Chapter Eight

"I'm taking her home."

"Please don't."

"But she's adorable." Laurie whines, cradling a cream-colored puppy to her chest like one would a baby. She was sitting cross-legged on the floor, happy to let the puppies climb all over her.

"You said that about the last eight." Dogs. The last eight dogs. The cats were another story. Kate was sure had she not been blessed with the reflexes she had, she would have several scratch marks on her body.

"She's so fluffy." Laurie coos lifting the puppy at eye level.

"God please don't let her get a dog," Kate mutters under her breath as Laurie picks up another puppy that had been pawing at her leg, setting the one she already had on her lap.

Kate was slowly regretting taking Laurie to the animal shelter. Seeing her mate with the little animals had to be the most adorable thing she had ever witnessed but they had been here for a little over two hours now.

They had been to see puppies, kittens, and this one bird that developed a weird attachment to Laurie. All of which scuttled away at the mere sight of Kate, much to Laurie's confusion.

Kate completely understood why but Laurie was shocked, to say the least. She kept trying to bring whichever animal she picked up close to Kate, only for it to start whining or hissing at her.

She stopped after the one cat tried to claw her face off.

Kate shuddered at the thought of the orange tabby who had no qualms with going for her face.

It was rare for smaller animals to like werewolves. At best, they tolerated them. It was something about their aura that frightened smaller creatures.

The only werewolves Kate knew who had pets were Lucas and Iris. Even then, Lucas's dog barely tolerated him and Iris often left her cat to its own devices.

"I don't know how you can hate puppies. Everyone loves puppies." Laurie says, glancing at Kate briefly before turning her attention back to the two puppies she had in her arms.

"I don't hate puppies. They hate me." Kate says from her place on the other side of the pen, having moved as far away from Laurie as the space would allow.

She knew she would scare the puppies if she got too close and was content to watch her mate play with the furry creatures.

"I don't know why. You're not exactly scary." Laurie mutters, just loud enough for Kate to hear.

"Excuse you. I am terrifying." Kate says, playfully glaring at the younger woman.

In reality, she was. When she was shifted into her wolf form, Kate looked pretty damn scary. She had an almost black coat that had some streaks of the same dark brown color her hair was. She was an alpha so she towered over most of her pack members, easily rivaling the size of a full-grown bear, and instead of maintaining her eye color as a wolf, like the others, her eyes often turned into a bright red. A mark of her power. Any werewolf would know an alpha by their eyes.

"No, you're really not. You're like, fluff. You're fluffy." Laurie nods to herself, sparing a glance at Kate.

"I'm what?" Kate asks, amused.

"You know, fluffy. Like a puppy. But a person because you're obviously not a puppy. But you're kinda like one. What I'm saying is you're like a puppy, Harmless. Cute. Fluffy." Laurie was rambling now, a slight blush coloring her cheeks.

"Okay," Kate says. She wasn't sure what to say to that. Laurie thought she was fluffy. I mean, technically she was kinda fluffy, as a wolf. However, harmless, she was not.

"So you think I'm cute?" Kate asks, teasing. If she had to stay in this god-forsaken shelter, she might as well have a little fun.

"Well yeah, I do," Laurie says nonchalantly, letting the puppies go and reaching for another one in her vicinity.

"W-wait, what?" Kate wasn't expecting that answer. She was expecting the usual flustered muttering Laurie did whenever Kate started to tease her.

Laurie turns her attention from the puppy and glances up at Kate, rolling her eyes at the woman's shocked expression. She had had just about enough of whatever weird thing she and Kate were doing.

Over the past month, Laurie would drop hints left and right, flirting with the other woman any chance she got and Kate would reciprocate only to pull back before anything interesting happened, leaving Laurie both flustered and confused.

Laurie thought Kate was pretty perfect. She helped Laurie with damn near everything and found the littlest of excuses to spend time with her.

She was still suspicious of the porch incident this morning.

Kate was with Laurie almost every day and was always happy to just sit and talk for hours upon hours on end. She liked Laurie's cooking, she sat through sappy romcoms, and she had no problem hearing Laurie 'talk doctor' as she described it.

Once, she actually listened to Laurie describe every step of doing a heart valve repair after Laurie voiced her concerns about maybe getting a little rusty (She wasn't). She was pretty sure Kate would watch paint dry with her if she asked nicely.

At first, it was cute. Kate always seemed so nervous and careful around her, always checking to see if she was okay with something as simple as holding her hand. Laurie appreciated it really. Kate was probably the most polite, caring, and gentle person she had ever met.

But Kate never made a move.

Never tried to do anything more than hold her, never noticed the boulder-sized hints that Laurie was dropping all over the place, and definitely never tried to kiss her.

Laurie was sure Kate would at least try something when they were out in the park, but she didn't. She walked all over the goddamned town for hours, met a bunch of strangers, and left her groceries in her car for the entire day. She even made sure to be extra touchy with the brunette. Still, nothing.

Quite frankly, Laurie was at her wit's end.

She didn't know what to do, short of taking Kate home and just stripping in front of her. Even then, Laurie was half convinced Kate would give her a jacket to keep her from getting cold or something.

"I said, I think you're cute. Beautiful. Hot even. You're adorable." Laurie says, not bothering to look up from the ball of fluff she had on her lap.

"What."

"Honestly Kate, I'm not blind. You're gorgeous. I mean, at this point you must know I like you." Laurie says to a dumbstruck Kate.

"What."

"You do know I like you, right?" Laurie asks, twisting her body to fully face Kate who was still leaning on the wall opposite her. She was still sitting cross-legged on the floor but she wasn't about to let go of the puppy she was holding.

"Well, y-yeah I guess. You probably wouldn't be friends with me if you didn't." Kate manages to get out after shaking herself out of the shock-induced state she was in.

"Frie-Are you kidding me with this woman," Laurie mutters to herself, releasing an exasperated sigh and moving to stand up.

"Kate. I like you. As in, like like you. I have feelings for you. Romantic feelings. Not friend feelings, okay? And I'm pretty sure you like me too." Laurie says, standing up and brushing her jeans, the puppy still in her arms.

"What."

"I like you, Kate. In a gay way. Like, very gay. Extremely gay. So gay, I'm pretty sure rainbow-colored hearts are gonna shoot out of my eyes." Laurie's voice was slightly raised now and she was standing less than a foot away from the other woman. She wasn't sure there was any other way she could explain.

"What." That seemed to be the only word the taller woman could get out.

Kate was pretty sure her brain was short-circuiting. She was definitely not expecting Laurie to go off like this. She had been so focused on doing everything at a glacial pace that she hadn't even thought about the possibility of Laurie actually wanting her back in that way.

Kate had spent a lot of time trying to condition herself for the possibility of Laurie only wanting to be friends and nothing more that she was not prepared to have her mate openly saying she had feelings for her. Romantic feelings. Very gay feelings apparently.

She was so awestruck that she couldn't seem to do anything other than stare wide-eyed at her mate who was looking at her expectantly.

"Are you okay? Did I break you? Are you broken?" Laurie asks, putting the puppy down and placing her hands on Kate's shoulders, shaking her lightly.

"I uh I just, Huh." Kate was silently cursing herself for being a stuttering mess. Here her mate was, all but throwing herself at her and she couldn't even get a word out.

She was never like this. Kate prided herself on always being confident and straightforward. She never faltered. But it seemed that anytime Laurie did anything she became a stuttering fool.

"I should have just gotten naked," Laurie mutters, exasperated and Kate almost chokes on her own spit.

"What?" Kate's words come out in a quiet squeak.

After almost a full minute of silence, Laurie drops her hands from the brunette's shoulders, taking a small step back. She had expected a little bit of shock, maybe some of the cute stuttering she usually did whenever Laurie got a little flirty. She was not expecting nor was she prepared for the full-on gay panic Kate seemed to be experiencing.

"I need a drink."

That seemed to snap Kate out of whatever trance she was in. Laurie sighs heavily, moving to turn around only to be stopped by Kate's hand on her arm. "Wait. Sorry. I uh-I just, that was a lot."

"Yeah. I think we scared the puppies." Laurie says letting out a giggle and nodding towards the small creatures playing on the corner farthest from where they were standing.

"Maybe." Kate knew it was her close proximity to Laurie that deterred the puppies from jumping all over her.

"Hey, Laurie."

Laurie looks up at the taller blonde. "Yeah?"

"I like you too. A lot."

Laurie smiles, leaning closer towards Kate. "I know."

Before Kate could say anything else, one of the volunteers, a younger-looking woman from the shelter walks towards them.

"Hey, sorry to interrupt but we're just about ready to close for the day." The woman says, smiling apologetically at the two.

"It's okay. Thanks for letting us stay so long." Kate says, following Laurie as she started towards the shelter's door.

"It's no problem at all. Come in anytime you want."

They both smile at the younger woman before walking out through the door and out into the street, noticing immediately how dark it was.

"You wanna get that drink you wanted?" Kate asks, glancing at her mate who was standing beside her and nudging her gently.

"Mhmm. I pick the place though." Laurie says, playfully nudging her back before grabbing her hand and starting to walk.