...Met Gray Wolf

Author’s note: Read the first half of the story (“How Dog Girl…”) before this one

Avery examined the note from every possible angle, holding it up to the light and even zooming in on it with her phone camera, because there was no way the GW signature was real. Anyone could have copied it.

Yet, it looked way too similar to the one on her wall poster to be fake. But if it wasn’t, how was it possible?

Only one way to find out.

The next evening while Audrey wasn’t in their shared room, Avery slipped into her dog suit, climbed out the window, and channeled husky-level endurance to run all the way to the power plant at the edge of Brighton City, skidding to a stop right in front of the DANGER KEEP OUT sign on the surrounding gate at exactly 8:00pm.

Interesting place for a meeting, but okay, she thought. Aside from the power plant, there was nothing else out here but open field for miles.

“Helloooo!” she called out. “Anyone here? I’m here, eight o’clock like you said, unless I’m at the wrong power plant but I’m pretty sure this is the only one in Brighton City, so—”

A low voice behind her nearly made her jump out of her fur suit. “I’m already here. No need to shout.”

Dog Girl didn’t get startled often, but that was because having canine-level hearing meant she could usually hear people approaching long before she saw them. Emphasis on usually.

She turned around and tried very hard to stay calm, which was nearly impossible when the masked figure standing there was wearing a wolf-eared trapper hat, a fur-lined jacket over a gray bodysuit, and fur boots.

“No way,” she gasped. “Gray Wolf?”

He nodded once. “In the fur.”

She had to be absolutely sure before she could allow herself to go full fangirl mode, so she crossed her arms and said, “Prove it.”

“Knew you’d say that. Cover your ears.”

She did so, having just figured out why before he cupped his hands around his mouth and let out a supersonic howl that nearly knocked Dog Girl off her feet and caused the power plant to spark with electricity.

He let his arms drop back to his sides. “There’s your proof.”

It took her a few seconds to unfreeze and un-gape from her shock.

She had to be the first person in Brighton City since Gray Wolf’s disappearance to have witnessed the Howl in real life!

She shook herself. “It is you and that was AWESOME! I have a Bark which does something like that too, but yours is definitely way cooler. Ohmydogs I can’t believe you’re really here! It’s such an honor to meet you! I’m Dog Girl—oh, wait, duh, you already know that. Sorry, I ramble when I’m excited, if you couldn’t already tell—”

Gray Wolf briefly rested a hand on her shoulder as he walked past her to survey the area (probably making sure he hadn’t done too much damage to the power plant), and Dog Girl did her best to contain her elation, but the tail on her dog suit was wagging like she was about to do a helicopter takeoff. Sheesh, that was embarrassing. Maybe putting a mood sensor in her suit hadn’t been such a great idea.

She crossed her arms behind her back to hold her tail still and cleared her throat. “Anyway, how are you here? Everyone thinks you…”

He turned back around to face her. “Died? Yes, I’m well aware. They always assume the worst when you decide to disappear for a while. Means I get more peace and quiet, so works for me. Anyway, about this sidekick thing.”

Controlling a fake tail was hard enough without excitement causing her to tremble like a chihuahua, so she started bouncing on the balls of her feet to blow off energy. “Oh right, yes, thanks for responding to my message! Though I gotta say—respectfully, of course—I never imagined you would need a sidekick.”

His voice was nearly a growl as he took a step closer to her. “That’s because I don’t, pup. But you need to be trained. So if we’re going to do this, you’ll have to pay attention and follow my lead. Got it?”

She should have been intimidated, but was caught off guard for a different reason.

Even before Gray Wolf started laughing.

That’s when she was convinced that this had to be a dream, because there was no way Gray Wolf was laughing, and there was absolutely no way that his laughter sounded like…

“Dad?”

He was all but out of breath now. “That’s it, I can’t do this anymore.” He pulled off his hat and mask, revealing a face she saw every single day. “Surprise.”

“You—wh—how?” Table scraps of a question were all she had at the moment, because what were words when you just found out your dad was a long-lost superhero?

He rested his hand on her shoulder just like Gray Wolf had a moment ago, only this time it was different because Gray Wolf was Dad and Dad was Gray Wolf and now her brain was going to explode. “Are you okay?” he asked. “I know this is a huge thing to take in.”

Now she tried to laugh, but it sounded forced. “Who, me? Oh, I’m fine, just found out that my father and my favorite superhero are the same person—no big deal at all!”

He looked down, rubbing one of the wolf ears on his hat. “You must have a lot of questions.”

“Yeah, like a million. First, none of that is real fur, is it?”

“Absolutely not.” He pointed from himself to her. “Wearing canine fur as a hero with canine abilities? Scandalous.”

That got a laugh out of her for real this time. “Next question: Was it seriously you the whole time? Or is Gray Wolf some kind of, like…persona that gets passed around?”

“Nope, all me—though that actually doesn’t sound like a bad idea. Wish I’d thought of doing something like that instead of letting Gray Wolf disappear completely for sixteen years.”

“Why did you stop?” she asked, and then realized what he’d said. “Wait, sixteen years…was it when Audrey was born?”

He nodded. “Didn’t want Gray Wolf to take up my time while your mom and I were just starting our family, and I thought it’d be safer for all of us if everyone thought he—I—was gone for good. By the time you and then your brother came along, I’d already decided to keep it that way. Until recently, when Dog Girl showed up.”

“Speaking of Mom, does she know you’re…him?”

Dad grinned. “Of course she does. She denies that it’s the real reason she fell in love with me in the first place, but”—he gestured to himself—“I mean, come on.”

“Dad,” Avery groaned.

He chuckled. “Don’t tell her I told you that.” Then he got serious again, giving her a meaningful look. “Anyway, besides you, she’s the only one who knows.”

She nodded. “Don’t worry, Dad. My lips are sealed.” She pretended to zip them for effect.

He smiled. “Thanks, pup.”

The nickname had a whole new meaning to it now.

Her shoulders sagged a bit. “So you knew all this time that I’m Dog Girl, huh?”

And here she thought she’d been doing such a good job at hiding her secret identity.

Dad ruffled her hair. “Don’t worry, you were doing a great job of keeping it a secret, but I’d recognize my own daughter anywhere.”

“And I’m supposed to recognize my own father. I have this super-powerful nose and I couldn’t even pick out your scent; I only realized who you were once you said ‘pup.’ Although, you and Gray Wolf—well, also you—don’t sound or act the same at all.”

He put the hat back on and the mask over his eyes. “Being a superhero often means masking more than just our faces,” he explained, switching to the deeper voice of Gray Wolf again. “It adds another layer of protection—harder to recognize someone whose secret identity and alter ego have entirely different personalities, voices, and yes, even scents. I’ll have to teach you how to do it.” He nudged her. “If you still want to be your old man’s apprentice, that is.”

The tail on her suit wagged again, and this time she let it. “Are you kidding? My old man is Gray Wolf. Teach me your ways.”

“You got it. First lesson: don’t follow mysterious notes to empty locations to talk to a stranger by yourself—superhero or not.” He playfully tapped her nose. “Villains are masters of deception, you know. Next time it might not actually be Gray Wolf.”

Dog Girl flushed. “Oh. Right. Yeah, I should remember that. Although, if anything were to go down, I have my powers.”

Her father sighed. “As someone who once thought the same thing when I was your age, I’ve been in enough battles as both Gray Wolf and James Gray to be able to tell you that your powers can’t always help you.” He nudged her and added, “For instance, not in catching me,” before sprinting away.

“Hey! You know certain dogs were bred for chasing wolves, right?” she called as she took off after him.

“Lesson two: find out if that’s another one of your abilities!”

In the days that followed, it didn’t take long for the headlines to catch on:

Gray Wolf Returns! Did Dog Girl Sniff Him Out?

Brighton City Bad Guys, Beware of Dog—and Wolf

Dog Girl Meets Gray Wolf: New Dog Learning Old Tricks?

“Okay, that last one’s pretty clever,” Dog Girl mused as she was scrolling through the news reports on her phone while walking through the streets of the city one day.

A text popped up.

Dad🐺: Are u on your phone during patrol? 🤨

how did you know?

Dad🐺: I do now

lol you got me

Screams echoed in the distance as a tremor shook the ground once, twice, and again, and again…like a gigantic something was walking around somewhere.

what is that??

No response.

Dad? wru

Dad🐺: Meet me at Brighton City Square…time for u to learn how to handle a real supervillain…

The chihuahua-trembling started up as she stared at the text. A real supervillain? Finally, some action!

Bad Dog Girl—superheroes don’t get excited by villains terrorizing the city and endangering citizens’ lives, she had to remind herself, but it didn’t stop the tail on her suit from wagging. (She was seriously considering taking out the mood sensor.)

omw, she replied to Gray Wolf before she slipped her phone into her pocket and took off with all the speed of a greyhound.

Father-daughter bonding time was going to be fun.