Wild Country (The World of the Others #2)- Anne Bishop Page 0,125

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“Do you have one of those guns that shoots colored bullets?” Virgil asked.

For a moment, Tobias couldn’t think of what the Wolf meant. “You mean a flare gun? Yes. I keep one in the truck.”

Virgil looked at the horse and rider, then focused on Tobias. “Fire says if you shoot a colored bullet into the air, the terra indigene will know there is danger and will come to help.”

Gods above and below. “Appreciate that.” And he hoped he would never be in a position to send up a flare because he didn’t want to consider which terra indigene would come to help.

When Virgil continued to lean in and stare at him, Tobias said, “Something else?”

“Rusty can’t have meat?”

“Sure she can, but she’s been fed puppy kibble up to now and you don’t want to change her diet too fast.”

“Kibble instead of meat? Have you tasted kibble?” Virgil bared his teeth, and Tobias had the unpleasant experience of seeing human canines change into Wolf fangs when those fangs were inches away from his face.

“Can’t say I have.” Obviously Virgil had—and hadn’t liked it.

He had to be careful not to agree with Virgil too much, or the Wolf, already dominant, would run roughshod over Jana. Or try, anyway.

“The pup is adjusting to a new home and a new pack. Better for her to have familiar food for a while. Better for Jana to be able to give Rusty something she can provide.”

Virgil’s ears shifted to Wolf, as if to better hear the words. Since he hadn’t backed away at all, Tobias found it … unsettling.

“Rusty is Jana’s first dog, her first puppy,” Tobias said. “She needs to learn, same as the pup, and the learning will go down easier if the teaching is … soft. You understand what I’m saying?”

After several very long moments, Virgil nodded. “It is good the Wolfgard can help her learn with the dog puppy. That way Jana will know what to do when the two of you mate and have pups of your own.”

“That’s a thought.” Oh gods. This felt like the Wolf version of a shotgun wedding. Or at the very least, an older brother wanting to know a man’s intentions toward a sister. “I’d better be going. I have to deliver mail and supplies to the Skye Ranch on my way home.”

Virgil stepped away from the pickup, shifted back to Wolf form, and headed for Bennett at an easy trot.

The horse and rider had disappeared, but Tobias still drove past the spot slowly before he put his foot on the gas and made up time driving to the Skye Ranch.

He’d met Jana a handful of days ago. They’d shared a couple of rides, a couple of kisses, and a movie night with friends. Sure, he was attracted to her, and a day ago, he wouldn’t have turned down an invitation to become better acquainted in the physical sense. But wanting to know someone wasn’t the same as being ready to marry. If Virgil thought that one thing automatically led to the other, Tobias was going to have to think hard about what he was willing to offer Deputy Paniccia.

Then again, there was that spark between them, and he liked thinking about that just fine.

CHAPTER 24

Windsday, Messis 22

Before heading for work, Jana took Rusty for another emergency run to the potty spot. She’d surely like to give Virgil a whack on the head for letting the puppy gorge on food she wasn’t used to eating. But if Rusty dribbled poop on the office floor because she couldn’t hold it long enough to reach grass, well, Virgil might get the message.

“Unsupervised kid in a candy store,” she muttered. “It all goes in just fine, but coming out?” She glanced at the pup curled on the passenger-side floor. “Light meals for you, kiddo. That’s what your auntie Barb recommended this morning.”

When she reached the office, she called Move ’Em Out Bookstore and asked John Wolfgard to find her a stack of old newspapers as a preventative measure. Then she went next door to the land agents’ office and arranged to escort Dawn Werner to the newly restored shopping center in order to make a list of the stores that were potential employment opportunities.

Dawn should have been safe to go on her own within the town’s boundaries, but the men who had attacked the people at the ranch were still out there, somewhere. Besides, most of the terra indigene didn’t know Dawn, and anyone watching her check out the