Page 79 of Junkyard Dog

Ryan and Alex made their way down the rocky path, Alex’s arm draped over Ryan’s shoulder as they maneuvered across the uneven landscape. Bo broke into a jog, meeting his brothers halfway and taking Alex’s other arm, easing the weight Ryan was carrying.

A small tremor rippled through the park as the brothers crossed the sand and they hesitated, Alex unhooking his arms from Ryan and Bo as he found his footing and limped his way to the road.

Without thinking, she ran to him, wrapping her arms tightly around his waist, almost knocking him off balance as he embraced her, his chin resting on the top of her head. Her mind caught up with her actions and she released him, jumping out of reach.

He gave her a tight smile. “Hey.”

Keeping her eyes averted, she shoved her hands into her back pockets to keep from embracing him again. “Hey yourself. Butch?”

“Ran off,” Ryan called over, unlocking the trunk while Bo used his weight to keep it down. “Start your car and when we give the word, drive.”

She paused and looked up at Alex. “What are you going to do to him?”

“Nothing you want to see.”

*

The Pirithous wason the cusp when the trunk popped open and Ryan dove into it, yanking the feral creature out as Bo yelled at Charlotte to drive. Her car lurched forward, braking long enough for Alex to catch the uncertainty in her eyes before Bo slammed his hand down on the roof, startling her.

As the taillights disappeared around the bend, Bo and Ryan dropped to all fours and transformed, circling the shuddering body impatiently. Bo prowled toward him, nudging Alex’s injured legs with his muzzle before he skulked back to Ryan, hackles raised and ready for the kill.

His steps faltered in the soft sand as he approached his brothers and he knelt down, ignoring the searing pain in his legs and tailbone as the transformation took place. He glanced down the empty road one last time and growled at the stench of the dying Pirithous, the stench that had overpowered Charlotte’s sweet scent as the bloodline had tried to take her down.

Ryan cocked his head as Alex stumbled to him, lowering it when he let loose a low snarl.

He had a bloodline to eliminate.

*

Charlotte flattened herselfalong the stone ridge, covering her mouth with her hands, her eyes wide as they took in the transformation she was witnessing.

She had identified Not-Butch immediately, his gait that of a hunter, fluid and low. The larger dog stood guard, his head swinging toward her for a moment before it turned toward Alex.

Alex.

Alex, who morphed into Butch before her eyes.

Shaking her head quickly, she drew in a breath and held it while the three dogs aligned themselves, a distinctive limp in each of their hindquarters. Their bodies fused into one immense beast, the heads arching back as they howled into the night. Its shoulders were easily three feet across, a massive three-headed dog that would rival even the largest of the Wyoming grizzly bears she’d studied during her training. The long fur was almost blacker than Butch’s, emitting a faint dark glow as it skulked toward its prey, the white of its claws and fangs brilliant in the dim starlight.

The thick tail swung, swiping a bush clean out of the earth and sending it skidding across the ground as the creature descended on the body of the man writhing in the sand, his gurgled gasps for air coming to an abrupt end as the middle dog’s head thrashed violently.

A scream rippled through the park, tearing at her vocal cords while one head swung her way, the enormous teeth bared until the beast froze, dropping his muzzle as the ground opened in a wave of fire, engulfing man and beast.

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Alex snarled asthey plummeted onto the cold marble slab at Hades’s feet, the sour blood of the Pirithous coating his tongue, the stench filling his nostrils. The collective segment of their minds worked in unity to move their singular body crouched protectively over its kill, Ryan snapping his jaws at Bo when the more obstinate brother raised his head to their master.

Hades rose from his ebony throne and grinned as he approached them, using his staff to prod the mutilated body of their prize. “I was starting to wonder if you’d found a new owner.” He chuckled, hooking his staff under one motionless arm and allowing it to flop heavily onto the stone. “Release him.”

They sat back on their haunches, bloodied paws dirtying the spotless floor.

Waving over his attendants to dispose of the corpse, Hades knelt before them, giving Ryan’s ears a hard scratching. “Good work, Cerberus.” He turned his attention to Bo and Alex and gave them the same treatment. “Dio’s in the east wing,” he mentioned, winking at Bo. “Swing by there and see him before you get yourselves cleaned up for dinner.”

Alex kept his head down as they padded through the familiar ornate halls, pausing intermittently to be welcomed home by the lesser deities roaming the palace. Dionysus’s roaring laughter echoed against the marble, Bo’s mismatched eyes lighting up as they walked into a large receiving room and the god sauntered over to them.

“Cerberus, my boy!” he called out, bending to cup Bo’s chin and running his thumb between Bo’s eyes. “We weren’t informed you were expected.”

There was a shrill squeal of excitement behind them and Alex cringed. “You’re back!”

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