Reaching out to open the door of the cage the big male lifted his head and growled but Jagger ignored him. Instead he spoke to him softly as he opened the cage and crouched in the open doorway.
“I know you feel like shit and you’re angry that you had to fight one of your own to survive. I totally get it. But I want you to remember that I’m here to help you, to make you feel better and then I’m taking you home with me. You’ll like it at my place, there are a lot of other dogs but you don’t have to worry about them, they aren’t fighting anymore. Your life is about to change, my boy.” Jagger soothed as he slowly reached out to the dog and let him smell his hand.
He waited as the dog made up his mind about whether or not he was going to eat him.
Between them he and Phin moved in and picked up the blanket the dog was lying on. He gave one small whimper as they carried him into the surgery and laid him on the examination table.
Celeste stood in the corner with a pissed off look on her face, still dressed like she was going out to get laid or something. When he ignored her she straightened with a huff and moved towards the door.
“I’ll change into my scrubs and join you in a few minutes.” She threw over her shoulder.
When she was gone Phin shook his head and clicked his tongue in annoyance. Jagger slowly stroked between the dogs ears, one of the few places on his body he didn’t have lacerations.
“She isn’t a good vet, Jag. She sometimes hurts the animals because she’s impatient to get the exams done. We’re taking in too many small animals because she sends the big ones to the vet in Laezonia. We’re a big animal veterinary clinic for the people in our area and now we’re sending them away. Ma-Lynn is going to be so angry when she comes home.”
Jagger knew what he had to do and it would not make him very popular with Celeste.
Lynn had to be informed of what was going on in her absence. She had an agreement with the cops and some of her clients had been coming to her for years. If this carried on much longer she would be losing a lot of those clients to the Laezonia vets.
Jagger watched silently after Celeste stormed back in and started taking care of the dog. Thank fuck he had been partly sedated to keep him calm and had been given something for the pain. And still he whimpered as she roughly manipulated his broken leg for the x-rays.
There and then he decided he’d had enough of her shit.
“I’ll handle arranging him. You take the x-rays you need.” He decisively moved her away from the table.
Her angry snort didn’t affect him in the least as she shut up and took the required x-rays.
Finally the dog was stitched up and his leg put in an opencast so the wounds on his legs were accessible, all done by Phin under her supervision. She was about to fasten a cone of shame around the animal’s neck when Jagger snatched it out of her hands.
“What the hell are you trying to do? He has lacerations on his neck with fuck knows how many stitches. You can’t put that thing on him, it’s going to chafe and open new wounds.”
Celeste gave a sad little nod and handed the cone to Phin who took it and walked out to dispose of it.
“I’m sorry I’m such a bitch. I was bitten by a big dog as a teenager and I find it hard to work on them now.” Her voice was soft and pleading as she glanced at him from under her lashes while she quickly cleaned the space.
Did he believe her? No, because she didn’t have a mark on her and her reaction wasn’t that of a dog bite victim. It was more of a person with no affinity for animals. For a vet that was just plain weird.
“You don’t have any scars.”
“My dad paid for a plastic surgeon to remove them. He didn’t want me to have to deal with the stares when I’m in a bathing suit.” She kept on in the same soft voice and Jagger felt his anger slowly draining away. Did he believe her? He wasn’t sure. She sounded convincing enough to cause him to have doubts.
“You should have told Lynn you had a problem, she would have found someone else to run the clinic while she’s on leave. Most of her work is with big animals and the rescued fighting ring dogs. You knew that when you accepted the job.”
“I thought I would be able to handle it. Please don’t call and tell her what a failure I am.” She had tears in her eyes and Jagger bit back a groan, he hated tears.
“Don’t let it happen again. Next time I will definitely call her.” He said roughly.
He wobbled when she flung herself in his arms but managed to steady them both. What he didn’t expect were her arms around his neck and her lips on his after his treatment of her. He reflexively jerked his head back even as he put his arms around her, but when she tried to force a kiss he pushed her away. She knew very well he never kissed, ever, and he wasn’t about to start that particular argument now either. Not after her poor treatment of the dog and the attitude she met him with on his arrival.
“I have things to get organised for this guy and I still have a lot of work to do before my day is done. I’ll call you if we have problems with the patient.”
Her little girl pout was unexpected and he frowned when he saw it. What was going on with this woman? Maybe he should just cut ties and back the fuck off because he had an idea she was getting attached.
He didn’t do attached. He was into unattached, definitely unattached.
“When will I see you again? You promised we would go out last week and then you cancelled because you had something on at your club. I don’t like being pushed aside for something as silly as your club.” She pouted and suddenly it wasn’t cute or as endearing as she seemed to think it would be.
He wasn’t about to once again get into a discussion about his club, so he ignored her calling his club silly and focused on the problem at hand.
“I don’t know when I’ll have a free evening again. I’ll call you to arrange something.”
“I want you in my bed.” Again with the bloody pout as she stroked a hand down his chest then slipped it underneath his tee and stroked slowly across his abs. Her soft hand felt good on his skin but he shrugged all thoughts of those hands on his body off. He knew what they felt like and granted, they felt really good, but now was not the time or the place to get hard, or to think about fucking her.
“I’ll see what I can do about that.” He didn’t invite her to the clubhouse or to his cottage. It would have been so much easier to arrange an hour or two of fucking before sending her home if he did.
He knew for a fact she wouldn’t fit in at the club, and honestly…he didn’t want her there. She would most probably run her mouth to his brothers and it would cause problems. Problems he didn’t need.
As long as he met her at her place for sex and not at his house he was happy. He wasn’t going to make the same mistake some of his brothers had made. Having a piece of ass in his private space or at the club where his old lady would one day be was not a good idea. And Celeste was definitely not going to be his old lady.
Before shit got more complicated he had to get out of there and back to work.
As ordered Dollar had called in one of the prospects to bring the van to transport the dog to their kennel’s infirmary. Thankfully Celeste went back to work and he waited with the animal until the prospect arrived. With Dollar, Kite and Phin’s help they carried the big boy out and settled him in the back of the van.
After refusing Celeste the kiss she had tried to force on him Jagger wanted out of there before she tried her luck again. He walked out of the clinic and to his bike without another word to the woman. Dragging his hair back he re-did his pony tail, pulled his helmet on and threw his leg over his bike. When he looked up she was standing on the front steps of the clinic staring at him with a pissed of look on her face but with lust in her eyes.
He ignored it. Ignored it because it did nothing for him, his dick didn’t even twitch. She didn’t know that he had vast experience in turning his back on beautiful women and walking away. It had been necessary in his old job.
Jagger shuddered in rev
ulsion as he turned his back on her, started his bike and rode away.
Before he saw her again he would have to think long and hard about why he was still banging the bitch. And calling her a bitch wasn’t wrong, she had been bitchy with the staff the entire time he had been at the clinic. Especially with the receptionist who made the mistake of talking to him and asking after Brutus and Chris. For some reason Celeste seemed to think he had something going on with Chris. As she wasn’t a permanent fixture in his life he hadn’t explained their relationship because it had nothing to do with her. His family was his business.
Jagger had been around enough bitchy club girls to know that the minute he rode away Celeste was going to give the receptionist hell. There was nothing he could do about it.
What he could do something about was keeping an eye on the clinic, and with Phin now having his number he could reach out to him should things go completely off the rails.
Once he rode through the club’s gates he forgot all about Celeste and with Dollar’s help settled the dog in the recovery kennel.
“What are you going to call him? We can’t just keep on calling him ‘the dog’. He won’t settle in that way.” Dollar said quietly from where he was squatting outside the gate to the kennel.
Jagger joined him and looked the big dog over. He was sure that once upon a time the dog had been a beloved pet until he was stolen and dumped into the fighting rings.
He was big with a wide, strong chest and the usual black and tan colouring of a German Shepard. But he was heavier than the dogs you would see at dog shows and was most probably bred as a guard dog and not a show dog. His ears, though scarred, were still upright and his beautiful eyes were golden brown and wary, very wary.
A thought came to him as he crouched there. He wondered if the dog had a breeders tattoo. Going back into the kennel he checked his ears and found an area of scarring inside his right ear. The bastards had sliced into the tattoo causing the scarring that made it impossible to read.
“He used to have an identifying breeders’ tattoo and most probably a microchip in his ear, but the chip is gone and the inside of the ear is too scarred to make sense of the tattoo. We won’t be able to trace his original owners, and that means he’s mine. Once he’s completely awake we’ll sit down and have a conversation about his name.” Jagger ran his fingers through the dog’s ruff and up and around his ears then gave him a gentle scratch under the chin before moving away.
“Let him sleep off the meds. I’ve got the camera up there that will send an alert when he wakes up. Thanks for your help, brother.”
“No problem, I actually enjoy working with the dogs. They don’t talk back and they don’t have stupid tantrums whenever things don’t go their way.” Dollar grouched. “Don’t worry, I’ll check on him in about an hour.” With that he stalked away and Jagger shook his head and grinned.
DC’s little sister was obviously giving Dollar a hard time. He should have expected that shit, you only have to look at DC to know that her little sister wasn’t going to be a walk in the park either.
Locking up behind him Jagger checked the time and sighed as he walked over to his bakkie. No more riding on his bike for him today. Climbing in he settled and set off to check up on the construction teams at the cottages and then at the fence line.
At least tonight he’ll be able to go home, sit back and drink a beer on his veranda without a woman bitching and moaning in his ears.
He no longer felt like spending time with Celeste or making use of her body. He would much rather spend that time with his brand new friend and his brother.
And finding a name for his new friend would be the next step. A good name. A name that said he was strong and a survivor. Tonight would be a good time to sit and discuss it with him.
Jagger smiled as he headed out and lifted a hand in greeting and thanks as Sludge let him out the back gate.
His day wasn’t done, not by a long shot, and he had to get back to work. He was looking forward to introducing their new housemate to Crash.
CHAPTER THREE
Sunny
My day had started long before sunup and one of the reasons was right here in front of me on the table in the surgery. It was one of my kitty cats who required some loving care. Only I wasn’t providing the care today, my new intern was.
I stood to the side and kept a watchful eye as she cleaned Rani’s teeth. Daphne was one of the two interns who had joined us a week ago and would be with us for the next three months. Today I had thrown her into the deep end by scheduling her to work on Rani, our young Bengal tiger.
“Good work, Daphne. Nice and easy and before you know it you’ll be done.” I said in a soothing voice as my intern’s hands shook.
“I don’t want to hurt her.” She mumbled as she carefully continued cleaning.
“You won’t, you have a soft touch and that’s why we picked you as one of our interns.” I praised as I stroked Rani’s big head.
Rani had joined our group of rescued big cats almost a year ago and very soon she would be going on to a permanent and much better home. She had been very sick and emaciated when she was brought in and we almost lost her a time or two but I fought hard and so did she. My big baby needed a good home with carers who would love her as much as I did. And that’s exactly what she was getting.
My girl was going to a tiger sanctuary right here in South Africa where she would be roaming wild and free for the first time in her life. After they taught her how to be wild, that is. I was going to miss her but I would visit once she was settled and had adapted to her new environment.
I loved what I did and had been fortunate enough to be head hunted (haha) by the Wild Fig Sanctuary when I was still a student. I had worked at the sanctuary on weekends, holidays and any other days I could manage throughout my studies before I received my degree in Veterinary Science. I started as a fully-fledged Vet the week after receiving my degree. My boss, David Mabuza, was a man who loved the big cats and taking care of those who had been abused and neglected was his calling. Together we worked on growing the Wild Fig Sanctuary into one of the best in Africa, if not the world. Big cats were sent to us from around the world for rehabilitation and release into better situations than the ones they came from.
Unfortunately not all of our cats were good candidates for release. There were some too physically and emotionally damaged to ever thrive outside of our sanctuary. We gave them a permanent and safe home for the rest of their lives. We cared for them, keeping them healthy happy and comfortable and as free as possible. They were housed in runs with enough space to run, with trees and rocks to climb and comfy hides to sleep in.
One of those who would never leave was my best girl, a black leopard called Dayana, named for the goddess of the hunt, Diana. She came to us as a cub on the cusp of young adulthood from a zoo where she had been kept in a tiny, damp cement cell. Her days had been spent stalking up and down behind the bars or trying to hide in the corner. Humans came to stare and throw shit at her which she was unable to avoid because the bastards who owned the zoo closed the steel door to her sleeping quarters during visiting hours. It ensured that the gawking humans got their bloody money’s worth and Dayana became an absolute head case.
A group of animal activists had heard about her plight and rescued her. We offered her a home when it became clear she would never recover from the abuse she had suffered. She had lost some of her toes because of untreated infections and would therefore battle to survive in the wild. When she came to us she needed around the clock care and as I was the only person on the team not in a relationship at the time it fell to me. It wasn’t easy because my girl was enraged and tried to bite and scratch any chance she got, even when partly sedated. It took a few scratches and one bite before she fully accepted me as hers. While I fought to save her claws and ultimately her paws we had bonded. She trusted me and I trusted her. My girl had never learned how to play because she was removed from her mother and siblings while still much too young. I
made it my mission to teach her how to play and we did, every day. She allowed me in her enclosure and we played wrestling games and I kicked a ball around for her to chase. I made time for her every day. If I could manage it she was my first call every morning, and I made sure she was my last every night.
Her run was off limits to all visitors at the sanctuary because she hated humans. She tolerated the workers who cleaned her run and fed her as long as they kept their distance. Before she was moved into her enclosure I had started planting grasses and shrubs to give her the privacy she craved and it had gradually turned into her own little jungle. Most days she could be found lazing on the outstretched limb of the big wild fig tree that gave the sanctuary its name. Thankfully she could still climb with her remaining claws and loved watching the world go by through pale yellow eyes.
Giving myself a little internal shake I brought my wandering thoughts back to the surgery and to Daphne. While I had been in my head she had finished the cleaning, had checked claws and ears and took her temp and a blood sample. With the exam done Rani was ready to go back to her run.
We lifted her with the winch over to the collapsible gurney and then wheeled her out of the surgery and back to her sleeping area where one of my assistants would monitor her as she recovered from the sedation. She would be groggy for a bit but soon shake it off.
“Well done, Daphne. You did well and now our Rani has sparkly clean teeth again.” I teased and praised at the same time.
She grinned wide and her short pony tail bobbed as she nodded. “It’s my dream come true to work with you, Sunny. Professor Van Zyl always used you as an example of a person who ignored the money to be made in private practice and followed her dreams. He praised your work with the big cats and their conservation.”
I was stunned to hear it because the Prof and I never saw eye to eye. I actually thought that I irritated the hell out of him with my stance on the conservation of the big cats.
He felt that if a zoo was able to provide a good habitat for the animals they should be allowed to show and in some cases breed the animals. I felt that there wasn’t a zoo with a big enough habitat for a big cat to breed and raise cubs in. Neither one of us would change our opinions so in the end we had agreed to differ.
A Touch Of Grey Page 3