Clay's Hope (11 page)

She nudged the container in my direction as
soon as she finished, and I just about inhaled the meat. I was
starving. Rachel hadn’t given me her leftovers last night, and I
wasn’t about to eat the dog food.

“I hope you’re a slower eater when you’re in
your skin,” Gabby said.

There was censure in her voice. I stopped
and looked up at her. She immediately blushed and looked away.

“It’s just that you eat faster than me.
That’s all.”

No, there was something more. Did I shame
her? Did she still think of me as an unkempt wild man? I bathed
every day now.

Pushing aside my hunger, I ate slowly,
savoring each bite as if it were my last. It could be if she didn’t
start seeing me as a man soon. When I finished, she offered me her
leftovers, guilt souring her scent. I almost refused, but my
commonsense outweighed my pride. I took care to eat slowly,
though.

After she threw away the containers, we
started back home. She remained quiet as we walked. The light scent
of her continued guilt wasn’t enough to hide another scent that
suddenly gusted on a breeze.

I lifted my nose and inhaled. A male. Not
human. A challenger? The Elders had acknowledged the tie I had to
Gabby; there shouldn’t be any challengers, yet. I knew the rules
and understood I only had six months to win my Mate over before
others of my kind started to challenge me. How much time had
already passed? Three months since I first saw her? Maybe four? I
still had a few months to try to win her over.

I growled low, a warning to the one who
approached, and stopped walking. Gabby froze beside me.

“What is it, Clay?” she whispered. “What
should I do?”

I couldn’t let her fear distract me. I
listened to the thump of the male’s feet as it ran toward us.

I growled louder, angry at this pup’s
audacity, and tensed, ready for a fight. Gabby retreated a few more
steps behind me. Good. She knew not to run.

The steady pounding of paws on the ground
stopped as the challenger leapt toward us. This was no pup. I
braced myself as my opponent flew from the darkness. He collided
with me, and I snarled as I twisted away from his snapping teeth
and dug in my feet. My claws grated against the pavement as we slid
closer to Gabby.

When the other wolf pulled back to regain
his footing, I saw an opening and took it. Lunging forward, I aimed
for his face. His lip and nose ripped under my teeth, and his blood
coated my tongue. My opponent cried out in pain, and I grunted in
satisfaction and let go, giving him a chance to concede.

Instead of giving in, the mutt tensed, ready
for more. I growled a low warning to let him know I wouldn’t be so
lenient again. He snarled in return and tried to circle me. Gabby
moved with me, so I remained her shield.

She was worried and afraid. I was neither. I
watched him closely, waiting.

“Hey!” Gabby yelled.

The other wolf’s blue gaze shifted to Gabby
as a light turned on in a nearby house.

“Whose dog is this? Someone help me get him
off my dog!”

She didn’t really think this was a normal
dog, did she?

Another light went on in the house, and I
lunged forward, taking advantage of the distraction. The other wolf
dodged just in time, avoiding a second bite. The first bled freely,
coloring his muzzle.

He swore at me, then lunged again. I turned
so he caught me in the shoulder. The impact was harder than I’d
expected, and it knocked me off balance for a moment. I went for
his foreleg, exposing my neck. The other wolf grunted in pain as my
teeth sank in.

As I’d anticipated, the mutt still went for
the opening. His teeth clicked against the metal that studded my
collar. The wolf growled, pulled back, and made to try again. I
released him and backed away. Gabby shuffled back a step behind
me.

As I moved, the damn leash uncoiled from its
place under my collar. The other werewolf noticed, moved forward,
and tried to step on the trailing end. I twisted sharply, flicking
the end of it out of the way.

Someone whistled shrilly. “Duke! Come here,
Duke.”

“The noise has everyone waking up, whoever
you are,” Gabby said, proving that she understood this was a
challenge. “You don’t have enough time to finish this. It’d be
better to leave now since Clay won’t be able to chase you.”

She knew I wouldn’t leave her.

“Someone’s going to call the police, and
when they get here, they’ll see a dog that’s neither licensed nor
leashed. You’ll either have to change and expose yourself, or let
them take you away thinking you’re a dog.”

He and I continued our slow circle.

The front door of the house closest to us
opened, and a man shined a flashlight at us.

“Can you help me?” Gabby called to him.

I understood what she was doing but didn’t
like it. I could take care of this challenger on my own.

“Do you know whose dog this is? It came
running at my dog from the direction of your backyard.”

“It’s not ours. Want me to call the police?”
he yelled over the snarls and growls.

My opponent swore under his breath, turned,
and sprinted for the darkness from where he’d come.

I watched the other wolf retreat. With his
withdrawal, the challenger conceded. For now.

“Did you see what kind of dog it was?” the
man called as he left the safety of his house to look at his side
yard where the wolf had disappeared. He cautiously shined his
flashlight to search for it, and I moved closer to Gabby.

Gabby didn’t answer the man. Instead, she
fell to her knees beside me and buried her face against my neck. My
skin tingled. Did she have any idea what she did to me?

Then I felt her shaking as her hands roamed
over my neck and head. She was worried and was checking for
injuries, yet another sign of affection. She let out a shaky breath
and leaned against me.

“Ma’am? You okay?”

The man pointed his flashlight at us but
stayed near his house. Across the street, a door opened,
distracting the man.

“They okay, Mike?”

Gabby lifted her head and met my gaze. “You
okay?” she whispered.

I kissed her cheek, a long lick.

“Next time I’ll just carry the leash,” she
said.

I noticed a sheen of tears before she turned
away. She cared about me. I knew then that it was only a matter of
time before she realized it, too.

“We’re okay,” she said as she stood. She
kept a hand on my head. “The dog was as big as Clay here but had
dark grey fur.”

“Doesn’t sound like any dog from this
neighborhood, but I know there are some big dogs a few blocks away.
Do you want me to call the cops?” The man started toward us.

She picked up my loose leash and nudged me.
Her worry was getting stronger, which I thought odd. To quote her,
it was just a human man.

“Nah. I think we’re fine,” she said, taking
a step back.

I was studying the man and noticed a sudden
change. His interest in Gabby had gone from concerned citizen to
potential Mate. My temper flared, but I quickly smothered it. In
the car yesterday, she’d said men acted weird around her. Rachel
had claimed to notice it at the restaurant. Was this what they
meant?

I continued to study both the man and Gabby.
Gabby was beautiful. I couldn’t argue against that. Yet, the man’s
reactions to every word and every move she made seemed too much,
and it concerned me. If what she said was true, that men typically
always acted like this around her, what really happened to her each
day when she went to campus?

She assured the man we were fine and
reluctantly gave him her phone number in case the police did come.
When she turned away, I felt her unease and stuck close to her.

My poor Gabby. I wanted to reassure her that
I wouldn’t let the human bother her, but I didn’t think she’d
appreciate me shifting to my skin to tell her. She wasn’t ready
yet. Plus, the stress of the encounter with the challenger seemed
to have left her shaken.

She looked around constantly. I did the same
so she’d know I was still guarding her.

It wasn’t until we were halfway home that I
noticed there was something odd about her gaze. It was almost
unfocused. I’d seen her deep in thought before, but this was
different. It was as if she was looking at something I couldn’t
see, and that made me edgy.

Gradually, I noticed her steps began to lag.
Her already pale face grew more so, and she wore a slight grimace
as if the rising sun pained her.

It didn’t take scenting her to know she was
exhausted. I wanted to get her home, wrap her in my arms, and lay
in bed with her. But it wasn’t meant to be. As soon as we rounded
the back of the house, I saw Rachel.

“There you are!”

Gabby’s hand flew to my neck, and her heart
skipped a beat.

“Nice morning for a walk,” Rachel said,
moving toward us, oblivious to the scare she’d just given
Gabby.

As Rachel reached out to pet me, Gabby
uncurled her fingers from my fur. She had quite a grip.

Rachel played with one of my ears, and I
shook my head to get her to stop. The woman had no boundaries. She
laughed and bent to kiss the top of my head. I caught Gabby’s gaze
and rolled my eyes at her.

She smiled slightly and seemed to relax. I’d
hoped she would save me but ridding her of worry worked, too.

“I made a call this morning and can get Clay
into the vet for his shots,” Rachel said as she tugged the leash
from Gabby’s hand. “I figured after the way he acted last night, we
should have him current...just in case.”

Gabby stared at Rachel for a long moment,
then her shocked gaze locked on me. Was she going to save me or did
she still want revenge?

Panic flavored Gabby’s scent as she looked
back at Rachel.

“You okay, Gabby?” Rachel eyed Gabby with
concern.

“Uh, I didn’t budget for it,” Gabby
said.

“Don’t worry. I can cover it for now, and
you can pay me back.”

“Let’s all go.”

I tilted my head, trying to figure out what
Gabby might be thinking. She wasn’t telling Rachel no, but she
wasn’t happy about sending me to the vet, either.

“No offense, Gabby, but you look like hell.
I think you’d be better off with some quiet time. Don’t worry;
we’ll be fine.”

Rachel was right. Gabby looked like she
hadn’t slept at all. Worried about her, I nudged her toward the
door just as Rachel tried to tug me toward the car. Rachel scolded
me, but I ignored her. I nudged Gabby again.

“Would you mind giving him your standard pep
talk? I don’t know why he only listens to you. I’m the one that
feeds him treats.”

Except for last night, I thought. You let me
starve.

Rachel handed Gabby the leash. Gabby rubbed
her forehead and then bent to give me a hug.

“Is it safe for you?”

To go somewhere with Rachel? I snorted. The
woman was a bit free with her hands, but I could handle her.

“I’m so sorry about this,” Gabby said
softly, her breath tickling my ear in the most pleasant way. “I’ll
need to call Sam and let him know what happened.”

She was right. The Elders needed to know
that there was a challenge before the six-month mark. I didn’t want
someone approaching Gabby when I wasn’t around. Living with her
like this was hard enough.

She straightened, looked me in the eye, and
smoothed a hand over the fur on the top of my head.

“It’s your choice,” she said as she dropped
the leash and stepped back.

I eyed Gabby and knew Rachel was right. She
needed some rest. Maybe leaving with Rachel would give her that
time. It would also get Rachel out of the house so Gabby could call
Sam to tell him about the challenge. I sighed then followed Rachel
to the car door.

“The control you have over him is weird but
cool,” Rachel said as she waited for me to get all the way in.

“Yeah. Just don’t be gone too long. He’ll
get upset.”

“The vet’s just a few minutes from here. We
should be back soon.” She climbed behind the wheel, closed the
door, and rolled down her window.

Because of the open window, I smelled
Gabby’s wave of panic a second before it showed on her face.

“Just don’t have him neutered! Or anything
that involves blood or blood work. It’s expensive, and I promised
him he’d keep his jewels.”

My jewels? I knew what that meant and
couldn’t stop from laughing. I definitely needed to leave now that
I knew the direction of her thoughts.

“Maybe we should have the vet check his
lungs,” Rachel said. Her comment and worry did nothing to dampen my
amusement.

“He’s fine. Think cost,” Gabby said from the
deck as Rachel backed out of the driveway.

* * * *

Rachel pulled in front of a small brown
building. As soon as she opened the back door, I smelled dog feces.
Where had she brought me? I’d figured vet meant doctor but this had
to be wrong.

“Come, boy. I bet you get treats
inside.”

Unless it was a medium rare burger, they
could keep their treats. I heaved a sigh and hopped out of the
back.

We walked to the door, which she opened to
let me in. Inside, a man sat with his pit-bull. The thing took one
look at me and started to whine. Good. The woman with the Chihuahua
was another story. That little chew toy started yapping at me
fiercely. The woman looked at me with distain.

Go ahead...set the yapper down.

She held it close as she spoke to the woman
behind the counter.

“Come on, Clay,” Rachel said, tugging the
leash to the bench opposite the pit-bull.

I followed and sat beside her once she
positioned herself on the bench. Then, I watched. Once the yapper
left, the woman came from behind the counter. She offered the
pit-bull a treat to coax it onto the scale. It got another treat so
it held still. And yet another treat to go into an exam room. I
stared at the plaque on the door. Exam Room 1. I looked at the
other door. Exam Room 2. I looked at the scale, the woman
approaching with the treat, then Rachel as I realized what she’d
done. She’d brought me to an animal doctor. How degrading.