Animal's Sanctum

Walking back into the sanctuary after a day of work I am greeted with the whines of the wolf. It was almost impossible to walk away from him this morning. Last night I ended up staying the night with the wolf, outside of the cage.

I was going to be going home to a cold home anyways at least I had a friend to camp with. For that I earned a sore neck and pretty sore tailbone. It wasn’t an ideal night to begin with. In the morning I called my brothers and they were kind enough to bring me food for not only myself but the wolf. I got a lot of weird looks when they came in.

I chuckled when the wolf growled at the pair, scared the daylights out of Abe. Mac hid his fear a little bit more. I had to explain what was going on, and they thought that I was nuts. Rolling my eyes at their reprimanding session, that was until one of them called me stupid for not talking to the family about it.

And the wolf launched himself at the cage, rattling the hell out of both of them. I just snickered because of it. Then we went to investigate the house. And it is in need of a lot of repairs, a lot more than I was hoping for. Abe said that the foundation was in great condition and it has a beautiful structure.

It was good to hear that it had strong bones, but that just adds a lot more to fix up. Like the plumbing, for both the sanctuary and the house. I don’t doubt that the HVAC units are going to at least need to be serviced.

The two story home is set pretty far back from the sanctuary, so at least there is some kind of privacy from visitors. I do have to admit that the house has a lot of potential and I can’t ignore the fact that it will make a beautiful home - at some point. Sadly I feel like that some point is going to be far in the future.

Walking back into the Sanctuary both Abe and Mac went on to explain everything that would need to be fixed. And that was a big sucker punch to the belly. The floors are ruined and they will need to be ripped out. Mac even suggested that the sub flooring might be damaged and will need to be replaced.

My night was long but the day just seemed to be a lot longer. Walking through the door into the wolf’s enclosure I manage to trip over the same spot of flooring that’s buckled. Catching myself I turn and glare at the floor, mentally cursing it.

Hearing a soft yip, draws my attention back to the wolf. I give a tired smile. “Hey big guy, I know you don’t want to be locked up here any longer. I promise you’ll get to run free tomorrow.” Walking to the back of the room, I slide away a panel and pull open the door that leads into a small outdoor enclosure.

I watch as he makes his way outdoors and starts to move along the enclosure sniffing around. At one point he pauses and starts moving with a new found purpose. A soft growl can be heard as he makes his way, like he’s following a scent. That of course sets me on edge as I watch his movements.

I watch as his hackles raise and I start gnawing on my lip slightly concerned as to what scent he’s picked up. Pulling out the things I had bought not only for my dinner but for his. I start to cut up the steaks, since I couldn’t go out and get a fresh deer for him, steak is going to have to do.

Putting it into a bowl I grab the jug of water I had bought. This morning while inspecting the place I turned on a faucet and I didn’t like what I saw or smelt. I was thankful that there was already water out for him, but I still want to replace it.

I look out at the wolf and see him still intensely sniffing around. Furrowing my brow I step closer to the window, pulling open the enclosure door. I watch more closely as he moves around the enclosure, sniffing for something.

The soft growl that falls from his lips only raises more questions. It’s not like I’m going to be getting a set of answers from him. I roll my eyes at myself closing the door and finishing getting ready to feed him dinner. Hearing my phone ring, I look down seeing Abe and Missy’s picture lighting up the screen.

“Hello?” Leaning against the table I look over the room, it really needs to be cleaned at the minimum.

“Kim, Missy and I were talking, and we wanted to pitch you an idea.” That worries me a bit coming from Abe, it’s not that I don’t trust him. He just has some really interesting ideas.

“Should I be worried?” He chuckles, the chair he sits in creeks loudly.

“No not at all. It was about your house, Missy wanted to see if once you get it fixed up we could get it off your hands?” Once I get it fixed up?

“Are you planning on helping me foot the bill, or even help fix it up?”

“Well of course I’d help. I’ll even make Mac come and help out, maybe while we fix it up, you can get the stuff for the Sanctuary figured out.” He decides to remind me and I wince, yeah I need to get this up and running to make a damn profit.

Rolling my eyes at that thought, I can’t forget the fact that I’ll need to put my money into the house on the property. Isn’t that a wonderful thought, the money I get from Kyle, goes straight into anything but my back account.

“What about your apartment?”

“Missy and I want to have a family. The apartment isn’t big enough, plus you have a bit of land there, I think it’ll fit us nicely. And since you have two and a half acres, it’ll work great.” He answers, it’s logical, plus it would be less of a hassle. I bounce the idea around in my head for a moment.

“Even once that is completely fixed up, I still have the house here to fix up. I need to get it livable before I can move out.” He sighs, thinking over the new information.

“Well we can both work on the projects. How much left do you have to do with your current home?” This makes me sigh, my hand grabbing the end of my ponytail, playing with it.

“I wanted to get the drain fixed in the second bathroom, change some of the fans. The HVAC unit is going to be checked out tomorrow. But if you are going to be moving in with Missy, I don’t know what you are going to want to change.” Hearing a rattling I pause and look out the window, shoving off of the desk I look outside, curious at the noise.

“From what I remember the place was looking good. I can bring Missy out Sunday and we can look around and see what we want to keep and want to change.” I nod, peering out into the enclosure, with the sun setting it’s hard to see the wolf’s black fur.

“Yeah that’ll work, don’t make it early though. I want to sleep in on Sunday, I’ve had one hell of a week.” Squinting my eyes, I try and see movement, yet can find none.

“Your week to be on call?”

“Yeah, that among other things. Listen I got to go, we’ll talk more about it Sunday alright?” I ask, heading for the door to walk outside, where is the wolf?

“Ok, I’ll see you Sunday Kim.” With that he hangs up even as I pull the door open turning on the flashlight on my phone. Looking around I scour the area, my heart pounding, how the hell did I manage to lose a wolf?

Maybe he’s just laying down somewhere, hurt? With that thought I move through the enclosure, thoroughly. Pausing as I stare up towards the sanctuary, he’s gone? Turning my eyes towards the fence I debated, the wolf was large. The fence is over ten feet, so I guess it’s not impossible.

Rubbing my forehead, I heave a sigh. I don’t know, the wolf isn’t in here, so he must have jumped. I’m not sure why he would, I mean he is wild, but it’s not like there was an incentive. Not that I know of anyways, sighing, I don’t want a migraine.

I didn’t even get to check his wound, what about the bandages? Rolling my eyes, I said that I didn’t want a migraine yet here I am thinking about it all. I might as well eat my damn dinner. Heading inside I close the door to the enclosure, and the gate locking it up.

Sitting down at the desk I pick up my sub taking a bite. This place is a big responsibility, looking into the indoor enclosure, I see the strange fake greenery, not really sure what this was supposed to be. I do want to start working with exotic animals, so this is a really good thing to have already.

Not to mention the other areas, the other indoor enclosures, I do have the space to work with and rehabilitate exotic animals. That’s something we aren’t set up for at the clinic. Plus it’s on a hundred acres of land, lot’s of space to expand and create natural habitats.

Finishing my half sub, I put the cubed steak in a plastic bag, I guess I’m having steak tips one night for dinner. Grabbing my things, I shut off the lights taking one last look around. Leaving the building after I lock the front door I get in my truck and head home.

It’s been a long past few days, I never got to pamper myself. Chuckling at that thought, who knows I might actually get to take a hot bath and then freeze as I attempt to get dressed quickly. That’s the worst part about the heat being out.

Normally I take my time drying off and getting dressed. Now it’s like I’m in a race to beat hypothermia. The wood stove only heats so much of the home, I’m not really sure why the smaller unit was installed in the first place. I just enjoy the smell of a fire if I’m being totally honest.

Abe’s offer pops back into my head, I can’t argue that it won’t be a good deal. Especially if I can get Missy and him to contribute to the remodeling. Because let’s face it, I need to put a lot of my money into the sanctuary, and the rest towards at least a few rooms of the house. Just when I was getting used to the fact of being able to relax on weekends.

The clinic had finally gotten to a good place, great client base, regular hours. Now it’s like I’m starting all over. I’m getting flashbacks of that fun time, shivering at the thought. At least I know a lot more now, back then we were running at that dream without a clue.

To be fair, this time will hopefully go a lot smoother. At least that’s what I’m shooting for at this point. Pulling into the drive I get out, making my way inside I feel like a zombie. The cold interior doing nothing for me.

I know I have to get up early, but at least I’ll have heat tomorrow night. Stopping in the kitchen I place the steak in the freezer. Grabbing the lighter I head for the living room getting to work on starting the wood stove.

One of the downsides, it takes a hot minute for it to push enough heat for the downstairs not to mention the upstairs. Looking over at the couch, I sigh. Screw it, I’ll sleep on the couch tonight, not like anything else this week has been going my way.