The Wolf Within

Instincts

*** Dakota’s POV ***

I let out a breath I hadn’t even realized I’d been holding. I was in shock. There in the moonlight was the wolf. The very same, beautiful wolf that had looked so innocent and kind the night before, and she now stood over the bloodied body of a man who had pointed his gun at me… 

It looked to me, as I stood completely frozen, with pain in it’s eyes.

HB: Oh my god, the shot! It must be hurt!

AB: EXCUSE ME? That man is HURT! That wolf is DEADLY!

It turned to walk back to the forest, but it did slowly, and it was then that I noticed the limp.

HB: It saved our life and now it clearly needs our help! Look at that limp!

AB: ...and we thank it. Profusely. Now let’s thank it from the safety of our cabin!

HB: I’ll call Lia, she’ll know what to do! Though if it killed someone, they would probably have to put it down… 

AB: DON’T. Don’t you dare!

WB: Do it. Help her.

AB: You again! Who the hell are you? 

HB: Doesn’t matter, we’re helping that wolf. 

“Here girl! Come here! I won’t hurt you!” I called out to the wolf.

AB: Great! Now, how are we going to get it to promise not to hurt US?

The wolf’s ears perked up and it turned in my direction. She hesitated, head c****d to the side slightly.

“That’s it, come here girl. Let me help!” I had nursed plenty of forest animals back to health growing up. 

HB: Exactly, we’ve rescued bunnies and ducklings before, surely a giant wolf would be no different. 

AB: Are you kidding me right now? BUNNIES AND DUCKLINGS ARE BOTH HERBIVORES! 

WB: It’ll be fine.

AB: Again, who the hell are you? AND WHAT IS HAPPENING HERE?!

WB: Doesn’t matter, grab the blanket.

The wolf slowly began walking towards me. Despite the blood dripping from her chin, she looked completely non-threatening. As she reached the porch steps, I grabbed the blanket I had been wrapped in while on the swing and I went to meet her half way. I moved slowly so as not to scare her and proceeded to carefully and slowly scooped her up in my arms.

AB: Are you insane?! Sure! Let’s just eliminate any way to protect ourselves and put the wolf’s BLOODY teeth right next to our tender, and delectable face. Do you want some dessert poochie pooch?

HB: If she were going to kill us, she would have done it already. Now hush up and let me figure out what to do. Maybe we should google this.

I gingerly set the wolf down on my kitchen floor. I initially wanted to bring her to the tub to rinse out her wound but I was worried such an enclosed space would cause her to panic. A small voice spoke up in the back of my mind, which felt instinctual, and whispered, “You are safe.”

I held the blanket tight to her wound trying to stop the bleeding and with my free hand I pulled out my phone from my pocket. I was going to try a good ol’ google for how to treat a canine gunshot wound but,  the business card Lia had given me slipped out as well and I instinctively felt the urge to call the number. My instinct had to be right, I could trust Lia would protect this wolf. I needed a professional for this.

I brought the phone to my ear after I dialed the number and waited for Lia to answer. 

“Hello, Ranger Castello speaking.” It was the same person who answered my last call. When I realized it wasn’t Lia, panic began to set in. 

“Hello. My name is Dakota Hartwood, is Lia-- Ranger Accalia there?” I asked.

“Not at the moment. Is there something I can help you with?” They continued. I thought I could trust Lia with the care of this wolf, but that didn’t mean I would trust any Ranger with this. The last thing I wanted was to condemn this beautiful creature to death. 

“Ma’am?” Ranger Castello asked, checking to see if I was still there.

As I looked down at the whimpering creature, whose blood was now showing through the blanket, my instincts told me: “Don’t hang up. Tell them everything.” 

So I did. After several minutes of conversation, Ranger Castello said, “We’ll be there shortly! Don’t worry the wolf will be safe with us.” I heard the click, telling me they’d hung up.

I looked down at the wolf, “Don’t move sweetie, I’m going to get some fresh towels. I’ll be right back.” I grabbed a couple fresh towels and soaked one in a bit of cool water from the sink. Afterward, I knelt down next to the wolf and lifted the blood soaked blanket and briefly examined the wound. 

“Well,” I said, looking into the wolf’s eyes, “there’s some good news. It looks like the bleeding has mostly stopped.” I smiled as I felt instinctively better, she was going to be okay.

“Now this may hurt a little bit sweetie,” I said, smiling gently down at it again, “but I need to keep putting pressure on it until the bleeding fully stops. Ok?” The wolf moved it’s head slightly. 

AB: Did it just nod to us? Am I the only one who saw that?

HB: Aren’t you the one who just said it’s a wild animal? I think it was just adjusting itself.

WB: It was a nod.

I folded up the fresh towel and placed it against the wound, gradually increasing the pressure on it until I was putting enough on it. The wolf let out a small whimper, which in turn caused my heart to ache. “Oh sweetie,” I cooed, trying to ease her pain, “it’s alright. Some nice Rangers are going to be here soon, and don’t worry, Ranger Castello told me they will be able to treat you.” 

While still putting pressure on her wound, I turned around and grabbed the wet towel off of the counter. “I’m going to clean that mouth of yours now, ok?” I whispered, as my body filled with a flash of fear, remembering the dead man still laying just outside the cabin door. 

Instinctively, the fear quieted and I felt confident that wiping the blood away would make her feel better.

So somehow I found my courage again and began gently wiping the wolf’s snout and chin. I tried my absolute best to do it without making her move her head, but I wasn’t always so successful. Every now and then a whimper escaped her, in response I would put the towel down and gently caress her face with my hand. 

After a little while, her snout was mostly clean, save for some spots I couldn’t quite get to since she had been laying on that side. As I tossed the wet and bloody towel into the kitchen sink I heard her whimper again. I immediately went back to stroking her snout and cheek. She relaxed a little as I did so and her eyes closed. 

Worried she may have suffered too much blood loss and something bad was about to happen, I stopped. To my great relief, her eyes shot open and looked in my direction. She let another whimper out and I immediately began running my hand over her fur again. 

Just as she closed her eyes again, I heard a loud knock on the door which startled me so much I flinched. “Dakota? It’s me, Ranger Alexa! Can my partner and I come in?”