"So? What do you think?" Scarlett takes me by the shoulders and turns me to face the mirror.
"It's... why do I need a collar, exactly?" I fiddle with the dark red strip of leather she's fastened around my neck.
"Pets are really supposed to wear them, state ordinance and all. I don't want us to get in trouble," she smiles at me through the mirror, "Besides, I think it looks really cute on you. It's not too tight, is it?"
"No, I think it's okay," I reply, as she begins to adjust it without really paying attention to my response.
"Why doesn't Sophie wear one, then?" I ask, as she admittedly does adjust it to be more comfortable.
"Ugh," she rolls her eyes, "Ever try to get a cat to wear a collar? I've gotten her several, but she refuses to wear them. Or rather, she wears them, and then they mysteriously disappear by the end of the day, and she won't tell me what happens to them."
"...So?" she reiterates.
"It's... it's okay, I guess. It's nice," I'm not really sure how to respond. I actually am quite pleased that it's the red leather, when, knowing Scarlett, it could have been something frilly or pink, or otherwise far more embarrassing.
"I wanted to get you a fancier one, but Flint shot that down. He says that 'cute' and 'girly' are not necessarily the same, and that some of the ones I was looking at wouldn't have been right for a boy," she immediately confirms all my fears. Once again, Flint proves to be my hero.
"You wouldn't have minded a fancier one, would you?" she fishes for confirmation.
"I... well, um. I'd have to see them, really," I try my best to avoid an honest answer, without lying to her.
"In any case, I think this one is quite nice, if a little plain," she concludes, then picks up her purse and what appears to be... a leash, "Ready to go, puppy?"
"Where were we going, exactly?" I ask. She hadn't elaborated a whole lot.
"Some errands to do, and I wanted to get some grooming done for you. Your nails are a mess, and you could use a haircut," she takes me by the hand and leads me to the door.
"Is... the leash necessary?" I ask, with a little trepidation.
"It's just another formality. There's leash laws. Most of the time, it doesn't matter, but it's good to have it on hand, in case we get stopped or something," she explains, "As a matter of fact, let's try it out."
She reaches out and clips it to my new collar. I feel quite a mix of emotions at this. One does not, generally speaking, leash a wolf. That just isn't done. At the same time, the way she looks at me when she takes charge like this makes me oddly tingly. Regardless of how I feel about it, there's still no saying no to her, for me. So I make no objections when she leads me out the door and puts me in the car with her.
"Oh, I also made a vet appointment for you," she says casually and quickly.
What.
My eyes go wide and I go to open the car door before we get moving, only to find it immediately locked. And I can't seem to unlock it. Turns out, there is at least one 'no' in me, for her. She deliberately waited until I was leashed and in the car to tell me this.
"Uh-uh, puppy, you're going, this is not an argument," she states, with an air of finality.
I give her the sad puppy eyes as best I can, "Come on, Scarlett, I don't need to-"
"Mistress!" she corrects me, tugging on the leash.
"Mistress, please!" I whine, "I'm perfectly healthy, I don't need a vet."
"It's just a checkup, puppy. It's nothing to worry about," she starts the engine, "We need to get you checked out so we can have you properly licensed. If you're going to be difficult, I'll go get Flint. Do I need to do that?"
I fold my arms in a huff, "No."
She clears her throat.
"No, Mistress," I clarify.
"Excellent," she says, her voice becoming cheery again, as she pulls out of the driveway.
The ride is mostly silent. I'm still a little upset at the deception. But I decide, if I'm getting dragged to the vet anyways, I might as well come clean.
"Sca... um, Mistress?" I finally pipe up.
"Yes, puppy?" she reaches over and scratches my ear.
I bite my lip, "The other day, in the woods..."
Her jaw sets a little as I bring it up, "Ugh, horrible creatures bullying my puppy. We really should hunt those things down."
"Actually, it's not about that," I twiddle my thumbs a little, "Before that... um, see, I saw this thing. Or rather, I didn't see it," I sigh at how stupid that sounds, but go on to explain the strange blind spot.
The car seems to slow a little as she looks over, "Where was this?"
Not quite the response I expected. She seems to be in quite a lot of thought about it.
"Straight out back from the house, near where the stream is," I reply, "You don't think there's anything wrong with me, do you?"
"Oh," she shakes her head, "I don't think so. But we'll ask the vet about it."
I get the vague feeling that she's not telling me something. But the whole incident seems to upset her, so I decide it's not worth pressing the issue.
--
The vet's office itself is filled with the two legged kind of animals, rather than four. So that's at least a little comforting to know it's geared towards those of us that walk and talk, not those that... don't. I'm not sure if there's better terminology for this. I do know that I'm the only wolf in here. Plenty of dogs, some that might even pass as a wolf to humans, but not to other wolves. The humans can't seem to notice the difference with me, either, and Scarlett quietly tells me to keep that to myself. Fine enough, I don't really want to do anything that would make this more complicated than it is.
A little embarrassing that I have to be kept on the leash while in the waiting room. As if I'm going to start chasing some cat or something. Besides, if I did, it's because that one little catgirl that keeps running past me is asking for it. I stay seated, but Scarlett still keeps tugging on the leash when the cat runs by. I'm actually a little relieved when we're finally called in to one of the rooms.
Scarlett finally lets me off the leash, and a young woman in scrubs takes down my height, weight, and a few other things. She insists on measuring everything, despite that I can tell her how tall I am. There's something wrong with their measuring tape, because it reports me being shorter than I already assured her I am.
Despite my preferred judgement, my tail starts wagging when the doctor finally comes in. I can't help it, she's beautiful. I mean, maybe not as beautiful as the red hooded goddess, but still. I have to remind myself that she's still a vet, and therefore the enemy.
"I don't... see anything unusually," the vet says, nearly blinding me with that little eye-flashlight of hers, responding to Scarlett's explanation of my encounter in the woods, "It could be just his imagination, or maybe he was confused by a trick of the light? I can confirm that he's fully grown, and won't get bigger than this, but he's still young. Sometimes those hunting instincts go in overdrive, and they mistake what they see."
Won't get any larger, she says! Nonsense, I'll get larger if I want.
She pokes around in my eyes and ears with that light for a bit, looks at my teeth, and listens to my heart, "Okay, Acorn, go ahead and get undressed."
I look back and forth between the doctor and Scarlett, and they both just sort of stare at me, expectantly. I sigh and hang my head down, and start pulling my clothes off. I'm used to Scarlett seeing me naked, but this new woman, and both of them, in this weird place. My cheeks flush, but I do as I'm told.
The doctor's hands are cold, but actually rather gentle. Still, the poking and prodding makes me uncomfortable. I clench my hands a little as she pushes my body down forward by the neck and spreads my rear, and I nearly jump when something cold, um... presses in there.
Scarlett ends up having to hold me still, "Shh, puppy, just a thermometer."
I thought they usually put those in the mouth, but I don't argue, I just want this over with. The doctor pats on the table and I hop up a little faster than my wolf nature would like to admit. The examinations continue, culminating with her pressing her fingers around my cock and balls. Speaking of growing larger.
I try to push her hands away and cover my erection, which they both laugh at. Which I think was unnecessary.
"It's okay, Acorn, I'm just taking a look to make sure you're in good shape. Everything's working fine, from the looks of it!" the doctor jokes, then looks at Scarlett, "Any intentions on breeding this one?"
"I don't know about that," Scarlett says, as if she's forgotten that she's supposed to become my woman, "We hadn't planned anything. There wouldn't be a problem, would there?"
"Oh, no. But we would probably want to talk about how this is a wolf, and not a dog," the doctor says, standing and taking her gloves off."
"You, uh, noticed that," Scarlett chuckles nervously and averts her eyes. It's actually very cute.
