Hot Dogs

This story is by John King and was part of our 2016 Winter Writing Contest. You can find all the Winter Writing Contest stories here.

It started with a red cloak. First, my humans get the idea to put a red blanket over my head.

Then they forgot that they don’t have a fence, even though they live in front of a forest. So, I end up running into there, and get caught when the blanket gets snared in a bunch of branches. Great start to my day, huh?

But then I felt teeth dig into the blanket, barely avoiding getting my flesh dug into as well. With a huge RIP, I tumbled out of the tangled mess and ended up on my back. Immediately, I felt fur and warm flesh press into me. With a strangled growl, I kicked and clawed my way out and flipped away. Something black was lunging at me.

I snarled and bit to try and keep it away, then turned tail and bolted. Suddenly, I heard yipping. My language. In a gruff, masculine voice, but my language nonetheless.

“Wait, what happened? What did I do?”

I turned around, but kept low to the ground, my tail held high and my lips up in a snarl.

Facing me was a large black canine. His fur wasn’t as fluffed as mine was, but hung loosely around his muscular frame. His silver eyes stared up from his lowered head, and his tail twitched around in confusion. He was a wolf.

He started forward, but I snapped my jaws at him and he jumped back.

“What the hell kind of greeting is that?” the wolf barked. “What’d I do wrong?”

“What’d you do wrong?” I yipped. “Let’s start with trying to tear my throat out.”

“I wasn’t tearing your throat out. I was trying to have sex with you.”

I took a step back. “What the hell does thrashing in a blanket and branches make you think I want that?” I growled.

Now it was his turn to look surprised. “You said so.”

“I did not!”

“Your scent did.”

My tail tucked. That strange scent I started having a few days ago…

“What, the musk?” I yipped. “That’s not supposed to be there.”

“Don’t tell me you don’t know what heat is,” the wolf barked, his tail wagging in amusement.

“What does high temperature have to do with anything?” I barked.

The wolf laughed. I stomped my back paw indignant.

“What’s so funny?”

“You…” the wolf was gasping for breath. “Heat is when you’re ready to mate and have pups.”

My eyes widened and I take a step back. “Oh, hell no, Stud. Having pups is a big no-no. I was supposed to get spayed tomorrow.”

The wolf’s happy expression faded. The fur stood up on his back. “Spayed… where the hell do you come from?”

I turned and indicate, keeping my tail away from him. As long as I had this heat scent, I’d need to keep my hindquarters as far away from him as possible.

“With the humans.”

“Oh.” He slumped down, his balls almost touching the ground. “So you’re owned by humans.”

“And from the sound of it, you’re one of the wild ones,” I commented. “In more ways than one.”

The wolf huffed, possibly in amusement. “Yeah. And honestly, you’re lucky the humans didn’t take that away from you,” he commented.

“Why?”

“Because if you didn’t have that scent, I probably would’ve gone for your throat.”

Damn. That stopped me in my tracks. After a pause, he looked back.

“So can we still fuck?”

I stared at him. “You’re one horny fucker, aren’t you?”

“Well, excuse me,” the wolf yipped. “I don’t have humans to play with all the time. All I get to do for fun is sleep, hunt and fuck.”

I shake my head. “You need a hobby.” I started to turn away, but then I heard him padding after. I turn my hindquarters away from him again. “That doesn’t involve me!”

He shook his head. “Sorry, but until I smell another female, I can’t leave you alone. It’s in the rule book.”

“What rule book?”

“The rule book of nature.”

“Well, where is the rule book of nature.”

“In my heart,” he yipped.

I nipped at him. He just ducked away and nipped at me back. His tail was wagging, and why the hell was I looking at his balls again?

I took off for home, but he was right behind me. I swear if I ran any slower, his nose would be right up my ass. As I dove through the underbrush, the black wolf right behind me, I noticed the buildings of humans start to grow closer. Then through my own panting and the panting of my new ‘friend’ behind, I heard the cries of the boys.

“Reaper!”

I ducked away from the voices. My friend took interest.

“Reaper? Is that what they call you?”

I whirl around defensively. “The human giving it was poetic. Sue me!”

“I’d rather fuck you,” he yipped.

“God-damnit man,” I snap. “Do you have an actual personality outside of wanting to fuck me?”

“Sure,” the wolf said. He slowed to a stop, and kept a respectable distance between us. “I mean, I’m sorry if this is new for you, but this is pretty much how the wild works.”

“You just find every female and plow?” I growl.

“Honestly, that’s just if we’re lucky,” the wolf yipped. “The rest of the time is spent fighting. Fighting starvation, fighting predators, even fighting rivals.” The wolf sat back and huffed. “It’s just an endless litany of blood, sweat and cum.”

I sigh. “I… don’t know what to say to that.”

“It’s probably best if you don’t. I mean, you have the humans to cater to your every need, right?”

“Shut up.”

“Three square meals, a warm bed, affection. Sounds like a paradise, if I do say so.”

“Well, sure, the humans take care of everything. Though, in exchange, you have to do whatever they tell you.”

The wolf’s tail flicked at that. He was interested.

“If the human tells you to walk, you walk. They tell you to jump, you jump. Then they can beat you for jumping too high. They can insult you, humiliate you and do whatever they want, and you have to just take it. Because they provide for you. In essence, they own you.”

“But they still provide for you.”

“You’re at least free to do whatever you want. If I walked up to someone and tried fucking them, I’d get beaten.”

“Wait, isn’t there some kind of double standard stopping that?”

“No. In fact, I’m just one of the lucky ones: normally dogs get neutered and spayed…”

“Sorry, but I don’t know what those are.”

“They rip your dick off.”

That got a reaction. And by reaction, I mean the wolf yipped and tucked his tail under his balls, like he was protecting them.

“That’s horrible!”

“Yep. And it’s probably gonna happen to me tomorrow,” I huff.

The wolf probably would have fainted if he wasn’t wild. “That can’t happen,” he barked.

“Well, what’s the other option? Run off with you and live in the wild, surviving by the skin of our teeth?”

He paused. “Yes?”

I just wagged my tail. “You’re just saying that to fuck me, aren’t you?”

“You smell like pheromones!” he barked. “I’m sorry, but it’s driving me crazy.”

I huffed. “I won’t lie, I’d like to know what it’s like to do whatever you want.”

“But you’d have to give up being pampered and provided for.”

“On the bright side, they can’t tear your dick off.”

“I don’t have a dick, dumbass.”

“I’m not a donkey.”

I heard the faint voices of the boys again. “Reaper?”

I start to feel my tail wag. “You know what? I have an idea.”

“Turn me into an ass?”

I tried to nip at him again, but he just laughed.

“Just come on.”

The kids came into view. They made human noises to each other. I heard “Reaper” a few times, but the rest was just their human gibberish.

“You ready?” I yipped.

“Oh yeah,” the wolf huffed.

“Reaper?” the one who tied the cloak around my neck called.

I wagged my tail. I barked, “Here.”

The wolf and I then jumped out with a snarl and rushed the boys. They screamed like birds and took off. The wolf pursued them for a bit, but with a bark from me, he stopped.

Together, the two of us watched the humans run back for their home. I didn’t know if I’d follow them back. Not yet, anyway.

“One last thing,” I whined as the wolf turned to me. “Do you hold any names where you come from?”

“Many,” he yipped. “To my parents, I’m a son. To my siblings, I’m a brother. And one day, I hoped to be a father.”

“So, what would I be called?”

“Mate.”

I wish I realized we were right next to the red cloak. Because nine months later, I was nursing his pups.