The door to the bookshop swung open. Monica walked in with her arm around a big paper bag filled to the top with food. She carried it to our table and carefully set it on top. She wiped sweat off her forehead and stretched her legs.

I stood and peered inside the bag. "You bought enough to feed an army. The army and the navy."

Monica began taking the foods out and dropping them on the table. "I had to so the cutie would not go hungry for the rest of today. I also purchased some for us. Boy. My stomach was growling the entire time that I was at the grocery store."

I plopped back in my seat. "Now that I think about it, I am sort of hungry."

She pulled out a large bottle of apple juice and put it in front of me. "I should have asked you what you wanted to eat and drink. It did not come to me until I got loads of food for the pup."

The snowwolf puppy barked and sprinted to the yellow bananas attached together. He sank his pointy teeth in one and held down the others using his small paws. He tugged on the banana, but it would not break free from the stem.

I reached for the bananas with both hands. "Hey, I will help."

Before I could even touch the scrumptious bananas, he finally managed to rip off the banana. He dropped it to the wooden table and clawed at the skin.

I poked his back. "Hey."

He stopped and turned his head to me.

"Would you like me to peel your banana?"

He looked back down at said banana. Then back at me. He barked twice and pounced on it.

"Um...is that a no?"

Monica had finished emptying the bag and was folding it. "Looks like that he is protective of his banana."

"Does he not want me to peel his banana for him?"

"I am not sure, Lucia. If I had to guess, he refuses to let anyone lay a finger on his banana." She pushed the bag into a nearby recycling bin. "If only he spoke English."

I retracted my hands and kept them on the table. "Why does he not want anybody to touch the banana?"

"My mother said that wild animals are territorial. They loathe sharing, especially their food. They will fight for their food if it comes to it."

"So...he is worried that I will steal the banana?"

"Most likely."

The pup continued clawing at that banana and wagged his tail furiously. He ripped the skin off little by little. I decided to ask him again. He would not eat the banana at this rate. And I did not want him to make a mess.

"Puppy?"

Monica sat back down and snatched up the apple juice. She unscrewed the cap and gulped some down. "How I love my apple juice. It is one of the few drinks that Ash J. drinks." She placed the bottle back on said table and burped. "Excuse me."

I faced her with a scrunched-up face. "Who is Ash J.?"

She looked shocked by my question. "You do not know who Ash J. is?"

"Never heard of her."

Her eyes rolled around. "Well...this may be difficult for you to believe, but—"

"Bark!"

We turned our attentions to the snowwolf pup. He was standing on all fours and barking loudly. His tiny body was facing us. His fluffy tail was not wagging anymore. His barks did not sound playful like minutes ago. They sounded more...alert. Angry. Like that he was trying to scare somebody - or something.

"What is wrong with him?" I asked. I leaped to my feet. "Did we do something to tick him off? Does he want us to leave him alone?"

Monica also stood and reached for him. "Easy, boy. We are your pals. We would never want to hurt a cutie like you."

Her hand was just inches away from him when he bent his legs and jumped as high as he could. He opened his mouth and was about to pounce on Monica!

I did not have much time to react. I shoved Monica out of the way and ducked. I watched the puppy soar in the air - and nearly passed out when I saw it. Behind us for who knows how long was an adult snowwolf.

The snowwolf was on all fours with his gigantic eyes on us. Drool was coming out of his open mouth. His sharp teeth gleamed under the ceiling lights. Despite that our faces were not close, I felt his hot breath on my face.

The snowwolf suddenly let out an ear-piercing cry that echoed through the shop. He held up his front legs and kicked them like a horse does. The puppy had fallen on his face! He dug his white claws into his fur - his flesh - and barked louder than ever! No matter how much the adult flailed his head, the pup would not let go. He had good grips on him.

The pup was not going to attack Monica. He wanted to attack the adult snowwolf! He wanted to protect us.

Monica sat on her knees. She punched her chest as she coughed.

I dropped to my hands and knees and scurried to her. I grabbed her shoulders and pulled her under the table.

"Lucia! What are you doing?!"

How did she not notice or hear the commotion?

"Have you seen what is in front of us, Monica?"

A horrified gasp escaped her mouth. She landed on her back and hugged a table leg. "No...no! Lucia. H-how in the crub did he get in here? And how have the workers and customers not notice him?"

The adult snowwolf smacked his front paws back down on the wooden floor. He finally pried off the puppy and tossed him.

"Puppy!" I screamed.

The adult reached under the table.