Chapter 3
Dorian
“You growl at me one more time and we’re going to have words.” All it took for quiet to descend on the entire kennel was for my new Alpha friend to glare at a small terrier who seemed to think he was a wolf too.
It was impressive.
The angry yappy dog whimpered and immediately stopped trying to attack us and shifted to the back of the kennel. Based on what looked like a pouting glare, he wasn’t happy about not being the most badass Alpha in the room, but I wasn’t sure he understood what that word meant.
Braun looked like he would’ve been happy to explain it, but the whole situation was kind of strange and didn’t appear like normal human interaction at all. But thankfully, Mandy had gone into the back for our actual wolf’s paperwork and didn’t see the amazing werewolf at work.
“That’s incredibly handy.” He seemed to have a lot going on, so I didn’t ask if he wanted to volunteer, but I was going to keep him in mind for big events where he might be useful. “Is it an Alpha thing?”
When he raised one eyebrow, I glanced around the room. “Just video, no sound.”
“Ah.” Nodding thoughtfully, he didn’t glare at me the same way he had Zeus…the young terrier with a lot of attitude and a bad habit of wanting to hump everything in sight…so Zeus. “That’s good to know.”
So was he going to answer?
“Let’s go get my pup.” Looking slightly resigned, he shook his head. “Teenagers.”
Oh yes.
“They get themselves into remarkable situations.” I didn’t know how any of us survived to adulthood, honestly. “I had one last week explain that he was going to be absent for a few days because he had to go help someone with a missing alligator? I’m hoping he comes back with all his limbs.”
Braun chuckled, shaking his head. “They found the gator but now they have to go figure out what tried to eat him.”
Oh.
Well, clearly not all of my students were human, so it seemed like I had that right.
“Please let me know if any of my students might have unexpected allergies or special needs.” Was that the right way to put it? “I don’t want to put them in danger because I thought they were human.”
As I rolled that problem around in my head, I followed Braun deeper into the building, wondering how he could find the boy so easily.
Pup.
Hmm…he didn’t seem like he’d want to be called a pup.
Werewolf.
Yes, the young werewolf.
“Can I ask how you know where he is?” The building was big enough he should’ve been a little bit confused.
He was not.
“Scent.” The simple answer made sense but it was still impressive. “Everyone has a different smell and it’s more pronounced between species.”
Fascinating.
Wait.
Was I allowed to ask what I smelled like?
“Oh, do you think the scent thing plays into why some of my students asked me not to wear cologne or scented deodorant?” That would definitely explain quite a few things actually. “I’ve had students with allergies before, so I just chalked it up to that.”
Humans came with the strangest allergies, so nonhumans must have them too.
“I think you need to start assuming half your students aren’t human.” Braun gave me an odd look as he stopped in front of my young friend’s kennel. “How long do you think it will take the woman to get his paperwork?”
“At least another minute or two, the office is a mess.” It was always chaos in there and he hadn’t been there long enough for his paperwork to be properly filed by a volunteer.
I was hoping between that and the large donation we’d talked about, it wouldn’t be difficult to rescue the werewolf in question.
“Alright.” Nodding to himself or possibly me, Braun crossed his arms over his chest and glared at our young friend.
Teenagers were going to teenage, so he just gave the Alpha a slightly goofy-looking grin and sat politely in the center of the space.
Did he think looking cute would prevent the Alpha from losing his mind?
There was no way this was culturally the way he was supposed to be presenting himself…even I knew it was a teenager being ridiculous.
“Care to explain why you didn’t call for your Alpha?” Braun’s question at least let me know that he wasn’t the pup’s Alpha…which was good, because he’d been very worried that he’d lost one of his people without realizing it.
I had a feeling he’d been hurt that one of his people hadn’t been comfortable calling him for help because he’d taken all those emotions out on the man who’d turned out to be his second in command.
Wait.
“Can he answer you or was that rhetorical?” I had a lot of questions but that one had both of them turning to give me strange looks. “It’s a reasonable question. Let’s just think about this from my perspective.”
They both seemed to keep forgetting I was a human math teacher.
Before Braun could respond, the young wolf whined and flopped down on the floor dramatically in a bid for attention. It was half real and half fairly well-done acting, but it had my new Alpha friend rolling his eyes. “Fine. We’ll get you out of here first.”
Glaring again, he was doing a wonderful job of not screaming at the troublemaker the same way he had his second in command. “Otherwise, you’ve got a vet visit first thing in the morning.”
The young werewolf showed his smarts by curling in on himself and wrapping his tail tight around his body.
“Yeah.” Whatever else Braun was going to say was cut off by a door slamming at the other end of the building.
Mandy.
All talk of paranormal shenanigans stopped, but Braun dropped his voice and raised his eyebrow as the young werewolf straightened again. “You have to look like you know me or she’s going to get suspicious.”
Well.
“Um, he has to look like he loves you. That’s what a dog that feels safe would do.” He wasn’t a dog, but Mandy didn’t know that. “He’s been growling at everyone nonstop, so it has to look like you’re his person.”
They needed to be around regular dogs more.
How did they not know that?
Braun rolled his eyes again but seemed to understand that I was right. A trait that I really liked about him. “Just play pup and look like you’re glad to see me.”
Considering the other alternative was the vet, he should be glad to see any Alpha that had shown up.
“I can’t believe you found the owner so quick.” Mandy was shaking her head as she finally made her way down the hallway. “That’s amazing.”
I shrugged, going back to the story I’d rehearsed on the way over. “After I left here, I remembered seeing a photo and went back to the business. It was just luck.”
She didn’t question the story as much as she should have, but she did lecture.
A lot.
Braun was patient as she lectured him about getting a chip for his dog Maximus and about keeping him safe and anything else she could think of.
The only thing that saved us from an even longer lecture was the time and that she’d have to do a lot more paperwork if she actually acknowledged they’d picked up a wolf.
Thankfully, she didn’t question the ownership because Max was having a grand time pretending to be a dog and looking happy to be back with his owner. I couldn’t decide if he found it funny or if anything was preferable to a vet visit, but either way, it was believable and we eventually made it out.
Thank goodness.
The pup we were still calling Max looked slightly odd in the new leash and collar Braun had to purchase to be able to take him home, but it was worth a bit of a dignity ding to get him out of the shelter.
Mandy really should’ve asked more questions instead of just being satisfied with the story that he was a young mixed breed dog with very large ancestors, but there was no doubt Max was thrilled to go with Braun.
“What happens now?” I thought it was a reasonable question, but they both gave me another odd look.
They were going to have to stop doing that eventually.
“If you think I’m going to drive off and just let you leave here with a strange child who doesn’t belong to you, then you’ve got a few screws loose.” A whole tool chest full of them. “If you think I’m going to leave without getting questions answered, more screws are loose.”
I really needed to know what my students were at the very least.
I might’ve accidentally been rude and that could ruin their entire experience with math.
When they just continued to stare at me, I sighed. “I’m a teacher. I’m a mandatory reporter. I don’t know who to report this to, but that doesn’t absolve me of the responsibility. Before I leave, I need to have clear communication with Maximus here that he’s safe with you.”
Just because Braun was in charge and sexy as hell didn’t mean he was a good person…I’d run into that one before because of a penchant for bad boys and authority figures.
“Are you questioning my honor as an Alpha?”
No, just his common sense.
“I would never do that.” Out loud at least. “But please remember I’m human and can only take your word that you’re an Alpha.”
Besides being the title to say he was in charge, there seemed to be other implied aspects that I just didn’t understand.
So…questions.
Glancing down to the pup who was basically laughing, I shrugged. “He might just be very large and bossy, but he makes good decisions under pressure and didn’t assume I was insane. So he’s got several points going in his favor.”
Besides his looks.
Man, he was huge.
“He can’t change here.” Braun rolled his eyes, no longer giving me his angry pout. “We can go down the road a bit, I guess.”
“No.” Even I knew that was ridiculous. “He doesn’t have clothes.”
There was no way he was going to poof and end up with clothes on.
“He’s a werewolf.” Braun seemed to think that answered the issue.
It did not.
“He’s a teenager. We do not ask teenagers to get naked around strangers. Absolutely not.” What part of that was difficult? “Your car is so clean I bet you don’t even have napkins, much less clothes or a blanket.”
It wasn’t really a question but he shook his head anyway.
“I have a blanket but that’s still not appropriate.” This was ridiculous…but I really needed to add clothes to my emergency kit. “I’ll follow you home and he can change into something there. If he’s comfortable with that?”
When he stopped snorting out laughter, the pup, as Braun called him, nodded in a very human-looking way.
“Wonderful.” That was a start in the right direction, so I focused back on Braun. “Then once he’s changed, he can explain the situation and I’ll be able to say it was handled appropriately.”
They were ridiculous.
“Stop sighing. I’m a mandatory reporter and he’s a teenager.”
This was not rocket science.
“Fine.” Braun shrugged. “I was going to keep you anyway, so this works too.”
Ignoring that since it had to be some kind of cultural translation issue, I looked down at our new friend who was doing that silly laugh again. “Are you okay with that plan?”
It couldn’t hurt to double-check. If he wasn’t comfortable, we’d figure something else out, but luckily for us, he stepped toward the car. His meaning was clear, but the way it tugged on the leash had him shaking and frowning like he was wearing a shirt that didn’t fit.
“Just a few more minutes and then you can take it off.” We didn’t need to do anything to stand out more than we already did. “I think getting out of here is the best idea.”
We were spending entirely too much time talking to a dog who responded back.
“Agreed.” Our take-charge Alpha opened the door and let Max inside the car. “Don’t shed.”
That was not a reasonable order, so it was my turn to roll my eyes. “Don’t be ridiculous. It’ll vacuum out.”
His huff said he didn’t believe me.
“Which direction are we going?” Following him around to the other side of the car where I was parked, I didn’t bother waiting patiently for him to volunteer information. “I’m not sure where you live.”
I wasn’t sure about a lot of things but that was a good start.
“It would’ve been easier if you’d just come with me in the first place.” Braun seemed like he was going to hold a grudge on that unreasonable order for a long time.
“I couldn’t leave my car at the gas station.” And I wasn’t going to get in the car with a strange man just because he was attractive and talked about being an Alpha werewolf. “You’d have just needed to drive me back there later. This way is more convenient.”
He really needed to stop giving me that look…I was right and he knew it.
“Fine.” He wasn’t graceful about it but he gave up and nodded away from town. “We have a small…neighborhood on the other side of the state park. We have to drive around it, though, so it’ll feel farther than it actually is.”
“Understood.” But. “You didn’t want to say neighborhood. Do you usually call it a compound? That seems like the right word even though it’s got negative connotations to it. I don’t think you’re some kind of cult or paramilitary organization…unless you are? Either one, really.”
I’d been thinking of them as a unique culture, but I needed to go back and read what the definition of a cult was.
“We’re not a cult or some kind of hired guns.” Braun was back to looking like he wanted to pout. “We’re park rangers.”
Ah.
“That seems like it would be a very good job for you.” And the pout was gone. I really needed to be more careful of his feelings. “I can’t wait to hear more about it.”
Yes, I was going to be nice to the pouting mountain of a werewolf and he was going to tell me all about the people in my neighborhood.
It was going to be a very practical tradeoff.
Just practical.
Nothing else.