“Do you have any clue to what his problem is?” she asked pointing to the wolf who was sniffing every corner of the room.
“Not exactly, but I can guess. This is the first time he’s shifted since the surgery, and now he’s checking his territory. Way too many unusual smells and he probably remembers the attach yesterday. So, he’s guarding you too. Knowing Luc, he was damn frustrated yesterday about not being able to keep you safe. Plus, he probably feels guilty about Duke losing his mind. So, we have ‘the big bad wolf’ checking out the world and planning to keep it safe,” said Peter.
“Great. Is Kevin still asleep?” she asked working her way to the cupboard where the filters were kept. She handed one to Peter who finished working on the coffee.
“Yeah. He’s shifted too. Hope you don’t mind fur all over the covers,” said Peter.
Meg laughed. “Right, like I’d have a choice?” she said pointing to Luc sitting in the middle of the kitchen floor.
Peter realized just what he had said and laughed.
The wolf looked from the man who smelled like a wolf to his mate. “Soft One is safe with him,” he thought. Standing up, he nosed past his mate and headed towards the other scent in the house. There had been lots of two legged wolves in the house. He reached the place where the other scent was strong, but he couldn’t get into the space. He stuck his nose next to the floor where there was a gap and sniffed. “Wolf asleep. Hurt. Safe for Soft One,” he thought. Walking back to the kitchen, he sat watching his mate and the man. After a minute, he headed for the back door. Pawing the handle, he let himself out. More scents. He covered the yard in a few strides.
Meg watched Luc check out the back yard. She giggled when he stopped, sniffed and then peed on a few spots.
“What are you laughing at?” asked Peter.
“Oh, just himself checking the peemail,” she said.
“Peemail?” he replied. Then he thought about it and started to giggle too. “Guess we do check things out just a bit differently on four legs.”
“Yeah. That nose in the crotch thing is right disturbing when it is just a dog. However, when you know that it’s a shifter, it takes on a whole different perspective,” said Meg.
Peter nodded. His girlfriends over the years had made a list of things that you really should remember when around humans. Crotch sniffing was a real no-no.
“Anymore of that coffee?”Kevin said as he walked slowly into the kitchen.
“Sure, let me get you a cup,” said Meg. She reached around Peter, grabbed a mug and poured Kevin a cup. “What do you want in it?” she asked.
“Just black coffee,” he said holding out his hand for the cup.
Meg smiled. She understood that whole ‘gotta have coffee before I’m made to think’ look that Kevin had.
“I see that Luc shifted again,” said Kevin. He was watching Luc checking out the back yard.
“Yeah, maybe things will get back to normal now,” said Peter.
“Nah, Ginny would still find things to yell at us for,” said Kevin.
“That’s why I work in the warehouse,” replied Peter.
Meg smiled. She was getting to know her fellow co-workers better and it helped her understanding of them as people and shifters. The idea of a pecking order had a whole different meaning when people had two natures. Now she wanted Luc to shift back so she could talk to him about everything that went on yesterday. She looked out the window and saw that he was headed back into the house.
The wolf came inside and found Soft One and the other two in the kitchen. He hurt and went to lay down on the big soft spot that smelled like Soft One.
“Well, I guess Luc may not be joining us for breakfast,” said Peter as he watched the wolf head back to the bedroom.
“Or, maybe he’s going off to shift privately?” suggested Meg.
“Could be, but from what I see, it looks like he is getting back into bed,” said Kevin peering around the corner.
“Oh,” said Meg. She wondered if she should follow, and decided to drink her coffee first.
*
The wolf jumped up on the bed and then smelled something. Cubs had been here. He sniffed around the room, and found a bag. The crumbs in the bag were good, as he licked the last of them up. Then he sniffed again. Walking over to the side of the room, he smelled the cubs scent on a small furry thing. He sniffed it. It didn’t smell like food, but it looked like food. He took it gently in his teeth and grabbed it to bring it down to his feet. As his jaws squeezed it, it began to make a noise.
“baaa, Beeeh, baaaaa, Beeeeh,” squeaked the toy sheep.
The wolf dropped it in surprise. It continued to make noise, and he hit at it trying to kill the noise. It didn’t work. It just continued to make noise. He hit at it again and it didn’t stop.
Meg and the two men heard the toy sheep go off, and headed for the bedroom. They stopped in the doorway and laughed. There on the bed was Luc, the huge wolf with a toy sheep going ‘baaa, Beeeh, baaaa, Beeeh’ under his paws. Every time it made noise, the wolf slapped at it with his paws as if that would kill it and make it stop.
“Oh, my god!” laughed Meg. She was laughing so hard, that her sides were hurting.
“I wish I had my camera,” laughed Peter.
All Kevin could do was laugh. He’d never seen such a ludicrous sight in his entire life. Better yet, it was Luc/Wolf that was the focus for the laughter.
The wolf looked at Soft One and the two-legged wolves who were making as much noise as the thing he had grabbed. He gave up trying to hit it and shoved it off to the floor and put his head down on his paws.