Iris was furious. Exceptionally so. She had decided to stay by his side, and he was taking her away? Why? What did she do? No matter how she thought about it, none of it made sense.
He seemed amused by her, found her beautiful, and he had the funds to keep her, so why not? Why did he want to get rid of her?
She screamed at him in disbelief, but he ignored her, sitting down in his car and driving them away. Iris curled up into a ball in the giant box, in which she kept sliding back and forth, and screamed from time to time to make sure he didn't forget about her unhappiness.
When he brought her out, she became even more horrified. This was an animal shelter! He couldn't be this cruel, could he? A shudder ran down her body.
Upon entering, there were cages all around. The animals may be treated well here, but they were in cages! Cages! Iris didn't want to be locked up like a wild creature. Couldn't imagine being confined for days on end like that.
What if she went mad? She was a normal girl, not some crazy maniac to be locked up in prison! She tried to console herself that she was undeniably cute so someone would certainly pick her up in no time, but it didn't help much. A random person didn't necessarily equal a good person. They might mistreat her, or have kids that would torture her every day.
Her screams became even shriller, and she pushed herself to the other side of the carrier, as far away from the opening as possible. If she pretended that it didn't exist, could she return a couple hours in time and stay there for a lifetime?
Kyro found it almost impossible to enter the shelter. The fennec was screaming like he was killing it, terrified beyond belief. Kyro wished like never before to just turn around and leave, but that wasn't right. He glanced at the little fox hiding in the corner of the giant carrier, then swiftly looked away.
He soon passed through the cages, not interested in the animals there. He had more important problems at the moment.
At the front desk sat a middle-aged woman with a name tag of Sharon. Upon hearing the fennec's screams she rushed out from the counter and came up to him, her face full of anger.
"What did you—" She quieted down when she saw that he wasn't doing anything to his pet, just carrying it. "Is something wrong?" she asked, a bit calmer now.
"I don't know," Kyro answered, bringing the carrier up to look at the fennec as they walked to the counter. "I called to you before, it's about the fox. It was fine while in my apartment, but the moment I put it into the carrier, it started screaming and hasn't stopped since."
"Poor thing, let's get him out of it then," the woman said, taking the carrier from his hands. Kyro wasn't happy about it, but he let her do so. He was here to give away the fox, so he should stop with his possessiveness.
When Sharon opened the door, the fennec didn't move. It didn't even lift its head. "Poor boy, are you scared?" she whispered, her voice soft and soothing. The fox didn't reply, so the woman extended her hand to pet it. "He's shivering all over!"
She tried to take it out, but the moment she thought to do so, the little fox dived under her hand and out. The woman was used to pets trying to escape, but the carrier was usually just the right size, so they wouldn't have an easy time of it while she blocked it. However, this time, the fox could fit in a palm while the carrier was designed for a six kilogram monster that was Lucifer, Kyro's black Norwegian Forest Cat.
"Catch it!" the woman shouted out, but it was an unnecessary warning.
Instead of trying to escape, the little fox rushed at Kyro, not caring for the fact that if he was the least bit slow, it would drop to the ground from quite high up. Kyro wasn't slow, however. He swiftly secured the little creature that had crashed into his chest and caressed its shivering body.
"It's okay, okay," he whispered to the fox, hoping to calm it down, but it was having none of it.
The fennec screamed at him, while looking with betrayal written in its eyes. It even clawed at his chest. Kyro was glad that its nails weren't sharp enough for a moment, before focusing back on what was important.
He smiled sheepishly at Sharon. "I'm sorry. It's been just a day, I found it yesterday evening, but it seems to have already attached itself to me…"
"Happens." The woman nodded, not surprised. "You'll just have to hold it while I check for the chip."
"All right."
This passed easily enough. But the moment the woman checked the data in the computer, her face scrunched up unhappily.
This couldn't be a good sign. Kyro's hands instinctively tightened on the little fox in his hold as he leaned over to see what was there. "What is it?" he asked in a voice much colder than before.
The woman waved him away. "Nothing."
"You mean there's no chip?" he asked, incredulous.
"No, there's one." Kyro's heart dropped back to the ground. "But it's a placeholder. I've never seen anyone do that before." She then proceeded to read from the screen. "Owner Name: Foxy Fox, Pet Breed: Fennec Fox, Description: Sandy brown, with lighter paws and face, Per Name: Fox, Birth Date: 2018-02-07. The rest is like that as well."
"What does that mean?" Kyro asked, not daring to believe what he was hearing. Didn't this mean that the fennec wasn't linked to any person? At least for now?
The woman smiled at him. "I can see the fox isn't the only one who already got attached. Oh, don't pretend, we both know its the truth. Who wouldn't love such a cutie?" She laughed at his embarrassment, but soon she became serious again. "Do you think you can keep it? And give it everything it needs? An exotic pet isn't the same as another dog or cat, just with a different appearance, they require more patience and more expenses to take care of."
"I know," Kyro said, looking down at the little fox in his hold. It calmed down at this moment, but its stare was just as penetrating. "I will take good care of it," he promised, both to the shelter worker and the fox.
"All right, though I'll still need you to file a Found report and have the fox checked out at the vet."
Kyro agreed with a nod, still somewhat dazed by the turn of events. He was going to keep it? Really? Joy filled his heart, but there was worry alongside it as well. A placeholder information on the chip? That didn't sound right. There was something fishy about this.
But for now, he pushed those thoughts away. He was going to keep the little beauty, that was what was important at the moment.
And the fox seemed to agree. It cooed at him, then put its head on his hand and relaxed. The shivering and screaming now seeming like the things of the past.
Did that mean he was forgiven for scaring it by bringing it outside without any warning? For some reason, Kyro doubted it.