Acknowledging his state as the big bad wolf without submitting to it.
It must have been enough, because he didn't act any more aggressive.
Again with the dominance stuff, it wasn't something Sam usually indulged in unless he was really upset or meeting a wolf for the first time.
When you are the top dog for long enough, I guess you don't feel like you have to rub people's noses in it.
If he hadn't bitten me, I'd have just dropped my eyes, but that didn't feel safe anymore.
Not after he bit me.
I needed to remind him that I was an Alpha's mate, predator and not prey.
A week, Charles had said, based on one example who had been a lot younger than Samuel was.
I was starting to worry that he'd been optimistic--which is something I've never felt compelled to accuse Charles of being.
How much time did Sam have? "So Fishy Boy grabs Phin, and says, `We know youse got it, see.' " I used my best Jimmy Cagney voice as I recited the scene as I had pieced together.
"And then he nods to his minions--Jolly Green Giants One and Two, because they both smell like green beans to me.
Giant One, she pushes over a bookcase that topples a few more." I couldn't always tell the sex of the person whose scent trail I was following, but Giant One was definitely female, though not necessarily big.
"Two, he's a little stronger.
He gets some loft on his and tosses it about halfway across the room, taking down a couple of more bookcases along the way in a much more destructive fashion." The original bookcase Two had tossed was in pieces, having broken apart when it hit.
I could see the action running like a film through my head; the steps had been laid out before my nose, and eyes--with a little imagination thrown in.
I wasn't sure even a werewolf could have picked up a bookcase stuffed full of books.
"But Phin doesn't tell right away," I told Sam.
I thought about Tad, my morning visitor-with-gun, and the dried blood on the floor.
"So Fishy Boy continues working on Phin while the Giant Twins go looking for it in the store.
They're pretty convinced it is here because they took apart everything.
I'm thinking that the ripped-up books might just be frustration--because it wasn't done in a methodical way.
I suppose, even so, it could be that they are looking for something that is not a book." I looked around.
"Maybe it could be hidden in a book or behind a book.
They stopped because Phin started talking." Sam sneezed a quick agreement--or maybe it was just dust.
I was worried it was just dust.
"Did he know they were coming and call Tad to warn me?" I asked.
"Or did they make him call Tad, and he managed to leave a vague warning instead? Either way, isn't it interesting that he didn't say what it was I'd borrowed?" I tapped my fingers on a bookcase that was still upright.
"So maybe they don't know it was a book, and he was afraid they could hear him--or they could read Tad's message." Sam sneezed again.
I glanced at him and saw the intelligent gleam that told me he was listening--and made me realize that he hadn't been just a few minutes ago.
"Maybe they really are after something entirely different.