“They’ll be here soon.”

As Scythe headed back to the Bird Cage Saloon, Candice Caravelli and Lila Gold piled out of a taxi and hurried to follow Scythe.

As soon as those two females left the taxi, Dawn Werner ran out of the saloon and waved her arms at the driver, followed by her limping mate, who had a scarf wrapped around the calf of one leg.

“Dog bite?” Virgil asked, coming up beside Tolya.

“Looks that way. I had called the doctor about another matter. He will be in his office soon, if he’s not there already.” Wondering what had happened to the puppy the woman had been holding, Tolya watched the two humans get in the taxi, which sped toward the medical building on the other side of the square. “There are things we need to discuss, but they can wait until Stewart Dixon arrives.”

“What is there to discuss?”

“The face of a potential enemy.”

* * *

* * *

The vet and Tobias used one of the blankets to carry Kane into a treatment room. Jana watched, not sure what she was supposed to do.

“Should we step out?” she asked, pointing to herself and Tobias.

“No,” the vet said too quickly.

Well, she couldn’t fault the man for wanting familiar humans in the room with Kane. Patching up one of the Wolfgard after a fight wouldn’t be a usual part of the vet’s training.

“I’d like to use anesthesia … ,” the vet began.

Kane swung around, snapping and snarling, and would have fallen off the table if Jana and Tobias hadn’t grabbed the Wolf.

“That’s not an option,” she said, hoping she sounded official.

“But I need to shave the fur around the wounds and …”

Kane’s snarls became more threat than warning, and the vet stepped back from the table.

Jana felt sorry for the man. He couldn’t use a muzzle or any other kind of restraint to keep himself and his patient safe. But working on Kane, who was already hurt and upset, with no kind of restraint? She wouldn’t do it.

Of course, she was the one holding on to both of Kane’s front legs, which put her hands and forearms in easy reach of those big sharp teeth.

She was an idiot.

“Vet’s right about shaving the area around the wounds,” Tobias said. “Doctors shave the hair around a wound on humans too. That sucks, but sometimes it needs to be done.”

“Stitching the wounds will hurt.” The vet was still standing back from the table.

“What about a local anesthetic? The objection is about feeling vulnerable, right?” Tobias’s first question was for the vet. The second was directed at Kane, who replied with a grunt and growl. “A local would numb the area around the wounds that need to be stitched and make it easier for everyone, but Kane would still know what’s going on around him.” Now he looked at Jana.

Since Kane couldn’t speak for himself without shifting—and that didn’t seem like a good idea right now—she, being his fellow deputy, was apparently his medical proxy.

“Local anesthetic.” She looked at Kane. Was she imagining the fear in his eyes? Remembering why Kane and Virgil were the only survivors of their original pack, she added, “I’ll stay here and keep watch.”

That must have been the right thing to say, because Kane lowered his head and sighed.

“You might feel a prick,” the vet said as he approached the table with a syringe.

Kane either didn’t feel it or was hurting too much to care. But the sound of the clippers had the Wolf rearing up and showing his teeth.

“It’s all right,” Tobias said, laying a hand on Kane’s shoulder. “The fur will grow back. Right, doc?”

Maybe it was the sound, or maybe it was the feel of something on his skin so close to the wound, but Kane wasn’t having it until Jana snapped, “Stop being such a baby about this. The vet is going to shave off the fur and stitch you up and that’s that.”

All three males stared at her.

She stared back and showed her teeth. “What? Is this Testosterone United?”

“When dealing with feisty women, we males have to stick together,” Tobias said. “It’s kind of the T.U. code.”

She might have said something unforgivable if she hadn’t seen the satisfied so there look on Kane’s face.

She gave them all a “Danger! Angry woman” face. Kane closed his eyes and pretended to ignore her. Tobias winked at her and said nothing. The vet worked.

After a few minutes, Tobias said, “If you don’t need me right now, I’ll step out and make a couple of calls, find out how everyone else is doing.”

Jana nodded. After Tobias left the room, she said, “Kane has some cuts on his face.”

The vet handed her a bowl filled with liquid and a clean cloth. “Wash them with this.”

As the vet went back to stitching up the worst of Kane’s wounds, Jana carefully washed the cuts on the Wolf’s face and the gash in one ear.

“When you train to be a cop, you know you might have to shoot someone in the line of duty, but I’ve never fired a weapon at another living thing until today. Gods, I’d never fired a weapon anywhere but at the firing range.” Her breath hitched. “I’ve never killed anything before. I’ve never gone hunting or anything like that. I know it was the dogs or us, but …”

She didn’t realize she was crying until Kane raised his head and licked her face.

“I should put a dressing on this, but I doubt he would tolerate it,” the vet said.

“He’ll want to keep it clean his own way.” Jana leaned forward until she and the Wolf were nose to nose. “But he promises not to pull out the stitches. Right?”

“Grrf.”

She took that as agreement.

Tobias slipped back into the room. “One man was bitten and is being treated by a human doctor. Nobody else had any serious injuries from that attack.”

“Was there another attack?” Jana asked, alarmed that the dogs might have injured someone else in the town before reaching the square.

“Man was brought in from Stewart Dixon’s ranch. He’s at the doc’s office now. Once we’re done here, we’re supposed to bring Kane back to the sheriff’s office, and you’re supposed to join Tolya to take someone’s statement.”

She nodded.

“Is that where Mr. Wolfgard will be? The sheriff’s office?” the vet asked.

“During regular office hours,” Jana replied. “I expect his brother will want him to be at home in the evenings.”

“Then I’ll stop by the office tomorrow to check on my patient.”

Allowing Tobias to lift him off the table, Kane limped out of the vet’s office on three legs. Jana rolled her eyes when Tobias gave her a look that made her swallow any remarks about male stubbornness. And she swallowed any comments when Kane stood on one hind leg and planted his front legs on the tailgate since he didn’t snarl about Tobias lifting his back end and then helping him get settled in the pickup bed.

Since Kane didn’t need her with him, she sat in the front with Tobias on the drive back to the town square.

“Testosterone United, huh?” she said after a minute.

He grinned. “It worked, didn’t it?” The grin faded. “After Tolya told me about the attack at the Dixon ranch, I called my mother, as well as Ellen Garcia at the Prairie Gold ranch, and the resettled ranches between here and Prairie Gold. Wanted to let them know we had a gang of marauders in the area.”

“Wouldn’t they have to come through Bennett to reach the places south of the town?” Jana asked.

“They could take a roundabout route and come up from the south, but, yes, if they hit a ranch north of us, it’s a good bet they’ll be coming to town or hiding out somewhere nearby. There are a few places around here that are nothing more than way stations with a combination gas station and general store, and a couple of houses, if that.”

Gang of marauders. How often did Tobias drive around alone?

“Are you staying in town today?”

“Wasn’t planning to stay the whole day, but looks like I will be now. I’ll see about getting a room at the hotel for the night.” He glanced at her. “You’ve got work to do, but maybe we can take a ride later? That buckskin will get up to some mischief if he doesn’t get enough work.”

“I’d like to get out for awhile.”

He smiled and said, “Good.”

Tobias had a really nice smile.

* * *

* * *

Barb knelt in front of the large crate that held a litter of puppies and listened to the dogs in the fenced yard, barking and barking. The puppies needed to be socialized with people and other dogs. They needed care and training and love. They needed more than she could give them on her own.

People helped her when they could, but not everyone was interested in the animals—and even fewer people wanted to deal with so much poop. But time was running out. The Others didn’t understand the human desire to have a pet, a companion, something not-them that would share their living space.

Well, they might understand about sharing their living space with something that was not them. After all, they had allowed humans to settle on this continent when travelers first arrived from other parts of Thaisia centuries ago. But understanding didn’t mean they wouldn’t put down anything they viewed as a threat. They’d done it with the people who were part of the Humans First and Last movement—and they had done it today with the dogs.

“Are you angry with me?”

Trying to stand up and twist around at the same time, Barb fell on her butt and yelped. Which set off the puppies.

Joshua stepped closer and crouched in front of her. He held his hand out—not to her, but to the puppies in the crate—and let them sniff him.

“Why would I be angry with you?” Barb wrapped her arms around her knees, ashamed that she didn’t feel comfortable being around him right now. She looked at his hand and only saw the blood on that clawed glove he sometimes wore—and saw the gutted dog. No, she couldn’t be angry with him any more than she could be angry with Jana for killing the dogs, but today she realized that, despite his human biology, Joshua Painter was more Other than human—and maybe he always would be.

“I killed one of the dogs.”

Misery swelled inside her. “I felt so optimistic when I got off the train a few weeks ago. I was going to work with animals and have a horse and it would be a big adventure.”

“You’re doing all those things.”

Yes, she was. But today had scraped off some of the shine, revealing a harsher reality than she’d imagined. She looked at the puppies. “Help me take them outside. They all need piddle time.”

They took the puppies out front to a strip of dried, yellow grass instead of taking them into the backyard with the mature dogs.