Page 13 of Pooch Planet

Benji didn’t have the heart to tell Shep the things had expired at least a year ago. His friend’s stomach was made of iron, so he’d probably never notice anyway. Benji tossed them into the pantry then regarded Shep.

“Spill. What’s everyone saying.” He put his hands on his hips. “And why in Hades would I be missing an ear?”

“Bat demon ripped it off right before an asshole gargoyle cop threw you to the ground then interrogated you for hours while also refusing to get you medical attention for your bleeding or…” Shep narrowed his eyes. “even getting you a glass of water.”

Benji’s jaw dropped. “Antoine’s not an asshole!”

Shep snorted. “Who the fuck is Antoine?”

Benji groaned and waved his hand around. He needed to get a grip on himself. “He’s the asshole—I mean gargoyle.” He stamped a foot. “He’s the detective commander of the G-Force police division…or something. I’m not sure. But point being, he saved my life. That bat demon would’ve torn me to shreds, just like Coco, if he hadn’t been there.” Benji crossed his arms. “Never mind an ear. I would’ve been missing everything.”

Shep’s jaw went slack. “Wow. That’s intense. So, you told him all about Coco and what you saw?”

Benji’s shoulders fell and he dropped onto his bed. “No. He was supposed to get my statement after I rested, but he never came and got me.”

Shep shrugged. “He’s probably busy. There was the killing last night, too. I wouldn’t worry about it. You wanna go grab a beer while you’re waiting? You could leave him a note, or let Princess know where you are.”

“Yeah, maybe. I don’t have to be on duty tonight—or any other night—now that the G-Force soldiers are here. We’re all off the hook.”

Shep nodded. “I’ll say. No offense, but none of the dogs in this village are likely to be up for Guard Dog of the Year. Being protected by a bunch of Pugs and Yorkipoos doesn’t exactly fill me with a strong sense of security.”

“Don’t let Princess hear you say that. She’s never met an ankle she didn’t want to bite.”

Shep scratched his head. “True.”

Since Shep had stopped by anyway, Benji wondered if his friend could shed some light on a couple things. Not that Shep was an expert on first heats, since his hadn’t arrived yet either, but he had two brothers born a few minutes before him from the same litter, and they’d already had theirs. Of the two, one had partnered with their fated mate, and the Chihuahua trembles would be no different than Benji’s Chiweenie ones.

But he’d have to be careful how he asked. Shep was such a snoop.

“Um, yeah. Going to the bar sounds like a good plan. Let me get ready real quick.”

Benji stepped into the tiny stall that barely passed for a bathroom, then rummaged around in his grooming bag. He casually called out to Shep.

“So, how’s Sport doing with his new mate?”

The sound of papers being shuffled met his ears, and Benji figured Shep was rifling through his mail.

“Fine.”

Benji waited, but apparently, that was all he was going to get. He pinched the bridge of his nose then took in a deep breath before trying again. “Cool.”

Benji dragged a comb through his shoulder-length hair, noting that the caramel highlights against the darker brown were more prominent. They’d been lucky with a lot of sunny days lately, so he’d spent as much time running and rolling around in the grassy meadows as he could. He pondered how to get the information he wanted, since Shep was distracted by whatever was in Benji’s mail instead of chattering away how he normally would.

“I’m curious.” Benji rinsed out his mouth with minty water, then took another swig to make sure he’d paused the proper amount of time. Everything he said had to sound like no big deal, or Shep would know something was up.

Shep answered next to his ear, “About what?”

Benji jumped, spraying mouthwash all over his mirror, then coughed and spat out the rest. He splashed water on his face, wiped off the mirror then straightened. He regarded Shep with a scowl.

“Dammit, Shep! Why are you creeping up on me like that?”

“You have boring mail, you know that? This sounds much more promising.”

The guy had the attention span of a fly.

“What I was trying to say before you snuck up on me, is I was curious if there was any difference between Sport’s natural heat and Steve’s induced one.” He shook his head in irritation. “Sheesh.”

Benji brushed past Shep so he could continue getting ready without having to maintain eye contact. That would surely give him away.