Cecily POV

Thankfully, it wasn’t long before Sophie hopped out of a cab and rushed toward us. I moved out of the way as Sophie took over and began immediately scanning his body and assessing the wounds. Not knowing how to help, I stood over Sophie’s shoulder, wringing my hands together.

After a torturous minute, Sophie opened her med kit and began rummaging through it.

“Some of the injuries are bad but nothing looks life threatening. Though judging by the amount of blood covering him, he’s lost quite a bit, so our focus is to stop the bleeding and making sure nothing gets infected,” Sophie said, more serious than I had ever heard her. “I can’t do everything I’d like without being at an actual clinic, but it’ll have to do.”

As she was about to apply something to the wound on his lower back, she hesitated, glancing at Alpha and Art before turning to look up at me. “This is going to sting… bad,” she told me, lips pressed tight together. “How certain are you neither will react violently toward the pain he’s about to feel? Cuz I’d rather not lose a limb right now.”

I tensed, not sure how to answer. I knew Alpha and Art were gentle, intelligent dogs but I couldn’t help but remember the time Alpha had gotten defensive when I had approached him to check his gender. Though, he had never actually hurt me.

Steeling myself, I wrapped my arm around Alpha’s shoulders while making sure not to come into contact with any of his injuries.

Bracing myself for any resistance, I watched Art who was tense but otherwise didn’t move from his spot and then nodded at Sophie to proceed. As she reached his wound with whatever ointment she had brought, I began humming, trying to keep Alpha relaxed.

As soon as Sophie made contact, I felt Alpha tense. We made eye contact and I continued my humming. Thankfully, Alpha held eye contact and made no move to stop Sophie.

After finishing with the wound on his back, Sophie let out a relieved sigh. “I’m going to apply it to his other wounds and then the scratch across his cheek. Just keep doing what you’re doing,” Sophie said quietly, trying not to break the fragile peace.

I’m not sure how much time had passed before Sophie was returning the ointment back to her med kit and I felt myself and Alpha relax.

“That’s… weird,” I heard Sophie mutter to herself as she examined Alpha. “His wounds are healing,” she said as she gently prodded the skin around the incision.

“And that’s weird… how?” I asked, not sure why this was a concern.

“It’s great but… I’m pretty sure they shouldn’t be healing this fast. I mean, I just applied the ointment and there’s already no fresh blood. They look hours, if not a day, old.”

She turned to me and seeing my apprehensive expression, she gave me a strained smile. “I guess this is further proof I still need to keep studying. I apparently don’t know as much as I thought.”

“One of the scratches may need stitches… well, I was sure it would when I first saw it but not anymore,” Sophie said as she stood up and looked around us. The sun was starting to set and foot traffic was pretty much non-existent

I let go of Alpha and stood up as well. “We should head back to my house. We don’t want to get caught in the dark and Alpha will be more comfortable at home,” I said as I began to call for an Uber but stopped.

Alpha was covered in blood and there was no way someone was going to let us get in their car. Plus, how was I about to explain my bloodied dog to a stranger?

“Sophie, how do we get home?” I asked as I watched the last of the sun disappeared behind a building.

Before Sophie could answer, Alpha stood up and began walking in the direction of the house. A split second later, Art joined him.

I didn’t want Alpha walking right now, but not having any other way to get home and no way of carrying him, I quickly followed.

Sophie walked next to me, placing a comforting hand on my shoulder. “He’s fine, Cecily. His wounds are already looking much better.”

Feeling a little more reassured, I silently followed Art and Alpha home.

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After a painstaking walk home, Sophie and I cleaned off Alpha as best as we could and then had him lay on a pile of blankets and towels. I had tried to coax him onto the sofa but he wasn’t having it. Plus, on the floor, Art was able to curl up next to his brother.

I was exhausted and felt guilty as all heck, but I was relieved as I watch my dogs doze off.

Sophie came to sit next to me on the sofa and handed me a cup of orange juice. It was probably the only drink I had left in the fridge—I’d need to get groceries soon.

“I’m shocked he didn’t need the stitches. If anything, his wounds look relatively minor. I’m guessing the blood just made them look worse than they are,” she told me as she leaned her cheek against my head.

“Well, I still feel like a terrible owner and like such an idiot,” I said, drinking my OJ as I tried to hold back the tears I felt pooling in the corner of my eyes. “It was stupid to think I could take care of them when I can’t even take care of myself half the time.”

Sophie put her arms around me and squeezed, her cheek rubbing soothing circles against the top of my head. “Don’t say that. Just seeing the way Alpha has handled everything and how calm they’ve been shows how much they trust you. You can’t blame yourself for the decisions of cruel people.”

She lifted her cheek from my head and let out a low chuckle. “Though I have to say, I’m pretty sure that man got what was coming to him. I couldn’t tell in the pic you sent me, but Alpha is HUGE. Like, I’ve never seen a dog that big. The idiot is probably bleeding out somewhere.”

I cringed at the mental picture but I couldn’t help but be grateful that Alpha was as big as he was. If he was already this injured, how bad would it have been if he wasn’t the size of a pony? I shook off the thought and rested my head on Sophie’s shoulder.

Now that we were all safe at home, I started feeling all the aches and pains from my mad dash around the city. “Will you stay with me tonight? To watch Alpha and to carry my bone-tired body around the house?” I ask, trying to shake off my dejection with a bit of humor.

I grinned as Sophie laughed quietly. “I’ll stay but you’re carrying your ass around. I’m only here for the dogs,” she said teasingly.

I smiled as I felt a tear slip down my cheek. I snuggled further into Sophie’s shoulder and watched my sleeping dogs until my eyelids grew heavy.