Little Raven, Spread Your Wings.

4. Questions.

—Raven—

The puppies.. are so cute.

I can barely hold back my excitement as we walk up to a fence filled with puppies. They're all barking and playing, chasing each other. My eyes drift to Clay as I see him pet a fully-grown wolf. "Hey, mama.." I hear him mutter while stroking her fluffy fur. The wolf puts her nose on Clay's hand, giving him a small lick. I feel nervousness course through my veins as her eyes turn to me. She isn't speaking, though with her look It's like I can understand.

'Who is that? Are they safe around my pups?'

As if Clay can hear her, he reassures her with a gentle scratch behind the ears. "Don't worry, Alana. This is Raven."
The spotlight is put on me. With hesitancy, I walk up to Clay and Alana. Clay grabs my hand and lifts it out for Alana to smell. Puffs of air tickle the tips of my fingers, and Alana gives a lick of approval.

Clay flashes his wolfish grin at me, leading me into the fence. The puppies immediately run over, woofing and jumping on our legs. It feels like I can finally open up a bit, giggling as the puppies nibble on my fingers. Bending down, the puppies pile onto my lap.

I feel the stress melt away, not feeling like I have to put up a front, I can just pet puppies and relax. That is until Clay asks me a question. "Hey, kid. Uh.. this might be a difficult question, but I'd like'ta know.." I worriedly look up at Clay from the ground, petting a puppy gently. Clay continues with hesitancy. "Do ya, not have a home? I mean, you were walkin' out in the woods all 'lone. Do you have anywhere ta go?"

I feel the stress hit me again, the realization of the fact that I don't have a home anymore. It settles into my mind like it did earlier, now all I can focus on is everything that happened. After a moment of thought, I clear my throat and look down. "Um, no. I don't have anywhere to go. I don't want to talk about it."

The puppies seem to sense my distress, the one on my lap yips and licks my face. At the first lick, I don't react, but the puppies all start to lick and nibble me, and it just tickles too much for me to stay grumpy. I laugh softly, lying on the ground and hugging the puppies close to my chest.

Clay kneels next to me, sitting and pulling a puppy onto his lap. "Well, uh.." When Clay looks down at me, I can tell he's nervous. There's no teasing, no grin. Since the few hours I've known this man, this is the most serious I've seen him. "If you don't have anywhere ta go, you can stay here with us."

What?

My entire face fills with shock, my jaw going slack. He knows barely anything about me, yet, he's willing to let me stay here with them? Swallowing down my surprise, I maintain my pride. "I don't need to stay here, I'm perfectly capable of caring for myself."

Clay laughs, and now I'm annoyed. I bark at him like a puppy. "What?! What's so funny, I'm almost an adult!" Clay wipes away a tear, chuckling. "Oh, poor little pup. You can't take care of yourself! I mean, look. Your leg is fucked, you would make it like.." Clay analyzes me, eyes looking up at my face and down to my bandaged leg. "I'd give you, about a day living out on the street. You can't work with your leg, and I'm sure you don't have enough cash on you ta pay rent."

Why has he been right every single damn time today? My mouth opens and closes like a goldfish, since I can't think of an argument to spit back at him. Clay finally puts that stupid grin back on his face, leaning in close and poking me on the nose. "So what's it gunna be, puppy? Stay here, or go out on your own in the cold."

I huff away from him, glaring as I look around. Another good point. The trees are starting to flourish with beautiful red and orange leaves. Soon it will be autumn, and much colder. Even with my plans of eventually running away, I was going to have a stable job and somewhere to go.

With reluctance and anger, I look back to glare at Clay. Ignoring that toothy grin with a defeated sigh.

"Fine, I'll stay. Where's my room gonna be?"