Wild Country (The World of the Others #2)- Anne Bishop Page 0,106

to stay and help Tolya. Your job as the dominant enforcer.>

He knew that. He didn’t like it, not with Kane so hurt, but he knew it.

Yes. She wasn’t a Wolf, but she was a member of their pack.

Tolya met his eyes, then looked at Jana. “Virgil needs to help me deal with this. You should go with Kane and Tobias.”

Jana nodded. “What about the other thing you wanted me to do?”

“Stewart Dixon isn’t here yet. Scythe will look after the females until you return and are ready to talk to them.”

Crowgard cawed a warning moments before Tobias appeared with the truck. The Intuit drove carefully, turning the truck around so that the back was close to the Wolves. Tobias hopped out and opened the tailgate.

Tolya stepped forward. “I’ll lift Kane into the truck.” The Sanguinati smiled, showing a hint of fang. “He’s heavy.”

Tobias eyed Kane and nodded.

It was easy to forget the Sanguinati were strong. As smoke, they did not look strong, even if they could outrun Wolves in that form. But Tolya lifted Kane and set him on the tailgate before shifting to a between form of human and smoke and flowing into the bed of the pickup to help Kane take a few staggering steps to the blankets Tobias had piled up as a nest.

Jana did a twisty hop that ended with her sitting on the tailgate. She scooted over to Kane, one hand resting on his shoulder as he lowered his head to her thigh and sighed.

Tobias looked at Virgil. “We’ll look after him.”

He had to trust. But he waited until Tolya was the only one close enough to hear him before he let out a quiet, distressed whine.

CHAPTER 22

Moonsday, Messis 20

“You should clean those wounds,” Tolya said quietly. “I don’t think Deputy Jana noticed because your wounds aren’t as serious as Kane’s, but you should take care of them before she shakes off her distress over the fight and sees you again.” A pause. “Do you need help?”

Virgil stood absolutely still. There had been no Sanguinati where he’d lived before. With the exception of John Wolfgard, none of the shifters now living in Bennett had had any experience with that form of terra indigene. But Simon Wolfgard worked with one of the Sanguinati, even ran a bookstore with him.

He had no reason not to trust Tolya, but being around other strong predators when he was hurt made him uneasy.

Tolya nodded as if he understood the reason behind the words and would have given the same answer. “We have humans coming in from a ranch and another problem that needs to be addressed. If you can shift to your human form without doing harm to yourself, I would appreciate it.”

“I’ll arrange to have the carcasses picked up. They’re meat?”

He considered the humans whose lives brushed against his.

“Best if Barbara Ellen and Deputy Jana don’t have to look at that particular truth today.”

The wolverine had sounded squeaky, but she would shake that off, and once she did, he didn’t need her snarling at him today.

Leaving Tolya, Virgil trotted across the square. He stopped to sniff the ground and the dogs he found within sight of the sheriff’s office. One was gutted; three were shot. The largest of the dogs had a hole in its chest and a bloody straight line along its shoulder that looked too shallow to have done more than annoy the dog. But the three dogs told him why the wolverine had sounded squeaky. She’d been in her own fight and had stood her ground.

He crossed the street to the sheriff’s office, then shifted his front paws enough to open the door. He stepped inside and stopped.

Kneeling in front of Rusty’s crate, Barbara Ellen twisted around to look at him.

“Oh, Virgil.”

She didn’t say anything else, so he went into the bathroom and, once again, shifted his front paws enough to turn on the water in the shower cubicle. Then he stood there in his Wolf form, letting water wash away the enemies’ blood and wash out his wounds. The wounds hurt, but none of them were crippling and most weren’t that deep.

He was big enough and strong enough—and skilled enough—to bring down a half-grown bison by himself, tearing at its legs until it collapsed. Even