Wild Country (The World of the Others #2)- Anne Bishop Page 0,80

opposite side, acknowledging the boundary.

Easy enough for them to scent the line between where humans would be watched but not harmed as long as they themselves did nothing harmful and that one step that would put them in the wild country, regardless of the houses on the street. But humans wouldn’t be able to tell where the boundaries were.

They turned a corner and Virgil stopped when he spotted Tolya Sanguinati standing in front of a house in the middle of the block, talking with Saul Panthergard and Joshua Painter.

Kane asked.

Instead of answering, Virgil headed for the Sanguinati.

A shift in the wind direction had Saul turning toward them before the other two males noticed his approach.

Virgil asked.

Tolya gestured toward a house a few doors down on the opposite side of the street.

Had the terra indigene known that sweet bloods could be tormented by a place? Did Simon Wolfgard know that? Or had Broomstick Girl simply found a comfortable den and settled in at the Lakeside Courtyard? What about the pup living with Jackson Wolfgard?

In both those cases, the sweet blood had been given a den among the terra indigene instead of claiming a den that previously had belonged to humans. Maybe that was the reason this search was different.

Or maybe the choice of den was more important because this pup couldn’t howl and would suffer in silence.

Kane said.

Virgil ignored the comment. He’d seen the small bus pull up. When the door opened and the Jacob pup leaped out ahead of the rest of the Gott pack, he knew why Kane was heading that way. If one of them kept watch over the Becky girl, the adult females would have time to make food for the pack while the boy pup could run and play and the Becky girl could explore a bit around the family den.

The adult males, Kenneth and Evan, came out of the house.

“As far as we can tell, the house looks solid,” Kenneth said. “All the appliances are in good condition. There are bunk beds in one room that will work for the boys.” He stopped and swallowed hard.

“There is a room that would work well for the girls, but we would need to find two single beds,” Evan said. “And it would be less … emotional … if we could remove all the personal belongings quickly.”

“That might be possible,” Tolya said. “I will let you know tomorrow. Are you saying you will take this house?”

The men looked at each other, then nodded.

“Very well. I’ll draw up the papers.” Tolya looked at the small bus. “The driver is waiting for you. You should gather your young and go back to the hotel now.”

Virgil watched the men walk down the street.

Tolya made a sputtery sound.

Virgil huffed. He could tear out Jana Paniccia’s throat before she could blink, but she still filled a room with attitude: I might be smaller, but I can take you. If that wasn’t a wolverine, what was?

And wasn’t she going to howl about what he’d decided?

he said.

Tolya studied him.

Virgil studied the Sanguinati in turn.

Tolya smiled.

The stink of humans in his den?