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  Just then, I heard a sound that made my blood freeze in my veins. The booming roar of a grizzly bear rang in my ears, and my entire body went rigid as it walked into my peripheral vision. Only six feet away, standing on its hind legs, was one of the biggest bears I had ever seen. I opened my mouth to scream, but my breath caught as it roared at me again, taking a few steps forward before coming down on all fours. I willed my body to stand, but couldn’t seem to gather the courage to run. Slowly, the bear came towards me, sniffing and huffing. It swiped at me with its paw, and I stumbled around the side of the tree just in time for it to catch the bottom of my dress, ripping the fabric. Had I not been able to move, it would have mutilated my leg. A pitiful sound escaped my lips as I began walking backwards towards the forest, and the bear pursued me, thrilled by the chase.

  Too concentrated on the bear to see where I was going, my ankle caught on a fallen branch, and I tripped, landing on my backside. The bear towered over me, raising a massive paw to deliver the death blow. All I could do was watch as it began coming down, and my entire life flashed before my eyes.

  Just when I thought death was imminent, the bear went careening onto its side. In a mess of snarls, I saw Fido on top of it, his fangs digging deep into the bear’s throat as he growled viciously. The bear bellowed in pain, somehow managing to break free from Fido’s grasp.

  I got to my feet and ran as fast as I could into the forest, towards the direction of my aunt and uncle’s house, leaving Fido to distract the bear so that I could make my escape. The sounds of the two massive beasts fighting could be heard throughout the forest, echoing off the trees. And then there was a noise that stopped me dead in my tracks. A high-pitched yelp—and I knew it did not belong to the bear.

  My heart raced with fear and worry. I looked towards the forest and then back towards my aunt and uncle’s house. If I kept running, I could go get help. But . . . what if I was too late.

  There wasn’t any time to think about it. I took a deep breath and then ran back towards the creek. What I saw when I got there left me completely dumbfounded.

  Lying in the crimson painted grass was a naked man. He was curled up in the fetal position with his back facing me, cradling his arm. While his body looked youthful, his hair was silvery gray, long and unkempt.

  For a moment, I simply stood there and stared, unsure of what to do. Whoever this person was, it looked like he had intervened in the fight. But where was the bear? And, more importantly, where was my dog?

  “Excuse me,” I said in a voice so low that it was almost a whisper.

  The sound that the man made in reply was unnatural—a very familiar dog-like whimper.

  “Excuse me,” I called to him again, louder this time.

  Again, the man whimpered, but this time, he looked over his shoulder at me. My breath caught as my eyes met his—glowing red. They were Fido’s eyes in a man’s face. And not just a man, but the most beautiful man I ever laid my eyes on. His skin was pale and flawless, his lips a soft shade of pink. He had perfect features, high cheek bones, and a defined jaw.

  “Fido?” I asked, feeling stupid.

  The man whimpered at me again, and then he gave me a pitiful look as he tried to wiggle towards me. Reflexively, I stepped away, still frightened by the strangeness of the situation. There was no way this handsome man could be my dog.

  “Don’t come any closer,” fear was apparent in my voice, but the man didn’t seem to understand. He simply looked up at me with those same sad red eyes as he tried his best to get to where I was.

  “Do you speak English?” I questioned, looking for any hint of humanity.

  Soon, the man was close enough that I could see his arm. It was red with blood, deep teeth marks lacerating the skin. For a moment, I thought of running for help. But how could I explain this? I doubted my aunt and uncle would believe that Fido had turned into a human. Even I didn’t believe it.

  Cautiously, I knelt beside him, thankful that his body was scrunched up enough so that I couldn’t see his naughty parts. The man threw his head back, trying to nuzzle my ankles as I examined his arm.

  “It’s bad,” I whispered, more to myself than to him, since it was obvious he didn’t understand a word I was saying. “Can you walk?”

  The man didn’t answer. He just laid there with his eyes closed, his head pressed against my skirt.

  I had to stop the bleeding, so I tore a length of my skirt off to wrap it around the bite. The man allowed me to manipulate his arm freely, but winced whenever I tied the material tight around his wound.

  “I’m sorry,” I said. “I’ll take you to Sara’s. Come on.” I stood and took a step back, motioning that he should follow me.

  With a look of confusion, the man pulled himself up onto his knees. It was one of the strangest things I had ever seen. At first, he tried to crawl forward on his hands and knees. Then, realizing he couldn’t gain any speed that way, the man rose onto his tip toes with his butt in the air and his head tilted towards the ground. After a few seconds of wobbling back and forth, the man lost his balance and fell over.

  I covered my eyes as his boy parts came into my line of sight. I had never seen a naked man before—hadn’t planned on seeing one until my wedding night. The way his genitals hung limply between his legs seemed alien to me, and a bit disturbing.

  By the time I turned to look at him again, the man was on his feet, stumbling around as if it was his first time standing. My eyes instantly darted down to the dangling appendages between his legs, which were crowned by a tuft of light gray pubic hair. My cheeks burned with embarrassment, and I quickly looked away again.

  “I’m sorry,” my voice was nervous, knowing that I had seen something I shouldn’t have. That time, I got a really good look.

  I jumped as I felt his body brush up against mine, and I instantly took a few steps away. He certainly didn’t seem ashamed of his nakedness, standing there and looking at me in disarray.

  “Let’s go.” I tried to avoid gazing upon him as I began walking through the forest towards Sara’s house. Her mother was a witch. She’d know what to do.

  It was a long trek, and I knew that my aunt and uncle would be worried when I didn’t return at my normal time, but getting Fido . . . I mean . . . this man, to Sara’s house was more important. He was injured, and hopefully Sara’s mother would be able to care for him.

  Refusing to look back, my only indication that he was following me was the sound of his unsteady footsteps, heavy breathing, and an occasional whimper. Finally, the smokestack of Sara’s house came into view, piping feathery gray wisps into the sky.

  “Stay,” I told the man once we got to the edge of the forest, and to my surprise, he listened as I went to knock on the front door.

  Mrs. Smith opened the door, an ear to ear grin crossing her face as she laid eyes on me. “Claire, what a pleasant surprise. Sara isn’t here right now, but if you want to wait, she should be back soon. I sent her to the forest to pick blueberries.”

  “I’m not here to see Sara,” I said, and the seriousness in my tone caused her smile to fade.

  “What is it, child? What’s wrong?”

  “There’s a man, and he’s hurt.” I looked towards the tree line, and Mrs. Smith’s eyes followed mine. She gasped when she caught sight of him standing there clutching his arm.

  “Is that Fido?” she asked, noticing his red eyes.

  “Is it? I don’t know. I was attacked by a bear. Fido came to my rescue. I ran, and when I came back, this man was lying there, clutching his arm.”

  Mrs. Smith walked past me, leaning over as if she was examining the man as she approached him. She stopped a few yards from him, straightening herself. “Fido, come here boy,” she said in the same childish voice she had always used when she had called Fido over for treats in the past.

  The man seemed to perk up, and he stumbled towards her with a look of excitement on his face.

  “Good boy,” Mrs. Smith praised him, raising her hand to muss up his alr
eady messy hair. He stuck his tongue out like an idiot and nuzzled into her hand.

  “No way.” I stood gaping at them.

  “Yes way.” She gave me a glance to indicate it was no joke. “Let’s get him inside and see to this wound.”

  Fido followed Mrs. Smith inside like a good little puppy, and I stared at his butt as I trailed behind them. He has a really really nice ass, I thought, feeling my cheeks brightening up again from the inappropriateness of it.

  “Fido, sit,” Mrs. Smith said to him once we were inside. I watched in awe as he crouched down, putting his hands on the floor between his legs. Again, my eyes darted to his manhood, though this time, I didn’t bother to look away. It seemed like he didn’t understand that I was checking him out, so I was much less embarrassed about it this time.

  “Why doesn’t he talk?” I asked, not taking my eyes off him as Mrs. Smith hurriedly prepared something to clean the wound with.

  “Because he’s a devil hound,” she replied matter of factually, as if I should have known the answer all along.

  “I still don’t really know what that means. Sara told me he’d eventually turn into a man. I just thought that . . . he’d be . . . you know, normal.”

  “He’s a devil hound, honey, not a werewolf.”

  “What’s the difference?”

  Mrs. Smith knelt in front of Fido with a bowl of water and a rag. “Claire, dear, come here for a minute and distract him while I clean up the wound.”

  “How do I do that?”

  “Pet him. Talk to him like you normally would.”

  “Al-Alright,” I stuttered, taking a few nervous steps towards Fido. It felt strange having to comfort him as a man. My brain kept creating a divide between his man form and his dog form, telling me that I should treat him like a man instead of a dog.

  Gingerly, I reached down and ran my fingers through his hair. It was surprisingly the same consistency of his fur, soft and pleasant in my fingers. Fido leaned into my hand, and I felt a strange affection for him. “Be a good boy,” I whispered, though the words sounded odd and uncertain.

  “A werewolf starts out as a man, so even when he changes into a wolf, he retains his human thoughts. A devil hound starts out as a hound, so even when he changes into a human, he retains his animal thoughts. Do you understand?” Mrs. Smith explained as she untied the ripped part of my dress from Fido’s arm and then began wiping off the dried blood. He flinched for a moment, bringing his arm up to his mouth to begin licking the blood off himself. “No,” she chastised him. “Claire, you need to keep his attention, or I’ll never get this done.”

  “Fido,” my tone raised a notch to the normal sweet baby voice that I used with him. “Up here, boy.” I returned to rubbing his head, and he left his arm back in Mrs. Smith’s care so that he could lean into my hand. “Does that mean that he’ll never talk?”

  “No. He’ll never be human. Not really, at least.”

  “Then what am I supposed to do?” I sighed. “I can’t take him home like this.”

  “While you won’t be able to teach him to talk, or behave like a human, for the most part, you should be able to teach him how to shift back and forth so that he does it on command.”

  It sounded hopeful, but I knew I couldn’t train him overnight. Besides, I wasn’t even sure if he knew how to switch back and forth. “I know it’s a lot to ask, but do you think you could keep him until I get him trained. If my uncle sees him like this, he’ll probably shoot him.”

  “That’s fine,” she replied, and I sighed in relief. “And you might want to start thinking about getting him neutered.”

  This caught me off guard. He was a man now, not a dog. It seemed like an odd thing to say. For a moment, I looked into Fido’s eyes. There was no emotion except for happiness from all the attention that he was getting. Thank God he couldn’t understand what she had just said, I thought.

  “Why do you say that?” I asked curiously.

  “Because, devil hounds are known to try to mate with human women. He’s sexually mature. It’s only a matter of time before he tries to mate with you, and they have a tendency of getting aggressive if you refuse. It’s better to nip that in the bud right now. Besides, he’ll live a lot longer if you get it done.”

  The whole conversation was starting to make me very uneasy. It was a bit too much to take in one sitting. First, my dog turned into a man. Now I was being told that I needed to have my very human looking pet neutered so that he didn’t try to rape me. It felt completely bizarre.

  “I don’t think he’d try to do that,” I said finally, glancing at the two dangling testicles between Fido’s legs that Mrs. Smith seemed willing and ready to cut off.

  “Oh, he will. I’d put money on it.” She looked up at me seriously.

  Just then, Sara walked through the door carrying a basket of blueberries. Fido seemed more than ecstatic to see her. His eyes grew large, and his body trembled with excitement as he stared at her.

  Upon seeing his naked frame, Sara stopped dead in her tracks, her face turning beet red. I smirked, imaging that I must have looked the same the first time I laid eyes on Fido’s human form.

  “Fido?” she whispered, and he instantly tried to pull away from us to get to her.

  “No. Fido, stay!” Mrs. Smith said firmly. “Claire, I know this is weird for you, but you’re going to have to,” she paused, glancing over at Sara. “Put down that basket and come here. I need someone to hold him still while I stitch up this wound.”

  Sara was more than eager to help, setting down her basket to come flank Fido’s other side. With the same fascination she had displayed the first time she had seen him as a puppy, Sara petted over Fido, examining him thoroughly. “Wow, this is amazing,” she breathed. “He’s gorgeous.”

  “I know,” I mumbled, a bit embarrassed to admit it, though it somehow felt less creepy since she was saying it first.

  “What are you going to do with him?” Sara looked up at me with concern.

  “I don’t know. Your mom said that he could stay here until I get him trained to shift back and forth.”

  “I told you he was a devil hound.” She beamed proudly.

  “Yes, you did,” I admitted, laughing uneasily.

  “I’m trying to talk your friend into letting me neuter him while he’s here.” Mrs. Smith tried to get Sara on board with convincing me that it was a good idea.

  “You know, he’ll probably try to mate with you now,” Sara told me in a serious tone.

  “So, you think I should have him neutered too?” I felt squeamish even considering it.

  “No.”

  We both looked at her in shock.

  Sara continued, “Devil hounds are rare. I wouldn’t want to see them become extinct.”

  “Then what would you suggest?” I asked, confused.

  “I don’t know, but I don’t think that neutering him is the answer.”

  “Trust me, it’s the best answer,” Mrs. Smith insisted.

  “It’s up to you, Claire. He’s your dog,” Sara gave me a hopeful look, and I knew that she wanted me to say no just as much as I wanted to say it.

  “Let’s keep him whole for now. If he starts to get out of hand, I’ll think of something.”

  “If he starts to get out of hand, it will be too late,” Mrs. Smith muttered under her breath. “There, all done.” She rose to her feet, examining the stitching on Fido’s arm with pride.

  “Thank you so much.” I gave her a hug, relieved that Fido was going to be alright. “I’ve got to get back. My aunt and uncle are going to be worried about me. If you don’t mind, I’m going to tell them that Fido got sick, and I left him over here. Don’t worry, they won’t come looking for him.”

  I felt bad dropping him off and running, but I already knew I was in for a reprimanding once I got back home.

  “We’ll take good care of him,” Mrs. Smith promised as they walked me to the door.

  I could hear Fido whimpering and yowling as I walked towards t
he forest. Furniture toppled over and dishes broke as he fought to get to one of the windows, pressing himself against it to watch me leave with the most heartbroken expression on his face. It hurt me to see him like that, but there was nothing I could do about it. Until he learned to get his shifting abilities under control, I couldn’t have him with me.

  CHAPTER TWO

  ~

  AUNT OPHELIA WAS LIVID WITH worry when I walked through the front door. “Where were you?” Her large hazel eyes soaked me in, filling me with unmerited guilt.

  “I got attacked by a bear. Fido saved me but got hurt in the process, so I took him over to Sara’s house since we were closer to there than here. He got a bad bite on his arm . . . I mean leg.” I winced at my mistake. “So, I left him over there and walked back.”

  If it weren’t for the fact that Fido wasn’t with me, she might not have believed me. The dog never left my side. There was no way that I could tell her the entire truth though, that my beloved pet had shape shifted into a man, a very attractive man at that, and he had no concept of his own humanity.

  With the concern of a mother, Aunt Ophelia grabbed me by the shoulders and looked me over. “Are you alright? You didn’t get hurt, did you?”

  “No, I’m fine.”

  “I sent Victor looking for you. Hopefully, he won’t be out too long.” Her concern shifted to a different direction.

  Thankfully, Uncle Victor was more relieved than angry when he returned after nearly three hours of searching for me. Apparently, he had dropped by Sara’s house during his search, though he made no mention of seeing a strange man around. I couldn’t help but wonder how Mrs. Smith had managed to hide Fido from him. The devil hound had been nothing but a big ball of energy when I left, bounding around the house recklessly with no way to restrain or calm him.

  The next day, I met up with Sara on the main road to walk to school together. In the last two years, we became great friends, despite Thomas’s opposition. He still thought that I should be spending my time with Mindy and the other well to do girls in town, but between me owning Fido and stealing Mindy’s husband to be, she pretty much loathed me and got all the other girls to detest me just as much.