Paws

Miss You

I wasn't quite keen on talking at the moment and I didn't trust my human self to defend Coda, so, when I finally stepped out of the room with my son's puppy form in tow, I was in my own canine form. Being much more forward than I ever will, Coda bounded down the short hall and right after the other puppy that had woken me up and nearly stepped on Coda while we were in bed. The two stopped abruptly when they got close, sniffing each other nose to nose, then butt to butt. All eyes, that is mine, Wolf's, and two other people's, were on them.

Coda slowly began to wag his tail while the other one, I believe who was called Flip, gave a quiet yipping growl. When my son glanced back at me, a hopeful look in his eyes, I tilted my head slightly and nodded. That was all he needed. Coda pounced on Flip, sending the pup falling head over tail backwards. I thought it might make the pup or his caretakers mad, but when Flip just shook off the hit and began running around trying to tackle Coda, I knew they would be okay. 

That just left me... and three people I didn't know or want to trust. They looked harmless enough, and as I sniffed the air, I could tell that only one was a predator, and that was Wolf.

"Hey there, Wolf told us he had a visitor. My name's Grayson, I'm a mouse cross-shifter by the way, and this is my fiance, Erin." He gestured towards the taller man standing beside him. "He's an elephant."

That's... interesting.

"And that's our son, Flip."

Okay. Now I'm seriously confused.

"We adopted him after finding him on the road three years ago."

I nodded, not really sure what they wanted me to say as a dog.

"This guy's name is Sam. He's a cross-shifter like you, Gray. His son is Coda."

I wasn't very happy about Wolf giving away what I was, but if the smaller man was a cross-shifter also, then I suppose he wouldn't try to do something to me. His fiance also seemed not to care about the information and instead knelt down to catch Coda as he ran by, only to flop him down on his back for a good belly scratch. The sight had my heart suddenly clenching as the images of the moment where Richard had rubbed my belly while we were sitting on the couch flashed through my mind. While the memory was only there briefly before I refocused on the pups, I could still somehow feel the ghosts of his fingers running through my fur, rubbing playfully over my belly.

"Hey Sam."

Blinking, I hopped back, baring my teeth for a second before realizing that Grayson wasn't squatting in front of me to attack, but because he was worried. I couldn't stop myself from panting but I did lower my hackles and made sure to look at my paws for a moment to silently apologize.

"It's okay. I didn't mean to surprise you, you just looked... I don't know. Sad?"

His fiance walked over, kneeling next to him with a smile. "I've seen you on the news, but don't worry. We won't let your parents take your baby."

His smile grew and he looked at Grayson, then back at me. "In fact, we actually know someone who might be more than happy to lend you a spare room and safety."

I quirked my brow, confused but also interested. If I could find a safe place for myself and, more importantly, my baby, then I would listen to any offer. Even from a stranger.

"Looks like we've got your attention. Well, we know a guy that runs the local lion pride here, and while he is a carnivore, he's really an awesome guy. Also, he's got a huge house that always has spare rooms open."

He waited a moment, probably wanting to see a reaction of some sort from me. I sat down, lifting my ears just enough to seem like a decent response, because he continued afterwards. "If you'd like, I can call him to come over and meet you and your son. He has his own kids but they're all in school so they won't be around during the day and know better than to bother guests."