A Lion's Healing Love

by Draugr & Element

Chapter 4: The Penitent Wolf

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License

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It was several hours later when John and Tom finally returned to the hospital to pick the up the lion and wolf. They knocked on the door, and without thinking, Randall left the bed to open the door for them, waving through the window, quite excited to see a friendly and familiar face.

"Master is sleeping, just a moment!" he said. Halfway back over, Randall froze, suddenly remembering Georgio's admonishment that he stay in the bed - but he continued on anyway, shaking his master awake gently.

"Master...I-I'm, I'm sorry I got out of bed, but...but it was for John and Tom! They're here to take us home."

Georgio awoke, a bit groggy, and smiled at them. "Hey there, guys." He gave Randall's head a pat as he sat up. John rolled in a wheelchair as an attending nurse stepped into the room to remove the lion's IV line. Randall didn't react, thankfully, but Georgio still grabbed his collar, just to prevent any further mishaps.

"Come on, sleep, I got you some wheels," John said, after the attending left. Georgio just rolled his eyes, but sat down anyway.

"I'm not crippled, you know..."

"Yeah, well, you know me.."

"Heh, yes, I do...oh! Right, Tom...would you do me a favor tonight, and give Randall a good talking to later about why he should not bite at doctors, please? I'd have John do it, but you're the stricter one."

"He bit someone?" Tom asked, incredulous. "And he wasn't put down? What happened?"

"Well, actually...no, you know what, Randall will explain it in the car ride, won't you boy?" Georgio said, a stern note creeping into his voice. "Come on, let's get home. Tom, leash Randall for me, will you? We don't need him biting anyone else."

Randall flattened his ears, but even he understood he couldn't be trusted right now. He was a bit frightened to have Tom at the end of his leash rather than his master, but the lion was nearby, so he tried not to feel too poorly. Once everyone was seated - Tom in the back of the car with Randall, Georgio in the passenger seat, John at the wheel, they took off. Finally, Tom spoke up, figuring he had let enough time pass for Randall to grow sufficiently worried.

"Now...Randall, tell me what happened, exactly. No excuses. Just facts," he said, in an even tone of voice.

"A man came into the room...a, a tiger, and...I didn't know who he was, he was just moving toward Master...I growled at him, trying to warn him off, but he just kept coming, and then he came up to the machine that was giving Master his medicine, and...I snapped at him. I didn't actually bite him, but...but...I tried." Randall turned his eyes downward, looking very guilty. "I didn't know he was a doctor!" he said insistently.

Tom batted him on the end of the nose, not hard, but enough to show he meant business. Randall yelped and grabbed it, but didn't try and flee. "I said no excuses, slave. But as for that..." Tom took a deep breath as he prepared to chew out the wolf. This was something very serious, and not something they could risk a repeat incident. Yes, it was true that Randall could not recognize a doctor upon sight, but that was why Georgio had told him time and time again that he needed to come to his master first before making his own decisions like that. He didn't want to wait until they got to the house to chew him out, this needed addressed now, before the situation had any more chance to slip from Randall's mind.

"WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING?" he shouted. "Your master took you in, saved you from the most...despicable life imaginable, and has told you time, and time, and time again, that you need to come to him first! And what do you do? You betrayed all that by jumping the gun, ignoring what he's tried to teach you! How could you be so ungrateful? What were you thinking? How could you do that to your master?"

Randall whimpered and covered his head, trying to sink to the floor of the car. The tone reminded him of his former life...but the words, the words crushed his heart. They were like nothing that had ever been said to him before.

"OH NO YOU DON'T, SLAVE," he yelled again. Tom grabbed his paws and yanked him back up, plopping him down on the seat. "You're not escaping from this." Tom took a deep breath, trying to focus on reducing his volume before his next outburst. Randall was terrified, shaking his in seat like a leaf. Yelling more at this point would serve no purpose.

"Randall, I don't ever want to catch you pulling a stunt like that again, understand?" he said, this time much more softly. Tom grabbed Randall's chin and forced him to look him in the face, if not the eyes. "Apart from your Master, do you realize what you'd be doing to us, if we were forced to take you in and have you neutered? Or more likely euthanized? We could never forgive ourselves, and I think your master would have a hard time forgiving us, too."

Randall squeaked out a few whimpers, but otherwise remained silent.

"Do you understand this?" he asked, firmly. Randall merely whimpered in response again, still terrified.

"You were asked a question slave, now answer!" he yelled again. Tom hated doing this to the poor wolf, especially seeing how scared Randall was...the wolf's heart was in the right place, but sometimes, his brain...well, it was for his own good, he just had to swallow back his emotions on the matter, which was harder than it sounded - but Tom could do that. That's why this was his job, and not John's.

"Y-y-yes, sir, I understand!" Randall yipped.

"You are never, ever ever ever, to repeat what you did today, understand? You do not ever preemptively attack a free fur, no matter what you think they are doing, unless your master commands it."

"Yessir!" he squeaked out again.

Tom sighed, glad to see finally that something had gotten through to the wolf.

"Look, Randall...I'm doing this for your own good. We all love you, and you are a real blessing in all of our lives...we're as much angry and disappointed in your actions today as we are scared of what could have happened to you. That was sheer dumb luck that you aren't dead, or waiting for us to pick you up at the vet's office, minus your balls."

Randall bowed his head. "I'm...I'm sorry for making you have to do that," he said.

Georgio sighed, glad it was over. He never could have yelled at Randall like that. Well, not without his emotions getting the better of him. Tom sounded angry, but the lion knew he was completely in control of himself the entire time. He looked over at John, and sighed again.

"Do you ever have to discipline Kana like this?" he asked, wondering if Randall was just uniquely...well, uniquely Randall.

"Nope. Well, once when we first got her, but still not quite as bad as he's getting it. She's a pretty sensitive girl, so we never had to do much. Worst she's ever really gotten in recent times is a lecture and a spanking...and the last time we had to do that must have been about half a year ago now. She's exceptionally well behaved."

Georgio nodded, not really having expected any different answer. He looked up in the rearview mirror to see Randall sniffling, and Tom sitting in his seat, looking almost as wretched as the wolf.

"Tom, at least hug the poor thing so he knows you do care about him," he said.

Randall almost acted before Tom did, quite willing to accept any loving contact after all that.

"Just remember, Randall...when we have to yell at you like that, it's because we care about you," Tom said, rubbing the wolf's back. Georgio reached his paw back to pat Randall's knee, right as they pulled up to the house. Randall brightened up considerably at that, relishing the contact with his master.

Tom let him go, and stepped out so he could help John get Georgio out of the car. Kana came out beaming, opening the passenger door up.

"Hello Master Georgio, dinner is ready, I made your favorite, too. I'm glad you came when you did, the boys are famished and I've been having a bear of a time keeping their minds off their stomachs!"

Georgio grinned, handing Randall's leash to Tom. He was still sore, and if something caused Randall to bolt, he knew he couldn't hold on to him. He gave him a quick kiss, seeing the fur on his face matted with tears.

"Tom, why don't you take Randall upstairs and clean him up a little, you did put him in that state, after all," John said, grinning - after checking with Georgio to make sure that was okay. He walked the lion into the kitchen afterward, and sat him down to a large feast of a chicken parmesan. There were even some of the Shepherd's special recipe chocolate chip cookies for dessert.

"This looks great, thank you so much Kana. You're a wonderful cook." She graciously bowed, visibly beaming at the compliment. The boys both came over to their "Uncle" Georgio, giving him a small hug from the side.

"We're glad you're okay, Uncle Georgio."

"Yeah, we're happy you're alright."

"Well, what about you, Cody, are you any better?" Georgio asked, knowing he'd missed a couple days of school from a nasty bug.

"Yep! All better."

Tom allowed Randall to watch the commotion in the dining room for a short time.

"Come on," he said, giving a small tug at the leash. Randall was very loathe to leave his master, but knew Georgio would be safe with all the others surrounding him. They got up to the bathroom, and Tom sat the wolf down on the toilet seat. He nearly closed the door, then thought better of it - being alone in the bathroom with someone who wasn't his master...well, he knew Randall well enough to know that might be a "freak-out" trigger.

"Alright, let's see here..." Tom said, grabbing a washcloth and running it under some warm water. He knelt down in front of Randall, taking his chin in his hand and dabbing his eyes and nose, cleaning up the wolf.

"There we go, good as new," Tom said, giving him a quick hug - one Randall actually returned, much to the rhino's surprise.

"Thanks, Master Tom," Randall said quietly. Tom didn't take him off leash as he led him downstairs, not sure if Georgio would want that. As he returned to the dining room, he handed the end of the leash off to Georgio, and took his seat.

Randall, on the other hand, promptly moved up against his master, feeling quite down.

One of the boys was a bit curious, and leaned over to John, whispering in his ear.

"Daddy, why is Randall on a leash?" he asked.

John smirked down at his son. "Randall was...very naught today, so he's being punished like when I take away your video games when you misbehave."

Georgio gave Randall a quick hug before unclipping his leash and handing it back to Tom.

"Here, this is yours. Now Randall...sit. And wait to be served to eat," he said, curtly but gently. Georgio reached a paw down when he had done so to pet him gently but firmly, just to let him know he still wasn't out of the woods. Kana set up a small table for Randall and her to eat at, and then served everyone, herself and Randall last. The wolf ate very slowly and silently, not wanting to disturb anybody and make an already difficult situation worse. His master was being quite firm with him, and it made him think he wasn't out of hot water yet.

"This is delicious," Georgio said, after several minutes of silence, save for clanking plates and silverware. "Did you cook any of this Tom? Or was this all the master chef of the house?"

"Heh, that would be our dear little Kana," Tom said.

"It is very good," Randall said quietly, to which Kana perked her ears but didn't otherwise reply - she was too busy blushing at the compliments coming her way.

"Hah, I knew it, most you're able to make is grilled cheese," Georgio laughed. A sparse, but consistent string of commentary filled the rest of dinner, although the subject of Randall was conveniently avoided for the duration.

After dinner, Kana began to collect the plates and clean up.

"Randall, get up and help her," Georgio said sternly - a bit upset that he hadn't done it of his own volition. Normally he'd be expected to anyway, but he'd have thought Randall would be attempting to please him more than this.

"S-sorry master," Randall said, getting up to help with the dishes. He kept his head down and looking as submissive as possible. He could almost feel the anger of the people in the room directed toward him - but every time he dared sneak a look, he saw their faces tempered with care, love, and worry as well.

"You know, he seems pretty sorry, maybe he learned his lesson..." John said.

"No, I need to be strict with him or he won't get it. He has to, for his sake, and all of ours as well."

"What did you do?" Kana whispered to Randall as they were cleaning up.

"I...I messed up, bad. Master says I am lucky to be alive."

Kana nodded, frowning slightly as she went back to washing dishes. She couldn't fathom what the wolf could have done. He was slightly juvenile and clumsy, she knew, but hardly a bad slave.

"That reminds me, you two, you know that stallion that tried to whack me?"

"Yeah, what about it?" Tom replied.

"I bought him."

The silence in the room was stunning.

"You what?" "Are you serious?" "He's crazy!" "What are you thinking?" There was a sudden cacophony in the room of outcries.

Georgio put up his hands, trying to calm everyone down.

"You're insane," Tom said. "Absolutely insane. I hope you're taking some good precautions here. And how is Randall handling that? I mean, besides trying to bite perfectly good doctors."

Kana gave Randall a glare at this, but the pitiful look on his face convinced her there was more to the story.

Georgio sighed, pressing a paw to his forehead. "I'm being careful, you know me. I read his file today before I met with him - he lost his restaurant and couldn't pay the loans. He's not some dangerous criminal or some poorly-bred unpredictable creature out of the kennel system, just a poor hunk that lost everything on a bad business deal. As for Randall, well, he ranted about it, he's pretty upset about what he did. He agreed to allow me to buy him, however...although I think that was more just to be on the same page with me. Randall will adjust. Look how quickly he opened up to me - I am sure Zeblend just needs to give him some patience and love, and he will come around."

Randall had absolutely no intentions of doing anything like that for the sick...thing...that hurt his master, but he knew better than to speak up just now.

"Well, Tom, you spent a year in that life just like me, you should know how pissed you can get at first...but instead of beating him, I tried being civil, and...well, it kind of worked, I think."

"I suppose..." Tom said. "But I still don't like it, not one bit. I hope it works out for you though," he said, sounding thoroughly unconvinced.

Randall and Kana meanwhile had just finished the dishes and set them in the rack by the sink to air dry. Randall was still feeling miserable, especially after seeing Kana's frown - he had expected her to disapprove, just like everyone else, but actually seeing it hurt. And too, not knowing what all he had coming to him was quite stressful. As the conversation continued, he went over by his master and sat by his feet, grabbing hold of one of his legs and leaning his head against it. Even if his master ignored him, he felt better just being able to have physical contact with him.

"Well Tom, you know as well as me with that collar he can't do anything bad, but I promise I'm fine. The poor guy is just like Randall, I think he just needs some love and a firm hand and he'll learn to like the rest of his life. He doesn't seem to bad, I mean, if you saw him, he's quite gorgeous."

He pet Randall's head after he said this, hoping to prevent a punishable outburst, and to impart that yes, he still thought Randall was good-looking as well.

He stood up with Randall. "Well, I think I had better get going," he said, as Kana walked over and handed Randall a large food container.

"Here Master Georgio, this is for you - leftovers so you don't have to worry about cooking for a meal or two, although if Master Tom and John don't need me here I'm always glad to come over and do that for you."

"Thank you Kana, that's very sweet of you."

"Randall...let's go," he said, his voice changing to a much sterner note.

Randall followed his master home, carrying the container, his head hung low, tail tucked between his legs, and ears folded back. He'd never felt so terrible in his life, even under all the abuses he'd suffered from his previous owners. The emotional pain felt a hundred times worse than the physical pain. It was a different thing feeling like you failed a master who hated you and treated you like shit, than it was to fail a master that you respected and loved and wanted to please above anything else.

Georgio sighed as they walked in the door. Once it was closed, he leaned back against it, rubbing his temples.

"Randall...I love you, you know that and I only hope Tom finally hit it home with you."

The wolf chances a glance upward when his master spoke, then moved forward for a hug, nuzzling his chest. "I know you do, Master...I love you too." It was quite clear from his behavior that this would not be a lesson soon forgotten.

"Well, if you learned you lesson, you can sleep at the foot of the bed tonight instead of the floor."

Randall sank a bit at this unpleasant reminder, that he wouldn't be falling asleep in his master's arms tonight, but he slowly padded his way into the kitchen, following the lion.

"Put the leftovers in the fridge, there's an empty spot on the shelf in there I think, so just put-"

The lion stopped, suddenly, reaching down to take the leftovers in his paw and did it himself, just in case. Randall pouted a bit, upset that his master didn't trust him with simple things anymore...although, he understood the sentiment, given the circumstances.

Georgio looked down, feeling sorry for Randall, and patted his cheek. "I'll never send you away Randall, I promise. Now, come on, to bed with you." Randall managed a sad smile, and followed Georgio up to the bedroom. The lion sat down and struggled to pull the sheets back a bit, then looked at himself.

"Jesus, I'm still dressed. Randall, help me take my pants off, would you? Just unbutton and pull down."

The wolf seemed to come alight at being allowed to do something for his master again, and he zipped over to unbutton the pants, gently pulling them down and then lifting his master's feet up to get them through the pant legs.

"Good boy, Randall." Georgio barely managed to get his shirt, socks, and underwear off, with some discomfort along the way. "Alright, Randall, turn out the lights, and get on the bed." He laid down under the sheets and popped his foot-paws out from below.

Randall did so and got atop the bed, laying down with his ears folded. At the rate he was going, one might wonder if they would ever be able to stand again.

"Use your muzzle and relax me a little so I can sleep, slave," Georgio commanded.

Randall nuzzled his owner's feet for a few minutes, before giving them a couple licks. They were clean, so he did not mind. He let out a few involuntary whimpers, not liking the distance he was being made to keep from the lion...but otherwise did not complain.

Georgio looked down and sighed. "You may sleep against my feet if it makes you feel better, slave. Now go to bed. Master still loves you, you know." Unbeknownst to Randall, Georgio grabbed a pillow to cuddle with, missing the feeling of holding his wolf...but he had to learn.

Randall curled up against the lion's feet as best he could, but it just didn't feel the same. He felt cold and distant. He tried grabbing his knees and huddling up for comfort, but he'd never slept this far from Master...it just didn't feel right. He felt exposed and unprotected, like he had for years when he was forced to sleep outside, chained to a post. Every now and then he let out a few whimpering or whining sounds unable to rest. Once he thought he saw his master stir, and poked his head up, hopeful that maybe he was taking pity on his disobedient slave, but when he didn't move further, Randall laid his head back down, disappointed.

Hours passed since his master fell asleep, and still Randall could not. He lay awake, staring at the sleeping form of his master...but he had been ordered to stay at the foot of the bed, and would not budge from that spot. He was still awake when the first morning rays of light crept through the venetian blinds, waking Georgio from his sleep.

"Mmm...Randall? Did you end up sleeping at all?"

Randall's shaking form looked up quickly as his master sat up, and, unable to restrain himself, he weakly moved over and hugged him - gently, so as not to aggravate his injuries. A few tears darkened his eyes. He hadn't managed to get any sleep at all during the night, and was about ready to collapse against his master now that he was there against his side.

"...not a wink..." he said, shaking his head and sounding quite wretched.

He looked at the clock and smiled. "Well, get under the sheets with me, we'll sleep a little later so you can rest Randall. It's only eight and our new slave should be here by noon so you go back to bed and lay with Master." Georgio gave him a kiss and put his good arm around him, placing his head to his shoulder.

"Thank you, Master," Randall managed weakly, falling asleep mere seconds after he was given permission. Georgio laid there as well, stroking his slave's head until he too passed out again. He woke up to a door bell ringing, and looked over, seeing that it was now twelve-thirty in the afternoon.

Randall was suddenly shaken awake, most certainly not ready to be roused out of bed yet. He gave a sleepy yawn and blinked his eyes.

"Shit, Randall, get up and get dressed, that is the delivery guy...get down there and get our new stallion and bring him and anything else given to you back up here, okay?"

"Huh...ah!" Randall scrambled out of bed and darted across the hall to his room, rummaging through his things until he found a loincloth. He was still a bit uncoordinated from his untimely and shortened slumber, and ended up tripping over his feet trying to put it on, slamming backwards into the floor, yelping. However, this did have the advantage of waking him up rather quickly.

"Fuck!" he yelled, rubbing his head. He finished dressing on the floor, then got up and charged downstairs, put his paw on the doorknob, then hesitated as his brain finally caught up with him. Master wasn't around - what if something like yesterday happened? Or what if it was someone bad? He slowly opened it anyway (only about a foot), realizing he couldn't stand there forever or make his master get up and do his job for him.

"H-hello?" he asked timidly, looking through the door crack.