Page 10 of Jack Raider

Crap. I was still in my skimpy pajamas.

Peeking through the peephole, I found Nate making ridiculous faces at me. I couldn’t help but laugh as I cracked the door open.

“Why are you here at three in the morning? I miss you. You never visit.”

Before he could answer, my gaze landed on Jack standing behind him, holding a large, injured animal in his arms. I did a double-take.

“Is that a—oh my God, is that a wolf?”

“Yeah,” Jack confirmed. “He got caught in a bear trap.”

“You poor thing,” I murmured, reaching for my keys on the hook by the door. “Bring him inside.”

“For God’s sake, Eloise, put some clothes on,” Nate groaned.

I looked down again and felt my face heat like an oven. Right. Almost naked.

“Here,” I muttered, shoving my keys into Nate’s hand. “I’ll meet you next door.”

That’s when I noticed Frasier standing behind them, his arms crossed and a smirk playing at his lips.

“Hello, Frasier,” I said, my voice flat.

“Hi,” he replied, grinning.

Shaking my head, I turned and bolted to my room, quickly changing into anything that didn’t scream‘lingerie party gone wrong.’Then I rushed out the door and ran to my clinic next door.

When I arrived, Jack gently stroked the wolf’s fur, his expression tight with worry.

“I can’t believe people still use bear traps,” I said, watching the wolf closely. “You poor baby.”

“I’ll have to sedate him so he’s not in pain,” I continued, already gathering supplies. “Then I’ll take some X-rays to see the full extent of the damage. I can’t believe he let you near him.”

Jack glanced at me. “He’s my wolf. I found him when he was just a few weeks old. His name is Wolf.”

I prepped the sedative and gave the wolf a shot before glancing at Jack. “Why Wolf? Couldn’t you come up with another name?”

“I didn’t know I would have him this long. Let’s just say I’m terrible at picking names.”

I snorted. “At least you admit it.”

He chuckled.

“It doesn’t really matter what you call him,” I said. “What’s important is that you love him. And I can see that you do.”

“Alright, lovebirds,” Nate cut in. “Let’s get to work.”

I stuck my tongue out at him, then focused on the X-rays. The results weren’t pretty.

“The sharp blades of the trap sliced through the bone when it snapped shut,” I said, shaking my head. “There’s a lot of damage to his leg.”

Jack’s jaw tightened.

“I can put a cast on him, one you can remove to clean the wounds daily. It has to stay on for at least six weeks, maybe longer, but the good news is, it’s his back leg, not his front. I don’t want him running through the woods with it for the first couple of weeks. After that, he can move around more, but no crazy wolf acrobatics, okay?”

Jack nodded. “Can you make sure I have all the medicine he needs? I can’t take him anywhere on the mountain since, you know…he’s a wolf. I’ve already been warned to set him free, but he chased me home when I tried. He wants to stay with me.”

“Of course, he does,” I said, smiling. “You’re his daddy. He loves you.”

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