Make Me Howl Read Free Page B

Lycan blessing. The worst thing she’d inherited was straight hair. “I’ve got to go. I have some things to take care of.”
    Norman turned to watch Bella’s rear as she walked away then moved closer to my cage. “He’s a mean one, Doc. Maybe we should test him for rabies.”
    Doc didn’t answer Norman as he gazed at me. His blue eyes were dark this morning, almost midnight blue, which made me wonder if he’d had a rough night.
    He took a long breath then blew it out as he shook his head. “She.”
    “Say whut ?
    “This is a female wolf. A bitch.” His tone of voice as he said the word made the anger inside me explode. Did he just enjoy saying the word that describes female canines and nasty women?
    Unable to bear being so near Norman, I paced in front of the bars. Exhausted and thirsty, I wanted nothing more than a drink of cool water and to lie down for a nap—just not while they were watching.
    “So what are we going to do with her?” Norman asked. Hunkering down like a caveman, he poked the end of a choke stick into my cage to see if I would go for it. What kind of idiots did he think wolves were? As if a wild animal didn’t know the difference between an inanimate object and a walking, talking man? Besides his poking, the tone of his voice, the way he said the words, even his breathing irritated me.
    How would his blood taste as it spurted from torn flesh to pour hot across my tongue and down my throat. Salty? Tart? Nasty because of his ancient aftershave?
    I was tired of Norman’s staring. Licking my lips, I lowered my head and stared at him as I had the night before. After a moment I started a low growl deep in the back of my throat then very slowly crouched as I lifted the hair on my back.
    He started sweating, his face drained and, again, he turned ogre green. Scrambling to get up from his squat, he dropped the pole as he landed on his butt in the dirt. Just where he belonged.
    Rolling clumsily to his knees, he got to his feet and hurried away. Now I turned my stare on Doc. For all his good looks, I’d grown tired of his company, too.
    But he just continued to look at me, even when I upped my growl decibels. “You are something to look at, Beauty. You go right ahead and growl if it makes you feel better. Being caged must be hard when you’re used to the wild.”
    After several incredibly long moments, Bella strolled back to stand near Doc, but from the way she was breathing, I knew she’d run all the way there. While she was gone, she’d put on a white smock that said Veterinarian Bella Cannis over the pocket.
    Too bad I couldn’t ask her if that was so she wouldn’t forget who she was.
    “What do you think, Doc?” Bella’s voice was huskier than usual. Worrying over me, her sister-in-the-can must have been a little much for her. “What are we going to do about this wolf?”
    “Do?” He shook his head. “She doesn’t belong to Safari Land just because she came around to make our party more exciting.”
    “So we turn her loose?” Bella looked at me while she spoke.
    “Yeah, we turn her loose.”
    But Bella pushed the subject. “Do you think she might have come from Lost Canyon?”
    Doc frowned, probably trying to figure why always-busy Bella cared. “That’s as good a guess as any, and it’s not that far as the crow flies, so it makes sense. I’ll tell Tony to take the old mail route and release her near the canyon. If that’s not her normal territory, she’ll find her own way home.”
    “Why don’t we take her?” Bella asked. I wondered if he could hear the desperation in her voice as well as I could.
    “You want to drive all the way to the canyon with her, rather than letting Tony do it?”
    “Sure. Why not?” She nodded until I was afraid her head had come loose. “It’s a gorgeous day and we might get to see some more of her pack.”
    “Fine. I’ll get the key to the truck.” He strode away.
    While he was gone, Bella rushed to the cage door. “When he releases