Page 11 of Cursed Wolf

I felt oddly calm, knowing full well what I intended to do. Just a few days ago, the news that I hadn’t gotten the full-time resident position nearly broke me. Now, I was almost certainly going to get fired for this. It wasn’t that I didn’t care, but I felt almost at peace with this decision because it was the right thing to do.

I was already a huge disappointment in the eyes of my family. Why not just toss more failures onto the pile?

And besides, I still had my waitressing job and could always pick up more shifts. Just until I figured something else out.

It wasn’t even difficult lying to the vet techs who showed up for the night shift. They had no reason to not believe Dr. Stone had signed off on releasing the wolf.

Before forging his signature on the official document, I practiced it about a dozen times on a piece of scratch paper. Once confident it was good enough, I sent the evidence right through the shredder.

The techs even helped me slide the wolf’s kennel across the exam room to the back door. The clinic backed up to a national forest, so we didn’t need to transport him anywhere. All we needed to do was open the door and he’d be free.

“Here we go.”

I unlatched the largest panel in the front of the cage and slid it up. The wolf darted out with incredible speed, but he didn’t go far.

He stopped about fifty feet away and did the most adorable series of stretches. First was downward dog, then he stretched forward and let out a short, happy howl. Then he spun in circles, chasing his wagging tail.

“Oh my God, what a cutie.” Tori and Michelle both had their phones out, recording his silly antics. “He’s so happy to be out of there.”

“Back where he belongs,” I agreed, trying to ignore the lump in my throat.

Why did I feel so sad? Of course I was happy to see him uncaged and in good health. But once he took off through those woods, I’d never see him again. And that thought hurt me in a way I didn’t expect. It felt like saying goodbye to a close friend moving to a faraway country.

“Aww, look at him!” Tori pointed.

The wolf had flipped to his back, paws in the air and belly to the sky as he twisted back and forth.

“I wish I could pet his belly. He’s so fluffy for a wolf,” Michelle cooed.

“You can’t.” The edge of possessiveness in my voice took me and the techs by surprise. Even stranger, I felt it rise up in my chest, a jealous anger that made no sense. They couldn’t touch him because he was my wolf.

“I mean, it’s not safe,” I tacked on. “Wolves aren’t pets.”

“I know that, Dr. E,” Michelle said hesitantly. “I was just saying he’s a fluffy boy, that’s all.”

“Yeah. I know, sorry.” I rubbed my forehead like the sudden onslaught of emotions was due to a headache. “It’s just bittersweet seeing him go.”

The wolf had gotten to his feet and started heading toward the treeline. He seemed to be stalling though, sniffing the ground before looking back at us.

“Go on, handsome,” I whispered. “Go back to your pack.”

He turned to face us and I swore he made direct eye contact with only me. Then he let out a short series of howls and barks before bounding into the forest.

We all stood quietly for a moment, staring at the empty space where he’d just been.

“Well, that was something special.” Tori closed the kennel door and started dragging it back inside.

“Definitely gonna miss him.” Michelle sighed, closing the clinic door.

That possessiveness reared up in me again, and I had to excuse myself to the bathroom so I wouldn’t lash out again.

The only thing that calmed me, as nonsensical as it was, were those howls and barks the wolf made before he left.

It went against everything I knew about humans and animals, but some part of me just knew he had spoken to me.

Chapter 5

Emmaline

---