“Muzo, what happened?” Poppy asked, his voice raising in pitch. He sounded like he was about to cry.
Guilt wormed its way through my insides. The last thing I ever wanted to do was make Poppy cry.
“Hey, it’s okay,” I said, wagging my tail to calm him.
“Your pelt is—it’s—it’s so dirty!” Poppy wailed. Unlike Alaric, there was no contempt in his voice.
Trying to keep my tone light, I said, “Yeah, I know. It’s fine.”
Poppy bit his lip. I practically saw the internal war waging in his mind—should he obediently take my word for it, or argue with me?
Shockingly, he picked the latter.
“You know what? No, it’s not fine,” Poppy insisted. “You look terrible. Hang on.”
He checked over his shoulder to make sure no humans were present, then quickly discarded his clothes and shifted into his arctic wolf form. His tongue flew across my fur, licking me as thoroughly and aggressively as a parent who’d just given birth to pups.
“Poppy, come on,” I said. “I’m—pffbt.”
He cut me off as his tongue cleaned my dirty snout, including the blood from the rat bite. Within seconds, I was damp with warm wolf slobber.
Alaric let out a disdainful sigh. “Dogs.”
“Hey, you lick yourself, too,cat,” I shot back.
“I’m also familiar with the concept of shampoo,” Alaric said dryly.
“Me too. I just can’t afford it.”
Poppy stopped suddenly. “What did you say?”
Crap.
“Uh... I can’t afford... time to go to the store?”
Poppy’s brown eyes bore into me gravely. “Muzo.”
“Oh dear,” Alaric remarked. “Am I about to witness a lover’s quarrel?”
I snorted. “We’re not lovers, we’re friends. Y’know, ‘cause some of us actually have them.”
That was a mean thing to say, but I was super overwhelmed. I was annoyed at myself for getting Poppy involved—and honestly, Alaric too. I should’ve done a better job keeping my problems a secret.
Alaric didn’t sound offended. He examined his nails. “Some of us also don’t have a twelve-mile stink radius.”
Before I could respond, Poppy headbutted my cheek to get my attention.
“Muzo, tell me what’s really going on.” His soft voice had a serious edge, one I didn’t hear often.
I could lie, but what could I possibly say that would sound plausible? And did I really want to lie? It wouldn’t help—Poppy was already distraught, and Alaric had watched me lose a fight to a rat. There wasn’t any lower I could go.
“So... I lost my job,” I began.
Poppy let out a sympathetic gasp.
“And my apartment,” I continued.
His jaw hung open. “What?”
