Alan was back four hours later, looking wind-blown and more than a little tired. Owen had heard the truck approach a mile away; Blue had been aware of it a lot longer.
"I got the sleeping bags, the tent, an emergency blanket for Delta, enough food and water to last us a day, Themming has been informed and is probably still cursing up a storm, and Claire told me to get you all back safely. She said she'd send Carter if you don't come back by tomorrow."
Alan looked a little bemused at that, tired eyes roaming over the assembled pack. Blue huffed a little, sharing Owen's amusement over the words. Grady got up from where he had been sitting with Delta, who had had her head in his lap and had dozed off.
"Thanks, Alan. I mean it. This was more than you should have done."
"She needs help. You need help. I'm not going to sit in the hotel and wait for daylight."
It was already getting more than a little dusky and they would be in the dark soon. Owen stretched, feeling his muscles protest, and helped Alan unload the pick-up. The tent would be set up in the ditch, next to the injured raptor. They would try to get her onto the pick-up tomorrow.
Owen set up battery-powered lights, pitched the tent with Alan's help, and unrolled the sleeping bags.
"Go. Hunt," he told the pack. "We'll be fine. We got canned ravioli." He grinned a little. "Yum."
Blue snorted a little, rubbing her cheek against his shoulder. Owen reached up and rubbed over it. She had been there the whole time while Charlie and Echo had kept watch, patrolled the area, and chased off a monkey or two. She embraced him, warm and heavy against his mind, his trusted anchor and balance.
You need rest. Just sleep.
"Will do," he murmured. "Good hunt. Don't bring anything back home. I don't want to find a half-dead lizard in my sleeping bag."
She playfully bumped against his shoulder again, then straightened.
The adrenaline had worn off a while ago and Owen felt shaky and a little off balance, but he couldn't give in. He needed to be strong. He was the alpha.
You are strong. You don't have to prove it, Owen.
He gave her a smile. Blue hummed, then barked at the others to hunt for an evening snack.
Alan watched them go, shoulders sagging a little. "How is she?" he asked, nodding at Delta.
"Exhausted. I gave her another shot, checked the wounds, which look rather good, and fed her water. I found some nutrient paste and she ate that, too. Knowing raptor metabolism she should be up enough tomorrow to get onto the pick-up. It's a nasty flesh wound, but she didn't break anything and the cuts don't go deep enough to be dangerous."
"Infection is a possibility."
"I drowned the leg in antibiotics, gave her two shots to help, and raptors have a very strong immune system."
"Not when it comes to some strains of the human flu."
Owen scowled. Alan just shrugged and settled on his sleeping bag, looking older than his years.
"Damn, I didn't plan on something like this happening for my first raptor therapy session."
Owen laughed and sat down beside him. He felt as drained as Alan looked. "Yeah, I guess. But you know what they say: jump in with both feet."
Alan snorted inelegantly. "How about those ravioli now?"
"Got any beer to wash it down?"
"You're not getting any alcohol until we get that raptor of yours safely back home."
"Yes, Dad."
"Don't you start, young man."
The banter felt good. Owen relaxed a little more, eyes straying over to the almost peacefully resting Delta. She was watching him through half-closed eyes and Owen smiled, giving her reassurance through the bond.
They would get through this.
Together.
A wrapped-up blanket landed next to him and when he looked at Alan, the older man raised an eyebrow, nodding at Delta.
"Get her covered already. I'll make dinner."
Owen chuckled and opened the blanket's wrapping, then proceeded to wrap it around Delta.
x XX JW XX x
The raptors didn't return to the improvised campsite. Owen felt them close by, watching and guarding, but none of them padded closer or showed herself. They were ghosts, shadows, invisible to the human eye.
It was a matter of respect toward Alan, who was still a little more than nervous about being here. Now and then his eyes strayed over to the dark jungle around them, listening to the calls of nighttime animals, but the most dangerous of them weren't indigenous to the island. They were deadly predators, brought back millions of years past their time, and they were bonded to a mere human being.
Yes, Alan Grant was scared, but he was trying to work through it.
At his own pace.
Progress, Blue only remarked cheekily when Owen watched his friend as he prepared for the night.
Yeah, he agreed. It is. Thanks for playing along.
He is… useful.
And wasn't that a clue by four, if there was any. Blue sounded a little too smug, too.
Alan was making a lot of headway. The very fact that he had taken the saddle bag off Echo and had then climbed back out of the ditch to where the two guard raptors had been waiting, letting Echo touch him!, had been tell-tale enough.
He was making progress.
Alan Grant might never trust a raptor in his life ever again, but he was extending a little bit of faith when it came to the pack.
Owen couldn't ask for more.
x XX JW XX xx XX JW XX xx XX JW XX xx XX JW XX xx XX JW XX xx XX JW XX x
Come morning Owen was up the moment the first light crept through the leave. He hadn't slept a lot that night, frequently checking on Delta and the pack. Blue had silently come back to the makeshift campsite, a ghostly presence in the dark.
Owen had felt her. It wasn't like she had tried to sneak in unawares. She had simply kept silent not to frighten their guest.
And she had stayed until the sky grew brighter.
Alan was still asleep and Owen let him.
Delta looked a lot better. There was no inflammation. The wounds weren't hot to the touch or swollen. A little swelling was okay. She could move her toes when he asked her.
"We'll get you home soon."
Delta sniffed at the silver spray and grumbled in displeasure. It stank.
"Just leave it," Owen told her.
He prepared instant coffee and ate a powerbar, which tasted like sweet cardboard, contemplating their next action.
Getting the injured raptor onto the truck would be a logistics problem. He would have to secure her in a blanket and he had already thought up a possible plan that involved Echo's harness, the winch and a lot of swearing.
x XX JW XX x
Yes, there was a lot of swearing, accompanied by sharp grunts of pain from Delta.
It took them an hour to get the injured raptor out of the ditch, up the incline and onto the truck.
"You owe me a drink," Alan panted when they were finally topside, Delta was on the truck's loading platform, and he could lean against the vehicle. He looked as sweaty and muddy as Owen.
"I owe you a lot more," Owen told him, snapping the last locks into place. "For a lifetime."
Blue rumbled softly, agreeing. She stepped slowly closer, head stretched forward, blowing warm air out of her nostrils. The pack's beta had watched the proceedings, alert and attentive, sometimes warbling a little to keep Delta cooperative when their alpha was trying to help her. Charlie and Echo had been around, guarding and patrolling.
Alan's expression was frozen, but he didn't look ashen and ready to run. He met the reptilian eyes. Blue took another step forward, making a chuffing sound.
"Is that a thank you?" he asked out of the corner of his mouth.
Owen nodded. "Yeah. C'mon, let's go home before Carter sends in the cavalry."
He would come back here, remove the wire, look for more of that, and make sure there were no more traps like that. Right now he had different priorities and the pack wouldn't run here until the alpha declared it safe.
"Echo, Charlie, home!" he called and made a sharp gesture for them to head out. "Blue?"
She nodded and headed off down the road. None of them would stray far from the truck, keeping watch, but he wanted them out of plain sight.
x XX JW XX x
They drove home slowly, every bump making Owen wince a little inside. He felt Delta's constant pain, but there was little he could do. Be there, let her know she was safe, but the pain was a constant.
Alan breathed a sigh of relief when the house came into view. Themming's white SUV with the park's logo and the large, red letters 'Veterinarian' on the side was already there, the man waiting in the shade on the porch. Themming rose and pushed back his baseball cap.
"Welcome back," he called.
Owen got out from behind the wheel. "Thanks for coming."
"That's what I'm here for. Where is my patient?"
Owen gestured at the truck.
"Crap," was Themming's comment when he caught sight of the raptor.
"Quite," Alan said, looking tired and ready to call it a day.
"Where are the others?"
"Around," Owen answered. Blue and the rest of the pack had veered off before they had come into sight of the house. "We'll get her over to the stables and out of the truck," he added, ignoring Themming's slightly apprehensive looks around. "Meet us there."
x XX JW XX x
Owen had put the muzzle on Delta for Themming to treat her. He had insisted on giving her a strong sedative, something Owen had only agreed to because it was the only way the vet would even get close to the velociraptor, and then waited for it to take.
Delta dropped into a sleep not much later and she didn't so much as twitch when Themming probed the stapled wounds. Alan had placed a towel over her eyes, giving Owen a little smile.
"Good work, Grady," Themming lauded as he prepared a shot. "Wounds look clean. No inflammation. The bite of the wire was deep, but not too deep for it to heal without handicapping her. It might add an interesting scar."
"That's the least of anyone's worries."
While Delta was sleeping, Themming checked her completely, even her teeth and tongue. He gave her vitamin shots and antibiotics, then set up an IV to get fluids into her body.
"Just a precaution," he said as they waited for the bag to empty.
He collected his things when the IV was done. Themming closed his bag and nodded at Owen.
"Looks good. Keep an eye on things. I'm leaving you antibiotics that I want you give her on a daily basis." He handed Owen a blister pack. "Two of those, considering her size."
"Will do."
"I'll wake her up in a minute. Not sure anyone should be here while she does. She'll be disoriented and might lash out, even at pack members."
He gave Owen a pointed look which the man in question simply ignored.
He waited until the wake-up shot had been given, then removed the towel. While Alan and Gary locked the door of the stables behind themselves, Owen opened the one leading into the paddock area. He whistled, three sharp, staccato sounds.
It didn't take the pack a minute at all, appearing like silent shadows. Soft grunts and yips could be heard, a chatter amongst them, worried and quizzical.
"She's okay. Waking up. Watch out for her. Don't tease or taunt, girls. She's injured, maybe confused," he ordered. "Let her get back to herself at her own pace. Support only."
Charlie rumbled her agreement, Echo yipped that she would be well-behaved, and Blue was her regal pack beta self.
x XX JW XX x
Owen was in the stables when Delta struggled out of the medical induced sleep, her mind a confused mess, like clouds and fog and syrupy thoughts.
She growled and snorted, hissing in frustration, then the still distant pain of her leg stopped her abruptly. She snarled at Blue, who snapped at her, telling her pack mate to relax and let the others help.
Owen reached along the bond, touched the messed-up mind, and Delta calmed, snuffling a little.
"Yeah, we're good. Just take it easy. Stay down, rest, sleep it off," he told her.
Delta whined a little, but she followed the order.
Charlie and Echo crowded in, and Echo made the first step in settling down beside the injured pack mate, purring reassurance. Charlie followed, creating a dangerous, sharp-toothed and definitely lethal if necessary puppy pile.
Owen had to grin at that thought. "Keep an eye on them. Anything changes, let me know," he told Blue. "And get some rest, too."
Same to you.
He patted her side and left the stables. The door leading to the paddock remained open, but he locked the enclosure as such.
Themming's SUV was nowhere to be seen, but Carter had arrived. He and Alan sat on the porch. When Owen climbed up the stairs, Alan rose.
"Shower's calling," he announced. "And some good coffee. Food's on you and it'll be steak at Winston's," he told Grady.
Owen laughed. "Sure."
Carter watched Alan walk inside, then he looked at Owen and raised his eyebrows, prompting the other man silently.
"Barbed wire hidden in tall grass. She got caught in it, sliced her up pretty badly, and we evacuated as quickly as possible," Owen reported and shrugged.
Mud flaked off his shoulder and he grimaced.
"There was never a security risk and we drove along the back roads. No tourist saw neither hide nor talon of them."
"Good. What about you?"
"Me?"
"One of your pack was injured. How badly did it reflect back on you?" Carter clarified.
Damn, the man had done his homework. Owen just gave him a calm smile.
"I'm fine. We all are. We got through this, Delta is sleeping off the anesthetic, and she'll heal. The pack is peaceful and we won't be going for any kind of runs in a while. Relax, Carter. Everything is okay."
The other man snorted. "Right." He gave Owen a long, hard look, then, "I thought you would have realized by now that you could trust me."
Owen blinked. "What?"
"You had a radio. You could have called. What you did was send the professor off in a jeep to call the vet, then return with a truck to get the raptor back home. I could have helped, Grady. Just me. No squad of troopers with guns."
He sighed explosively. "I know. Listen, Dan… I trust you won't shoot them on sight and I trust my pack not to eat you or your troopers as long as they don't shoot first."
"Good to know."
"But back there… it was instinctual. A lot of it was. I needed Delta safe and…"
"And I wasn't part of that equation?"
"Sorry. I need to work on that."
Blue's agreement shot through him. She would have trusted the chief of security to help. Owen gave her a thin smile. Sometimes animal instinct was a lot better than human worry and fear.
"Blue would have trusted you," he said softly.
Carter's brows climbed again. "And what does that tell you?"
"That I have crappy alpha instincts."
It got Owen a laugh. "Go and take a shower, Grady. You look like you were dragged through the jungle and then some. And call Claire."
Owen gave him a sloppy salute. He would do just that. Maybe call Claire first, then shower, then check on his girls, and then he really needed a beer.
tbc...