"Easy," Thomas put his arm around the pale Richard's shoulders and looked coldly at the man. "So what did you want to talk about?"

Ilona silently stepped aside, and Felix fixed his burning gaze on her face:

- Who is she?

The air vibrated with hostility and hidden malice. The men were on the verge of not throwing themselves into a fierce fight.

"It's Pinky," Thomas bared his teeth in a wicked smile.

“No, guys,” Ilona chuckled and took another step, feeling for her smartphone in the back pocket of her jeans, “don’t drag me into your showdowns.

She clicked on the screen of the phone under her gaze and put it to her ear, firmly looking into the face of Felix, who seemed to her the most dangerous of the whole trio.

“Hello,” she said coldly, when a polite female operator's voice was heard over the phone. “I want to report suspicious individuals who have been hanging around the playground for an hour now. Three very creepy men.

"That's a bitch," Thomas gasped.

In response, she gave the address and sighed sadly, describing the appearance of the intruders. Ilona leaned to the right to see the license plate number of Felix, who, with an unrestrained curse, disappeared into the car and pulled away with a deafening squeal of tires.

“One left, two remained,” Ilona clicked with displeasure. The blond boy and his friend.

"I'm a brother," Thomas said.

"He says brother," she narrowed her eyes. - Older?

- What do you think? The guy gritted his teeth.

“Senior,” the girl sighed. “But not by much.

The cameraman strictly clarified whether this was a prank, and Ilona was indignant. The woman on the other end of the line, with a hint of annoyance, asked what exactly the girl was complaining about.

- Yes, what did we do to you? Thomas snapped at her angrily. Are we not allowed to go here?

The woman angrily stated that she would not accept the call and hung up. Richard frowned resentfully, looking Ilona from head to toe, and said:

“I didn't expect this from you.

“But they got rid of Felix,” Thomas pushed his brother. - Now stomp. I'm tired of babysitting after you.

Richard threw a displeased glance at Ilona and strode up the street. The girl was overcome with guilt. She, too, would be offended if someone tried to incite the policemen on her.

- How is your dog? Il timidly called out to Thomas, who exchanged indignant glances with his brother.

- How is my dog? The boy patted the boy's hair. - How is he? M? Tell the pink-haired princess how that furry dog ​​ran away from home again!

“I hate you,” the young man angrily pushed his brother away from him and accelerated without looking back. "When will you all leave me behind?" How can?!

"It's all for the safety of your ass, you little shit!" Thomas barked and ran after Richard.

Richard roared something unintelligible, and the brothers, with a mutual squabble, disappeared from the horizon. Margot approached the silent and astonished Ilona and groaned:

What strange friends you have. And don't you dare bring men into the apartment. Dates only on the side. The walls are thin, you know.

Ilona returned to the flower beds. There was the last push before a well-deserved rest - only ten bushes of peonies. As she buried the thin roots, she wondered what had Richard done to the creepy guy in the SUV? Felix could hardly control himself, so as not to strangle and tear apart a blond idiot in light green pants.

Returning all the gardening tools to the pantry in the dusty basement, Ilona went up to her room and, sweaty, collapsed on the bed for a little nap. After ennobling the front garden, I didn’t even have the strength to take a quick shower. There was only a desire to dive into a cozy afternoon dream, which was suddenly interrupted by a loud howl outside the window.

Ilona jumped out of bed, losing touch with reality. The room was dark, and because of the abrupt awakening, she could not even figure out what day of the week it was. The howl again cut through the darkness of the night, joined by a dull roar. Ilona rushed to the window.

Under the lantern, a huge black monster was circling around the fluffy and frightened Ree. Considering that the white wolf himself was not distinguished by its modest size, the second furry creature was almost one and a half times larger than him.

- Get off him! Ilona opened the window and looked out into the street. - Go away!

The black monster lifted its muzzle and stared at her with yellow eyes, baring its teeth. Ree howled plaintively, gazing at the girl wistfully, and wagged his tail languidly. The fanged behemoth snarled at the beast and took a step towards it, clattering its teeth.

- Get away from him! - Ilona threw a porcelain angel at the aggressive monster, which crashed a meter away from him with a dull rattle.

The monster purred at Rea and shook its head, never taking its eyes off its muzzle, and Ilona rushed out of the apartment, taking a flimsy mop with her. The girl dived into the elevator, and nervously pressed the button for the first floor. To a quiet squeak that deafened her with adrenaline, she rushed through the foyer and jumped out into the night street.

Ree weakly snarled at the snarling freak, which slowly but surely tightened the noose around him. Viscous saliva dripped from the woolly degenerate's mouth, its tail twitched nervously, and its nose wrinkled.

- Here's the bastard! - Ilona rushed at the monster with a cry, brandishing a mop.

The monster with its mouth open under Ree's howl threw its shadow at the stupid girl like an angry phantom. She managed to cover herself with a mop, and the rabid dog grabbed a plastic stick with its dimensionless mouth and bit it in two. Ree with a guttural roar rushed at the enemy, pushing him away from Ilona, ​​and gracefully dodged his fangs. The monster howled and with a roar again rushed at her, throwing aside a frightened growl of a white wolf that tried to protect Il. Someone with strong and confident hands pulled the petrified girl towards him, and the monster flew past with an angry snort and firmly sank to its paws.

- Go away, - a tall, stately woman covered Ilona with her chest and threw a thick dark braid with a rare gray over her shoulders. She stepped towards the snarling black monster without fear. - Leave. You are not yourself.

Ree rushed to Ilona and poked his cold, wet nose into her palm. The girl shuddered and sank to the asphalt, weakened by the surging horror. The beast licked her face with a grunt, and the scarecrow with rearing black hair on the back of its neck gave a low growl.

"I'm sorry it happened," the woman hissed. “Sometimes fate likes to play a trick on the strongest of us. You have to accept and move on with your life. It hurts, but not fatal, my friend.

Obrazina gritted her teeth and vanished into the shadows like a black ghost. Ilona hiccupped, and Ree slobbered savoryly on her face with a loud whine. The woman turned to the girl and hissed at the wolf, who lowered his muzzle guiltily.

— Do you smoke? - the stranger smiled affectionately at the pale Ilona, ​​and thin, barely noticeable wrinkles lay in the corners of her gray eyes.

The woman helped Ilona get up and pulled out a pack of cigarettes from the pocket of a large-knit gray cardigan.

“I indulge sometimes,” Ilona swallowed and pulled out a cigarette with shaking hands.

“I also indulge sometimes,” the woman clicked the lighter and peered into the girl’s eyes. - I'm Bella.

“Ilona,” she breathed in burning smoke and released a white stream into the night sky. - You can just Il.

The girl sat down wearily on the curb and closed her eyes. My head was empty. She did not want to understand why creepy dogs were hanging around her house, who staged a nightly concert. And why the mysterious woman was able to drive one of them away with a polite conversation.

“I also ran out barefoot,” Bella gasped. - Totally stupid.

Ree purred, pressing his forehead against the woman's thigh, and the woman responded sternly and coldly to his caress, exhaling spicy smoke.

Leave the girl alone, honey. Yes, she sheltered you, took pity on your pug, but she sees only a dog in you.

“They told me it was a wolf,” Il looked drunkenly into Bella’s face. “That other one is also a wolf, right?” And yours too?

“Thank heavens, not mine,” the woman laughed. “Two alphas have no place in a pack.

“Wonderful conversations,” the girl inhaled slowly.

Ree growled in displeasure, and Bella frowned, puffing smoke through her nostrils. She looked at Ilona and shook her head, affectionately pushing the wolf away from her.

No, Rey. Played in the first love and that's enough. Hormones and recklessness speak in you. It's not your moon betrothed. Your fate is in wolf blood, not...

“Your cigarettes are strange,” Ilona blinked slowly.

There was a noise in my head, the house swayed, and the light from the lantern spread in a puddle on the pavement. Ree growled capriciously, demanding something from his mother. How funny, the wolf's parent is a woman.

"No, Richard," Bella snapped at the beast.

He angrily shook off the wisps of white wool and stood up on his hind legs, turning into a naked youngster with disheveled faded tresses on top of his head.

"But I love her!" Rey threw up his hands.

“Nichrena tell yourself,” Il drawled in a daze, looking at Richard’s strong, muscular body, which in a second blurred into a faded spot with a man’s dignity dangling in front of her eyes.

Mirage stirred and echoed:

- You wanted to marry me for a long time!

- On the wolf! boomed a female voice. “On a strong female who will defend the right to you from Felix!” And this one can only wave a mop!

- But how she waved! The white spot laughed. “Where have you seen bitches that would fearlessly climb on Felix?”

Eli fell on her back. The damp earth cooled her heat and she groaned contentedly, swaying in the waves of a thick nightmare.