I was a split second too late to hold back the tiny snarl at his words. Colby snickered, but Harley's eyes widened.
"I don't think he likes that," Harley said softly. He studied me for a minute. "What about if I call you Scooter?"
That, I decided immediately, was absolutely acceptable and I made my opinion known by licking his cheek before stretching down to eat my food, determined to ignore the Blood Valley Omega's attempts at riling me up.
I'd finished my food and was lying over Harley's feet as he ate when Levi sat down across from him.
"How are you feeling, Harley?"
"Good, I think," he said slowly. "This might sound really stupid, but I feel better having Scooter with me. It's almost like he grounds me."
"That doesn't sound stupid at all," Levi assured him kindly, offering me a small smile. "In fact, it's pretty well established that being around animals can be very therapeutic."
"Levi?" Harley's brow was drawn into a frown. "Do you think Zade will let me keep him? I mean, if he wants to stay with me?"
I stretched, snuggling closer so I was leaning against his legs and placing my head in his lap.
Levi laughed.
"Well, I think he's already answered whether or not he wants to stay with you," he teased Harley. "I can't make any promises, but I'll talk to Zade and see if I can convince him. In the meantime, I got a call from Doc earlier. He was called out on a house call, so he is going to come here for your session instead of us going to his office."
"Oh. Okay," Harley finished his food and pushed the plate away, his hand dropping down to scratch my ears. "When?"
"About an hour," Levi said. "Why don't I keep an eye on your friend while you meet with him?"
"Scooter," Harley said quietly.
"What?"
"Colby told me what his old name was, and I shortened it to Scooter," Harley explained.
"I see." Levi exhaled slowly. "Sure, Harley. Scooter can hang with me."
~*~
"You should have seen your face," I said with a chuckle later when Levi and I were waiting for Zade.
"When he said your name?" Levi laughed when I nodded. "I thought my eyes were going to pop out of my head."
"They nearly did," I agreed, taking a long draw from the cold bottle in my hand. It had been a long time since I'd spent so many hours in wolf form and I was grateful for the opportunity to stretch my human legs while Harley was safely shut in with the doctor.
A snarl announced the Alpha's presence and I laughed. "Something wrong?"
"Other than you being naked with my mate?" There wasn't even a trace of humor in Zade's voice.
"It's okay, Zade," Levi tried to reassure him. "We were just trying to be sure that he'd have time to shift if Harley and Doc finished early."
"Besides," I shoved my chair back from the table to show the beach towel wrapped firmly around my waist, "all the good stuff is covered."
Zade was still frowning but managed to pull back the fangs that had poked free, so I took that as a sign that he was moving on.
"I wanted to apologize," I said calmly. "It never occurred to me that I'd run into Harley in the woods. Then he sounded so gutted when he thought he'd imagined me, that I couldn't just bail on him."
"I know." Zade sighed. "Honestly, I think it helped him. The only problem is that now he thinks he has a pet."
I shrugged. If all I had to do to be allowed to hang out around Harley was sit on command and look cute, I was more than on board. "That's not a problem."
"You should know everything before you make that decision," Zade said firmly, pulling a beer from the refrigerator and sitting in the chair next to Levi.
