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“I can’t. I… the dogs…” she said, turning to try to gesture toward her car, but the motion nearly doubled her over when her ribs screamed in objection.
“Okay. Alright,” I said, moving forward. “Teddy?” I asked as I reached for Lark’s arm and led her in a few steps.
“What’s your name, sweetheart?” Teddy asked, gesturing toward the couch.
“Lark,” she told him.
“Lark. I’m Teddy. How about you sit with me for a few minutes while Remy handles your dogs, okay?” he asked, getting a sad little nod from her.
“They’re leashed. And two puppies are in the carrier thing. The guy in the front seat might be aggressive toward men,” she added.
“Don’t worry. I got it,” I assured her before moving outside toward her car that she’d left running with the air conditioning blasting.
The dogs in the back were wiggling, eager to get free, so I took them out first as the dude covered in blood and scars in the front eyed me warily.
It wasn’t exactly the best atmosphere for traumatized dogs of unknown temperament, but once I got them inside, I could take them up to one of the bedrooms to decompress a little.
My bedroom was full of my personal pets that I didn’t want strangers around, so I opted for Huck’s old room instead, putting the puppies in the walk-in closet, the girl in the bathroom, and the boy in the actual bedroom.
I was going to need to figure out what to do with the standoffish guy since I wasn’t sure he could be trusted with any of the others.
“I’ll get you guys some food and water in a minute, okay? I got to get your friend out of the car,” I told them before leaving the room and praying everyone abided by the ‘No one upstairs’ rule, or else we’d be in for a hell of a lawsuit if someone got bit.
Rushing back down, I went back to the car to find the guy waiting like he knew I would be back for him.
“I know. You’ve had it rough,” I said as I untied his leash from the headrest, then carefully led him out of the car as he let out a couple of grumbles that said he didn’t want to hurt me, but he also didn’t trust me.
It was as I was walking him toward the house that I started to realize none of the blood was his own. And while Lark was roughed up, I doubted it was her blood either.
And if she’d saved them, the fights hadn’t started yet, so it couldn’t have been from another dog.
He walked well on a leash until we got inside and he saw Lark.
Then he damn near yanked my fucking arm out of the socket in his eagerness to get to her.
“Hey, hey buddy. I’m right here,” she cooed at him as I let him drag me over to her since his tail was wagging so hard that his whole body was moving side to side.
“Baby, whose blood is that on him?” I asked as he climbed his way up on her lap, giving her chin a lick, then turning on her to face outward, like he was going to fend off any attack.
“The guy who did this,” she explained, waving at her face. “I had just gotten him into the passenger seat. All the others were in the back. And I went around to my side to get in, and the guy came up from behind and started swinging. When I went down from my ribs being hit, he just… flew out of the car and at the guy.”
“Good,” Teddy mumbled, shrugging. “I hope he ripped his throat out.”
Yeah, no one was crying over some dog fight participating, woman-beating shithead.
“I, ah… I think I ran him over on the way out,” Lark admitted before stiffening when someone walked in from the kitchen.
“Whoa. What happened to you?” the woman asked, taking a step forward. “Did one of these—“ she went on.
“No. No. I was… ah… mugged,” Lark lied.
“Oh, Jesus. I hope you reported it,” the woman said, turning and walking away.
“You want to talk somewhere more private?” I asked. “I have to get the dogs some water and food too,” I added.
“You help her upstairs,” Teddy suggested. “I will grab some extra bowls and bring them up.”
“Appreciate it,” I said, taking a step toward Lark, only to have the dog let out another grumble.
