Pack Secrets(9)

Blake’s shit eating grin was unwelcome as she began to panic when her son noticed the dog, running at him and hugging him with open childhood affection. “Mama, look, it’s a puppy dog. Woof woof puppy. Can we keep him?”

Blake reached down and rubbed the top of Carter’s head. “Yep, he’s all yours. Justin thought you and your mom could use some extra protection so…here he is. His name’s Gunner.”

“Cool, Ma.”

Carter kept hugging the devil dog as it eyed her and let loose a low growl.

When Carter released him he came straight at her like she was prey, obviously he couldn’t scent that she was also a top notch predator. He circled her several times sniffing her before he lifted his leg and peed on her, soaking her favorite pair of ballet flats as his urine ran down her bare calf. “What the heck?”

Blake chuckled before responding, “Don’t worry, he’s marking his territory. I hear that’s what dogs do.”

Before she could retort he was out of the shop and she was left with a dog, whose tail was now wagging, and an energized kid.

“Mama, Justin buyed us a doggie. He’s a nice man.”

“He’s somethin’,” she said sadly, letting her bitterness through.

Her son easily picked up on her negative nelly vibes.

Carter’s gasp shocked her, but his next statement blew her top. “He done saved me, Mama. He’s my hero. Don’t you like, Mister Justin?”

Attempting to look at the bright side of all this was hard, but she had no choice as her son looked up at her with tears in his eyes and asked, “We can keep him, right? He’s my doggie now mama, I’ll take cares of him, evens clean up his poops. You won’t send him away will you?”

She knew what her son was really thinking: you won’t send him away like you did to me. “I’ll never send you away again, Carter. I won’t send him away either, he’s yours now. Make sure you say thank you to Justin next time you see him.”

Carter’s face fell, and the tears that were threatening began to spill down his face.

“What’s wrong, buddy? I thought you wanted to keep him.” She knelt down on her knee next to him, pulling him to her side she kissed his cheek.

“I don’t know if I’ll see Mister Justin again. I wanna be his friend, Mama, but he’s all gone.” He sniffled, wiping his tears on the dog, “His mama took him on a plane far away.”

Not knowing why, Dee broke down and cried with him. After she’d touched Justin’s arm, briefly becoming ill, something had changed within her. She’d never wanted another man after Tidus, but with Justin she found herself intrigued. He was sweet, nice, caring; all the things she once thought of Tidus before he got her pregnant, killing the alpha and going on a rampage. She just couldn’t trust her judgment.

She had to pull herself together, for her son. “We can get his phone number from Blake and give him a call. Maybe you can make him a thank you card and we’ll mail it to him.”

He shot to his feet so quickly the dog actually let out a yip. “Can I start right now, Mama? I can use the crayons and scissors, it’ll be the bestest card ever.”

“Sure, but you’ll have to be quick because we have to go to the store and buy food and a bed for the dog.”

Carter stomped his foot indignant on the dogs behalf. “His name is Gunner. You have to call him by his name, Mama. How would you like it if someone called you lynx? And I think he should sleep in my bed or he’ll get lonely.”

Touché. She smiled a little. “I’m very sorry. You’re right, Carter, but what did I tell you? No one is supposed to know I’m a lynx. And the puppy can’t sleep with you.”

He looked sheepish for a moment before asking, “Oh yeah, but why? Lynx’s are cool too.”

“We’ll talk about it later, at home.” She smacked his bum playfully, “Now, don’t you have a card to make?”





Chapter 3


The freaking puppy was going to be the straw that broke her back. He had to go outside, to do his business like fifty times a day, and when she got him outside all he did was sniff everything. Not to mention he shed everywhere. Yes, his fur was soft, and he was cuddly and cute, but when she left the house she was covered in his hair. He refused to sleep in his doggie bed in the corner, insisting on sleeping outside her door or Carter’s, and he would drag that heavy bed to the location he wanted. She’d tripped on the bed coming out of her room twice, landing on a ball of fluffy puppy.

Her son had taken great care of the puppy so far, just like he said he would. He fed Gunner twice a day, not to mention all the scraps he slid under the table. He was proud of himself, which created a self confidence that made her less angry at Justin for getting the dang puppy. Truthfully, she wished she’d thought of it.