The dog quieted. Unlatching the cage door, she hooked the horse line to the heavy collar he wore, then stood back to give him room to get out of the cage.
Wicked gave her a direct stare. She’d known this dog would be challenging.
Hobbling down the ramp, he looked up at her. Erica wished she could take the muzzle off of him, but she just didn’t trust him yet. He didn’t trust her either.
“Heel,” she said, walking toward the gate into the dog park. He followed her through without question, so she took that as a good sign. He sat while he waited for her latch the gate behind them, then looked around the area. Erica assumed he needed to go potty, so, spooling out the length of the horse lunge line, she murmured to him, “Go potty.”
Wicked sat there for a long time, even after she’d parked herself on the bench thirty feet away. Pulling out her phone, she pretended to ignore him.
The dog lowered his head to sniff the ground first. There had probably been a lot of traffic through here over the past week, so it took him a minute to get his fill. Then he stretched a bit, until he seemed to hit a painful spot and he stopped. Erica frowned. If he was in pain then that would make him bitchy too. Maybe she needed to check his discharge papers and see if he needed another dose of medication.
Wicked pushed to his three feet and bounced over to a conveniently placed fire hydrant. Surely every male dog that came in here blasted that sucker. Wicked sniffed for a moment, then lifted his amputated leg slightly and let loose. Oh, jeez. The poor guy had really needed to pee. She felt guilty for waiting so long now. Once he got done he wandered around a little more. There was a thick patch of grass he headed toward, not burnt by the spring sun. It was still green and soft. With a final glance around, Wicked lowered himself to the grass and rolled. Tears came to her eyes because it was such a dog thing to do, and he’d been in cages and transports for a week, at least. They had grass at Lackland-San Antonio, but with his aggressive behavior she doubted he’d been given any quality time.
Then he stood up and gave a hearty shake. When he was done, he lowered his head and she turned to look at him. She caught her breath just as he scraped the muzzle off his head.
Afterword
Stay up to date with my releases and cover reveals by subscribing to my newsletter!
www.jmmadden.com/newsletter/
I expect many more books in the Dogs of War series, so I hope you’ll follow along on their journeys with me!
Also by J.M. Madden
The Dogs Of War- men who trusted their government and were horribly betrayed.
Genesis-Free
Chaos
Destruction
Retribution
If you would like to read about the ‘combat modified’ veterans of the Lost and Found Investigative Service, check out these books:
The Embattled Road ( FREE prequel)
Duncan, John and Chad
Embattled Hearts-Book 1 (FREE)
John and Shannon
Embattled Minds-Book 2
Zeke and Ember
Embattled Home-Book 3
Chad and Lora
Embattled SEAL- Book 4
Harper and Cat
Embattled Ever After- Book 5
Duncan and Alex
Her Forever Hero- Grif
Grif and Kendall
SEAL’s Lost Dream-Flynn
Flynn and Willow
SEAL’s Christmas Dream
Flynn and Willow
Unbreakable SEAL- Max
Max and Lacey
Embattled Christmas
Reclaiming The Seal
Gabe and Julie
Loving Lilly
Diego and Lilly
Her Secret Wish
Rachel and Dean
Wish Upon a SEAL (Kindle World)
Drake and Izzy
Mistletoe Mischief
Cass and Roger
Lost and Found Pieces
The Lowells of Honeywell, Texas
Forget Me Not
Untying his Not
Naughty by Nature
Trying the Knot
Other books by J.M. Madden
A Touch of Fae
Second Time Around
A Needful Heart
Wet Dream
Love on the Line
The Billionaire’s Secret Obsession
The Awakening Society- FREE
Tempt Me
If you’d like to connect with me on social media and keep updated on my releases, try these links:
http://www.jmmadden.com/newsletter.htm
www.jmmadden.com
FB-Authorjmmadden
Twitter- @authorjmmadden
And of course you can always email me at [email protected]
Healing Home Page 13
