Page 22 of Bred By the Wolfman

I hum thoughtfully, but inside, I’m turning over how best to accomplish what I need to accomplish. How to get to my woman.

“Maybe not. I thought this was the right address.” I pull out my phone and pull up the map.

“I’m sure you did,” she says, tilting her head curiously at me. “What’s your name?”

Great. I’m not so good at acting, I guess.

“Oops,” I say instead, pretending that I’ve just found the right location on my phone. “I guess he’s in the next building over. My apologies.”

“Hm,” is all Liesel says, before she walks away, and I suck in another blissful, tormenting whiff of Dee before she’s gone.

Once Liesel has returned to her car, I go back to mine. I wait until she pulls out of the lot, and then I do the same, making sure to keep another car between us. Her little sedan is easy to follow, mostly because she drives like an old lady. I almost want to honk at her to get her out of my way.

As she reaches her house, I take a right turn and park on an adjoining street. I get out and watch as she pulls into her garage and then closes the door behind her.

With the way now clear, I jog across the road. A woman walking her dog on the neighboring block stops to stare at me, and I give her a polite wave.

Now that I’m at Liesel’s house, Dee’s smell is stronger. She’s visited recently, and that might just be enough to get me to her. In the driveway, I pick up the tang of a different car—one that doesn’t seem to belong to Liesel. It has a slight oil leak.

That should be enough. I bend down and sniff around the driveway, following the smell back into the street. I follow it to the closest intersection, where it curves around and continues to the right, along a larger road.

Now that I have the trail, it’s much faster for me to follow it. My blood turns warm thinking about where this trail leads me, who might be waiting for me on the other end. It leads me through the city, and even though my legs are growing tired and the cement is hot under my paws, I keep going as her path leads me out of Aston.

It will take me some time to get back to my car, and I hope I make it to work on time.

The sun is low in the sky by the time I finally reach a suburban development with a few shops and a grocery store. The scent of Dee’s car winds through the parking lot, and I dodge cars as I follow it. This is another human area, and people are surprised to see a wolfman running about like a loose dog. But I ignore them as the trail passes through the gas station and then back onto the street.

Finally, just when I think I might have to give up so I can get to work on time, the scent of her car approaches a cute duplex and stops in the two-car lot. On the upper floor is a balcony, with a few pots full of blossoming plants leaning over the railing.

The scent of Dee is all over it. But it’s not fresh, and there are many other smells tangled up with it. She must not be here, and perhaps hasn’t been all day.

At least now I know where she lives—that’s the ideal first step. I got much farther than that worthless PI did. Now all I need to do is come back when she’s home and knock on her front door.

Surely she felt the same thing I did, and she’ll understand why I’m here. What happened between us... I’m positive that it wasn’t one-sided. I hope Dee still thinks of me the way I fantasize about her.

Buoyed by this thought, I start the long journey back to Aston to get my car.

ten

DEE

Introducing Boomer to his new home has been a challenge, but Robbie has quickly made himself invaluable.

“I love dogs,” he explains. “I always had one growing up, but now, I don’t want to leave one at home while I’m at work all day.” He grins. “So maybe I can just, you know, borrow yours sometimes.”

He gives me tips to stop Boomer from pulling on walks, and helps me install a bell on the door so eventually, the dog can tell me when he wants to go to the bathroom. I’m not sure how a dog could figure that out, but Robbie assures me that dogs are quick to learn.

Boomer, on the other hand, does not have much interest in learning. He simply stands at the door and gives a little whine when he wants to pee, so after a while we take the bell down. Then he takes his time sniffing the same spot he always loves to sniff, and I stand there enjoying the morning air until he’s finally sniffed every last inch of it.

One Saturday afternoon, Robbie invites Boomer and I over to enjoy some sunshine on the back patio. Robbie owns a townhome fairly close to my apartment, with a tiny backyard perfect for lounging and watching Boomer play with his new toy. He thrashes his head back and forth as it squeaks in his jaws, and it’s possibly the cutest thing I’ve ever seen.

I do miss beer on days like today.

“You know, I never asked what you do for work,” I say to fill the silence.

Robbie shrugs. “It’s boring. I’m an account manager, and I handle some of our more high-priority clients and teach them how to use our software.”

“Yeah, sounds boring,” I agree. Robbie quirks his eyebrow at me, then turns back to Boomer.

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