Chapter Seven #4
“Oh, do I love my job? Absolutely. I got to groom a corgi named Peanut Butter Dracula today, and he knew fourteen tricks that he performed for snacks, and I think he is my spirit animal. I wish my job paid more, but I love it. And I’m kind of good at it. I hardly ever get bitten.”
He frowned. “But you do get bitten?”
“Rarely. I can read a dog pretty well. I know how to calm them down most of the time or give them a break at the right time if they need it. It’s just a sense I have.
I’ve had it since I was a kid. My mom jokes that I understand animals better than I do humans.
She’s probably right. I really get confused by humans.
” She hadn’t meant to let somberness into her tone when she’d said that, but she flashed back to what Jackson had done, and the familiar shame was back.
That would happen for a few days before she just got over it and forced herself to move forward.
“Anyway, if a dog feels off or like it’s showing signs of aggression, we use a muzzle with the owner’s permission to keep the staff safe, but when I’m working, I hardly ever have to do that.
My co-workers give me most of the difficult pups because they think I’m some kind of dog whisperer.
Most owners already know whether they have muzzle pups when they bring them in, so there aren’t too many surprises.
Every once in a while, I’ll have a wild day, but most of the time I get to just be happy and hang out with dogs, and get them all feeling good and clean, and nails trimmed up. ”
“You’re a happy-maker, aren’t you, Nory?” he asked.
She thought about it as she ate away at her Blizzard. “I think I could be. I have trouble connecting with people.”
“Connecting with dogs counts.”
She smiled. “Then yes. I like that. I am a happy-maker at work, with the dogs.”
“Why don’t you have one of your own?” he asked.
“I did,” she clipped out, trying not to think of Roxy. “And I was attached, she went everywhere with me, she was the light of my life, and then she got old, and she’s not here anymore, and I am scared of getting attached like that again.”
“Loyal,” he murmured.
“To a fault,” she agreed.
“Chh, maybe my Pack needs to hang around you. I need you to rub off on them. I guess if I have friends, they would be Vic, Tabian, Dodger, Nate, Bridger, and we have a new female named Delta. I don’t know her well, but she seems okay.”
“That’s a lot of friends. I have one. Her name is Alese, and you saw her the other day at Shipwrecks. And my family are my friends. I’m close to my mom and grandma. We do puzzles together when I visit them. It’s our thing.”
“I haven’t done a puzzle since I was a pup.”
“Pup,” she repeated. “So, you were born a werewolf?”
“Yep. Both parents are werewolves. I have no Turns in my Pack either. We are all born werewolves. It makes things a little easier, I guess. Turns can be a mess. It’s hard to Turn one, and if they live, they usually turn out crazy. My old Alpha was a Turn. He went to pieces at the end.”
“He’s dead?”
“Nope. Just kicked out of the Pack. He wrecked us for a long time, and we have to figure some stuff out now.”
“Like what?”
“Like if we can even keep being a Pack. Most of them talk about going Rogue until they find a better Pack to take them in. Hell, sometimes I even think about it. We’re a mess right now.”
“That sounds like a lot,” she said softly as he took a right on a narrow road toward the mountains.
Coeur d’Alene, Idaho was beautiful, but sometimes she forgot that in the day-to-day.
Driving out past the lake always stole her breath away and demanded reverence.
The highway was elevated, and she could see right down into the water, and all around the enormous lake were hills smattered with fragrant, vibrant green pine trees.
Even in the cold season, as it was, this place held a secret beauty that reminded her of how lucky she was.
Eventually, Liam pulled off onto a road called Cold Creek.
There was a no trespassing sign near the entrance that was enormous and could be seen from the highway easily.
They made it past an open gate, and just inside that was another sign.
It was the symbol for werewolves. Just an outline of a big wolf.
“Are all of the territories like this?” she asked, scanning the trails through the trees, and the roads that snaked off the main and led to homes deep in the trees.
“They’ll be similar, but none are exactly the same. The government gives us a certain number of acres, and limit on the number of wolves in one territory, a water source, and then we pay a shit-ton in taxes to exist where they want us to exist.”
She squeezed his hand. “Is this all just for your Pack?”
He shook his head. “Our Pack is small. We’ve lost a lot of members over the years.
Ran off or got killed fighting each other.
It leaves extra room for Rogues to set up homes here, or stay here temporarily, so it’s kind of a shitshow in here when Changes happen sometimes.
Never know who you are going to run into. ”
He took a few different turns, and she paid attention to the signs and tried to remember the names of the streets so she could visit him again someday.
Maybe. Movement in the trees dragged her attention, and an enormous gray wolf was loping in a parallel with Liam’s truck, disappearing and reappearing between the towering trees.
“Liam,” she whispered.
“That’s Vic,” he said. “He’s one of ours. He’s just curious.”
She couldn’t drag her eyes from the animal.
He was huge! Much bigger than any dog she’d ever seen, and she’d seen some huge dogs in her line of work.
Vic was twice the size of a German Shephard, and thick with muscle on his front end.
His paws were enormous. He weaved through the trees, picking up to a trot, approaching.
“He’s getting closer,” she whispered.
“You’re safe,” he assured her as he pulled to a stop in front of an enormous pile of burned rubble. “Come on.” He threw the truck into park and turned off the engine, then got out.
“You want me to get out of the truck?” she yelped. “With a werewolf right there?” She turned to point to Vic, but the wolf had disappeared like magic.
“He’s already gone. Trust me, no one will mess with you while you’re with me.”
“Ha. Handcuffs myself to you,” she joked, but he’d already shut his door. “Right. Be brave.” Nory pushed the door open and slid out of his tall truck, scanning the woods around them. Everything was so quiet here. She could hear the wind rustling the tree branches, and that was it.
The depth of the silence was eerie.
She froze for a three-count and then forced her legs to move her forward. More specifically, she pushed her body closer to Liam’s. He’d made his way to the edge of the charred rubble and was just standing there with his back to her.
There was tension in his shoulders, and she came to stand beside him. It smelled heavily of smoke.
“Is this where you do bonfires?” she asked. “Human sacrifices?” she joked.
“You wanted to know me,” he said in a gruff voice. “Well, this is my memory box.”
She didn’t understand, but when she looked back at the mess, she could see it. A home had stood here once. The outer shape was loosely rectangular. Beyond the debris was an old barn that had been demolished. The nose of an old, smashed car stuck out of the destroyed door.
Nory’s throat clogged with emotion. “This is your home?”
“It was.” He inhaled deeply. “I’ve gone through everything, dug around, but almost all of my belongings are burned past recognition.
“What happened to it?”
“Police said it’s just an accidental fire, but it wasn’t an accident. I think my last Alpha set it on fire. There are so many start up points, and some kind of fire starter was dumped everywhere. I can smell it still.”
“How could the police not see that?”
“They don’t care. I don’t either. They were only called for insurance stuff.
I needed a case number. Look,” he said turning toward her, “I can sense the worry coming off you, but you don’t have to let this get to you.
I have it handled. We have insurance geared toward what I am.
It’s good, and I’m in the process of all the paperwork and figuring out what contractor to hire to rebuild it. ”
“This is why you were at the apartments.”
Liam crossed his arms over his chest. “It wasn’t my first choice.
None of the others were taking me, and it had a month-to-month lease option.
I’ll move back in here as soon as there is a frame, roof, and walls.
I don’t mind living in a construction zone.
It’s how I grew up. I just needed a little place to sleep, and get away from all the shit here, you know? ”
There was a heaviness in his voice that tugged at her heart.
She had problems with Jackson, sure, but this man’s home had burned to the ground, along with all of his belongings, and it was a new thing.
There hadn’t even been time to catch his breath, and here he was, bringing her here to give her sanctuary from the stalking stuff that was happening in her human world.
He had nothing to give, but he was giving her what he could, and that was another brick in the foundation of a damn good man.
Her care for him grew in this moment. Her desire for him, her trust in him, her respect for him grew too. He was letting her in.
Nory stepped closer and slid her arms around his waist and rested her cheek against his ribs and just stood like that until he slowly slid his arm around her and hugged her in closer.
She didn’t know how long they stood like that, staring out over the rubble of his life, but the tension left his body slowly.
He turned his head suddenly, and froze, then told her, “We need to go.”
“Why?” she asked.
“Nate is coming, and by the speed he’s going, he’s probably pissed. I don’t want to do it today.”