His Wolf

Twenty four

The next morning I woke with a start, my nightmares chasing me awake. Looking up in the direction of the bed, and I could make out the form of Alpha sleeping soundly on top of it.

The sun thing was bright as it shone through the stang hole in the wall, telling me that it was way past the time that I was normally woken up by trainer and handler. I looked at Alpha and wondered if he would be upset that he had slept in. This is the first time he had slept in the same room with me, I had no idea when he normally woke up.

Before I question my decision-making any longer, I was up on my paws and striding to the side of the bed that he was on. His hand hung down off the side as if it had fallen during his sleep. Nudging his hand slightly with my nose, I quickly realized that this man was a heavy sleeper. I huffed in annoyance as the need to go outside got stronger, so instead of waiting patiently as a good dog should, I sat back down and began barking.

He jumped up pretty quickly as the first one ripped through my throat. I continued until he fell to the floor with a thump, and after a moment of pausing to see if he would leap up in anger at my actions, I continued to bark as he slowly pulled himself up, using the bedding to haul his feet underneath him. He rubbed his eyes with the heel of his hand as I stood back up, my barks only becoming more frequent.

"Ok, ok, Max, I'm coming," he stumbled slightly, sleep still blinding him, as he tried to find his way out of the room. I circled around him in excitement, for not only being able to wake him up but also for not getting punished for it. Yet anyways. Who knows what he will do when he fully becomes aware of his surroundings and what just happened.

I froze behind him as the thought rooted me to the spot on the floor. He kept walking to the open doorway and looked behind him, only to not see me at his heels anymore. I saw the panic flash in his features as all traces of sleep were wiped from his face. Looking further behind him into the room, he saw me in my frozen state. His concerned features stayed on his face as he walked back to me. I hunkered down as his shadow fell across me, but he didn't hesitate to bend down and run a comforting hand over my head, despite my first initial flinch at the contact.

I felt myself began to relax at his touch. His face was no longer set in the shape of furrowed brows and panic. It was now graced with a gentle smile that had me tilting my head, still not accustomed to the gesture that was so familiar, but so different than what I was used to.

"Your ok, Max, I'm not mad, in fact, I'm glad you woke me up," he mumbled the ending as if he didn't want anyone else to hear, which was wired, seeing as there was no one else around, "Let's go get something to eat, huh, how does that sound?" As hungry as I was, I know that I had my fair share of treats yesterday, and even if I could force any more food down, I don't know if I could stand the bland flavor of Kibble after tasting biscuits again.

I had no other choice than to follow him out of the room, my paws slipping slightly on the floor. When we got to the top of the stairs I stopped right beside him as he looked down to the bottom and then back at me as I did the same, meeting his eyes for just a second before looking away.

"Do you mind if I-" I cut him off by giving a low bark in approval. Thankfully he understood and bent down to pick me up before going down the stairs.

I still did not trust them.

He put me back on the ground when we reached the bottom and I followed him to a room that had a different floor than the rest of the house. It almost reminded me of the one back at the white building, but darker and more-I don't know what, but it was something. No matter the number of times that I have been in here, I still can not describe the stone that rests beneath my paws.

Alpha broke my thoughts as he placed a metal bowl beside me. I scrunched my nose up in distaste at the kibble that covered the bottom of the shiny dish. Before I could turn and leave the room, something glorious filled the air. Sniffing the air, I followed the scent to where Alpha was standing with something sizzling in a shallow bowl with a handle. I watched in fascination as he moved from where we were to across the room. I watched as he bent down and crumbled the smell-good stuff on top of the kibble, yelping when he picked up a piece that was apparently still hot. At least I think that's what he grumbled, I was still having a hard time understanding new words and phrases I have yet to hear before.