7. Chapter 7
Bec
“He’s so adorable!” Em said, tossing a toy so Hugo could chase it down. Instead of bringing it back to her right away, he squeaked it a few times, did a little dance, then rushed to where she was sitting on the floor in front of the couch.
“Did you see that? I bet we could train him to do the dance on cue,” she said, giving him scratches so good that he flopped over to show his belly.
“We won’t have him long enough,” I reminded her. That made me check my phone again, still nothing from Gale. I shouldn’t be impatient; it had only been a few hours.
On top of that, there was nothing from Danzig or Marduk. Guilt was eating at me for dodging them, even though I hadn’t given them permission to follow me.
I kept asking myself if I’d acted stupidly or not by going up to that front door. I couldn’t decide.
“I don’t believe you,” Em said, making me drop my phone back in my lap and look over at her. I was sitting on the floor also, but I was closer to the front door, so Hugo had plenty of room to run and play between the two of us.
“What does that mean?” I asked.
“You bought him food and water bowls,” she said, pointing to the adorable little stand with his bowls sitting on a bone shaped mat.
“He needed those,” I defended.
“A couple of regular human bowls would’ve been fine,” she said.
“I guess, but they were on sale.”
“What about all the toys?” Em asked, gesturing to the dozen toys scattered between us.
“They were also on sale,” I said.
“Suuuuurrre they were,” Em said. “What about the shirt?”
“He was wearing a cute Hawaiian shirt when I rescued him,” I said. As I spoke, he rushed back to her and tossed the ball in her lap. His look of pure anticipation as he tippy-tapped in front of her was yet another adorable thing about him.
He was close enough so that she could tug at the collar of his bright blue sweatshirt that said Toss The Ball on the back. “This is not a Hawaiian shirt.”
“Excellent deduction,” I intoned dryly. “The other shirt was, uh, dirty, so I got him the sweatshirt to replace it.”
I hadn’t told Em about the bodies, even though she knew about the magic world.
After Mila mated to a vampire and a wolf shifter, it would've been hard to keep it from Em. Despite that, I didn’t want to expose her to what I’d seen.
It was too much, which was why I’d tossed Hugo’s old shirt and gotten him several replacements.
Okay, maybe I’d bought too much, but I’d been so careful with my money since moving here that it was fun to have an excuse to splurge.
When Em wasn't fast enough at throwing the toy, an impatient Hugo grabbed the squeaky toy and galloped to me. He dropped it on my lap, on top of my phone, looking very proud of himself.
“Thank you, Hugo!” I exclaimed, picking up the toy. I squeaked it a few times, then tossed it a short distance away. He watched it sail past him but didn’t chase after it. He was panting pretty heavily so maybe he was done with exercise for the moment.
My guess was proven right when he climbed into my lap. I pulled my phone out of his way as he flopped down on my thighs.
“You have the cutest snort-pant ever,” I said. I looked up at Em. “Is that normal?”
Em and her siblings had grown up with all kinds of animals, which happened when your parents were both veterinarians. I’d never had a pet before, not even a goldfish. My parents hadn’t believed in keeping animals in captivity.
“Breathing like that is normal for dogs with stubby noses,” she said with a little shrug. “He’ll probably fart and sneeze a lot.”
As if he understood her, Hugo sneezed three times in a row, spraying doggy spit all over my leg. Aww, even his sneezes were adorable!
“I don’t think I’ll have to worry about the sneezing or farts for long,” I said. “He’ll probably go home tomorrow.”
“Can’t you tell Gale you couldn’t find him?” Em said. “I miss having a dog. We could start with Hugo, then get him a friend.”
I lifted an eyebrow. “Friend?”
Em nodded “Dogs need friends. I bet Hugo would love a small or medium-sized dog. Oh, we could get a beagle!”
I shook my head. “Hugo. Isn’t. Our. Dog.”
“We’ll see,” Em said, as if she wasn’t talking about stealing someone’s beloved pet.
“I was hired because this dog was already abducted once,” I pointed out.
She waved a hand dismissively. “Details.”
When I laughed, she joined in. Her phone chimed several times in a row. When she looked down, her expression went from surprised to Hugo levels of excitement.
“Hot date?” I asked.
She shook her head. “No, even better. Someone dropped out of that acting retreat I was waitlisted for. I’m in!”
“That’s great! Is this the one up north?”
She nodded her head, then jumped up. “I’ve got to pack! It starts tomorrow. I need to drive up there tonight.”
“I’ll help,” I said, giving Hugo a little pat before putting him on his feet.
He stayed with us during the whirlwind packing. I thought I’d have to be careful he didn’t get loose, but when he slipped through a partially open door, all he did was run to me and stay on my heels.
Oh god, it was going to be so hard to give him up.
When we were all done, I picked him up and held him against me with one arm while waving goodbye to Em with the other. After her car disappeared, I looked down at Hugo.
“I guess it's just you and me, big guy.”
His answer was to sneeze in my face. Laughing, I wiped my face off with my sleeve and headed back inside.
With Em gone, the condo felt empty.
I looked down at the dining table covered in my study materials. I should sit down and do some work, but I knew that wasn’t going to be enough to distract me from what I’d seen.
Hugo wiggled in my arms, reminding me that I wasn’t alone and there were more items to pull out of my car. I hadn't brought everything in after I realized how much I'd bought. I’d been a little embarrassed.
With Em gone, there was no reason not to finish.
“Let’s go get all your goodies,” I said, setting him down and grabbing my keys.
By the time I was done, Hugo had two beds, two sets of stairs to make it easy for him to get on the couch and my bed, and an entire bag of doggie toiletries.
Setting the bag down in the bathroom, I looked down at him. “Em's going to be gone for a week. If Gale doesn’t get back to me by the time Em gets back, you’re mine.”
He barked and turned in a tight circle.
“I’m glad we agree!”
I heard angry voices outside, a surprising occurrence in this quiet neighborhood. Curious and nosy, I made my way back to the living room, planning to find out if I could see the drama from the front window.
The voices got louder as I left the bathroom and the next thing I knew, the front door burst open and Marduk stomped in with a frustrated Danzig right behind him.
The moment the men saw me, they both stopped. Marduk looked relieved, but anxiety was radiating off Danzig.
“You’re safe!” Marduk breathed out and moved closer.
I held a hand out, stopping him in his tracks.
“No! No way! What do you think you’re doing?” I looked past him at my broken front door.
He followed my gaze and then seemed surprised to see the broken door, as if he hadn't caused it.
Danzig jumped in front of him. “I'm sorry, Bec. Let me explain.”
I was so angry that I knew I'd regret anything I said at that moment. I had learned that the best thing was to remove myself from the situation until I was able to think straight.
“I’m going to take Hugo for a walk,” I said, proud of how calm my voice was. “If either of you follow me, I'll never acknowledge your existence again. I suggest you don't test me on this.”
Tucking my phone in my back pocket, I grabbed my purse, and finally Hugo’s leash. He stood at my side and let me attach the leash before we both stepped through the broken doorway. I was impressed when he managed to give the guys a disappointed sniff and then looked away. Good dog!
Without a backward glance, Hugo and I walked in the direction of the nearby gelato and coffee shop. I needed chocolate and sugar right now!
Marduk
I turned to face Danzig. “What just happened?”
“You fucked up!” he exploded, shoving me in the shoulder. “I told you not to overreact, didn’t I?”
I shoved him back. “How did you think I was going to act when you told me that our mate was near that kind of magic?”
“Not by breaking her door!” he roared. In one fast move, he grabbed me and tossed me out the open door. I landed hard in the small grassy area beyond her front walkway.
I jumped to my feet as Danzig stormed out through the door after me.
“What do you think you’re doing, Asshole?”
He didn’t respond, at least not verbally. Putting his shoulder down, he tackled me. We went down to the ground with him on top of me. I was quick to wrap my arms around his neck and get him in a headlock.
Reaching back, he poked me in the eye, making me loosen my hold. Scrambling around, while still sitting on top of me, he tried to get hold of my arm to put me in a joint lock.
I evaded his hands and got a hold of his jacket and tossed him over my head, sending him face-first into the ground. I thought he must’ve hit a rock because I felt an intense flash of physical pain coming from him.
That was enough to break me out of my rage. I got on my knees and faced him. “Danzig?”
He was sitting, leaning forward, with a palm pressed to his forehead, blood trickling out from under his hand.
When I looked down, I saw a sharp piece of concrete almost entirely hidden by the grass. Something made of concrete must've broken apart and been removed from the spot, leaving that piece behind. We'd been unlucky enough that when I tossed him, he'd face-planted in the corner.
“Let me see,” I said gruffly, grabbing his wrist to pull his hand away. The moment his hand wasn’t applying pressure, blood poured out.
Not only was the skin cut, but his skull was broken, making a nice bloody mess.
In our snake forms, we were nearly indestructible.
When we wore our human shapes, we were tough but could still be hurt.
It had all happened so fast that he hadn't had time to do even a partial shift.
On a human, this injury would be fatal. For him, it was going to be painful but not life-threatening.
I winced. “That’s going to take a while to heal.”
He pulled his hand free and put it back on the wound to stem the flow of blood.
“You think?” he snarled.
“I’m sorry,” I said, guilt making it hard to breathe. We’d scuffled a few times in the past, but I’d never hurt Danzig like this before.
He let out a long sigh. “You didn’t mean to.”
I felt some of his pain through our bond. I knew he was trying to shield me from the worst of it.
“That doesn’t matter. I still hurt you,” I said, realizing I was acting like an idiot.
It was hard to admit, but I needed to be more levelheaded like Danzig.
“I’m going to listen to you from now on.
You were right about the app. You were right about giving her space.
I can see why you hesitated to tell me. I acted like a complete moron. ”
That was the right thing to say. I felt immense relief coming from Danzig. He smiled at me, although it was a bit of a gruesome sight with all the blood on his face.
“That’s all I ask,” he said.
Standing up, I helped him to his feet. “Let’s do some proper wound care.”
“Do you think a scar would make me look more appealing to Bec?” he asked, stumbling a little as I helped him back into her place. “Or am I a monster?”
I snorted at his dramatics. We got to the kitchen, and I leaned him over the sink. I grabbed a kitchen towel and then handed it to him. “Here, press it with this until the bleeding stops.”
He took the cloth and dribbled blood all over the floor and counter as he switched his hand for the towel.
“I’ve got a heal-all charm in the right pannier of my bike,” he said.
I hated how pale he looked. It indicated that he was in a lot of pain. I wanted him to stop blocking so I could feel what he was going through but didn't want to waste time on the argument.
He wavered on his feet, and I grabbed him again and eased him to the floor.
“I'm going to get the heal-all charm,” I said. “I’ll be right back.”
“I’ll wait here,” he said. “It’s a very nice piece of floor.”
I tried to laugh at his poor joke but couldn’t manage it.
I rushed out to his bike and wrenched up the right box.
There was a jumble of stuff inside, and I was forced to root around until I found a familiar cloth bag pulled tight at the top with string.
Slamming the container shut, I jogged back into the condo.
Dropping to my knees in front of Danzig, I pulled the bag open and dumped the charm into the open hand he extended to me. He squeezed it and mumbled the activation word. I saw his aura spike with healing magic.
It only took a few minutes before his tight expression eased. “Oh, yeah, that’s better.”
Relieved, I moved my legs out from under me and leaned on the cabinet behind me. With Danzig doing better, I let my thoughts move to dealing with the door. Neither of us had the skill to fix it. We were going to need some assistance.
“Call Mikey,” Danzig said.
“Huh?”
His eyes were closed with his head leaning back against the edge of the countertop. “The door needs to be fixed. We can’t do it, but I’m sure someone in Mikey’s pack either knows how to do it or can give us the number of a reliable repair guy.”
“Good idea.” I pulled out my phone and found the contact number for the alpha of the Lobo Gris Pack. After a short conversation Mikey said he knew the perfect person and to expect a call.
“If you had told me we’d be members of a wolf shifter pack a few years ago, I’d have laughed at you,” I murmured after he’d hung up.
“The Lobo Gris Pack isn’t like any other,” Danzig said.
He was right. We’d known packs that allowed non-wolf members, but those were usually human mates of members. I’ve never known a pack where almost half their numbers weren’t shifters.
“I feel like a better name would be The Orphan Pack,” Danzig commented.
“Maybe,” I said.
Without opening his eyes, he snapped his fingers. “I’ve got it, the Puppy Pack. They’re too sweet to say no to anyone.”
An unknown number called my phone. When I answered it was a pack member demanding measurements of the door and pictures so he could pick something up on the way over. I couldn’t believe how fast that was. This guy was going to get a huge tip, and I’d have to find some way to thank Mikey.
“I told you,” Danzig said with laughter in his voice after I finished the call. “Puppy Pack.”