My poor Gabby. I wanted to reassure her that I wouldn’t let the human bother her, but I didn’t think she’d appreciate me shifting to my skin to tell her. She wasn’t ready yet. Plus, the stress of the encounter with the challenger seemed to have left her shaken.

She looked around constantly. I did the same so she’d know I was still guarding her.

It wasn’t until we were halfway home that I noticed there was something odd about her gaze. It was almost unfocused. I’d seen her deep in thought before, but this was different. It was as if she was looking at something I couldn’t see, and that made me edgy.

Gradually, I noticed her steps began to lag. Her already pale face grew more so, and she wore a slight grimace as if the rising sun pained her.

It didn’t take scenting her to know she was exhausted. I wanted to get her home, wrap her in my arms, and lay in bed with her. But it wasn’t meant to be. As soon as we rounded the back of the house, I saw Rachel.

“There you are!”

Gabby’s hand flew to my neck, and her heart skipped a beat.

“Nice morning for a walk,” Rachel said, moving toward us, oblivious to the scare she’d just given Gabby.

As Rachel reached out to pet me, Gabby uncurled her fingers from my fur. She had quite a grip.

Rachel played with one of my ears, and I shook my head to get her to stop. The woman had no boundaries. She laughed and bent to kiss the top of my head. I caught Gabby’s gaze and rolled my eyes at her.

She smiled slightly and seemed to relax. I’d hoped she would save me but ridding her of worry worked, too.

“I made a call this morning and can get Clay into the vet for his shots,” Rachel said as she tugged the leash from Gabby’s hand. “I figured after the way he acted last night, we should have him current...just in case.”

Gabby stared at Rachel for a long moment, then her shocked gaze locked on me. Was she going to save me or did she still want revenge?

Panic flavored Gabby’s scent as she looked back at Rachel.

“You okay, Gabby?” Rachel eyed Gabby with concern.

“Uh, I didn’t budget for it,” Gabby said.

“Don’t worry. I can cover it for now, and you can pay me back.”

“Let’s all go.”

I tilted my head, trying to figure out what Gabby might be thinking. She wasn’t telling Rachel no, but she wasn’t happy about sending me to the vet, either.

“No offense, Gabby, but you look like hell. I think you’d be better off with some quiet time. Don’t worry; we’ll be fine.”

Rachel was right. Gabby looked like she hadn’t slept at all. Worried about her, I nudged her toward the door just as Rachel tried to tug me toward the car. Rachel scolded me, but I ignored her. I nudged Gabby again.

“Would you mind giving him your standard pep talk? I don’t know why he only listens to you. I’m the one that feeds him treats.”

Except for last night, I thought. You let me starve.

Rachel handed Gabby the leash. Gabby rubbed her forehead and then bent to give me a hug.

“Is it safe for you?”

To go somewhere with Rachel? I snorted. The woman was a bit free with her hands, but I could handle her.

“I’m so sorry about this,” Gabby said softly, her breath tickling my ear in the most pleasant way. “I’ll need to call Sam and let him know what happened.”

She was right. The Elders needed to know that there was a challenge before the six-month mark. I didn’t want someone approaching Gabby when I wasn’t around. Living with her like this was hard enough.

She straightened, looked me in the eye, and smoothed a hand over the fur on the top of my head.

“It’s your choice,” she said as she dropped the leash and stepped back.

I eyed Gabby and knew Rachel was right. She needed some rest. Maybe leaving with Rachel would give her that time. It would also get Rachel out of the house so Gabby could call Sam to tell him about the challenge. I sighed then followed Rachel to the car door.

“The control you have over him is weird but cool,” Rachel said as she waited for me to get all the way in.

“Yeah. Just don’t be gone too long. He’ll get upset.”

“The vet’s just a few minutes from here. We should be back soon.” She climbed behind the wheel, closed the door, and rolled down her window.

Because of the open window, I smelled Gabby’s wave of panic a second before it showed on her face.

“Just don’t have him neutered! Or anything that involves blood or blood work. It’s expensive, and I promised him he’d keep his jewels.”

My jewels? I knew what that meant and couldn’t stop from laughing. I definitely needed to leave now that I knew the direction of her thoughts.

“Maybe we should have the vet check his lungs,” Rachel said. Her comment and worry did nothing to dampen my amusement.

“He’s fine. Think cost,” Gabby said from the deck as Rachel backed out of the driveway.

Rachel pulled in front of a small brown building. As soon as she opened the back door, I smelled dog feces. Where had she brought me? I’d figured vet meant doctor but this had to be wrong.

“Come, boy. I bet you get treats inside.”

Unless it was a medium rare burger, they could keep their treats. I heaved a sigh and hopped out of the back.

We walked to the door, which she opened to let me in. Inside, a man sat with his pit-bull. The thing took one look at me and started to whine. Good. The woman with the Chihuahua was another story. That little chew toy started yapping at me fiercely. The woman looked at me with disdain.

Go ahead...set the yapper down.

She held it close as she spoke to the woman behind the counter.

“Come on, Clay,” Rachel said, tugging the leash to the bench opposite the pit-bull.

I followed and sat beside her once she positioned herself on the bench. Then, I watched. Once the yapper left, the woman came from behind the counter. She offered the pit-bull a treat to coax it onto the scale. It got another treat so it held still. And yet another treat to go into an exam room. I stared at the plaque on the door. Exam Room 1. I looked at the other door. Exam Room 2. I looked at the scale, the woman approaching with the treat, then Rachel as I realized what she’d done. She’d brought me to an animal doctor. How degrading.

I stood before the woman reached us and went to the scale. There, I stood still hoping she wouldn’t try to feed me one of those dried cakes. It didn’t smell bad. But I wasn’t a dog and wasn’t about to eat something humans fed to a dog.

“Wow. This is Clay, right? He’s very well trained,” the woman said, watching me.

She read the scale and made a note on a piece of paper.

“Yeah, we haven’t had him for long. We don’t know much about him, actually. Shots, age...it’s all a mystery.”

Shots? What the hell was she talking about?

“Well, we’ll take a look and see what we can tell you. Let’s go in here.”

She opened the door to Exam Room 2. I ignored her treat and walked in.

“Hmm...” she said, watching me. “What does he eat at home?”

“Well, we bought him dog food, but he doesn’t seem to like it. I’ve given him some cooked steak and other meat,” Rachel said, her voice laced with guilt.

“Perhaps we can recommend a different dog food. Though dog foods do contain meat, they also contain other essential vitamins and minerals dogs need that they won’t get from just eating steak.”

This new woman needed to stop talking. I moved closer to Rachel, defending my sole food source.

The door, opposite the one we’d entered, opened. Another woman walked in.

“Good morning,” she said, looking down at me. “My, you’re a big one.” She looked up at Rachel. “Shelly mentioned there are no records. Can you get him to jump up on the table?”

“Yeah, no records,” Rachel said, standing. “I’m not sure he’ll listen.” Rachel looked at me and patted the low metal table.

“Come on, Clay. Up here.”