As he came into view, I warmly said, "Morning."
"Morning." He called back.
Jogging slowly up to him, I called over my shoulder, "Come on, fox!"
The two of us ran along, crossing the road in silence, and only as we neared the clearing did, I break the silence.
"I have something I want to tell you about. It's about last night when I went to the Lunar Eclipse."
I saw his warm smile grow bigger, more of a wolf-like grin.
"Alright. Why don't you tell me about it?"
As we reached the clearing, I sat my bag down and gave a second egg to the fox, who, as his habit, went up his favourite tree.
I began to tell him as I did some stretching. He settled into the story by following my stretches and doing them himself.
When I got to the point where Mr. Andrew Jackson wanted me to demo a choreographed dance, I saw Alpha David frown a little.
"He told you that you had to demo before he offered you the job?", he asked me.
"Well, yes."
"But he wasn't supposed to do that. He was just told my recommendation and told to give you the job. Is there no order or respect for the owner's decisions over at that place?"
He definitely sounded angry now; but I didn't understand his anger.
'Isn't that how things normally work at businesses?', I thought. 'They make you interview before they offer you a job?'
I tried my best to calm him and reassure him that everything was okay.
"Hey, David. It's okay. Sure, he had me demo, but Mr. Jackson loved my dancing! I mean, he offered me the job. He said he only had me dance as he wanted to see what he was getting into by hiring me. I have a job there now. Plus, he told me at the end that I already had the job, even before I demoed."
Alpha David huffed unhappily.
"Speaking of which,", I said as telling him this reminded me of that fact that bothered me. "I got the gut feeling that something was off. When I asked Mr. Jackson when I would meet the owner, he seemed evasive to me. He told me that the owner wasn't there, that he was on vacation and wouldn't be back for a week."
"So…what's so odd about that?" David asked me.
He looked into my eyes and waited for an answer.
"Well, the words themselves are not odd. But there was just something about the way he said it; something about his mannerisms…"
David laughed, which surprized me and derailed my thoughts.
"Alright, suspicious mind. What says we get a move on with this morning routine?"
I sighed and shook my head at him.
"Okay. But if I didn't know any better, I'd say you were eager to spar with me. Be careful I don't kick your butt!"
He came to sit beside me and said, "We'll see about that."
By the time we began sparing, I noticed how good we were starting to work as a fighting team. In no time, we took down all the practice dummies I'd conjured. After we'd done another round, we were successfully warmed up.
David and I faced each other, squaring off. I watched each of his movements and tried to counter him with my own. Though I meditated regularly, I found my thoughts wandering.
David noticed and took advantage of my momentary lapse of attention to knock me to the ground.
Not wanting him to have the upper hand, I pretended to kick at his shin and as he dodged me, I rolled and grabbed his right ankle. Successfully pulling him to the ground with me.
We grappled on the ground for a while before I got him into a headlock. After a few minutes of me holding on with all my strength, he tapped out.
I let go, and released my interlocked fingers, falling backwards on the ground with a thump. I was breathing heavier than he was.
Alpha David turned his head to look at me. He was sitting on the ground near me.
"You just about ready for a second round?", he asked jokingly.
"No.", I replied honestly.
It was lots of work for me to keep up with the speed and strength of an Alpha werewolf using no magic or help of the Great Goddess. If I was honest with myself, Alpha David won more than half of these sparring matches on a regular basis. Although, that was the first time I'd successfully won by keeping him in a headlock.
"You know," David said in a casual way, "You may sure take your time about it, but you are getting stronger."
I brushed some stray lock of hair out of my face.
"You don't say.", I retorted, secretly pleased he'd noticed.
I avoided his eyes as he spoke again.
"It's true. You've never successfully kept me in a head lock before today."
I snorted and said, "So now you'll have to be more careful. From now on, I've got a new weapon in my arsenal."
I gave him a playful push on the shoulder with the flat of my hand.
"Come on, we have time for one more round before I have to head back."
After a second round against Alpha David, which he won, I gathered my bag, called the fox and we started back along the path.
"Hey. I have lots of Alpha duties this afternoon and so I won't be able to go for my evening run."
"Okay.", I said hesitantly, not sure where this conversation was going.
"So, I was wondering if you minded my running all the way back to your place with you."
I turned to face him so quickly that I almost stopped running. I almost tripped, actually.
Some little voice inside me said that letting Alpha David accompany me home was a bad idea. For some reason it felt like an action that crossed the invisible line of what I was comfortable with. I felt like a deer in the headlights.
'What should I do?', I thought to myself as I realized I hadn't yet given him an answer. 'What do I say to him? I don't want to insult him. But I don't want him accompanying me to my front door either.'