NaNoWriMo update #2!

[minviendha]

WORD COUNT: 7706

Oh yeah.

            Hardly an hour later, I found myself sitting in Denny Park, Icy sitting on the bench next to me, slumped over. I’d lost another job. The usual “slept late” excuse didn’t fly very well, since I’d just missed a day less than a week ago for a run, and the addition of Icy really didn’t go too well, especially after she went for his cat and nearly mauled her before she made it up a tree. I made up a cock-and-bull story on the spot about my sister’s rescue dog, part wolf, etc. etc., but that brought the wary eye and the questions about licenses and rabies shots, and it was less than a minute before he informed me I was out and retreated swiftly into his office. Probably afraid I’d set Icy on him.

            I’d trudged uptown, considered getting some new clothes at the Rack, and decided against it just as quickly as I saw the No Dogs Allowed sign. There was no way I was leaving Icy alone outside by herself. Who knew what kind of mischief she’d get into? I preferred not to think about it. So I found myself here, feeling gloomy, wrung out, weak, hungry, and utterly and completely lost.

            What was I going to do about Icy? Was the first question whirling around in my overactive brain. I didn’t have a job anymore, so that wasn’t a concern – but getting around the city would be a problem with a “dog” her size following me. People always look crosswise at big dogs – and even more when they look a lot like wolves. And if anyone found out she was a wolf, there’d be hell to pay. Abruptly, I remembered something I’d been thinking about earlier. When I’d first met the wolves, Icy had sought me out first, befriended me first. The others had followed. The others…had followed.

            I looked at Icy, horrified at the thought. “They’re not coming, are they?” I asked her in a slightly shrill voice. She just thumped her tail and smiled at me, then licked my face. It wasn’t comforting. Frowning, I set that aside, only to have the next thought whirling around.

            So what if the others came? Then what? I couldn’t hide the Alpha here. He was bigger than a large German Shepherd, and looked bigger because of his carriage. And there was no way to excuse a pack of six or eight very large canines following you everywhere, especially when they start acting like you’re one of them and threatening the panhandlers who get too close. I could just picture the Alpha trying to snarl down the guy with the “SMILE” sign near the ferry, puffing up his fur, the guy just reaching down to pet, saying “nice doggy…”

            Yeah. Not a good idea to picture severed hands and snarling wolves when you have one sitting next to you. Not a severed hand. A wolf. She sensed my worry and growled softly, nosing me questioningly. I could feel that she wanted me to change, but I resisted that same desire stubbornly. Dammit, this was going to ruin everything I’d set up. Swearing under my breath, I patted her nose and pushed her away with a quiet “hush.” She ignored me and shoved her head under my arm, putting her nose effectively in my face and informing me that she was going nowhere until she got an answer to what was concerning her Pack. Which was what I was, now. I was her Alpha. And Alphas not only dictate everything wolves do, they provoke extreme protectiveness, extreme loyalty, and a lot of very wolflike behavior.

            I was thoroughly screwed.

Comments

[sizzlinfoo.livejournal.com]

Ooo, nice. Screw that NaNo nazi you linked to.