Page 8 of Only Human in Strangeville

The so-called hunter stared at me for a moment before shaking his head and returning the squirt gun to his pocket. “Holy water, if you were wondering. Works every time.”

“Have you ever actually seen anyone react negatively to holy water?”

“No. They always leave before I get a chance to hit them with it.” He sounded disappointed.

The dog whined, and I returned to my initial purpose, untying the cord and holding on to it in case the dog bolted. Instead, it crawled into my lap.

“Well, that’s adorable,” Bridger said.

“Yeah, we need to get him to a vet. Know of any?”

“Yes, there’s a twenty-four-hour clinic not far from here. Want a ride?”

“Are you sure? You’ve already gone out of your way for me.”

“Want to make sure you get there okay. It’s no trouble.” He smiled at me, not looking at all bothered.

I lifted the dog and got to my feet, grateful for a little help at the moment.

“Looks like a puppy,” he observed, giving the little guy a scratch. “Is that what all the fuss was about?”

“Yeah.” I related the past few minutes while I followed Bridger to his car. It was a newer sedan, and he opened the door for me to get in.

The puppy seemed content in my arms and tucked its head under my chin.

“Poor guy. I wonder how it got there.” Bridger started his car and pulled away from the curb.

“Yeah, really weird.” I cuddled it closer. My hand touched something warm and wet, and I pulled my hand away and looked at a streak of red. The little dog whined.

“Hey, Bridger? Drive faster.”

The trip to the vet clinic didn’t take long and they were able to see us right away. While a normal checkup would have been done during business hours, they were happy to take the puppy immediately because of the circumstances and the potential wound. They took him back, cleaned him up, and found his wound was minor. He only required a bandage.

It turned out he was a boy, not microchipped, not showing up on any of the missing alerts they had access to, and overall seemed healthy, though they gave him some fluids just to be on the safe side. The vet thought he was old enough that they could risk giving him his shots even if he’d gotten his vaccines recently, and they even helped me give him a bath. Under the dirt, he was an adorably fluffy black and white dog of unknown breed and fantastic personality.

He was also very hungry, and they sent me on my way with a couple of days’ worth of puppy food, some antibiotics, dewormer, and a checkup scheduled for later in the week. This gave me time to figure out what to do with the little guy. They offered to let me surrender him and they’d figure out the rest, but I just couldn’t do it. Something about the way he looked at me tugged at my heart. I’d never had a pet as an adult, and maybe it was time. I paid the bill gratefully, glad they were there to take care of the little guy.

Bridger patiently waited through the whole thing, though he did mutter something about werewolves when a woman brought a dog that might have been a wolf hybrid in to be treated for a minor laceration.

Another worry surfaced. I didn’t know if my apartment was pet friendly or not. I felt that Oliver would probably overlook a day or two based on the circumstances. I’d have to talk to him first thing in the morning.

“What were you doing out, Hannah?” Bridger asked as I carried the soft little puppy back to his car. He had used a fake name for me earlier on purpose. Interesting choice, but I appreciated it all the same. Especially with my past.

“I was heading to the coffee shop.”

“We could probably still go there. I don’t imagine they’ll mind the puppy, and it probably won’t hurt him any. They let werewolves in all the time.”

“Seriously?”

He nodded solemnly.

I’d already had too much weirdness for the night, so I just let it go. Sure, of course they did. And I really needed some comfort food. Now that the immediate danger to the puppy had passed, my heart was racing again. I’d just stood up to some random guy in the middle of the night. Yes, I’d done it before, but that didn’t mean I wanted to do it again. Not to mention the bizarre circumstances. Why hadn’t my phone worked? Where had the puppy come from anyway? And what was up with that guy? Not having any answers, I sighed and tried to focus on the coffee I was about to consume.

The puppy made an adorable grumbling noise and snuggled deeper into my lap.

“He’s awfully adorable,” Bridger allowed.

“He is the cutest, softest, most adorably fluffy thing ever.” My voice dropped into the baby talk range and I wasn’t even ashamed.

---