Wild Country (The World of the Others #2)- Anne Bishop Page 0,98

backyard. The pack was out there, close enough to be a possible threat. And she and Rusty, who were now members of his pack, were outside in the dark. Vulnerable.

“Rusty is young,” he said, “and your teeth would do no good in a fight.”

If she and Rusty were vulnerable, what would happen if the dogs attacked someone like Maddie? “We have to find them and kill them.”

“Yes.”

That simple. Driving the dogs away hadn’t been enough. They were dangerous adversaries who had returned to his territory and now had to be eliminated.

“I’ll head over to the office as soon as I can.” As he turned away, she said, “Virgil? Are you okay with me bringing Rusty to the station?”

The sky had lightened enough that she could see his bafflement. “When we hunt, she needs to be in the den where it is safe. When we are not hunting, she should be with her pack. How else will she learn?”

That, too, was simple for him.

Jana petted her dog. “Come on, girl. Time for breakfast. Breakfast?”

Virgil snorted a laugh. “Do you expect her to know all these words?”

“Not all of them,” she said defensively. “But she’s smart enough to learn words.”

“Food. It is one word that means the same thing whether it’s morning or night. That one she will learn quickly.”

He walked with them. Walked into the light from the back door just as Barb opened the screen door.

Jana recognized shock—and was certain her friend was blushing when Barb squeaked out, “Morning, Sheriff.”

“Barbara Ellen.” He paused a moment, as if trying to figure out why she was acting … odd. Then he shifted to his Wolf form, jumped the fence, and disappeared.

“Coffee’s ready.” Barb filled two mugs as soon as Jana came inside.

Jana busied herself with giving Rusty a scoop of kibble and didn’t look at her housemate.

“Okay,” Barb said. “I’m not an expert or anything, but Sheriff Wolfgard … He’s pretty … manly. Don’t you think?”

“I guess.” Really didn’t want to think about it. Really didn’t.

“Do you wonder …” Barb set her mug on the counter. “I mean, the Others can shift, right? So … do you think they can … adjust … parts?”

Jana spit a mouthful of coffee on the counter. “Gods, Barb!”

“Haven’t you ever wondered?”

“Not until now!”

“Oh. Well, I’ve wondered, and it’s not like you can ask any of them.”

Jana mopped up the coffee with a dishrag. She rinsed it out and hung it to dry before grabbing what was left of her coffee. “I have to head in early.”

“Can I catch a ride? I wanted to sort some books before I take care of the animals.” She paused before adding, “Joshua is meeting me. He sent a message that he has news.”

“Sure. I just need a quick shower since I cleaned up last night.”

Grabbing her robe from the back of her bedroom door, she spotted the note she’d written to Tobias last night. Had to mail that this morning.

It had been a long while since she’d met anyone as nice as Tobias who also made her hormones flutter, and he filled out his jeans quite well, thank you very much. But she hadn’t seen him, so it wasn’t her fault that, while she took a cool shower that bordered on cold, she kept picturing Tobias’s head on top of Virgil Wolfgard’s body.

* * *

* * *

Virgil continued his inspection of the front of the wolverine’s house—the inspection that had been interrupted when he’d heard her and Rusty outside in the yard. In the dark. The bad dogs should be denned somewhere since some of the Elders who lived in the hills were nocturnal hunters and very good at taking prey that had bedded down for the night. Like bison and deer … and humans.

No scent of dog except for Rusty. That was good. Choosing the large rock near the front step—a rock, he’d been told, that was decorative, although he couldn’t see the difference between it and all the other rocks outside the town—he lifted a leg and marked the rock to warn off the bad dogs and to inform the Elders who prowled these streets that the Wolves paid particular attention to the beings in this house.

Kane joined him a minute later.

Kane said.

Virgil replied.

From the back of the house, Virgil heard the wolverine make a sound that was close to a yelp.