The cage door closed with a resounding clang and Jared heard the definitive click of a lock.
The mild sedative began to wear off as he looked around the pen and noticed three other dogs, two of them larger than him.
The large 120-pound Rottweiler broke from his pack of friends and trotted across the concrete floor. With no ceremony of introduction, the Rottweiler ducked past him and maneuvered behind him for some quick butt sniffs.
Arf! Arf! "Hey, what's the deal?"
The Rottweiler responded with his owns barks. "Relax, take it easy," he said.
The tall Great Dane, which had some really long legs, ambled over and took his time. The lanky dog had no trouble ducking his neck and face behind Jared for a obligatory butt sniff. The Dane produced a couple of woofs. "New buddy?"
"Guess that remains to be seen," the Rottweiler replied.
The wary Boxer joined the two larger dogs. As the Boxer walked behind him, Jared whirled his bulky, shaggy form. "Cut it out," he objected with some barks.
The Boxer looked offended, but more agile than Jared, he simply danced around the sheepdog and managed a quick butt sniff. With a satisfied woof, the Boxer pronounced, "Fresh meat, if you ask me."
The Dane and Rottweiler produced the equivalent of canine laughter that didn't do anything to cheer Jared.
"Little uptight, isn't he?" The Rottweiler asked.
It had suddenly dawned on Jared that he was engaged in a two-way conversation with three dogs. He yelped in surprise. "You understand me?"
The Dane barked. "Yea, bub," he said. "What's to understand? You're in this big cage with the rest of us."
Jared barked excitedly. "But... but you are dogs!"
The smaller Boxer got into Jared's face and barked. "What are you? Talking blanket?"
The other dogs laughed at the dig at Jared's shaggy, unkempt appearance.
Jared barked out an attempt at explanation. "I know I look like a sheepdog, but I'm not," he said. "I'm human. A seventeen-year-old boy. Can one of you help me?"
"I'll help you, boy," the Rottweiler said and leered at him.
"Go for it," the Dane encouraged with a couple of short barks.
Jared felt confused. The Rottweiler walked behind the sheepdog. Jared faced the Dane and Boxer, choosing to ignore another butt sniffing session. "I'm serious. This magical amulet turned me into a — hey!"
The Rottweiler mounted the sheepdog in a practiced move, getting his muscular hind limbs planted sturdily on the concrete floor. A shocked Jared lunged forward, but came up short in his escape attempt as a knot quickly inflated as the Rottweiler grunted and thrust inside the transformed teenager.
The Rottweiler barked in his ear. "Never had me a human boy."
"I'm serious," Jared cried in shock and some pain as the big brute kept thrusting hard. "I'm human..."
The Rottweiler howled and his solid upper half rested heavily on Jared's lower back. Jared tried again to escape, but found he remained connected.
It was the Rottweiler, a few embarrassing moments later, who finally realized separation was possible, and eased off the deeply chagrined sheepdog. He chuckled as he walked past Jared. "Hope it was good for you, too, boy," he said before he curled up for a nap on the floor where a sunbeam through a window warmed the concrete floor.
"He's the big boss," the Dane explained to Jared. "You remember that and we'll all get along fine."
"Yea," the Boxer interjected. "Know your place."
Jared still smarted from the assault. "What would that be?"
"You're Big Guy's new bitch," the Boxer replied, causing more laughter at Jared's expense from the Rottweiler's two companions.