"Come on Nathaniel, don't play games with us." Robert said, shaking his head.
"No, I swear grandpa, this is not a joke. I really heard something. It was coming from the end of the garden."
"What did you hear, dear?" His grandmother asked.
"I don't really know, it sounds like something between a moan and a squeek. You didn't hear?"
"No, we didn't hear anything but our hearing doesn't match yours at all." Robert sighs.
"He's right dear." Diane seconded.
Nodding, Nathaniel started walking in the direction where the noise came from, his grandparents following along. Arriving at the end of the garden, his focus zero in the hedge that was bordering the property. Walking slowly, he crouched down and was moving the branches away when he heard something growling inside.
"Wait, get away Nathaniel! There is a dog in there!" Robert shouted, pulling him back.
"Don't worry grandpa, you forget what I can do. Even a rabies dog is not fast enough to bite me and we need to know what is in there." Nathaniel said, moving forward on his knees to get a better view as the growling returned.
It was until he moved one of the larger branches that he could finally see what was in there, his grandparents also seeing it.
"Nathaniel, watch out!" His grandfather shouted.
"It's a wolf!" Diane exclaimed, taking a step back in fright.
"Don't shout!" Nathaniel whispers quickly, locking eyes with the eyes of the wolf.
The wolf was crouching between two branches, growling at Nathaniel and was looking ready to pounce on him. It had blue eyes and his head was white while the rest of his fur look grey even if Nathaniel was not sure if it was his real color or the fact that it was covered in dust and mud. Nathaniel could also see the bones protubering from the fur showing that it was famished and he had blood on his paw. He was also very young judging by his size.
"It's not a genuine wolf, it looks like a crossbreed with a dog." Robert said, looking attentively at the wolf.
The wolf/dog was growling even more seeing Nathaniel who kept advancing albeit slowly. Even so, Nathaniel never left the eyes of the canine in front of him, issuing a silent challenge that he knew would be answered.
"Guys back up, the wolf is going to attack me, I will be fine, don't worry." Nathaniel said.
The word had barely left his mouth when the wolf suddenly launched himself at him, his muzzle open wide, ready to bite his head off. Nathaniel grabbed the wolf when he was mid air and slammed his back to the ground. Before he could turn or try to bite Nathaniel's hand, he clamp his jaw on the wolf's throat. Feeling the teeth biting his neck, the wolf immediately went still and started growling which Nathaniel responded with his own growling.
Stunned into silence, Robert and Diane did not know what to do or what to say witnessing the situation. They had never expected something like this to happenned at all. Even if they didn't understand any of it, Diane started to realize something.
"It's almost like they are talking to each other." She said thoughtfully.
"That's impossible." Her husband denied instantly.
Nathaniel and the wolf kept growling at each other until the wolf started whimpering. That's when he finally released his hold on the wolf throat and paw, backing away slightly, he took a sitting position beside the wolf. After cleaning his mouth of the fur and other less appealing things, he lifted his hand in the direction of the wolf who licked it gently in a clear sign of submission.
Seeing the scene, Robert and Diane were completely stunned. Just like that, a feral wolf had turned into a gentle puppy. That's when it looked at them and the wolf started growling again.
"Nope." Nathaniel said, tapping his nose which stopped the growling instantly.
"What the hell?" Robert immediately exclaimed.
"Oh, I should explain. In wolf culture, when you keep looking at them, they see it as a form of challenge, I believe it's why he attacked me even if fear had something to do with it. Once I had my teeth on his throat, he knew that his life was in my hand, that's why he stopped moving. For the growling, I just did what he was doing like I remember it for the documentary I saw on Discovery Channel about wolves when I was nine years old."
"Why did he growl at us?" Diane asked, taking precaution at not getting near the wolf who was sitting beside Nathaniel.
"Because it doesn't know you and you are not a part of his pack. Even if it's a cross breed, it seems that the wolf DNA in him is the most prominent. It also stopped when I told him to because since it's submitted to me, I think it sees me as alpha now."
"Seriously?" Diane asks, surprised.
"Yes but I'm a long way from being an expert, we should talk to someone qualified to answer that. I'm already surprised that what I did worked, I don't want to push my luck further. Wait, there is something else in there!" Nathaniel exclaimed, crawling back into the hedge after hearing a wheezing sound.
Seeing him move back inside, the wolf follows along and even passes in front of Nathaniel before stopping.
"What are you hiding in there?" Nathaniel asked, looking at the behavior of the wolf oddly before making him move to the side.
"Hey, that's a puppy!" Robert exclaimed, seeing a dirty little furry form roll into a ball.
"No, that's a kitten!" Diane immediately corrected.
"What is a wolf doing protecting a kitten? It should not have, I don't know, eat it?" Robert questioned.
Nathaniel on his side was just looking at the kitten and the wolf in turn, the wolf looking almost sheepish in his expression which made Nathaniel laugh.
"Don't worry buddy, I have a weird family too." Nathaniel said, patting the wolf head.
Hearing that, Robert and Diane looked at each other bitterly but made no effort to argue the point. Taking the kitten in his hand with great care, the wolf immediately came to muzzle him gently. The kitten feeling the attention made an almost silent meow. It was so tiny that he could fit in Nathaniel's hand easily and he could also feel that the kitten heartbeat was too weak to be a good sign.
"Grandma, do you know where I can find the best vet in the city?"
"Let me make a phone call and I will have that information for you." Diane answers, seemingly having expected the question.
"Nathaniel, are you really…" Robert starts to say before Nathaniel stops him in his tracks.
"Grandpa, you are going to tell me to not bother with these two and just call animal control. Am I going to listen to you in your opinion?"
"No." Robert admitted.
"Then why bother trying?" Nathaniel shook his head before getting to his feet, the cat in his right hand and the wolf/dog in his left arm. They were so skinny that Nathaniel could lift them both without effort and walk in the direction of the house.
An hour later Nathaniel and his grandmother were in the veterinarian office in downtown LA. True to her word, Diane had to make a single phone call to have the number and the address of the best vet in the city and they had to drive there together, Robert saying he had better things to do than coming along to watch two stray animals getting taken care of.
When they arrived, the veterinarian and his two assistants were already waiting for them in their office. The two assistants were attractive women in their mid twenties wearing scrubs while the veterinarian had a white coat and was a grizzled fifty years old with northern features. Upon arriving, one of the two assistants immediately took the kitten in her care while Nathaniel accompanied the second to make sure that the wolf behaved while he was being washed. Unsurprisingly, the two animals were covered in fleas and ticks and Nathaniel had to wash himself the wolf because it didn't want anyone else to touch him.
Once they were cleaned, the doctor started to examine them closely, even going so far as making them pass radio and taking blood to make sure that they were alright. The test showed that they were just starving and needed water and food to get better. Only the wolf/dog needed more care as he had an infection in his left ear and cut on his two front paws.
After they finished their exams, the wolf/dog and the kitten were put in the same cage at Nathaniel insistence. Seeing the kitten immediately loving itself beside the wolf, the two assistants were surprised to say the least and the veterinarian appeared thoughtful. Once he was finished looking at the test result, he took Nathaniel and his grandmother aside for a private talk.
"Madam and Mister Lyndon, can I ask how did you stumble upon these two please? And can you explain to me how you manage to acquire the wolf trust so fast?"
Explaining what happened, the veterinarian had trouble believing it and looked at Nathaniel like he was crazy. A look that Nathaniel was starting to get used to.
"That was very cra… Courageous of you, Mister Lyndon." He said, recovering quickly. "I believe that the fact that he was in bad shape and very young helped you make him submit but still, crossbreeds are notorious for being very feral and you manage to get through to him, that's an impressive accomplishment."
"Thank you. Can you please tell me what exactly the wolf lineage is? I never saw one like that." Nathaniel asked.
"He's a pretty special case, they both are. Based on my observation, I can tell you that it's a male who must be around ten month old. As for his lineage, I can only guess but I would say a cross between a Grey Wolf and a Siberian Husky. I could do a DNA test to be absolutely sure if you want."
"Please do." Nathaniel said, the veterinarian noting it down on his pad. "What about the kitten?"
"The kitten is even more special than the crossbreed. Based on my observation, I would say she's a pure breed Felis Margarita or commonly known as Sand Cat around three month old. Sand cats like their name entail are the color of sand with sometimes black stripes on their back and paws and they live in the desert. They are mostly located in the Sahara Desert and in the Middle East. The Sand Cat is the most elusive and resilient breed of cat in the world. Since they lived in the most harshest environment, studies about these cats are almost nonexistent and we know almost nothing about them. What we know is that they are not great jumpers or climbers but they are the best diggers. They pass their day in their burrows to avoid the heat and get out at night to hunt. They have fur on their paws to prevent them from being burnt by the sand which also mask their footprints to avoid being tracked by predators. Even in the night, they often crouch down and can close their eyes to prevent them from shining in the dark making them incredibly hard to spot. Their hearing is also twice as strong as other cats which made them able to track prey even from below ground by the frequency of their movement. They usually feed on insects, mice, snakes, anything really to permit them to survive." The veterinarian explained.
"Are they an endangered species?" Nathaniel asked.
"Officially no, but globally we simply don't know. There could be fifty left or thousands, we have no way of knowing. Even about their natural habitat we have conflicted theories. On one hand, they are constantly forced to move because of oil digging to name only this one in the desert and on the other hand with the fact that the desert is growing each year and global warming, their territory is growing. Just in the last century the Sahara Desert grew ten percent bigger. What I do know is that they are protected from selling by universal treaties. In the US we only have about twelve Sand Cats in a plan to conserve them in case of extinction following Desert Storm operations in the Middle East."
"Are they tagged?"
"No they don't have any ships or markings but I didn't expect them to have one. Do you know that wolves never have blue eyes contrary to what tv shows us on multiple occasions? Sometimes young wolves have one because their eyes take time to fully open and they gradually lose that color. For this one to inherit this particular trait from the Husky, it took a lot of effort. When you add the uniqueness of the cat and the fact that they emerged at the same time. It's too big to simply be a coincidence." The veterinarian said, shooking his head.
"So we have an exotic cat and a never seen crossbreed with blue eyes. When you had the fact that they were found in a rich neighborhood and that the wolf had a cutting mark on his paw that would be consistent with the wire that he cut to escape. You think that they were smuggled to be sold on the black market to rich people?"
"Yes, I do. I would estimate the worth of these two in the hundred of thousand US dollars." He said, disgusted.
Even if he was making his living about treating the pets of rich people, the veterinarian was also a well respected academic and he hated braconners with a vengeance. Looking at the two animals eating in the cage, Nathaniel immediately made his mind.
"Can I keep them?" Nathaniel asked, Diane looking at him strangely.
"You could but there will be a lot of challenges." He answers, slowly. "You would need special authorization for the both of them but someone with your background can have those easily. The more complicated will be with the cat, there is so much we don't know about them that less than fifty percent of them raised in captivity never get to see adulthood. There is also the fact that they like to be left alone and will not be cuddly as house cats are. There is also the matter with the smugglers, they will try to find these two considering what their worth is, you would need to keep them hidden."
"I understand, have them shipped and vaccinated please. I will keep them." Nathaniel decided, the veterinarian nodding.
After that, Nathaniel walks to their cage and sits in front of it, watching them attentively. Now that they were cleaned, he could see how their fur was shiny and how cute they were.
"You will be Andy." Nathaniel said, stroking the fur on the wolf head tenderly. "And you will be Jaydon." He adds, doing the same thing to the kitten who was asleep.
After that, he fished out his phone from his pocket and took some pictures of these two before uploading them to his Instagram and Twitter account. Once it was done, he had only one thought.
'Just come find me and try to take them back you piece of shit.'