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SEVENTEEN

Soaking wet from the heavy rain, I made my way into Quarantine for Obie's move. As far as weather went, this was not bad while we were moving an animal that could catch on fire. If he did combust, at least we wouldn't have to worry about the sanctuary going up in flames.

Whether the rain would present issues in another way, that was left to be seen.

There was a cart outside of Obie's bay and a small group of people who were talking a little too loud for my liking. I had no doubt that all this ruckus was already putting the hellhound on edge.

I glanced in through the window to check on him, not surprised that he was hiding in his corner. Poor Obie. He just needed to hold on a little longer and he'd have a lovely large habitat to sniff, run around in, and pee to his heart's content.

I joined the group, giving them a polite smile. "Hi."

They gave me a nod in acknowledgement and kept chatting between them. I glanced at Obie again, listened to a bit of the chatter, and wondered why we were waiting.

I cleared my throat. "Are we waiting for something?"

One of them looked at me. "Yeah, aren't you going to put the hellhound in his crate? You're the vet, right? Or do we need to get some brooms to guide him?"

"No, I'm on it," I said quickly. The idea of them poking Obie into the crate was horrific even though I knew that was how it often went. And if I didn't succeed with my pepperoni, we would have no other choice.

I entered the bay with my packet of pepperoni, feeling more stressed than I should. I knew this was going to be a stressful experience for Obie and I hated that we had to put him through this. I hated that his previous experience with people had traumatised him so.

Obie looked up when he heard me and his lips went up in a pre-snarl but didn't fully morph into a growl.

"Oh, do you recognise me?" I held out the crinkly packet of pepperoni, sounds which no longer seemed to scare the hellhound. "Or are you after this?"

He looked past me at the door but didn't sit up like he had done in the past few days. Maybe the crowd outside was unsettling him. If only I'd had time to get here earlier, then I could've taken my time to get him in the crate but here we were.

I opened the packet of pepperoni and tossed one his way, hoping that giving him a taste would remind him how much he liked these.

He sat up and licked his lips, his eyes widening. His ears wobbled in what I'd come to understand was him trying to figure out what was going on. I loved seeing that inquisitive side coming out of him and I hoped to cultivate it as we spent more time together.

Since he seemed pretty receptive today, I dropped another piece of pepperoni closer to the crate.

He went for it almost right away. That was a great sign.

Encouraged, I put down another piece, and another, creating a little trail of salami that he was following eagerly.

He was so happy about the pepperoni, he didn't seem to notice he was inching closer and closer to the crate with every slice.

"Just a little more, just a little more," I encouraged him, silently screaming when he stuck his snout into the crate. That was closer than he'd ever come before and he was already looking at the next treat, the one that would get him all the way into the transport crate.

Loud laughter came from outside and it startled Obie. His tail went between his legs and he backtracked all the way to his corner with that scared expression of his.

For fuck's sake! That was so bloody close.

I stomped out of the room and glared at the group of movers. "Hey, would you mind keeping it down? You're stressing out Obie and he won't go into the crate."

"Can't we just push him in?" One of them asked with a frustrated edge to their voice.

Someone else nodded. "Yeah, let's just use the brooms to herd him into the crate. Then we can get on with the move."

The group pushed into the bay and shoved the brooms through the spokes of the enclosure. Obie growled at the intrusion and pressed himself into the smallest ball to get away from them. One of them managed to push the handle into his thigh and he whimpered and bit the broom.

Watching it was awful and I could see Obie grow more and more agitated from all the prodding and shouting. This was definitely not the way, couldn't they see they were stressing him out?

It was no surprise when he scratched at the floor, sending a shower of sparks up around him. He caught fire immediately and howled in fear.

My heart broke and I hated how this had gone. Mostly, I hated that I let it get this far.

"Okay, that's enough. Everyone out!" I commanded, relieved when people evacuated the bay. I gave Obie one last look before stepping out and closing the door firmly.

I'd gone about this all wrong.

The fire alarm went off, the blaring adding insult to injury. The people grumbled and complained like they weren't partially to blame for this.

"Now we have to wait until he's all burned out before we can prod him again. I have other things to do," one of them complained.

"We're not prodding him again," I decided, earning some frustrated glares but I didn't care.

I shouldn't have let it get to this point in the first place and I was so mad at myself for not standing my ground.

"We're going to give Obie time to calm down and we'll try this again tomorrow with treats.

If it doesn't work, then we'll try again the next day. "

One of them scoffed. "I don't have time for that."

"Then make time," I commanded. "We're doing this my way."

The group grumbled and dispersed, leaving me with doubt growing in my mind. I knew this was the correct choice for Obie but should I have handled it differently? What would Jacob say if he found out that I sent everyone away instead of persevering?

Did I do the right thing? I didn't know.