Chapter 11

Wild got a new read today. The Incredible Journey is what it was called, and it was the story of two dogs and a cat trying to go home to their humans by crossing the Himalayan mountains. They faced many dangers and hardships, but eventually, they got home. It was a heartwarming story that Wild enjoyed while he waited for Elaine and Jon to get back to the facility. It was nothing like Call of the Wild or White Fang, but the kinship was much appreciated, so he liked it. It reminded him of his own kin that he was going to save, one way or another.

Wild's nose twitched at the faint, fresh traces of Elaine's perfume. He sometimes wondered if she would ever switch it up or if she used the same scent on purpose, so he knew when she was coming. Either way, she was here now, hopefully setting up that waffle maker. He felt like he hadn't had waffles in forever. Wild boosted himself to his paws and left his room in favor of seeing if that was indeed what she was doing. As he drew closer, he picked up shave cream, too, which he recognized as part of Jon's scent. Jon came back as well! Wild sorely hoped Jon had good news for him...

The sound of a fork against plastic was pretty annoying, but so very worth it when mixed with the scent of eggs, flour, milk, vegetable oil, sugar, baking powder, salt, and vanilla combined into battery goodness the way she was doing now. Wild gulped down saliva. He would not drool over the unmade waffles. "Good morning, kid." Wild's eyes flicked to Jon before going back to watching the batter. "Morning..." Elaine laughed quietly. "Good morning, Wild. You must love waffles, hm?"

"They didn't make them enough at the facility." Wild responded quickly.

Elaine laughed again as she poured some batter into the waffle maker.

Soon enough, all the batter was used up, and the waffles were made, topped with syrup, berries, and whipped cream as was promised. Wild literally and metaphorically wolfed them down with a new type of hunger that came with the love of certain foods. The Moore's watched on with a sort of admiration and humor. "I've never seen him eat this fast." Elaine mused. Wild eagerly scraped up whatever remained on his plate before finally realizing that the other two had chosen to watch him over eating their own, which, by the way, he was half tempted to steal. Instead, his ears pinned back as his white cheeks burned red with embarrassment. He found his empty plate quite interesting.

Elaine shifted her position so she could lift the embarrassed hybrid's chin. "It's ok, Wild. It's nothing to be embarrassed about. If anything, it tells me I should be making these for often." That being said, Wild watched her tuck into her own waffles. Jon had long since done the same, leaving Wild to reflect on the what next. Could he go with Jon? Had the detective even decided? Was he going to have to run away in order to free the others? Wild liked Elaine despite the whole kidnapping and realizing he was being lied to thing. Jon wasn't so bad either. Granted, he only knew the man a day. Wild fidgeted in place, running a hand through his course hair/fur. Elaine gave Jon a pointed look that caught Wild's attention immediately. Someone had something to say. Wild turned to Jon with his head cocked slightly to the right. "I can't finish?"

"Wild, Jon has something he would like to tell you." Nope, apparently he couldn't.

Jon sighed heavily, wiping away any excess from the waffles before he turned to the expectant hybrid. "I thought long and hard about you coming with and... you are still technically a kid. Kids shouldn't go on dangerous stake outs. You could get hurt or worse." Wild deflated almost immediately, staring intently at the table. "I see..."

"You didn't let me finish, kid." Wild flicked his eyes back up. "But you are going to be an adult next month, and you aren't a normal kid. You are a wolf hybrid. You could be the vital piece we need to save them and take down this man." Wild had perked now, his expression a mix of excitement and seriousness. He knew this wasn't a game. "If I take you, you have to promise not to actively put yourself in danger and get out if things do get bad."

"I promise."

That was that, then. Wild was finally doing this. He was in. Wild would go with Jon whenever the stakeout started, and he would contribute to saving the others. Wild took a shower after breakfast to stew on this. How would it go? He had watched things about stakeouts, and it usually regarded sitting in a car and watching from a distance. Following if the target was on the move, but that was just in the movies Westley and Tiffany watched. Was there more to it than that? Wild was excited to find out. He was also nervous to see the director again and determined. He was going to do this. For his fellow hybrids, for the families missing their children, and for himself. They were counting on Wild and Jon, even if they didn't know that they were coming to the rescue.

The waiting game began. Wild paced his room, back and forth, around and around. Being patient was hard, but he had to wait for Jon. Jon knew what they were doing, and Wild did not. It was that simple. He wasn't tempted by his books this time or Richard popping in to check on him for the tenth time. No, he was waiting for Jon, and the outside world was waiting for them. It just occurred that he would be seeing more of the outside. That was exciting, too. A little side thing to do while they watched the director.

"Wild, are you -" Wild went straight to Jon. "I'm ready, detective." Jon paused a moment to make sure. The look in Wild's eyes said yes. "Ok then. This way, to the car, kid." Elaine waved goodbye as the pair walked out. Wild flinched at the heat of the blacktop, trying to keep his sense skin off of it as long as possible. It was a simple grey car that was fairly new, but had a few years on it. The inside was suffocatingly hot when they got in. Jon turned on the AC. "Can't roll down the windows if we are staking out Jonah. You also might want to put this on to hide your ears." Jon handed him a baseball cap. Wild fit it on, and while it was uncomfortable, he could deal with this.

Let the stakeout begin.