Bad things come in small packages.

From the collection Stories with a Scowl comes Man's Worst Friend, available for individual sale.

Allergies have always kept Ris Lyons from owning a pet dog, but having volunteered at an animal shelter, she understands canine virtues as well as anyone. Friendliness, care for others, unconditional love…just the stuff to inspire a social worker and devout Christian like Ris. Dogs truly are Man's Best Friend.

Until she meets Lord Carwood, her friend Ulrico's pampered pet. It's hard to figure out how a little Italian Greyhound like him can make her so nervous. Is it the way he always seems upset when she visits? How he glares at her, jaw shut, resisting her pats? How he spies on her with those protruding eyes?

Ulrico notices nothing, and gladly indulges his pet. Ris can't help feeling something's wrong—downright undoglike—about the animal. Is she simply imagining things? "He's just a dog, Ris," she tells herself. "A ridiculous little dog."

If only that were true. She's about to discover just what this creature is really made of. What lies behind his true nature will threaten all she holds dear, and everything she ever believed about Man's Best Friend…