Alpha Male Chapter Three - The Challenge by LoganLuvr
Ari could feel that he was still looking at her, and she was finding it hard to think, so she created a diversion. "I'm going to be working on this little guy for a while. Feel free to look around the hospital. You may find it interesting."
"Okay." He said, seeing she needed to be left alone for a while. He walked over to the cages against the wall, stretching luxuriously and cracking his stiff neck, making sure to give her ample opportunity to watch him. "Why are these ones out here?" He asked.
" Those are the ICU cages. They're heated, and they make it easy for us to keep a close eye on the sickest animals in here."
Logan nodded his head. "What happened to this one?" He asked, nodding toward a large wolf sleeping in one of the lower cages. She had a long bandage that completely covered one front leg.
"A volunteer found her this morning with her foot in a trap. She was lucky, I think we may have been able to save the leg. She's fine, she's just heavily sedated so she'll leave her bandage alone."
"Mm." Logan backed up, as he appeared to be upsetting the patient in the cage directly above the wolf. A large great-horned owl was hissing at him and clacking its' beak loudly. "What about this little shit?" He said, sounding a little impressed with its' ferocious display.
"Oh, him" she said, laughing. "He's a devil, isn't he? He was shot, through the wing by some idiot he was brought in by another one of our volunteers. We saved the wing, but he won't be able to fly again. Somebody's going to have to tame him so he can be used in our educational programs."
"Wow! 'Glad it's not me!" Logan looked into several other cages, most of which had small animals with various illnesses in them. He looked into a few rooms that looked like exam rooms, and one that was probably the surgery room it gave him the creeps. Ariana seemed to be more relaxed and able to get more done when he wasn't near, so he decided to check out the rest of the building, too. He found the educational wing. It was made to cater more to children but it was still pretty interesting. He spent some time there learning a little bit about animals; mostly wolves. They were really fascinating creatures, with a very advanced sense of family and team-work, very intelligent. He could see why she loved them so much.
He went back to the room where the Doctor had been, but she was gone. She had put the pup; IV line hooked to the top of the unit, into one of the ICU cages. He waited for her for a few minutes, but she didn't return then he heard something. A sound that made his hair stand on end (more than usual). It was a familiar sound the sound of the quiet snarling growl of a feline. Exactly the kind of sound Saber-tooth would make. Logan looked around quickly, sniffing the air. He smelled cat. He braced himself for a fight and followed his nose to a room down a long hall. There was no light on inside, but with the help of the light in the hall, Logan's keen eyes were just able to make out two large glowing eyes glinting evilly at him from deep in the room. He walked slowly into the darkness, ready for anything. " Here kitty, kitty, kitty" He said, quietly.
"Mrroowwrrrr!" BAM!!! The sound of a heavy paw full of claws on metal exploded in front of him.
SNIKT!
"Logan? Is everything okay?" the Dr. called behind him.
SNIKT!
Logan barely had his claws in when she switched on the lights, revealing a very large, very angry, mountain lion in a run a few feet in front of him. Logan's heart was pounding out of his chest, as much from her almost seeing his claws as from the adrenaline-rush he was having over the cat. The cat snarled and growled threateningly at Logan. He resisted the urge to growl back, with difficulty.
"He's gorgeous, isn't he?" He turned to look at her. She was eyeing Logan warily with a side-long look. She hesitated, then - " Logan I heard something when I came in."
He cut her words off. " It was the cat . hittin' the fence with its' claws. It scared the holy shit outa' me."
She frowned. "Mmmm. That must have been it." She kept looking at him with a puzzled look, so he looked away, pretending to be interested in the cat.
The lion became more agitated the longer they stood there. He ran up to the edge of the run, pounded his massive feet on the ground, and roared threateningly at Logan. Ari made a subtle move, which of course, Logan didn't miss, and he glanced over at her. She was moving her mouth wordlessly, and frowning, her eyes almost closed. She held up one hand slightly, showing her flattened palm to the lion, and motioned slowly toward the back of the run. It was obvious to Logan that she didn't want him seeing what she was doing. Logan shifted his attention to the cat, who shifted its' gaze from her, back to him. It gave him one more snarl before it looked back at her and turned and padded quietly to the back of the run. What the? Shit! It paced back and forth against the back wall growling and flicking its' large pink tongue in and out as it breathed.
She spoke as if nothing unusual had happened. "I don't usually work with big cats, but this one was brought in, a few weeks ago, almost dead. He had been poisoned. He was such a beautiful, young, healthy cat. I just couldn't help myself. As you can see, he's recovered nicely, but he's becoming more of a problem to work with every day."
"I'm sure he is."
"We're planning on releasing him tomorrow if all goes well."
They stood admiring the cat for a few more minutes until they were rudely interrupted by another loud growl. It was Logan's stomach. He looked up at her and snickered. She laughed. "Was that YOU? My God, when's the last time you ate anything?"
" Yesterday."
She looked incredulous. "You haven't had ANYTHING to eat today? It's after 8 o'clock!
" I was on the road and just stoppin' to eat when I found the pup. I didn't get anything after that 'cause I was afraid you'd be closed if I got here too late." . "Is there anyplace around here to get some food?"
She laughed again. "You've got to be kidding! Around here? There's no place to eat around here for miles and it's snowing like crazy !!" She was silent for a moment. When she did speak, he could hear the nervousness in her voice. She swallowed and licked her lips.
" Listen Logan, you can come to my place I mean if you want. I have an ICU cage at home, for emergencies we can take the wolf and treat him there, get you something to eat and both get a decent night's sleep, too." She was quick to add "I have a comfortable couch."
He was more than a little surprised by her offer. " You in the habit of invitin' strange men over to your place, just like that.. Ari ?" he teased.
She reddened brightly and stammered. "No, um, .I mean" (she blew a stray hair away from her eyes) " actually, never. I've never invited a man over before."
It was Logan's turn to look incredulous. Goosebumps ran up and down his back. "Never?" He said hoarsely.
" Never."
He paused for a moment. "What makes you think you can trust me?" He asked softly, teasing her, with a wicked glint in his eye.
She licked her lips and looked at him, considering. She swallowed. "I don't know I I just know I can trust you, that is."
"Mmmm." He gave her a little half smile. Logan was not the kind of man to turn down an offer to see a woman in her "den". He couldn't wait to see her in her own space. He wanted to know what kinds of things she liked, how her house smelled, how she cooked. He wanted to know what she wore to bed, had for breakfast.- Grrr - ."Thanks I'd love to."
They went to the ICU room to prepare things for leaving. The pup was resting peacefully. It appeared the fluids were, at least, making him more comfortable. She packed up various medications, IV bags, tape and other assorted things she'd need later. There wasn't much for Logan to do, she knew what she needed, so he leaned back against a counter, stretching out his long legs, and watching her closely, considering what he knew about her. As long as she was working, she seemed very comfortable with him. She was professional and confident, very different from the woman he saw when he was close to her or when he looked into her eyes. She grew flustered and embarrassed so easily. - Never had a man over? God! - He knew he was going to have to play this very carefully.
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