Jared had now had 24 hours devoted to getting the lay of the land, so to speak, about life in the Tanner household.
Well, not so much the household as a small pen enclosed by a chain-link fence in the backyard at the end of a dead-end street. Kurt was taking no chances. In addition to locking him inside this caged space, he had fastened a new collar around Jared's neck that he had then attached to a stake driven deep into the ground. He still had free run of the cramped confines of the pen, but even if he figured a way to break free from the enclosure, he would still be held in place by the leash and collar.
Kurt had shown him the collar before slipping it around his neck. No doubt about it, he was loving the transformation of his rival. Instead of picking a canine name for the collar, he had a tag with JARED inscribed on it.
"Everyone's gonna know the great Jared Havala is now my dog," he boasted as he snapped the collar in place and then attached the leash.
Instead of doing anything to fight back, Jared kept his tail between his legs. He knew his rival had the upper hand, and his canine body was responding submissively to acknowledge Kurt's alpha status.
Trust Kurt to notice. "That's more like it," he said, looking down at the shaggy dog. "See what you get for messing with my girlfriend?"
That was unjust enough to illicit a low growl. Peyton had never been Kurt's girl. She had had nothing good to say about the guy. Even so, Peyton had been a brief episode and they had gone their separate ways.
"So, think about that," Kurt said smugly, "as you get used to your new home."
•••••••
The next morning begun with some confusion for the transformed teen. First of all, upon waking up he had forgotten he was a dog. He needed a moment to get a sense of his surroundings before it all came back to him.
Opening his eyes and seeing the world in black-and-white vision brought it all back.
Worse, he felt some insistent pressures but resolved not to foul the pen where he might have to spend a lot of time until he could figure a way out of this mess. Where was Kev with the medallion? Without that magic artifact, he would remain stuck as his rival's dog.
"Hi, boy," an unfamiliar voice said.
Jared cocked his head and stared up at a smaller, younger version of Kurt. He recognized Sam Tanner, although he didn't know him very well.
"I'm supposed to take you for a walk," Sam announced as he opened the gate to the pen.