Nine

Zane spent the next two days with Wren, Anton, and Nico making a case for Whisper's release and guardian. It seemed like a pretty good case that Anton came up with, not only for the facility she is in but also her brother. Anton had found some info about Will Beda and put something together. Later on the second day, he went to court to try and schedule an appointment while Zane anxiously waited with Nico and Wren outside.

Nearby was a newspaper stand that had a black and white picture of a dog on the front. A abnormally large dog that was laying with mournful eyes turned up to the camera. Wren grabbed a paper and started reading:

Vicious beast at large! If you see a dog with black fur with a light underbelly, call animal control. It attacked a patient at one of the local hospital facilities and there was no body found. A hunter shot the dog in the back, right hind leg, so it can't be far. Call the number below at any sign of this beast. DO NOT APPROACH!

"Zane, did you see this?" Wren asked as she read the article. "This isn't just a dog. It's a wolf. Do you think it's a rogue?"

Zane looked at the picture, read the article, then glanced at the picture again. Something about the eyes made him pause and doubt the words 'vicious beast'. They were sad and lonely, and it seemed like the poor canine was in a lot of pain. Though, Wren was right. It was too large to be an average dog. "I don't know. It doesn't look like a rogue, they're usually scrawny and patchy, if you know what I mean."

"It is scrawny. Even I can see the ribs," Wren replied. Nico came over and looked down at the paper. The woman said, "Maybe we should find it?"

"Hold on," Nico said and pointed to a line of words. "Look here."

"Our patient wasn't always so bad, but she was in a bad mood today. She wasn't steady because we were putting her into surgery, so she probably didn't see the dog coming. Dear thing! Never had a lot of trouble with her. But I was devastated to see her being torn apart so aggressively," said a nurse who witnessed the whole scene from the safety of the building.

All three stared at the article, then glanced at the picture, as if wondering how something as innocent as that could hurt a woman. Under the picture read: 'Picture taken in an alleyway where a man tried to calm the beast with food while calling Animal Control.'

"Hmm," Zane mused.

Anton appeared a few moments later with a tired expression. "Zane, we have a problem."

"Don't tell me they won't do it!" the Alpha groaned.

"No, they will. I'm talking different problems." At this, Zane became alert. Anton held up a newspaper just like the one Wren had. "Whoever this is, they're new at shifting. Most likely haven't done it before and are stuck."

Wren sighed in relief. "Thank the Goddess it isn't a rogue."

Anton shook his head. "No rogue, but a mighty fine looking wolf who needs help."

Zane nodded. "Great, Wren, Nico, go see if you can find this pup." They nodded and ran off. When he turned to Anton, he said, "And the appointment?"

"Next week today."

The Alpha nodded. "Good. I'm going to the hospital to check on Whisper. Follow Wren and Nico. If you find anything, let me know."

Anton nodded and left. Zane got into his truck and started to drive in the opposite direction. He couldn't wait to see Whisper. He couldn't wait to tell her that she'll be out of the horrid place sooner than later. Her green eyes would light up with joy and she'd uncurl from her little ball at the head of her bed and maybe smile.

"Shit!" he cursed loudly and swerved. Slamming on his breaks, Zane just barely stopped before crashing into the pedestrian sign. Turning in his seat to look out the back window, he saw something large in the street.

Zane got out and ran back, finding the dog from the picture. Again, he saw mournful eyes and as Wren said, a scrawny body. The canine whined and began to wag it's tail, staring at Zane with an unreadable look.

"Easy, now. I'm not going to hurt you," he whispered softly. Black ears flicked up to hear his words and then the head came up. The tongue came out as a wolfish grin spread on its face. Zane raised his brows and knelt beside it, holding out his hand.

Immediately, the dog jumped onto him and started licking. Zane laughed and rubbed his hands down the length of the body, looking around the tongue to see it was a girl.

"Hello, Girl!" he chuckled as she stared down at him. He smiled up at her and scratched behind her ears. "You remind me of someone, you know that?"

As if it could understand him, it yipped delightedly.

Zane laughed again, sat up and then stood. He grabbed the scruff and pulled the female dog towards his truck, opening the back door for her to jump into. She did without hesitation and he chuckled again when she climbed into the front passenger seat. Closing the door, he got into his own seat and looked over at her. "You're not bad, you're too playful to hurt someone."

Sighing, he dialed Nico's number and rubbed the dog's head. "Hello?"

"I got the dog. Meet me at the hospital."

"Got it." Nico hung up.

Zane buckled his seat belt then started the truck again, glancing at the dog to see it watching him with warm amber eyes. Just for kicks and giggles, the Alpha said, "If you can understand me, bark three times."

He didn't think anything would happen, but after a pause, the dark barked. "Bark! Bark! Bark!"

Zane blinked and stared at the dog. "Are you a wolf?"

"Bark!"

"Are you a werewolf?"

"Bark!"

He thought for a moment. "Was this your first time shifting?"

To this question, the dog laid down on the seat and flatten her ears, whining softly. It was as if she was saying, "Yes, and it scared the shit out of me!"

Rubbing her head, he began to drive again. The dog closed her eyes and relaxed under his hand and fingers, and for some reason, Zane felt relaxed with her too. It only took another few minutes for him to reach the facility and when he stopped, the dog sat up and looked around, immediately growling. "Easy, girl. I'm just seeing a friend here, then we can leave."

The dog barked and growled again, surprising Zane. At his look of confusion and anger, she crossed the console and licked his face, as if in apology.

"Calm down, girl. I won't be long. I just need to make sure my friend here is okay," he said encouragingly.

Another vehicle drove up and the male sighed in relief. He rolled his window down to see Nico, Wren, and Anton eyeing the dog. "She seems friendly enough," Wren said with a small smile.

The dog went up and smelled each person in turn and actually licked Nico's before turning back to Zane for another scratch. "Odd thing if you ask me," Nico said.

"Okay, Nico stay here with her since she approves of you. I'm going to check on Whisper with Wren and introduce them." Zane slowly got out of the truck and shut the door, enclosing the dog inside. She whined, scratching at the window for him. The other three chuckled as the Alpha smiled at his new friend, then led Wren inside.

"No wonder you want her out of here!" Wren gasped as she looked around.

Zane nodded and went up to the desk. "Whisper please."

The woman there looked up with wide eyes. "She isn't here anymore."

"What do you mean, she isn't here?"

"Exactly as the nice lady said, now get out of here!" Zane and Wren turned around to see Whisper's care taker glaring at them.

"Where is she?" Zane hissed.

"Certainly dead if you read the paper!"

"Dead?" Wren gasped and Zane turned and left.

When he got to the truck, he saw the dog sitting on the driver's seat watching him curiously. The poor animal did remind him of someone, but he had other things to worry about. "Nico, take my truck. Drive back to the pack. I'm taking the dog on a run."

He opened the door and whistled once, and the dog obeyed. She stood at his side, rubbing against his leg with her body. Nico grabbed the keys from him and nodded. "Is she a shifter?"

"She says so."

"Says so?"

"I asked her questions, not really expecting her to respond." Zane shrugged and started walking. "See you at home."

Beside him, the female dog yipped happily. Zane found a blanket in the bed of his truck and started towards the forest. He smiled at the dog, even if he was worried about Whisper.