Page 12 of Omega's Reluctant Mate
And I felt nothing for him.
Chapter 5 - Corey
“Oh my God, they’re adorable!” I proclaimed as I lifted one of the puppies from the box and cradled it to my chest. “Did they say why they were surrendered?”
The woman from the front desk—Angie—sighed. “Unexpected litter. They let them stay with mom just long enough to wean, but didn’t want to deal with them any further. No vet visits, no shots.”
I sighed. “So reading between the lines, they tried to sell them, but people asked for vet documents and they decided it was too much of a hassle.”
“That’s what I think too. Nobody wants the heartbreak of a puppy with parvo, and the owners decided it would take too much money to get them all vetted.”
“Well that’s ok, isn’t it?” I asked the puppy in my hands, holding it up. “Dr. Ewing will be here tomorrow and will get you all checked up and vaccinated.”
The puppy squealed and I laughed before holding it to my chest again.
“They all appear healthy, which is good,” Angie continued. “Hopefully they won’t be in quarantine long and we can get them to good homes.”
“Let me know if you need me to foster once their vet checks are done. I’m swamped, but I’ll make it work somehow.”
“I think we’ll be ok. We have the room for once, but I’ll keep it in mind.”
I set the puppy back into the cardboard box. “I guess I should get started on the intake paperwork.”
“Didn’t you say you had somewhere to be tonight?”
I looked up at the clock. “Oh, crap!”
“I’ll handle the paperwork if you can give me five minutes to prep a kennel for them.”
“Deal.”
Angie nodded and headed to the back, while I busied myself with taking what notes I could about the litter so that she could do the rest of the paperwork quickly.
I picked up each of the wriggling puppies, checking its gender and assessing its temperament. They appeared to be a mixed breed, but I couldn’t immediately identify what the parents might have been.
“Probably mixed themselves,” I muttered to myself. Then I held up a puppy and looked at its sweet face. “You're a purebred mutt, aren’t you?”
The pup yawned adorably, and I almost melted at how cute it was. Part of me wanted to take the whole litter myself, which was a constant problem for all the workers and volunteers.
Luckily, they’d all find homes quickly. Puppies were in higher demand than older dogs, and I could already envision the excited squeals of kids looking at them.
I sighed and put the pup back in the box with its siblings, ready to grab the next one, when I heard Angie laugh.
“No, you can’t keep them all,” she said, striding back into the office.
“As if you don’t want them all yourself,” I shot back.
“That’s how I know what you’re thinking.”
I grinned. “Four females, two males. Sweet disposition on all of them. Couldn’t quite figure out the breed combination.”
She nodded. “Go on. Get to whatever you had planned tonight. I’ll finish the forms.”
“Thanks.”
She grinned. “Not a problem. It means I get the puppies all to myself. Mwah-ha-ha.”
I laughed at her attempt at an evil laugh, then gave her a side-hug as I hurried out of the office. A moment later I’d locked the front door behind me and was on the way to my car.
