“Heeyy! Where did you come from? You’re a big boy!” Rosie just noticed the dog in her drunken stupor. She squealed in excitement and ran her hands all over, burying her fingers in the curly fur and giggling.
“She’s a girl. Her name’s Luna.” That was all Lucas would explain. Annoyance flashed hot in his gut. Rosie was eighteen, like him. Too young to drink. She drank anyway. Her and her friends had been arrested on the fourth of July for underage drinking. They’d gone before a judge, and just finished up the last of their community service sentence in September.
He was going to have to bother Mrs King for a ride home. Explain Rosie being drunk again. He couldn’t drive, otherwise he’d just drive her car home. What about Luna? Worries nibbled at him. He stroked her soft ears. He planned on taking her home. If no one claimed her, he would adopt her. His aunt and uncle loved animals. He knew as soon as they met Luna and saw how sweet she was, they’d say yes. One of their dogs was a stray his uncle had brought home. The other dog was a rescue from the shelter.
“Well, sor-RY!” Rosie slurred, voice rising in a drunken shout. Luna’s huge head nudged her side. Rosie stumbled. Unable to get her balance, she fell on the ground.
Luc bit his lip then burst into giggles as he gave Luna some extra scratches. Rosie looked angry for a split second before she joined in the giggling.
“Lucas! Rosie! How did it go tonight? Luc, your dolls were a big hit. We’ve never sold so many tickets before…” Mrs King called out as she approached. She was a middle aged woman with gray streaks in her ponytail. Her voice trailed off as her eyes landed on the dog. “Where did the dog come from?”
Luna immediately stood in front of his wheelchair, body blocking so the newcomer couldn’t get close, crowd him and unwittingly trigger his anxiety.
Luc stared in amazement, astonished again at how well trained the dog was. “I don’t know. She just showed up and stayed here the rest of the night. She had no collar, but she’s very well socialized. The kids were all over her. No one’s come to get her. I don’t know who she belongs to. I’m thinking maybe she was dumped.” He ran his fingers through the coarse curls along Luna’s back. He kept his eyes on her brown fur and fluffy tail.
“Really? Smart dog, going right to the Animal Shelter booth. I’ve always said animals have a sixth sense about people. They know who they can trust.” Mrs King held her hand out. Luna stepped forward readily and sniffed her fingers. Her tail wagged. She licked the woman’s hand. Mrs King smiled and rubbed her head.
“I’ve been calling her Luna. She responds to it, too.”
Mrs King looked up at the moon, a bright orange ball in the autumn night. “Fitting. There’s definitely wolf in her. Her behavior’s all dog, but that build is all wolf. Pure wolf, I’d say. That coat and those eyes- you won’t find a wolf like that. Her body looks like a high content wolfdog.” High content meant mostly wolf with just a dash of dog in the bloodline. High contents were nearly impossible to tell from pure wolves both in looks and behavior.
Mrs. King continued studying Luna. “Her coat and eyes scream low content. She acts just like a domestic dog. Interesting. Maybe I should give Mr. Walton a call. Have him come take a look and see what he thinks.” Low content wolfdogs were mostly dog with a bit of wolf.
“If no one claims her, I’m gonna adopt her. You know Auntie will say yes.” Lucas kept his gaze on Luna’s huge paws, his voice soft and hesitant.
Mrs King laughed, a deep belly sound. “No surprise there! Your aunt’s been crazy about animals, ever since we were kids.”
Rosie stayed suspiciously quiet, like she was trying to lay low. She tried to avoid drawing attention to herself. She lay spread eagle on the cold cement, on the opposite side of Luc’s wheelchair from Mrs King.