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A City Wolf Joins the Pack

"Most folk drop out after a week, y'know?"

My hackles raised and I looked away from the rolling fields of corn and towards the middle-aged wolfess sitting next to me on the bus. She hadn't said a word on the entire three hour ride until now and I found myself anxiously staring at her and then back down at the brochure crumpled up in my paws.

"Kinda funny folk, y' know?" she snorted, her thick sunglasses glaring as the sun bounced off of them. "Ain't for most people. Make damn good bacon though, I tell you what."

"Oh, yes!" I flattened out the brochure, showing off the familiar art of two naked wolves staring solemnly towards me. _The Pack Welcomes You!_It said at the top of the brochure. "I've had their meat at the Artisan's Grocer! Their apple-woodbacon paired well with an excellent glass of Syrah they had at a display there!"

The wolfess pushed her shades up and stared at me with astonished blue eyes.

"Oh my lord," she chortled, "they're gonna eat you alive, City Wolf."

City Wolf...

I frowned and turned away from the wolf, who had begun to cackle, trying my best to lose myself in the endless rows of corn. Soon the corn would end and then we would be in the forest.

My new home.

The bus service to my destination, it turned out, was not quite complete, ending a good three miles away from where I intended to go. I tried to object to the bus driver, a baggy-eyed human who was in no mood to entertain my concerns this early in the morning, and he all but picked me up by the scruff of the neck and tossed me out onto the dirt.

As I scrambled to my feet, I snarled, growling deeply at the backside of the bus as it sped away. Back in the city, it would have been extremely rude for me to do that and terribly inappropriate to other species around who might get intimidated by such a display of aggression.

But it didn't matter now, I was going to be a real wolf, not some City Wolf.

I sniffed, breathing in the sweet smell of pine. I was surrounded by towering trees, bristling bushes, and the sounds of bird chirping.

It was true, my nose was not exactly as wolven as it should be. I could tell the difference between a 2018 Cedar Grove Malbec and a 2019 just by smelling it, but so could many of the humans I was friends with.

They called me their big friendly guard wolf when we went out on the town last time.

Until that moment, I hadn't really considered myself different.

Either way, the walk through the forest was quite invigorating! I felt like I was going on a journey! I was starting to see why some of my friends were fond of roughing it and this gave me renewed hope in my quest!

Hiking signs pointed the way through the dirt trail, counting down the miles, and my anticipation welled up so much in my chest that I felt like I was going to burst!

I nearly yelped when I saw a tall fence make itself seen through the tall brush and I burst through the woods, leaping through a bush and landing...

On top of a concrete parking lot.

Before I could process anything, my right ear twitched at the sound of a thick rumbling. Turning slowly, I saw a big, white wolf. His yellowed fangs were bared and he was peering down at me.

"We're closed to the public until noon!" the wolf snapped his jaws, flicking spittle at me. "Fucking hell, use the damn road and don't scare me like that!"

He pointed a claw past me and I looked to my left. There was indeed a paved road going through the trees in the opposite direction. Why the bus driver did not care to tell me about that, I do not know.

"Oh, I'm not a visitor! I'm an applicant!" I held my paw out. "My name is Cornelius White and I'd like to live like my ancestors did!"

"By the Moon, not another one..."

The white wolf's nose twitched and he brushed aside my paw, leaning in with his nose and sniffing my neck. I giggled as his wet nose trailed along the side of my muzzle until it reached my nose and he forced my mouth open with his tongue, lapping at the roof of my mouth.

I yelped and pushed myself away from the wolf, spitting onto the ground. His breath was rancid and it was clear by his yellowed teeth that brushing his fangs was not his forte, "What the hell are you doing!?"

"This is how members of the pack greet each other," the white wolf snorted.

"That's a good way to spread a cold!"

"Two days," the wolf snorted and casually scratched at his crotch.

I must admit, I was momentarily transfixed on his sheath, which was quite thick and covered in soft, white fur. Clearly the Pack lifestyle had some benefits to certain areas.

"Huh?" I blurted out the second I was no longer distracted.

"Two days and then you leave," his tail lashed, "you're not gonna last longer than that."

"I beg to differ!"

"You'll be begging to leave in two days."

The wolf began walking towards the fence and beckoned me to follow. His tail was stiff, covering up his well-toned rear, much to my chagrin.

"So..." I ventured as the wolf unlatched the tall, front gate, "...what do we do first? Howling? Play fighting? Hunting, perhaps?"

"Liability signing," the wolf grumbled and pulled the gate open, revealing a twin pair of ticket booth on the left, along with a small portable on the right that wouldn't have looked out of place at an underfunded elementary school.

"Pardon me?" I tilted my head.

"Go!" the wolf snarled and pointed to the rickety wooden stairs leading up to the portable door.

"This isn't quite what I imagined," I muttered, still tilting my head to let the wolf know I was confused. I would have never done this back in the city but...this was what wolves did, yes?

"Just go!" the white wolf huffed. "Your...Alpha...commands you!"

"Oh!" I lowered my gaze and tucked my tail between my legs. "I had no id-"

"GO!"

"Yes, Alpha!"

I sprang onto the stairs, catching my toes beneath a step and falling snout-first onto the landing. I pushed myself to my feet, ignored the Alpha shaking his head at me, and jumped into the open doorway.

"Applicant Cornelius White, here on orders from the Alpha!"

My jaw dropped before I could properly supplicate myself, when I caught sight of an obese, sleeping she-wolf with three tiny cubs covered in black fuzz crawling over her ample rows of milk-inflated bosoms.

Snorting, the wolf's eyes lazily opened and the cubs began whining as they suckled at her teats. She rolled her chair forward, reaching around the cubs to shuffle some papers.

"Right..." her maw lazily opened in a yawn, revealing many missing teeth in the front, "...did you just say Alpha?"

"Uh, yeah..." I cleared my throat and looked out nervously through the door. The wolf from before was missing, "...white fur, yellow teeth..."

"Moonfur, hmph," she snorted, "he was probably just trying to get rid of you, City-Wolf. Alphas are the eldest member of the pack and our current one is very much an elder. He's not giving out orders to tourists anytime soon."

"I'm not a tourist! I want to live here!"

"Uh huh..." she continued to shuffle papers, occasionally patting one of her cubs when they whined.

"Cute cubs, what are their names?" I asked.

"We don't name them until we're sure they'll live."

I bit my lip, "Does that happen a lot?"

Rolling her eyes, the she-wolf dropped the pen and began pointing at each one of her bare teats that weren't currently being suckled on.

"Distemper, distemper, measles, eaten by hogs," she pointed to the last breast, "sold to a City-Wolf couple. It was a weak cub. I would have eaten him otherwise, put him out of his misery."

I tried to hide my anxiety but I could not stop myself from licking my lips. Thankfully, there were no humans around to mistake this wolven expression of nervousness for appetite.

"Life can be hard out here, I see," I whispered.

"And that's why we have these," she slapped a series of papers in front of me before planting a pen atop them.

"What are these regarding, anyway?"

"Liability waivers. While here, you might be subject to biting, claw wounds, hunting related injuries, and what you City-Wolfs might consider sexual assault. Signing these means you cannot bring charges of any sort before the Pack and we're free from any responsibility for your physical and mental health."

"Sexual assault!?"

"I repeat: what you City-Wolfs might consider sexual assault. Humping the rear of a disobedient member of the Pack is not a sexual act, it's a disciplinary act. We won't let you in as an applicant unless you sign and accept this."

"Alright, well, fair enough!" I began scratching my name down.

"While you're an applicant, you're free to leave whenever you like and we can expel you at any point. Refusing to obey Pack rules and not submitting to disciplinary action properly will result in expulsion. You may not use any non-approved technology and this includes the use of clothes, which you will need to take off right now or face disciplinary action."

She timed those words up the moment I scratched my last signature down and I stood up, rushing to shimmy out of my designer jeans and throw off my tall-collared shirt.

It felt surprisingly natural when my junk was exposed to the stale air of the portable. Whatever sexual implication being nude had was completely undone by doing it in the company of a very sexually unappealing, nursing wolf.

I was home now.

"The Pack is napping in the commons, go join them. Turn right after leaving and keep going straight until you find the sleeping wolves."

"Yes!" I exclaimed, smiling. "Thank you for everything!"

"Uh huh..."

I just about hopped out of the portable and leaped down the steps. The ground felt cold and wet on my pads, but it was only a minor bit of discomfort compared to what would soon be a life full of excitement.

Before I could bound down to the right, I noticed the white wolf, Moonfur, leaning against the side of the portable looking down at me from across his snout.

"You signed?"

I nodded.

In an instant, the wolf swing around me and grabbed me by the hips. Pushing me forward, I braced my palms against the portable and I felt his strong hips grind up against my ass.

"When your packmates give you an order..." his chest growled as he leaned in and nipped me on the back on the neck, the whole while humping my rear, "...you listen!"

Moonfur suddenly stopped. I felt his hot breath brush against my fur as he sniffed me and then his heavy paw felt up my crotch, which, as it happened, had grown a little stiff from the stimulation.

"By the moon!" Moonfur jumped back and quickly bounded away from me. "Another pervert!"

I was left with my tail sticking up, still leaning against the portable and not quite sure what to do.

Though I still retained a bit of anxiety and uncertainty after that unfortunate little encounter with Moonfur, I was mostly over it. His reaction to my unexpected bit of enthusiasm between my thighs were not exactly flattering, but I was not naive enough to not realize he didn't exactly like me at this point.

So, I decided to put Moonfur aside and work on endearing myself to the rest of the Pack, ideally a member with better dental hygiene. I could practically taste the gingivitis when he licked the inside of my mouth and let me tell you, it tasted worse than that Peach Saison that Vulpine Independent Brewing Union made in the Summer of 2015! A most overly tart ale with a disturbingly out of place oaky tinge that would be more in place with a fine red wine than a fruity ale!

I tried my best to put such thoughts of craft beer and fine wine out of my head. Such things were behind me now, no more would I bloat my belly with overpriced beer at my neighborhood brewpubs with my chums. I was a true wolf now.

A series of howls rang out nearby and I attempted to return the favor with my own bellowing, which sadly, seemed to do nothing but silence the singers. Perhaps they didn't want to sing along with a stranger, that was okay. I would prove myself!

The first pair of gray wolves huddling together in sleep came into view, shortly followed by the rest of the Pack. Their heads lazily tilted up and countless pairs of indifferent eyes were staring at me. Most were sleeping in pairs or groups of threes, though a few wolves were alone.

I awkwardly waved at the Pack, "Hello, I'm, uh...I'm an applicant."

They continued staring at me in silence.

"I'm just..." I pointed at the ground and began sitting down, "...I'm just going to lay down here...uh...if anyone wants to...snug...uh..."

I patted the ground and instantly winced internally, fully aware of how awkward I was coming across, "Yeah...uh...right here...my bachelor pad...or uh...no friend pad..."

One wolf yawned but the rest continue to stare.

"I'm going to uh...go to sleep now..."

Slowly, I lowered myself down onto the dew-damp grass and curled up. My fur felt wet and sticky with dirt, but I knew this was all part of the process of learning how to live like wolves did centuries ago.

My nose was cold and it hurt. If I was back home, I could have slipped it under my five hundred thread count feline cotton sheets and kept it warm. There were no such sheets here to hide under, how did the Pack manage it?

Before I could get up and interrupt the Pack's sleep once again, a gray foot-paw landed in the dirt across from my snout. The wolf it belonged to collapsed onto the ground next to me, wrapped his arms against me and brought my face into his chest.

His fur tickled my nose but it began to warm up and his scent was quite exhilerating. Earthy and with a spicy musk, not unlike a nice bottle of-

"Why are you here, City-Wolf?" the wolf whispered as I felt his paw stroking the back of my neck.

I grumbled a bit, but that quickly turned into a soft whine when his claws scratched the base of my ear, "My name is Cornelius!"

"Mine's Aroon," the wolf let out a slight howl when pronouncing his name.

"Ah-run?" I replied back.

"Ah-roooon," he emphasized the howl a bit more.

"Ah-roo-" my chest seized up and I coughed.

"You'll get used to it," Aroon shifted away from me a bit, holding my paw in his. His muzzle was broad and unmarked with scars, unlike many of the other wolves. His gray fur glistened in the early morning sun and his eyes were mismatched, one olive-green and the other glacier blue. A smirk grew on the youthful wolf's face. "So, why are you here?"

"I..." I cleared my throat, "...I wasn't happy where I was in the city. I read about the Pack and thought it sounded nice, a simpler life, you know?"

"Is that how you outsiders view it?"

"Have you lived here your entire life?"

Aroon nodded.

"Well, things are complicated in the city. Rent, bills, work..." I paused, "...technology has ruined us, I think. Too many cars belching fumes into the air, everyone's attached to their cellphones, myself included; I felt the best way to go forward was to go back, back towards the way wolves used to live, how we were meant to."

Aroon tilted his head to the side.

"Do..." I coughed, "...I'm sorry, do you now know what a cellphone is? I'm sorry, this must be-"

Laughing, Aroon punched me in the shoulder, "We get tourists coming here every day, taking our pictures and whatnot with those things. They seem happy enough to me."

"They're not, believe me!" I objected. "I thought I was happy once in the same lifestyle, but here I am now. I'm going to join the Pack and live a simple life with no technology."

"No technology?" Aroon asked. "I think you might-"

A piercing howl rang out in the field and Aroon jumped to his feet, along with the other groups of wolves.

"Well, you'll find out in a bit. Come see me before you drop out, okay?"

"I shall not drop out!" I shot back as I slipped while righting myself and Aroon caught me by the wrist, stopping me from falling. The gray wolf helped me to my feet and I smiled. "Thank you."

"Good luck, Cornelius," Aroon grinned, showing off his pearly-white fangs, "you're gonna need it!"

Aroon had left me in the midst of the Pack, of whom the members proceeded to chat about fairly bog-standard wolven things such as last night's dinners, nice smells, and the weather. None of them addressed me, leaving me quite confused as to what was going on.

At one point, Moonfur walked across my field of vision and upon seeing me, he scampered off nervously. I was tempted to ask him about what was going on but didn't want to chase after a panicked wolf, I was already in enough trouble from him.

"THE ALPHA APPROACHES!" a small wolf with a shrill voice barked.

I heard a sharp squeaking noise before a figure emerged from the trees. Sitting in a wheelchair rolled by a tired-looking brown wolf, was the most ancient-looking wolf I had ever seen. His jowls were drooping so low that they almost reached his shoulders and the wrinkles on his face were so heavy that they covered up his eyes. He sniffed around with his nose, taking in the smells of the Pack in lieu of his eyes.

"A wheelchair?" I asked to no one in particular. "What happened to no technology?"

There was a heavy growl behind me and a wolf snapped his jaws around the back of my neck and gave me a quick hump against the rear.

"Show some respect, applicant!" the wolf grumbled in my ear before releasing me and joining the others to greet the approaching Alpha.

The Alpha's black nose pointed in my direction and twitched. His voice was as rough as sandpaper and as weak as a daisy, "Oh no...not another one..."

All of the members of the Pack immediately rolled onto their backs and exposed their bellies. I did the same, scuffing up my back fur and caking it with mud even more, much to my chagrin. I wasn't exactly sure what I was doing, but the rest of the Pack was doing it, so that was what I was suppose to do, right?

"We have a tour coming in, package deal that includes a hunting demonstration first thing," the brown wolf spoke for the Alpha, "we're going to need five wolves as volunteers."

The members of the Pack began excitedly clamoring to their feet, barking and yowling to be picked.

"You, you, you, you, and..." the brown wolf pointed to Moonfur at the end, "you. Get over to the hunting square. Applicant, you observe. The rest of you, get to work on processing pork, we have a quota to meet by the weekend, move!"

This was beginning to feel an awful lot like my job back in the city, where a middle manager would give daily orders at the pointless morning huddles just so that he could feel justified in taking home twice my pay, but I shook such thoughts out of my head. I handed in my notice, I was gone now.

"Get a move on, pervert!" Moonfur snapped his teeth in front of my face. "Get to the square, NOW!"

With no other direction given, I crept at a distance behind Moonfur, following him to where we needed to go.

We passed the entrance, where I caught a glimpse of a big tour bus lurking in the parking lot beyond the gate, and pushed through a small trail leading through a cropping of trees.

Emerging from beyond the bush was what I could only describe as a small stadium made of wood. Imagine a jousting tournament from a movie set in medieval times and you would have a good image, except instead of lords, ladies, and peasants sitting in the stands, you had a bunch of tourists wearing tacky t-shirts and flashing their smart-phones. Most of the tourists were humans, foxes, or cats. I couldn't see any fellow City-Wolfs there.

Moonfur led me into a small entrance opposite the stands which had a cloak-room full of supplies. The fellow wolves in this detachment began rifling through the boxes for equipment.

"Okay, make sure to cork your fangs!" Moonfur barked as the wolves began sticking corks from old wine bottles onto their teeth. "No wolves in the crowd, so go nuts with the tribal gear, they'll get a kick out of that."

Within an instant, all of the wolves had slapped on brightly colored facial markings onto their fur and put on a series of plastic accessories designed to make them look more tribal. One wolf had a fake bone earring sticking out of his left nostril while others were wearing cloaks of hide and loincloths that failed to cover up anything significant.

"Last time we didn't howl enough," Moonfur growled, "if you aren't howling all the damn time, you're not howling enough. Tourists love howling, okay?"

Placing a white paw atop the shoulder of a brown wolf with particularly nasty teeth, Moonfur said, "You be the bad wolf this time. There's a family of foxes in the front row, give them a fright and make their fur poof."

"Aye, Moonfur," the brown wolf lunged forward, snarling out me, maw dripping with saliva.

My pelt puffed up and I feel backwards as the rest of the Pack laughed. My butt fell into an open box full of corks and I began struggling to escape it.

"Applicant, you just sit here and watch," Moonfur snorted, "and keep your paws off your sheath, this is a family event!"

Moonfur led a chorus of howls as the wolves emerged from the cloakroom and into the arena to thunderous applause.

"Go on girl, go!" I heard a familiar voice cry out from the entrance.

A young cow came trampling in with Aroon lightly slapping it on the rear until it entered the arena. Aroon closed the arena door behind the cow and slid open a wide peephole from which the events were readily visible.

"This is..." I cut myself off as I fell onto the ground, flipping the box over and spilling corks all over the floor. Once again, I needed Aroon's help to get to my feet amidst the sea of corks.

"Not quite what you expected?" Aroon offered.

"Yes, uh..." I slowly walked over to the peephole and saw the wolves circling the cow, who didn't seem the slightest bit nervous that she was surrounded by predators, "...what the hell is going on?"

"Hunting demonstration. Tourists like to see wolves hunt but they don't like seeing blood, so we cork our teeth, gnaw on the cow a bit, give them a bit of a show, and that's that."

"It seems a bit silly."

"Helps pay for the land taxes and our supplies."

"Supplies?" I asked. "I thought the Pack was self-sustaining."

"Making money is considered self-sustaining, the Pack voted on it decades ago, long before I was born," Aroon smiled. "We vote to approve things like that."

"Like how the Alpha's wheelchair is acceptable?"

"Exactly! But that's quite acceptable if you ask me," Aroon frowned. "I'm a little bit more concerned about us approving the construction of a pork rendering factory while banning distemper treatments. Apparently it helps build character?"

"A pork rendering factory!? Are you serious!?"

"Yeah, it's just through the woods next to the Alpha's manor."

"This..." I frowned, "...must be some kind of mistake! Wolves didn't live like this centuries ago! The bacon package lied to me!"

"Yeah...there's just no way to remain competitive in the urban market without a pork killing floor and a snappy marketing campaign," Aroon shrugged. "Even I know that and I've never left this place."

"This is not what I came here for..." I whined, "...I wanted something a bit more simplistic not so...fake!"

"Guess nothing in life is really real, you know?" Aroon slipped around me and hugged me from behind, I could hear his tail thumping against the wall as his hot breath whispered across my ear. "Wanna run away together?"

"What!?"

"You're not going to be happy here and I'm a bit tired of the same scenery. I wouldn't mind seeing the world with a handsome City-Wolf!"

I felt my face flush and Aroon sniffed at my shoulder.

Chuckling, Aroon whispered, "I could smell it on you a mile away...plus Moonfur told the whole Pack that you were queer. We might hump our cocks against each other's asses but that's not sexual and most of us ain't exactly okay with your tastes..."

Rough paw-pads brushed up against my sheath.

"But there ain't nothing wrong with it as far as I'm concerned. Come on, lets get out of here!"

"I don't want to go back to the city," I whispered.

"Then lets go somewhere else, somewhere new to both of us."

"I..." I rubbed my cheek against his wet nose, "...I'm afraid I barely know you."

"I barely know you too but I'm willing to know you," Aroon let loose a soft whine, "lets find a place we can both love."

My heart was racing. I had made a commitment to leave the city behind and join the Pack, could I make another impulsive change in such a short period?

Fuck it.

"Lets go," I whispered.

Aroon led the way like a true Alpha; he had everything planned. While the other wolves were busy with their chores, we snuck into the gift shop's employee entrance and stole clothes. Aroon looked very uncomfortable wearing his "I Howled at the Moon With the Pack," t-shirt, but it didn't seem to deter him.

A gift shop.

I had to laugh, it all seemed so silly now. I imagined prehistoric cave-wolves inviting neighboring wolves in and selling loincloths stamped with marketing slogans on them in the gift-cave.

Of course, why wouldn't a place that had a pork rendering plant have a gift shop?

We slipped onto the empty tour bus, Aroon had done the math and concluded that there would be empty seats. The driver stumbled back on, a human reeking of cigarette smoke, but he didn't seem to pay us any mind.

My paw was in his and I stared into his mismatched eyes. It was hardly the most romantic of settings but it was the beginning of something amazing, I knew it.

"You're not worried about leaving everyone behind?" I whispered.

"Nah," Aroon leaned into my ear, nuzzling it, "if I miss it, I can always go back."

A heavy musk began wafting off of Aroon's scent glands. It had quite the tantalizing smell, finer than the aroma of that exquisite...

Fuck it, it smelled like sex. Raw, animalistic sex.

Aroon whined as the tourists began trickling in. We got a few stares from the humans and a few of the foxes wrinkled their noses at us.

"We gotta wait," I whispered, "most people don't like having other's scents offend them."

Aroon whined, "Fuck, really?"

I nodded.

Aroon licked his nose and dug his claws into the seat.

Around when the bus was half-full, the driver started it up and gave a quick announcement of how long it would take to get back to the city, before rumbling away from the commune and down a narrow road.

I tried to ignore Aroon's wet nose prodding against me and his hot breath brushing against my fur. Likewise, I also tried to ignore my own desires growing in my trousers.

But could I really keep a wolf who decided to run away from home under control?

And did I want to?

When we got onto the highway, Aroon couldn't resist anymore and pressed his snout up against mine. He gave me a better introduction to wolven kisses than Moonfur did, passionately nipping on my muzzle and running his tongue along my lips until I let my guard down and opened up.

As our tongues met and explored our mouths, I could smell his musk growing in intensity and felt my cock begin to slip free of my sheath, pressing up against my underwear. I partly wished we were back at the Pack so that I could fully free it.

My resistance was truly broken and I reached down to Aroon's crotch and began feeling up his bulging trousers. I moaned and Aroon growled deeply as he reached around my shoulders and bit me on the back of the neck.

"ENOUGH!" a fox shrieked. "STOP THE BUS!"

"Well," I sighed holding my thumb out at a passing sedan on the highway, "as you can see, things aren't exactly perfect in the city either."

"I'm sorry," Aroon apologized, mimicking me with his thumb as he padded behind me on the road, "I still don't understand what the big deal was. In the Pack you can rut all you want in public, so long as it's not with someone else's bitch and so long as it ain't queer."

"Urban society has a lot of weird rules, but then, so did the Pack so..." I shrugged, "...maybe I should just sack up and beg for my job back."

"I never said I wanted to go back," Aroon put his paw on my shoulder, "I still want to do this."

I turned around and smiled at Aroon, gently pressing my nose against his.

BEEP BEEP!

"Where ya'll headed!?"

I broke out of our embrace to find a yellow dog leaning out of the window of a pick-up truck.

"Anywhere but here!"

"Next stop: Greenville," the dog motioned towards the truck bed, "hop on in!"

Aroon effortlessly swung into the truck bed and then reached down to help me climb in with him. I collapsed onto him in the back, laughing as the truck rumbled and swung back onto the freeway.

"Not a lotta drifters look as good as you two," the dog called back through the back window, "you looking for work or something?"

"Something like that," I replied, "we both need a fresh start. What's there in Greenville?"

"Well, there's the ranch, they're always looking for new hands."

Aroon smiled, "I've handled a few hogs in my time."

"And then there's the brewpub, dunno if they're looking for work, but a lot of young people have moved in since they did...Old Ranch Brewery?"

"Old Ranch Brewery!" I beamed. "Their Belgian Triple Ale was truly an inspired ale, carrying notes of sherry! It was a bold experiment but it payed off well!"

The dog laughed, "I got no idea what you're talking about, more of a lager guy here, but if you work as good as you talk about beer they probably can hook you up with a job."

I rubbed Aroon on the leg and looked into his eyes. My heart was beating rapidly, for a moment I felt like things were moving too fast. Things were just getting set into place too well and I just knew something was going to go wrong, the other shoe would drop.

Aroon leaned in and gently bit me on the muzzle before I could object.

My heart settled and I leaned into the wolf, closing my eyes as the countryside rolled beside us.

I wasn't a City-Wolf anymore and Aroon wasn't a member of the Pack.

A small town would be a change of pace for both of us.

And I hoped it would stay that way, I truly did.