Free 4 Woof at the Door by Leslie O'Kane Page A

go completely berserk.”
    He was right. “I’ll crawl through and unlock the door for you.”
    I got down on my elbows and knees to crawl through the small dog door. I couldn’t. For the first time in my life, I was paralyzed with fear. I felt furious with myself for my weakness. There was no reason for me to feel this now. The wolf was securely tied. I’d already faced that horrifying scene in the kitchen once.
    I could hear Atla’s frantic struggle inside. He needed to get her out of there before she choked herself on the chain or ripped the handles clear off the refrigerator and freezer doors.
    “Get in there! You’re the only person small enough to fit through the opening! Now go!”
    I propped myself up and vented at Damian. “Look it, buster! I don’t know you from Adam, but you’re a complete jerk!”
    “Lady, that’s what my ex-wife used to say, but it isn’t getting us anyplace right now!”
    Police sirens were growing louder. They would break through the kitchen door and wouldn’t hesitate to shoot the wolf dead. For Atla’s sake, I had to act now. Whatever had happened tonight, it wasn’t her fault. Some fool had brought her here. Who? Ty?
    I took a deep breath, gritted my teeth, and wriggled through the door, mentally telling myself not to look at anything, just to stand up and immediately throw the locks on the back door.
    I got in and stood up. The smell of blood and death made me gag.
    Atla was whining, definitely still breathing, despite her choke collar. My back was to her as I threw the locks, determined to do this fast. From deeper inside the house, Doobie was still thrashing about and trying desperately to get through the bedroom door.
    Just as I fumbled with the last lock, there was a strange noise from the direction of the refrigerator.
    It sounded for all the world like a bolt ripping loose from the door handle.

Chapter 7
    The lock was stuck. I leaned against the door and finally forced its turn-style mechanism open. I turned to check on Atla. A blur of gray came at me. A hot-poker shock of pain raced up my arm as Atla sank her teeth into my left hand. I screamed in agony. The door bashed into me, and Damian rushed into the room.
    “Atla, no!” he yelled. She instantly released her grip on me, which sent another shock wave of hideous pain through my body. Damian grabbed hold of her leash just above the collar and was strong enough to lift her front paws off the ground.
    I took a couple of staggering steps, my vision blurred with pain. I gripped myself tightly around the wrist. I looked at the injury. She’d caught me in the fleshy part of my hand. The puncture wounds had begun to bleed. The pain was searing and relentless.
    “You okay?” Damian asked, straining as the wolf started to pull him toward Ty.
    In the corner of my vision, a quick view of the shocked faces outside the door registered on me. “What happened?” a female voice called. Beverly’s voice, I realized.
    “I’m okay,” I immediately shot back. A by-product of my being small and young-looking for my age was that I couldn’t tolerate being coddled, even when it was justified.
    “I’ve got to get her out front to my van,” Damian managed to tell me, straining with his physical effort at keeping the wolf under control. He paled when he and the snarling wolf reached the far side of the kitchen. “Oh, Jeez,” he murmured, staring down at Ty’s body. Frenzied by being near the body, Atla snapped at Damian, who held so tight to the leash that only her back paws were on the ground.
    In a remarkable show of strength, Damian managed to half lift the struggling wolf through the beaded entranceway. “Get the front door for me,” he barked over his shoulder. “I’ve got to load her into the van and get her caged. Now. Before the police burst in here and shoot her.”
    In a strange, almost out-of-body state, I managed to obey, stepping around the body and after Damian and the wolf. We crossed the living room. He