Mine By Choice

Chapter 2 - Mexican Grays

Chris disappeared down the hallway. I didn’t get to muse for very long about my ‘wolf issue’, as Chris had put it; Mrs. Reyes arrived almost immediately.

“Hi mijo (son)! You are still here? Sorry I’m a little late. I went to get you and Chris food for the weekend first,” she explained as she made her way through the back door, expertly holding the screen open with her right foot while simultaneously pushing the door open with her left hand, balancing several grocery bags in her arms. Impressive. She was a tiny woman, but her strength didn’t match her size. She reminded me of ants. How they can carry their body weight several thousand times over.

“Mrs. Reyes,” I slowly got up and walked over to where she was already diligently putting groceries away, “there really is no need for that, viejita (term of endearment, literally 'old lady'). Chris and I can fend for ourselves. You taught us well. We won’t starve over the weekend, I promise.” I said gently while giving her a kiss on top of her salt and pepper head. Unlike our nosy neighbor, her concern for us was appreciated, it came from genuine love and affection.

“I know that mijo, but just because I know you boys can do things, doesn't mean I won’t keep looking after you. You are my boys, you know that,” she replied craning her neck to look up at me with her gentle and wise brown eyes, which were now adorned by deep-set wrinkles in her ochre-colored skin.

Our Mrs. Reyes was in her late sixties and had been with the family since before I came along. 

She was like a second mother to all of us. She started working for my parents here at the ranch in the late 80s, a couple of years after they got married, right after my oldest sister Madison joined the family. My mom had known her her whole life though, they grew up together. Mrs. Reyes started working at my mom’s parents’ estate up north in the 60s. Her family crossed the Río Grande and settled down in New Mexico when she was a young girl. 

Their circumstances back then meant that she had to start working right away, helping any way she could. It mostly involved manual labor at first since she didn’t speak any English. Being sharp as a tack though, she learned the language and every trade she could. She has no formal education, but she knows the ins and outs of ranch life like no other. She's also a housekeeper, a master chef and a natural with animals. She often helps me as a nurse in my practice. I have yet to see her make a wrong diagnosis. She just innately knows what to do. It's uncanny. 

Going back to her question from before I said, “I have no patients here at the clinic this morning. I have a house call at 10:30 at the Hahn ranch. The horse from last week with the colic, ‘member?” She nodded yes. “So I was just going to catch up on some paperwork in my office first before heading out, but now,” I took my phone out of my pocket to check the time, “I almost have to go”, I said with a sigh. Damn Mrs. Braniff, if it weren't for her, I would have at least made a dent in my files. I loved the hands-on aspect of being a vet, but it came with a lot of paperwork and record-keeping which had never been my jam. Par for the course.

“Did you have breakfast yet, mijo? You can’t leave on an empty stomach. I’ll make you something real fast,” she admonished in her sweet little voice, which funnily enough, also left no room for discussion. She immediately started cracking eggs and quickly beating them in a bowl. Apparently, I was having breakfast before leaving. I’d have to be quick.

Right around then, I heard Chris let out a loud wail followed by a whole host of very colorful words. I grinned. Our boiler was evil like that, the water didn’t progressively cool off. It went from hot to freezing in a second after about ten minutes under the shower.

“That reminds me,” I said to Mrs. Reyes looking up, making a motion at the ceiling with my head, hinting at the cursing coming from above, “could you call the plumber? The boiler is acting up again.”

Chris came marching down the stairs in a fury, wrapped in just a green towel, yelling at the top of his lungs, “Thomas, you d**k!” Nostrils flaring, blue eyes ablaze, his blond hair dripping and pasted to his pretty little head.

“Language!” Chided Mrs. Reyes. I looked up at him, gave him my most charming smile, and feigned innocence, “whatever do you mean baby brother?” I said in a mocking tone.

“Oh, so that’s how it’s gonna be? Game on!” He warned. Chris and his hot temper. It made it all the more fun.

“What were you doing in the shower for this long anyhow, bro? Needed to blow off some steam? You couldn’t wait for Danielle tonight?” I teased him. We have always given each other a hard time. All in good brotherly fun. With three older sisters it was actually a nice ritual between the both of us.

“Really Tomás! You know better! Compórtate mijo! (Behave yourself, son)” Our viejita reprimanded me while setting her delicious scrambled eggs on the table for me to eat.

“Go put on some clothes mijito,” she practically cooed at Chris, “I don’t want you catching a cold.” She turned around to stare at me, but she kept talking to Chris.
“And don’t worry, Tomás just lost himself his share of the bacon. It’s all for you.”

“Hey, no fair!” I complained loudly. Chris took this opportunity to shoot daggers at me. He gave Mrs. Reyes a quick hug and left the kitchen. If we were younger, he would have stuck out his tongue at me, I'm sure. I’d have to watch my back. He was out to get me.

“Don’t talk back young man!” She flattened me with a look, I didn’t dare say anything else, suddenly feeling like a little kid again. “And get to eating, didn’t you have somewhere to be?” She further chastised me and got back to working in the kitchen.

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The day was uneventful after that. I went over to the Hahn ranch as planned. The horse was on the mend. It was touch and go for a little while, but he was looking good now. After that, I came back home for a quick lunch and worked out of the clinic the rest of the afternoon.

After college, I decided I wanted to come back home to set up my veterinary practice. My dad helped me convert the old barn and that's were I’ve been working for the last year and a half, give or take.

I liked being a vet. I never actually dreamed of becoming one. It was more like the natural progression of a life-long affinity with wildlife and nature. However, now my dream was actually to become a wildlife vet and to work with the Nature Parks to help reintroduce endangered species back to their natural habitats. To do that though, I needed more experience with wild animals. Coyotes, foxes, wolves... Their populations were dwindling, and I wanted to do to do my part to help.

That is why I was a bit skeptical when Chris mentioned the paw prints up by the northern fence. It doesn't make sense for wolves to venture out this far south.

Having finished at the office, on impulse, I decided to jump on the quad and go check it out. No time like the present. The fence in question wasn't very far but it was getting late, and I didn’t want to have to walk back after dark.

With the quad I got to the fence in about five minutes. I killed the engine a ways away. If there were any animals, I didn’t want to scare them off. I made my way up following the fence. At first glance there was nothing out of the ordinary. I took out my flashlight and walked over to where Chris said he had seen the paw prints.

“Well f**k me, he was right! These do look like wolf paw prints!” I said out loud to no one. Upon closer inspection though, something didn’t seem right. The paw prints were just too big for Mexican gray wolves. They must have been like 7 inches in diameter. That’s massive. Just not possible.

All of a sudden an uneasy feeling settled in my stomach, and I knew I wasn’t alone. My heart started beating so fast I could hear it ringing in my ears. Fear? Not really.

All my years of training on how to deal with animals flew right out the window. Instead of moving cautiously without any sudden movements, something possessed me to turn around in a flash to try to spot whoever, whatever, had now joined me in the pasture.

It was almost completely dark now and my glasses were fogging up from the sudden rise in my body temperature. I couldn't see clearly. I shook my head to try and focus on the silhouette in the distance. It was staring back at me. I was completely mesmerized. A bewildering set of bright, emerald green eyes were fixed on mine. Emerald green eyes?

I was rooted in my spot, I couldn't divert my gaze. If it wanted to attack me, there was nothing I could do. I was at its mercy. I had been so sure it couldn't be wolves that I hadn't even thought to bring my dart gun with me for protection. Not that it would have mattered, now that I saw this magnificent creature, I doubt I would have been able to shoot at it. It was absolutely beautiful. It was definitely some sort of wolf.

I closed my eyes for a fraction of a second to try and regain control of myself. My body was not responding normally. In the time it took me to open my eyes again the wolf had gone. My chest was rising and falling at an abnormal speed, the adrenaline that had taken over my senses was still coursing furiously through my veins.

“What the f**k was that?” I cursed out loud breaking the silence.