Ch.6: The Accident

Yennifer

We partied all night, closing down the bars as we went.

Most of the girls either called an Uber, or had their partners come pick them up.

At the end, it was Lucinda and I making our way back to my house. One of her arms was wrapped around my shoulder while one of mine circled her waist. She was completely waisted, bobbing and weaving down the sidewalk as we slowly made our way through the residential streets.

“Oh Yen, I had a blast tonight. Thank you!” she gushed, pushing into me, forcing us off balance.

“No worries,” I replied through gritted teeth, trying to keep us from falling.

“Oh, I love you!” she sighed, planting a wet kiss on my cheek. “You wanna know a secret?”

“Sure.”

“We all think you’re the lucky one.”

I was surprised by this admonition. Though, to be honest, it was probably the alcohol talking. “How so?”

“You’ve got it all. You’re smart. Beautiful. Kind. You have fucking fabulous curves and an ass all of us would give our left titties for.” A blush crept up my neck as her compliments came. This was the first time I was hearing this from anyone in our posse. “Sure, you’re a little overweight, but that doesn’t matter,” she shrugged. “If there’s anything I know, a real man likes a little bit of something to hold onto.”

“Lucinda!” I chastised.

“It’s true!”

“C’mon, let’s just get you home.” I changed the subject, not really wanting to be the center of this conversation anymore. Her mother was staying at Lucinda’s house for the week, helping her daughter with the last minute plans and hullabaloo before the wedding.

When we rounded the corner onto my street, I saw a familiar face leaning against the rear end of my car. When he saw us, he waved and started making his way to us.

“Well, good morning lovelies,” Peter, my assistant at my fortune telling shop, greeted with iced coffees and breakfast sandwiches in hand.

“You’re a godsend,” Lucinda praised.

“Here, let me help you,” he offered. Handing me the goodies, he took over helping Lucinda. My back thanked him greatly for his sacrifice.

“Would you mind if I accompanied you ladies today?” Peter asked, seeing the exhaustion in my gaze.

“I would greatly appreciate it,” I told him, taking my first swig of the coffee he’d brought. I moaned softly to myself as it hit all the right spots. I was the one driving Lucinda home, it was my decision if we had an extra tag-along with us.

We got Lucinda into my new-to-me truck. My little beater car gave up the ghost shortly after I broke up with Ron, such terrible luck. At least I was able to get the truck I had always wanted.

The drive to Lucinda’s wasn’t very long. It was fifteen minutes outside of the city limits. She and her soon-to-be husband lived on a quiet little piece of land. As I drove, Lucinda recounted the night’s events and proudly stated I had won the little contest. The prize was a generous spa gift card. I was planning on making an appointment this coming Friday before the wedding to get pampered. I knew the day of the wedding was going to be stressful in more ways than one. I was dreading seeing Ron.

"Thank you, Pete, for coming with me today." I told my business partner and friend.

Right after graduating high school, I bought and opened my fortune-telling store in the heart of New Orleans. I decided upon fortune-telling due to a natural gift I had. Not only was I good at palm reading and tarots, I had this ability to see into someone's future if I so desired. It was something I could control, for the most part. Usually, I had to be physically touching someone and focus on their aura to tap into my gifts.

I could only see short distances into my clients' futures, but that was probably for the best anyway, since it had gained me a lot of positive feedback. Since my readings had a high rate of success, I was praised for my abilities. As a result, I got a lot of high ratings on different social media platforms and business review websites. I became one of the main attractions here in New Orleans rather quickly. Due to the high demand and returning clientele, I hired Peter as my assistant. He booked my appointments and ran the small gift shop.

Peter was in his early thirties. He had dark brown hair, was lanky, had a few tattoos and piercings and wore glasses. While he didn't look that strong, he was surprisingly so. He had a wonderful personality to boot, and he meshed well with me. He was irreplaceable, in my humble opinion.

"It was well worth it," he chuckled. "After Char sent that video of the stranger giving you a lap dance, I needed all the details of last night's endeavors. I was not disappointed."

While I wasn’t necessarily happy Char had sent him the video of Nikolai giving me that lap dance, it was better than her posting it to social media. I specifically asked her and Lucinda not to put it out into the world.

"Did you happen to catch his name?" Pete asked curiously.

“I did. His name is Nikolai,” I supplied.

"Hmm." He hummed, shifting in his seat. I noticed his demeanor darkened a bit. When I was going to ask him what was wrong, and if he knew Nikolai, Pete yelled, "Yen, watch out!"

My eyes snapped back to the road. I saw a blur as a wolf-dog sprinted into the road, but it was too late. I couldn't swerve. Hitting the brakes, the tires squealed their protest but it wasn’t enough.

"Shit!" I hissed, but there wasn't anything I could do. I felt my truck make contact.

Instant tears clogged my vision as I slammed my truck into park and hit the hazards.

"Yen, don't--

Peter started but I didn't listen. That was an innocent animal, and those who knew me were aware I had a soft spot for animals.

As I started running towards the front of my vehicle, I heard Peter close his door.

"Yen, be careful," he called out. "You don't know if the thing is friendly or not. Or if it will attack."

His warnings fell on deaf ears. As I rounded the front of the truck, I saw the gorgeous silver wolf-dog laying on its side. For a moment, I was afraid the worst had happened, until I saw its chest cavity rise and fall. Relief washed through me. He was still alive.

"Yen," Peter called out warningly. "We should just leave him."

"I can't just leave him! Look. He's bleeding," I pointed out. There were a few lacerations. Not to mention he could have broken bones. "He’ll die out here without help. Just help me get him into the truck. Please." I batted my eyes at him.

"No. Absolutely not." Peter refused.

"Oh, c'mon!" I pleaded.

"Yen, this isn't your average, abandoned dog or cat on the streets. That is a wild animal!" Peter knew I tended to take home strays. I would get them healthy, cleaned up and get all of their shots and things up to date and then help them find their forever home. To me, this was no different. Other than I would have to find some way to release him back into the wild, if he was indeed wild.

"So?" I challenged. "I can't just leave him here like this." I had to try to save him, even if he was wild. I could call animal control after I had him restrained in the kennel at my house if needed. "And if you aren't going to help me, I'll figure it out myself."

Pete pursed his lips before asking, "Do you have a muzzle or something?"

"Do I?" I huffed exasperatedly. "Of course! In the toolbox."

"I’ll go get it.”

"Thank you!" I called out to him.

"Don't go anywhere near him, Yen!" Peter called back.

I rolled my eyes and did as asked. Not wanting to give the poor guy a heart attack.

Pete returned momentarily with the muzzle in hand. He secured it in place and then together, we struggled to get the rather large beast into the bed of the truck.

"He seems larger than a normal wolf-dog should be," I huffed as we both got situated in the truck. I started driving back towards town.

"Have you seen wolves in real life?" he asked conversationally.

"No, I guess I haven't."

"You need to be careful, Yen."

"I will be." I assured him.

The wolf was still knocked out when we reached my house, which was both a good and bad thing. It was great, because we didn't have to fight getting him inside and into the kennel. On the other hand, I just realized how out of shape I really was.

"I don't know Yen. I think you need to call animal control to come and get this thing." Peter said nervously as I looked over the wolf a little closer.

"I'll see when he wakes up," I bargained, touching his silver fur through the kennel. He was so pretty. "Can you get me my little med kit from the kitchen?" I asked. I had handled many hurt animals before and put together an emergency pack for them specifically. The cuts I'd seen earlier didn't seem that bad now, even if the blood-soaked fur indicated otherwise. His left leg had it the worst. It was skinned and bleeding badly.

Peter did as I asked and brought it back.

"Maybe he is just a wolf-dog, and he got out?" I asked as I cleaned the wound and wrapped it.

"There's no collar on him."

"Not everyone collars their animals."

"Just promise me you'll be smart and safe."

"I promise." I said a little distractedly, closing the kennel. Just in time too. "Oh, look! He's waking up."

The wolf stirred and then started. He stood up in the extra large kennel and took up nearly every inch of that space. His hackles rose and he was a bit unsteady. Though, it wasn't his size, or the intelligence of this beast that took me by surprise.

It was his stormy blue eyes.

Just like the child I had met back in California.

Just like Nikolai’s eyes.

It seemed rather curious I would see such eyes twice in less than twenty-four hours when, in the past sixteen years, I hadn't seen those color of eyes once since the day my parents were killed.