Chapter 3
Atlas/Fluffy
A iden was home. We could be patient and wait for him to come out and walk, only there was a truck coming up the driveway, and Liam had left to go get Quinton.
I ran up to Liam’s house, grumpily transformed into my human form, and went inside, picking up the spare cell phone he kept in a drawer.
He answered on the second ring.
“There’s a truck,” I said before he could speak.
“Oh, excellent. I put a rush on the bed hoping it would come today,” Liam answered.
I heard Quinton in the background asking, “You ordered a bed? How come?”
“Aiden is home,” I said.
“Ah, shit. I didn’t think of that. We’ll head straight home. I’ll call Aiden and let him know, and then I’ll call the delivery company and ask them to wait for us.”
I hung up the phone, walked out the door, and transformed back into my hound. The truck was pulling up the driveway and straight toward Aiden’s house. I heard his cell phone ringing just as the delivery truck stopped and two guys got out.
“Hello,” Aiden answered.
I wasn’t sure how good human hearing was, but if the delivery guys heard, they would know Aiden was home, and Liam was obviously just now calling him. Fuck. One delivery guy knocked on the door, the other standing a few feet back and looking at a clipboard. I trotted towards the house, starting a low growl in my throat.
Aiden was still on the phone, saying, “Yes, there’s a truck here, and someone just knocked… Hurry home…. Yeah, I’m ok… No, you don’t need to call Jude. I can wait for you.”
I had mostly heard Liam’s side of the conversation as well, but I tuned it out to focus on the delivery men. Neither was evil, but the one who knocked was definitely morally gray, as most people often were. I growled again, and the morally gray guy turned and saw me.
“Fucking shit!” he cried out, backing away from the door. “Hey, buddy! Come out and call off your dog!” he yelled.
The other guy saw me then too and froze. I continued walking towards the door, and the knocker slowly backed up, his arms up. I wanted to be in front of the door if Aiden came out.
Smart that the guys didn’t run. I would have caught them.
“Hey, buddy! If I get attacked, I am totally suing!” morally gray guy yelled loudly.
I heard Aiden’s footsteps inside. I was in front of the door, so I sat down and stared at the men, still growling.
Aiden opened the door. “Fluffy?”
I looked at him, gave my best doggie-looking grin, then looked back at the delivery guy and started growling again. I heard Aiden step all the way out of the door behind me.
“Listen, buddy, if he bites me, I’m reporting it,” the morally gray guy said, arms still up. He looked towards his truck, but it was too far back for him to make it there quickly. “I suggest you call off your dog if you don’t want him put down,” the guy said.
The other guy was just standing still, so I mostly ignored him. He didn’t smell happy about morally gray guy’s threat, and he was a pretty pure soul. I did stop growling, though.
Aiden gasped in outrage and stepped forward, putting a hand on my head. “He isn’t going to bite you! Fluffy is friendly!”
Smart guy who was standing back a bit snorted, and the other guy shot him a dirty look. “You wanna come up here and make friends with ‘Fluffy,’ asshole?” he grumbled.
“I mean, he’s sitting now, and he’s not growling,” the other guy said.
Morally gray guy took a step forward, and Aiden’s hand gripped the fur on my head. I could feel his nerves, so I started growling again. The guy could just fucking wait for Liam to get here.
He wisely stopped immediately and stepped back, so I stopped growling. Humans seemed to understand basic cues, and I could reward good behavior by not growling, since my growl obviously set him on edge. I didn’t even look like a full hellhound, for fuck’s sake. I looked like a wolf or hound. I didn’t even understand what the big deal was, but as long as he stayed where he was, no one would need to lose a limb.
Aiden laughed nervously. “Uh, this is Fluffy. He’s not… um… he’s not mine?”
I growled a little at that, and Aiden’s hand pet my head gently.
“I mean, I guess he’s sort of mine, but I don’t really, ah, know how to… umm, call him off?” he finished unsurely.
The smart guy in the back snorted again, and the morally gray guy opened his mouth to say something that was probably stupid, so I just flashed some fangs at him. He wisely shut his mouth.
Aiden went on, “But Liam, the guy who placed the order, he’s on his way. He’ll be here in like a minute or two, so if you guys could just, like, wait for him?”
My poor Aiden sounded very unsure, and we didn’t like that at all, but the smart guy said, “Sure, man, no problem. We’ll just step back and wait in the truck?”
“Sure, that’s great,” Aiden answered, breathing more easily.
They both backed up toward the truck, and I heard them mumbling to each other as the asshole insisted on getting in first. Smart guy just rolled his eyes and opened the truck door for him.
Smart guy was nice. If any maiming was required, I’d definitely spare him. The other guy, though… eh, you didn’t really need all your limbs.
Aiden breathed out a sigh when both truck doors were shut. I was going to seriously chew out Liam later for putting him in this position.
Speaking of… I heard a car driving rather quickly up the drive. Good.
Liam hopped out of the car, and Quinton followed after him. He did not look happy. He walked straight over towards us while Liam dealt with the delivery guys. Aiden gripped my fur tightly again, but I just looked up at him and gave a relaxing yawn. Of course I wouldn’t attack Quinton. Silly Aiden.
Aiden seemed to relax at my yawn, and Quinton came forward. “Aiden, I’m really sorry about Liam not warning you. I had no idea. And what the fuck? Do we have a dog now?”
Aiden laughed. “This is Fluffy, the guard dog. He does a good job of guarding, too.”
Quinton stared at me curiously, then he put his hand out, like he was waiting for me to sniff him or something. Liam was watching us closely even though he was talking to the delivery men. I almost rolled my eyes at him. I wasn’t stupid; I wouldn’t hurt his mate. Quinton was pack.
I also wouldn’t stoop to sniffing him, though. I just stared at him, and he actually laughed. “He has about as much attitude as I do. What do you want to do while they bring in the delivery?”
Aiden’s hand tightened against my fur before he let go. “I think I’ll take a walk with Fluffy. I don’t want to be inside when other people are in there. I just…”
“That’s fine,” Quinton said softly when Aiden trailed off.
“I’m just gonna run in and grab my coat and stuff, then I’ll go walk,” he said, then he looked at me, looked at Quinton, and turned and went into the house. I could hear him rushing about, and he was back outside in about a minute, like he was afraid I would leave.
Or maybe he was afraid I would attack someone. I gave a mental shrug. I definitely wasn’t leaving, that was for sure.
Liam was still talking to the delivery men, stalling them so Aiden could head out. Liam looked over at us, and I bared my teeth in the direction of morally gray guy. He ought to be watched. I didn’t like him. Liam nodded his head. Of course he would watch them both, especially with his Quinton here to protect.
With that, Aiden and I headed off into the woods.
Should’ve bitten off a finger, Fluffy huffed. We had been unified in our focus on protecting Aiden, but now that Aiden was calm and the danger had passed, my hellhound couldn’t help a little snark.
Aiden was bundled up, although it really wasn’t that cold. Humans were fragile, though, and I was glad he was warm. I wondered if Liam had talked to him yet about having Fluffy in the house? Although he hadn’t even warned him about the delivery men, so my guess was that hadn’t happened.
Peanut butter , Fluffy grumbled.
Yes, Aiden did smell rather strongly of peanut butter. That wasn’t unusual, really—he often smelled of sweets and baked goods, but…
I stuck my nose into his side, sniffing at his pocket.
“Hey!” he cried out, but he was laughing as he did it. “Do you smell what I baked for you? I stuffed a couple in my pocket.”
Aiden baked for me? He pulled out a cookie in the shape of a dog biscuit.
Baked for me , Fluffy corrected.
I just sighed internally. Insufferable mutt.
Aiden held out the cookie, and I leaned my head forward and gently took it between my teeth. When Aiden moved his hand away, I chomped on it.
Yum.
It was delicious. Not too sweet, yet satisfying. Crunchy, peanut buttery, with a nice texture. Best of all, Aiden had made it just for us.
More , Fluffy grumbled, and then I was nosing at Aiden’s pocket again. I knew he had at least one more cookie in there. Maybe even two.
“Hey, hey!” he laughed, gently trying to twist away, but I was rather determined to get my nose into his pocket. Damn pocket wasn’t that big. Aiden was giggling, though, so I didn’t stop sniffing at his pocket. Then he was laughing even harder, and somehow he ended up on his butt on the ground.
I knew he wasn’t hurt, because he was still giggling wildly. “I guess the recipe came out tasty for dogs.”
I almost had my nose in his pocket—one more wiggle and a chomp of my teeth and I’d have the cookie. Only Aiden grabbed my head and pulled it out of his pocket, drawing my face up to his.
So pretty , Fluffy murmured.
His eyes were lit with laughter, and I didn’t think I’d seen him so carefree before. We had done that for him.
“Sit,” he ordered, and I plopped my own butt onto the ground, staying close and still looking at his face.
He started rubbing my head, and I grumbled a bit in contentment, making Aiden laugh again.
“You want another cookie? Here you go,” he said, taking it out of his pocket and handing it over. I crunched away on it, pleased with both the flavor explosion and the calming feeling of Aiden’s fingers running through my fur.
Ours , Fluffy insisted.
Yes. Aiden was ours.
We walked for a bit after that, and Aiden told me about baking a new recipe and Cass giving him a raise. I listened and walked beside him, and his hand found its way into my fur again and again. It was soothing, and I was sad when we turned back. I knew it was a therapy night for Aiden, though, so he’d be heading off for that appointment.
He took out his phone when we were almost back and sent a text, and then he veered off toward Jude’s house.
Ah, he was going to have Jude drive him to therapy. That worked. Maybe I would go growl at Liam a bit for the awkward situation he’d put Aiden in. Although Quinton hadn’t seemed to recognize me, and perhaps that was for the best. Growling at Liam might need to wait.
“I’ll see you later, Fluffy,” Aiden said before we got to the edge of the woods. I usually trotted off and watched him from afar as he got wherever he was going, but he seemed a bit cautious as we got to the house, so I sat down and watched him.
He gave a little laugh. “Gonna watch to make sure I get inside ok? You really are a good guard dog.”
With that he walked up to the back porch of the house Jude and Corbin used, knocked on the door, and went inside when Jude yelled out for him to come in.
I continued to wait, and before long I heard Jude and Aiden head out toward the car in front. Car doors slammed, music started up—the Beatles, of course—and then Jude was driving Aiden to therapy.
Go with Aiden , Fluffy grumbled, but I knew Jude would wait for him outside in the car, so I didn’t need to follow them there. Plus it might be awkward if a stray “dog” was wandering around outside his therapist’s office.
Still, I did wonder if Corbin knew his therapist. I could hear him and his crow puttering around inside, so I walked up to the back door. I had been exceptionally quiet, but Corbin was there to open it anyway. I was never sure what Corbin knew from his witch background and what the crows told him.
I walked in, and the crow perched on Corbin’s shoulder flew down and landed on my back.
Crow pack , Fluffy rumbled, recognizing the bird. This crow and I had played before, and he was fun and friendly, so I swished my tail at him while he playfully tried to bite at it.
Corbin sat down at the table, looking at us fondly like we were his two kids goofing off. Eventually we got tired of playing, and Crow flew back onto Corbin’s shoulder and started preening his hair.
Corbin stared at me, and I stared back.
Eventually he said, “You know, you’re going to have to go human if you want to talk to me. I haven’t perfected the art of mind reading yet.”
I sighed, and then I turned human. Corbin motioned to the basket by the back door with his chin. Yes, they kept sweatpants there. I didn’t understand why everyone felt the need to walk around with pants on when it was just us, but I walked over and pulled a pair on anyway.
Stupid human rules.
I sat at the table across from Corbin, asking, “Do you know Aiden’s therapist?”
“Ahh,” he said, like my question somehow gave him insight into the universe.
Corbin knows things , Fluffy said, and maybe my question did give him some insight. He was a knowing person. He was close to his hellhound and his crows, and we respected him.
Corbin tilted his head, looking crow-like himself for a moment. I simply waited.
“Why would I know his therapist?” he finally asked.
“Haven’t you taken him there?” I asked.
“No. It’s been mostly Jude or Cassius, and sometimes Liam and Quinton.” He shrugged his shoulders, and Crow stared at me. He would fly off right now to check on things if Corbin needed him to.
“Cassius would know. Jude and Liam, maybe not. They don’t listen to their hellhounds enough,” I said.
Corbin looked less relaxed then, sitting up straighter, his crow cawing gently at me.
“Atlas, what don’t they know about Aiden’s therapist?” Corbin asked slowly, kind of like he was speaking to a child.
I huffed. I was surprised he didn’t know. After all, I could smell her on Aiden after his sessions.
“She isn’t human.”