Bad Dog| Andley |

Ashley’s POV

Purring; Andy was purring. First this poor kid was somehow transformed into a wolf, and now he was purring. What were the odds of that ever happening? It was like something straight out of a Disney film…
“I thought only cats purred.” I teased, continuing to scratch the spot behind his left ear. Andy shook his head, seemingly comfortable on my lap. I watched as his crystal blues revealed themselves once again, only to slowly observe the room we were in. He looked up at me and lifted his head, gingerly licking my cheek.

I smiled a bit, petting his head. “What?” I laughed softly.
Andy looked away and climbed off the couch, not responding to my question. That’s weird, what got into him all of a sudden?

Deciding it was best to leave it alone, I got up and followed him down the small carpeted hallway that led to my bedroom. I had a small place, so it was just a simple layout- the room holding a twin bed with grey bedding, a guitar in the corner of the room by a desk with my laptop and sketchbooks. Andy, sniffing around curiously, padded over and put his front legs up on my desk chair, examining the open sketchbook. He looked back at me and tilted his head.

“Oh- I’m a tattoo artist, well, kind of. I don’t give the tattoos, but I design them and sit down with people to help them figure out what they want before they get it done. Pretty laid back job, if I do say so myself.” I shrugged, and walked to the other side of my desk. “This is one I’m working on right now. It’s a skeleton biker. I mean, the chick was pretty drunk when she came in and asked for it, but she asked, and I designed. It’s up to her if she gets it or not.” I laughed and flipped through the sketchbook, showing Andy some more of my work. He suddenly put his paw on my hand, stopping me from turning the page.
I cocked a brow at him for a moment before looking to see what caught his eye.

It was one of my first sketches I had done in the sketchbook we were currently looking through, and it made sense why Andy stopped to examine it.

The design was of a full moon, infused with the majestic head of a howling wolf. It was small and simple, but it obviously spoke to Andy on quite a few levels. He stared at it for a minute longer before pushing off of the desk chair and walking out of the room. I frowned, following him.

“Hey, what’s wrong, Andy?” I worried. Andy sat down in the middle of the hallway and looked sadly at a picture I had hung on the wall of a family reunion a few years back. He made a soft whining sound, then looked down. “Oh… hey, it’s okay.” I sat beside him.

Andy shook his head and squeezed his eyes shut.

“You’ll change back eventually, ok? I’m gonna help you...” I murmured. “Don’t worry.”

Andy laid down, nuzzling his head into my lap once again. The poor kid missed his parents…I guess I couldn’t blame him, though. What’s worse is, Ashley wasn’t sure how to help him, exactly. He was an artist, not a wizard…

Soon enough, Andy had fallen asleep. I smiled a little and carefully lifted him, thankful he was only the size of a pet dog and not full grown wolf as I took him to my room. I laid him on the bed and sat at my desk while he slept, working on some sketches.

I stopped and set down my pencil, rubbing my eyes. How did Andy even get into this mess? It’s not like he could just ask him, the poor guy couldn’t speak! How was he supposed to help if he had no idea what caused this?

“Alright, Google, don’t fail me now…” I muttered under my breath as I began a broad Google search, in hopes of finding something.

Anything that could potentially help… But, as I had figured earlier, all that came up were movie plots and novels. Nothing… My thoughts were interrupted by a sudden whimper coming from behind me. I turned around, seeing Andy standing on the bed and prancing in place, continuing to whimper.

I furrowed my brow and stood up. “What’s wrong?”

Andy nodded to the window, and kept prancing, jumping off the bed and barking. I stopped.

“Nature’s calling…” I sighed heavily, leading him to the door and letting him out. I stood out on the front step, looking away out of decency.

“Hey, Ashley! Got a new dog, there?” My neighbor waved. I looked over at her and nodded.

“Uh- yeah. I do.” I replied.

“He’s a pretty one. What breed?”

I paled. I hadn’t thought of that.

“Um… Y’know, I don’t know for sure. I’ll have to get back to you on that. I found him wandering around, so he isn’t officially mine. Might adopt him though.” I lied, whistling. “C’mon back inside, boy!” I pat my thigh to get Andy’s attention. Andy stopped sniffing around the landscape and trotted inside.

“It was nice chatting with you, Ally.” I nodded at her, going inside quickly. “Damn, that was close.” I mumbled after shutting the door.

Andy sat at my feet, tilting his head. I waved my hand dismissively.

“Don’t worry about it.” I shrugged and led him back into the living room. Andy sat on the couch beside me, nodding at the TV. With a soft chuckle, I turned it on and flipped through the channels until he barked happily. I set the remote down and leaned back to watch the show with him, but I wasn’t really paying attention. No, I was too focused on the situation at hand…

How could I help Andy…?

Notes