Priceless

night, mauled half to death by his own pack members, and has been with me ever since. The pack didn’t approve, and we were still dealing with the ramifications of that.
    He sat on his haunches, tail tucked between his legs, waiting for a beating.
    “I’m not angry, Alex. But you don’t like to leave home—so what made you go?” For something to make him leave was bad enough, but to make him run close to two hundred miles meant he would have left this morning and in a hurry. And yes, a werewolf could cover that distance in that amount of time, but it should have nearly killed him. I looked him over. He wasn’t sucked in and dehydrated; he was chirpy and fresh, ready to rumble.
    He still wasn’t answering. Talking to a werewolf could be like talking to a large child; the simplicity of the wolf’s mind regressed the human’s mind to a toddler’s state if their will wasn’t strong enough, which his definitely wasn’t.
    I changed tactics. Crouching down, I patted my leg. “Alex, come.” He still cringed. I remembered my dropped pepperoni. Retrieving it, I tried again. “Alex, come here, see what I have? Pepperoni, it’s one of your favourites.” That did the trick. He bowled me over trying to get the pepperoni. “Wait! You can have it if you answer me.” We were sprawled out on the floor together, Alex drooling all over my shirt, large canines dripping as he stared at the pepperoni I held just out of reach.
    “How did you get here? Did you run all the way?” My change in questions brought a light to his eyes.
    “No, no. Didn’t run all way. Ran and jumped in noisy truck. Zoom down big road, jump out at other house. Wait for Ryleeeeeee!” He howled the end of my name and I shushed him. This wasn’t a motel that catered to pets and I was pretty sure even with John’s failing eyesight he wouldn’t miss a two-hundred-pound werewolf if it kept up howling.
    I handed Alex the pepperoni. I knew that the ‘other house’ was the motel. I had told him that sometimes I stayed at my ‘other house’ when it was too late to drive all the way home. ‘Big road’ was the highway and I suspected ‘noisy truck’ was a semi.
    The second pepperoni stick appeared in my hand. “Can you answer another question for me?”
    He nodded eagerly and gave a little yip of excitement. I shushed him, got up off the ground and shut the door. Well, propped it closed anyway.
    I pulled a chair around, sat down and patted my knee. Alex scrambled over to me, placing his elongated muzzle on my lap. I scratched him behind his left ear and he whined with pleasure. “Okay, buddy. This is a hard question, maybe even scary. But you need to tell me and then you can have the pepperoni.”
    Amber eyes stared up at me, totally devoted, completely loyal. He whined again and a loud thumping of his tail let me know he was ready for the question.
    “What scared you away from the house today? Was it the pack?” I continued to scratch his ears. Sure it was a dirty tool to distract him, but otherwise, we could be circling around the question for weeks before I found out what happened.
    He tried to pull away, but I put the pepperoni on my lap right in front of his nose. “Just tell me what happened this morning and then you can have it.” Ah, the old stick and carrot routine, it never failed.
    Alex bared his teeth and said, “Pack came, chasing, biting. Wanting to kill. Safer to run than fight.” He hung his head in shame with his last words.
    “That’s okay, buddy. I would’ve run too.” I mulled over his words and absently gave him the pepperoni. The pack had been getting more aggressive the last few months. Alex had been with me almost seven months now, and at first I’d thought there would be nothing to worry about. Slowly, the pack had encroached more and more on my land, marking territory and making forays closer and closer to the house. A sigh escaped me and I scratched my head. Just add another problem onto the plate.
    I knew from experience he wouldn’t go home now without me. Thanks to all that was holy I had a collar for Alex that hid his true form from anyone who might be able to see it—once more thanks to Milly—so he could come with me for the next few days. Having him with me would make it a little more difficult to maneuver, but a lot less lonely.
    Darkness fell, the sky clear and the stars easily visible. No sign of a thunderstorm, or any other bad weather for that matter. Stuffing Alex into the Jeep, I said,