A moan of satisfaction left Carla's lips when she placed the chicken in her mouth and for a split second she had almost forgotten about the group of officers that sat at the table with her. Although the police force she joined was small, the people who worked at the station were easy to get along with.
But of all the people at the station Carla liked an officer by the name of Kenya Jones. Kenya had the brooding type of humor to her that Carla liked, and it also helped that she was one of the very few females that worked at the station.
Carla was surprised that the small town had gotten a K-9 unit. Normally the town would have just requested the dogs from another station because the town was so small, but with the high rise in crime around Bon Temps they had earned their own K-9 unit. They were lucky that Carla was looking for a transfer.
"Sorry, haven't eaten a good meal in a few days." She murmured grabbing a large chunk of her chicken and shoving another piece in her mouth a pair of brown eyes watching her food intently. Now normally someone would have said something about bringing a dog into Merlottes' but none of the waitresses wanted to challenge the situation, and it wasn't like the dog was disrupting anything.
"So how long have you been partners?" Jason asked pointing to the dog who tried very hard to control himself. Not really wanting to share, Carla grabbed the second chicken breast and handed it to the dog. People watched on, slightly disgusted that Carla continued to pick at her fries with the same hand.
"Bruce and I have been on the force together for two years now." She said slathering a rather large fry in ketchup. Jason nodded his head in understanding, his eyes wide. It was apparent to everyone at the table that Jason found the girl attractive, and he was thinking about other things then Carla's dog.
"That's great! I bet you really love dogs!" Jason said, the silence that hung afterwards was enough for everyone at the table to chew their lips nervously. Carla watched as Jason scrunched his eyebrows together inwardly swearing at himself how stupid he sounded.
"So you said earlier that you have another dog at home?" Kenya asked pushing the remainder of her rice on the side of her plate to make it easier for her to scoop up. Nodding her head Carla swallowed what was in her mouth before answering.
"Yeah, that would be Lucy. She's retired, got her from a friend." Carla chimed picking up another fry. At the mention of his companion Burse lifted his ears. Carla didn't like leaving Lucy at home, but she was retired so she had no other choice. The same thing would happen to Bruce in a couple of years and then she would have to get a new partner. Not that she look forward to it, losing your partner was always hard.
Jason nodded his head absorbing the information he was being provided. Any conversation seemed to end at that moment and silently the small group continued to eat, Carla ever so often slipping her dog a few French fries. The truth was Carla was a small eater; she could never finish an entire plate. This usually left her very hungry later on, so she was very much a snacker. Both her dogs had learned to sit around the table when she ate, because she always passed something off to them.
It seemed just at that moment when Carla was handing Bruce a couple of French fries that the owner of the bar Sam Merlotte rounded the corner from the back. A look of confusion and frustration crossed his face seeing an animal in the restaurant, and for a brief moment he thought he was going to lose his mind.
In a moment of blind rage, he had started to march over to the owner of the dog. It wasn't until he was halfway across the floor he slowed down and his mind started to register what he was seeing. The woman sitting with the dog was new to town, and the dog was clearly hers. It was also abundantly clear that she was in a uniform and her dog wore a small black vest that said 'K-9 Police'.
Sam suddenly rethought his approach; because this was now not some hick with their dog in the bar. He also didn't want to appear like he was an idiot walking across the restaurant for nothing. Inwardly cringing he approached the small group of officers and greeted them with the biggest fake smile he could possibly muster. The smile was almost wiped off his face when he took a deep inhale of air. Werewolf.
Sam's eyes darted to the woman who looked confused for a number of reasons. The first being why did a strange smelling man just walk over to pet her dog? Still trying to keep the smile on his face he crouched down and started to pet the dog.
"Hey there little fella'." He chimed trying to avoid eye contact with the blonde woman. Everyone at the table was clearly aware of the awkward scene that was unfolding before them. Clara was unaware that she was glaring at Sam. It wasn't hard for everyone in the bar to see the way Sam stomped over to the table smiling like an idiot.
She had never smelt someone like Sam before and if anything she didn't trust him. She had already run into another Werewolf only days prior, and she wouldn't have known if he didn't flat out ask her. She was just under the impression that her neighbour smelt musky on his own. Humans did after all smell different, so it came as a great surprise to her that he was anything but.
"What's his name?" Sam asked scratching the dog's ears. Carla swallowed her pride thinking of all the nasty things she could say to the man. He had given her no reason not to like him but the idea of the strange smelling man touching her dog brought up extreme possessiveness in her chest.
"Bruce." She muttered, the man smiled awkwardly still avoiding her gaze, and just as quickly as he stormed across the room he had finished petting her dog. A silent pause hung over the group as Sam ran his hand along the back of his neck. Jason finally spoke.
"Oh, Carla! This is Sam Merlotte, he owns the restaurant." It seemed like Jason almost threw himself across the table. There was an annoyed look that crossed Kenya's face that didn't go unnoticed by a few members at the table. For a split second Sam almost reached his hand out to shake Carla's but she was unmoving and he didn't want to push his luck with an already irritated Werewolf.
"Nice to meet ya!" Sam nodded, he could feel his chest tighten and the urge to run away from the woman was growing strong. But running across the bar was sure to cause a controversy, so he continued to stand there stupidly talking the group of cops.
"So how do you liking Bon Temps so far?" He asked, Clara chewed the inside of her check.
"It's seems okay. Lots of new people and things." She said narrowing her eyes, Sam knew the conversation could only go south from there. There seemed to be confusion at the table and Sam quickly mumbled out a few things before walking away from the table. He was unsure of what he had said, but he knew he had told the table he would have a waitress bring Bruce his own special treat. When he was out of sight he groaned at his stupidity, and how he really needed a vacation.
The rest of the night Sam remained unseen and moody. The last thing he wanted was a dog and another super around his bar. Especially one that was a cop. Clara on the other had been itching to get home, and shortly after she received Bruce's on the house treat, she left.
With a quick turn of the wheel she pulled into her driveway shutting off the lights. Bruce danced excitedly around in the car knowing his friend was only moments away from him, and as soon as she opened the car door he bolted towards the house. She kicked a few dog toys out of her way, and walked up the stairs stopping. For what seemed the millionth time that day a look of confusion crossed her face.
On her porch stood Bruce, Lucy and Alcide.
"What the hell are you doing with my dog?" Clara snapped, she was very close to losing her mind. The only thing she could think of was how much of a creep Alcide was for breaking into her house and stealing her dog. Then waiting on her front porch for her to return. Alcide would have to admit that it did indeed look bad and for the second time talking to her he felt he had already screwed up.
"I just found her wandering around. I was just about to knock on your door when pulled up! I swear!" He defended; he had his hands in the air. He half expected her to pounce, her eyes were glowing and her teeth clenched. Her hand covered her face, and there was a groan that passed her lips.
"Fuck, sorry. Bad day at work, she probably ripped the screen off the back door." Clara removed her hand from her face, her eyes were no longer glowing but where not the incredible blue Alcide found hard not to look at.
"Come on in." She muttered gently pushing past him and using her key with the flick of a wrist. She skillfully kicked off her shoes and walked off in a direction. A moment later Alcide heard swearing, and with the dogs around his feet he followed her into the kitchen. The very same door that led to the backyard that he had passed through nights prior was torn to shreds. It was obvious that she had left the second door behind it open to air the house out, and that is how the dog got out. After ripping apart the screen and some of the wooden frame it was easy for her to escape.
"Shit Lucy! I don't know how to fix this!" Carla snapped looking at the perpetrator, then back to the door. She ran her hand over her forehead looking at the door. For a split second that she had forgotten about Alcide.
"Don't worry about it, I can fix it." Alcide said, she turned to look at him sharply and started shaking her head. She didn't want him to fix her house, she thought it was inappropriate. Her hand was placed on her chest and Alcide noted that she had no rings on her fingers at all. He was pretty sure she wore no necklaces either. Lose strands of her hair fell out of her elegant twist.
"I can't ask you to do that." She said simply, as if her argument was going to work. Alcide had after all dealt with a woman by the name of Sookie Stackhouse on more than one occasion. He believed that if he could deal with Sookie, he could deal with anything any woman threw at him.
"You didn't ask I offered." He could tell by the look on her face that she would fight him tooth and nail over this. But before she could continue to fight with him he raised his hand and cut her off.
"Please, it gets really hot around here and you want as many windows open for that dog if you're going to leave her home alone all day." He knew bringing up her dog Lucy would do the trick so when a look of irritation crossed her face and her hand dropped from her chest he knew he had won.
"Fine, but I'm making you Dinner." She could already feel the hunger stirring again in her stomach, and she had wished she ate more before she left the restaurant. But there was something about the man at the bar that bothered her enough that she felt she needed to leave. Alcide shook his head, silently accepting her offer. He hadn't eaten a meal cooked by a woman in a long time, and he wasn't going to fight free food.
He quickly set off to work trying to fix her screen door as quickly as possible. Normally the job wouldn't have taken him longer than 30 minutes but with both dogs curiously peeking their heads in his way every few seconds it proved to be a daunting task.
He was interrupted by the sound of a femmine throat clearing when he looked up. Clara was standing above him in a pair of jeans and a white tank top. Her hair was down and for the first time it allowed him to see how long it was, it hung just below her shoulder blades of her back, the highlights entangled in her curls.
In her one arm was two bowls and her other hand was two beers. She silently handed him a beer before stepping over him to sit on the porch. She had no chairs or tables outside so they both opted to sit on the ground. Popping the lid off his beer he watched her hand him a bowl of chili.
His bowl was filled to the brim with chili. He was sure it would have put his grandmothers cooking to shame. There was loads of meat, beans, and the wafting smell to go with it. His mouth watered, now realising how hungry he was. Her bowl although the same size had a smaller helping of Chili in it, he thought about questioning it but didn't care enough to pry.
She was watching her two dogs play in the yard when she pressed her beer to her lips. Both dogs had yet to notice the food she had brought out on the deck and she was sure they wouldn't until Lucy got to tired to play and came back to the house.
The silence between them was comfortable, and after taking another swig of beer she finally spoke.
"The other day, how did you know what I was?" Alcide had just finished putting another spoon full of chilli in his mouth and grunting in response swallowed his food.
"I can smell it." A look of confusion crossed her face as she thought about what he had said to her. It wasn't strange to her that he could smell her, but it was strange to her that he could determine what she was by her smell. She was always under the impression that everyone had their own unique smell.
Alcide used his hand to wipe his mouth, gently tugging at his jaw in the process. He never had to explain this to someone before, and it was mind-blowing to him that she couldn't determine what he was upon first meeting him.
"Weres have a distinct smell, just like any other supe. Females have this sweeter smell to them than most humans, whereas males are muskier. Humans don't smell like that, or other supes. It's a built in mechanism to ensure breeding." He said, he looked at his bowl noting that he had taken a pretty big dent in his food. He had a feeling he wasn't going to get the chance to finish it.
She started to chew her nail as she thought about it, she didn't want to sound stupid in front of someone who obviously knew so much more about what they were then she did. She could tell that Alcide smelt a lot better than anyone she had ever met. She couldn't lie to herself and say that Alcide's sent wasn't attractive.
"God I had no idea. I just assumed that some people just smelt strange for no reason in particular." She paused playing with her thumb as she thought; he could tell it was somewhat of a shock for her. Suddenly her mind was back to the man at the bar earlier, he smelt pungent.
"What does it mean if they smell pungent?" Her eyebrows were knitted together in confusion. A smile spread across his face and he chuckled.
"Sam Merlotte?" he asked the look of confusion deepened on her face. "He's a shifter, shifters smell like that. There's not many around here though." Her jaw suddenly dropped.
"Shifter?" she asked, her jaw still open, nose scrunched up and eyebrows knitted together.
"Yeah, they can change into just about anything." She jerked her attention away from him and muttered a few curse words under her breath. He could see that her shoulders had tensed up, and that she looked a little upset over the information she was learning.
"Are there others?" she asked looking at him, her eyes a little wide. She had already met one she couldn't imagine more, but after Alcide had said there was a few shifters in the area she wanted to know if there was more of their kind.
"There is a few packs in the area, most of them wolfs and one panthers." He knew at that moment he had overwhelmed her, she wasn't looking at him and he tightly kept his mouth shut. He figured he wasn't going to tell her anything else that night. Meanwhile her mind was spinning, panthers? People could turn into werepanthers? Even more mind blowing was they lived in packs.
"I always thought I was the only one." She said, she ran a hand through her curly locks exposing new highlights he hadn't seen before. He knew if she were ever in a pack she would have been claimed by someone a long time ago. She was too beautiful for anyone not too, he was lucky to get Debbie. She was after all a beautiful girl before the drugs, and the personality change.
"Look I know it's not much, I don't belong to a pack but if there is anything I can do for you just let me know." Alcide couldn't imagine being in her position, he had learned everything about being what he was from his father and other pack members. He couldn't imagine learning it on his own, the idea was impossible to him.
"You don't belong to a pack?" she asked, her eyes once again filled with curiosity. He suddenly wished he hadn't mentioned it, because now the feeling of loneliness was creeping back in. He missed the closeness of a pack, even when sometimes being a loner was far better for him then a pack. That is if he could stay away from the depression.
A groan escaped his lips, "It's a long story."
"I'd like to hear it, if you don't mind." He couldn't say no to her, it was just something about her face. Nodding his head he began his story.