Wild Country (The World of the Others #2)- Anne Bishop Page 0,119

hours, you all might not want to pack in too much meat either. Of course, you’d know better than me how your human form reacts to a full Wolf belly.”

John and Virgil stopped eating. Kane, having successfully yanked off part of the meaty rib cage, hobbled a few feet away and settled down with his prize.

After giving the pronghorn a wistful look, Virgil trotted toward the sheriff’s office while John headed in the opposite direction toward the bookstore.

“With me, Rusty,” Jana said, waving the pronghorn leg when the pup started to follow Virgil. “With me.” She indulged Rusty in a vigorous game of tug, which ended when Rusty pulled some hide off the leg and Jana, no longer having the resistance, landed on her butt.

“Need a hand, Deputy?” Tobias held out his hand.

“Don’t you laugh.”

“Not laughing. No, ma’am.”

Uh-huh.

She accepted the hand up, and the three of them walked to the sheriff’s office.

“Could Virgil have killed that animal?” Jana asked.

“Probably. He’s big enough and has the speed. But I doubt he’d have dragged it all the way back to the town square. If he’d been hunting last night in the hills—which would be unusual since regular wolves don’t tend to hunt at night, and from what I know of them, the Wolfgard don’t either—Virgil would have brought it to their house if he’d moved it from the kill sight.” Tobias stopped on the sidewalk in front of the sheriff’s office. “I don’t think the Wolfgard killed that pronghorn. Neither did the Panther who lives in town. None of them have had time to be out hunting for fresh meat. They’ve been making do with the supplies of fresh or frozen meat from all the houses, same as the humans here.”

“Who would kill something and then leave it for …” Jana stopped when she noticed all the birds heading for the carcass. Eagles, Hawks, Ravens, Crows. Even some of the Owls. Fresh meat. The kind of meat the terra indigene were used to hunting and eating.

Saul Panthergard, in his Cougar form, trotted up to the kill. Kane snarled, but Jana thought that it was for form’s sake. The birds fluttered and resettled, leaving Saul as the sole possessor of the hindquarters.

“Elders,” Jana whispered.

Tobias nodded. “That would be my guess. Kane’s hurt and Virgil’s keeping watch to make sure all the pesky humans behave. Someone needs to supply meat for the pack.”

And putting the carcass in the square allowed all the Others to have a piece since none of them had more right to the meat than the rest.

Jana waved the pronghorn leg, which Rusty took as an invitation to play. Holding it higher than the pup could jump, she said, “What am I supposed to do with this?”

“I’m guessing you don’t want to put it in the office refrigerator.”

“You guess right. For one thing, it’s an under-the-counter fridge—too small to hold this. For another thing …” Jana looked at the leg. “It still has fur and skin … and a hoof.”

“I’ll see if I can locate an ice chest and some ice. Or I can take it with me and return it to the rest of the kill if that’s what you want.”

“That would be better.”

Tobias tipped his hat back. “We feed the ranch dogs fresh meat all the time. It won’t hurt Rusty. In fact, it will be good for her—and it will be easier on you to feed her meat as one of her meals than fighting with Virgil every time there’s fresh meat. She’s pack, darlin’, and she’s furry. He might be able to wrap his mind around you not wanting to gnaw on meat that’s still on the hoof, but not providing food for a pup?” He shook his head. “One way or another, the Wolves will feed her. The only way for you to keep control of what she eats is if she gets most of her meals from you.”

She handed him the pronghorn leg. “I have to get to work.”

“Me too.” He smiled. “Too much of an audience for a good-bye kiss?”

Jana looked across the street. Everything with fur or feathers looked back at her. Watching her and Tobias. If she kissed Tobias in full view of everyone, Saul might keep it to himself, not seeing anything of interest. Kane might keep it to himself. Same with the Hawks and Eagles and Owls. But the Crows and Ravens? Everyone would know about a kiss before the breakfast dishes were cleared. And that was assuming the “news”