Chapter 2

With a groan, Gail woke up. The same bad dream, though the voice was new. She flung her arm out, searching for her phone. “Where the hell is it?” Grumbling, Gail threw the blankets off of her. She stood, listening to the sound of the alarm. 

It was coming from outside of her room. 

Gail furrowed her brow and followed the sound out into the living room. In the middle of the floor, between the kitchen and living room was her phone. “What is it doing here?” she mumbled, picking it up and silencing the alarm. 

Bruiser popped up from the couch to her right, his front legs dangling off the back of the couch. He gave her a little bark. 

“Good Morning to you too.” Gail shook her head at him, and got the last of the dog food samples she had. After breakfast, she took a shower and got dressed for work.

When Gail finished, she noticed Bruiser hadn’t touched the food. “Is it that bad? I thought dogs loved this stuff. I guess I can stop by the store on the way home. Come on, Bruiser, time to go.”

He followed her out of the house and when she opened the back passenger door, he hopped in. “Well, I give you one thing, you’re very well behaved. When we get to the office, I’ll give you a nice pig ear. How about that?” Bruiser gave her another chuff as he sat, looking out the window. 

Gail backed out of her driveway, starting the thirty-minute drive to the vet's office. She had only driven for ten minutes when she noticed, through the rear-view mirror, Bruiser pacing the back seat. “You okay?” Then her eyes widened. “Oh, I didn’t give you a chance to do your business before we left.”

Bruiser looked back at her, giving her a mix of a chuff and a bark. 

“Right. I know this is my fault, but please don’t pee on the seat.”

Bruiser just stopped at the window and gave her a low growl before moving to the other side.

“Okay, I’ll go a little faster,” Gail said, speeding up a few miles more. They were in morning traffic. There wasn’t much she could do. 

Bruiser kept pacing, looking more and more anxious as time passed. He started growling and chuffing. Gail was debating pulling off somewhere to let him do what he needed to do when she stopped at a stop light. Suddenly, the passenger side window rolled down. Bruiser had stepped on the window controls on the handle. 

Gail gasped and yelled, “Bruiser, no!” But the dog already jumped out of the window. She swore, trying to find when the light turned green. The car behind her honk. She drove through the intersection and pulled over to the side. As soon as Gail parked the car, she got out looking for Bruiser, calling his name and whistling for him. He was nowhere to be seen on this side of the road.

As she waited for the light to change so she could cross the road, Gail continued to whistle and call his name while she looked for him. ““What’s wrong with that dog? Where did he go?” Gail couldn’t help wondering. 

At this rate, she was going to be late for work. With a sigh, Gail ran a hand through her hair, determined to look for him across the road and if she didn’t see him, then she’d take that as a sign he’d ditched her. As soon as the light turned, Gail started to cross when Bruiser was crossing already and heading towards her.

His fur was a little ruffled, and he’d gotten dirtier, but he looked none the worse for wear. “Where did you go?” she demanded, as if he could answer her. He barked and sat at her feet. 

Gail looked across the street as if it held clues to where he’d run off for, but she saw nothing. “Darn dog,” she cursed him, heading back to the car. “You are going to give me a heart attack.” Gail opened the passenger door, rolling up the window. 

Closing the door, Gail got into the driver’s seat and hit the button that locked the windows. “That’s right,” she told him, looking into the rear-view mirror. “There will be no more of that! Seriously, you almost killed me with that stunt.”

Shaking her head, Gail turned on the car and merged once again with traffic. The rest of the way to the office, Bruiser seemed a lot calmer, but his attention was on everything outside of the car. 

When they arrived at the vet’s office, Gail let Bruiser out. “When we get inside. I want you on your best behavior,” she warned him. “I didn’t notice any tattoos that you’d been neutered so best stay away from the ladies or I will take measure. Got it?”

Bruiser gave her a little growl chuff.

“Get lucky on your own time. I won’t have angry owners coming after me.”

She walked inside, holding her breath as Bruiser came in after her. Some dogs, already waiting for the vet, growled and barked at him as he passed, while others hid behind the legs of their owners. Bruiser, however, ignored them all. 

“Oh, who is this big boy,” the receptionist, Hayley, said as soon as she saw Bruiser. “When did you get a dog?”

“I didn’t. I found him last night on my way from the call to Mr. Sanderson’s farm. Thought I’d bring him in to give him a check up,” Gail explained as she walked around the desk to check on the animals she’d have today.

“Aw, you poor thing,” Hayley said, grabbing Bruiser’s face in her hands, making Kissy faces at him.

Bruiser made a low pitched whine that made Gail laugh. “Hey, why don’t you give him some treats while I get ready.”

“Oh, did you hear that boy?” Hayley said, ruffling the fur on top of Bruiser’s head, then in that silly baby voice people always put on when talking to dogs, she said, “Who wants a treat? Do you want a treat? Do you want a treat? Yes, you do! Cause you’re a good boy, aren’t you?”

Bruiser just chuffed and sat while Hayley got up and headed to the cabinet, where they kept all the treats for the animals. 

“Go on,” Gail told him when he didn’t follow Hayley. 

With another resigned chuff, Bruiser got up and followed Hayley. 

Gail shook her head and prepared for the day. When she finished, she found the entire staff petting and fawning over Bruiser. Kyle, one of the older interns, was trying to get him to fetch a ball. “Aw, come on boy. Go get it,” he pleaded with Bruiser.

“Sorry, but he wants to stay here with us,” Caroline, one of the older vets there, told him. 

“Man, bro before hoes,” Kyle complained. 

“Really guys?” Gail asked with a laugh, walking up to them. “You all act if you haven’t seen a dog before.”

“Never seen one quite like this one,” Caroline admitted. “Wolf mix?”

“I found him near the woods so it’s possible, but he seems too well behaved to be wild.”

“I get he has some malamute in him too,” Caroline suggested. 

“Ah, perhaps,” Gail replied. “Well, guys, sorry, but I have to take him back. I want to scan him for a chip and give him a check up.”

There was a chorus of ‘aw’s and groans. Gail shook her head at them as she took Bruiser to the back. “You sure are good at making friends,” she told him, then patted one of the metal tables. “Up.”

Bruiser jumped up onto the table with surprising ease. First, Gail used the scanner to scan him for a chip. She took her time, Gail scanned him from head to toe, but she found nothing. Next, she checked him for signs of potential fractures or any abrasions she might have missed while bathing him. Again, she found nothing. “Well, you seem in good shape,” Gail told him. “Now, if no one claims you in a week, I think I will schedule you in for some more health checks and your shots.”

Bruiser let out a low, growling chuff.

“Oh, don’t be a baby.” Gail snapped her fingers, pointing down. “Down.” When he got down off the table, she told him. “Wanna go back out with your fans or wanna stay here with me.”

He sat down at the base of the table and Gail grinned. Much like Haley had, she cupped his face in her hand. “Who’s a good boy? Who’s a good boy?”

Bruiser let out a soft growl that made her laugh. She smoothed his fur and pet his head. “Good boy, Bruiser. Now it’s time to get to work. Keep behaving okay?”

Bruiser did more than behave during the day. More than once, Bruiser surprised her by helping her calm the animals that came to her. One little chihuahua decided he was going to prove how he was a ‘big dog’ in spirit and kept trying to bite her. Bruiser let out a low, deep growl that settled the chihuahua right down. The scared dogs, Bruiser, made soft noises that seemed to calm them. They’d stop shaking and let Gail examine them. It had been a once in a lifetime experience. 

At the end of shift, Gail took Bruiser down to the pet store at the end of the street, to find some food he did like and a leash. She didn’t want him running off like he had earlier. She was scanning the labels of dog food, trying to decide which one Bruiser might like when the hairs on the back of her neck stood on end. 

The sensation she was being watched flooded through her. 

Gail glanced around her, but the aisle was empty and she didn’t see or hear anything. She tried to shrug it off and decided on a can of wet food that looked pretty good even to her and then moved on to find him on a leash and collar. As she moved, Gail kept glancing around the store, feeling as if someone was watching her. The longer she was there, the more and more uncomfortable she got. 

She chose the hardiest looking collar and leash. She paid for everything and hurried with Bruiser into the car. Once she was inside and started the car, she saw Bruiser staring out the back window at the store. He made a low growl. She followed his gaze, but the sun was setting fast and the few working lights on the building began to paint the empty parking lot into a sickly, yellow-orange light. 

A shiver ran down Gail’s spine as she swore she heard a wolf howl, one that sounded a lot like the dream she had last night. Tearing her eyes outside the car, Gail looked back at Bruiser. “You feel it too?”

Bruiser made a soft bark. 

“Right. That’s not good.” She murmured, sensing a ball of nervous energy growing in the pit of her stomach