The trees were beginning to thin out, the closer to the edge of the forest they traveled. Moonlight filtered through, casting a fairly clear path for Jon. Tommy seemed reluctant to run ahead as he usually did when they went out into the forest. They were nearing the edge of the forest when all of a sudden Jon nearly fell over. Looking down, he saw that Tommy had a hold of his pants.
"Tommy, what the fuck?" Jon gave a tug at his pant leg, but the dog refused to let go. Throwing his hands up in exasperation, Jon said, "First you come get me and now you don't want me going ahead? What is going on?"
The dog let out a low whine, edged in a growl. Tommy wasn't as easy for Jon to read as most animals, but there'd never been this much white noise in his head before. Whatever it was, Tommy was conflicted; Jon had angerfearprotectattack rolling around his head like spinning top. Reaching down, he soothed a hand over Tommy's head.
Of course, just as he'd gotten the dog to relax a bit and let go of him, a shout carried over the air, urgent and vaguely familiar, even from this distance. Tommy tensed right back up, a real growl rumbling in his throat. Jon started moving again, heading toward the sound.