Page 23 of Claimed by the Pack

9

Grayson

Iwaited for the shower to come on and then I shifted. I started to pick up the bowl of chicken and pasta and remembered suddenly that she had a roommate. It would probably not be good for her to walk in and find a naked man in the kitchen. I went over and locked the door and then picked up the bowl and stuck it in the microwave. I might look like a dog, and yes, I've been known to eat road kill when times got hard...but, I was human enough these days that I wasn't about to eat cold food out of a bowl on the floor.

That was funny, actually.

All I knew about being human, the Pack had taught me over the past year. Ridge helped too...some.

Before times got desperate for our old pack, Ridge was old enough to go into town and hang out with the humans...girls mostly. He had always had a penchant for the human girls.

While the food was heating, I took a glass down out of the cabinet and opened the refrigerator. I'd seen a bottle of wine when she had the fridge open before, it was red wine, it would go nicely with my pasta. I was happy to see it was already opened and I poured myself a glass.

It was early in the morning for wine, but I was pretending to be a dog, currently standing naked in a stranger's kitchen, waiting for the food she'd given me cold and on the floor to heat up in the microwave. I deserved a glass of wine, and damn it was good.

As soon as the microwave dinged I took the bowl out, found a fork and went over and sat down at the table with it...like a human.

I eat fast, and that was a good thing since it turned out that Cheyenne showered fast too. I heard the water shut off and shoveled in the last few bites, drank the rest of my wine, rinsed out the glass, put it back in the cabinet and threw the bowl back down on the floor.

I shifted just as I heard the bathroom door open.

Seconds later, Cheyenne appeared in the hallway, wrapped up in a towel.

She smelled good and her skin was all dewy and fresh looking. She looked at me and smiled and then looked over at my bowl.

“Wow! I guess you just don't like eating in front of people, huh?” She came over and squat down to pet me. It wasn't my fault that my eyes were level with her cleavage.

She had nice cleavage and I was suddenly feeling things I shouldn't be feeling for my best buddy's mate, but she was touching me, and it was hard to put all of that out of my mind.

“You're a good boy, aren't you? You're so handsome too.” I pulled my head up and closed my eyes. With a satisfied smile on my face I let her pet me underneath my chin. This gig might not be too bad after all.

As soon as I had that thought, I heard a key in the door. I remembered I was supposed to be acting like a dog and I started wagging my tail and ran toward it.

I saw Cheyenne frown and look at the doorknob as it turned. I wondered if she was trying to figure out if she locked it or not. I had forgotten that, I'd have to be more careful.

It opened and a pretty little dark haired Balinese girl walked in. I rubbed up against her and watched as she looked at me with a shocked look on her face. “What the heck? Where did he come from?”

“Why are you home so soon?”

The little petite brunette growled and said, “My family...I can't deal with them today. I was on the ferry when my sister called me to complain about my mother and as soon as I hung up with her, my mother called to complain about my sister and my father. I told her I was ill and I wasn't going to make it to brunch.

As soon as the ferry docked, I got on the return ferry and came home. Your turn now, where did that hairy beast come from?”

“I'm sorry. I was going to text but I didn't want to bother you. Isn't he pretty? His name is Gray.” I stuck out my tongue and wagged my tail, waiting for her to say I was pretty. Instead she said,

“He needs to brush his teeth. Whose dog is he?”

Well that was insulting. I brushed my teeth this morning. It was her chicken and pasta that gave me the bad breath. It wasn't even all that good anyways. It would probably give me heartburn.

“I don't know,” Cheyenne said. “I found him downstairs. He has a tag and a collar, it's got this address on it but no apartment number. Mr. Balik says there's no one here with a dog so I'm going to put up posters and see if anyone claims him. I hope you don't mind if he stays here? It'll only be for a few days.”

The little dark haired girl raised an eyebrow and said, “Is he housebroken?” Jeez, insult to injury. Of course I'm house broken.

“I think so,” Cheyenne said. “Let me get dressed and I'll take him out.” Take me out? She expects me to go outside like a common animal? I mean, yeah, of course I've gone outside before, most of my life in fact. But, that was in the woods, in the wild. I can't just pee on a main street in town. Cheyenne bent down and rubbed my neck. Her face was close to mine, so I licked it.

She laughed.

“That tickles, and Myrna's right, I'm afraid, you could use a toothbrush...or a mint.” Wow, do they even know I have feelings? I watched Cheyenne go down the hall toward her bedroom. Once she was gone, I turned to look at Myrna and she was frowning at me. I whined at her and wagged my tail. She made a face and then walked past me into the kitchen without even so much as a pat on the head. I'm not sure I like this one.

---