Chapter 1

Gail gripped the steering wheel as she drove down the tiny, two-lane road. There was nothing more she hated than driving at night. Well, there were worse things, but Gail swore this was the last time she would let Mr. Sanderson guilt her into making an after hours trip to his farm. Though it was an emergency. Stormy, his mare, was having trouble with her foul. If Gail hadn’t been there, it would’ve ended badly for the mare or colt, or both. That fact cooled Gail’s irritation.

Gail sighed and focused back on the road. Seeing something dart out into the street, she gasped and slammed on the breaks. The tires squealed, and she jerked forward, but stopped herself before she hit the steering wheel. “Oh God,” she breathed, getting out of the car and rushing around the side to see what it was.

She gasped again when she saw the dog laying on the pavement. She hit a dog! Kneeling, Gail laid a hand on the husky. At her touch, the husky flinched and looked up at her with weary eyes. “Oh thank goodness,” she breathed, thanking all that was divine that she hadn’t killed the poor creature. “Don’t worry, I’m not here to hurt you,” she said in a soft, even tone. ‘At least, not again,’ she thought as she ran her hand over his flank. 

The husky whined in pain. “Oh, you poor thing,” she said in that same tone. “Alright, let me get you into the car. I’ll take you home and check you up there.” She hurried to her car, opening the back passenger door before returning to him. 

The husky whined again as Gail slid her hands under it and tried to scoop him up in her arms. Tried being the key word. Gail grunted in surprise. The dog weighed a ton. “Well, now I know you’re not a stray. Right, Chunky Boy?” The husky chuffed, giving her a look that Gail could only describe as a side eye. “Hey, no shame here,” Gail told him and this time, used more of her legs to lift him. This time, she picked him up and take him to the car. Trying to be as careful as she could, carrying such a heavy animal, Gail placed him into the back seat, but not without breaking a sweat. 

She blew out a breath. “Well Chunky, lets hope you can walk when we get home or I don’t know what I am going to do with you.” This time, he dared give her a little growl. Now Gail gave him side eye. “Hey, don’t start that with me. Another dog already bit me once today.” Closing the door, Gail drove the rest of the way home. 

Gail lived in a cul-de-sac, her small, one-story house being at the very end of the street. Parking in the driveway, she opened the back passenger door. Relief washed over her when the husky could get out on his own. Not only was he not severely hurt, but she didn’t have to carry him inside. “Good boy,” Gail told him, “Come, follow me.” The husky actually did as she told him.

Inside, she turned to her guest. Gail wrinkled her nose. Chunky was a mess. He had dirt caked into his fur, sticks, leaves and brambles were all over him. He also wasn’t a full husky, she realized. The ears and muzzle had a very wolfish shape, though the coloring was husky. His eyes, though, were strange, neither the bright icy blue of the husky or brown of a wolf. His eyes were more of a muddied blue color, almost turquoise.

He had to be a mutt with wolf and husky genetics, but there also was something else. Gail thought perhaps a mastiff because of his size. She sighed. With him being a mutt, Gail worried the chances that he had an owner were slim. More than likely, he was a born stray. At least he wasn’t feral so far. Perhaps he was looking for his forever home, tired of being in the woods. 

“Well, Chunky…”

The mutt chuffed, giving her that look again. 

“Okay, so not Chunky,” Gail said, feeling her mood lighten now the apparent danger was over. “We’ll figure a name out later. Right now you, Sir, need a bath.”

The mutt whined and chuffed again.

“Oh no! You want to stay here and in this house, then you’re getting a bath.”

Another whine. 

Unmoved by his attempt to make her feel sorry for him, Gail opened her arms wide and herded him into the bathroom. Gail thanked her lucky stars it was just down the hall. When the large dog was inside the cramped space, Gail closed the door so he couldn’t escape while she prepared the bath. 

“Alright, Rex, get in.”

The dog didn’t move.

“Not Rex?”

He chuffed.

“Okay, not Rex.”

The mutt jumped into the bathtub, splashing Gail. “Hey, come on now. I’m being nice here.”

The dog turned to look at her. 

“Okay, yeah, I may have hit you with my car, but I’m still being nice,” she insisted as she grabbed a bottle of baby shampoo. “See, I am even using the good stuff on you. I could’ve used my daily shampoo on you.” She pointed the bottle at him as if that proved her point. 

Gail started washing him. While she was almost a hundred percent sure the dog didn’t have any broken bones, as she lathered him in the baby shampoo, she ran her hands over his body to ensure everything felt as it should. The close contact seemed to make him nervous. He shifted around on his weight with a few whines. “Don’t worry, Buddy, just trying to be sure you’re okay.”

Another chuff.

“Not Buddy either, alright then,” Gail replied as she moved her hands along his sides, towards his back legs. As she reached up to clean his inner hind leg, the dog jumped, then snapped at her with a growl.

Training and instinct saved her from his bite. “Easy,” she said soothingly, moving to pet his head. “I will not hurt you.” She tried again, but when he moved away from her, Gail understood the message - his hind quarters were off limits. Gail hoped it was because he didn’t like it and not because it hurt. She’d have to take him in tomorrow for a full check up.

“I bet you feel better now, huh Butch?” Gail asked as she dried him off. 

He growled. 

“No Butch?”

He chuffed in reply. 

“Got it, what about Fido?”

He just looked at her this time.

When he was dry enough, Gail stood and drained the now muddy brown water. That was possibly his first bath ever. She opened the door to go fix them dinner. “Lucky for you, I just got a bunch of dog food samples. A lot of them will be perfect for you.” He whined in reply, though she swore it sounded more like a groan.

Gail got her dinner started, then prepared his. “Here you go, Bruno,” she said as she set the plate on the floor next to the table. 

He gave her another soft growl, but when he looked at the food, the growl turned into a whine.

“What? It’s good. That’s expensive stuff.”

He whined again with a chuff, looking away from the plate.

“Oh, don’t tell me I hit the Karen of dogs. Don’t be choosy. I know you didn’t get better in the woods. Now go on, eat. I got my dinner to worry about… Cujo.” Before he could respond, Gail grinned. “Just kidding… Spike.”

Another growl.

“Boy, you’re really are picky, aren’t you?” Gail said as she returned to the stove. She tried not to think about how she was having an full on conversation with a dog. Perhaps it was time to get out more. She didn’t want to become the crazy cat lady or dog lady in this case.

When she finished, Gail sat at the table, noting the dog hadn’t touched his food yet. As soon as she sat down and picked up her fork, the dog stood up, setting his front paws on the table, eyes fixed on her chicken breast. 

“Oh no. I do not think so, Mister,” she said and pointed her finger at him. “Down. Now.”

He didn’t move. Instead, he gave her a doggy grin with tongue flopping out and everything.

“Not going to happen. Get down now. No people food for you,” she insisted, and when he didn’t move, she pushed his paws off the table. He got right back up and barked. “I said no!” she pushed him off the table again. He got right back up. “Get down off the table, ‘Princess’.” That earned her a growl. She smirked right back at him. “Fine, you want to eat at the table, Weirdo, then you can eat at the table.” She leaned over and picked up the plate of dog food and set it on the table in front of him. “Now, Eat… Duke?”

The dog chuffed, and she swore he shook his head. 

“Hm, you’re a tough one,” she said and ate.

Gail had only eaten a few bites when she saw the dog’s nose inching towards her plate. “Nope. Get away, shoo,” she said, giving his nose a nudge. “You have your own food.” He gave her another sad whine, but Gail went back to eating her dinner. 

A moment later, she saw him inching closer again. This time she thumped his nose as she said, “I said no.”

He growled at her, this time showing teeth. 

“Oh, Scary,” Gail told him flatly. “You bite me and I promise you it will be your biggest regret and I’m not just talking about a muzzle either.”

He growled at her again, but this time there were no teeth. 

“That’s what I thought.”

He whined again, but Gail shook her head at him. He looked at his plate with a whine that sounded like one of resignation and ate. “Good Boy… Bruiser?”

He chuffed that what she took was a sound of approval. “Figures, you’d like that one. Okay, Bruiser then.”

After dinner, Gail cleaned their plates and put in a call to the pet stores and shelters still in business hours, reporting that she found Bruiser and his appearance, on the off chance someone was looking for him. The shelters, as expected, were at max capacity and couldn’t take him. They were always at max capacity, Gail thought with some sadness. 

“Well, time for bed,” Gail announced when she finished the phone calls. “We got an early day tomorrow, Bruiser. You’re going to work with me. Let’s hope you work well with dogs,” she told him changing into her pajamas. Though it was odd to have someone in the bed with her, Gail fell asleep quickly. 

*    *    *

“Hurry, Galiena, they’ll be coming for you soon,” it’s her aunt pleading from downstairs.

Ten year old Gail, packed her things with tears streamed down her face. She knew at this moment when she closed the suitcase and follow her aunt out into the dead of night, leaving everything familiar behind her. 

However, this time Gail heard high pitched howls on the night wind. She felt a hot, fetid breath on her neck. Whimpering, she clutched her teddy bear to her chest as the shadows turned into beasts with bloody fangs. 

Blood of her parents. The beasts encircled her when a soft voice spoke to her, “Please save my children.” 

And everything faded to black.