am i too lost to be saved?

Angel shook her head as he looked around the selling grounds. They had all of the pets up for sale in cages like they were animals. Angel hated it. These men, and women may have been chosen as pets, they may have the features of many common domestic pets,  but that didn’t mean they weren’t human. Angel already had one pet, a Rottweiler pup named Joe, nicknamed Roman for his large, imposing size.

Joe had been Angel’s first rescue when she was only twenty-two. She remembered how thin he had been, trapped in a cage far too small for someone his size. His long hair matted together. It had taken her months to nurse him back to health, to break the abuse pattern that was often instilled in the minds of those who were trapped in ‘training centers’ like the one she found him in.

She’d offered him his freedom once he was well enough to function on his own. She offered him double what she had spent to purchase his freedom from the center in order to get his life started, but he turned it down. He remained loyal to the young woman who had rescued him, and began to protect her on dangerous rescue missions.

Over the five years they’d been working together there had been many other rescues. Some had taken the offer of freedom they were given. other became rescuers themselves once they were free, but no one ever stayed the way Joe had. They both ached to grow their pack, but no one seemed to click with the two of them.

Her ear hidden under her curled hair, tail pressed against her back beneath her dress; she held the leash hooked to Roman’s collar loosely in her hand. She hated using the leash, hated it more than anything, but she had to follow the rules of these places to a t. If she didn’t, she could raise suspicion, not only of her, but of any other rescuers that might be working at the same facility.

“Stay close Rome,” said Angel gently. “If you see anyone who catches your eye, lemme know, okay?”

Roman kept his head low, only raising his eyes from the floor when Angel spoke to him. He wasn’t going to risk the operation either. “Yes ma’am,” he spoke quietly, scanning the grounds.