Argent's Wolf [NaNoWriMo 2020]

Chapter 11

The cage shrunk with every passing moment. It clawed at the edges of Milo's awareness,  grinding at against his skin. The cage wasn't made from silver but steel with runes carved into the bars. Ross placed the dog bed from the house into the cage to soften the hard base, and it did give Milo some security. However, the rocking of the jeep did nothing to alleviate the impending sense of fear and dread that is locked away in a metal trap brought.

"King, calm your whining. You're fine!"

Milo tried to silence the sound, but the wolf couldn't help but let its displeasure be heard. He buried his face in a blanket, trying to smother the sound. Things could be so much worse. Silver nails could be pinning him in place. It could be a silver cage around him. But the wolf wouldn't stop. It wanted out of the cage.

Calm. Envision a calm location, maybe the fields they'd run through and let all the fear and anxiety wash away. Another pothole jolted him back into the present. It would be worse. Ross could have put a muzzle on him again. Big dogs are needed in certain countries and regions. They didn't in Snigen; it was one of the reasons wolves were safer there.

He never wanted to wear a muzzle again. 

He also never wanted to be in a cage, but he'd been stuffed into enough to know that wasn't going to happen. As cages went, this one was tolerable. A decent size, though his wolf wouldn't stop crying. For one, in the back of a car, it was spacious. Bars went up the side of the jeep and along the top, dividing the jeep where the back seat should have been. Milo did some breathing exercises and thought about the breakfast Ross had cooked in the morning. 

Ross cooked well. Roddy said so once. Leonard couldn't cook to save his life. Pierce despaired over his adoptive son's lack of skill in the kitchen when he'd seemingly conquered everything else he'd set his sights on

Milo shifted in the blanket again. The neon colour dulled in wolf form, but it smelt of him rather than strange dogs. He appreciated the softness; the smell of Ross curled around him. Not reassuring as much as it soothed over the part of him that feared being alone. It helped muffle the sounds his wolf insisted on. In wolf form, the blanket had hints of perfume embedded in it. The previous owner had a lighter, more feminine scent than Ross did. Ross continued to smell of blood, whiskey and leather regardless of the last time he had killed or drunk. 

Maybe the car lingered with the scents too? There was more decorating the air here. Sharp bitterness of metal missed with the alluring but deadly scent of wolfbane and more. Wolves weren't Ross's only target, but it was his favourite. Feral wolves left an easy path of destruction to follow and track, and plenty of hurt people were willing to pay to stop it. 

"King!"

Milo flinched, curling as close to the back of the car as possible; Ross couldn't reach him in the back. He tensed as still as possible, dizziness starting to blue his mind now. The whining stopped, replaced with panting as the heat surged up in him, making the jeep feel like the sun. Pressure thumped in his ears, and an ache formed behind his eyes. 

Hands rubbed over him, starting him out of the nauseous daze. The rough fingers combed through his fur and paid special attention to his ears as Ross held him close. Milo buried his head in Ross's jacket, enjoying the contest of the cold breeze rolling over him from the open boot door. Some of the pressure lifted, the dizzying effect slowed, and the wolf calmed. The fresh air watered down some of the more repulsive smells, and Ross's musk sheltered him too. 

"Didn't think you'd be one for car sickness, King."

The pressure of hands squeezed on and off his ears, the ache in them fading a little more each time. King climbed on Ross's lap, grumbling. He'd never travelled willingly in a car in this form for too long. Short hops when he has no clothes nearby to change into, but that was the extent of his road trips as a wolf. Being kidnapped and drugged didn't count. Roddy couldn't stand cars either.