Ashley sat at home, on the couch with his youngest daughter curled up into his side. Her small hands were tightly clutching her stuffed bunny, eyes lidded. Ashley was watching the news, still, in case any news of Andy or Drake came up. Hopefully there'd be none... He looked at Samantha and smiled sleepily as he saw she had fallen asleep.
Samantha was a momma's girl, meaning that she refused to do anything without Andy around. In the current point in time, she wouldn't go to sleep. It seemed, though, that curling up on the couch with daddy at 1 a.m. did the trick in putting her back to sleep. Ashley grabbed a blanket and draped it over her a bit.
"Mommy will be home soon." He breathed, kissing her forehead and sitting back up. He looked at the clock and chewed on his lip. "He sure has been gone a while, though..." Ashley looked at the clock above the fireplace and sighed heavily, the concern growing in his gut.
Meanwhile, Andy stood outside the Animal Control center, entire body trembling violently from exhaustion and terror. He had walked the whole way, not stopping to take a breath at all in fear that something would happen to his little baby boy in that time. Unfortunately, by the time he had arrived, the doors were locked, and the only light he could see was the dim glow of what he assumed was the back room where the animals were kept while waiting to be transferred. He helplessly tugged the locked door, whimpers escaping pathetically from his lips. "No- No, they- No." He shook his head and ran around, looking for another way in. Andy looked at the back door and saw the keypad lock, running both hands through his hair. "Drake, baby, no, no.." He whispered brokenly, pounding on the door. "Is someone in there!? Please! I have to get in!" He pounded again, and again.

His baby was inside. His little baby was locked inside that terrible place, and they were going to take him away if Andy couldn't get to him first. He went back around and looked at the window that was on the side of the building, putting a hand on it.
He could break through the glass and get his baby out... But he couldn't risk getting any injuries or being seen on any possible security footage. Andy looked around and quickly ducked out of sight, shifting into his more sophisticated wolf form. He took a few steps back and bent his hind legs, suddenly pouncing. He broke through the glass, landing on all four paws gracefully. With an arrogant snort, he shook the glass fragments from his white fur, carefully padding into the back room where the cages and kennels lined the walls.
Andy paused, ear tilting up to listen. He heard a soft, distinctly desperate whimper from the very end of the left side, refusing to hesitate in his rush to get to the kennel. When Andy came to stop, he saw his pup curled up, terrified and quivering in the far corner. Andy barked as quietly as he could, catching Drake attention. Drakes small head shot up and he scrambled over to the cage door, yipping frantically. Andy watched with sad eyes. His poor baby...
He looked at the lock on the door and was relieved to see it was just simple latches, carefully using his teeth to pull one of the two latches from it's hook. He undid the second one and nearly fell over as Drake pounced on him, burrowing into his fur. Andy licked the top of his head tenderly and looked around at the stray animals confined in their cages with pity. He wished he could free them all, but he had to get Drake back home.

Just as Andy turned to leave, having picked up Drake by the scruff of his neck, he was met with a blinding flashlight.
"Who are- What the hell!?" The girl gasped, taking a step back. Andy's eyes widened and he bolted past her running, as fast as he could until he stopped, looking every which way to find a way out. The glass was jagged around the edges of the window from Andy's break in. If he put Drake through there, it'd be putting him at risk of getting caught on the glass. There was no way... And if he shifted back to his human form to get the door unlocked, then the girl from the back room would surely see him if the security cameras didn't, and then that would end up with him losing everything.
"Wait- Stop." The girl shouted.
Andy stopped and turned slowly, setting Drake down and nudging him behind his leg. He stared at her, visibly shaking.

"Are you... One of us?" She whispered, kneeling down. Andy took a step back. "No- It's okay. I'm not gonna hurt you, I'm... I'm a wolf too." She whispered. Andy's eyes widened, nodding slowly. The girl looked at Drake. "I work here and I came back to let this little guy go. I knew... I just knew he wasn't just a wild wolf pup."
Andy nodded again, looking at Drake.
The girl stood and walked to the door, opening it for them. "Go. Hurry, get your pup home." She smiled faintly. "Maybe I'll see you around."

Andy stared at her, eyes wide with thanks and awe as he picked up Drake again and ran down the sidewalk towards home.

Notes