So sorry it's been forever since I've posted a chapter, I have to be honest, I got sucked up into Supernatural reader-inserts and have had a little too much fun writing them :) I'm on tumblr with the same username, if that's anyone's poison of choice! So, I decided to leave in the chapter 27, with Victor and Beth, but I'll try really hard to avoid too much of their story in this main one. Like here at the end of this chapter, I had another part with just the two of them written, but I changed my mind and I'll make that chapter 2 of The Importance Of Being Feral. Thanks to everyone who wrote encouragement to not forget this piece, you guys are all wonderful, wonderful people. Love, DotBC

It was more than the promised two hours later when Marie finally managed to pry herself free of Logan's arms and demand food. A workout followed by a workout meant her body required fuel. Since he didn't object too much when she reminded him of the rule – you fuck someone all night, or morning , as it were, you were obliged to feed them the following morning – she assumed he was hungry too.

Leaving him in the shower, Marie slipped into her own room to grab a quick change of clothes then jogged down the stairs and into the kitchen. Seeing as it was going on ten in the morning on a Saturday, the kitchen was bustling with late rising teens getting cereal and donuts for breakfast and early rising teens grabbing an early lunch.

Deciding that she didn't want to spend breakfast fending off impertinent questions or keeping Logan from scaring the crap out of anyone, she snagged two plates from the cabinet and filled them with slices of cold ham, bacon, left-over pancakes. She topped Logan's plate off with one of the bear claws from his fridge and grabbed a peach from the bowel on the counter for herself. Trusting his nose to lead him to her, she hip-bumped the outside door open, balancing the filled plates on two mugs of coffee.

The morning was crisp and breezy, making her re-think the idea of sitting by the lake. Instead, she slipped around the side of the house, heading for the little patio by the greenhouses, tucked away and out of the wind. There was a small table with several chairs around it there that would be perfect for them. By the time Logan had found her, indeed following her scent, she'd unloaded the plates from the cups and gotten the forks and knives out of the pocket she'd squirreled them in.

At the sight of Beth trailing half a step behind Logan, Marie internally winced. Damn, in just that short of time, she'd forgotten they were going to do breakfast together, and now she felt like an ass.

"Beth, I'm sorry, I forgot – " Marie broke off when the feral pulled an apple and a napkin-wrapped bundle from her pockets.

"It's fine, Logan said you'd gone outside, so I figured I'd just grab some food and come too, if that's still ok?" She glanced between Marie and Logan. Logan didn't look particularly welcoming, but neither did he look like he was going to bark at her, and Marie was smiling, so Beth figured it was indeed alright. Cheerfully she plopped down in one of the chairs, pretending not to notice when Logan shoved his chair closer to Marie's and crowded in when she sat.

"I suppose I should probably talk to this Professor I heard mentioned last night?"

Marie looked up from where she was fighting over a piece of bacon that Logan was attempting to snitch off her place. "He's in Washington but I think he's – damn it, give me that back! – but he should be back this evening." Facing Beth as she spoke, Marie whacked Logan's arm with the back of her hand while he crunched the pilfered bacon. "I know it sounds intimidating, but he's really a nice guy, and annoyingly fair. I can't imagine him not letting you stay here."

"He'll let her stay." Creed's voice broke into the conversation. He'd approached quietly and Marie jumped a little in her seat, startled at his sudden appearance, but Beth and Logan just kept eating.

Damn ferals.

Beth glanced up, a light smile on her face. "You sound very sure of that."

"It's his way. He's usually the good guy in this war, so he'd probably let you stay for that, but you been locked in a lab, got out somehow. He's going to want to know about that."

The blandly pleasant expression on Beth's face cracked at the mention of the lab, but it was only for a heartbeat before she said, "Well, I don't remember much, don't know what help I can be." Her tone clearly said Drop it.

"He's a telepath," Marie said gently. "He's got a way of getting into your head, helping you remember memories, even if they're old or suppressed or, ah, tangled up." She didn't say it but she was thinking of how she'd spend hours with the Professor to help straighten out the many people's memories all crowding her mind, before she'd learned to box them up tightly.

Logan's hand covered the back of her neck and gave a light squeeze, rough thumb stroking goosebumps to life under her ear. "I don't have much of my memories, but what I have, I can thank Chuck for a lot of it."

Beth looked like she wanted to know more about why Logan didn't have his memories, but she thought better of it for the moment. Turning to Victor, she gave him an inquisitive look.

"No, he hasn't been in my memories. I didn't forget most of my life like the runt, here."

"It's been a long-ass time, of course I'd forget things, even without a bullet in my brain," Logan growled, eyes glimmering golden at the insult. Ferals, killers, soldiers, it didn't matter, they were brothers and sibling rivalry ran deep.

Creed's nostrils flared at the annoyance coming from his brother and a nasty smile curved his lips, but before he could speak, Beth asked, "So, how old are you, anyway?" Both brothers glanced at her in surprise; Marie didn't quite hold back a laugh at the identical, flummoxed looks on their faces. Logan whipped he head to glare at her while Creed glowered at Beth.

"Why?" he grunted.

"I just like to know, honestly. I'm ninety-seven."

"We're more than that, kit," he smirked.

Unfazed by the nickname, Beth glanced over at Logan, who had decided he didn't have a part of this conversation and was whispering in Marie's ear. Marie in turn was flushed and growing redder by the second. But when she noticed that Beth's eyes were on them, she shoved Logan back with a sheepish little smile.

"They're at least 170. Neither of them can remember their birth year, but from a few events they do remember, and we can research, we know they were children in 1845." Marie didn't mention that the main piece of information they used was the night Thomas Logan and John Howlett were murdered in 1845. That wasn't her story to tell.

Eyebrows raised, Beth eyed both men. "Well, jeez, I thought I looked good for my age!"

Marie chuckled while Logan and Creed just looked on impassively. Suddenly shaking his head, Logan pushed his chair back and hauled his mate up by her arm, slinging his arm around her waist to stabilize her when she stumbled. "This has been fun. Bye." Ignoring Marie's protests at the abrupt departure and Creed's amused smirk that he could almost hear, Logan dragged his girl away, neatly avoiding all her attempts to trip him up and make him stop. They quickly disappeared behind the greenhouses, distance fading Marie's voice to nothing but a buzz, cut off by a sudden loud shriek of laughter, quickly muffled.