Richard’s laughter returned. This time the cola he sipped sputtered out and onto the floor.

“I don’t see what is so funny.” Annoyed with his amusement, Janet continued to back out of the room. “I start sneezing, swelling and tearing up within two feet of a dog.”

“You hear that, ah... Rex? Janet is allergic to you.”

The wolf sent out a yip in response.

“Can you take it outside?”

“Ah, no. Rex is an indoor dog, a very protective indoor dog. Max wanted him to stay by your side while he’s away.”

How could that be? Janet asked herself. Outside of the tears over the intrusion on her life, she hadn’t as much as sniffled since she came into Max’s home. “Huh...” She relaxed slightly, but waited for the sneezing to start.

“You don’t seem to be sneezing now.”

Rex moved toward her, his head lowered. Once directly in front of her, he sat on his haunches and sniffed the air.

She reached her hand out and touched his fur. His coat was silver with tips of black and soft like mink. Accepting her touch as an invitation, Rex stood up and rubbed against her leg.

“You big flirt,” Richard called from the couch.

Janet held her breath, but the sneezes never came. “He’s a wolf?”

“Yeah, Max doesn’t like anything conventional.”

Having never been this close to an, otherwise, wild breed of dog, Janet assumed her lack of an allergy attack was due to his heritage. “What was his name again?”

“Rex. Isn’t that right, Rex?” Richard called in a sing-song voice.

“If I start swelling up, I’m going to retreat to my room.”

“Fine by me.”

Janet sat back down. To her distress, Rex hopped on the couch and made himself comfortable. He dropped his head in her lap as if he had done so a thousand times. Not willing to shoo the dog off, Janet mumbled, “I’m asking for trouble.”

Richard started to laugh again. He smacked Rex’s leg and pointed to the TV. “Look there, Rex. One of your family members.”

Rex growled at Richard in response.

****

Max rested in her lap, her scent filled him more in this form than it did in his human state. He felt her body relax as she grew more accustomed to his presence.

Richard continued to prod him during the ridiculous movie, a gag gift his baby brother gave him years before.

Once it was over, he followed Janet up the stairs, never leaving her side.

Inside her room, she stopped him at the door. “Stay.” She pointed to the space outside her room.

She started to close the door, but Max moved to follow her in.

“I said, stay.” She pushed him back.

He let out a yip and bolted between her legs and into the room.

“You can’t be in here.”

She bent down and tried to move him, but instead of budging, he smeared her face with his tongue.

Janet laughed and wiped her face clean. “Aren’t you supposed to be loyal to your master? That would be Max, not me.”

Max lay down, put his head on his paws, and settled in for the night.

“Oh, whatever.” Janet tugged her shirt from her pants and started undoing the buttons. She walked into the bathroom and ran the water in the sink.

Unable to stop himself, Max moved in closer to get a better view. She tugged the shirt off her shoulders, under was a black lacy bra, her creamy br**sts heaved over the top of the thin material.

He watched her brush her teeth and hair, completely oblivious to his presence. She peeled off her jeans and kicked them clear of her feet.

Dear God, her panties matched. He felt the growl in the pit of his stomach and couldn’t control his reaction. She cocked her head to one side. “Okay, out with you,” she waved him away before shutting the door in his face.

Just as well, I can’t do anything until I’m human again anyway.

****

Max slept off and on during the night, confident that any alarm raised would bring him around. He heard nothing of Gorman, or any of his pack in the distance. Most full moons Max spent his time watching out for Gorman, or others like him. Werewolves who prowled every month, turning innocent people into more like them.

Gorman and his like were what gave werewolves their Hollywood name. Vicious, blood-thirsty animals that either ate their prey or turned them for the purpose of mating or controlling.

Like any species of animal, or humans for that matter, there were good and bad amongst them. Max’s family had werewolf blood in their veins for centuries. They considered themselves defenders, vigilantes of the full moon. They never turned another without their express permission. Even Max had been given the choice. He exercised it when his father had become ill, and a pack had invaded his childhood neighborhood. Max watched as one of his best friends was turned. The power of the change did more than shift his form each month; it changed his personality. He killed others instead of protecting. It was as if the werewolf who turned him injected evil with his bite.

Unfortunately, without the power of the change, Max was unable to hunt down and find the werewolves who killed. But with heightened senses, the task proved easy. He hunted during the full moon to find his prey. With their identity confirmed, Max followed in his human form, often finding them in illegal acts. A simple phone call to the police led them to the renegade were’s location.

A few times, he attacked the enemy in wolf form, sometimes causing their death. But that was risky, and not something Max would do unless he was left with no other choice.

Gorman was slick. Max had been following him for three months. Unfortunately, Max couldn’t find anything on him, and the time to fight him soon approached. Now that he had his sights on Janet, Max was left with little choice.

Janet was his. He placed his head on her thigh and closed his eyes. She didn’t know it yet, but she was his.

Chapter Five

The sun’s glaring rays through the window woke her. A few minutes passed before Janet remembered where she was. When she did, she glanced around the room for Rex. But he was gone.

She noticed the door to her room slightly open and assumed someone heard him and let him out. His presence in the room had kept her calm after she realized she wasn’t going into anaphylactic shock by being in his presence.

Janet made her way to the shower and wondered if Max had made it home.

Max’s kitchen was enormous like his house. But it lacked in supplies. Janet found what she needed for coffee and started a pot. She rummaged through the maple cupboards and subzero refrigerator, found a loaf of bread and some eggs. Her mouth watered with the thought of French toast.