Aiden POV

We waited five minutes after our hilarious savior left to what I guessed was school, if her backpack was any indication, before shifting back to our human forms.

Leon was still going on and on about the peculiar caterpillar move the girl had pulled off this morning. The first thing he did when we shifted was copy her as he wormed his way around the living room, cackling the entire time.

Chuckling at his antics and keeping one eye on him to make sure he wasn't about to crash into anything and break it, I whipped up something quick to eat and started coming up with a battle plan.

Staying here was just a temporary accommodation while I figured out a way to go back home. I was currently clearly outnumbered, and I didn't know which pack members were still alive. Had anyone else managed to escape?

After we finished our breakfast—not the stale fried rice she had tried feeding us—I settled Leon on the couch to watch some TV. We managed to find an episode of SpongeBob SquarePants to Leon's utter delight. I was glad to give him some form of normalcy after the last two weeks, even if it was for a few short hours while we were home alone.

I then proceeded to scour the apartment. She had to have a laptop or iPad somewhere. While searching, I quickly learned something about her.

She was messy.

Articles of clothing, candy wrappers, and random items were scattered around the apartment. Not immediately finding what I was looking for, I began searching the drawers to find much of the same.

I opened my third drawer and reached in to quickly rummage its contents. A strap snagged my fingers and I lifted my hand, the hot pink bra dangling from my fingers. I immediately dropped the undergarment, slammed the drawer shut, and let go of the wood as if though it had burned my hands. I felt my face heat as I quickly moved on to the next drawer.

Several minutes later, I finally found a laptop under a pile of clothes and hurried to the living room with my find. 

The first thing I checked was my email. I had no phone or any other means of communicating with any pack members—none who had possibly escaped were close enough to sense or communicate with-- so I was hoping someone would reach me through my email. Disappointed at the lack of messages, I quickly sent a mass email stating that we were safe in hopes that someone who escaped would see it and respond.

I then spent the next hour trying to find any information on pack territories near, or in, the city. I knew about the packs close to our territory and those we were allied to, but I was still in the middle of learning about the packs further away when we were attacked. I knew the chances of there being any information online was slim, but I was desperate. I was hoping to reach out to a nearby pack, both to let them know we weren't rogues just in case we were spotted in the city, and to request assistance taking my home back.

Finding nothing, I closed the laptop with a sigh and promised to continue researching as soon as I could. I didn't know when the girl would be back and didn't want to risk her arriving while I had her computer out. Quickly placing it back, I sat back to watch tv with my brother as I kept an ear out for her return.

A few hours later, the rattle of the doorknob alerted us to her return. We swiftly turned the tv off and shifted back to our wolf forms.

"I'm home!" she called, struggling to hold the grocery bags in her hands and remove the key from the lock at the same time.

I quickly ran to her and grabbed the bags, holding them carefully in my mouth so that I wouldn't tear through the plastic.

As I backed up to give her room to enter, I internally grinned as I saw her mouth hanging open, her eyes sparkling with joy.

"Alpha, you're the best!" she exclaimed as she closed the door and locked it behind her. "Thank you!"

She stroked my head and I basked in her joy. After everything she was doing for us, things like this were the least I could do.

"What's in the bags? Is it something yummy? Something for me?" Leon asked as he ran to join us, trying to jump on my back and peak inside the bags.

"It's probably the pet supplies," I told him as I carried the bags to the kitchen and stood on my hind legs to place them on the kitchen counter, simultaneously knocking Leon off my back.

The girl joined us in the kitchen and began pulling her purchases from the bags.

"Look at what I got you guys!" she announced with pride as she pulled out a bag of dog food, a toy, and two collars and leashes. "For you, Art," she said as she handed the chew toy to Leon. Leon stared at the toy for a second before grabbing it and running off.  "It's a spaceship! And it SQUEEKS!!!" he happily shrieked.

"I'm pretty broke so this is all I could get. But we'll go pick out some bowls and beds for you guys over time," she told me as she set the leashes and collars next to her keys and then poured some food into plastic bowls.

She set one bowl in front of me and called for Art. I sniffed the dog food and tried really hard not to gag at the revolting smell. How could dogs eat this!?

"What what what?" Art came barreling into the kitchen, the spaceship chew toy still in his mouth. He took one look at the dog food in front of me and bolted.

"I guess he's not hungry?" she questioned as she set the other bowl on the floor and then turned to look at me expectantly.

I couldn't let her down.

Bracing myself, I held my breath and ate a mouthful, swallowing the contents almost whole. The rewarding grin was almost worth it.

"Was it yummy Alpha? Will it keep you all big and strong so you can help me around the house?" she cooed as she scratched my chin. Her hands were soft and soothing, and before I realized it, my tongue was hanging out of my mouth and my tail was wagging.

In that moment, there was a knock at the door and my guard shot up. Growling, I ran toward it and stood in front of it, ready for any possible threat. Had we been found already?!

The girl looked through the peephole and cursed under breath. "It's okay, Alpha," she told me soothingly as she opened the door to reveal an old man with a goatee and a cloud of white hair on top of his head.

"Mr. Reede, how can I help you?" she said, her voice coming out in a squeak.

"Good evening, Cecily," the man greeted coldly before eyeing me with distaste. "You got a dog, I see," he added disapprovingly. "He better not cause any damages to the property."

Cecily. Her name was Cecily.

It suited her.

Cecily tensed up, her back straight as a rod. "Don't you worry, I'll make sure the apartment stays in tiptop shape," she grit out.

Letting out a noncommittal huff, he held out a hand toward her. "I'm here for rent."

"Rent. Why of course. Here you go," she said, going the bottom drawer of one of the kitchen counters and retrieving a white envelope before handing it over to the man.

With that, the man excused himself. I already did not like him.

With him out of sight, she closed the door and started to imitate the man in a mocking manner. "Don't cause damages to the property blah blah blah."

I barked out a laugh at her theatrics, catching her attention. "How was my impression?" she asked, smiling at me.

Trying my best to communicate my approval, I spun once in a circle and then opened my mouth in my best attempt at a smile.

She beamed at that before returning to the kitchen and throwing something into the microwave.

"I'm pooped. I declare it's time for a movie," she said as the smell of popcorn drifted through the small apartment.

A minute later, she was settled into the couch and Beauty and the Beast was playing on the TV. Art immediately joined her and she pat the spot on her other side, inviting me to come join them.

Hesitating for a split second, I decided there was no harm and sat next to her, focusing on the movie. Bowl of popcorn devoured between the three of us—Art worked his puppy magic and managed to convince her to share—and three Disney movies later, Art was asleep and Cecily was curled up against my side, her eyes barely staying open.

I shifted slightly so that she would be more comfortable and then drifted off to sleep as well.