2. Grey

My God it's pitch-dark,why did I get a bug up my ass? I'm always so impatient. Could have waited for some backup and either another fucking flashlight or been smart and waited for daylight. Should have gotten more information from Jeffries so I would have a better understanding to where the incident took place. Thank God Ollie reacted so quickly because I didn't want to leave the kid alone. But I couldn't with a good conscience just wait around, knowing some assholes were torturing some innocent animal for no apparent reason except to be mean-hearted.

Parking my truck off of the dirt road Jeffries described to me, I get out grabbing my one flashlight and look around. I can see there was some heavy traffic on this road so must have the right location, if I'm not mistaken. As I make my way to where the road and grass meet, looks like someone might have fallen here. Probably poor Jeffries, I think to myself as I make my way on the flat patch. Stopping, I think I hear a strange noise and I wait, but nothing, so I keep going, making sure to give a wide swing with the hand that is holding the flashlight. The farther I walked the more that unusual noise hits my ears, though I'm not able to make it out. My light picks up how all the grass, and I mean all of it, is trampled to shit. Looks like someone threw a massive party, all that's missing is a firepit surrounded by empty beer cans and bottles.

As I swing my flashlight around, something catches my eyes. What I see I can't believe. Those motherfuckers. On the ground is a huge lump of fur and even from this distance, I can see the animal is in distress. As I jog toward it, I'm finally able to put the noise I was hearing to this poor animal. Not only is the muzzle taped shut but there is duct tape covering one of the nostrils on its nose. It is slowly dying by asphyxiation. I feel my heart pounding as I skid to my knees and, even though this is a wild wolf, it doesn't show any signs of aggression. I immediately find the end and pull the tape off the nostril. I hear a huge breath pulled in and then let out.

Next, I'm struggling to try to find the end for the bunch wrapped around the snout. For Christ's sake, I don't even have a pocketknife on me. As I'm struggling, I almost piss myself when a huge-ass hunting knife is shoved in my face. I literally fall on my ass before jumping up in a fighting stance. My eyes instantly look into the blackest pits of hell I've ever come across. Phantom barely glances at me because all of his attention is on the injured wolf. He drops to his knees, gently rubbing his hands up and down the large wolf's body.

"Grey, move your ass, come on, we need to get this shit off his muzzle. Hold his head still while I work on the duct tape. Come on, man, this is life or death, Marine."

As we work as a team the wolf never moves, growls, or anything. I can barely make out the amber eyes that seem to be assessing the two of us. Once the tape is cut as gently as possible, Phantom pulls the tape off, which takes some fur and skin. I hear a tiny whimper but that's it. As Phantom stands, I feel a hand on my shoulder, which freaks the ever-lovin' shit outta me.

"What the fuck is wrong with you two? Trying to give me a heart attack? What… did you two follow me? Why would you do that? Told you I had a handle on this."

Spirit gives the stink eye to Phantom then looks at me. When she raises that eyebrow, I wait for it. She doesn't let me wait too long.

"Grey, obviously you didn't have it. What were you going to do, chew the duct tape off that animal's muzzle? Then what? It could have turned and bit your face off. And don't you think it's better to have too many hands than not enough? Now let's assess that wolf so we can figure out our plan and then get the fuck outta of Dodge."

I stare at her for a few seconds then look at Phantom, as he is slowly and methodically checking every inch of the wolf. He swears under his breath when he goes to check the bottom of the paws. Looks like some asshole used the wolf's paws as an ash tray. I swear to Christ, if I find out who these bastards are, I'll be using the bottom of their feet to smash out some cigarettes. When I look up, I notice the wolf's eyes are watching me closely. Those eyes seem to look into my very soul, which is pretty eerie. As we continue to stare at each other, it's almost like I can see the horrific scenes this wolf recently suffered through. It is like the wolf is in shock but when his eyes keep shifting to a spot behind me, my gut tightens. Something doesn't feel right so I turn and give Spirit a look with a determined chin lift. I start walking that way and she follows closely behind.

When I hear the first whine, I start to run. As I get closer to the tree line, I see a lump of something on the grass. I hear Spirit swearing behind me as we approach a second wolf in really bad shape. When we get close, it hits us it's much worse than we even thought. It's a female wolf severely tortured from the looks of it, already in active labor. Spirit immediately starts pulling the two pups out of their amniotic pouches since it seems mom isn't able to perform this herself. As I start to assess the female, I notice her body tensing and when I look toward her lower half, I see she's again delivering another pup. I see her struggle to try and bend back but she can't, so I carefully lift the newborn, tear the pouch, and put the pup by mom's face. She immediately starts to lick and clean it. My God, as much pain as she must be in, she's doing her duty as a momma wolf. I almost shit myself when I see movement and a wolf is stalking our way.

"Don't worry, Grey, it's the big male wolf we were working on. As soon as I cut all the duct tape off his legs, he tried to stand. I had to help him up but immediately he wanted to follow you both this way, so I let him. Holy shit, another wolf and, fuck, is she in active labor? How many has she had and are they a live? Goddamn, we need to find the fuckin' assholes responsible for this, Grey. Let me call Ollie, see if Paisley can help or if she knows someone who would be willing to help. Folks out here are pretty brutal with wolves, obviously."

"Thanks, Phantom, bring my truck down here, would ya? Not sure how they are gonna be when we try to load them up, but this female needs medical attention, stat."

As the male comes up to the female and nuzzles her, it hits me that these animals aren't much different than we are. It touches me deeply to see the affection between the two, especially when Spirit places the two pups next to the other pup. The female immediately starts licking and cleaning while the male sniffs each pup. Spirit kneels beside me, her eyes on the damage done to the female wolf.

"Strange, looks like they tortured the female but no duct tape on her anywhere. You would think if it was a rancher doing this shit, the one to kill would be the pregnant female. Why leave her alive and then torture the male, including duct taping his mouth shut, so eventually he won't be able to breathe with the tape over one nostril? Something isn't right here, Grey. Seems like amateurs playing a game."

Hearing my truck, we both turn to see Phantom pulling up alongside of us. After putting it in park, he shuts it off and jumps down.

"Reached out to Ollie and Paisley. She said she could try and help with these wolves, but gave me the phone number for a woman who runs, under the radar, some sort of wolf haven. Paisley said to mention her name, though not sure how this Abigale will react. All we can do is reach out and see if she will help us. If she won't, Paisley said bring them back to the sanctuary. Oh, Jeffries is gonna make it, but he'll be really sore and bruised up for the next couple of days, if not longer."

Looking at both Phantom and Spirit, I rub my hands through my hair. We have to do what we can for this family of wolves since it was humans who put them in this position. Otherwise, they would be in their den enjoying the little pups' arrival.

"Phantom, give me the number. I'll call the woman now. Can you two try to get them loaded up in the back of my truck? No, I mean back seat, don't want to have them exposed to the weather."

I get up and step around to the back of the truck, saying a quick prayer that this Abigale woman will have a heart to help these animals. I dial the number Phantom handed off to me. It rings two times before I hear it connect.

"Hello."

"Hi, is this Abigale?"

"Who is this and what do you want?"

"Hi, my name is Grey and I got your number from Paisley out at the Blue Sky Sanctuary. We found a male and female wolf that have been badly tortured. The female is in active labor and currently has three live pups. We were told you might be able to help us, that's why I'm reaching out and calling you so late. Is this something you can give us a hand with?"

I wait, looking at the phone after about a minute of total silence to make sure we are still connected. Don't want to pressure her, but need to know where we are gonna be able to take these wolves to be treated. I hear her clear her throat.

"Um, Grey, yeah, you can bring them here. All I ask is you don't tell anyone about me or my ranch. I'm operating under the radar, so to speak. Let me give you the address. How many are going to be with you, and what are they driving?"

Sounds like Abigale has had some issues with the ranchers and farmers in the area. I'm sure the assholes involved probably tried to intimidate her to leave her land. Well, that's not what any of us are about. And I've never understood the reasoning behind all the hatred of the majestic wolf. They keep the ecosystem in balance. Though not my mission, so I thank Abigale for her kindness and turn to move to the front of the truck. I see that both the male and female are in the back seat of the truck and both Spirit and Phantom are carrying the pups to their parents, I'm guessing. When they are done, both of them walk toward me.

"So is she gonna take them, Grey?"

"Yeah, Phantom, she is. Follow me to the ranch. She seems skittish so don't want to show up alone. Already told her your names and what you drive, so best get a start. Oh, even though you both scared the shit outta me, thanks for the assist. I appreciate it."

They both nod, then jog to get to their truck. I start up, look behind me to make sure they are okay, then begin the drive to get these guys to Abigale, who will take care of them. That's all we can ask for.