What it Means to Have You

Interrupted

Kine

Before we even got up to the door, I could hear kids screaming "dog!" from the side yard. The thundering of little feet swiftly followed, making my belly churn with worry. The door was thankfully opened by an older woman who appeared to be a worker, and instead of stepping out, she held the door open for us with an inquisitive look down at my wolf form. Once we stepped inside, I froze, my jaw opening slightly in surprise at all of the beady little eyes staring me down from the hallway. I could feel Nagol's worry through our faint connection but was too nervous to focus enough to catch any thoughts directed toward me.

So instead of trying our connection, he knelt down and wrapped his arm around my shoulder. "You ready, boy?"

I gave him a small grunt and swished my tail, practicing a wag that would seem convincing to the kids. It got Nagol chuckling, and since he stood back up and started forward, I figured I'd calmed his nerves enough. Too bad my own were still going crazy as we stepped toward the hall with the woman following.

"Nice to see you again, Nagol. Who's your new dog? He's huge!"

Why thank you, though I'm surprised an old lady like yourself looked there.

"His name is Kine. I just adopted him from the Humane Society, and since he's so calm, I figured he'd be great to work with the kids here."

As if his words were the magic password, several of the younger kids ran out from the hallway and nearly tackled me in hugs. Their squealing was ridiculously loud, but that wasn't the worst part. No, that title was reserved for whichever kid currently had a full diaper. My sensitive nose wanted to run off my face as I tried to hold my breath as often as possible to keep from keeling over.

"Mana, do you have a stinky?" Nagol asked, drawing my attention to him as he scooped up a little girl trying to tug at my left ear. A strong waft of poop-smell slapped my nose as he took her into another room. I tried to duck away from the oncoming wave of children to just get a breath once he was gone, but each time I managed to free myself from one, two more charged ahead. It almost got to the point where I felt the need to growl, but thank god my night in dull sweatpants arrived just in time!

"Kine!"

Miguel's excited voice had my prior fright washing away. He ran straight for me, grabbing my leash from a little boy that couldn't have been older than seven. Nagol took that moment to come out of the room with a much cleaner smelling Mana, and after setting her down on her feet, he walked over to us and smiled at Miguel.

"How're you doing, kid? Figured you'd want some fuzziness to make today a bit better."

Miguel's face lit up and he actually hugged Nagol. It was quite funny, because Nagol was literally frozen for a moment before he finally reached around and patted Miguel's back a few times.

"Um, I'll take that as an affirmative. Glad I could brighten your day."

I couldn't help but tilt my head into the hug that I got from Miguel a moment later, feeling so much better just having the kid near me. It was weird, after my history and general dislike for children. Heck, the guy literally had nothing now, but I still valued him enough to want to come visit him in an orphanage full of sharks. I mean, kids.

"Hey, Ms. Cara? Can I go take Kine for a walk? He's the dog I was telling you about this morning."

The woman's brows rose as she looked at Nagol, silently asking if it was okay, I assumed. Nagol nodded right away, turning to hold the door open. "We can go for a quick walk. I'm sure he's got a lot to tell Kine about." The other kids groaned that the new kid was taking the dog away so soon, but after Nagol assured them that we'd be back, they calmed a bit and let us go without a fuss. Once I was back outside I reveled in the strong gusty wind, loving the feel of the crisp, cold air against my face. Miguel and Nagol seemed a bit chilled by it though, making me snicker.