Page 5 of Pooch Planet

The bartender scampered over and took Benji’s order, and he hoped the interruption had derailed the topic of the notorious butt-sniffing Butch.

“I dunno.” Shep glanced over his shoulder then turned back to Benji. “I think it’s best to know one way or another.”

Benji pinched the bridge of his nose. “Why don’t you go stand next to him and see? We’re both around the same age and you haven’t found your mate yet.”

Shep chewed on his lip as he continued to stare in the direction of Butch. “He is super hot. And so commanding.”

A thread of guilt ran through Benji. Shep was his best buddy and he didn’t want him doomed to a life of subservience to a feral Alpha.

“Umm, I was just kidding. Stay here with me and chill. It’s my last night off for who knows how long.”

Shep grinned at him. “I knew you secretly liked him.”

Benji huffed. “You big faker.”

Shep burst out laughing. “Gotcha.”

“Hiya pup.” Butch’s voice rumbled from behind him. “Haven’t seen you in here for a while.”

Trapped. He’d never be able to get away from the big bully unless he shifted and leapt over the bar. But being too obvious about his distaste might spur the Alpha on. Every pooch loved a good chase. And lately, being fated had gone out of style—was considered old-school—so that wouldn’t stop the bastard. Benji didn’t want his heat to be artificially induced through drugs. He wanted it to happen naturally.

With my chosen mate.

“Did you hear me, omega? When an Alpha speaks, you give him your attention.”

Benji held in the laughter ready to burst out. This was the reason he didn’t want to be with a mate like Butch. He wasn’t in to being bossed around.

Benji peered over his shoulder again then pressed his lips together to keep from making a gagging sound. Butch’s breath wasn’t exactly an aphrodisiac and he was hovering over Benji while caging him in.

Shep cleared his throat. “Hey, Butch, relax. Me and Benji were just trying to have one last night out before he has to go on patrol tomorrow. He wasn’t being disrespectful.”

Butch snarled at Shep, “If I want your opinion, I’ll chew it out of you!”

Shep muttered to Benji. “He’s not nearly as hot when he speaks.”

A smile tugged at the corners of Benji’s mouth. “See? I know what I’m talking about. It’s those sharp Chiweenie senses.”

“What are you two mumbling to each other?”

Butch’s enraged features, complete with bared teeth, stared back at him from the mirror behind the bar. Benji didn’t feel like twisting his neck around anymore to communicate with the brute, and the appeal of enjoying another drink at the bar was rapidly dissipating.

Benji kept his eyes trained forward. “Trust me, we were talking about nothing.”

Butch poked a finger in Benji’s back, just hard enough to cause him to slosh the new drink the bartender had put down in front of him.

“You better watch it, little pooch. I might decide I don’t want to be saddled with one of your litters but take what I want anyway.”

A chorus of low growls surrounded Benji as the bartender—who also happened to be a Chiweenie omega, but older and mated already, and a group of Shih tzus at a nearby table—reacted to Butch’s thinly veiled threat. The warning growls continued to fill the room, and Butch and his fellow pack buddies gradually moved away from him and Shep. Butch waved his hand in a dismissive gesture, then led his pack to their favorite table in the back of the bar.

As much as Benji would’ve loved for Butch’s actions to mean the matter was over and done with, he knew better. Butch had been sniffing around him going on a year already. He sighed then stared into the amber liquid in his mug. He shouldn’t let Butch bother him. Not that the asshole did overall, but the Alpha was a reminder that he hadn’t found his mate yet. So what if he was old-fashioned? It was his life, dammit, and he wasn’t about to be stuck with someone he didn’t have a deep connection with.

Benji took a gulp of his drink. Maybe once all this craziness with the killer was over with, he’d quit his job, take his savings and travel the world. It wasn’t as if he had any family to speak of to tie him to the village. He’d been raised in the orphanage after his mother had given birth to him and his one brother and two sisters. She’d left them in the cold behind a building, then run off with her Pit Bull pimp to Megiddo.

When her abandoned litter was discovered the next morning, by then it was too late for his siblings. Benji was saved though, despite being the runt. He’d been raised with the other abandoned pups at the orphanage, and when he’d met Shep at training school, they’d become fast friends. If anyone could be counted on as family, Shep was it.

Benji took a sideways glance at Shep. Someday soon, Shep would find his mate and start his own family. He wanted his friend’s happiness, hoped his dream of fulfilling his purpose as an omega came true. However, where would that leave Benji?

He took a healthy swallow of his beer. No, he’d save up at least six months more of wages, then roam the world. He could always pick up some odd jobs here and there. In the towns along the way, he was sure to find a farmer or another village where they were being plagued by honey badgers. Benji was a champ at unearthing honey badgers.