Free A Mutt in Disguise by Doris O'Connor Page B

throat, and she inched away from him.
    He cupped her face
and forced her to look at him, his eyes glittering in barely suppressed fury.
She put her hand over his mouth when he would have kissed her.
    "I haven't
yet agreed to marry you, Declan."
    His eyes narrowed
at her curt statement.
    "Oh, but you
will, my sweet. It's what your Gran would have wanted."
    Her heart bumped
against her chest bone with a painful thud, and she shook her head. The light
changed, and he put the car into gear with a muttered curse. "Fine, have
it your way. We'll go and drop off the fucking cakes, if it means that much to
you."
    They drove the
rest of the way in tense silence, and Anja breathed a
sigh of relief when they pulled up outside the shelter. To her surprise, Declan
got out of the car and helped her with the boxes. His nose wrinkled in
distaste, but he followed her inside the rundown building.
    They attracted
some curious glances from the regulars, and a beaming smile from Mary, who
rushed towards them from the kitchen.
    "Oh Anja , I thought you couldn't make it tonight. Is this your
young man?" The silver-haired, rotund little lady offered her hand to
Declan with another beaming smile. "I've heard so much about you. It's
such a pleasure to finally meet you."
    Declan ignored
Mary's outstretched hand and took a step back. He thrust the
confectionary-laden bag at her instead, and wrinkled his nose again. Mary's
smile slipped a little. She took the bag from him and threw a concerned glance
towards Anja . Anja had to
force herself to keep her smile in place. Did he have to be so rude? Before she
could say anything, a familiar cold, wet nose bumped into her knee cap, seconds
before a menacing growl erupted behind her.
    Declan grew pale
under his tan, and his eyes widened. As shocked as Anja was at that growl, she couldn't help but smile as all the superiority left
Declan's tall frame. Hands held up in surrender, he took several steps back.
    "What the
fuck is that?"
    "Oh, that's
just Mutt. He hangs around the shelter from time to time. He's harmless,
really." Mary's warm voice was meant to soothe, but her expression had the
opposite effect as she, too, looked at the wolf-like dog as though she'd never
seen him before.
    Sure enough, the Tamaskan dog didn't look harmless at the moment. His
hackles raised, he crouched low, baring his teeth, and Anja could feel the vibrations of his growls through the soles of her feet. Her
heart missed a few beats as his intelligent amber eyes connected with hers, and
he cocked his head to one side. She put her hand out to calm the animal down,
ignoring Declan's sharp intake of breath. Mutt stopped growling long enough to
lick her hand, and bumped his big head against her leg playfully, before he sat
down next to her and fixed his expressive eyes on Declan.
    "See, he is
harmless. Not sure what got into him, really."
    She had grown fond
of the big wolf-like animal over the last few weeks. He'd shown up one night
out of the blue, his beautiful gray-black coat matted and dirty, his leg
sporting a limp, and when Mary would have shooed him away, Anja had convinced her to let him stay in the warmth. Since then Mutt, as Anja had affectionately called him, showed up sporadically,
usually dragging another down-and-out with him to the shelter. He was a law
onto himself, but until now he'd never shown the slightest hint of aggression.
    "That thing
is no doubt riddled with fleas, and he's not wearing a collar. And from the way
he's growling at me, he is far from harmless. Things like him need to be put
down, before he attacks a child or something."
    "Don't be
absurd. He would never attack anyone." Anja defended Mutt immediately, even as his renewed menacing growls called her a
liar. What had gotten into him?
    "He wouldn’t,
would he? Then why is that thing growling and baring his teeth at me?" He
took a step toward Anja , and Mutt crouched again, to
all intents and purposes ready to attack Declan, who had the good sense to