Here's another scene of dog-shifter Loren following Judy's commands.
“You’re too well behaved to be feral,” she noted, running her hand through his sandy fur, along the darker stripe in the middle of his back. “I guess I’ll take you to the shelter with me. Maybe someone is looking for you?”
She started to rise, but he put more of his weight into her lap, trying to pin her there.
Judy chuckled. “Needy are we?” she scratched along Loren’s belly, making his paws twitch. She kept him company for a few more minutes before pushing him away. “I need to get dressed.”
Loren bounded up the stairs ahead of her, turning in circles in the hall. If she got dressed, she might take him for a walk. He’d dreamt of all the smells he would encounter out there, but couldn’t wait to find them for himself.
Judy returned in casual jeans and a tee. Loren followed her down the stairs and into the kitchen where she dug around in a closet.
As soon as the door opened, Loren was at the end of his lead, pulling against it, trying to explore everything at once. Judy’s arm was too strong for that.
“Heel!” she said with fierce determination. Loren obeyed before he even registered the command. “In the car, boy,” she said, opening the back door of her sedan.
Loren jumped in and stretched out on the seat. Judy closed the door behind him and climbed into the front. It was only once they started moving that Loren began to think beyond the dog. Judy was taking him to the animal shelter. He might not, probably wouldn’t, be coming back with her. That was no good at all. He needed her. He didn’t want to stay at the shelter. He didn’t want to stay a dog.
When she opened the door for him, he bolted, escaping past the parking lot into the bushes and from there down the block. He had to find his way home.
“Come back!” Judy called, but Loren knew he couldn’t.
