Hound

A faint whimpering sounded throughout the house, then the sound of scratching. Embry groaned from his bedroom, and rolled over in his too tiny bed to glance at the clock on his bedside table. The time, 4:09 A.M., flashed back at him in red. Who in the hell is at my door this damn early in the morning? I'm not running my shift until eight!

"If it's Paul or Jared, I'm going to kill them," he muttered, mentioning two of the werewolves patrolling that night. He shuffled his feet into the hallway, trying to fight the sandman looming over his head, sprinkling his eyes with sleeping dust. The whining at the door persisted as Embry trudged closer, hoping his Mom wouldn't wake. "'m coming, dammit. Shut the hell up," he whispered, already aggravated at the unknown visitor for rising him.

He opened the door and didn't see anyone at first, until he looked down, a wet sensation at his toes. A puppy, no more than two months old, was licking his feet, the red tongue moving north to his leg, teeth nipping at Embry's ankles in play. He blinked his eyes in shock, more awake than he had been before opening the door.

"A puppy is at my door? A puppy?" he muttered, as he crouched down, getting at eye level with the pup. The puppy, deciding that ankles didn't suit his teeth and claws justice, clambered up onto Embry's lap, putting his paws on Embry's toned chest and licking his chin, the puppy's tail wagging so hard he could be a stand in for helicopter blades. "Hey. Hey, little guy, chill man," he said, a small smile almost reaching his lips, but not quite.

With the door shut quietly and puppy in tow, Embry walked to his bedroom, the puppy following his every step, jumping in each invisible print Embry made. He walked into his room, shutting the door as soon as the puppy wasn't in danger of getting hit by the revolving chunk of wood. Crashing onto the bed, Embry pat what little space he had left, hoping the puppy would get on the bed, curl up, and go to sleep.

The furry ball of life pounced up onto the mattress, determined to attack the box of springs with all it's strength. "Hey!" Embry scolded, lifting the pup by the scruff of his neck. He turned him to look him in the eye. "You are not going to claw at my mattress, alright?" he said to the pup, shaking him slightly for added effect. The pup looked down and whimpered, as if he understood. Embry sighed, placing the pup back down onto the mattress, the pup curling up where Embry had suggested.

He glanced at the clock and groaned at how much sleep he was losing, and shuffled underneath his covers, his feet dangling off the end of his bed as he scooted down it and in a comfortable position.

Light shone through his window what seemed like a few minutes later. What woke him up wasn't the sun streaming into his room, but the low growl of play beside his bed. He rubbed his eyes of the sleep deposited in the corners, his irises widening as he saw the puppy growling, his tail wagging as his mouth was wrapped around a piece of a small pillow. Embry cussed and lunged at the puppy, grabbing the other end of the pillow.

"Let go, you little ball of fur," he commanded, smirking to himself when he noticed the irony behind that comment. His mouth went back to a straight line of concentration as he tried to pry the pup's jaws from the pillow rather than tug at the pillow. Embry succeeded, and threw the pillow back onto the bed, a tear on the side of the pillow. The pillows inside poked out of the open seam, and Embry sighed, and turned to the puppy. "Yeah, thanks. Mom's going to kill me and ground me even longer than she already is," his voice rose, and he trembled slightly, calming down as he heard his mother come around the corner and to his room.

"Embry, Sam's at the door, and-" she stopped mid-sentence when she saw the puppy, and then looked to Embry. "Why is there a puppy in your room?"

"It was scratching at the door late last night, and it kept me up so I brought it in and it slept in my room with me," Embry explained, as his mom gave him a look that said, Oh really? He threw up his hands and added, "I didn't want to wake you! It was four in the morning, mom!"

She sighed. "Alright, alright. But you're taking him with you wherever Sam's wanting you to go," she said, waving her hand in his direction.

"Take him with me? He can't go with us!" Embry protested, motioning toward the pup who was sitting calmly watching all of this occur.

"Well I can't have him here in this house while I'm out, can I?" his mom fired back, a hand on her hip. "He goes with you." Finality rang in her voice, and Embry sighed. There was no convincing her.

"I'll need a collar and leash or something to keep him near me with," Embry pointed out. The puppy had his paws on Embry's leg, staring up at him, the tail wagging in a slow rhythm.

His mom moved around the hallway, cleaning various items and photo frames. "Why don't you use that collar Quil got you as a 'gag gift'," she quoted, using appropriate air quotes, "for his collar, and I think we have some rope out back."

Oh yeah, Embry thought, mentally facepalming himself. Forgot about that. Quil had gotten Embry a birthday gift, calling it a gag gift. Embry knew why the collar was a gag gift, but his mom didn't understand. She thought she did, though, and Embry decided to leave it at that.

He found the collar a few moments later, and placed it around the pup's neck, adjusting it so it would fit. Embry walked out back and got the rope, bringing it in and tying a knot on the loop on the pup's collar, and then walked out the door.

Confused didn't even cover what expression was on Sam's face when Embry walked outside with a dog on a leash. "What in the hell?" he sputtered, staring at the dog as if it were going to do magic tricks. Embry explained what had happened, and a look of understanding made it's way onto Sam's face. "Okay, okay," he stated, turning around to open the driver's side door to the car and getting in.

Embry put the puppy in the back, sitting in the backseat as well so as to keep the puppy from clambering up to the front and blocking Sam's line of vision. Sam revved the engine, and soon they were off. A minute or so later Sam looked into the rearview mirror and asked, "Y'know they're going to give you hell for this, right?"

"Yeah, I know. Can't help what my mom says, though," Embry replied, groaning inwardly at what the pack members were going to say. He didn't want to think about what they were going to tease him with. He knew name calling was going to be the main jab.

"True. Well, we're here." Sam pulled into Emily's driveway and went straight inside.

Embry sighed, and got the pup out of the car and placed him onto the ground. He immediately started sniffing the ground, and then barked and catapulted towards Emily's front door, Embry in tow.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Slow down, little man, slow down!" Embry cautioned, but it was a lost cause once the rope slipped from Embry's grip. A low oof was heard within the house, and Embry rushed in, finding Jacob lying on the floor, the puppy on top of his chest. He was licking Jacob's face repeatedly, Jacob trying to move away long enough to speak.

"Who's dog is this?" Jacob managed to get out, moving to pick up the dog.

"Mine," Embry admitted, raising his hand weakly. They all looked at each other, and Embry waited, mentally calling it in his head. Wait for it, wait for it, wait for it...

"That puppy is yours? Are you kidding me, Call?" Jared spat out, surprised. Embry nodded, and the laughing commenced.

"O-Oh my God," Paul snickered. "A werewolf's g-got a dog as a p-pet!" He doubled over in laughter, and the rest of the pack snickered alongside him.

"Hey, hey, cut it out," Emily chastised, hitting Paul over the head, then turning to Embry. "I think he's cute." She crouched down, and the puppy ran over to her, and she pat him over the head. "What's his name?"

Embry shrugged. "I haven't given him a name yet," He replied, then added, "Or fed him for that matter."

Emily glared at him. "You haven't fed the poor thing? Or given him a name? You seriously don't know how to take care of a puppy, then." She carried the puppy to the kitchen and fixed it something to eat. "Maybe we can help name it, or give you some ideas," she suggested.

"I totally wouldn't mind suggesting names for that little devil," Quil snickered. "It does have the collar I gave you, anyway."

The pack fired off names, going down the line.

"Nitro?"

"Hushai?"

"Havoc?"

"Alcatraz?"

"Tai?"

"Wasabe?"

Embry snorted. "Wasabe? Really Paul?" he teased.

"What? I'm hungry. Waiting on those damn muffins that are in the oven," Paul replied, quick to defend himself.

"Muffin?" Sam suggested, only to get incredulous looks from everyone.

"Okay, that's way too food related," Embry declined the suggestion, declining all that were thrown at him.

At a last ditched effort, Paul suggested with a smirk, "Guinness." Jared gave him a high five, and they both turned to Embry.

Embry gave them the same look his mother gave him. "No, Paul. I am not naming my dog after alcohol."

Paul rolled his eyes. "Fine, fine." He took a swig of his drink, and then asked, "Well, hot shot. We've all suggested names and you've turned every one of our suggestions down. What, do you have another name in mind?"

Embry bit his lip, and then his eyes widened, and he said matter-of-factly, "Kujo." The pup's ears lifted in response, and Embry laughed. "Looks like it's gonna be Kujo."

Kujo ran up to Embry and licked him on the face. The pack agreed with Kujo and the pup couldn't be happier with the attention. After the muffins were done and the pack had it's fill, they sat back down, beginning to strategize where to look for the redheaded Cold One roaming around.

Once they had gotten a strategy set up, half of the pack left to patrol, Embry included. Kujo whined as he left, and Embry smiled at him, reassuring him he'd be back. Jacob, Quil, and Sam, who had gone with Embry, teased him about having a dog, and wondered how he'd be able to take care of it.

He thought about it, and had come up with one. He could have Emily petsit while they patrolled, and sometimes have his mom petsit when she could. Once all this was over with he could pay more attention to Kujo.

The others agreed.