothers were a surprise addition to this particular fantasy,” he said. ”But I'm
definitely not complaining.”

“Good,” Law said. He felt almost boneless in how relaxed he was. But it wasn’t over yet.

“How are you feeling, Law?” Ace asked. “I think we lost you for a bit there.”

“I’ve never come that hard in my life,” he confessed. “But I’m back. Who was next?”

“Me, but are you sure, Torao?” Luffy asked. “I mean, you just-”

“If you want to wait twenty minutes for me to get it up again, be my guest,” Law said, laughing
when Luffy made a face. “It’s fine. Fuck me. It’ll still feel good.”

Luffy didn’t need to be told twice. Sabo chuckled as Luffy rolled him aside, taking his place
between Law’s legs. He looked a little nervous.

“You done this before?” Law asked.

“No, but Sabo did it, so it can’t be that hard,” Luffy said confidently. “I just put it in, right?”

“Best add some lube to your dick first,” Ace said, picking the bottle up and throwing it at Luffy.
Luffy did so, then pushed into Law. Law bit his lip. Good thing Luffy was going second, or that
would have been too far, too fast.

“Holy shit,” Luffy muttered, and Law smirked up at him.

“Feel good?” he asked, purposely rocking his hips to make Luffy gasp. He was kind of glad he was
coherent for this, if he was honest. Seeing that expression on Luffy’s face was- well, he could
understand why Sabo had insisted on being able to see him .

“Yeah,” Luffy said breathlessly, then pushed into Law again, hard. Law squeezed him as
encouragement.

“Just like that,” he said, rocking his hips to meet him at every push.

Luffy didn’t last long. Longer than Law would have expected, for his first time, but Law was
admittedly doing his darndest to make him come.

Luffy collapsed on top of him without even pulling out. “You’re amazing, Torao,” he murmured
into Law’s chest. Law patted his head with a smile.

“You’re not bad yourself,” he said. Looking around, he could see Sabo lying lazily propped up on
one elbow, watching them with a smile, with Ace behind him, with a slightly more flustered
expression.

“Want your turn?” Law asked teasingly.

“Absolutely,” Ace agreed. “But I’ve waited this long, I might as well wait for you to get back in
the game.”

“A game, is it?” Law asked. “Who’s winning?”

“You, it looks like,” Ace grinned. “Move aside if you’re just going to lie there, Luffy. I’m going to
entertain myself in the meantime.”

Law chuckled as Luffy finally pulled out of him and lay down on beside them of the bed. Ace
climbed on top of Law, grinning down at him.

“Hi,” he said. “How’s your day going, doc?”

“In unexpected directions,” Law said, reaching up to touch the side of Ace’s face. “Not that I
mind.”

“You really didn’t think we’d want to share?” Ace asked, his face so close their noses almost
touched.

“I didn’t,” Law said. “It seemed kinda…conceited of me to even consider it.”

“Silly Torao,” Luffy said lazily to the side. “It took us like a second to agree on that part.”

“Really?” Law asked. “It felt like I slept longer.”

“You did,” Sabo said. “We were arguing about the particulars of what sharing would mean.”

“And then we decided it didn’t fucking matter,” Ace said, leaning down to kiss him. “It’s funny. I
can taste Luffy on you but I don’t even care.”

“Good,” Law said, pulling him down again, kissing him sloppily as Ace’s hands wandered over his
body.

It took surprisingly little time for Law’s body to respond again.

“Finally,” Ace laughed, gently caressing him, making Law moan beneath his fingers. He gave Law
a final, deep kiss, before turning Law around on the bed. Law gave him a surprised look over his
shoulder.

“It’s not that I don’t want to see your face, I do,” Ace said, “But I also want to get as deep inside
you as I possibly can.”

Law shivered in anticipation, but chuckled. “Doggy style. I don’t know what else I was expecting.”

“I’ll make you feel so good,” Ace said, and Law felt him entering, slowly, one push at a time, until
he was deep inside of him. And then, he started moving, rapidly increasing his pace until he was
pounding Law into the mattress.

Law vaguely remembered mentioning liking it rough at one point, and Ace must have taken it to
heart. Because he was rough, he was ruthless, and Law was fucking ecstatic. He moaned and
whimpered uncontrollably.

“Ace,” he heard Sabo say.

“Don’t stop, whatever you do, don’t fucking stop! ” Law managed between moans, and Sabo didn’t
say anything else.

Ace lifted him up to stand on his knees, still pounding into him, then bit him in the shoulder. Law
came without anyone having touched his dick, and Ace kept fucking him trough the orgasm,
before following him, pushing deep inside as he did.

Law was breathing heavily as he let himself fall down on the bed, turning on his back. After a
while Luffy curled up to him, partially on top of him, with Sabo behind him, while Ace lay down
on Law’s other side, out of breath and grinning widely.

“You weren’t kidding,” Ace said. “I wasn’t sure at first but, you really like it that way, huh?”

“Apparently I’m not alone in that,” Law said, too relaxed to care about being embarrassed. “I don’t
want it like that all the time but, yeah, it was kind of perfect.”

“Good. I got scared for you for a second,” Sabo said. “Ace, you didn’t bite too deep, right?”

“Nah, didn’t even break the skin,” Ace said, then laughed. “Man, that was great! I think sharing
will work out just fine.”

“Mm,” Luffy murmured, nuzzling himself into Law’s chest. “I like it.”

Sabo was lazily playing with Law’s hair. “What do you think, Law? Did we pass the test?”

“Better than I did, I think,” Law said. “I’m fucking exhausted.”

“Too much for you to handle?” Ace smirked.

“ You try to please three horny werewolves consecutively,” Law glared at him, but he was too tired
to put any heat in it.

“You say that like you weren’t having fun,” Luffy laughed. “You did.”

“Fine. Yeah, I did,” Law conceded. “Nobody better have an emergency for the next eight hours
because I’m not getting up.”

Ace snorted. “Liar. You would go the moment you were needed.”

“You would complain about it, but you would go,” Sabo agreed.

“That’s who you are,” Luffy said.

“Maybe I should just go home if you guys are gonna call me out on everything,” Law said,
somewhat amused that all three of them immediately moved closer.

“Don’t go,” Luffy said. “You could stay here again.”

“Luffy is right. Just stay here,” Ace said. “We’ve missed you.”

“You made it kinda hard for me to stick around,” Law pointed out. He moved Luffy a bit so he
could turn on his side. Luffy didn’t seem to mind, just moved back in as soon as Law settled,
nuzzling his face into Law’s collar bones. Ace moved in as well, and Law could feel his chest
against his back.

He felt safe. There was no other way to describe it. In between the three brothers, it felt like
nothing could touch him. Except for them, Law supposed, but he was fine with that.

“Sorry about that,” Sabo said. “It’s just- You have no idea how badly we all wanted you, and not
being allowed to touch you was torture.”

“You could have just talked to me,” Law said.

“You would have freaked. You did freak,” Ace reminded him. “And with a threat over your head,
we didn’t want to risk it. Though some people went there anyway.”

“Did you never consider sharing before I brought it up?”

“Not really,” Ace said. “The thing is…” he trailed off.

“The thing is,” Sabo sighed. “We’ve both had partners end things because we’re too much to
handle individually. Not sexually, just, everyday things.”

“Or because we’re too codependent,” Ace added.

“And I’m just not great at sharing things,” Luffy added.

“I’m not a thing.”

“Exactly. So it’s fine,” Luffy said.

Law sighed. “Well, I’ve lived here for almost a month, and I came back,” he said. “I’m not going
to promise forever, but I don’t think those things will be an issue for me.” He paused. “That said,
I’m not an easy person to love, so if any of you wanna end things at any point, I won’t take
offence.”

Luffy looked up at him. “Who the fuck told you you’re not an easy person to love?”

Law blinked. “Since when do you swear?”

Ace snorted. “Since he was six years old. It just doesn’t happen that often.”

“You didn’t think Luffy was the sweet and innocent one out of us, did you?” Sabo laughed.

“If I had, I would have changed my mind after tonight,” Law said. “None of you are sweet or
innocent. My ass can attest to that.”

He could feel Luffy’s arm snake around him, squeezing a handful of said ass. “You wouldn’t have
it any other way.”

“I suppose not,” Law said. Luffy’s hand remained where it was, and Law felt Ace kissing his neck.
“Down, you insatiable dogs. I’m not going another round tonight.”

“Awh,” Luffy pouted.

“Let the man sleep,” Sabo said. “We can continue tomorrow.”

“You say that, but I can smell how hard your dick is from here,” Ace laughed.

“Hey, if Law doesn’t want to…” Sabo said.

Law sighed. “Fine. One more round.”

***

Law woke up the following morning surrounded by his sleeping lovers. He was sore and his skin
was more hickeys than not, but he felt rested, for once. For a while he just lay there, listening to the
rhythmic breathing, completely at ease, then he remembered he was supposed to get ready for
work.
And he was in dire need of a shower.

He took some time to assess himself when he got into the bathroom. No real damage, just some
bruises and a sore ass. And a lot of marks. He was going to need to go past his apartment and grab
a turtleneck if he wanted to keep any trace of dignity.

He wondered how his customers would react, when they found out. And they would, sooner or
later, in a town as small as this. There were already rumours, he was sure. He hoped it wouldn’t
matter too much. It wasn’t like it would impact his ability to do his job, and a sick animal
definitely didn’t care if he had three boyfriends instead of just one.

Holy fucking shit, Law had three boyfriends.

Or whatever the fuck they wanted to be called. They hadn’t exactly discussed terminology, but that
was what it all boiled down to. Law had made a decision when he was too tired to think of the
consequences and now he had three boyfriends.

Bepo was going to freak.

Law smiled to himself as he finished his shower and threw a towel around his waist. Luffy and Ace
were still asleep, but Sabo had wandered off somewhere, presumably to make breakfast. Law got
dressed, ignoring that Ace had woken up and was leering at him.

“You know, if you lived here you wouldn’t have to do the walk of shame,” Ace said as Law
finished.

“I have to get to work, dumbass,” Law said. On impulse, he walked over to the bed and leaned
down to give Ace a kiss. Ace responded immediately, hands reaching up to pull Law down
towards him. Law let him, for a bit.

“Alright, you’re forgiven for having to go,” Ace laughed. “But I get first dibs when you get back.”

“First dibs on what exactly?” Law asked idly, at the same time as Luffy said:

“That’s not fair.”

Law looked over at him. He still looked half asleep, frowning at Law and Ace. “We agreed you
can’t call dibs.”

Law shook his head. “You work this one out between you,” he said, but he gave Luffy a kiss as
well before heading downstairs. Sabo was unsurprisingly in the kitchen, frying up bacon.

“Morning. Are you staying for breakfast?” he asked with a smile.

“No, I need to run past my apartment,” Law said, chuckling when Sabo opened his mouth. “Spare
me the lecture, alright?”

“Fine,” Sabo sighed. “So, do I get a kiss, too?”

“Do you want one?” Law teased, which Sabo seemed to take as a challenge, pulling Law into a
fiery kiss. Definitely too much heat for a morning kiss.

“Ace wasn’t wrong, huh,” Law said when Sabo pulled back. “He’s the one with the reputation but
you’re the real horndog of the family, aren't you?”

“Guilty,” Sabo laughed. “I’d bend you over the counter right now if I thought you would let me.”
“Some other morning, when neither of us have work,” Law promised. “See you tonight.”

“You better.”

***

When Law returned, there were people over at the house. Zoro, Robin and Chopper, as well as
Marco and some people Law hadn’t met yet.

Zoro smirked at him when he walked in, and Robin gave him a knowing smile, and Law had the
uncomfortable realisation that they could probably smell last night on him. Then again, Luffy, Ace
and Sabo were around, and they probably smelled the same as he did, so there was no point being
embarrassed now. Or at all.

“Torao! You’re home,” Luffy appeared, glueing himself to Law’s side.

Law briefly ruffled his hair. “What’s with the gathering?”

“We’re going after Teach,” Ace said, throwing an arm around Law’s shoulders. By the haunted
look in his eyes, it was more for his comfort than Law’s.

“You found something, then?”

“Marco called in some favours from other packs to investigate,” Luffy nodded. “Turns out that’s
why your ex was in town the other week.”

“Eustass trying to do a covert operation is a hilarious thought,” Law said.

Ace snorted. “Regardless, things are not good. People are disappearing, regular humans are getting
attacked, and some really unsavoury types have been spotted loitering around. The kind of
werewolves that don’t care who they bite.”

“Everything looked okay on the surface,” Marco said. “If we hadn’t had a reason to look deeper,
we never would have noticed.”

“So we’re going after him. Tonight,” Ace said. “We’re hoping to take him by surprise.”

“But given how long he’s been fooling us, he may already know,” Marco added. “So we’re going
in full force.”

“It shouldn’t take more than a few hours,” Sabo said. “Wait for us, okay?”

Law nodded. “Alright. Don’t take any unnecessary risks.”

None of them promised that. Law didn’t expect them to.

The werewolves left, and the house was silent. He didn’t think he had ever been in the house alone
before. He spent a few hours reading, but it was hard to concentrate. He was worried.

There was a knock on the door, and Law got on his feet to open it. Then froze, hair standing on his
arm. Something was wrong, but he wasn’t sure what. Then it hit him:

No one but me ever knocks.

He didn’t have much time to consider it before the door flew off it’s hinges with a loud bang. In the
doorway stood a man, tall, wide, filling up the entire frame.
No, Law realised in horror. He wasn’t a man, he was somewhere halfway between man and wolf,
and he met Law’s eyes with a sharp grin.

“You must be Ace’s little chewtoy,” the man said. “And his brothers’ as well, by the smell of it.”

“Teach, I presume,” Law said, fighting to keep his voice steady. He was moving slowly towards
the stairs, not taking his eyes off the man.

“I see you’ve heard of me,” he said. “Of course you have. Five years of planning, up in smoke.
Because of you !”

He lunged forwards, and Law ran up the stairs, throwing his book in Teach’s general direction to
distract him.

Making a split second decision, he moved into the bathroom, locking the door behind him.

“Do you really think you’re safe in there?” Teach laughed, and no, Law did not. But it bought him
a little time.

The bathroom only had one window, pretty high up. If Law stood on the sink, he could reach it. He
could fit through it. Teach wouldn't be able to.

The door banged behind him as Law climbed, and he silently thanked whoever built the house for
its sturdy construction. The window creaked as he opened it, but he hoped the banging would
drown out the noise.

The window was pretty high up, and small enough that Law had a hard time positioning himself.
He took a deep breath. He could do this. He used to do parkour with Eustass back in Sabaody. He
could do this.

He jumped, rolling once as he landed and breaking into a run towards the forest. It would be so
much easier if he had managed to grab his jacket and car keys, but he didn’t. There was no way he
would make it to town without Teach catching up. And with a werewolf's sense of smell, there was
no point in hiding. So he had one plan left, and he hated it.

He ran as fast as he could, keeping an eye out for purple flowers. He had seen them with Ace two
weeks ago, but he didn’t remember their growing pattern. They could have bloomed out already.

They hadn’t. He reached the little clearing and spotted the monkshood in the same place as before.
He didn’t have gloves, so he took off his shirt to pick one up all the way to the roots, then kept
walking as he opened his pocket knife to cut into it. He wrapped the shirt more thoroughly around
this hands and arm, crushing the rest of the flower, then started running again. In a forest. With a
knife out.

Law hated everything.

He noticed the shadow following him the second before it jumped at him. He only barely had time
to raise his arm in defence, catching the beast’s maw with his protected arm rather than his throat.
The beast bit down, and Law screamed. He didn’t think it managed to break through the protective
layer, but his arm was being crushed.

Still, he had the wolf fairly still above him for a second, and Law took the opportunity plunge the
knife into the wolf’s neck. The knife was too short to reach the heart, but he hoped he managed to
hit the vein he was aiming for, close to the heart to carry the poison there fast, but under all that
fur, it was hard to tell.
The wolf huffed above him, then turned back into that horrible, half-human form, grinning down at
Law with sharp teeth.

“What was that, a toothpick? What were you hoping to do?” he laughed. Law tried to squirm away,
but the body weight alone held him in place.

“I was going to leave you alive, you know,” he said. “Alive but broken beyond repair, as a message
to Ace and his brothers. But you’ve put up a good hunt.” He laughed again. “And there’s only one
way a good hunt ends.”

So this was it then. Law gritted his teeth. At least he hoped it had been enough to take the bastard
with him.

Teach blinked down in surprise. “You’re not afraid anymore,” he said, a bit bewildered. “This is
usually the part when people beg for mercy.”

“You’re not the type to grant it,” Law said, and Teach grinned.

“Oh, I’m going to enjoy this,” he said, holding up a clawed hand. “Scream for me.”

Law did. As much as he wished he could stop, there was no doing anything else, as Teach drew his
claws across Law’s stomach, painting three gashes in red. It hurt. It really fucking hurt. But it
hadn’t been deep enough to actually damage anything.

Great, he was being played with, like a cat with a mouse. What a fucking way to go out.

“Still defiant? I will enjoy breaking you,” Teach laughed.

And he was getting off on it. Things kept getting better.

Teach’s laugh froze on his face.

“Wha-” he started, then turned away from Law, vomiting into the grass. Law finally managed to
crawl away from under him, but Teach caught his leg before he could get away, claws biting into
Law’s skin.

“What did you do?” Teach said. “What-”

Law smiled at him. “You don’t recognise it? I thought it was your favourite poison.”

Teach’s eyes went wide, then he attacked again, but weaker, slower than before. Law managed to
roll away, but Teach was holding Law's leg and he twisted his ankle in the process.

“I’m going to kill you,” Teach said. “I’m go- I’m-”

His form shifted. The grip around Law’s leg loosened as he turned into a wolf again. Law crawled
away, but the wolf wasn’t attacking. It was whimpering on the ground, making heartbreaking,
canine noises.

If Law had been a hero like in the stories he read as a kid, he would have crawled over there and
attempted to stabilise his heart, spouting platitudes about how everyone deserved to live. Law
wasn’t a hero. He wasn’t even a particularly good person.

He just sat there, and watched the wolf die.

After a while, he undid the torn shirt-wrapping around his crushed arm, and threw it away. His arm
was bloody underneath it, and hurt like hell, but the bite probably wasn’t deep enough to turn him.
Law almost wished it had been. He could use some of that werewolf healing right about now.

He slowly tried to get on his feet, only to realise he couldn’t put pressure on his twisted ankle.
Fuck. Nothing to do but wait, then. He wondered how long it would take them. Maybe he should
just start crawling back. Or jump on one foot.

He looked down at the gashes on his stomach. They were painful and bleeding, but he wouldn’t
bleed out, at least. He could afford to wait and rest a while.

It took about fifteen minutes before he could hear leaves rustling, and a wolf entered the clearing,
quickly followed by two more.

“Took you long enough,” he said, sighing in relief. At least he wouldn’t have to crawl back to the
house alone.

“Torao!” Luffy exclaimed, changing back to rush towards him. “Are you alright?”

“I’m not, but I’ll live,” Law said. “My ankle is busted, so if one of you could let me lean on you-”

“I’ll do you one better,” Ace said, lifting Law up into his arms like he was weightless. He was
holding a bit too tightly, but Law wasn’t complaining.

"Are you three alright?" he asked.

“We're fine. We thought-” Sabo said, voice shaking slightly. “What happened? How did you
manage to kill him?”

“I remembered where we saw the wolfsbane plants two weeks back,” Law said. “If you see my
knife or my shirt, don’t touch them.”

“Torao is so strong,” Lufy said, voice full of pride, and Law scowled.

“Torao is so lucky,” he said. “I had no guarantees it would work, or work fast enough, not to
mention him not noticing it. In fact, it shouldn't have worked.”

“Well, thank fuck it did,” Ace said, and they started making their way though the forest, Luffy and
Sabo close behind. “When we realised he had gone after you- We thought you were dead.”

“It was a close call,” Law nodded.

“We should have been there,” Sabo said. “We shouldn’t have left.”

“This is not your fault,” Law said. “You shouldn’t have to babysit me.”

“But still-” Ace started.

“It’s not your fault!” Law repeated sternly.

They walked the rest of the way in silence.

***

Kureha’s clinic kept him overnight for observation, just in case the wolfsbane had gotten into any
of his open wounds. The official story they went with was that he had been attacked by a wolf, and
it was close enough to the truth. Kureha and Chopper knew what really happened, of course, but
they needed a story for the rest of the town.

Word spread quickly, as usual, and by morning Law’s phone was full of “get well soon”-messages
from friends and clients, even ones he didn’t get along with particularly well.

Despite Law’s insistence that he was fine, his werewolfs stayed with him the entire night, with
Kureha’s amused permission. Law could understand it, he supposed. If Teach hadn’t decided to
play around with him before killing him, Law would be dead.

Really, there were so many things that could have gone differently, so many split second decisions
that could have left to different outcomes. It was a fucking miracle Law had survived.

Again.

It was becoming a habit. If Law had been religious, he might have started to think someone was
watching over him.

He was a sorry sight the following day as he headed out of the clinic, with a crutch under one arm
and the other in a cast. Only stubborn pride kept him from accepting Ace’s offer to carry him
again, but he knew there would be townfolk around when they exited, and he didn’t want them to
see him as some damsel in distress.

He did accept Ace carrying him inside once they got back to the house, though. Still, something
looked odd. As they got closer, Law realised the door was different.

“Usupp and Franky came by and fixed it,” Luffy said.

And they had done a great job, if Law hadn’t known the door had been broken yesterday, he would
never have guessed it.

“I could cover the cost,” he suggested, and Sabo gave him an incredulous look.

“We’re not having you pay for getting attacked, Law,” he said.

“You guys have been feeding me and letting me stay for a month,” Law said. “Let me at least try
to repay a bit of it.”

“You just took care of our biggest problem,” Ace said, putting Law down on the couch. He
immediately sat down beside him. “You don’t owe us anything.”

“You guys took care of my biggest problem,” Law pointed out. “We’re even on that front.”

“Why are you guys talking about debt?” Luffy asked. He sat down on Law’s other side, nuzzling
his head into Law’s shoulder, gentler than usual. “We’re pack. We’re family. We don’t have
debts.”

Law let his head fall down on top of Luffy’s. “I don’t mean it like that. I don’t want to be a drain
on your finances.”

“You’re not. The way you eat is nothing compared to these two,” Sabo pointed out. “But, if you do
want to start contributing to the bills, you could always move in officially.”

“Smooth,” Law grinned. “We’ve been together, what, a day? That’s rushing things a bit, isn’t it?”

“You practically live here anyway,” Ace said. “And it’s just, better, when you’re around.”
 Law sighed. “Alright. I guess your recklessness is contagious. If you guys wanna go get the rest of
my stuff, I’m not complaining, but I’m keeping my apartment for now. Call it insurance.”

Luffy kissed him. “You won’t need it,” he said as they parted.

Ace gently turned his head around with a hand on his cheek. “We’re going to take such good care
of you,” he said, then kissed him as well.

Law let him, but he frowned as they parted. “I don’t need to be taken care of,” he pointed out.

“We know. We just want to,” Sabo said with a smile, leaning down over him to capture his libs in
turn. “Let us?”

Law sighed. “I guess I can’t complain about it too much right now at least,” he said, vaguely
gesturing towards his injuries. “I’m not going to be able to do all that much for you guys for a
while.”

“We can wait,” Ace grinned. “I’m glad you’re here.”

Law smiled. “Me too.”

He was home, he realised. With his pack.

End Notes

Thank you for reading! This was an incredibly self-indulgent project so glad you stuck with
it this far! : D

Please drop by the archive and comment to let the author know if you enjoyed their work!