The Big Dog's Movin' In

New Moon howls and yowls, shapeshifter lovers.

Yep, this flash scene is going to the dogs. And I couldn’t even get to the part where Dante hires the hero as one of his top lieutenants at the Pleasure Club. Still, I hope you enjoy.
~~~~~~

The Big Dog’s Movin’ In

Not bothering with headlights once dusk melted into night, Daebo relied on his superior eyesight, maneuvering over the backwoods road at a good clip in his trusty all-terrain truck, one he’d hand built.

Yeah, and it was a new moon night. Darkness fell like a big ole blanket. So, some of his so-called skills were downright handy. Especially, since he’d needed to get out of town fast.

Hell’s own, he hadn’t even hung around long enough to find out which of the alphabet soup agencies wanted a piece of his large honkin’ ass... or wanted his blood... damn their souls, if they even possessed one... hell, his hair would do. They always pilfered his brushes and combs, and scooped out his shower drain.

Or, it might have been one of the top criminal organizations he’d pissed off over the years. Like the Yakuza.

“Now, we’re howlin’.” Daebo cranked up the sound on his old analogue radio. “Shout out bark to Hank, the big dog Williams, Jr... and Daddy Hank.”

I came in last night and I don't know when.
That woman of mine she wouldn't let me in.
I said Move it on over. Move it on over.
Move over little dog 'cause the big dog's movin' in.

Daebo rumbled along with the tune, adding, “Synchronicity is out to get me, and lickin’ at my tail-waggin’ butt.”

She told me once, she told me twice.
I don't take no gal's advice.
Pack it on over. Move it on over.
Move over old dog 'cause the new dog's movin' in.

“Ain’t got no gal, ain’t got no home now... but, move it on over. This big dog’s movin’ in... somewhere.” Daebo barked a few notes, his inner Akita wanting to come out and play.

Yeah, he’d have to shift soon. He didn’t want to lose even seconds of morphing speed. Besides, it was the best way to stretch his muscles -- a good run over the forest floor. He’d been driving for over twelve hours now.

She told me not to mess around.
I done let that deal go down.
Slide it on over. Move it on over.
Move over skinny dog 'cause the fat dog's movin' in.

“The fat dog needs to relieve himself. Hike his leg on the nearest stump,” Daebo growly sang. Peering deep into the old the forest, home of Big Foot, he slowed and scanned for a less dense area where he could keep a watch out for any enemy.

The dog house here is kinda small,
But it's got good sounds and they're wall-to-wall.
Get it on over. Move it on over.
Move over Little dog 'cause the new dog's movin' in.

“Tired of small cramped apartments...tired of hidin’ my canine nature. This dog’s movin’ on, and movin’ into larger digs.” If he’d had any wrangling experience, Daebo would have looked for work on a ranch. Maybe... except he didn’t want to bring no trouble down on anyone. One reason he always kept to himself these days.

She crawled back to me on her knees.
But I'm busy 'cause I got new fleas.
Get it on over. Scoot it on over.
Move over old dog 'cause the new dog's movin' in.

Seeing a spot with promise, as in not detectable by satellite surveillance, Daebo jerked the steering wheel, not caring about the rocky, uneven ground. His tires weren’t regulation, and didn’t puncture. Plus, he’d built the truck to take this kind of rough treatment with a big ole smile on its grill.

“Got no fuckin’ fleas... watch out trees... get it on over, scoot on over, please... this big dog’s coming through ‘cause he needs to pees.”

Yeah, I came in last night and I don't know when.
That second wife of mine, she wouldn't let me in.
I said Move it on over. Scoot it on over.
Move over old dog, the fat dog's movin' in.

“Ain’t got no wife now... two Exes down... can’t explain all the movin’ around... arf, arf, can’t explain the men in black on the doorstep... move it one over... scoot it on over... ain’t the marrying kind no more... yeah, the fat dog’s movin’ on.”

Yeah, move over old dog. The hot dog's movin' in.

Daebo slammed on the brakes. The truck bounced high, then hopped like jackrabbit. Automatically, Daebo fought it to a stop. What the...?

Nope, his eyesight was still good as ever. A woman was trying to stand. Wobbling, her hand pressed to her head, she braced herself against a tree trunk. Daebo watched her crumple to the ground as he flung open the door.

***

The last bullets entering her flesh, at the base of her spine and in her temple, had about done Shonna in. Her nearly indestructible body could heal at superspeed. However, she’d endured round after round of fire. Unexpectedly.

Now, she wasn’t able to recover at her usual speed. And, the ‘kill anyone from space’ squad still dogged her trail. She could feel them, each of their energy signatures. True, she’d lost them after her burst into what she called the soundless domain while still in her craft. But, they’d put a tracker satellite beam on her once she abandoned ship.

Wracked by pain, Shonna stifled a yelp. Her body jerked, then spasmed from her effort to stand. But, noz! She couldn’t stay here like a damn sitting duck. Or, in her case like a severely injured extraterrestrial shapeshifter.

Shonna gasped out loud as agonizing pain sliced up her spine. Flushing with the high heat her body used to kill viruses, she tried to rise again. Shaky, she grabbed for the tree’s small branch.

Unusually strong arms wrapped around her waist, and held her with surprising gentleness. The man used his unusually tall and massively sized body to keep her upright.

Why hadn’t she sensed his presence? Heard his approach? Then, she realized. He wasn’t merely human. Shonna didn’t have enough strength to read his energy, though, to discover what he was exactly.

“Lady, you’re hurt seriously. Let me get you --”

“Dante,” she interrupted. “I have to...to... it’s the only safe place now.”

“Dante?” He cradled her in his arms lifting her. “My truck’s nearby. I can get you where you want to go.” With long careful strides he moved over the rugged ground as if he could see exceptionally well in the dark. “But, don’t you need a hospital?”

“No!... no,” she softened her tone, “I don’t want... need a hospital. Please...” Noz, he was supernaturally strong. “I need to get to Talbot’s Peak. It’s not far...”

“Saw it on the map.” One-handed he opened the passenger door to his odd-looking truck, then hesitated. “Am I hurting you? Will I hurt you if...”

“No... no pain, I’m in shock,” Shonna made up. “Can we go fast?”

After lowering her onto the seat, and making certain she was completely inside, he turned off the blaring radio, then muttered, “Be right back. I’ll hurry. Yeah, we’ll go fast.”

“Okay.” Shonna slumped back. Pain lashed the entire length of her spine and throbbed her temple. Once he shut the door, she clenched her eyelids and gritted her teeth. Her body had stiffened like a corpse.

It meant her healing had accelerated. Certainly good, but the agony was about to make her scream, loud as a horror movie starlet. The sound would be tracked, and her space alien voice recognized.

Shonna gripped the door handle, squeezing hard while biting her bottom lip. Once her pain dropped a few notches, she caught whiffs of dog odor. At the same moment, her rescuer hauled open the driver’s door, and eased himself onto the seat in an obvious attempt not to jar her.

“You still okay, lady?”

“Shonna... my name. I’ll be better once we’re on the way.”

“Shonna, nice name. Yeah, sure. Daebo is my handle. It’s gonna be a rough ride back to the road,” he warned, even as he rolled the truck forward, then circled in the direction she’d been going.

“I’ll survive... Daebo.”

Shonna collapsed against the back of the seat, her body losing its rigidity. She decided not to question why he hadn’t switched on the headlights. Of course, what in the heavenly one’s name was he doing out here? This was bear and Sasquatch country. No humans for miles... but, he wasn’t only human, she remembered. And his truck clearly wasn’t an ordinary, from the factory model.

“Mind telling me why you’re out in the middle of god’s country?” he asked, his tone cautious yet probing.

“Only if you tell me why you’re out here.” That had probably been the improper conversational response. Still...pain did that. Shonna couldn’t think all that clearly. Besides, she had no acceptable answer. Not even a good lie.

“Lookin’ for nature’s restroom. And a look see at the stars. No light pollution.”

It hurt, but Shonna raised a brow at his lie about looking at the stars. “Okay, Daebo, I’ll tell you, if you promise not to commit me to a mental ward.”

“Yeah. No. I won’t.”

Noz, he was excellent at driving over the forest floor, and keeping the bouncing-jouncing to a minimum. “I’m what’s called a disaster prevention technician. I’ve been on Earth for about five years now. My planet is affected adversely every time there’s a major nuclear explosion here. I was stopping a core meltdown at the Fort Calhoun nuke plant, which I managed. However, in the meantime, I was detected as an extraterrestrial. I couldn’t escape fast enough. Got filled with full metal jacket lead. Oh, by the way,” she sucked in a large breath, “the we-hate-space-aliens squad is still on my trail.”

He didn’t say anything. Even so, his driving didn’t alter either, and they rocked back onto the backwoods road that led to the main highway into Talbot’s Peak.

“Fort Calhoun, isn’t that in Nebraska?” His voice was a neutral growl.

Well, at least, he wasn’t squealing to a stop and throwing her out of his truck. Shonna took that as a somewhat positive sign. “Yes, Nebraska. I had to abandon my now uncloaked craft, and hoof it on foot... oh, it’s complicated and... well, my head hurts like a sledgehammer hit it... now normally I wouldn’t feel a sledgehammer...”

Shonna clamped her mouth shut. What was she doing? Babbling because of her pain? Her head had certainly begun a slow nasty whirl. Still, she realized Daebo sped them over the narrow rutted road unusually fast, yet not recklessly.

“Who or what is Dante? A doctor?” he sort of barked.

“Werewolf,” she blurted out. He’s a werewolf. Not a doctor.” Noz! Maybe the bullet lodged in her temple, but in the process of dissolving, now pressed some sort of brain truth button.

“Oh, yeah.” Shonna heard the light go on inside his head. “Now I remember. Talbot’s Peak is rumored to be some sort of new refuge for shapeshifters. Just my kind of place right now.”

“Shapeshifter. Dog smell. You’re a dog shifter.”

“I’m an Akita dog shapeshifter,” he stated, emphasizing the breed name. “Wasn’t always a shifter, though. Wasn’t always like this.”

Even though her head performed twirls, her pain had lessened significantly, so Shonna asked, “They, the mad scientists types, made you, didn’t they?”

“Yep, join the Navy, see the world. In my case I saw the inside of a lab. Got tagged for experimentation because I had no family left.”

“You escaped. How?”

“Been about thirty years that I’ve been running free. Or, just runnin’. Pretty simple escape plan. I slipped my leash. They let some of the grunts at the Presidio walk me without telling them what I was. Once I made it into San Francisco, I could run with the strays and hideout, or shift and work in restaurant kitchens for enough livin’ money.” He gave her a sideways glance, checking her response to his truth telling.

“Why haven’t they found you? With the technological grid here...” Shonna let her words fade away. From her periphery vision, she watched him settle back in his seat. They’d just turned onto the highway, and he’d accelerated, heedless of the speed limit.

“Course, they’ve been on my tail and my trail ever since, collectin’ any kind of genetic material they could retrieve. I must’ve exceeded their scientific expectations. Might be because I’m not pushin’ up daisies.” He stomped on the accelerator. “Got a clear path for a few miles.”

“Good,” she murmured. Noz, her body was temporarily turning itself off to complete repairs. “Don’t worry. I’m about to...to go unconscious for awhile. Please...take me to Dante. Do you know...” oh no her hormones had taken possession of her and she was due to go in give-me-sex heat, and the words were still leaving her mouth... ”do you know you’re the kind of man I do my best to avoid... because, because I’d want you humping me twenty-four seven.”

***

Whoever this Dante, the werewolf, was, Daebo decided he was over-the-top, dog snarling jealous. The way Shonna had felt in his arms... well, twenty-four seven would be just fine with him.
~~~~~~

Have a Magickal Shapeshifting Week!

Savanna

Savanna Kougar ~ Run on the Wild Side of Romance ~

Fangbanger II: Love's a Bitch

Gina raked her predatory gaze over both the customers and the staff of the coffee shop. As she’d feared, pickings were slim. Her first choice of hunting ground, Dante’s Pleasure Club, had ended up on the fiasco list. Her efforts to boost her age through make-up hadn’t fooled the bouncer at the door. The son of a mutt had carded her, noted her birth date, and turned her away with a condescending grin and a snide, “See you in two years, honey.”

Hump him. Hump him and Dante and the legal drinking age and Dane, her pack’s alpha, and especially the Stone Age law that said only alphas could mate. She wasn’t a puppy any more. She was a full-grown beta bitch and she wanted a date, dog damn it!

With the Pleasure Club out of bounds, she moved on to Rattigan’s, only to find they wouldn’t let her in either without a legal-age escort. But that’s the point, she’d wailed at the obstinate squirrel. I'm trying to find one. I’m not even going to drink. The squirrel remained adamant. He threatened to fetch Louie, the owner. Since the rat outweighed her by at least a hundred pounds, Gina was forced to once again take her hunt elsewhere.

So here she sat, looking for action among the dorky and over-caffeinated. Gina growled into her mint-chocolate latte. How was a bitch supposed to get laid in an omega crowd like this?

Two tables over a pair of human shes sipped twin espressos and giggled. “I could go for some fang,” the blonde loudly announced.

“You bet,” the even blonder one chimed in. “A nice big wolf. Or a really hot vampire. Where are you, sweetie? We’re here and we’re ready to rock.”

Just great. Competition from monkeys. Why couldn’t they just stay in the trees and eat fruit like they were supposed to?

Nobody took them up on their offer, which spoke volumes for the taste level of the males in attendance. All the better for Gina. She was trying to decide whether to approach the jackrabbit in the biker jacket – normally she didn’t go for herbies, but the rumors she’d heard about rabbits intrigued her – and the trim young cougar in the athletic shoes when the door swung open. She caught his scent before she saw him.

Busted. Scat.

All six lickable feet of black-haired, golden-eyed Brody Lawrence stood beside the door with fists clenched and nose working. Gina had known Dane wouldn’t personally trouble himself over some runaway pup. However, she’d hoped for a different dogcatcher than Brody. Dane’s beta couldn’t be swayed by whined entreaties, pouty lips or licks to his dimpled chin. He was devoted to his alpha. She wondered if even the scent of a bitch in heat could entice him away from his duty.

She wasn’t the only female in the room to take notice. The monkey girls practically wet themselves. “Vampire,” Blonde proclaimed. “Werewolf,” Even Blonder insisted.

Gina bared her teeth. Of course he was wolf. How could even a simian mistake a wolf for some corpse-reeky bloodsucker? One only had to watch him move, with that confident, determined stride, to know the difference.

That confident, determined stride had brought him to her table. He took her by the wrist. “You set quite a twisted trail, puppy,” he said in his low, musical voice. He had the most melodious howl in the pack, always right on key. “I applaud your evasive skills. However, that’s over. Time to come home.”

“I’m not a puppy.” Gina lifted her latte cup. “And I’m not done yet.”

“Yes, you are.” His tone crushed both her statements. He tugged on her wrist. “Let’s go.”

Gina hung onto the table and stayed put. Stubbornness wasn’t solely an alpha trait. Inspiration hit her, and her snarl reversed itself. She’d been on the hunt for a handsome male and one had just fallen into her lap. Literally, if she could manage it. She simpered up at him and batted her lashes, as she’d seen the shes do around Dane. “Why not join me? It’s only a cup of coffee for a couple of minutes.” She broadened her smile, her meaning unmistakable. “My treat.”

“Nice try, but no. Dane wants you home, where it’s safe.” He leaned down and murmured in her ear, “Don’t make me get out the leash.”

Gina blanched. He’d do it. He’d haul her out of here in a collar like a recalcitrant puppy. Brody was a stickler for rules. Her face flashed from white to red. Hump that. “I’m not going anywhere with you until I’ve finished my coffee. You can like it or lump it.” She raised her voice for the benefit of the shop’s other customers. “Do you even like girls?”

Ah, now that expression was worth any punishment he or Dane could dish out. As intended, Brody now became the center of everyone’s attention. Gina grinned. See how he liked a dose of public humiliation. The blonde monkey girls, halfway to their feet, exchanged stricken looks and slumped back onto their chairs.

Uh-oh. His eyes had gone hard as topaz. Maybe she shouldn’t have pushed that particular button. His lips skinned back, revealing the heavier-than-human canines that marked a were. One of the blondes squealed, and not in a c’mere-and-bite-me-big-boy kind of way. “We’re leaving. Now.”

Meekly Gina rose. The coffee shop’s blue-haired barista planted herself in their path. “Any trouble here?” she said. She spoke to Gina, but watched Brody. The ape slid her hand into her apron pocket. Anything could be in there, from mace to a gun. Nothing in there would mean anything good.

Brody put on the knee-weakening smile he could turn on and off at will. “My sister. She’s out past her curfew.”

“What he said,” Gina agreed. She knew her own golden eyes would support the sibling story. She added a petulant, teen-agey pout for good measure. Brody’s eyebrows climbed. So did the barista’s, but she let it, and them, go.

Gina’s compliance lasted only until they hit the sidewalk. Then she yanked her arm from Brody’s grip. “I’m not a puppy, you know,” she snapped. “I’m over eighteen. I’ve had my first heat. I may not be old enough to drink, but I’m legal for everything else.”

“I know,” Brody said, with a growl in his voice that pricked up her ears. He tried to mask it by adding, “You should also be old enough to understand why Dane has such restrictive rules. It’s for the safety of the pack.”

“They’re stupid rules,” Gina complained. “It’s why half the pack’s swishtail.” Especially Dane, she suspected. He always picked young, good-looking males as his betas. Brody certainly fit all Dane’s requirements. Including the most important one? Her mouth curved partway upward. “You never said which half you howl with.”

“That’s not your concern. Only the alpha gets to mate. That’s how it is in a wolf pack, and that’s how Dane wants to keep it. We don’t want to clutter up the woods by whelping litters right and left. We’ve got enough problems keeping our kind secret from the monkeys as it is.”

No chance of chance litters, Gina thought sourly. Not with Dane in command. But not everyone in their pack followed his orders to the letter. She didn’t, for one. And, she figured, neither did by-the-book Brody. His flushed cheeks, his sultry growl, that shine of sweat on his upper lip, and the way his scent had just hiked told her he was no leg-humper. Hadn’t the whole point of her one-night rebellion been to find a suitable male?

She didn’t resist when he herded her up the street. She even took his arm, and was pleased to note his scent hiked again. Only alphas mate, huh? Well, beta rank was just a step away from alpha. They were practically the same thing. She deliberately brushed against him, and caught a whisper of that ragged, randy growl before he swallowed it.

Gina grinned to herself. Game on.

Nitchell's Plan

Nitchell wiped his sweaty palms down his loincloth. Since coming ashore six months earlier, he’d learned to fain human modesty. Cason insisted on covering himself regardless of who was present. Nitchell smiled as images from the first time he’d caught Cason nude in bed jacking off flashed through his mind.

“Hmmm,” Nitchell twilled aloud. “Cason has a thing for nudes and scantily clad women. Wonder if I can ping his horny id and get him to make a move on the merwoman.” A clap of thunder pounded the air and a bolt of lightning jagged deep into the sand not too far from where Cason and the mermaid lay.

Nitchell jumped, startled, and rolled his eyes toward the clouds hanging close. “Okay, I get the point. Just trying to get them together and his protective side fired up.”

Glancing back at Cason and his female interest, Nitchell saw the two wolves sitting on their haunches watching him as they sniffed the air. Maybe---just maybe—Nitchell’s smile grew. Oh, yes things were looking up.

“Nemos,” Nitchell called, motioning the male wolf closest to him forward. “I need you to morph. Your companion too.”

Two nude humans stood next to Cason and the mermaid. Nitchell shook his head. Clothes! Shit, he’d forgotten shape shifters didn’t magically make clothing appear when they shifted. Nudity was clothing to them. Gacks! How did that spell go?

“Covering of delight find a way to ease their embarrassment,” he began, waving his hands in several directions until Nemos grabbed his arm.

“Nitchell,” Nemos growled. “We’re not embarrassed. So I don’t believe the spell will work. However if you need us to dress, Sandra can snitch clothes from that laundry line. Of course, the folks there know us. I’m sure they won’t mind.”

Nemos’s companion stretched as she rose to her feet. Her plump breasts flowed up and down her chest as she reached toward the heavens and lowered her arms. Her fire red hair matched that covering the V between her legs. Nitchell gulped and tried to image ice covered mountains and snow. His crotch and groin heated up more than he could cool down. Sandra’s lean lithe build turned Nitchell on in ways his imagination refused to let loose of. As she turned to walk away, she winked at him and puckered an air born kiss at Nemos.

“Hot stuff, eh my friend.” Nemos’s throaty laugh broke through Nitchell’s eye-humping stare. Nemos grinned as Nitchell reddened. “She knows what she does to you. You might give in and take her up on the offer. I know she’ll leave you verrrrry satisfied.”

Nitchell’s red hue grew brighter. Nemos bit his lip to keep from laughing. Noting Nitchell’s wings fluttered faster each time Sandra bent over as she retrieved items from the human standing near her and placed them in the bag at her, Nemos sniffed. Hot wet feminine scents filled his nose and warmed his palate. Yes, Nitchell would be well satisfied if he’d give in and accept Sandra’s open invitation. Sharing her with a mutual friend was an entertaining option. Too bad Nitchell didn’t get that he could be sexual and still be the guardian he was supposed to be.

Nemos looked up. Nitchell’s cough and sputter drew his attention. Next to Sandra, a human female approached, nude like Sandra. Nemos moved forward. His pack had taken a few humans in. This one had agreed with her human spouse to mate with him and Sandra. Soon she would begin to show her pregnancy. His child lay beneath her heart as her mate’s child lay tucked beneath Sandra’s heart. Life was good. Now if Nitchell would explain his new charge and Cason’s involvement. Things might get even better.

A loud groan filled the air. Sandra and the female stopped near Nitchell. Cason’s head began to rise. Nemos dropped to his knees near him. How badly scattered were his thoughts? Nemos knew the mermaid’s siren song had affected Cason. Her death chant had called too many.

“Nitchell,” Sandra whispered as she closed the distance between them. “What is your plan?”

“Plan?” Nitchell coughed and sputtered more. “Uhmm, get them together where I can keep an eye on em. Yep, that’s right.” He flapped his wings and tried to fly away the closer she got.

“Get them together how?” Sandra leaned very close almost nose to nose with Nitchell. She’d kiss him except she wasn’t sure how he’d take it. Sea sprites could be lusty and take a while to sate once sex started. Right now wasn’t optimum to her plan. Or could she turn Nitchell’s plan into a mutual one where everyone glowed with satisfaction?

A Home and Protection...A Shelter in the Storm

Sakina flapped her wings in double time, knowing she had mere minutes before Ceallach was on her tail.  Rooftop swoops allowed for the mixing of her scent with several other shifters in the hopes of throwing the single-minded raven off her trail.

How could he have found her?  She’d used every technique for evasion in her very long memory.  She’d done everything from changing the name she gave to other people to dying both her human hair as well as her feathers.  And still he’d caught up with her.

Exhaustion weighed heavy on her delicate wings, pulling her down to perch in the privacy of an arborvitae.  Had she been a finch or a chickadee this would have been the perfect hiding place, but the weight of her dove body dragged the limbs of the ornamental tree down towards the ground.

It’s not that she hadn’t wanted to do as Ceallach had instructed those long ago nights, she had.  She’d followed every order, every instruction and every movement his hands had made of her body, but still he wanted more.

The chips and chirps of the small birds broke through her reverie. They were both scolding and warning of the danger that approached.  On the ground below the what-to-be tree, five little dachshunds barked and yapped, hoping she’d fall and become a tug toy and meal.

Sakina took flight, scrapping the underside of her wing on the poky branches, leaving blood on the wood and droplets staining her pure white feather.  She was compromised now, putting off a blood scent that would attract all manner of shifter.  She needed to fly through to her tree, her protection and care for her injury before leaving town again in search of a new, safer home. 

 

It was heartbreaking to leave, for Talbot's Peak had potential as a sanctuary to the group of traumatized individuals she’d left hidden across the Canadian border.  Her group of hunted shifters needed a home and protection.  After days of study, it appeared as though this town could have been a shelter in their storm.

Darn the Raven of Pain!  Darn her deeply intimate need of him.

***

Ceallach waited quietly for his prey to return, sure in his knowledge and total dominance.  She would be his once more.