Carved In Stone, page 6
Always scratching my ears and wipin’ rain from my ass. Made me into a damn house pet!
Dog padded down the weed-dotted street, wincing a bit at the soreness. His paws had been used to the slow shifts and canvas floors until Angela’s war and he was still aching from all that traveling. The pads of his feet would build up again and become stronger over the next weeks, but until then, it was easy for him to imagine curling up inside the building he was now facing. A long rest already sounded good.
He had only taken one so far, during the ash storm. The urge to catch the wild female was too strong to ignore for long and he’d pushed on even though he knew breathing the ash was a bad idea. He had to catch up.
And I won’t if I keep stopping to hunt, Dog scolded himself. Easy meals from here on.
Dog went to the main doors of the brick building and scratched gently with his paw, testing.
The door swung open with a loud groan and Dog’s spirits picked up. Any of his fellow canines would already be dead or gone and there was little reason for the humans to come here now that the animals had turned on them. The pound was a perfect place to hunt up a meal that he didn’t have to stalk, chase, and then kill while listening to it scream for mercy.
The smell was old and empty, the sounds the same, and Dog eased into the pound with nerves mocking him. He’d only spent time in a place like this right after being captured, but the experience had stayed with him.
Dog ignored the many rooms with their desks and cabinets, following his nose down the long hall. The doors at the end swung open at his touch and he padded through.
The swinging door came back hard and fast, and smacked him in the hip.
Dog jumped forward, stifling a yelp, and then snorted in annoyance at himself as he spotted the cause.
What am I, a pup? he complained.
The doors continued to swing, stirring the air and Dog caught a whiff of what he was both dreading and anticipating. He followed the scent down another long hall, this one ending at a steel door with a handle that he nudged down with his paw.
The odor was powerful–one of rot and of abandonment. Humans hadn’t been here in a long time. They’d fled and left their animals to die.
Dog almost understood this time. He’d been locked in the bottom of Brady’s home, but he’d witnessed and heard the panic and understood the humans had all been in fear for their lives. It was the first time he’d ever been able discover an excuse for their behavior.
Dog padded down the row of cages without glancing into any of them. He kept his gaze on the door at the end. It was where the food had come from. During his weeks in that cage, Dog had spent the miserable hours studying the people and the patterns. When he realized the humans weren’t evil, just inconsiderate, it had helped him to control himself and not attack.
Dog was surprised when the hall ended with a rear door to the outside pound, showing an overcast sky. He had assumed there would be more rooms and retraced his steps, now inspecting each cage to determine if he had missed a door.
The skeletons bothered him more than he would have ever admitted. Caging his kind had been a way of life and after living with the humans and learning their reasons for such things, Dog had even agreed. Nevertheless, to be here and witness their bodies was another view–one he wished the humans also had to experience.
As he’d figured out, one of the cages was actually a gate and Dog leapt it in a two-lunge process that balanced him on a file cabinet and allowed him to spot another series of doors. One of those was open and the comforting smell of crunchy food came.
Not used to such a slippery surface under his paws, Dog slid as he jumped.
The crash of cabinets was loud, but he landed in the office chair and rolled to the ground without being hurt.
The cabinet he’d fallen from toppled over and smashed through a side of the gate. It was now possible to squeeze through the bottom and Dog was glad he didn’t have to try to jump over it later. One fall a day was enough.
Dog entered the feeding area with a feeling of pride, counting five full bags, one of which was already open.
Dog plunged in and began to eat, moaning, Not the kind I love, but good! Good!
Crack!
Thunder rumbled a few seconds after the lightning strike and the rain soon followed.
Dog kept eating. He emptied a quarter of the bag before he came up for air, belching and farting as he sat down.
Next?
A drink.
Dog went to the opposite side of the room, to the deep boxes that smelled like water. He rose up, paws on the edges, and found the sinks dry. He licked the faucet, able to taste the chemicals left from the water. It had definitely come from here.
Dog tried to remember watching the humans gather water in Safe Haven. It had come from big blue buckets with white stems. They had rotated those stems!
Dog stretched his neck out and pushed on the silver stem by the faucet, but it didn’t react. He danced on his hind legs to get close and used his front paw to swipe at it.
Water gushed from the faucet, splashing him. The stream immediately became smaller and smaller, but the hole in the bottom was plugged and the basin slowly began to fill with rusty water.
Dog didn’t mind. He drank his fill, not stopping even when the trickle of liquid turned to drops and then halted. He hadn’t had a good, long drink in days.
Dog dropped down from the sink, listening to the storm beat against his shelter. He had no intentions of going out in the rain, especially on a full stomach. He was searching for a place to nap.
A pile of empty dog food sacks in the corner was inviting and Dog nosed under a few of them, inhaling deeply. It smelled a bit like home, like Brady’s backseat, and he quickly fell into a dreamless slumber.
2
Dog jerked awake to the sound of lapping and crunching.
The noises echoed through the brick building, sounding like an army of animals was in the room with him.
Dog stayed still.
The crunching became quieter after a while, as did the lapping, and Dog guessed both sources had run out. That would mean at least three animals his size to have cleared the bag of food so fast. And what else is my size? Wild dogs.
The wolf tensed, ready to spring out, and then the smell of the mutts hit him.
It’s...her! She’s in the room!
Dog stiffened further. So was her pack. He was trapped in the corner by a pack of wild wolves.
Unable to remain still with her so near, Dog raised his snout a bit to get a glimpse.
And found her nose inches from his.
The female wolf was resting on the floor near him, waiting for her pack to finish eating. Her startled gaze met Dog’s, neck fur bristling.
Dog scanned her pack, counting, evaluating, and then regarded the female. In that glance, he conveyed his interest and a warning. “I’ll kill all of them.”
The female’s snout drew up, a low growl rumbling, and Dog pushed his Alpha power as hard as he could. “You don’t see me!”
Stung by the command, the female whimpered and rose, retreating.
“What is it?”
“What’s wrong?”
“Where do we kill?”
The female’s pack circled her protectively, not finding whatever it was that she had, but ready to rip apart whatever she told them to.
“It stinks here.” The female wolf lowered her snout in disgust. “Let’s go.”
The pack dutifully followed her from the feed room, none of them understanding there was more food. The closed bags didn’t have a smell and were discounted.
Paws and nails echoed for only a moment and then the pack was gone.
Dog stayed where he was, positive he’d gotten inside the female’s mind. He would be okay to finish resting here, and knowing she was near would help. He hadn’t been sure how far ahead of him she was. Now, he would be able to catch up to her within hours.
Dog quickly returned to his dreams of the female. Her scent covered the room.
3
The female took her pack to the cave they’d sheltered in overnight, all of them eager for sleep in the late afternoon drowsy period. The food would become needed energy, but until then, they would be sluggish and irritated.
The pack was asleep in minutes, but the female lingered at the entrance. Her thoughts were scattered and that was unusual for her. Even when the Angry Wind had come and forced them to go north, her thoughts hadn’t been this confused. She had never chosen a stranger over her own pack.
He wasn’t a threat to us, she excused her behavior, knowing that wasn’t true. The big wolf she’d been nose to nose with was a killer.
He interests me.
The female lay down in the entrance, enjoying the blowing spray that her pack avoided when they could. She didn’t have an aversion to the things that they did and she was capable of questioning the Wind’s orders even while following them. Her pack was single-minded. They wanted to go north, join the others, and attack humans. It’s all they thought about after food, drink, and mating. In fact, if not for her season being so close, she wouldn’t even be with these males.
Her scent had pulled them as she traveled north, but females were the leaders, giving her time to pick a mate from among them. Then they would fight it out and the survivor would be her new owner. The female had avoided mating for almost a year now, but the season was closing in on her and the choice would be taken away.
Her thoughts returned to the strange wolf, the huge male who could have attacked and killed her before her pack could help. Why hadn’t he? Surely, he knew there were already too many males around. Perhaps he would also fight for her. The thought was a good one, a ray of hope, and the female went to sleep.
During their rest, the males woke to find her away from them and joined her at the entrance, shielding her from the awful rain with their bodies in hopes of currying favor.
The last wolf to pile on was a brute. He nosed and bit his way to the bottom until he was covering the female with his body and his scent. She would be his, no matter who she chose.
4
Dog had little trouble tracking the female to the cave. He’d torn open another bag of the food and had a full stomach again, but the need for a drink had brought him out of the brick shelter sooner than he had planned. He had found the scents of unclean water abundant, but the stream near the cave was pristine and it was obvious to Dog that he was supposed to come here. He didn’t know why, but he expected it to be bad. His time in Safe Haven had taught him that survival was nearly impossible when you were alone.
The wild female’s scent filled Dog’s mouth and he opened his jaws to catch a stronger version of it. Alone or not, trap or not, he wanted a taste of that, wanted to roll in it.
And I will.
The cave was low and wide, too dark for even his vision to peer through. Dog sighed in resignation. The things I’ll do for a bitch.
He stepped into the cave, waiting, and let his instincts tell him which set of appearing red orbs was the biggest threat.
Death appeared in the rear and Dog lunged that way.
Outside the cave, the female waited. It wasn’t time for her to choose, but she’d underestimated the intelligence of those with her. Her pack had developed a keen dislike of man’s ways and even after using mimicking his methods to gain a meal and drink, they hated this big stranger.
Snarls and yelps of agony echoed from the cave and spread through the damp woods, making the female whine. She didn’t want the stranger driven off or killed. She wanted to get to know him and study his ways. He wasn’t going hungry. Watching his big body pad into the cave had been mesmerizing.
Silence fell for an instant and two bleeding shadows fled the cave, both from her pack. They took off into the town below, but the female doubted they would go far.
Ugly noises came again and the female was unable to stand it. She darted inside, unsure if she would break up the fight or help kill the stranger to have peace in her thoughts.
5
Dog snarled in warning as the last two wolves approached him. The bodies of the others, in various conditions, were strewn about the cave.
“Stay back!” Dog growled. “Pain will come!”
The big brute’s snout drew up in fury and he lunged with the intensity that he’d been lacking before as he let the inferior mutts fight for him.
Dog winced, whining as the wolf’s teeth sank into his shoulder, but the fight in Safe Haven had prepared him for this and he struck back viciously, going for the throat.
He found a grip and squeezed.
“Stop!”
The female’s command wasn’t the same as an Alpha, but it was still hard to resist and Dog reluctantly let go of the throat between his powerful jaws.
“The Wind has forbidden killing each other!” the female shouted angrily. “You’ll bring her against us. Go away!”
Dog didn’t understand, but he wasn’t about to be run off after winning the fight. He strutted toward the female with light steps.
“I’m Dog.”
The female gaped at him as if he were stupid.
“Why do you take the name of a human pet?” she asked, confused. “Humans are the enemy.”
“Not true,” Dog refuted, already positive he couldn’t win that argument. “I like being called Dog.”
“Why?”
“It takes people by surprise, gives me the advantage,” Dog explained, aware of the other wolves slinking toward the cave entrance. Except for Brute, who stayed on the ground, growling lowly as he observed them.
“We use that tactic as well,” the female replied. “Humans are easy to fool. They never expect it when we attack.”
Dog understood then. He wasn’t going to be able to convince her to be peaceful. Her pack hunted humans and if he stayed with her, he would have to do the same. It was disappointing.
The female was regarding Dog with expressions that Brute didn’t like and he found his courage, raising to his feet.
“This isn’t over!” he growled at Dog.
“He sounds like a human,” Dog commented, confident it would be taken as it was meant–a giant insult.
Brute lunged forward, aiming for Dog’s belly, and the female lashed out in a lightning quick reaction that surprised both males.
Her teeth sank into Brute’s nose and he yelped loudly, jerking away to flee the cave.
The other wolves who had survived Dog’s defenses also limped out, leaving Dog and the female alone.
Dog sniffed the air and was able to tell it wasn’t time for her to pick a mate yet. Wanting to be in the running, but needing to be loyal to Brady and the Safe Haven code, Dog lingered, torn.
“Will you travel with us?”
Dog snorted. “No.”
The female took a hesitant step closer, drawn to his golden eyes and the power evident in his body. Even Brute was smaller than Dog.
“Wolves mate for life. I can’t pick you.”
Dog held still, and swiveled at the last minute to deny her the scent of his breath. It would tell her a lot of things about him and he wanted the same information, only from a fresher source.
The female inched by him, tail coming up and Dog whined eagerly to encourage her. She rubbed against his hip and he spun around, burying his snout under her tail.
The female pranced away, circling, and found Dog padding toward the entrance of the cave.
“Wait!” she whined.
Dog didn’t stop and the noises of another vicious fight filled the air seconds later.
The female realized he was eliminating the others, driving them off, and felt the voices in her mind ease. Dog could defend her when she swelled with pups and he was smart enough to keep her fed while she nursed those children. Other males would still join their pack, as would the occasional female, but in the end, she knew Dog would be her choice because at this moment, she was at peace.
Dog was running on pure animal instinct as he struck the smaller male and sent him rolling down the muddy embankment. The Brute tried to come up behind him, but Dog spun in time to resume the death grip on his rival’s throat. This time, he snapped his jaws shut and enjoyed the coppery taste of victory with the scent of a perfect female still ringing through his nose.
The winds picked up suddenly, driven by rage, and Dog felt the tree branch coming before it hit, but reacted too late to avoid it. The heavy wood slammed into his leg, snapping the bone.
Dog brayed in agony, scaring all the wolves, who fled the area.
The female was the last one to go and she stared mournfully, watching as the tree collapsed and Dog was buried.
Greif set into the female’s heart, thick and deep, and she threw her head back.
The howl was haunting, and it gave away her location, bringing the surviving pack members to surround her with their licks of condolence on the loss of her chosen mate.
While they comforted her, they also used their bodies to get her away from the area, continuing their trek north.
Under the rotten tree, Dog didn’t move. Unconscious, he was sheltered by the canopy and he stayed that way as afternoon faded into dusk.
6
“Can we eat it?”
“Yeah, that’s not against the rules!”
“If it will die anyway, we’re supposed to eat it, you idiots! Wind doesn’t want the humans to be able to find food.”
Dog slowly became aware of the voices, but the pain in his leg almost drowned them out. It took a minute for him to realize his level of danger had increased.
“How do we get it out?”
“We don’t. We’ll chew off parts for a quick snack and then go. We have to get north.”
North! Dog whimpered, struggling to get free.
“It’s a full meal. I want to pull it out.”
“Go on. I’m going north.”
“I’m hungry!”
The feel of a fight coming helped Dog concentrate and he sent out a sharp blast. “I will take you to food. Enough for all of you.”
