Married to a WHAT?!

#59: Worried Wolf

Two weeks. Kakashi had enjoyed their new relationship for all of two weeks before the honeymoon period of their dating stage ended.

Kakashi wasn't even mad that he had to share his mate's attention with the pups of his clan. It was always a good thing for the alpha's mate to be liked by the family. However, the one thing that Kakashi was unhappy about was Iruka's adamant decision to look for a job.

"Do you really have to go?"

Iruka sighed. He and Kakashi had already gone through this conversation several times. Apparently, the trader had an overprotective nature that borderline suffocating. Iruka found it endearing initially but right now, it was getting a little stifling.

"Yes, my love. I need to go to work. I'll be back to cook dinner, lunch is already ready in the fridge. You just need to heat it up when you want to eat."

Kakashi pouted and pulled his best puppy dog eyes move and Iruka faltered. That look shouldn't be so effective on such a grown and handsome man. Yet, the teacher found his resolve shaking from the attack.

Unable to resist the attack, Iruka sighed and went towards the trader who was still in his sleepwear. The teacher gave his boyfriend a kiss on the head and told him to behave. Kiba called out for the last time and Iruka didn't spare a second glance as he made his escape. For the first day of his work, he didn't really want to be late but Kakashi was making it really difficult.

The job that Iruka found wasn't very difficult. In fact, it was something he had done before while he was still a university student. Kakashi was seriously overly worried in an unnecessary way. It wasn't as if they were parting for a long time, he would be back by dinner. What could really go wrong with working in a supermarket's packing department? He would only be carrying carton boxes and restocking shelves.

Of course, that was the job that he was going to today. Iruka still managed to secure two more part-time jobs to go to on different days. He had a reading job at the local library who wanted a story-teller for their afternoon reading sessions twice a week that Iruka got accepted for. The teacher also was introduced to an assistant florist position through one of the family's connections. As it turns out, Kiba's younger sister had to take a two-week study break and needed someone to help fill in for her absence. Not one to turn down an opportunity, Iruka agreed to help out.

Kakashi ran to the second floor of the mansion to watch Kiba's car drive off into the distance with Iruka in it. His inner wolf howled in loneliness now that his mate was gone. He missed the company of the brunet and wished that work didn't exist.

The werewolf couldn't help but sulk a little but still chastised his inner wolf for acting like a child. The teacher was clearly not a child and had handled worse things in life. Kakashi was needlessly concerned and meddlesome but he really couldn't help it. The anxiety of his wolf was also his anxiety. Iruka wasn't mated even if they were dating. While his human mind understood that in a relationship, he should have more trust in his partner and give them some space to be themselves. However, his animal side couldn't understand it. The instincts to always want to be around their partner especially one so unmated and unmarked with no scent of who he belonged to made the wolf worry a lot. Without marking and scenting, Iruka could be in danger of getting mauled away by some other alphas.

Kakashi smacked himself. In this day and age where humans ruled the majority of the world, where would he find another alpha supernatural so quickly? He was being stupid right now. Deciding that he had enough of his pathetic wolf, Kakashi ignored its whining and focused on earning enough money to feed his huge pack and then maybe more to buy a lovely building slightly away from the city in a friendly neighbourhood. Kakashi wasn't very particularly concerned about his wealth. Money was just something that came with time and was only required to pay for expenses. Kakashi earned enough of it from trading. As a werewolf, he has lived several hundreds of years now and finding full-time employment was simply out of the question. He made his money from trading or writing or some other unconventional means, unlike his pack who were mostly half-breeds who couldn't even transform fully on a full moon's night.

Kakashi was probably the last silver wolf demon and full-blood werewolf in Japan. The rest of his kind had been killed during the Edo era. Those in his pack are watered-down descendants of the wolf clan. Most of them cannot transform and are very weak in spiritual powers but they weren't normal humans either. Many of them possessed keener senses and sharper intuition. Those like Kiba who could transform a little and had slightly more spiritual abilities to use basic magic were physically more robust too. Kakashi still didn't think that these pups were anything like the werewolves of the old days. Kiba could only transform eyes, nails and canine, nothing more.

The werewolf didn't need long to place his trades for the day before he slammed the laptop shut. He would have enough money by the end of the month to purchase a lovely corner house in a kind neighbourhood and set up his love nest there with Iruka. Kakashi didn't know why Iruka wanted to take on so many jobs but that couldn't be good for the teacher whose body was still recovering. What Iruka needed was rest. Despite living with the pack, Kakashi had hardly ever seen Iruka resting. He was often doing something if not job-hunting and cleaning,l the dolphin could be seen cooking and tutoring some of the younger pups.

Deciding that it wasn't a good idea to leave his mate vulnerable even if it was during work, Kakashi checked the GPS coordinates on his phone for where Kiba dropped Iruka off at. Thankfully, Iruka was working at a supermarket in a small town not too far from the mansion and away from the city. Kakashi could easily hop on a bike and cycle there in no time. He would also be able to come back before Kiba picks Iruka up by car and return home before Iruka finds out about his secret stalking operation.

Kakashi's inner wolf agreed with the idea and the trader quickly packed the bento that Iruka prepared specially for him.