are close living quarters. And it's hard to live your fabulous bachelor existence with a pup here intruding on your lifestyle. But you chose to take him and you chose to take me. So if you want to remain unfettered, stop picking up strays!" Fiona left her sandwich on the counter and stormed down the hall, slamming Z's bedroom door behind her.
That wasn't how he'd pictured her ending up in his room. He picked up the plate and followed, knocking softly when he got there.
"Go away! Go scratch your itches with some slut who doesn't care she's a sexual Kleenex. I'm not your blow-up doll."
He resisted the urge to break down the door. "Fiona, I'm sorry. I brought your sandwich. You went to all that trouble to make it. I don't want your dinner spoiled because of me."
"Too late."
Why did she have to be so stubborn about everything? He took a deep breath, trying to reign in his temper. "I'm going to leave your food out here by the door. But, if I were you, I'd get it quick before the pup does. I won't be back tonight. I'm just going to go stay someplace in town and get started on the search when the sun comes up. I should have gone today. You're right. I shouldn't bring others into my life if I'll resent it once they're here. Goodbye, Fiona."
He waited for a reply, but the only reply were the tears she probably thought he couldn't hear from the other side of the door. He moved out of sight and watched for another couple of minutes, long enough to see her hand slip out and take the sandwich into his room.
***
After he locked the pup up in the pen, he left his cell phone on the kitchen counter with a note attached that he'd be in touch to keep her updated, then he hightailed it out of there. He'd grab another phone before setting out in the morning. With Fiona in his room, he couldn't pack a bag, but he had his wallet on him, and he traveled light anyway. Anything he needed, he'd just have to buy on the way.
He had no idea how long he'd be gone or how far he'd have to travel to find the pup's family. It couldn't be too far, though the fear clawed in the back of his mind that he wouldn't find the family no matter how far afield of Golatha Falls he traveled. And what if the pup had been abandoned?
A sick thought entered his mind as he considered that perhaps a werewolf had gotten a human pregnant. It wasn't common, but it wasn't unheard of either. It would have to be a very strong wolf to have a human mother and still be born in his fur. Maybe the pup had been the product of a one-night stand, and she'd been out somewhere, had the baby, and freaked out. Maybe she'd just abandoned it.
If the father had been near her at all within a couple of weeks of conception, he would have sensed his offspring inside her, and wolves tended to be pretty possessive about that sort of thing. But if it had been a one-night stand and they never crossed paths again, he might not know about it. Could the girl have been a local, and the wolf just been passing through? Maybe he was a lone wolf without a pack or family and no interest in one. Z could identify with that.
Maybe Z's hunt was a wild goose chase. As cute as the pup was and as much as he liked the little fella, he couldn't imagine being saddled with the kid until he was old enough to leave. Plus, he could be stuck isolated with no pack, too. A wolf that hadn't been socialized with other wolves as a pup stood zero chance of being taken into a pack as an adult. If he couldn't find the family, maybe he should look for a pack to adopt him.
Z looked up and realized he'd been on auto-pilot the whole trip to the Java Junkie. He glanced over at the courthouse's big, brick clock tower. Almost nine o'clock. It was Monday, so the coffee shop was about to close.
The bell over the door went off as he stepped inside. Cherry was behind the counter, just where he knew she'd be. The place was deserted.
She looked up and gave him her sly, porn star smile. "I'm sorry, I just