Pawliday Love

Chapter 7

CHAPTER SEVEN

CHLOE

O ver the next few weeks, it feels like it takes everything out of me to unpack and keep Nova away from Scout. I don’t know why she has made it her mission to terrorize him, but she has and does it well.

The poor dog mostly stays on his bed or at my side while staring at her as she walks by. Anytime I have left them alone, I come to find him with scratch marks and Nova laying somewhere, licking her paws as if she enjoys the taste of his blood.

It’s rather odd and I’m surprised he hasn’t attacked her back. Sadly, it’s probably only a matter of time and if things don’t get better, I’ll have to make a decision.

I reach down and pat Scout on the top of his head. He’s standing next to me while I’ve washed dishes. It seems to be his favorite spot.

As I turn to glance over my shoulder, I find Nova sitting in the doorway, staring back at him.

“Nova, give him a break. You are being a little tyrant.”

She lets out a long meow, but doesn’t move from her perch.

“Nova,” I say again, this time more sternly, which catches her attention.

A sudden knock at the door interrupts our staring contest and I move away from the sink to head to the front door, on the opposite side of the house. When I open the door, one of the movers stands there looking at me with a strange expression that he quickly replaced with a fake smile.

“Hi, I’m Chris and I was wondering if I could see your dog.”

My brows furrow as I stare at him with uncertainty. “Why would you need to see my dog? Was he yours and ran away or something?”

He only chuckles low under his breath as he reaches up to rub the back of his neck sheepishly. “Not exactly, but I need to see him.”

“Okay, then. Scout,” I call out as I turn to look toward the kitchen.

Scout comes running with his tail wagging, which makes me want to ask the question if he knows him. Of course, he can’t answer, but the simple wagging of his tail tells me enough.

Scout walks onto the porch and Chris looks back at me with a grin. “This will only take a moment, if you don’t mind.”

I continue to stare at him blankly for a few seconds before I realize he wants some privacy. Instead of fighting it, I slowly shut the door between us and stand there for a moment, uncertain of what in the world is going on.

Nova comes to sit by my feet. She lets out a loud meow and I don’t know how to respond.

“Who needs to see someone’s dog? Are people really this weird?”

She only looks at me with a straight look as if she thinks I can read her facial expressions. If I could, I’d say she is more annoyed than anything else.

But I become distracted as I hear Chris speaking on the other side.

“You need to change back already. Work is going nuts without you and I need you. You can’t stay here forever like this.”

What did he just say? Suddenly, I hear bones popping and cracking, almost like a shifter sounds. I throw open the door, uncaring of what I might see.

There stands the man from before. The very one who helped move me and I couldn’t take my eyes off.

He is looking at Chris, but slowly shifts his gaze to me.

I shamelessly eye him from head to toe in disbelief. “You’re my dog.”

He huffs out a breath and looks down at his naked body. “I didn’t mean for you to find out like this.”

“Then when did you plan on telling me? Don’t you think I should know if there is a man living in my home?”

“Bastian, they’re calling me again,” Chris says as he points to his phone.

“Can I have like five minutes to talk to her?” He asks, looking between the two of us.

I really am not in the mood for this and step out onto the porch with Nova circling my feet. “Listen, go take care of your work stuff. You tricked me and I don’t want to hear your excuses.”

Bastian reaches up, tearing off the collar around his throat, which has left a red ring. “Let me explain. I think you’re my fated -”

I don’t give him a chance to finish as I go inside and slam the door between us.

“What was I thinking? How did I not realize what he was? I’m a witch and missed all the signs.”

There is some thumping on the other side of the door on my porch and then there is nothing after I hear the car doors slam.

He’s gone.

He betrayed me.

But why do I feel so torn about it? This decision should be simple. I shouldn’t miss someone like him.”