Santa Monica. 29/03/2013. 22:55.
Sitting on the couch of the living room, Nathaniel was playing with Jaydon, his usual book all but discarded to the side. Now that she was washed regularly and had put on weight after five days of very nourishing meals consisting of raw meat, the cat had boundless energy. Even if he was wild and was absolutely not cuddly, he still liked to play. Right now, he was trying to catch Nathaniel fingers with his two paws and failing every time.
But Nathaniel could clearly see it in his demeanor, this cat was a predator and it was showing. After talking at length with the veterinarian, Nathaniel learned that these cats were rather small. When they reach adulthood, they will be around 35 inches long, 12 inches in height and weigh around 8 pound. Despite this, this breed of cat was preying on horned viper in the desert like they were mice. In fact, for some African tribes, this cat was known as a snake hunter.
Even if it was supposed to be a predator, Nathaniel could not help to think that Jaydon was just adorable. Her fur was the color of the sand except for a few spots. She had almost a bronze stripe on her back, black stripes on her tail and white fur under her chin and on her stomach. What was amazing was that the last sighting of this breed of cat in their natural habitat was in 2005, despite hundreds of cameras put in the desert since, no shot had come up. Furthermore, even among those that were raised in captivity, none managed to be domesticated as they were just too wild.
Despite that, Nathaniel could get close to Jaydon and even play with her. It was not easy to do and it was challenging at times but worth it in the end. The veterinarian guessed that it was only possible because of the bond that Jaydon shared with Andy. There were more cases of animals of different breeds and races bonding together in a stressful environment. The more impressive and documented case was when three animals who just got rescued refused to be separated. The three being an american black bear, a bengal tiger and an african lion.
Looking at Andy on the side, he was lying down on the carpet looking asleep but sometimes he would open his eyes a bit to look at them and then go back to sleep once he was sure that everything was alright. Nathaniel had received the DNA test result for Andy and it confirmed what the veterinarian had said and also brought a bit of surprise. Andy was in fact at 82% an Eurasian Grey Wolf and 18% a Siberian Husky. The Eurasian Grey Wolf was a subspecies of the Grey wolf family, they were known to be the smartest of the wolf kind. They also had the more complexe family system in the animal kingdom.
Where dogs have a sense of smell thirty five times more powerful than a human, the Eurasian Grey Wolf had a sense of smell a hundred times more powerful than a human. That's why they were able to smell emotions and even intent even if the last one was never scientifically proven. In the last few days, it has become a challenge to keep Andy calm. He had no problem with Jaydon and Nathaniel who he sought often for affection but he was aggressive with everyone else and it was a problem because there were a lot of people that were moving in and out of the house. His grandparents at first, and then the maids, the construction worker and of course their security.
The construction workers were here to build a patio all in glass at the back of the house to use as a shelter for Andy and Jaydon. It had a nice opening and view and also plenty of sleeping space when it was nighttime. For Jaydon, the ground was essentially composed in sand where she could dig a burrow to sleep or even hunt. Nathaniel had also had to build a huge fence around the property to protect people from Andy and Jaydon. He had managed to get the official permission to keep his wolf and cat but he had an obligation to protect the public from them. He also had to stay open to requests from researchers to look at Andy and especially Jaydon even if he was entitled to oppose any experiment to be conducted on them if he thought it was not in their best interest.
Looking at these two furballs with affection, Nathaniel will never put them through any kind of experiment. Just the thought of it was making him sick to his stomach. Even if he knew they were dangerous intellectually, he could not help to find them just adorable. He also knew that he was also more dangerous than these two and other people think of him as adorable so maybe it was only a question of perspective. Seeing Jaydon flutter her two large ears before turning in the direction of the door, Nathaniel stops playing. He had read that the Sand Cat ears were this large for two purposes. The first was to help hear their prey more effectively and the second was to just cool off. In the desert, their fur was able to store the heat of the day to survive the coldness of the night when they were hunting and they could purge the heat by their ears when they were in danger of overheating.
That's when Andy lifts his head and starts sniffing in the direction of the door, he starts growling soon after. Smiling at these two, Nathaniel focused his own abilities and picked people approaching the house. His phone put on the coffee table earlier vibrated once before falling silent, marking the signal that he was waiting for.
"Good job little buddies, it seems our guests have arrived. Easy Andy." Nathaniel lifted his finger which immediately stopped his growling, he did not stop however to look in the direction of the door.
Getting to his feets, Nathaniel walks to the front door, opens it and then gets back to the couch where he starts cleaning the coffee table of the books he had opened earlier to study before being stolen away by his pets. After he was done, he took his phone between his hands and started going to Twitter and Instagram waiting for them to arrive. At first, he had put pictures of Andy and Jaydon on social media to gather attention from the people that were looking for them but it was quickly becoming a drug as they were just too cute. The fact that his followers were always asking for more pictures did not help either. Even Taylor wanted more pictures of Jaydon as she loved cats. Looking at his notification, the picture that he took of Jaydon sleeping on top of Andy's head had become his most liked tweet ever with hundred and eighty two hundred thousand likes, seventy thousand retweets and eleven thousand answers.
Nathaniel kept his eyes on his phone, reading the most liked answers, discovering that others stars had commented on it and answering them when he had something to say, just liking when he had nothing to say. He knew that at least two people had passed the front door and more were coming but he didn't care to look in their direction and acknowledge their presence so soon.
"Andy, stop growling please, be nice."
That's when the fifth men pass the door that Andy starts growling back up and with more animosity that he ever hears coming from him and even Jaydon starts hissing which prompts Nathaniel to look at the person in question. He was 6'3' and was at least 300 pound big. He was bold with a huge scar on his scalp and he also had tattoos all over his body, Nathaniel could tell that he was in the mid forties or early fifties. He was the more powerful of the five which was impressive considering that he didn't have a weapon beside a long jagged dagger on his belt.
The other four were arranged in an arc around him, three mens and a woman. They were all in their thirties and had a handgun or a shotgun in hand. Only one man had a tranquilizer gun on his back. They also all add a knife or two on their person and they were looking like they knew how to use them.
"Mister Lyndon, forgive me for coming unannounced and entering like that but to our discharge, the door and the gate were wide open." The man said in a dignified voice, walking forward.
"I understand, I would invite you to sit but I don't know your name. We seem to be at a disadvantage here."
"Bernard Breiheim." The man said before sitting in the chair that was near Nathaniel.
"Mister Breiheim, I presume that you are here for a reason. Do we have a business you want to talk about?" Nathaniel asked calmly.
"Ah yes, this is where it gets difficult. You hold in your possession something that is rightfully mine. I would like to get it back."
"I see now, can I ask about what is yours that I have in my possession? Let me tell you that I don't take kindly to being called a thief in my own home, Mister Breihem." Displeasure leaking from Nathaniel's mouth.
"It was not my intention really, I have huge respect for you and your family Mister Lyndon, I'm afraid that this is just a misunderstanding. You know before you found the cat and the wolf here, they were mine, they just escaped. I will of course compensate you for the time and money you invest in them if you were to return them to me." He said, generously.
"Mister Breiheim, I'm afraid that this is not possible. You see, I'm the owner of Andy and Jaydon here both officially and legally. I would also advise you to not make wild claims like that, after all considering the unorthodox way they come to get into the country, it could bring a lot of legal issues your way. I would hate to see you and your associate over there go to jail for such a frivolous declaration."
Seeing the man starting to drop his dignified facade and get angry, Nathaniel added something.
"However, I'm not a completely unreasonable person. I understand that he took some effort to bring these two beautifuls animals here and I'm willing to pay for them. You are a businessman after all, no?"
"I am in fact a businessman and in other cases I would be willing to cooperate but in this case this is simply not possible. These two are already spoken for by important people that even myself are not willing to cross. I would be open to provide you with other rare and exotic animals at a discounted price if you were to help me in this instance." He tried again.
"Sorry but I can't either, they are my pets after all." Nathaniel shook his head.
"It's a pity really, at least I can say I tried." He shook his head before getting to his feet. "I know your grandfather's reputation but the people I work with are equally or even more ruthless than him. It's just too bad that you didn't accept when you had the chance. Kill him and take the cat and the crossbreed." Bernard ordered his people before turning his back on Nathaniel like he was already dead.