(You guys got super cereal during the last chapter XD I've had to put Sam's parents in hiding for the moment)

Sam-

Digging through the garbage wasn't too bad. I managed to find enough scraps of meat to feed Coda, after trying them myself to see if they were safe to eat, of course. That left me hungry though, for several days. It was something I was used to at least, and since Coda was decently full more often than not, I was happy. We were currently looking for another meal in the back alley by an apartment complex in a decent area of town. It wasn't expensive, but it wasn't cheap, either.

When my son gave an excited yip I turned my head, figuring I'd see him present me with another piece of food that was likely inedible, but when I saw him halfway down the alley behind me taking a piece of beef jerky from someone, I immediately went on high alert. My lips pulled back and a snarl left them, making the human's head snap up so that our eyes met. He wisely took a step away from Coda, but my darn trusting pup just followed him, begging for more food.

"I-I'm sorry, momma." The person, who I could now tell was a young man, likely in his late teens or early twenties, said. His hands were raised in a defensive gesture, the package of jerky in the left one, the right one bare.

"I just wanted to help, you guys look hungry."

My eyes narrowed as I stepped closer, hackles raised in warning. He was smart and seemed to understand the gestures I was giving him because he remained completely still until I took Coda between my teeth and backed up back towards the knocked-over trash bins we'd been digging through.

"You guys are going to go back to that stuff? That's not cool, or healthy. Um, hang on a minute and I'll get you guys some real food, okay?"

Before I could answer he was running over to a fire escape and easily climbing the stairs up to a window I hadn't realized was open. I thought about taking Coda and running, but it would seem that the young man didn't know who I was or seem to really care. Sitting down, I waited about two minutes before the man appeared back out of the window. He was carrying a plastic grocery bag from one of the local stores, and it seemed decently weighted. I met him at the bottom of the stairs, Coda now at my feet, whining for the food.

"Alright, let's see what we've got in here," the young man said as he set the bag down. Coda wasn't very good at waiting though, and quickly dove into the bag to pull out a big slice of turkey cold cut a moment later. "Here girl," the man said, laughing lightly as he reached into the bag and offered me several slices of turkey. I took it greedily, being just careful enough not to nip his fingers.

The meat disappeared in minutes, leaving Coda sleepy with a full belly, but my own less than satisfied. It was nice to have something in it, but I was still really hungry.

"You don't look too full, momma."

He paused for a moment, obviously in thought as he ran his fingers through his mussy dark hair. It looked almost grey, but also black in the darkness.

"By any chance are you a shapeshifter?"

I growled at his question, unintentionally answering it and putting a smile on his face.

"I see. Well, I don't really care why you and your pup are on the streets but I do care that you guys don't freeze tonight... and I'm sure you'd like more than a few pieces of sliced turkey. If you're comfortable with the idea, you guys can stay at my place for the night."

His generosity made me nervous. He could easily lie and take us in, but I had run a good ways across the city to try and avoid any chance of being caught by my parents. Like I would ever call them that again without hatred. Pushing that thought from my mind for now, I decided to give this man a shot, if only for the chance to have my boy in warmth for the night. My body wavered, then shifted until I was sitting on the dirty alley floor, butt naked and completely embarrassed.

"Hey man, wow." The guy coughed out his words, obviously surprised.

I thought he might think I was a freak or maybe call the cops, having recognized me, but instead he grinned widely and offered me a fist to bump with my own.

"A cross-shifter. Awesome, man. I know quite a few so you're safe with me. Not interested in making babies and I see that you already have a pheromone collar, so I won't be jumping yer bones."

I awkwardly reached over and bumped my knuckles with his. It seemed like that was a magic switch, because he suddenly jumped up, moving several steps up the fire escape.

"Come on up."

He ran another few steps, then turned once on a landing as I scooped up Coda and began to slowly follow. "Oh yeah, my name is Wolf, and yeah, I'm a wolf shapeshifter."

I snickered a little, making his grin widen. "Yup, I'm awesome. What's you and your son's names?"

"His name is Coda and I'm Sam," I said as I met him on the first landing and we began to ascend to the next, then the next. When we finally got to his window I hesitantly slipped in, my nose flaring as I scented the apartment. It was dark but didn't smell of drugs or alcohol, much. There was definitely alcohol floating around in the air but as we got to the living room, I realized it was just because of one half-empty bottle sitting on the small dining room table near an empty plate with pasta sauce on it.

"Just settle down anywhere, and uh, here," the guy said, tossing me a pair of sweatpants he'd grabbed from his room as we walked through it to the living room. I pulled them on and got Coda settled on the carpeted floor near the sofa while Wolf disappeared into the kitchen. While he was busy I looked around the room, noting the minimal decorations but cleanliness.

He must have just bought it, or not really care to decorate.

About ten minutes later Wolf was back, setting a big plate of spaghetti in front of me that had a large portion of meat piled on top of it. When I looked up to thank him he offered me a fork and smiled. "Eat up. I made too much anyways, so you'll be doing me a favor since I'm not a huge fan of leftovers."

I had no problem doing that! I delved into the big plate of food as my son slept beside me on his back, paws in the air. It was actually delicious, though simple. I wasn't picky in the least, considering I'd been diving through garbage cans for dinner, that much should be obvious.

"So, I'm guessing your that aussie shifter they have all over the news?"

My body tensed immediately, hands frozen with the fork dug into the remaining spaghetti.

"Don't worry, man. As far as I'm concerned, you're just another guy. Besides, I know several cross-shifters and one especially, who seems to have been in a similar, if slightly worse, situation. Somehow I don't trust the people after your kid. If they wanted him so badly, why not take you back, too?"

I nodded slowly, watching him like a hawk as he leaned against the doorway to the kitchen.

"So anyways, don't worry. Not interested in turning you in. You can stay here for a few days, or just tonight. Whatever you want to do is fine with me as long as you don't trash the place. And," he smirked, disappearing down the hall for a moment before returning and holding up something. "I'm often babysitting my friends' little pup so I have plenty of diapers."

My shoulders relaxed on a huge sigh and I quickly stood up, scooping Coda into my arms before approaching Wolf. He offered me the bag of diapers and gave a slight wave. "Gonna finish my beer, then likely crash on the sofa. Sleep wherever you want and feel free to use the shower, too."

I nodded, a bit blindsided by his hospitality. Not wanting to dwell on it, less I start to stress, I quickly got my sleepy puppy cleaned up and changed into a fresh diaper, then set him down on the soft mat on the floor by the shower. Since he was out cold I took my chance and showered, loving the heat as it soothed my tired body. When I was done I dried off and slipped the borrowed pants back on and picked Coda up. He was complete deadweight in my arms, his tongue lolling to the side as he drooled a little, still in his puppy form.

When I made my way slowly back into the living room I discovered that Wolf was good to his word. He was out cold just like Coda, on his back on the sofa, snoring loudly. The image brought a smile to my lips before I turned back to settle in his bedroom. The bed was unmade and it didn't seem like he actually had used it anytime recently. Normally I'd sleep on the floor since it wasn't my place, but I wanted Coda to get the best sleep he could so that he didn't get sick if we had to leave again early the next morning. It was likely to happen, so I carefully climbed into the bed and hugged my boy tight as I followed him off to sleep within minutes.

"Dude, I told you not to use my butt as a paintbrush again! We graduated almost three years ago, you should have grown out of that stupid joke, even if you were trying to teach him what painting was."

Groaning, I stretched out on the bed and tried to snuggle back in when something fuzzy nuzzled my face, then licked it like crazy. I woke up groggily, grumbling at Coda... until I realized it wasn't Coda.

A black puppy that seemed to be around three or four years old bounded off the bed, only to run over to a pair of feet and hop around in circles, doing little flips.

"Calm down, Flip. Wolf said not to come in here because of the guest," someone whispered as I saw their hands scoop up the big pup. The sound of their feet growing further away had my heart calming, but I definitely wasn't going to be going back to sleep.

Time to get up and see who's here now...