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Whit made to grab Demi to put her behind him as protection and the snarls ramped up… an obvious threat. Demi seemed to know the problem and pushed his hand away. “No. Don’t touch me. He’s protecting me. He thinks you’re the enemy.”
Everything in him screamed he needed her safe. And where danger stood he needed to defend. Backing down didn’t sit well with him.
“Trust me. I promise. He won’t hurt me, or I’d already be dead many times over.”
Whit nodded. Then he backed away. Hardest thing he’d ever had to do in his life. Watching the dangerous hundred-pound beast in attack mode anywhere near Demi seemed as foreign to him as standing by to see a loved one in danger and doing nothing.
Yet she didn’t hesitate. She stepped forward and waited, hand out. “Hi Nito. You miss me?”
A low growl sounded but the snarl aspect disappeared. The animal wouldn’t come close though. He just stood watching with those incredible green eyes fixed on his small, red-headed warrior.
Whit held his breath watching, waiting, praying the giant canine would run off and leave them be. But he didn’t. He stood with his head lowered, his paws spread and his tail down but slightly swinging.
“Jesus, you little bastard, you still have the personality of a wounded rhino, don’t ya?”
His ears perked up as she spoke the word bastard and that seemed to propel him forward. Demi smiled and stood her ground. Slowly, the wolf walked over to her and leaned his weight on her legs, as if he was protecting his own. Then he looked toward the cat in the window and then to her.
As if she knew what he wanted, she motioned for Whit to step aside and then she opened the door to the cabin and let Nito inside. As soon as he entered the room, the cat disappeared from the window to meet the wolf as it entered inside. Whit followed Demi but not too close, assuming her hand waving him forward as permission he’d be safe.
What met him there stunned the living bejesus out of him. The wolf had laid down in front of the fireplace and the young cat was winding herself around his head, rubbing her body on him and purring as if she’d finally met up with an old friend.
When Whit went to sit at the table, Nito issued a low warning growl for him not to come too close and Demi laughed. “Don’t worry, he did the same to Tanner at first. He takes some getting used to, I know.”
Whit looked from Nito and back to her, shaking his head. “Bastard’s got a thing for the kitten. What’s her name again? Right, you said Tanner named her, called her Pearl. Good choice. She’s such a soft gray.”
“Yeah. I told you about the night Nito escaped, about how I dropped the kitten into his cage. They must have bonded somehow. I knew I could trust him with her ever since. Craziest thing really. He’s a wild animal yet he’s not.”
“You fed him. For weeks. Kept him safe. Guess you took his mother’s place. I don’t know. But he has my eternal gratitude, and a home by my fireplace anytime he wants it.”
“See, that’s kind of what I think too.”
Demi bustled around in her kitchen then, getting used to her belongings again and loving every minute. “I doubt if there’s any homemade sweets left but we brought back enough from the store. You want a coffee and a snack?”
“Sure. Guess those two need some time to catch up.” Whit grinned at Demi and pointed towards the two animals. She laughed at the same thing that had made him smile.
Nito laid on his side while Pearl draped over his neck, her face nuzzled against his.
Chapter Nineteen
Demi couldn’t remember a time when she’d been happier. Here she was in the home she’d helped restore with the man who’d made it all possible. Peace settled inside like a soft blanket of contentment. A feeling of belonging she’d searched for all her life.
Chores that might seem to be never-ending became ones she loved doing. Her writing career surprisingly filled another void she hadn’t even known existed.
Rewriting and revamping until the plot became clear made her wonder if she’d ever be able to write something she could save. Until she did. Her fictional story told of the harsh facts that homeless kids had to survive while making themselves a life on the streets.
Her characters were created from her interactions with real people and incidents she’d seen during her time as the manager of Fulton House. In fact, the rape scene had been based on her own experience at thirteen, one where she’d gotten away in time, surviving the cruelty. Unfortunately, she knew of many others who weren’t as lucky.
And so she wrote about them, and tried to make her story realistic enough to wake up the readers so they might understand how horrible it was to be alone and defenseless. According to her editor, Laurie, she’d done the job well and her publisher couldn’t wait for her next set of chapters… and then the next book.
Good, maybe it was a way for her to do her part in helping those kids. That had always been her goal, only she’d never imagined it would take this form.
She looked out the window and saw Nito sauntering along the perimeter by the trees. He did so often as if checking to be sure all was well in her world.
She smiled. Even her dislike of dogs had melted away now that she understood that they had personalities. For instance, Nito didn’t listen when she used that word. It dawned on her that she’d called him the little bastard for so long, he had taken it to be his name. She laughed to herself and then shrugged. She’d keep working on switching it to Nito and hopefully, he’d eventually accept the different title.
Just as she rose to put on the coffee, she heard Nito barking from a distance and in a few seconds, Norrie knocked on the door. Before she had a chance to answer, the door opened and Norrie bounced in, closing it quickly. “I know that bastard wants to eat me, I can feel it.”
Demi laughed, rose to hug her friend and help her with her parcels. “What’s all this stuff?”
