Chapter 1: Kennel Seven

Mara

There were very few reasons anyone should be banging on the front doors of a veterinary clinic at two-thirty in the fucking morning. A dying animal was one of them. A homicidal maniac was another. Considering my luck, I was preparing for both.

"I'm coming!" I shouted, nearly eating shit when one sneaker caught on the rubber mat behind reception. The pounding came again. Harder.

"I SAID I'M COMING!"

Behind me, Tessa stumbled out of the treatment hall, tying her hair into the world's saddest ponytail. "What is happening?"

"I don't know."

"Is the building on fire?"

"Not yet."

Another bang hit the glass. Tessa flinched. "If that's a murderer, I'm sacrificing you first."

"You're the doctor!"

"Exactly. I have student loans."

Perfectly reasonable argument.

I unlocked the door, and a man practically fell through it. Late fifties, maybe. Stained flannel, muddy jeans, wild gray beard. And blood. A lot of fucking blood.

"Please tell me that isn't yours."

"What?"

"The blood."

He looked down. "No. Fuck, no. It's the wolf."

I froze. "The what?"

"The fucking wolf!"

That cleared the sleep from my brain. I shoved past him. "Where?"

"My truck." "I found the son of a bitch in the road!"

Of course he did. Apparently Tuesday had become a low-budget horror movie.

"Tessa."

"On it."

We hurried outside. An old pickup sat crooked across three parking spaces, hazards flashing. And in the bed—

"Oh, fuck me."

Tessa stopped beside me. "Holy shit."

That was not a dog. The wolf lay beneath a blood-soaked moving blanket. Even half-conscious, he was enormous. Black fur covered most of him, streaked with charcoal and silver. His paws were bigger than my hands. Too much blood soaked the blanket beneath him. His chest barely moved.

I climbed onto the tailgate. The driver joined me. "Careful. Bastard snapped at me when I moved him."

"Good."

He stared. "Good?"

"If he's trying to bite you, he's alive."

"Could've fucking fooled me."

I crouched beside the beautiful, terrifying wolf. "Hey, big guy."

The driver snorted. "Thing looks like it eats fucking bears."

"I'm trying to establish trust."

"With the unconscious wolf?"

"Yes, Harold."

"My name is Gary."

"Good for you."

I pressed two fingers against his neck. Fast. Thready. "Shit." 

My professional brain finally kicked in. Panic was an obnoxious little bitch, but she usually waited until after the emergency before convincing me I was dying.

"Tessa, gurney. Trauma cart. Oxygen, IV catheters, fluids, warming blankets. Biggest wildlife muzzle we have." I turned to Gary. "Tell me what happened."

" I was heading south on Miller Road. Came around the bend near the old logging trail and saw him lying there. Thought he was a deer."

"You hit him?"

"Fuck no!"

"Anyone else around?"

"No."

"Did you hear anything?"

His expression shifted. "One gunshot. Maybe five minutes before I found him. Thought it was a car that backfired."

Then I saw the wound. Right side. Behind the shoulder. Blood had clotted through the thick fur. I carefully parted it. The wolf jerked. His lip curled. A low growl vibrated through his chest.

Gary whispered, "Jesus fucking Christ."

"No sudden movements."

"I wasn't planning on fucking tap dancing."

Then one eye opened. My breath caught. Gold. Not yellow. Not amber. Gold. It locked onto mine, sharp and far too aware for an animal that had lost this much blood.

"Well," I whispered. "Hello there." 

His growl deepened. 

"Yeah, yeah. Stranger danger." 

His upper lip lifted, exposing teeth large enough to remove my hand.

"Tessa?"

"Coming!"

"Faster would be gorgeous!"

The wolf tried to lift his head. "Absolutely not." A rough sound came from his chest. "Oh, don't argue with me. I'm sleep deprived and already pissed off."

His eye stayed on me. Animals understood plenty, but this felt different. Like he was listening.

"You're staying down." His ear flicked. "Don't you fucking sass me."

Gary stared. "Are you arguing with the wolf?"

"Always."

Tessa appeared with the gurney. The wheels rattled over the asphalt. The wolf tensed, head snapping up as a snarl exploded from him.

"FUCK!" Gary stumbled backward.

"Tessa, stop!"

The wolf tried to stand. Fresh blood poured from his side. 

"Don't you fucking dare." 

He staggered once before his back legs buckled. I caught thick fur at his neck as he collapsed. His jaws snapped. Teeth stopped inches from my wrist. Tessa screamed my name.

I didn't move. Neither did he. His breath heated my skin.

"You done?" His nostrils flared. "If you wanted to bite me, you would've." Slowly, his jaws closed.

Gary whispered, "What the actual fuck?"

Same question.

"Tessa, bring it closer." She rolled the gurney forward. "We're restraining him."

Gary frowned. "With what? Fucking chains?"

"No."

"Because I have chains."

"Why do you have chains?"

"I drive a truck."

That explained absolutely nothing.

"Tessa, muzzle." I held up the leather muzzle. "You can let me put this on, or you can bleed to death in Gary's truck."

"Hey."

"Not now, Gary."

The wolf huffed. Actually fucking huffed. All three of us stopped. "Oh my God." I slipped the muzzle over his snout. He didn't fight.

Tessa whispered, "That is creepy as hell."

"Don't say that in front of him."

"He's a wolf."

"I think he understands English."

It took all three of us to move the half-dead bastard. Inside became controlled chaos.

"Oxygen."

"On."

"Temp?"

"Ninety-five point eight."

"Fuck."

Pale gums. Terrible blood pressure. I clipped fur around the wound. Entry wound. No exit.

"Bullet's still inside."

Gary cursed. "You need to wait up front."

"The fuck I do. I brought him here."

"And I'm trying to keep him alive, so unless you secretly went to veterinary school while hauling refrigerators, get out."

"You're fucking mean."

"I'm aware."

Tessa smirked. "Charming."

"Ultrasound." I scanned. Some free fluid, but not much. Lungs intact. Bullet lodged dangerously close to the chest wall. Lucky. If being shot could qualify.

"We need films."

"Think he can handle sedation?" Tessa asked.

"He has to."

My anxiety supplied thirteen ways this could end badly. His pressure was too low. Sedation could tank him. We could lose him. I shoved every thought into a mental drawer. Breakdown later. Doctor now.

"Tessa, call wildlife and animal control. Tell them we're stabilizing first."

"Poaching?"

"Gunshot wound in a protected predator? Yeah."

His eyes were open again. Still watching. 

"You're making me nervous, dude." Nothing. "Seriously. Blink or something." 

He blinked. 

I froze. Tessa froze.

"No." I pointed at him. "Nope."

Tessa whispered, "He fucking blinked when you told him to."

"I saw."

"That's not normal."

"I know."

Something metallic glinted beneath the damaged tissue. I pulled free a tiny fragment. It hit the tray with a ping. Bright. Almost pale.

Tessa frowned. "That look weird to you?"

"Yes."

Before I could examine it, the heart monitor screamed. The wolf jerked. His heart rate spiked, then dropped.

"Shit."

"Tessa!"

"I see it!"

His breathing went shallow. "Fluids wide open."

"Going."

I pressed a hand against his neck. "Come on, big guy." His heart rate dipped again. "No. No, no, no." I hated the moment between medicine and begging.

"Don't you dare die." Nothing. "I already ruined a perfectly good pair of shoes because of you." Tessa choked on a laugh. "And Gary is going to tell everyone he rescued you like some fucking Disney princess, so survive just to avoid that."

The monitor climbed. Slowly. One beat. Then another.

Tessa stared at me. "You bullied him back to life."

"Whatever works."

My hands shook. I'd lose my shit later. For now, we worked. Films. Sedation. Extraction. The pale bullet came out intact enough to make my stomach twist. I bagged it.

By the time the wound was cleaned, stitched, and wrapped, the sky outside was turning gray. The wolf was still alive. We transferred him into Kennel Seven, our largest recovery run. He nearly filled it.

Tessa crossed her arms. "He's fucking huge."

"You've mentioned."

I checked the IV. Stable. For now. I sat beside the kennel when my knees decided they were done.

"You okay?" Tessa asked.

"Absolutely."

"You look like you're going to vomit."

"That's my natural glow."

A soft sound came from the kennel. Gold eyes watched me. "Can you not?" His ear twitched. "You're supposed to be asleep." Another twitch. "You are seriously weird." His eyes slowly closed.

I pointed through the bars. "No dying." Nothing. "And no eating my staff."

Tessa grabbed my shoulder. "Come on, Doctor Dolittle." I let her pull me toward the door.

I should've transferred him once he was stable. Should've let wildlife deal with him. Instead, I saved his life. Which, in hindsight, was probably my first mistake.

My second was leaving him alone in Kennel Seven.