Cecily POV

At my obvious excitement, the little pup began to bark happily and jumped up to put its paws on my knees. Giddy at the idea of having cute dogs around the house that would be at my beck and call, I picked up the animal and placed it on my lap. They would even provide to be good guard dogs if the situation ever called for it. Win-win situation!

While on my lap, the puppy began to lick my face in excitement. I let out a mix between a laugh and a scream as I quickly pushed the pup away from my face.

"Bad dog! I do not need saliva all over my face right now! I'm icky enough as it is after my first workout of the year," I scolded it gently and it immediately settled down and ducked its head.

"Speaking of dog, I can't keep calling you two 'dog' and 'pup'. I'll need to name you," I decided as I eyed both of them, already thinking of possible names. "Though, I can't name you when I don't even know if you're boys or girls."

Without warning, I lifted the puppy's upper body, being careful not to lift it all the way off my lap as to not further aggravate my arms, and checked to see what gender it was.

"A boy" I stated, musing about what name to give him. "In that case, I'll name you 'Artemis', 'Art' for short!"

Proud of my spur of the moment name, I turned to the other dog and beckoned it to my side. "Now let me check if you're a boy or a girl so I can name you too!"

To my shock, the dog immediately whimpered and took a step back from me. So much for obeying my every command.

"Oh no you don't, you're supposed to be obedient!" I told it as I stood up and took a step forward. At my actions, the dog took another step back and began whimpering even louder.

At the rising disappointment and confusion building inside me, mixed with the result of a long stressful day, I felt myself losing my temper.

"I said, come here!" I raised my voice at it while point to the ground right in front of my feet. The dog didn't even flinch at my tone of voice and didn't budge.

Now fuming, I made my way toward the dog, muttering under my breath as I closed the distance. As soon as I was within grabbing distance, the dog jumped back again, a low growl emanating from its chest.

I froze mid-stride and stared at the dog, dumbfounded. It had been so docile toward me up until now. I was about to have second thoughts about taking it home when Art ran up beside me and barked at its family member. This seemed to get through to the growling dog and it immediately stopped, sitting on its hind legs.

A little confused and wary, I looked down at Art and saw him sitting with his tongue sticking out of his mouth. Apparently, he thought the situation was diffused so I decided to trust his judgement and took a few slow steps toward the hopefully-docile dog.

"I'm going to just check your gender..." I said quietly as I approached it and gently placed a hand on its head.

Now more confident that it wouldn't bite me, I squatted down and beckoned for it to stand up so I could inspect whether it was a boy or not. Letting out a mix between a growl and a whine, the dog stood up after a couple of seconds but turned its body away from me. That was fine by me, I could tell its gender even if it wasn't facing this way.

Angling myself so that I was next to it, I quickly realized it was a male and stood back up. "So you're a male. That wasn't so hard now, was it?" I told it as it sat back down but didn't turn around to face me.

Unfazed, I began thinking of names until I thought of the perfect one. "Your name will be Alpha!" I announced, proud of my choice. "You know, cuz you look like a wolf and are the head of your little duo pack."

Alpha turned to look at me but made no other movement. Did he not like his new name?

"Alpha?" I called, testing it out. He still didn't react but Art began jumping up and down at the name and ran toward his older brother.

"Well, at least your little brother likes it so the name is staying."

Content with my choice of names and my full stomach, I was more ready than ever to get to my apartment and lay in bed. I may never get back up once I cocooned myself in my blankets.

"Artemis, Alpha, let's go home" I said with a yawn as I started walking toward my apartment. Thank goodness it was only a short distance away.

On the way there, I looked over my shoulder once to make sure they were following me and was happy to see both of them not too far behind. Alpha was even carrying my forgotten backpack in its mouth. In that moment, I knew I had made the right choice taking them in.

After five minutes, we reached my apartment on the first floor. "Welcome home," I told them, motioning for them to enter as I unlocked the door and held it open for them. With a little yip and hop, Art rushed in with Alpha close on his heel. I had no dog supplies but that was going to have to wait until tomorrow, I was not leaving my apartment for the rest of the day.