Three Wild Werewolf Tales by Calandra Hunter Read Free Book Online

vet’s throat out, more out of fear than pain. The office smelled wrong and unnatural, and Alex was now relieved the vet had put the muzzle on him. No matter how tempted Alex got, he wouldn’t bite the vet.
    He did growl a lot, ignoring the soothing voice of the vet. He had to get out of here, but he was still in too much pain and even if he managed to jump off the examination table without making his injuries worse, opening a door as a wolf was a lot harder than as a human.
    “You’re doing great, buddy,” the vet assured him, his voice low. “We’re nearly done, I promise. Guess you wolves are hardier than I thought.”
    Alex huffed. The vet didn’t know the half of it.
    “I’m still gonna have to keep you here tonight for observation,” the vet continued. “And call the local ranger in the morning, check on what the exact protocol is. You’ll be back with your pack before you know it.”
    He certainly hoped so. If he got out of here early enough, maybe the others wouldn’t even realise he’d been gone. God, it would be incredibly embarrassing to explain he had got hit by a car. The vet taking him home was just icing on the cake.
    “That’s you nearly done, buddy, I just need to stitch you – what the hell?” The vet dropped his soothing tone and frowned at Alex’ wound, which was no doubt healing nicely. “Huh, could’ve sworn his wound was big enough for stitches,”” the guy muttered to himself. “Must’ve just been the blood I cleaned up.”
    Alex was relieved the vet had come up with a good explanation by himself, and that he wouldn’t be stitched up. That probably would’ve involved sedatives of some kind.
    The vet stood up, and went through a door that led to a dark room. Alex could smell animals in there, dogs and a few cats and even a ferret. “Hey, hey, ssh, it’s all right,” the vet muttered, turning on the light in the room. A few of the dogs started barking, but some more quiet words from the vet made them stop.
    Alex knew they wouldn’t keep quiet for long, not with him in there. Most animals were simply scared of him. They somehow knew he wasn’t an animal, but not a human either. He was strange and wrong. Cats tended to hiss at him and avoided him, dogs cowered in a corner, growled threateningly at him or barked in an attempt to intimidate him. He hoped that the dogs in there had the sense to keep the noise down. He needed his rest.
    Eventually the vet returned to carry him in, and as Alex expected, there was some hissing and scuffling from the other cages as the vet walked past them. The door to Alex’ new home was open already: A large, steel dog crate that he would not be breaking out any time soon. There was a plaid blanket in there, a water bowl, and even a squeaky toy, which was rather insulting. He wasn’t some dumb pet like the rest of these animals. On the bright side, there were at least two empty crates between himself and his nearest neighbour, a Dachshund cowering in a corner. It had already wet the blanket.
    He let himself be manhandled into the crate, and he tested his injured leg before settling down. It still hurt, but nowhere near as bad as before. He lay down, watching the vet close the latch at the top. A latch was good, Alex would be able to open that himself with his fingers tomorrow. The latch was, unfortunately, obscured from Alex’ view by a metal plate. Maybe some other animals had attempted to chew on it in a bid to escape? Still, just because Alex wouldn’t be able to see the latch properly didn’t mean he wouldn’t be able to open it. Come morning, he’d be gone.
    The vet watched him settle down and smiled. “I really am sorry about hitting you, buddy. Sleep well. I’ll check you in the morning.”
    Alex watched as the vet got up and left. The room was once again mostly dark, illuminated only by the moonlight coming in through a window. He’d be stuck here for hours, and Alex knew he had no one to blame but himself. He should’ve been