Author's note: It's my birthday month, so I currently have a bunch of stories completed. As I do every May. Anyway Animals

Summary: Santana Lopez, hates Akron, Ohio. But her life is changed when she finds an injured 'dog' in on her way back home.

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Akron, Ohio, was boring as fuck. There wasn't anything of note in Akron. It didn't have the culture of Chicago where she had grown up. There weren't concerts or huge conventions or anything to spike her interest. It was, however, full of cheerleaders and footballers and everything that Santana Lopez was not. Her father's new vet clinic out here was supposed to be a 'fresh start' away from the typical teenage bullying bullshit that she had faced in the city. It was like her father had never been a teenager himself, or he was one of the popular kids, because even though they had moved she had discovered it was the same story, it was simply a different venue.

She sighs mostly to herself as she glances down at her phone and winces, she was late. Her parents were going to freak out about her being a few minutes past curfew. It wasn't as if she had been partying or trying drugs, or whatever it was that other kids did. She had been at the public library doing homework and trying to find some comic books that she could borrow. She didn't have all those activities like her step-sister Rachel. Singing, dancing, acting lessons, her step-mom had suggested that she take the classes as well but she simply didn't have time for that. She didn't want to spend her time singing and dancing and battling Rachel for affection from her parents. Especially when she knew her step-sister was not exactly the best at sharing the spotlight.

It was bad enough that her dad made her help out at his vet clinic for a few hours on the weekends, but it was better than joining Shelby's stupid singing club. She didn't care if she and Shelby weren't close, Shelby would never be her mother, and her dad tried his hardest but he simply didn't get it.

She adjusts her bag on her shoulders, at least the library wasn't terrible and had a semi-decent collection of comics and DVDs, that were no longer available on Netflix. It would keep her entertained for a few days. She starts to pick up the pace, when she jumps back when a rustle sound in the bushes near the corner of the park and she stops to look around.

Perhaps it was all the horror movies that she watched, and the fact that they weren't far from a huge park of sorts where there would be plenty of places to hide a body, but she starts to panic. This was it, she was going to get mugged or murdered or whatever psycho-shit happened in bumfuck nowhere. No wonder her parents were so strict about being home by curfew. She looks around but there's nothing to be seen and she picks up her pace. This wasn't the best lit-public area, and it was probably because they were just near a playground. The quicker she could get to a well-lit public busy area the safer she'd feel. At least then she had a better chance of calling for and receiving help.

The rustling started back up again and in her head Santana could practically hear the classic Jaws theme playing in the background, and she was just about to book it when she heard a low pitched whine and whimpering. She stops, she had been around enough animals to know that it sounded like a dog in need. She swallows, maybe it was just a lost dog that had gotten separated from its owner.

Sliding her hand toward the pocket of her bag where she kept some beef jerky so that she didn't have to go home early and opens a package. Crouching down so that she hopefully appeared less threatening, she whistled softly. "Come on, I'm not going to hurt you."

It takes a minute, but slowly a large dog stumbles out of the bushes and hops and stumbles towards her outstretched hand. The dog nips at her fingers clumsily and she can tell right away that it's not used to hand feeding. It looks kind of like a husky with piercing green eyes and a gorgeous blonde fur coat that's only marred by one large black stripe that goes down it's—his back. Definitely a boy from the looks of it. One that hadn't been fixed. She gives the dog a chunk and lets him chew for a little while, frowning when she sees it avoid putting weight on its back foot.

She reaches carefully back to inspect the dog's hind leg, fully expecting it to snap at her. Dogs tended to get snappish when they were hurt, but she'd spent enough time in the clinic not to be too worried. Gingerly touching the back leg, she winces as blood coats her hand. The dog howls with a pained cry that sounds almost human. She pulls back slowly and looks for a collar but doesn't see one when she reaches to check.

She blows out a frustrated breath as the dog nudges her hand again for more of the jerky and frowns. She can't just leave him here. She's going to have to call her dad to pick them up. She glances around, hoping for any other way but there's no way that she can carry the dog home, and there isn't a cart, to put him in, though it would be hard to get him in the cart. "Alright, give me a moment I'm going to call my dad—" She stops when the dog growls at her. "Stop it. He's a vet. You need to get that back leg looked at." She snaps at the dog who immediately nudges her with his head forcing her onto her ass.

The dog shifts immediately, with speed that she didn't think was possible with its injured leg has her on her back baring its fangs at her. Those weren't the teeth of a dog. Shit, her dad was going to kill her if this wolf didn't do it first. She didn't know which one was going to be more painful, and she closes her eyes as the wolf leans in still growling at her. Probably the wolf tearing her apart, she had read that their bite was stronger than an average dogs and—

Her internal freaking out is stopped when the wolf snarls once and then sniffs the air a few times. She's afraid to even breathe and can practically feel her heart racing out of her chest. He sniffs a couple more times and then presses his nose right against her collarbone and sniffs deeply.

That's it. She's done for. She's sure of it.

But rather than biting her, the wolf cocks his head to the side and sniffs the air again. If she's surprised she's not already dead, she's shocked by the large wet tongue that licks her from the base of her neck all the way up the side of her face, leaving a trail of slobber the entire way. "Gross." Maybe it wasn't a wolf but some hybrid.

The wolf licks her again, just in case she didn't get the message the first time. Perhaps he had been domesticated, because she's certain at this point the wolf—though it may be a dog—is just fucking with her. She can see it in its eyes before it flops down on top of her, resting his head against her chest.

Santana stares at the wolf that is currently using her as a pillow and looks around to see if there was anyone who could help her, but there wasn't. She shifts a bit so she can wiggle her phone out of her pocket and gently holds her hand up for the wolf to sniff before she attempts to pet him. "Please don't kill me," she mumbles to it. The wolf shifts its head before leaning up and licking her face again and plopping back down. "Okay, good. Good boy," she's met with a low irritated growl at this and Santana shakes her head but continues to scratch behind the wolf's ears as she dials her dad.

'Mija? You're late—'

"I know Papi, but I need you to come get me. I found a dog that's been shot." Santana bites her lip, feeling bad for lying to her dad about this, but he would freak out if he knew that it was a wolf. "He's heavy and—"

'Where?'

"I'm by the park, I fed him a bit of jerky but there's a lot of blood." Santana said peering at the injured leg, she could see it a bit better now and noticed the blood clumping the fur around the wound.

'I'll be there mija, just stay where you are.'

"He probably needs a kennel and some warm towels. Oh and jerky probably some more jerky." Santana added smiling a bit when the wolf barked in affirmation. Her dad was probably not going to be pleased but he had never turned down an animal in need and he probably wouldn't start now. "It's going to be okay." Santana hummed to the animal who moved restlessly for a moment only to start whining and whimpering when it jostled its leg. Now her dad just needed to get here so that they could fix the wolf's leg. She hated hunters who knew how scared the wolf was.

~O~

Santana glanced up from where she was sitting, when she heard a whine and then barking. There was a small bang and she immediately shoots up from where she was doing her homework to go and check on their newest guest. She opens the door to the garage and spots the wolf barking and trying to gnaw on the metal bars that contained him. A security measure her dad had said. "Papi I think he's awake!" She calls loudly and watches as the wolf suddenly turns to her and growls softly. "Hey it's okay. It's me remember you licked my face last night? Which is like first base, so we're friends right?"

The wolf barked at her and flattened his ears. It wanted to take a step forward but when it put pressure on his leg he immediately yelped in pain and whimpered.

"Okay, so maybe not friends but we're close. I shared my jerky with you. You licked me with your gross dog breath, I rescued you from bleeding out, because some jackass shot you. I mean I don't know what that makes us but I'd like to think that we could be friends right?" Santana says slowly approaching the cage she had already poured out some dog food and a water bowl for the wolf, so he could eat whenever he woke up. She reaches for the kennel door tapping the tray of dog food. "See I got you food."

The wolf cocked its head and looked down at the dried dog food before smacking it with his paw knocking most of it to the ground. It seems to agitate the creature who immediately raises his hackles and growls at her before barking loudly.

Santana stared at the wolf before rolling her eyes. "Great just what I need another diva," she sighs, she had no idea how she was going to clean that up when her father didn't want her getting near the kennel. She's rewarded with a sharp bark and more growling.

"Dios, what big teeth you have," Carlos said flatly from where he was standing at the door of the garage, carrying a bag. He had spent a good three hours last night removing the bullet and cleaning the wound. As far as he could tell, there hadn't been any damage to the bones. The x-rays had shown that much. "And you thought he was a dog," despite how tired he was he couldn't help but rib his daughter. He had a feeling that she had known last night what the wolf was, but had lied so he would help. He would have helped anyway, the idea of someone shooting an animal was sick and cruel in his mind. He was proud of Santana for attempting to help.

Santana watches as the wolf growls at her father as he approaches slowly, "It's okay, it's just my dad he's just going to check your leg. She promises reaching her fingers out slowly to see if that would distract the wolf.

"Santanita, it's a wolf not a puppy." Carlos reminds her. "If you want to help, I'm going to need you to grab the rabies pole."

The wolf stopped growling for a moment and immediately started to back up in its cage and Santana frowned slightly. It was scared and probably confused. "It's okay, my dad just wants to check the wound on your leg. You'll be okay," she promises when she hears the whimper. She didn't want her father to get bitten, but she wouldn't blame the wolf if she tried. "I'll be right back," she promises her father immediately taking off to head to the kitchen.

Carlos studies the wolf in front of him, they normally avoided humans but this one clearly didn't seem to be timid. Not from what he had seen last night, in fact it seemed to only calm down when Santana was nearby. The animal was probably confused and disorientated from the anesthesia, which was why he wasn't that worried about his reaction yet. "Easy," Carlos soothed as he took a few steps closer to the wolf. He just wanted to take a quick look at the wound to make sure that it had begun the healing process. The low growls stop and he glances at the wolf once more to notice that his tail is wagging and he seems to be focusing most of his attention on Santana. "Mija—"

Santana smiled noting the tail-wagging even though the wolf seemed to be growling at her, like he wasn't quite sure what his opinion of her was. "It's okay," she says in a soothing tone. "It's fine Papi, he just needs to get a good smell of me and everything will be okay," Santana said assuredly even though she had no real clue. "Hey, remember me?" Santana asked sticking out one of her hands, so the wolf can sniff it. "Remember I gave you jerky you licked me, I mean the dog food—"

The wolf smacks the dog food with one of its paws and lets another growl at Santana staring at her with those green eyes of his.

Santana glanced down at the bowl of dog food watching as the wolf in front of her smacked it again for good measure. She reaches for the food slowly and the wolf stares at her before lunging again and smacking his head against the cage door. It immediately dropped to its belly and hid his head under its paws. "For a moment there I thought you were pretty smart for a wolf," Santana teases and gets an irritated bark and then whine back from the wolf in question. It was almost as if the wolf could understand her and was responding back, but that was stupid, it was just a wolf.

"Santana, get back."

"He's fine." She assures reaching to open the cage. Her dad gapes when Santana steps into the kennel and the wolf licks her hand for good measure. "See he's fine, he just doesn't know you yet—" Santana grunted as the wolf's head bumped into her chest sending her back onto her ass and just like before he's inside her personal space sniffing her. "Please don't—" Santana grimaces when she feels the wolf's rough tongue drag along her face, slobbering on it, "—lick me."

The wolf licked its lips and continued to sniff Santana licking parts of her body. Immediately it moves down her body and towards her stomach for a moment before raising it's head and leaning forward to lick Santana's face again, but he stops and turns to look at Carlos and growls loudly at him when he touches his flank.

"Easy boy, easy, I just want to check your leg," Carlos says in his most soothing voice. The wolf's ears flatten and he grimaces and he flicks his attention to Santana. "Distract him with the jerky, I need to check the wound and clean it, and it might cause him discomfort. I would prefer not to get bitten today."

Santana nods and immediately reaches into her pocket and unwraps the beef jerky. It seems to work as the wolf turned to look at her after a moment and began to sniff the treat. She swallows when it nips her fingers as it begins to eat the jerky. She unwraps another one, and shoots a look at her father as she feeds the wolf again.

Carlos sighs, he didn't particularly like putting his daughter in danger. Wolves were wild animals but this one seemed to be taken with her. He'd deal with it later, right now he needed to clean the wound and re-bandage it. He quickly pulls the bandage off and pauses for a moment, he had given the wolf a quick trim, he had needed to remove the fur around the area, but it seemed as if the fur had regrown. It was impossible and he shakes his head, he had been in a rush and it was possible he hadn't done that great of a job. He parts the fur and nods, there are some parts of it that are still relatively short, so perhaps that was it. He checks the wound carefully noting the inflammation and checking on the stitches. It looked normal all things considered, in fact as far as he could tell the wound looked like it was a few days into the healing process. If things progressed the way they should, then maybe he could take the stitches out early. He sprays some hydrochloric spray on the wound, glad that he doesn't have to worry about anything like an infection and lets the leg down slowly before backing away. "Looks good. If he heals this quickly we can probably release him back into the forest in a few days—"

"A few days? Papi, he's hurt." Santana distractedly gives the large remaining chunk of the jerky as she looks at her father in disbelief. She was no expert when it came to bullet wounds but a few days could hardly be enough time.

"Who is the vet here?" Carlos retorts, frowning when the wolf seemed to snarl in his direction before licking Santana's hand again. "Mija, he's not a pet. He's a wild animal and it doesn't matter if he's used to humans or not. It also doesn't matter that he likes you, he still needs to go back. I didn't think that there were wolves this far south in Ohio."

"I know that, I just—whoever shot him might still be out there. And look at him Papi? He might not even be a full blood wolf—he's a bit small." The wolf snorts in her face immediately and Santana gently pushes his head away. "He could be part dog." Truthfully he had seemed much larger last night, but that could have easily been because of the fur. The wolf barked at that statement causing Santana to turn to him. "I'm trying to help you, shush." She gets another bark in response.

Carlos shook his head, "It's not domesticated you can't just—"

Santana frowned, this had been the most interesting thing to happen to her and she wasn't just going to let it go. "I'm not saying we keep him, I'm just saying we keep him for a few weeks, until we're sure. I mean he could be someone's pet."

"Santana look at him. He's a wolf, he's not a domesticated pet. No one is teaching him how to sit—" Carlos gaped when the wolf sat down and turned to him. He could swear that the beast was mocking him. It was probably just coincidence.

Santana however wasn't going to let it slide, "Good boy!" She moves back and holds her hand up, "Paw? Can you shake my hand?" The wolf stares at her before tilting its head for the jerky only to have Santana hold it out of his reach, instead extending her hand. "Paw?" The wolf snorted again and smacked his paw on her hand. Santana smiles at this and looks up at her father. "Down boy."

The wolf promptly ignored that command and instead nudged Santana's waist looking for more treats.

Santana backed away a bit and held her hand out. "Stay." The wolf tilted its head at her and sat back down watching her. "Good boy—see dad? Maybe he is someone's pet and we should put out fliers, whoever shot him might have removed his collar."

Carlos sighed, if that was the case then someone was circumventing the law, or had the brilliant idea to keep a wolf as a pet. It was possible that his daughter was right and the animal in question was half-dog. It did show some domesticated intelligence, "Fine, we'll put up some flyers, and see if anyone is missing their pet. But we can't keep it, it's pretty aggressive—"

"He's in a strange place, with strange people." Santana reminded him.

Carlos rolled his eyes and sighed on the off chance that she was right, he would simply do his due diligence before releasing the animal back into the wild. "I still need you to be careful around him. If he is someone's pet maybe one of the vets in the area have more information about it. I'll ask around."

Santana nods and reaches to pet the wolf, she'd have to come up with a name for it. She couldn't keep referring to it as the wolf. The wolf who stared at her and then went back to it's dog bowl and smacked the food away again and began to bark at her. She sighs, "I think we have some ground beef in the fridge."

"That was for dinner tonight," Carlos reminds her.

"Fine I'll get some bacon from the fridge and—" Santana stared at the wolf who had gone rigid at the word bacon and whose tail was wagging around wildly. "Bacon it is," she sighed shaking her head. It was clearly a domesticated dog. Maybe she could call him Bacon Bit, or Butterscotch to match his fur.