Ten.

Eloise knew Henry was following her, but for the moment he was keeping a respectable distance and as he was in his lupine form she didn't actually have to listen to him, and that was nice. Well, after his earlier comments *nice* was an understatement. It also felt good to her to know if he was there, behind her, he wasn't harassing Shane and Abigail, or Sammy and Daniel. So, she kept walking, heading into town knowing full well that Henry would therefore be trapped as he couldn't shift back. It would risk exposing himself, and the thought of him being trapped like that gave her a nice little power kick. By the time she reached town she even had a little spot of revenge on her mind too, a way in which she could take the arrogant Alpha down peg or two.

Eloise spotted the store she was looking for as she walked along the main street and quickly ducked inside, knowing it was run by a fellow pack member who would lend her some store credit for a day since her wallet was still at the pack house.

Henry was watching from the alley way across the street, as his mate disappeared into the store with a barely concealed panic. He couldn't exactly shift into a naked man in the town and go inside after her, and a large wolf casually walking the streets was likely to get his sister of all people involved, and the humans she worked with. What made it worse to Henry was he was unable to see from this vantage the store name, let alone if there were any alternative exits, Eloise could be using it to try and ditch him. Then she would be out here on her own, pregnant. All he could do was become more and more agitated as he waited to see if she came back out, running through a plethora of situations where she would become lost to him again. It was a lot harder to be rational in his wolf form it seemed than in his human. His inner animal self didn't seem to allow him any real grasp on logic for long at all, and as soon as Henry had talked himself out of one ridiculous situation which Eloise could be in, his wolf came up with another.

She did come back out onto the street though, and Henry could swear she had a spring in her step as she did so, completely unaware of his inner turmoil. He was so busy sighing in relief at her appearance that it took him a moment to realise she was looking straight at him, one hand on her hip as she awaited his acknowledgement.

His silver head tilted to the side as he tried to convey he didn't know what she was expecting from him.

"If you are planning on following me, Henry Gray, you may as well walk beside me. Unless you want to get us both reported to the council." Her voice was steady, as she looked at him expectantly, one brow raised as she awaited his response.

It was the closest to an invitation to be near her as Henry had ever received, and he all but bounded across the street to her side, unable to hide the slight wag of his tail as he did so.

His wolf self was a dick. That's what Henry decided in that moment. Until Eloise laughed, and it was like music to his ears, however then she spoke.

"That's it, just play the part, and any humans about will think your my dog." She smirked at him.

Henry's lip curled in distaste, but before he could react further Eloise was already walking onward and Henry had to trot to catch up with her quickly. The sun was shining and Henry noticed there were several people out and and about, causing him to step closer to Eloise, his need to protect her overwhelming him. But when he brushed against her leg by accident and she didn't object, he found himself questioning if it were so bad pretending to be a dog after all, if it meant she would let him be this close to her that is.

Eloise turned down another street five minutes later, and Henry must admit, he couldn't care less about where he was being led. This was as whole as he had felt in over eight years. Soon, they seemed to be walking in a large park. There were large sprawling areas of greenery, with an assortment of children's climbing frames, swings and slides dotted around the place, and wooded areas with intersecting tracks to get lost down. Henry was still taking in the scenes of families playing around them, when a man's voice interrupted his thoughts and caused him to look up, just in time to see a park official speaking to his mate.

"Hi Miss. I'm sorry but all dog's must be kept on a leash near the play areas."

"Oh, I'm sorry. I thought because he was so well behaved..." Eloise answered sweetly.

"Yes, but he is rather large. Is he a Wolfdog?" The official interrupted, scanning over Henry's features.

Henry did not like the man's blatant appraisal of him.

"Yes." Eloise replied, startling Henry with how calm she was.

"I thought so. Beautiful animal, but we can't have him scaring the other park users I'm afraid, and we are quite busy today." Came the man's polite response.

Eloise nodded, "I totally understand, I have a leash here anyway."

Henry backed up in horror as Eloise reached into her bag from the store and produced a slip lead from it. His top lip curled back, as Eloise approached him. He questioned how did he not see something like this coming; cursing himself for being so blind to it all.

"Now now, I know you don't like it, but we can't be scaring the little kids. Come on, if you want to stay here with me we can't cause a scene." Eloise chided him gently, deliberately choosing her words to force Henry's acquiescence.

Henry could see the mischief twinkling in her eyes. She had definitely planned this, it was obvious now and Henry could do nothing but accept that he was about to be leashed like a dog, as opposed to the proud Alpha wolf he was. The only alternative was exactly what she had said, he makes a scene, in front of humans, in another pack's territory.... The council would string him up, he couldn't risk the fall out.

Henry begrudgingly dropped onto his haunches, sitting down as he stared at Eloise. She dropped the leash around his head as Henry deliberately nipped at her hand to show his annoyance.

"He is a biter?" The official suddenly asked concerned.

Eloise smiled victoriously.

"Not really, he likes to think of himself as a big tough guy. But, he is mostly just posturing, aren't you Fluffykins." She answered smiling sweetly at Henry.

Henry couldn't help but swallow his growl when Eloise's hand began sinking into his fur coat behind his ears. His tail automatically began to wag as he lapped up the attention from his mate, standing up again he stepped towards her, stealing as much bodily contact as he could while struggling to pay attention to what was going on in the conversation. He missed the official's response, but he didn't miss Eloise's.

"Don't worry, I have his muzzle with me too, just in case." She responded, raising the bag doom she held in her other hand.

That snapped him back into the conversation, and caused a strange sort of noise to pass his lips, something between a snarl and a whine. The official laughed, the strange noise ceased immediately.

"I swear he can understand every word you utter, Miss." The man said. "Before I go, is it alright if i get a picture? It's so rare to see such a majestic creature?"

"Of course, you can." Eloise smiled a wolfish grin. "Sit nicely for the nice man, Fluffykins, there's a good boy." She stated.

Henry rolled his eyes at the name as he sat down. This was ridiculous. The man snapped a few pictures on his cell before walking away, and Eloise gave the leash a gentle tug to pull him along in the opposite direction. She followed the path around the park, and Henry tried to tone down his humiliation by enjoying the way the speckled shadows from the trees above danced periodically across his mate's skin.

When they came to a large clearing, Eloise sat on a bench and quietly watched the children around them playing. Henry noted some had frisbees, others balls, and some were running around with torn up rope cut offs being chased by dogs. He tried not to be miffed that he was still needlessly leashed.

Instead he focused on the sweet sight around him, and he noticed that Eloise seemed to enjoy taking in too. Henry watched her watching them, her hand unconsciously moving to her stomach as she did so. He would have given anything to know what she was thinking right now, to be part of her world and to be someone she confided in.

Working up some courage, he dropped his head onto her lap. Looking up into her big brown eyes, as he tried his best to offer to be there for her.

Eloise sighed, bringing her hand back to rest upon his head. Henry's tongue was soft as it licked the inside of her arm and he was relieved that she didn't recoil from him.

"It was a spot not unlike this that I first met Bast. Carson was playing in a sand pit that was there, just being a kid you know?" She suddenly voiced, her eyes welling up even if not a single tear was shed. "He didn't get to spend a lot of time just being a kid after our parents... Anyway, I guess I just wish they were still here, here to have seen Carson grow up, to take their grandchild to play in the park, that sort of thing."

Henry waited as Eloise went silent again, hoping to be allowed another glimpse behind the door she kept him firmly locked out of.

But, it didn't come.

He decided that was probably a good thing, he wasn't exactly in a scenario where he could comfort her properly. Even if he was, he had a sneaking suspicion she would never have opened up to him this much if he were in his human form. But, as a pet dog, as humiliating as it were, he seemed to get a little leeway from her ire. Enough so that he now knew one of her desires.

Eloise wanted a family again.

Henry watched the way she admired the children playing, enjoying the relaxed feeling of sitting against her leg. Her face was lighting up from her earlier sadness now; he liked that. Her eyes had began to sparkle in the sun and it wasn't long before he had once again tuned out most of what was going on around him as he focused solely upon his mate.

However, once again he was disturbed, though this time it was by a child's voice which steadied his temper at the interruption.

"Miss?" Came the girl's soft voice.

"Yes, Sweetie?" Eloise responded .

"Can I pat your doggy?" She asked back, emboldened by Eloise's friendly nature.

Henry looked around in panic. This was too far. This he couldn't stand for.

But, the beautiful little girl was so hopeful, and he froze instantly. She looked so much like a young version of his mate. The next thing he knew the girl's arms were secured tightly about his neck, and he was staggering slightly to catch his balance from the surprise. Eloise was laughing with delight as Henry unwittingly made a new best friend. Including the little girl telling him all about the pretty ribbons she would bring along next time to put in his fur; there was even mention of a bandana and a blue sparkly cowboy hat.

Eventually the young girl removed herself from Henry's side at the insistence of her Dad, who was calling from across the clearing about it being time to get ice cream. Eloise's face was aching from smiling and laughing so much as she stood up and intended to walk back to the pack house. Henry caught her attention by butting his forehead into her stomach, and she looked down at him.

"What?" She asked, and Henry all but rolled his eyes.

"Look, nobody made you follow me after being an ass. Count yourself lucky, I heard Sammy got Daniel dressed up in a full doggy Christmas outfit. You got cuddles from an adorable little girl in the park." She chided him on his attitude.

Henry let out a garbled whine at Eloise, trying unsuccessfully to convey his meaning.

But she ignored him and lifted the leash, "Come on Fluffy Butt. I'm going home."