The Shadows of Christmas Past

heard the phone ringing in the office in the front of the building.
    Answer the phone!
    She let it ring only twice before crossing the storeroom and hurrying to answer the call. She had a sleeping man where the wolf was supposed to be, which made for some serious questions that needed to be answered—but there might also be a veterinary emergency on the other end of the phone line. She'd deal with the caller first. The naked man wasn't going anywhere.
    The instant the woman left the room, Harry sat up and turned to the cage door. He had to make his escape quickly, while she was occupied. He shivered. The temperature in the already cold room had dropped like a rock when she opened the door. It was also a reaction from all the energy he'd just burned clouding her mind. It annoyed him that she'd blocked most of what he'd sent her way; her resistance made his headache worse.
    That wasn't supposed to happen!
    While his stiff fingers worked the latch, he heard her voice in the distance, her tone calm and professional.
    It only took seconds to open the door, then he crawled out and stretched his cramped muscles as he stood. Harry was not a short man, and being able to stretch out to his full height caused him to let out a sigh of relief.
    Though he couldn't believe she'd heard him, suddenly the woman became silent. He could feel her listening, feel her stillness. It was like there was some kind of connection between them.
    A connection Harry certainly didn't have time to explore. What he had to do was get out. The extra few minutes had given him more energy, even if he'd paid the price in embarrassment, and he was turning back into wolf form even as he leapt out the back door.
    Now covered by a thick, warm coat of fur, Harry was delighted to be out in the brisk early-morning air. All his senses had shifted and sharpened along with his shape. Colors took on new depth, scents sparkled in the air, and his hearing became far more acute. It was good to be a werewolf, and he wanted to throw his head back and howl in delight. Impulse control could be tricky while in were-form, but that was because the impulses were good, strong, elemental ones. Control, however, was essential to survival.
    A howl would bring the woman running, and he needed to get away cleanly before she even realized he was gone.
    But one deep breath stopped him. There was something lingering—a faint, old scent—maybe. There were a great many animals in this place, which would make it harder to ferret out a trace of what might be there. But he had the best nose in the business.
    Harry padded silently forward. Might as well have a sniff and snuffle while he was here.

    "Just bring the kittens over, Mrs. Braem," Marj said when she couldn't take any more of the woman's complaints about strays and how bad animals were.
    Mrs. Braem had found a mother cat with a trio of kittens in a shed in her backyard and wasn't at all happy about it.
    "All right, then. I'll come pick them up," Marj said when the woman protested bringing them in.
    "When?"
    Marj thought about the mystery of the wolf, the greyhound, and the man in the storage room.
    "Later on today."
    "Oh, no, you're not getting out of this. I want them off my property right now, or I'll drown them."
    Fury shot through Marj. "Where's your Christmas spirit, Mrs. Braem?"
    "What's Christmas got to do with animals?"
    "Oh, I don't know—the manger and the stable, perhaps?" Don't get sarcastic Marj warned herself. Don't jeopardize the animals' safety . "Never mind, I'll be over as soon as I can."
    "This morning, Marjorie Piper."
    Mrs. Braem had been her fifth-grade teacher and would just call her sassy if Marj reminded the old woman that she was Dr. Marjorie Piper these days.
    "Yes, Mrs. Braem," she said.
    She hung up and hurried back to the storeroom. When she saw the empty cage she skidded to a halt.

    She hadn't known what she was going to do about the naked man in a cage in the first place—although her libido had suggested a few erotic things before she could stop it. The whole situation was worrying and confusing, not to say downright bizarre.
    She'd had a lot of questions—like what had happened to the wolf, and why had he taken its place? And now he was gone.
    How the devil did he escape?
    Marj laughed. She definitely spent too much time with animals if she was surprised that a human had simply unlatched the door and crawled out.
    But… where had he gone… undressed like that?
    She walked to the open back