Lights Camera Werewolf

by Zoe Chant

  Joshua looked down at Louis. “I’ve just taken him on a long walk, so he should be tired out for now. I should’ve thought about that before the audition.”

  She smiled, glad Joshua was being careful. “Good idea.” She grabbed the keys to the cabin. “I have to get ready.” Stephanie moved around Joshua to avoid Louis and unlock the door. She went over to the kitchen table to check she had everything for tonight.

  She heard a creak and turned to see Joshua enter the cabin, Louis following him in with his tail wagging. The dog sat down again without Joshua telling him to.

  “Kat said you wanted to talk to me?” she managed. She was in a room with a dog. Her heart pounded so loud she was sure Joshua could hear it. The dog tilted his head, then looked up at Joshua and let out a soft whuff.

  “Yeah, Louis, I know.” Joshua gave his dog a quick glance, then smiled at Stephanie. “Since you’ll be doing makeup on him later, I thought you two should get to know each other. Maybe you’d like to test the fake blood on him to see how it looks?”

  “I’m sure it’ll look great.” She gestured at the kitchen counter, where she had three jars with syrup and food coloring she’d prepared that afternoon. “I have different shades. The trick is to add some blue food coloring as well, depending on your syrup.”

  Maybe if she kept talking about the technical aspects, he’d get bored and leave with Louis?

  “I work at my parents’ bakery in Elmworth, so I know all about food coloring.” She could talk about baking and decorating techniques for hours. Michael had regularly grumbled about how dull that could get while they were together. Stephanie could definitely bore Joshua away. “You’d be surprised how much difference one drop of blue makes! And the best shade of blood all depends on what color clothes the actors are wearing, so being in the wardrobe cabin is awesome.”

  “I never thought of that,” Joshua replied, sounding interested.

  Louis barked, tail wagging.

  “Yeah, we’re both learning here,” Joshua agreed. “I knew auditioning was a great idea.”

  Stephanie glanced at the call-sheet on the kitchen table. Dammit, they showed no sign of being bored. “And the time of day we’re filming! Since we’re doing a night-shoot, I’m using different shades of fake blood than I would for filming during the day. It depends on how the scene is being lit as well.”

  “That makes sense,” Joshua said. “If the scene is dark, you need to tell whether someone’s got a mud stain on them or a bloodstain.”

  Louis whuffed again, and was it Stephanie’s imagination or was he whuffing in agreement?

  “You should introduce Louis to the crew!” she exclaimed, hoping she didn’t sound desperate. “Since they’ll be working with him.” She knew the sound guy was a big dog lover, so he’d definitely want to spend some time with Louis.

  “I’d rather introduce him to you first,” Joshua told her. “Since you know all about the fake blood, and you’ll be working closely with him as well. But if you like, I can leave Louis here to check with the crew if they need time with him beforehand.”

  Louis barked at that, tail thumping against the floor as he wagged it.

  “See, he thinks it’s a great idea.” Joshua offered her the leash.

  Stephanie stared at him, heart beating wildly in her chest. She made no move to take the leash. “Without you?”

  “I doubt you’ll need a chaperone.” Joshua laughed when Louis bumped his head against his knee, tail still wagging. “What? It’s because you’re a gentleman. Dog. Gentle-dog.”

  The dog huffed, then lay down next to Joshua, tail still wagging.

  Stephanie had never been more confused in her life. Dog owners didn’t hand leashes to strangers. And while Louis seemed happy and curious, he also made no move to sniff around the cabin. He only seemed interested in her.

  “I also wanted to get something to eat.” Joshua turned to gesture in the direction of the catering cabin. “And I figure it’s easier if Louis isn’t with me when I do that, what with all the food.”

  Louis’s ears perked up at that, and he nudged Joshua’s ankle with his nose.

  “Yes, I will get you food as well,” Joshua told him, laughing. “See? Better for everyone if he stays here.”

  Stephanie took a deep breath, reminding herself that she should deal with her fear. And Louis was calm and happy to be here. Joshua wouldn’t offer her the leash if he didn’t trust his dog. “Okay.” She hoped her voice didn’t sound shaky. “He can stay while you get food.”

  She could be in the same cabin as a dog without wanting to flee. Right?

  “You sure?” Joshua asked. “I can bring you something to eat as well.”

  She’d eaten at home, but it was gonna be a long evening. And it’d save her a trip to Colin and Michael. “Yeah, that’d be great. I need to work on the blood, so you can put the leash over a chair.”

  Joshua hung the leash over the chair farthest from her, then kneeled down next to his dog. “Louis, stay here and let the nice lady do her work, okay? I’ll be back soon.” He got up, nodding at her once before leaving.

  Stephanie watched him go, ignoring the urge to call after him to please take his dog.

  Louis looked up at her, then rolled onto his side, looking completely at ease.

  Stephanie still didn’t want to turn her back to him to make more fake blood. “You better not lunge at me again.”

  The dog let out a soft whine, his gray eyes on Stephanie.

  If she didn’t know better, she’d have thought it was an apologetic whine.

  But that was impossible. Dogs didn’t apologize.

  Okay, since she wasn’t going to get any work done on the blood, maybe she could work on her fear. She took a step closer to Louis, and his tail wagged slowly at her move, but otherwise he stayed still.

  She glanced at the door, and the woods outside looked extremely inviting.

  A soft whine from the dog had her looking back at him. Louis rolled onto his back to show her his fluffy, white belly, a stark contrast against the neon-orange of his dog harness.

  Stephanie froze in surprise.

  Dogs didn’t just do that in her experience.

  The dog huffed, reaching for her with one forepaw, then gestured towards his belly.

  Stephanie laughed, leaning against the kitchen table. “Are you asking me to give you a belly rub?”

  She couldn’t believe she asked that.

  She couldn’t believe she wanted to.

  Something about that impossibly fluffy belly made her want to reach out to see if it was as soft as it looked. She moved closer and kneeled down carefully, keeping an eye on Louis for any sudden moves. But he stayed there, tail wagging slowly as he gazed up at her.

  She looked into those soft gray eyes and some of the tension in her body faded away. She slowly reached for his chest. “Okay, I’m going to pet you and you’re going to lie there like a good boy and get petted. Do we have a deal?”

  Louis whuffed, reaching for her with one paw, then lowering it towards his belly. He did that a few times, tilting his head when she didn’t move. The dog wriggled on the floor as if he hadn’t gotten petted in weeks.

  She was careful not to make any sudden moves. This was it. She was going to pet a large dog’s belly.

  Her fingers shook as she reached for Louis’s nose, offering him her hand to sniff first. She tried not to think of his sharp teeth.

  But Louis nuzzled her palm, tail wagging faster, and lay still before her.

  “I guess you sniffed it?” This dog was getting weirder by the second, but he was still lying there with his belly out and his paws up. “I can pet you now, right? This isn’t like cats, where the belly is a trap?”

  Louis whuffed, shaking his head.

  She jerked her hand away, leaning back. Her heart pounded like it was about to leap out of her chest. He couldn’t have understood her, right?

  He wiped across his face with one paw. One gray eye peeped out, looking up at her dolefully
.

  Stephanie reached forward again, fingers trembling as she did so. “I’ll have to touch you eventually,” she reminded herself. “I can do this.”

  His tail wagged faster the closer her hand got to his fluffy belly, and when her fingers brushed against the fur, she gasped.

  The fur was impossibly soft, but she reached forward until her hand was buried in it.

  The dog shuddered on the floor, tail thumping against the floor harder now.

  “Is this good?” She kept her hand where it was. “Help me out. I don’t give belly rubs to dogs.”

  The dog’s eyes were half-closed, and he let out a soft groan.

  She went for slow circles across his belly, her hand brushing against the neon-orange strap now and then, not wanting to startle him. It was like nothing she’d ever felt before. The fur was longer than a cat’s, and his belly warm and solid against her palm. She felt it rise and fall as he lay there, completely relaxed under her touch.

  She let out a nervous laugh. If her mother could see her now… “What a good boy you are. Such a very good boy, being fluffy and adorable and letting me rub your belly, yes, you are. You are the best boy.”

  The dog’s tail went mad at that, and his eyes closed in bliss as she continued to stroke his belly.

  Her grin was big enough to split her face. She was petting a dog! An actual, real-life dog!

  And she was doing a good job!

  There was a knock on the open door, and she looked up to find Michael staring down at the two of them. “Are you okay?”

  She jumped away, bumping into the chair behind her. Michael knew about her fear of dogs, so of course he was surprised. “Yeah, um, just getting to know Louis here.” Her face burned with embarrassment and unease at having her ex here.

  Louis rolled onto his paws and got up, looking from Stephanie to Michael. He sat down in front of her and stared up at Michael.

  Michael frowned down at the dog. “Is he okay?”

  “He seems fine to me,” she said airily. “But he has a big scene tonight and I need to get him ready.”

  Michael raised an eyebrow at that. “You need to get him ready? Baby, I know how you feel about dogs. You shouldn’t be doing this.”

  Part of her bristled at that, remembering all the jibes he’d made about her fear of dogs back when they’d been together. But he sounded so genuine now…

  “I’m fine,” she insisted, although she knew she looked anything but. “He’s very well-behaved. What do you want, Michael?”

  He pouted at that. “No need to get snippy when I’m worried about you. I brought the sausages for the death scene.”

  “Thank you.” She had to reach across the dog’s head to take Michael’s bag. To her surprise, Louis never looked up at the bag. He stayed focused on Michael the entire time. She checked the bag, and the right amount of sausages were in there. She’d prep them with syrup and food coloring and maybe some peanut butter, so they’d look like convincing guts while the dog feasted on his victims.

  Hopefully Louis wouldn’t ignore the sausages on set.

  She moved to put the sausages in the cabin’s fridge. “Okay, thanks for dropping by. I’ve got to get to work now.”

  Michael leaned against the wall behind him, glancing down at Louis, who was still blocking him from coming in further. “I get you’re upset with me, but if we want to work things out and get back together, you’ll have to get over that.”

  Louis barked at that, turning his head to look at her.

  Stephanie pretended to check her makeup sponges on the kitchen table. “You kissed another girl.”

  “See, that’s the thing you need to get over,” Michael told her. “Because you have it all wrong about me and Ashley.”

  Did she? No, she’d seen that kiss. “I caught you two making out in her parents’ vegetable garden.” She’d wandered away from the party to find her boyfriend, and found him making out with the birthday girl among the lettuce.

  Michael rolled his eyes. “She came on to me! We were just talking and suddenly she kissed me. You know what Ashley’s like.”

  Stephanie stared down at her makeup supplies. She’d gone to high school with the other girl, but they hadn’t been close friends. Ashley didn’t have a reputation as a boyfriend-stealer. But maybe Michael was telling the truth. She hadn’t seen how the kiss started. “I don’t think this is the right time to talk about this.”

  Mostly because she knew how it would end. Michael would try to wear her down, and she’d try to get him to leave her alone while doubting herself.

  “So when is?” Michael huffed. “You’ve been giving me the cold shoulder ever since you dumped me. I thought this movie would be a good way to spend some together, but guess not!” He gestured at the liquid latex and other makeup supplies. “Think about it, baby. Who’s gonna get you like I do? Not a lot of guys will put up with a girlfriend who wants to spend her weekends and evenings making other people look like zombies or werewolf victims.”

  She hated that he had a point. Her hobbies were kinda weird, and she’d always had trouble fitting in in high school. Sure, other girls liked makeup as well, but Stephanie was the only one whose interest in lipstick boiled down to ‘which is the best red for making fake wounds with?’

  Until Michael, she’d never really dated. She had male friends who also liked horror movies, but they’d seen her as a friend, not a potential girlfriend. But she couldn’t remember Michael ever being single. He always had a girlfriend, and for a long time she thought that dating experience meant he knew how to have a relationship.

  Turned out experience just meant he was good at flirting.

  Next to her, Louis growled, a low sound from the back of his throat. It sent shivers up her spine, but her throat didn’t tighten in fear like it normally did.

  “That’s a dangerous animal,” Michael said. “He’s baring his teeth at me!”

  She looked, and Louis’s lip was curled as he growled, sharp teeth glinting.

  And all that blossomed inside her was something warm and safe. Louis was growling at Michael to defend her.

  “I think he doesn’t want us to get behind schedule.” She took some pleasure in seeing Michael flinch when Louis got up.

  “This conversation isn’t over.” Michael glared at Louis before pointing at her as he left. “You’re being ridiculous.”

  Louis stayed in the doorway, watching Michael leave.

  Stephanie heaved a relieved sigh when the dog relaxed and sat down. Her legs were shaking as she leaned back against the kitchen table, and she closed her eyes to regain her composure. She had to talk to Michael about not bringing their relationship up on set. She couldn’t have him barge in while she was working on an actor’s wound. If she got distracted, she might mess up the colors.

  Something brushed against her knee, and she looked down to see Louis pressing his head against her leg. He whuffed up at her as he moved back and wagged his tail slowly.

  And then there was this weird, ridiculous, amazing dog she somehow wasn’t afraid of.

  If she could get over her fear of dogs, what else was she capable of?

  She laughed, reaching out to pat him on the head. “You’re a very good boy, chasing the naughty man away like that.”

  Louis’s tail wagged faster, and he rolled onto his back again for more belly rubs.

  She kneeled down eagerly, stroking the soft fur. “Yes, good point. You definitely deserve belly rubs, don’t you?” she cooed, looking into his gray eyes. “For being such a good boy. And you’re going to be the scariest werewolf, aren’t you? Aren’t you? Yes, you will!”

  There was another knock on the door, and she looked up, scared to find Michael standing there. But it was Louis’s owner, mouth twitching before he burst into laughter.

  3. Louis

  Belly rubs were the best.

  His wolf had been hesitant, complaining it was undignified to behave like a pet dog in front of their fated mate, but the protests died down as soon as
her hand touched his fur.

  He and Joshua had talked tactics after getting the job, and Louis figured that the best way to fix things with Stephanie was if she spent time alone with him.

  Hence, a no-holds-barred charm offensive with a fluffy belly as the climax.

  For a few glorious seconds, he’d known pure bliss.

  Stephanie’s ex showing up had thrown a massive spanner in the works, and he was proud of himself for staying quiet as long as he had. But that man had no business treating Stephanie like that after he cheated on her, and when he said no one else could love her, Louis’s self-control had snapped.

  Even if Stephanie hadn’t been his fated mate, he’d have been offended on her behalf. She spent her weekends doing what she loved, and what kind of selfish partner complained about that? Was Michael the kind of jerk who thought his girlfriend’s life should revolve around him? The guy had cheated on her. He should be on his knees begging for forgiveness, not tell her she’d gotten it all wrong.

  His wolf wanted to chase the other man down. Avenge our mate. Destroy him.

  Louis tried to hold his vengeful thoughts at bay. Some of those thoughts were now directed at Joshua for interrupting another wonderful belly rub session.

  He got back on his feet while Joshua kept laughing, and Louis glared at him.

  “I wish I’d taken a picture of that.” Joshua wiped a tear from his eye. “Oh wow. Did you like that belly rub, buddy? You looked like you did.”

  Louis let out an annoyed huff, reassured by Stephanie’s scent not being as bitter with fear as it had been before.

  Joshua looked at him, then at Stephanie. “I guess you two got to know each other, then. Paul wants to shoot a few scenes, so I should bring him over. Oh, I got you a burrito. I wasn’t sure what you liked, but vegetarian seemed safest.” He handed her the wrapped burrito.

  “Thanks, that’s fine,” she replied.

  Joshua took his leash. “Let’s go film your first scene, buddy.”

  Louis joined his friend reluctantly.

  Stephanie smiled at them both. “Thanks for the food. It was nice to spend some time with him. He’s very sweet.”