Wild Country (The World of the Others #2)- Anne Bishop Page 0,107

so, he and Kane had been outnumbered by dogs that also knew how to fight. They would have lost this fight on their own. He knew it. So did Tolya. But the Sanguinati had entered the fight. So had the Eagles and Hawks.

So had the wolverine.

Once he was clean as a Wolf, he shifted to his human form and washed that too. The wounds looked worse on a human body. Why was that? But looking at his arms reminded him that he hadn’t heard from the other member of the Wolfgard pack.

Shutting off the water, Virgil patted himself dry. Finding a healing ointment in the medicine chest, he dabbed some on the wounds he could reach. There were tears in the flesh on his back that might benefit from the human medicine, but he couldn’t reach those. He considered asking Barbara Ellen to help, then decided against it and put the ointment back in the medicine chest.

Once he was dressed in his usual jeans and shirt, he stepped into the front part of the office. Barbara Ellen had left a pink message on the floor in front of Rusty’s crate, saying she had to feed the other animals.

Virgil knelt as he opened the crate, then sat back on his heels. Rusty came to him and licked his face, so glad to see him. But he knew she was looking for someone else too.

“Your mom has to help Kane right now.” He buried his hands in the puppy’s fur. “I guess this was her first real fight, and maybe she was afraid. But she stood for you, kept you safe.”

His mate would have fought to protect their pups, along with the rest of their pack. Hadn’t made a difference in the end. Too many of the enemy with weapons that could bring down bison. There had only been Wolfgard there in that remote spot that should have been safe since they’d had limited contact with humans.

Not safe enough.

“In you go, pup.” After coaxing Rusty into her crate, Virgil hesitated before opening the bottom drawer of the wolverine’s desk, taking out the plastic tub, and removing one of the chewing treats. It was shaped like a bone—but not like any bone he’d ever seen—and was supposed to be tasty. He’d eaten one when the wolverine wasn’t around and decided that if dogs thought those things were tasty, there was something wrong with dogs.

But the pup wagged her tail and made happy sounds when he opened the door wide enough to give her the treat.

“Don’t tell your mom.”

Putting the tub back in the drawer and making sure the crate door was secured, Virgil left the office so that the citizens of Bennett could see what would tear out the throat of any threat, whether that threat was a dog or a human.

* * *

* * *

Tolya watched John Wolfgard and Yuri Sanguinati toss the carcasses into the back of a pickup. Then he scanned the street. Most of the humans had been inside their shops or hadn’t reported to work yet. That was good. The fewer humans who saw proof of what the terra indigene could do, the less fear would scent the air and excite the predators among them. And since half of Bennett’s residents were predators, it was better if the other half didn’t turn themselves into scent lures.

Scythe crossed the street, not even glancing at the dead dogs. Their life force was already spent, so they held no interest for her.

“Should I have fought?” she asked. “I was close enough, but I thought the Wolves would see and …”

“And die,” Tolya finished for her. “You were right to stay out of it.”

“What about the females who need protection?”

“They’ll be here soon.”

As Scythe headed back to the Bird Cage Saloon, Candice Caravelli and Lila Gold piled out of a taxi and hurried to follow Scythe.

As soon as those two females left the taxi, Dawn Werner ran out of the saloon and waved her arms at the driver, followed by her limping mate,