Hounded Read online

  “How is he?” I asked Sara of Fido.

  “Mom had to put him to sleep last night.”

  “What?” My eyed widened in a flurry of emotion.

  She jumped at my reaction. “Oh no. That’s not what I meant. What I meant was that he wouldn’t stop crying, so she gave him some sleeping medicine to calm him down.”

  “Don’t scare me like that.” I glared at her for a moment and then sighed in relief. “He was crying?” My heart melted at the thought. Poor thing. He probably couldn’t understand why I had left him there.

  “It was rather dramatic.” Sara smiled at the memory, though I was certain it probably wasn’t funny at the time. “First he whimpered and tore through the house trying to find a way out, then he started bawling like a little baby.”

  “I’m sorry he’s so much trouble.” I felt genuinely bad. It must be really hard taking care of a grown man who had the brain of a dog.

  “It’s really too bad that he can’t think like a man. He’s rather good looking.”

  “I know.” My cheeks flushed at the thought of Fido naked. He was definitely easy on the eyes, slender yet well muscled, smooth and hairless. If he had been born human, he might have given Thomas a run for his money as far as my heart was concerned.

  “Devil hounds mate for life, you know?” Sara continued thoughtfully.

  “I didn’t know that.”

  “Too bad they don’t usually mate with other dogs.”

  “How could he? He’s as big as a horse.”

  “I suppose there’s that factor.”

  “He would probably kill any other dog he tried to mate with.”

  Sara sighed. “I’m starting to think that my mom is right about neutering him. I thought about it all night, and I really don’t see any way around it. It’s only a matter of time before he tries to force himself on you.”

  “I don’t understand how that works. If he has the mind of a dog, then wouldn’t he rather mate with other dogs.”

  “You’ve never owned a dog before, have you?” She gave me a serious glance.

  I hesitated, “No.”

  The only pet I had before Fido was a cat, though I did have several other friends who owned dogs. I think I understood what she was getting at. Most dogs didn’t discriminate when they were in that mood.

  “I would feel horrible about doing it,” I admitted.

  Fido had done nothing wrong to deserve being neutered, but Sara and her mother knew more about devil hounds than I could ever hope to. If they said he would eventually try to force himself on me, then it was probably true, and precautions needed to be taken to prevent it.

  “Me too.”

  Class was long and boring as usual. Thankfully, there were only two weeks left before I graduated. Then Thomas and I would be married, and we could go live our happily ever after.

  I walked Sara home after school, interested in seeing how Fido’s recovery was going. The house erupted into chaos as he sensed us approaching. Dishes clashed to the floor, and furniture toppled over while he bounded around inside, waiting anxiously for us to open the door.

  We both cringed as we heard Sara’s mother screaming at Fido in the background. Then I saw his face and torso pressed against the window, his tongue sticking out the side of his mouth as he grinned like an idiot. Sara’s fearful expression faded away at the sight of Fido, melting into an affectionate grin. As soon as she opened the door, he rushed out to greet us, clutching onto me and slobbering all over my face with his human tongue.

  Somehow, Mrs. Smith had managed to get a pair of pants on him. I could only imagine how much of a chore that had been. She glowered at Fido from the doorway.

  “We’re going to have to figure out what to do with him. He can’t stay in here. He destroys everything as soon as he smells you.” She scowled.

  Mrs. Smith’s words hardly touched me though. I was too busy taking in the absurdity of having a very attractive fully grown man rubbing all over me. Fido held onto my shoulders, pressing his full body against me while he nuzzled and licked my face. The amount of affection Fido lavished on me was overwhelming. It was funny how I had never noticed it before in his hound form. Then again, a tail wag and some nuzzling from a very fluffy horse sized hound was a lot different than having a gorgeous man’s mouth only inches from mine as he rubbed against me with his fit body.

  Fido’s tongue lapped over my lips, and I blushed, briefly wondering if he could be taught to kiss. What a sinful attraction it was, but it was there none the less.

  “Fido, down,” I said finally when I felt he might suffocate me with his slobbery kisses. In an instant, Fido left me to lavish affection on Sara, and I felt a twinge of jealousy at seeing them together, even though I knew it was completely innocent.

  Instead of standing rigid, like I had, Sara embraced him, placing playful kisses on both of his cheeks that only worked to fuel his overzealous energy. I couldn’t help but giggle as Fido wiggled his butt as if he still had a tail.

  “His arm is healing up well, but that’s to be expected. Being a magical creature, devil hounds have advanced healing powers. I hope you don’t mind, but I took some of his blood and hair to use in some spells I’ve been wanting to try but haven’t had the ingredients for,” Sara’s mother said.

  Her and Sara looked so different from each other that it was hard to imagine they were related. While Sara was thin, Mrs. Smith was thick. Sara had stringy blonde hair, and Mrs. Smith had curly tendrils of reddish brown. Sara’s large eyes were ghostly and pale, while Mrs. Smith’s were beady and black as pitch. Definitely worlds apart. They didn’t even share similar personalities. Everything Sara inherited must have come from her father, whom neither of them ever spoke about. I had half a mind to think that she was adopted, but she insisted that she wasn’t, and I chose to believe her.

  “I don’t mind at all.”

  “I’d give that arm about a week to finish healing, and then you can start teaching him how to shift back and forth.”

  “Has he shifted since yesterday?”

  “No, but I certainly wish he would. It would be a lot easier to handle him as a dog than a man. At least as a dog, I could chain him up outside.”

  “Why can’t you chain him up now?” I asked apprehensively, somehow feeling like I should already know the answer.

  “Because he’d probably kill himself,” she replied plainly before explaining further. “There’s a big difference in girth between his human neck and his hound neck. If I put a collar on him now, and he decided to shift suddenly, the collar would either break his neck or suffocate him to death. I doubt he’d have enough sense to change back before he died.”

  “Oh.” I definitely didn’t want that to happen.

  “It’s too bad that I don’t have a barn to keep him in. I figured you gals could help me reinforce the shed, so I could put him in there. It’s small, but as long as he doesn’t shift, he should be alright. I’ve just got to make sure he can’t bust through the door. The little shit is strong.”

  “What if he did shift in there?”

  “Oh, he wouldn’t get hurt. He would probably just break the damn thing down. He’s a lot stronger in his hound form than his human form.”

  It sounded like the best idea we could come up with. I could certainly understand Mrs. Smith not wanting Fido to stay inside. Having no concept of physical possession and money, he was a ball of destruction, not caring what he broke inside of her house.

  We worked into the late afternoon reinforcing the shed. All the while, Fido watched us, pacing around and coming in for the occasional nuzzle. It was strange to see a fully grown man act so not human. A few times, he crouched down and kicked his foot up against his ear in an unnaturally flexible dog-like gesture to scratch himself. And then there was the awkwardness of watching Fido lick himself between the legs.

  “I bet every man wishes he could do that,” Mrs. Smith joked, and it blew my mind how she could stare at him shamelessly, as if he was still a hound and not a
man. Both Sara and I averted our eyes, feeling like looking at his man parts was somehow wrong.

  By the time we were done, we were all exhausted, except for Fido, of course, who hadn’t done anything but watched. Too bad we couldn’t teach him how to hammer nails. Maybe we could, but we didn’t really have the time for it.

  Now all that was left was getting him to go inside. I stood in the doorway, hoping to coax him in with promises of affection.

  “Fido, come here boy,” I called to him, slapping my knees as I had always done when he was in hound form.

  I couldn’t help but giggle when he bounded towards me. Apparently, Fido had decided that he was still very much a dog, taking to all fours any time he felt the need to run.

  “Good boy,” I praised Fido, fluffing up his silvery gray hair while I backed up into the shed. “Who’s a good boy?” It still seemed strange baby talking to him, but he completely ate it up, trembling with excitement and looking at me like the happiest guy on the face of the planet. I felt incredibly guilty knowing that his smile would fade when the door shut behind him.

  As expected, the second I slipped out of the shed and we locked him in, Fido began crying and raising all sorts of hell. My heart broke at the sound of his desperate whimpers.

  “He’ll be fine in there.” Mrs. Smith placed a reassuring hand on my shoulder. “There’s nothing he can break that isn’t already broken.”

  “He sounds so sad.” Sara frowned.

  “He’ll get used to it,” Mrs. Smith told us.

  With a heavy heart, I headed back home, my mind filled with thoughts of Fido. It felt almost like I was abandoning him, but I couldn’t afford the risk of my uncle seeing him in human form, or anyone else, for that matter.

  “How’d he handle being in the shed all night?” I asked Sara the next day on the way to school.

  “He cried for about an hour, but then he settled down. I went out and checked on him a few times through the window. This morning when I went to feed him, he pushed his way through the door, but I was able to trick him back inside with a pork bone.”

  I pictured Fido gnawing on a bone in his human form. It seemed more than silly.

  “I really appreciate you and your mom taking care of him for me.”

  “It’s no trouble to me. I rather enjoy having him around. He’s very affectionate, and nice to look at.” Her cheeks flushed slightly, and I felt that strange twinge of jealousy again.

  “Where do devil hounds come from anyway? I’d never heard of them til I met you.”

  Thoughts of perversion quickly cleared from Sara’s mind. “They descended from werewolves, or werewolves descended from them. No one is really sure.”

  “If that was the case, I’d think I would have heard about them before.”

  “They’re very rare. They’re born when a werewolf mates with a regular wolf or dog. The animal gene is more present during the mating, and so that’s what primarily gets passed on. That’s why the baby starts out as a puppy instead of a human. If a devil hound mates with a human, their offspring is born a werewolf.”

  “I thought that you could only become a werewolf by being bitten.”

  “That’s what most people think. But there are two different kinds of werewolves. There are ones that are born werewolves and ones that only become werewolves after they are bitten. The difference is quite distinct. Those who become werewolves from being bitten retain their human characteristics, and they can only shift during the full moon. The shift is forced, and they lose their sense of humanity. That’s why they sometimes end up mating with dogs and other wolves instead of humans.” Sara paused, and for a moment, I didn’t think she would go on.

  “And the other kind,” I asked, “the ones that are born werewolves?”

  “Their eyes are red, like Fidos. They won’t be able to shift until they’re sexually mature, but when they do shift, they retain their human thoughts. Born werewolves can’t pass on the werewolf gene by breeding. They can only pass it on through a bite, and their bite turns normal people into bitten werewolves.”

  “Wow, that sounds a bit complex.” And like folklore, I thought to myself, but dared not say it. After all, what did I really know. I hadn’t believed Sara when she initially told me that Fido was a devil hound, and here we were now, keeping him locked up in her shed because he had shifted. “So what happens when two devil hounds mate or two werewolves mate?” My curiosity was piqued.

  “Two devil hounds together will birth another devil hound. And two werewolves together will birth another werewolf. Both of those occurrences are extremely rare though. It’s not often that two demon hounds live in the same vicinity, and bitten werewolves see their condition as a curse that they don’t want to pass on through procreation.”

  “That makes sense.”

  My paranormal education continued all the way to school. It seemed that Sara had an endless knowledge of werewolf genealogy and all things related. By the time we got to school, my head was so full of new fantastical knowledge that it was practically bursting at the seams. I was admittedly a bit relieved when my eyes landed on Thomas, waiting for me at the door to the school, and I knew that I could enjoy some normal conversation.

  “There’s my bride to be.” His sapphire eyes lit up as they landed on me.

  “Hello, Thomas,” Sara greeted him, and he gave her a look of disdain, the same way he had since I first met them. Seemingly unaffected, Sara brushed past him and went into the building to take her seat.

  “I swear, once we’re married, I’ll have you in more civilized company,” he said, not caring to lower his voice so that she couldn’t hear.

  “Sara’s my best friend, and if she’s good enough for me, then she should be good enough for you,” I told him, grinning at his stubbornness.

  “We obviously have differing opinions on what’s good enough.” Thomas sneered towards the door, but then lost the sour face as he returned his attention to me. “My mother got a catalog in from the city with some wedding dresses. I’d like for you to come have a look at it after school today.”

  My cheeks flushed with the thought of us standing before the altar together. Thomas would look dashing in a pressed black tuxedo. I only hoped that I would be half as attractive.

  Before I said yes, my mind flitted to Fido. Mrs. Smith probably expected me to come take care of him every day after school while he was in her care.

  “How about this weekend?” I suggested. “I have a lot of chores to do when I get home.”

  “I can bring the catalog by your house, if you like.”

  “No,” I replied quickly. “I wouldn’t have time to thoroughly look over it. Let’s get together this weekend.”

  “Alright,” he agreed finally, leading me into the school building for class.

  The day proceeded as normal until last recess came around. Like usual, the younger children headed for the door before the handful of older students, ever eager to escape their studies. Today however, something stopped them from leaving the school-building, filling the room with gasps.

  “Mrs. Pots,” a small boy said, peering out onto the schoolyard with a look of worry on his face, “there’s a naked man outside.”

  My breath hitched, and I glanced at Sara, who had an equally horrified look on her face. There was no question in either of our minds who the man was.

  Part of me wanted to go usher Fido away, but the larger part of me was terrified about how I would explain him to Thomas. There was no doubt in my mind that Thomas would be furious when he found out that Fido could shape shift into a man. More so that I had withheld that information from him. He would likely see it as a betrayal, and maybe even call off the wedding. I definitely didn’t want that to happen.

  With Thomas at her heels, ever the protector of the school, Mrs. Pots rushed to see what all the commotion was about. Upon their disappearance, Sara took the opportunity to flank my side, giving me an urgent look as if to ask why I hadn’t been the first one out of the door. “We’ve got
to do something,” she said desperately.

  “Thomas can’t know,” I whispered.

  It was the first time I had ever seen Sara look angry at anyone for anything. Without another second’s hesitation, she brushed past me, pushing through the students who were gathered at the door. All that I could force myself to do was follow, hoping she had a plan that would save Fido while not sabotaging my engagement.

  Fido seemed confused, simply standing there as Mrs. Pots talked to him. His eyes lit up when they landed on Sara, and he instantly tried to push through Thomas and Mrs. Pots to get to her. Afraid that he might be trying to attack the students, Thomas grabbed him by the arm, pulling him back.

  “Fido,” Sara said, completely ignoring my pleas to keep him a secret from Thomas.

  “Fido?” Thomas made a disgusted face, still holding onto Fido’s arm despite his struggling.

  “I told you he’s a devil hound.” She looked up at me. “Claire, get down here. You need to help me get him home.”

  My heart sunk at the association.

  “Why isn’t he wearing any clothing?” Mrs. Pots was absolutely appalled.

  “He must have shifted and lost them,” Sara tried to explain. “Let go of him.” She glared at Thomas, who promptly obeyed.

  “That damn dog is a demon after all. An abomination. I’ll have him killed by the end of the day,” Thomas declared.

  “You most certainly will not.” I stormed down the stairs, standing between Thomas and Fido.

  “That thing is a monster, not a pet. Look at him.” He gestured. “His nakedness is a proof of his sin.”

  “He’s naked because he doesn’t know any better,” I argued.

  “He really doesn’t,” Sara agreed. “I know what it looks like, but he’s really harmless. There’s no need to kill him.”

  “I refuse to allow this . . . demon,” Thomas spat, “to pervert my fiancé any longer. He will die or we won’t marry.”