Dr. Danvers nodded and put the briefcase down before she crouched next to me by the dog’s head. He seemed to really hate it, because his growls grew louder, and he began baring his teeth.
But Dr. Danvers didn’t seem fazed. Not by his behavior, at least. “He’s the most stunning dog I’ve ever seen,” she said, her dark eyes roaming over him in curiosity and wonder. “But I’ve never seen one thislarge. A Saint Bernard mix? No.” She shook her head, then frowned as she pulled out a stethoscope from her briefcase. “He doesn’t seem like an ordinary dog, though.”
Before I could tell her about my suspicions, she held her hand up to tell me to be quiet and checked the dog’s side. His growls were now really loud, to the point I could swear the sofa itself was moving from their vibrations.
I was half afraid he would literally bite the good doctor’s head off, but thankfully, she withdrew from him and rose to her feet. “You said the wound’s on his back, right?” she asked, a frown on her face.
“Yes,” I replied, frowning as well. What was she thinking about?
Dr. Danvers reached with her hand toward the wound, or rather, the knife-carved sigil on the dog’s back, but before she could even touch the skin, the dog seemed to have been pushed over the edge.
It all happened so fast. In one blurry moment, the dog jumped off the sofa and backed away from Dr. Danvers, his back hunched, his hair standing on end, and his teeth fully bared.
His growls were no longer merely loud. They were literally making the floor shake.
Dr. Danvers stood there, frozen, watching the dog with wide eyes. I couldn’t take my eyes off the dog, either, but more out of worry. Because I could see a trail of blood flowing out of his wound and down his side, and dripping on the parquet floor.
“Jesus,” Dr. Danvers now said, turning to look at me. “I don’t think I can treat him. And neither should you.”
I glanced at her, shocked. “What the fuck do you mean, you can’t treat him?”
“Miss Colter,” she said slowly, carefully, her voice dropping to a whisper. “It’s not a dog.”
Huh?
She swallowed hard before returning her gaze to the beast and said, “It’s a wolf.”
Chapter 4
Wolf in Dog’s Clothing
“I’m going to call animal control,” Dr. Danvers said, pulling out her phone once she put a safe distance between her and the wolf.
Heart screeching to a stop, I grabbed her wrist, tensing. “Please don’t,” I said when she gave me a confused look. “Let me take care of this.”
She frowned. “It is my duty to report the presence of a wild animal, Miss Colter,” she said calmly, gently taking my hand off her. “He’s a danger to you.”
I shook my head. “But he hasn’t hurt me—”
A knock on the door cut me off. Grimacing, I pleaded with her to wait and strode to the door, pulling it open.
Chase stood at the entrance with a smile that immediately disappeared when he saw my face. “What’s wrong?”
I let him come in and closed the door behind him before I introduced him to Dr. Danvers. “She wants to call animal control,” I said, a tad too accusingly. Logically, I knew the good doctor was simply doing her job. But the thought of having the wolf taken away from me was enough to bring me to a panic. “He might be a wolf, but you saw for yourself he was harmless!”
Chase looked at me, then at the wolf, before he finally landed his gaze on Dr. Danvers, who was clutching her phone hard, as if it was a lifeline.“Dr. Danvers,” he said calmly, his voice surprisingly authoritative. “My name is Chase Kerrigan, and I work for a wildlife preservation nonprofit called the Foundation for Apex Restoration & Territory.”
I tensed even further, trying not to show any surprise on my face. Especially now, when I saw Dr. Danvers’s eyes light up in recognition. “Oh, I see,” she said, before she let out a relieved sigh. “Then you’ll take him to one of your facilities, I assume?”
Chase nodded with a reassuring smile. “It is my job, after all.”
“Good,” Dr. Danvers said, quickly packing up her briefcase before turning to look at me. “Then I’ll take my leave for now. I’m sorry this is the outcome, Miss Colter. I know you truly care for the wolf.”
I gave her a fake smile. “That’s fine. Thank you for your help.”
It was only when Dr. Danvers was gone that I turned to Chase and hit his shoulder. He shot me a shocked look. “I deserve a ‘Thank you, Chase, dear.’ Not to be hit!”
“You lied to her,” I said, folding my arms as I glared at him. Chase’s real occupation was project management in a cybersecurity company.