“So I should learn my place?”

Tobias nodded. “Sooner you do that, the better you’ll get along with him.” He looked over at a couple of playpens set up in a spot that had been shady but was rapidly changing to full sun. “I have to get people and critters settled today, but I’ll come back tomorrow and we’ll have that talk.”

“All right. Thanks.”

“Hold them for a minute.” He gave Jana the border collies’ leashes before he walked over to the playpens, which held the puppies. A few were youngsters barely weaned. But there was one … Still had her puppy fuzz, but old enough to have been housebroken—he hoped. He picked her up and cuddled her against his chest while she desperately tried to give him kisses.

He wasn’t sure if she was a particular breed or a mongrel. Didn’t matter. There was something about this one that gave him a strong feeling that she was the right one.

“Want to come with me and meet my mother?” he whispered.

Wag wag. Kiss kiss.

“Ms. Debany? I’ll need a collar for this one.”

Barb Debany studied the pup. “I’ll get a collar and a harness. That might work better. The storage place has dog beds and crates and whatever else you’ll need.” She dashed inside and returned a minute later with a choice of collars and harnesses.

He got the puppy fitted out, collected the border collies, loaded up the cats, and left Barb Debany to do her routine feeding and cleanup, while Deputy Paniccia drove off with her new friend. As he and Ed drove to the building that was serving as a warehouse for household goods and was supposed to have everything the dogs would need, he wondered if his mother was going to take one look at the puppy and then pick up her rifle and shoot him.

* * *

* * *

Pulling up in front of the household goods warehouse, Jana looked at the dog curled up on the seat beside her. She needed to pick up what Rusty would need but couldn’t leave the dog in the vehicle. She could go to the office and put Rusty in the Me Time cell, but she didn’t want Virgil or Kane to find the dog before she got back—and she didn’t want to imagine what she might find when she got back if she did leave Rusty alone in the office before she told the Wolves she had adopted the dog.

“Deputy?”

She looked at the man who had helped her load up her household goods that morning. “Could you help me?”

“Sure. What do you need?” Then he laughed as Rusty climbed into Jana’s lap to sniff the stranger. “Ooooh. Barb roped you into adopting one?”

Jana put an arm around Rusty. “This one did the roping.” With some help from a good-looking Intuit rancher. “I wasn’t thinking about the logistics of getting her things after getting her.”

“You need everything?” he asked.

“Doubled. One for home and one for work.”

He raised his eyebrows. “You’re bringing her to work? Will … they … agree to that?”

“They will.” She hoped.

He studied Rusty a moment longer. “I’ll be back in a few minutes.”

And he was, with two crates for a medium-size dog, bowls for food and water, and a sack that held who knew what else.

“We don’t keep food here,” he said when he finished loading up the back of the vehicle. “I called the feed store since the people working there are collecting animal food from the houses. They’ll bring some over to the sheriff’s office. Not sure if you’ll be expected to pay for it since it’s not food for you, but you’ll figure it out.”

“Thanks for your help.” Jana drove to the sheriff’s office and parked. Then she looked at Rusty, all bright, hopeful eyes and wagging tail. “I sure hope Virgil doesn’t look at you and think I brought him lunch. Stay.”

Getting out and closing the door before Rusty could follow, she hurried to open the back and get the crate out.

“What’s that?”

Jana jerked in surprise, then looked over her shoulder at Yuri Sanguinati. “It’s a crate.”

“And that?” He pointed at Rusty, who was climbing into the back.

“That’s a dog.”

Yuri looked at Rusty, looked at the crate, and finally looked at the sheriff’s office. Grinning wide enough to show his fangs, he lifted the crate out of the vehicle and said, “You get the rest.”

“I could have done that,” Jana said. She could not afford to appear weak.

“I’m sure you could, but it would have been hard to open the office door if you were holding this instead of the smaller items.”

Practical, not condescending. She hadn’t realized she had such a big chip on her shoulder, had to stop hearing the echoes of instructors and fellow cadets telling her she wasn’t strong enough to be a cop. She had been hired for this job because Simon Wolfgard had seen something in her that he thought would suit this town and the sheriff. She’d better start showing everyone she was worthy of being hired.

“Thanks. I hadn’t intended to pick up a dog today. It’s thrown me off stride.” She hurried to open the door and point to the spot near her desk where the crate could go. By the time she dumped the bowls and sack on the floor and rushed out to fetch the dog, who was barking like crazy, she discovered the Others, in the form of a big-ass Hawk, had already found her new friend. Or found something of interest. It seemed to be ignoring the dog—which was good—as it worked out how to open the other crate.

That was not good. Some of the dogs Barb looked after were Hawk-size meals, and if Hawks or Eagles learned how to open the crates …

Jana opened the passenger door, picked up Rusty, who squirmed and barked to warn everyone that there was danger, danger, danger, and took her inside the office. Sliding the leash’s loop up a leg of one of the visitors’ chairs, she hurried out to her vehicle—where the Hawk was now comfortably perched on the tailgate, surveying the part of the town square that was visible from the sheriff’s office.

“I have to close up the vehicle now,” Jana said.

The Hawk eyed her, and she wondered if this one could shift to a human form that she would recognize as a new resident of Bennett or if this was one of the terra indigene who couldn’t—or wouldn’t—take a form so many of them considered an enemy rather than just a rival predator.

The Hawk flew over to a recently installed hitching post at the edge of the square. Several hitching posts had been added to accommodate the horses and horse-drawn conveyances. Around the square, the grassy side was now parking for horses, mules, and donkeys. The building side of the street was parking for cars. So far there weren’t many horses or cars coming into the business district, but having both using the streets was a concern that should be brought to the town council.

Jana returned to the office and Rusty, who seemed frantically glad to see her. Crouching to give pats and reassurance, Jana said, “It’s all right. It’s all right. Now, you need to be good, okay? And you’ll need to stay in your crate when I’m working. But once you get used to being with me, you’ll be able to come out more. Now, I’m just going in the back to fill your water bowl.” She needed to put in her hour working with her horse, which was considered part of her workday since she had to become a sufficiently capable rider to handle her duties as a mounted deputy. And she’d better check e-mail before she slipped up on something important.

She grabbed the water bowl and dashed into the back part of the office to fill it.

Rusty barked. Bark, bark …

Silence.

Leaving the bowl on the counter near the kitchen sink, Jana returned to the front of the office and froze. Kane, in Wolf form, and Virgil in human form stared at Rusty, who was doing her best to hide under the chair.

Smart dog.

“Sheriff.” Jana’s heart pounded as Virgil walked past her and went into his office. Since Virgil wasn’t going to talk to her, she took a step toward Kane, whose attention remained focused on the dog. “Her name is Rusty. I adopted her. I was going to talk to the sheriff about …”

That was as far as she got before Virgil, now a massive Wolf, came out of his office and brushed past her.

“Sheriff … Virgil …”

Virgil knocked the chair halfway across the room and was on the dog before Jana could draw another breath. Poor Rusty yelped and tried to run, but Virgil’s jaws closed over the dog’s neck, forcing her down before he released her neck and used a paw to push her over on her back. As soon as she exposed her belly, he stood over her, her body between his big front paws.

“Stop it,” Jana said fiercely. Oh gods, please don’t kill her just because you don’t like me.

Virgil ignored her. When he finally stepped back, Rusty scrambled to roll and run, but Kane was on her before she got her feet under her. Same forced submission.

Furious but afraid to do anything that would provoke something more lethal than this bullying, Jana held back and watched—and resisted the urge to draw her weapon.

When Kane released Rusty, Virgil moved into position, keeping the dog between them. And then …

Rusty timidly wagged her tail. And Virgil and Kane wagged their tails. An understated wag, to be sure, but it seemed to encourage Rusty to quietly submit to being sniffed while she licked them. And then …

Done. Virgil returned to his office. Kane went outside. Jana lunged, grabbing Rusty’s leash before the dog could dash outside and flee.

“Come here, girl. Good girl. You stay with me. Come over here.” Coaxing, Jana half led, half carried Rusty to the crate and put her inside before unclipping the leash and securing the door. Dropping the leash, she stormed into Virgil’s office, too mad and scared to think until she saw him adjusting himself before he zipped up the jeans.

“What?” Virgil said.

“Why did you do that? She’s young and—”

“She’s yours now?” he interrupted.

“Yes!”

Virgil reached for the checked shirt. Blue today. “Then it’s important for her to know her place in the pack. It will keep her safe.”

Jana stared at him. He sounded so unconcerned, so matter-of-fact.

Virgil returned her stare. Jana lowered her eyes and stepped to one side when he approached. He walked out of the office, buttoning his shirt, then stopped when he reached her desk and the crate nearby.

“That is like a den for her when we aren’t around?” he asked.

“Yes.” Scrambling to adjust her thinking, she added, “I just picked her up, so it’s better for her to stay crated or on a leash until she gets to know me—to know us.”

He considered that. “You should let her out to sniff around so that she recognizes the scent of her new territory.”

“I will. I’ll let her settle down first.” And give myself a chance to stop shaking inside.

“When Kane comes back, you should ride the horse. Then she will still have pack nearby and know she’s not alone.” Virgil gave Jana one sharp look before leaving the sheriff’s office.