Wild Love

Chapter 17

Kira and Jael spent the morning lazing around in the warmth of the living room, snacking and watching shows.

At noon, she decided that it was time for Jael to go on his daily walk. She still couldn’t tag along with him because although the snow was starting to thaw, it was still unbearably cold outside.

This time, when Kira sent Jael off into the woods for him to go on a run, he didn’t try to persuade her to come along or look longingly at her.

Kira shook off the feeling of despondency that brought her and forced herself to go inside her cottage where it was warmer after Jael disappeared into the line of trees.

Jael on the other hand was excited to get this period to himself; mouthing words from shows at night was one thing but trying to walk around the limited space in the living room was extremely dangerous. It would only be a matter of time before Kira found him out.

It was an idea that he had only recently thought up. He was allowed to leave the cottage for hours at a time, what better time to get accustomed to his human body once more than when he was all alone in the woods?

Here it didn’t matter if he bumped into things or tripped and fell down, the most he would do was startle a flock of birds. There was a drawback though and that was the fact that he would have nothing to protect himself from the cold weather.

He still had his knitted leg warmers on and a large knitted scarf wrapped around his neck but those alone wouldn’t be enough.

Jael wracked his brain as he broke into a run, he had to figure out a way to keep warm or he wouldn’t be able to get any experience during his time of his daily walks.

He could try swiping some clothes from the cottage and keeping them in a warm cave where they’d remain dry. He doubted that Kira would notice if he took clothes from the wardrobe in his room.

Nighttime would be the best time to accomplish this because Kira would find him out any other time. So it was decided, Jael would sneak out clothes that night, and starting the next day, he would get to practice walking on two legs again.

He searched for the perfect place as he ran. There were caves in the woods, small spaces carved into the ground, and rocks but they were located deep inside.

After several minutes of searching, Jael came across the perfect opening. The floor of the cave was made up of smooth rock so he didn’t have to worry about the space getting humid. It was also carved out in such a way that it protected the interior from the elements.

A quick sniff around told Jael that a small animal used to have this space as their home, a raccoon perhaps. It was long gone now though and Jael could make use of the space.

He marked off the spot so that he could find it again in the night when he returned with the change of clothes for storage.

Only when he was all done did he start for the cottage. The snow in the woods was untouched so Jael’s pawprints remained in the pristine white snow.

Kira found that she couldn’t do anything while Jael was out. At first, she returned to her knitting but couldn't concentrate.

Then she thought to do some cleaning but kept putting things in the wrong places. Finally, she gave up and sat at a window to watch the woods.

Once the rains came and the weather got warmer, she would go on walks with Jael. While he ran around, she would wait for him and set up a picnic for his return. The fresh air would be just as good for her then.

Kira couldn’t help but think about what Jael would be like in a few more weeks. He was adjusting extremely fast and if anyone saw them, they would think that they had been together for far longer than a couple of days.

It made her wonder if this ease of adjustment would speed up his recovery process. He still gave no reaction whenever she mentioned shifting to his human form, but Kira would still keep trying.

After staring at the silent woods for far too long, Kira finally pushed herself to her feet to prepare lunch. She was thinking of baking some more later today, baking was a relaxing hobby for her, just like knitting.

She just momentarily stopped doing both because of her job at the clinic, she had buried herself into it so much that there was no time for anything else.

Now that she was given a chance to step back and take a deep breath, she was beginning to find happiness in doing little things like knitting and baking. The pressure to do better at work and help more people were taken off her shoulders, and only when it was off, did she realize how heavy it had been.

Sure, she was still caring for a patient but Jael did as much for her as she did for him. He was helping her find a reason to live again and not just burn herself out in an effort to run from her past.

Kira finished up with lunch before Jael returned. Jael had been dripping and no matter how hard he shook out his fur, he couldn’t get all of the water out so Kira had to take a brief break to dry him up.

“How did you get so wet, Jael?” She asked nonjudgmentally when they were getting ready to eat lunch. “Did you find a lake?”

Jael’s response was a non-committal huff, Kira was free to come to whatever conclusions she wanted, as long as she didn’t figure out what it was he planned to do.

After lunch, Kira took a nap but Jael didn’t come with her, instead sitting in the living room to watch shows. After her short nap, Kira came outside to find Jael still fixated on the television.

It was a little surprising because she was usually the one to coax him to watch shows.

He didn’t budge even when she went off to the kitchen to bake some muffins and although Kira missed his quiet presence, she was happy he was starting to act independent.