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“Would you sit still for a second?” Baylee asked in frustration as the wolf yelped and pulled his paw out of Baylee’s hands. “You’re still bleeding. I still want to know what happened.”

Dad sighed and put his paw back into Baylee’s hands.

The cut wasn’t deep, but it was large and might need stitches. Baylee didn’t exactly look forward to taking his father to the vet. There was blood all over the backseat and Nick assured him that the rental company wasn’t going to be particularly amused by that either.

Baylee pulled the bandage a little tighter around the wound and saw his father wince. “Why’d you get out of the car Dad?” Baylee sighed. Dad looked down guiltily.

“And what was after you?” Baylee continued, “What? Another wolf? A cockroach?”

The wolf rolled his eyes and shook his head. Baylee sighed again. He’d heard the growl in the woods that he knew wasn’t his father’s and could only guess how Dad had found a way to disturb it. “were the two of you hunting the same prey or something?” Baylee grumbled and was surprised when his dad looked away. He hadn’t meant it, it was supposed to be a joke, but he seemed to have guessed it right.

“You’re kidding, right?” Baylee asked incredulously, tightening his grip around his father’s leg, “Dad! No more hunting, okay?” he pleaded. His father refused to look at him and he sighed in frustration, “Look, I know it’s hard to resist, with this whole wolf thing that’s basically my fault, but what if you’ll turn? You gotta repress it, Dad.”

The wolf looked at him with his bright blue eyes and nodded solemnly; then whined softly. Baylee released his paw, frowning when he saw the blood soaking through the fresh bandage. “We definitely need to take you to a vet.”

Baylee ignored his father’s indignant glare and looked up as Nick came walking out of the motel’s office.

“They said we could spend the night here, or whatever is left of it,” Nick mumbled, showing the keys. “They don’t allow animals though, so I guess they’ll have to stay in the car. We’ll keep a window cracked open.

Nobody in their right mind is gonna break into a car with a wolf inside.”

Baylee bit his bottom lip thoughtfully, “He’s still bleeding though,” he mumbled, “I think he needs stitches.”

Nick sighed, exhaustion evident in his eyes. “We’ll find something for that tomorrow. Now I need sleep,” grumbling, he tossed the keys towards Baylee. “I’ll lock the them in the car, you can go ahead and go to our room.”

Baylee watched Nick lead the animals into the car and lock the door. He smiled a little when he saw the struggle of Nick calling the wolf Brian. He wasn’t sure if Nick was entirely realizing what was going on yet.

He made the wolf promise at least three times to not leave the car before he shut the door and trudged over to where Baylee was standing. “I’m gonna need to check myself into a psych ward when I get home,” Nick mumbled as Baylee opened the door. “I just told a wolf not to be a dumbass and stay in the car.”

“It’s not really a wolf,” Baylee reminded him as they stepped into the room.

“Right,” Nick grumbled.

The next morning, the wolf wouldn’t get out of the car when Baylee opened the door. He could see his right paw was swollen and the bandage had turned red completely.

“Damn it all to hell,” Nick growled, examining the injured limb, “Y’all haven’t got enough trouble. Remind me next time you lecture me about irresponsible behaviour, I’mma refer to this particular moment, Brian.”

The wolf whined quietly, trying to get up, but failing. Keeko was by his side, not moving an inch. “What do we do?” Baylee asked, concerned.

“Vet is our best bet,” Nick sighed, getting up, “Don’t know if they’re particularly happy with wolves though.”

“Maybe we could go for the hybrid story?” Baylee suggested.

“Come on,” Nick shook his head, “I barely even believed that, and I haven’t been educated about animals.”

“They’ll treat wild animals, though, right?”

“If we wave with a wad of cash, they will,” Nick nodded, stretching.

“We don’t really have a choice, do we?” Baylee mumbled.
“Not really,” Nick confirmed, “We better hurry, before it gets really infected.”

It took a while before they found a decent vet’s office and came up with a believable enough story. Baylee gulped nervously as he steeled himself in the car. Nick got out, picked up the injured wolf from the backseat and carried him over to the entrance. Baylee got out as well and followed them quickly. The woman at the desk got up immediately when she saw them enter. “What happened here?” she asked, astonished.

“We found him at the edge of the woods,” Nick said, sticking to the story they had rehearsed, “I think he cut his paw on a stone or something sharp.”

“That’s strange,” the woman said, “There are no wolves in these woods.”

“I know,” Nick grumbled, putting the heavy animal down on one of the examining tables, “He’s really tame, so I’m guessing it’s not a hundred percent pure wolf. Might be a hybrid of sorts.”

The woman frowned, “His tameness might just be because he’s injured,” she muttered, touching the bandage carefully. “Though I do see what you mean. Wild animals are usually a lot more timid, sometimes even aggressive. I guess you were lucky it hasn’t lashed out at you.”

“Must be a hybrid then,” Nick insisted and Baylee saw him bite his lip.

“We don’t usually treat wolves,” the woman sighed, “Or hybrids, or any wild animals for that matter. We’re a pet clinic, sir.”

“But, miss...” Nick paused, leaning over, “Mendez. Can I call you miss?”

“It’s Dr., actually,” doctor Mendez answered sternly and Baylee felt his insides tighten.

“Ah, alright,” Nick said, “well, Doctor Mendez, we found this animal injured at the side of the forest, and we don’t want it to get an infection and die. Please, can you help it?”

Doctor Mendez sighed, looking at the wolf on the table, “I suppose I could. But I would have to call Animal Control, because there’s no known wolf hybrids in this area.”

Baylee felt like throwing up as he watched Nick get a few shades paler, “I understand,” Nick said, his voice shaking. “But you don’t need to call them though, because we’d like to keep him.”

“Sir, this wild animal is highly dangerous, you surely have no idea what it is capable of, it could-” The doctor was interrupted by a pathetic whine coming from the table. Mendez sighed again, her shoulders slumping,

“Fine, we’ll treat it first.”

“Thank you,” Nick nodded.

“You hold him down though,” Mendez warned, “It could be really unpredictable.”

“Fine,” Nick mumbled, leaning over the animal as the doctor got out a syringe.

“I’m going to sedate it first, so we can look at the paw.” The wolf whined again as the needle sunk into his back, then he stilled completely. “There,” Mendez said, “You can let him go now. Please take place in the waiting area, I’ll be with you soon.”

After about half an hour, the doctor returned. “He’ll be fine. He’s gonna not want to put pressure on that leg for a while, but he should heal up nicely. I’m going to have to talk to you about this animal though.

Because this is definitely a wolf, and not a hybrid, like you suggested.”

Baylee sighed and tried not to show the fear he felt. This woman was surely going to call the police. Wolves didn’t appear in these woods, she said it herself, so that meant that Nick and Baylee were lying. And smuggling wild animals was very illegal, he knew. They would need to escape somehow, before the cops showed up.

“I already told you, we found it near the woods, I don’t know how it got there,” he heard Nick insist.

Mendez sighed, “That is not my concern. However, I am obliged to inform the authorities whenever an unfamiliar wild animal shows up in the area. There will be no way you can keep it, as it is a wolf.”

Nick released a frustrated sigh and Baylee watched him with large eyes. They needed to leave. Now. Take the drowsy wolf out of the recovery room and make a run for it. They couldn’t let Animal Control show up and take Dad. “We understand,” Nick mumbled.

“I appreciate that you care for this animal,” Mendez said softly.

“Can we say goodbye to him?” Baylee asked in a small voice.

The doctor nodded slowly, “It’s gonna be really groggy from the anaesthesia and painkillers though.”

Baylee nodded, getting to his feet, “Come on,” he glanced meaningfully at Nick.

Baylee saw him immediately when he entered the room.

The wolf lay completely oblivious in the middle of his cage, his tongue half out of his mouth and his eyes closed. “Dad,” Baylee whispered, kneeling next to the large cage, “Dad, we gotta get out of here.”

The wolf opened one eye; then sighed in annoyance as he turned onto his other side. Baylee shook the cage in frustration, “Dad, they’ll take you away if we don’t leave now, we have to go!”

A deep sigh, and then the wolf slowly looked up at him with droopy eyes. Baylee unlocked the cage quickly and Nick stepped in to pick the wolf up. The animal lay completely limp in his arms, nestling his head against Nick’s shoulder and falling asleep again. Nick shook his head, not believing the carelessness with which Dad seemed to handle the situation. Baylee couldn’t blame him for being drugged up though. He opened the door, peered outside and then called Nick over. They were going to run in a straight line to the exit.

“Now,” Baylee mumbled and they took off, running as fast as they could through the office. Baylee barely noticed Doctor Mendez rising from her place behind the desk as he threw open the door and held it for Nick and Dad to pass through.

“Hey, wait!” The veterinarian called as Baylee threw the door closed behind him. They ran over to the car and Baylee saw the doctor grab her phone from out the corner of his eye as Nick pulled open the backseat door and hastily placed the sleeping wolf inside.

“We gotta hurry, we gotta hurry,” Baylee said nervously as he climbed into the passenger seat. Keeko yapped happily upon their return and danced around the unconscious wolf in excitement. “She’s calling the police right now.”

“God damn it,” Nick cursed out loud, fumbling with the keys. This was the second time in twenty four hours that they needed to make a rushed escape. Baylee sighed, wondering how they would ever make it to Minnesota with the police on their tail.