Chapter 3

"I called the sanctuary. They don't want him," Linda sighs, kicking off the meeting.

Zack and Demetri groan in unison. Grace clicks her pen like a metronome. Jonathan slumps forward, limbs dangling off the table like a deflated puppet.

Together with Eleanor, our sixty-three-year-old secretary, we’re known as Team 2.

"I also called the sanctuary two cities over," Linda adds. "They refused too."

Eleanor adjusts her glasses, the chain around her neck swaying. "So… we have no choice but to keep him?"

Linda nods and sinks into her chair. 

"It’ll only be for a week," Demetri says. "At the rate he’s healing, he’ll be fine soon."

I nod, glancing at Jonathan, who’s still vibrating like a frustrated toddler. Grace’s pen clicks faster.

Everyone turns on their thinking faces—until the owner of the hospital storms in.

"I will not keep a wolf with the others," Elfwind declares, voice calm but firm. He’s well past retirement age and clearly eavesdropping.

"We could always move him," Grace offers.

"Yeah, like back where he belongs," Jonathan agrees, but in a different sense.

"No," I refuse.

"Absolutely not," Demetri echoes.

"Why?" Eleanor asks, surprising us all. She rarely speaks up, always thinking her opinion doesn’t count. But she’s our tie-breaker.

Zack shrugs, clearly uninterested.

"Okay then, Eiliah, you take him. No room for discussion," Elfwind announces—and vanishes as quickly as he appeared.

"What the..." Jonathan trails off.

"Bullshit," Zack mutters.

"Mind your French, Zackie-boy," Eleanor says sweetly, flicking him on the forehead. He sinks to the floor, defeated by a grandmother.

I sigh. "First of all, he’ll eat my cat. Second, he’ll probably be healed before we even finish building something outside my house. He’s massive and wild. I can’t just let him roam around my tiny cabin with Python. That cat will pick a fight he can’t win."

The wolf's still wild, even with the calm and playful manner he has.

"She has a point," Grace has a pained expression, clearly unsure of Elfwind's statement. He always speaks as if his word is law.

"We’ll use the travel cage," Demetri suggests. "It’s small, sure, but he’s smaller than a bear. It’s only for a week."

Linda’s face lights up.

"Fine," I say. "I’ll focus on the short week, not the small cage. But the hospital’s covering his food."

"That asshole is at it again," Zack huffs. Eleanor flicks him again on her way out. He sinks to the floor, Eleanor's age not hiding her strength.

I smile as the team scatters, leaving only Demetri behind.

"You sure you’re up for this?" he asks.

I stand and meet his eyes. "What choice do I have? It’s not like I’m complaining. I’ll do whatever it takes to help him."

Demetri nods his head and follows everyone out the door. I sigh to myself in the empty room.

Who knew my day would end with a wolf by my side?

"Welcome to my home!" I announce, gesturing grandly toward my cabin.

Demetri shakes his head at my enthusiasm. He circles the cage, peering through the bars, but the wolf isn’t watching him—he’s watching me. His gaze follows mine like he’s reading my thoughts.

"I'll have to name you, won't I?" I ask, tilting my head. He tilts his head too.

I laugh softly. Demetri pops out from behind the cage, eyebrows raised in concern.

I wave him off and try to nudge him toward one of the cars.

"I’m fine, really. I won’t die," I say with a grin. Demetri scoffs but catches the signal. He huffs and waves as he climbs into the driver’s seat.

"Say hi to Python for me," he calls out with a wink.

"He hates you!" I shout after him. The convoy of cars rolls away, disappearing behind the distant buildings.

I turn back to the wolf. "Just you and me now. And Python."

Right on cue, Python starts meowing from inside the cabin. I open the front door, and he bolts out, tail high, heading straight for the cage.

I sprint after him, heart racing, but he’s just prancing around the bars like he’s showing off. The wolf doesn’t react. 

Weird.

I dash back inside, grab my laptop, and return to the porch.

"This is gonna take a while, okay?" I say to the two animal-shaped shadows—one hopping, one lounging.

The wolf cocks his head again. I smile and flip open my laptop, pulling up the search engine.

"Should we go human or dog?” I muse aloud.

He sneezes.

I flinch, startled. He whimpers immediately, like he’s apologising. I reach out to reassure him, fingers brushing the bars. He calms.

But when I pull my hand back to type, he starts whining again.

"Give me a moment, alright?" I shoo him. He plops down with a dramatic sigh, head resting between his paws.

I start with the basics.

"Angus, Apollo, Archie, Ash, Axel, Baxter…" I rattle off names like I’m reading a phone book. "Bingo, Bruce, Bruno, Champ, Charlie…"

The wolf blinks at me, unimpressed.

I skip ahead. "Dexter, Duke, Eddie, Felix, Frankie, Freddy…"

Still nothing.

"I know for a fact I won’t use a common name," I mutter. "Whether you like it or not."

I switch websites.

"Buddy, Rocky, Toby, Cody, Cooper, Bear, Rusty, Bentley, Louie, Sparky, Maximus. No, that's not it," I sigh, "Maybe I have to be more specific."

After half an hour of scrolling, I slow down, watching for any reaction.

"Dragon. Emerson. Drew. Jayson. Raphael. Briar. Astro. Eclipse. Moon." He perks an ear, but it isn't good enough for me.

"Not doing it for you either?" I heave another sigh as I click on another website.

"Phantom. Bambam—" I giggle, but continue, "Coffee. Kujo. Vincent. Ooh, Knight?" 

No response.

"Oh, look at this list, there has to be something somewhere in here. Albus. Amadeus. Galileo. Mushu!" I burst out laughing at one of my favourite characters. The wolf huffs, so I continue.

"Sherlock. Wonton. Picasso. Bilbo. Gandalf. Merlin. Gatsby. Poe. Watson. Alfredo. Cat. Einstein. Toothless!" I continue with my frantic state as I see another favourite character. The wolf just huffs again.

"Midnight?" I try. Nothing.

Python scratches at my arm, demanding attention.

"Okay, funky names. Bolt. Wolf. Rhino. Alpha—" 

The wolf lifts his head.

I pause. "Blaze. Saber. Rex. Raven. Gunner. Shadow. Mocha. Kong. Ammo. Butch. Coyote. Deadpool. Dynamo. Snowball. Tiger…"

I glance at Python. "Cobra? You and Python could match."

Both animals look unimpressed.

"Oh come on," I groan, throat dry. "Please give me something to work with."

"So far, the only response I got out of you was 'Alpha' and 'Moon'. What has that got to do with anything? You don’t understand English…" It feels like I'm going to cry. This wolf is not satisfied with anything.

Does he already have a name?

Well, he is very tame around me, which is unusual for a normal wild wolf.

"Maybe I should wait. Let a name find me. Okay, here we go again." This time I skim through millions of names, not reading them out loud. Maybe I'll stumble upon a name and I will know it's the one.

When the sun starts setting, I still have nothing.

Then I get an idea.

Moon names.

With that, I speed-read through another million names, heart picking up.

Finally, I find a few that feel… right.

"Astennu. Rakesh. Io. Badru. Aibek. Aku. Koray. Hang."He perks up. A small howl escapes him. I reread the names.

"Aku? No."

Then I say it.

"Koray—"