Wild Love

Chapter 9

Kira was so distracted with getting all the bags out in one haul that she didn’t notice Jael leaving right after she told him to wait. It wasn’t until she got to the door that she saw the large carcass of a dead deer, placed right in front of the cottage door.

Kira was so shocked that she let out a scream, nearly dropping her bags of groceries. “J-Jael? What is that?”

Jael went from concerned to smug, he nudged the deer’s body and then looked at her expectantly.

“Oh no, no, no…” Kira immediately panicked. She safely kept the groceries inside the cottage before addressing what happened.

Kira had no idea that there were even deers in the woods, they usually stayed far away from places where humans were likely to be around.

She doubted it was illegal though because before she started living here, she heard that people with permits were allowed to hunt in the woods. But now that the werewolf population shot up, it was no longer a thing.

It was no surprise that deers and other non-dangerous wildlife were still thriving. But what was she supposed to do with this?

She wasn’t squeamish but she doubted that she could cut up an entire deer all by herself. She hated to do it but she might have to call Liam down here to handle it.

Kira sighed at the dead deer and then looked over to Jael who looked confused, it hurt Kira to see so she immediately went to him.

“Jael?” She started in a soft voice, making sure to run her hands through his fur to show him that she wasn’t upset. “Did you catch this all by yourself? You did a good job but you don’t have to do it anymore, I already went to get us food.” She explained gently, pointing in the direction of the groceries which were still lined up in the hallway.

Jael listened intently like he was trying to pick out the inflection in her voice.

“I promise I’m not mad but I don’t know what to do with this, I will have to call someone to help us cut it up, do you mind?”

Jael c****d his head to the side, snorting when she was done. He walked over to the deer one more time, picking up one of the legs with his teeth like he was saying that he could cut it up himself.

Kira couldn’t help her short laughter. “When you get your human form, you can, but for now…” She immediately trailed off, all of the color washing off her face.

She had said that without thinking, she had no idea how Jael would take it.

Jael seemed to pay no attention to it, making a move to bite into the deer as if to prove that he could certainly handle the cutting.

“Jael, please, no.” Kira hurried over to pull him back, even though she knew that there was no way she could hold him back if he really wanted to do it.

Jael snorted again but agreed, walking past the deer to get into the house. He seemed very grumpy that she didn’t let him help her.

Kira just shook her head at this, her smile fading when she realized that she had to call up Liam to come down to her cottage. She just sighed and made her way inside the house, she would make the call after she put the groceries away. She also needed to give Jael a bath.

It was really cold outside, she was certain that the deer wouldn’t go bad right away. She also couldn’t help but stall, she really didn’t want Liam around her but he was the only one she could call.

Kira sighed and made her way inside, her sweater was wet from when Jael had pushed her to the ground in his excitement.

She expected to see the grocery bags on the ground where she had left them but to her surprise, the hallway was empty, not a single grocery bag in sight.

“Jael?” She immediately called, making sure to lock the door behind her. His responding howl let her know that he was in the kitchen and she hurried there to find him sitting in his usual corner, waiting for her.

The groceries were also in the kitchen. “Did you bring this here for me?” Kira exclaimed happily.

Jael looked smug again only to snort and put his nose up.

Kira ran laughing to him, pulling the grumpy werewolf into a hug, only then did he stop snorting grumpily and nudged her with his nose.

Kira quickly put the things she bought away, explaining what each one was in detail to Jael, who had his entire attention on her.

When the groceries were all put away, Kira was left with the call she had to make.

“I don’t really like Liam, the person that’s coming to help us cut up the deer you caught.” Kira found herself spilling her troubled thoughts out to Jael.

Jael moved closer at the odd tone in her voice, blinking dark eyes at her.

Kira found herself touching him, he was like her emotional support werewolf. “He makes me very uncomfortable but it should be fine this one time. I would like it if you didn’t kill any more deers, Jael.” She pleaded.

Jael didn’t snort this time, instead, he licked Kira’s hand to show his understanding. He didn’t want to do anything that would cause her distress.

Kira smiled softly and then got her phone out to call up Liam. “Hel…”

“Hey, Kira, I wasn’t expecting your call.” Liam picked up immediately, sounding breathless.

“Um… yeah… sorry for calling so suddenly but I need your help with something.”

“Anything,” Liam replied before she could even get all of her words out. “What is it?”

“It’s just…” Kira looked at Jael who was right beside her. “I got a new pet and he went hunting while I was out shopping, so there's a dead deer on my porch that I don’t know what to do with.” She explained. “So I was wondering if you could help me deal wit…”

“I’ll do it, give me fifteen minutes.” Liam accepted without hesitation, hanging up.

Kira glanced at her phone and then at Jael. “I hope I’m not making a mistake here.”