The 150 - Pound Problem

If there was one thing I had never planned for in my twenty-eight years of existence, it was being lugged into a pastel-yellow bathroom by a woman half my size.

"Okay, big guy," Maya said, rolling up the sleeves of her oversized sweater. "First step: getting rid of the swamp smell."

I sat on the bathmat, keeping my tail flat against the floor so it wouldn't betray my absolute panic. *Swamp smell?* I was an Alpha. My scent was cedarwood, cold rain, and dominance.

*You rolled in mud, idiot,* Fenris reminded me, lounging lazily in the back of my mind. *Accept your fate. She’s going to touch us again.*

"Let's see if we can get you into the tub," Maya murmured, kneeling beside me.

She reached under my chest, attempting to scoop my front legs up. The moment her skin made contact with my hide, that electric shock of the mate bond zapped through us again. Maya gasped, her hands flinching back for a split second. She looked down at her palms, a slight flush rising to her cheeks.

"Static electricity," she muttered to herself, shaking her head. "Right. Just wet fur and static."

*If she only knew,* I thought, suppressing a huff.

Realizing she couldn't lift a wolf that weighed well over a hundred and fifty pounds of pure muscle, she opted to pat the side of the porcelain tub instead. "Up, boy! Up!"

I gave her my best dim-witted look, tilting my head.

"Right. You're exhausted," she sighed softly. She stood up, grabbed the portable showerhead, and turned on the tap.

When the warm spray hit my back, my eyes nearly rolled into my head. I hadn't realized how freezing the rain had been until the warm water started washing away the mud. But my relief was short-lived.

Maya reached for a bottle on the shelf. It was bright pink, adorned with a picture of a cartoon strawberry.

*No,* I growled internally, tensing up. *Absolutely not.*

*Oh, yes,* Fenris chuckled. *We are going to smell like a fruit basket.*

Maya squeezed a generous dollop of strawberry-scented shampoo into her palms and began working it into my fur. Her fingers massaged deep into my neck, right at the base of my skull. A involuntary, low sound vibrated in my chest—half-groan, half-purr.

Maya froze, her eyes widening. "Are you... purring?"

I caught myself instantly, letting out a sharp, pathetic cough to cover it up, dropping my head onto the edge of the tub with a heavy thud.

"Oh, sweet boy," she cooed, her heart melting in an instant. Her fingers worked through the tangles in my thick midnight coat, thoroughly lathering me up. "Who could have left a handsome dog like you? You're so good. Such a sweet, gentle giant."

*Gentle giant.* My beta back at headquarters would die of laughter if he could hear this. I was the wolf who had snapped the jaw of an invading rogue leader three weeks ago. Now I was getting a strawberry foam bath while a human girl talked to me like a newborn infant.

Yet, as her soft hands moved over my shoulders, working out the tension built up from weeks of pack politics and war preparations, I found myself relaxing completely. The sheer warmth of her mate presence was intoxicating.

"All clean," Maya finally announced, turning off the water. "Now stay still while I grab a towel—"

It was a instinctual reflex. The water was heavy in my coat. Before my brain could stop my body, I stood up, planted my paws, and gave a violent, full-body shake.

"Wait, no—!" Maya squealed.

Soapy water rained down over the entire bathroom. The mirror, the tiled walls, and Maya herself were instantly drenched. Water dripped from the tip of her nose, soaking through her sweater and plastering her dark hair to her face.

I froze mid-shake, pulling my ears back flat. *Great job, Alpha. Excellent covert execution.*

Maya stood there for three long seconds, wiping water out of her eyes. I braced myself for her to yell, to push me out, to realize I was a nuisance.

Instead, she burst into a bright, clear laugh that filled the room like music.

"You absolute monster," she laughed, grabbing a fluffy towel and throwing it over my head, aggressively rubbing my ears. "You did that on purpose!"

The sound of her laughter hit me harder than any physical strike ever could. My tail gave two distinct, involuntary thumps against the floor.

"Come on," she said, wrapping another towel around her shoulders. "Let's see what we can find for you to eat. I don't have dog food, but..."

She led me out into her warm, glowing kitchen. The bakery sat just below her apartment, and the scent of yeast, vanilla, and butter hung heavy in the air.

Maya opened her fridge, humming to herself as she rummaged through the shelves. "I have leftover roast chicken, some plain rice... and maybe a little unseasoned beef?"

My stomach let out a loud, traitorous rumble that sounded like a engine turning over.

Maya giggled, pulling out a large glass container filled with cooked chicken breast. "Roast chicken it is."

She set a large metal bowl on the linoleum floor, tearing the chicken into thick chunks. A human dog would have devoured it instantly, sloppily spilling it across the floor. But my pride wouldn't allow it. I trotted over, sat down politely, and waited until she stepped back before eating.

I took clean, controlled bites, chewing thoroughly.

Maya leaned against the kitchen counter, crossing her arms and watching me with a fascinated expression. "You have better table manners than my ex-boyfriend."

I nearly choked on a piece of poultry. My eyes snapped up to meet hers, my golden wolf gaze narrowing instinctively. *Ex-boyfriend?*

*Who is he?* Fenris growled darkly, his playful mood instantly vanishing. *Where does he live? Do we need to tear his throat out?*

Maya didn't notice the sudden lethal edge in my posture. She just sighed, staring out the window at the rain. "He thought my dream of opening *The Sugar Whisk* was a waste of time. Said I'd fail within six months and come crawling back to work at his firm." She offered a soft, bitter smile. "Two years later, and the bakery is still open. But... business has been tough lately. Rents are going up, and the local commercial real estate group is pressing hard to buy me out."

My eyes narrowed further. *The commercial real estate group.* That was a shell company run by the Vance Pack—my primary rivals in the eastern territory. They weren't just trying to buy up human real estate; they were expanding their territory illegally. And now they were breathing down my mate's neck.

A cold, dangerous rage coiled tight in my chest.

"Anyway," Maya said, shaking herself out of the mood and smiling down at me. "You don't care about real estate stress, do you, buddy?"

She walked over, sitting cross-legged on the floor right next to my bowl. She reached out, scratching me right behind the ears where the wet fur was beginning to dry into soft, thick waves.

"I think I'll name you Bear," she murmured softly. "Because you look like a massive shadow bear."

*Bear?* Fenris scoffed. *We are Fenris Blackwood, Lord of the Northern Scars!*

*Shut up,* I thought, leaning my heavy head into her lap, closing my eyes as her thumb traced the shape of my jaw. *If she wants to call us Bear, we are Bear.*

"You can stay here tonight, Bear," she whispered, her voice growing heavy with sleepiness. "Just for tonight, until I can check for a microchip tomorrow."

I let out a soft huff against her knees. There was no microchip. And come tomorrow, she was going to realize that getting rid of "Bear" was going to be completely impossible.