12: How Much is That Doggie in the Window.

While the werewolves napped away the afternoon, Thom had chosen to release some of his woes and went out to seek comfort away from his alpha. Neither Hope nor Elda would be very pleased with him for wandering away without explanation, but sometimes being with this new pack was just the same as being with his step-dad's pack; werewolves were bound down by too many rules and regulations and the rigidity killed him.

Thom knew the only reason the reserve kept him around the last four years was because Elda felt partially responsible for Thom's condition—and wholly responsible for his mother's shortcomings.

The 'wolf only stayed because he felt he deserved to live with monsters.

Everyone has conditions.

He thought about Josh again, and took another sip from his warm bourbon. He didn't want to like Josh. When Nora had arrived at the reserve alone, Thom couldn't help but compare her to his mother. The legacy had been furious that her boyfriend wasn't going to be there during her pregnancy. Thom had even said so.

But bringing it up insulted her, and Nora defended her boyfriend fiercely. Perhaps it was that devotion that made Thom so thoroughly convinced that Josh was pathetic, irresponsible and uncaring. He had seen it growing up, and he had learned to associate it with abuse. And it was this fabrication that Thom clung on to tightly.

Some selfish part of him wanted Nora to be lonely and abandoned by the orderly because it made him feel better about himself. Thom had partially hoped that he could confront a monster as hideous as his own father and finally bring some fraction of peace to his life.

The fact that Josh was actually a very loving man made the 'wolf-born hotly frustrated.

The disappointment alone made Thom shrink back down into that familiar thickened blackness that came with the feeling of being cast aside and abandoned. He hated knowing that the stock he came from hadn't even the fraction of loyalty or honor that was within Josh.

Thom nursed his drink and his cigarette for an hour. The club was noisy, crowded and dark for it being barely 4-o'-clock in the evening. And the din reminded him of his life with Hope and Elda.

In his step-father's pack, he had been a top dog; It was for that very reason his step' converted him in the first place. But the blood on the reserve was hot and powerful, and after he was taken in by his grandmother and Ma'ma, he quickly realized that his 'wolf status was almost pathetic among them.

Hope and Elda, even as legacies, were of strong blood and the supernatural instinct in him cowed like an animal under their power. To compound that, being the only man in a company of dominant females was sorely trying at times.

In a way, he was kind of jealous of George's relationship with Annie. She loved him enough to be visible to a supernatural deadbeat like Thom, even if it was for just a second. And not for the first time since as long as he could remember, he felt completely alone.

"Buy you a drink stranger?" Thom checked to see if the man really meant to be speaking to him.

He was an olive skinned creature with curly brown hair and black twinkling feminine eyes. Not really Thom's type, but he wasn't hard to look at. So the werewolf shrugged, then kicked back to look him over more critically. The stranger was very small.

"How old are you?"

"Twenty four," and Thom doubted it. But there was something familiar about him and the werewolf couldn't quite place it.

"You are very handsome, kid. But, um, I'm not exactly the good kind of company."

"Oh please, I've been watching you since you got here and I know for a fact that you are a lot more than you seem. I just want to get to know you better. The you that's not angry and bitter and mopey all the time. And maybe you can get to know me."

"Not-," Thom squinted again, sure that he could recognize the stranger if he tried, "Not that good of an idea."

"Not good ideas involve you sneaking out of the motel when Alda and Hope are asleep just to go to a bar."

This time Thom jerked out of his seat, nearly knocking the tall chair to the floor. The boy rocked back giggling on his bar stool.

"Who are you?"

"Chill, wolf-boy. I'm a friend." and he held up his slender hands then said, "It's okay."

Thom frowned then blurted, "Sally?"

"Ta da!" Sally scratched the young boy's face and then pat his hand on the seat of Thom's barstool. "Now you may sit down."

"Are you-" Thom was completely flabbergasted. "Are you possessing a body?" He realized that was kind of a stupid question: of course she was possessing someone else's body, then decided to ask, "Whose body are you wearing? Are you actually a boy?"

"No, no. Original me is 100% woman. But there are no 100% women in here so I just took one that liked you. He's one of the college kids on the back corner table. All of whom, by the way, have been checking you out since you sat at the counter." The ghost chuckled, "Drunk as this guy is, I'm pretty sure that this seat, is exactly where he wants to be right now."

Thom flushed with anger and Sally made an insensitive comment about how he looked cute when he blushed.

"That's wrong, Sally. A ghost can't just walk into someone else's body and run it without his permission."

"I know," she seemed distant for a moment, and he got the sense he may have hit a nerve, "Trust me, I'm the last person you need to lecture about the moral ambiguities of joyriding other people's meat." Sally reached out the boy's hand and touched the back of the wolf's knuckles and Thom shuddered pleasantly at the contact. "But I had to make sure you knew I was here for you."

Thom let Sally ease him back into his seat.

Sally's soul was seen through the College Kid's pupils. It was the same soul that Thom could feel in the house of the hosts, and the same soul he felt when he knew she was speaking or listening. For the first time since arriving, that ache in his heart suddenly was washed over in a wave of relief. He now knew completely that she had been listening and speaking to him all this time, even when he couldn't hear her. "I already knew that."

"You thought you knew that, but there was always doubt. Like, you're always wondering if I'm there when you talk. I know. I've heard you."

Thom laughed quietly then tried to shut out the sudden swell of weakness. He cast his eyes nervously over Sally's shoulder to College's table. They were a mixed collection of boys all staring wide eyed as their classmate hit on the lone wolf at the bar counter. Their expressions of jaw dropping respect made Thom suddenly uncomfortable. "You should get out of this body before he does something he regrets."

"I will," Sally said, standing up. He put his hand on Thom's shoulder and smiled. "But like I said, I wanted to make sure you knew."

And he descended from where he stood, and gave the lonely soul a sweet, knowing kiss. Thom connected then, soul to soul, with Sally and with her life. Pressed against him and touching for the first time. He felt Sally break and move away as the spirit lifted from the body.

That kiss changed in the moment, and Sally's soul no longer was anchored in the physical realm. And though still warm and pleasant, the emotional connection was lost in the kiss. College was absorbed in the pleasure for a second before taking a halting step back to access what he was doing. Sally was right, the kid was beyond drunk, he had likely been blacking out all day and Thom felt a sudden pang of remorse for having taken advantage of his innocence.

"I'm sorry," Thom started, deeply concerned for the College Kid's self esteem.

College's face instantly turned a hot shade of red with embarrassment and stammered, "Oh, oh no. I'm so sorry. I –" and he covered his face, "I really don't know what got in to me."

Partially flattered, and partially amused, and largely glad he had not harmed the boy, Thom let crack a rare, unbridled grin and College lost his trail of thought again.

"I mean. You're so hot." And he ran off before he finished explaining himself. College threw his eyes back longingly toward the tall werewolf before ducking into his booth of buddies where he continued to blush proudly for the rest of the night.

Thom tried but couldn't drop his smile when College's friends took turns congratulating him heartily and feeding him more shots. So Thom let the boy fill in his own gaps, and ordered another drink, put it in the seat next to him, then tinked it cheers.

"Thanks, Sally."

And on the glass, the words, "it's okay" traced itself on the thin condensation.

And a smiley face.

- - - -{Elsewhere}- - - -

"I think I owe you an apology," Mitchell started awkwardly as the driver tucked his cell phone into his pants pocket. Aiden turned out of the hotel's parking lot trying not to take his eyes off of the road and to keep that empty pit in his stomach out of mind for the drive back to the house.

"I thought you already gave me an apology an hour ago," the vampire replied. "I get it: you thought you were protecting George. If Josh were in that kind of trouble, I may not have thought twice about taking your head off either."

"Not about that," Mitchell cut in quickly, "I thought you were just another one in the mill that would do anything to get at the head of the Family. I didn't like the person I made you out to be and so I was rude and disrespectful and I was mistaken. And for that I'm really sorry."

Aiden pressed the line of his lips to force back a broad smirk, "You know, you surprised me too."

Mitchell nodded, then having said what he needed to, went back to looking out of the window as they head toward Aiden's apartment. "So we're cool?"

"Yeah, we're cool."

- - - -{At the Haunt}- - - -

"That was Aiden. He's on the way home," Josh put out the bandages in neat rows on the coffee table, and George hobbled down the last flight of the stairs. "He's bringing Mitchell with him. And he should be here soon. Food is in the fridge, and you have to unplug the microwave to use the kettle boiler." Josh shoved his phone into his pocket and then looked around as if there were other words of wisdom he needed to pass on before he left the haunt. "Oh, and don't use the red mug, Aiden warms his breakfast there. Smells like blood all of the time."

"I'm sure I'll manage till Aiden gets back." George experimented with stepping without support, "I already feel ridiculously useless as it is."

"Should be soon," assured Josh. He was about to run up the stairs to get a pair of socks, but he wasn't even three steps up when doorbell rang. George and Josh exchanged looks; Neither were expecting guests. Josh scuttled to the front door and peered out of the peep hole. "Huh."

"Who is it?"

Josh opened the door and Sally walked in. The Jewish orderly followed her with his eyes for a moment then turned his attention to the other guest.

"Thom. What are you doing here? Are Hope and Alda coming?"

"No. Just me," The tall wolfblood said, he shoved his hands into his pockets. He smelled like smoke and alcohol. "I came to check in on George."

"Don't need any help from psychopath killers, thanks!" sang the British guest hobbling to the front door.

But Josh invited the 'wolf in anyway.

Sally crossed her arms over her chest and said to the boys: "Be nice. Thom's here to apologize."

"Apologize?" George repeated, looking at the little ghost. "For what?"

"I wanted to apologize for Hope and Alda. They mean well, but sometimes they can be quite persistent," Thom stood at the vestibule uncomfortably. He looked around and only settled when George said Annie was not there with them. "And I know sometimes I have a temper."

Josh made a sarcastic face but Sally glared at him and he didn't say anything.

"I wanted to also warn you. The Reserve may not be interested in bringing the end of the world, but some the folks on the reserve still contact packs that do. So if you do go to Canton, you'll be isolated to minimize risk."

George's heart sank. He was just beginning to warm up to the idea of following the trio back to New Mexico. He had stood on the fence for the most part and with just one breath, he suddenly felt himself clawing back to the comfort of the home he knew.

The hardest hurdle would have been cutting himself off from his friends, Mitchell and Annie. Now he finds he may have to cut himself off from everyone. "Why are you telling me this?"

The punk shrugged and rolled his eyes as if he was 'too cool' to answer, but Sally just made an encouraging quip that both of the werewolves who could see her gawked at.

As if he had heard her, Thom thought about it, swallowed as if words were a difficulty then finally said: "Because you have a good life and a network of people that would miss you if you disappeared. Anyone that lucky doesn't deserve to live trapped like an animal."

George regarded the other werewolf strangely then just sighed. Thom looked at obvious ends with himself. And despite his better judgment, he decided to open some warmth to the creature anyway, "You're not normal- The way you were at the hotel. Are you…" he struggled to find a word and settled with "infected?"

Josh made a triumphant sound, since he had also settled on the same word a week ago, but Sally gave him a sharp glare and he stood there feeling smug.

Thom rocked a bit uncomfortably where he stood, his hands were deep into his pockets and he appeared to be measuring the pros and cons of this conversation in his head before saying: "My stepfather turned me when I was eight. On purpose. In front of my mother. " he looked as awkward as he sounded, "She's a legacy. So I have 'wolf blood in me."

"So," George furrowed his brow as he thought, "You are a werewolf then?"

"Not anymore."

Josh's breath hitched loudly when he finally comprehended what that actually meant. "So you —"

The door knocked again, and all four in the room exchanged glances. "That can't be Aiden and Mitchell already?"

"I'll get it," and George hobbled excitedly toward the door, only tripping once.

The front door swung open and the look of gleeful anticipation on George's face was instantly swallowed by shock.

Olfaq grinned, "Hi." Faster than George could take a step deeper into the safety of the house the vampire's hands shot in, his knuckles instantly swelled with what looked like a burn or a rash. He didn't linger uninvited for long before he tore the British guest out the door and George scraped painfully down the short flight of concrete steps leading to the sidewalk.

"Oh my gosh," Josh dropped his work bag then scrambled to the entrance. But before he could even breathe, a girl no older than Hope stepped through.

She made a face at the smell of dogs, and then looked at the remaining three occupants before smiling. "Do you mind if I let myself in?"

Josh didn't even have time to demand to know who she was: her eyes filled like ink and she dropped a pair of fangs and for a second, Josh could have sworn she unhinged her jaw.

Thom flew over the sofa and pulled the home owner away while the child relished in Josh's paralyzing fear. She snapped playfully at the werewolf pair as they scrambled into the kitchen. That was when the uninvited guest started to sing children's rhymes.

"She's a vampire!"

Thom scrounged through the drawers for something to defend himself with. The first thing he found was a butter knife and he took it then said to Josh, "Grab a weapon!"

"How did she make it inside my house? We didn't invite her! Why isn't she exploding?"

And Thom, took a deep breath then forced the dull knife into the palm of his hand. Twice.

Sally had materialized away. For some reason, watching the wolves fight in the hotel was much more bearable than watching them fight in her own home. Her disappearance entertained the little vampire and Hettie played a short game of hide and seek. One other vampire entered the premise, but he looked flushed, uncomfortable and apprehensive.

"They are Old Ones."

Josh frantically followed suit and grabbed the first solid thing he could find: it happened to be a wooden spoon. He didn't seem to notice that his weapon had a rounded edge.

"They develop an immunity to invitations after a while," and Thom crouched behind the kitchen door. Hettie was knocking on the entrance of the storage space under the stairs. Sally whimpered, but a single sniff, and the vampire lost interest in the ghost. "She's coming this way. Get out the back."

"The back door doesn't open!"

Thom looked at Josh irritably, "You know that's a fire hazard?"

"Funny," Josh replied miserably. He watched as Hettie approached the kitchen and really wished he and Aiden had un-jammed the back door like they always said they would. Josh put it on the top of the mental to-do-list.

The Vampire that was Hettie, was a petite creature, even for a vampire. Her long, smooth brown hair added to her ghostly posture and her blushed rosy cheeks just accented how pale the rest of her skin was. When she walked, her light blue dress swayed with her slow, deliberate steps- she really didn't seem to be in any hurry. "Well what do we do? Little creepy undead British girl is headed straight for us."

"Of all the horrifying ways you could describe that fang with, you pick 'British girl'?" For a moment, Thom's expression looked oddly like Aiden's, and the werewolf allowed himself a second's break from the ensuing chaos to do a double take. "Really?"

"Just F.Y.I., those creepy movies with possessed little girls who stagger around speaking with accents are the worst kind of horror for me! I have developed a trauma to it!"

"Okay, well then when creepy little vampire girl gets to the door, the both of us shove hard then run right through the window."

"Window?" Josh's shrill made Thom cringe, "Why not the front door?"

"Fine: the front door," The hunter was not in the mood to make it more elaborate, since his seconds were getting alarmingly slim, "ready?"

"Don't we get a sign?"

"For the love of –" Thom wanted to stake Josh more than he wanted to bleed the vampire in front of him. But his threat was cut off when Sally's shrilled ghost scream pierced through the entire house and the entire apartment began to rock in fear. It was accompanied by the howling cries of the other vampire that had intruded. Hettie whipped about, surprised stocked by the image of her underling as his arms began to smoke under a spreading black infection.

"GO!" and Thom led the way, bursting through the kitchen's flimsy swinging doors. Josh followed close behind him.

Hettie whipped about when Thom sped past her, straight for the window. And she gathered enough sense to coil up and grab Josh by the tail of his shirt. She leaped backward and Josh slipped on the carpet and landed head first on the living room floor.

Hettie's assistant was trying to brush off the bits of dry wall as if the house itself burned into his skin like acid. "It's 'wolf's blood!" the accompanying vampire squalled. He sounded as if he had just come from off of a ship straight from Dublin. "They have fuckin' werewolf blood embedded in their walls."

Josh would later appreciate the practicality of this application. Right then, he was too busy trying to scramble into the closet area with Sally. But Hettie grabbed him by the ankle and yanked him back, her surprising strength seemed ungodly for her appearance The burning vampire reached out his half acid eaten arm to grab at the ghost and Sally screamed again when he clawed at her gray cardigan.

Not quite knowing how Sally was being assaulted by the strangers (and not quite so much caring to find out at this exact moment) Josh tried to reach the closet again. Hettie started to giggle like a child before Thom barreled into her, smacking her face with his blood soaked fist. It left a dark black mark over her pale sick skin and the little terror glared at Thom in seething anger.

"Didn't sense werewolf off of you earlier. But it is in you, isn't it?"

"Why does everyone like to keep telling me I have 'wolf blood in me as if I don't know that already?" And Thom tried to sneak in another hit before Hettie realized he was coming.

But the vampire was experienced, and she hadn't needed to move while she thought the wolves were helpless in their human state. For the most part, she was proven right about George and Josh. But the little Old One could recognize a pack hunter when she saw one. She wasted no time, and drove her sharp fist down hard on the back of his open neck. Thom swore he heard his skull break before he hit the ground unconscious.

George had made it to the door and tried to pull the Irish vampire off of the little stowage closet. The burning intruder took a powerful swing toward Josh and completely instinctively the 'wolf swung out. The wooden spoon smacked hard into the other vampire's face; so hard it snapped at the hilt and a raw red streak traced a line on the palm of Josh's hand.

Enraged, and his face completely flaring up in vampire ire, the stranger leaped forward and Josh stabbed toward him with the broken handle. Hettie recognized a stake and intervened. And Josh was then face to face with a very upset little British bloodsucker.

"I'm bored now." And she grabbed Josh by the thick of his neck.

The pain was blinding and Josh thought he felt his trachea collapse under her vice. He clawed at her grip, monstrously strong for her size, and tried to push down the idea that he could not swallow. He could not breathe, he could not cough. He could not breathe, and he could not escape.

Hettie held down Josh's throat tighter, then said to her companion. "Forget that ghost. Just bring the half werewolf out to the others."

"Sally," Josh had to make sure she was okay. Hettie didn't like his gurgle and clamped down harder still. The 'wolf hadn't taken a breath since Thom had hit Hettie off of his back and now his lungs clawed at his chest in a desperate plea for air. He swung out. With every second that passed, Hettie's grip grew stronger and the world around him grew brighter.

Then at last, the pain in his chest ebbed. It was as if his lungs had decided to completely, and happily, give up.

"This dog's a fighter," said Hattie. It was the last thing he heard before Josh he completely blacked out.

AN: Yeah, sorry folks. I was on vacation overseas! I started watching Season 3 of the US version. =} I really love this show.