He protected me even before I had time to be scared. – Liana
Liana
The afternoon air was warm, humming with early summer.
I’d run out of oat milk and was debating whether it was worth the walk to the store, but Miso looked up at me with those big eyes like he knew I needed an excuse to move.
“Fine,” I told him, grabbing my tote. “But you’re carrying the milk if it’s heavy.”
He barked once, then trotted to the door.
We walked ten minutes to the corner store in that soft, golden hour kind of silence.
just enough breeze to lift my hair, just enough sun to make me squint.
Miso stayed close, his leash slack, nose twitching every few steps like he was collecting the neighborhood’s entire history in scents.
I got what I needed—milk, bananas, some of those overpriced granola bars Elias likes but pretends he doesn’t.
We stepped outside. That’s when it happened.
It was quick. Too quick.
A man stepped out from behind a parked SUV just as I turned the corner toward the lot.
He was wiry, twitchy, and grabbed for my tote bag like it was the last parachute on a crashing plane.
“Hey—!” I gasped, stumbling back.
He yanked. Hard.
And then there was a blur of motion beside me.
A growl—not the playful one Miso made when chewing a sock—but something deep, primal, protective.
The next thing I knew, Miso lunged.
His leash ripped from my hand as he slammed into the man’s side, teeth bared, body low and coiled like a predator.
The guy screamed.
Miso didn’t bite him, but he pinned him hard against the pavement, one massive paw on his chest, teeth inches from his face, growling like thunder.
Someone yelled. A car alarm went off.
I stood there frozen, my chest heaving.
A second later, the door of the store burst open.
A security guard ran out. A man on the sidewalk started filming. The guy under Miso was shaking, mumbling something about not meaning it.
I rushed forward.
“Miso—enough!” My voice cracked. “Heel!”
He hesitated. then, with military precision, backed off, tail high but stance still alert.
The man scrambled up and took off like the devil was chasing him.
Which, to be fair, he kind of was.
Elias
I got the call from the store before she even texted me.
They knew me by name. Of course they did.
When I showed up, Miso was sitting calmly beside Liana like he hadn’t just terrified a grown man into near cardiac arrest.
Liana stood with wide eyes and a white-knuckled grip on her phone.
She looked up at me.
“I didn’t know he could do that.”
I crouched beside Miso, ran a hand down his back. “He could. He just didn’t need to. Until now.”
She blinked. “He didn’t bite. But he—he knew exactly what to do.”
“Yeah,” I said quietly. “He knew you were his to protect.”
She was silent for a long moment.
Then I whispered, “So did I.”
