Page 20 of Claimed by the Pack

8

Grayson

Surga doesn't have any big department stores or chain grocery stores where I could go and discreetly make a purchase. I was going to have to go straight to the vet's office to do this, and I hated going there.

In any other town that wouldn't even be an option on Sunday...but our vet was open seven days a week, and even on holidays.

I walk by the office all the time, but I had only been inside once, with Chelsea about six months ago. We had found a cat and honestly, I'd tried to eat it.

Chelsea stopped me, reminding me that we were more than animals. The cat was domesticated and on the blue collar he wore around his neck was a tag that included the name “Hank” and an address.

She said some child was probably crying herself to sleep at night, looking for her cat. Chelsea grew up human, so she knew more about these things than I did. I wouldn't argue with Chelsea even if I thought I knew more, I had too much respect for her than that.

Anyways, Chelsea and I took the cat to the address but the house was empty.

The neighbor told us they had recently moved. So, Chelsea's next stop was the vet's office. She was going to take the cat in, but about that time, baby Jack began to cry. He was only a few months old at that time and Chelsea was breast feeding him.

I left her to feed him and I went inside.

The smell of the place was overwhelming for a wolf, or maybe to everyone, I wasn't sure. All I knew was that there were things in the air that made me cycle from hungry, to aggressive to horny in a matter of seconds. I could hear the dogs barking out back before I even went inside, and I hated thinking about them being in cages. I know I couldn't survive being caged in. On the other hand, dogs don’t usually like us. They can smell our wolf and it makes most of them aggressive, so I was safer with them in cages I suppose.

Apparently, they have some kind of “chip” they plant into domestic animals so the vet can scan them, like a grocery item, to find out where they live.

When they scanned him, his old address came up, but there was a note in the computer about him getting lost and a new address.

A little girl got her cat back...so the trip was worth it. Of course that didn't make it any easier to go inside this time.

The bells jangledas I pushed the door open and a lady at the reception desk looked up and smiled. I made myself smile back and hoped my voice wouldn't crack from nerves when I spoke.

“Um, yeah. I got a new puppy and I was looking for one of those machines where I could make a tag for him, in case he got lost or something.”

“Oh yes, we have one of those,” she pointed to the far corner of the waiting room, right next to where a big ass German Shepard sat with his owner. The dog's brown eyes were already on me. His ears were standing straight up and he was growling low in his throat.

“Oh, okay, thank you.”

“The best thing to do for the long run would be to bring him in for his vaccinations and have him chipped.” I was glad I already knew what that meant. I smiled and nodded and said,

“I intend to, thanks. I'm just on my break from work now, but when I figure out my schedule, I'll call for an appointment.”

“Good,” she said, smiling brightly. “We can also schedule the neutering at the same time, if you're planning on having him fixed.”

Ouch. I felt an ache in my loins.

I'm glad wolves don't get domesticated.

If they take my balls, they may as well just take the rest of me with them.

I had to work hard to force the next smile. I nodded, thanked her again and tried not to hold my crotch protectively as I walked toward the machine. I heard the German Shepherd growl and her owner say, “Oh hush, Ellie. What's wrong with you? We don't growl at people, it's rude.”

I smiled at the lady, that only seemed to piss the dog off more and the hair on her neck and back rose higher, his ears pinned back and he stood up straight on all fours and began to bark. I could tell the lady was doing her best to hold the dog back and I wasn't sure how long she would be able to, since the dog looked like it outweighed her by about fifty pounds.

With a hand that was shaking because I was trying so hard to move fast, I picked the first tag that popped up when I touched the screen.

It was shaped like a dog bone.

Next, I entered the name “Gray.” Then the address.

It was the address that Ridge had texted me, the address of Cheyenne's apartment complex.

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