Page 103 of He Who Sleeps

Carter was the last to break away and head for the plane. "Look after my boy," he told her, holding her close. "And let me know if he gives you any grief. He'll test boundaries. He's too smart not to."

“He won’t be a bother. He’s my sweet boy.” She looked to Easton who seemed to hang back and smiled. “Be safe, love,” she said softly and raised her hand at him.

"You, too." He blew her a kiss. "Love you!" he called back over his shoulder. And then they were gone.

She stood there, watching the plane taxi, then lift into the air, her heart leaving with them. She had only a few days to endure, to wait and hope they returned. Brutus’ heavy bark pulled her from her reverie, and she sighed, making her way over to the car, to return to the city and life without her guys.

Chapter 36

Three days later, threedays closer to the guys coming home to her, and Petra was all but crawling out of her skin. It felt like she had lost a limb, the depressing feeling of being alone, with the seven of them, turning her into a ghost haunting her own life once more. Brutus was there, and a welcome distraction, but it wasn’t the same.

Though the dog was very in tune with her, cuddling, giving her kisses. He cared, and she loved that the giant moose of a dog was like a big baby for her. He was the only thing keeping her grounded...well, that and work.

Her boss at the gallery was not excited at first with her bringing Brutus to work with her, until the dog scared off a vagrant that had been defecating at their back door. After that, Brutus came back in to a new massive bed by the heater in her main office, and it was comical to see him dragging it everywhere she went. Cuz he was not leaving her alone, taking his charge very seriously, but he was going to be comfortable, damn it.

Bringing Brutus to the shelter had been a welcome thing once she told the director she was watching Carter’s dog. Everyone was so in awe of the man (just like she was) that Brutus was being treated as a king. There, he was more relaxed and was a boon to the animals that had come in. His calm demeanor had put several of the sick and hurt animals at ease. She was going to have to talk to Carter about him doing therapy work at the shelter.

“He has really taken to those puppies,” Wilma, the shelter director, said as they looked on to Brutus passed out on a massive bed in the office, seven six-week-old puppies asleep on him and between his massive paws. Petra took a picture of it, so she could show Carter later, and smiled at Wilma.

“He’s the best. So good with the bunnies that came in, too. They felt safe with him.”

“Much like you do with his human, yeah?”

Petra blushed. She had told Wilma that she and Carter had been seeing each other, after the last call they had had, officially, just after Halloween. They were all so enamored of him that Wilma had given her blessing immediately and deemed Brutus the shelter mascot, though he was going to get a new designation soon enough—shelter protector.

“Carter call yet?”

She shook her head. “He’s in Europe, some town in the Balkans for a family thing. Time difference is a mess, but we have texted,” she lied. “He’s going to love this picture.”

“I’m sure. You keep him, Petra, the man is a wonder, and so selfless.”

He’s also a brutal killer that has only parts of a conscience,she thought with a wry smile. Instead of voicing her thought, she said, “I am never giving this one up.”

“When does he come home?”

“I think the 23rd? Something like that. I was told he would be home for Christmas.” She grinned.