Moments after they were out of sight, there were yells and screams. Twisting around, he and Jana had watched a mangled garbage can sail over the roof the house where the strangers had been poking around and smash into one of the cars.

The snarl that followed had both horses bolting as car doors slammed and engines revved. He hadn’t heard the cars peel out and drive away. Jana had looked sickly pale, and he’d figured that she was also imagining the worst-case scenario.

He hadn’t told her there was no point going back. She’d already known that. They were in the wild country, out of her jurisdiction. On any other day she might have turned around anyway to see if she could help. But not today.

Once she’d brought Mel back under control, she’d said, “That’s how he responds to Elders?”

And Tobias had replied, “To Elders and rattlesnakes. If he’s uneasy, it’s good to pay attention.”

They had finished their ride without further incident, but she had returned to the sheriff’s office determined to have street maps printed with the new and official boundaries. He’d spent the rest of the day buying supplies and making arrangements to pick up any perishable items first thing in the morning.

Too many things had happened that day that would chase him in his sleep, so he’d been glad to receive the invitation to a movie night at Virgil’s house. Barb had Wolf Team movies, which were something none of them except Barb and John Wolfgard had seen.

As he parked in the driveway of the Wolfgard house and collected the food, Tobias felt the weight of something on his skin—a sensation of being watched. He felt that weight lift when Virgil stepped out of the house and said, “Need a hand?”

“No, I’ve got it. Wasn’t sure what everyone might like, so I brought a few things.”

“Barbara Ellen brought a roast for Kane.” Virgil frowned. “The wolverine says the puppy has to stay at their house.”

Tobias stopped short and stared at the Wolf. “The wolverine? You mean Jana?”

A growl was the only answer.

“The pup had a pretty traumatic day. She could use some quiet time in a familiar place. And she’ll have the bird for company.”

Now a grunt was the reply as Virgil opened the door for Tobias.

Since he didn’t think Virgil and Kane knew much, if anything, about televisions or electronics of any kind, Tobias figured the big TV and disc player, along with a stereo system that produced a pang of envy, had been in the house with the rest of the furniture.

Food and plates were set out on the dining room table. After everyone made their selection, Tobias, Barb, Jana, and John took their places on the sofa and chairs. Virgil sat on the floor near Kane, casually tearing the crust off his piece of pizza and giving it to his brother before concentrating on filling his own belly.

Barb figured out how to work that model disc player, and they settled down to watch one of the movies about the Wolf Team, which Barb explained were movies produced by the terra indigene and were based on books about the same characters.

A pack of juvenile Wolves who investigated when the terra indigene thought humans were doing something sneaky or were otherwise up to no good, or came to the rescue when someone—or something—needed rescuing.

“Oh, forelock!” Barb clapped one hand over her eyes and then spread her fingers to see part of the screen. “I’ve seen this movie before but I forgot when this part came up.”

Jana sucked in a breath but didn’t look away. Virgil and Kane cocked their heads and watched with focused interest.

This should be required viewing for everyone who wants to live in Bennett, Tobias thought. Maybe humans would be more careful if they knew this is what the Others thought of us. He considered Virgil’s reaction to the story and the characters. It’s certainly the way Bennett’s sheriff views humans. Most humans.

He wondered if Jana knew Virgil called her the wolverine. It sure wasn’t a compliment, but he thought Virgil said the word with a kind of wary respect for another predator.

There were places in the movie when he laughed even though he wasn’t sure the humor was intentional. And there were places where he cringed, thinking about his mother dealing with Morgan and Chase Wolfgard. By the time the credits were rolling, and he noticed how many names ended in “gard,” he’d decided he needed a copy of at least one of the Wolf Team movies as well as the books, which he was sure had never been sold in the Bennett bookstore. Fortunately, John Wolfgard had brought two full sets of the Wolf Team books to sell, along with thrillers by someone named Alan Wolfgard. After telling John he would stop by the bookstore before heading home in the morning, Tobias thanked his hosts and prepared to call it a night.

“You’re going to the hotel?” Virgil asked.

“Yep. They’re almost full up with people waiting to choose a house, but Anya Sanguinati has decided to hold some rooms for overnight guests.”

“I’ll go with you. It is dark. Humans should be going home.”

And the Elders will be moving through the town, watching.

It wasn’t said, but Tobias understood the protection Virgil’s presence offered—and he appreciated it.

“Thanks. I’ll walk Barb and Jana to their house and be back.”

“Oh, you don’t …” Barb glanced at Jana and pressed her lips together.

As they walked outside, Tobias said, “Hold up a minute.” He went to his pickup and retrieved the book he’d tucked into the storage compartment behind his seat. “I picked this up for you.”

Jana took the book and tilted it to read the title in the light spilling out of the house. “A book about training puppies?”

“I thought it would come in handy.”

She laughed. “This explains why John got so flustered when I asked him if there was a book like this in the store. You’d already bought it.”

They started down the sidewalk, Barb a few paces ahead of them.

“Thanks for all your help today, with Kane … and everything.”

“I’m glad I was here to help. Keep working with Mel, and remember to pay attention to what he’s telling you.” He smiled at her. “I got your letter.”

“How could you? I just mailed it this morning, and you haven’t been home yet.”

He laughed. “When I went to the post office to pick up the mail for my ranch, the Skye Ranch, and Prairie Gold, Isobel Sanguinati handed it to me. Special delivery.”

“I have a weakness for stationery.”

Tobias stepped closer. “Then I’ll look forward to receiving more letters.” And damn if his mother hadn’t been right about the anticipation of receiving a letter being its own kind of pleasure.

He kissed her. A soft kiss. A warm kiss that both asked a question and gave an answer.

“Am I the only one feeling this spark?” he whispered.

“No, but …”

He pressed a finger lightly against her lips. “No need to be going into the ‘buts.’ Courting has to be a little different out here. Besides, you’re going to write me letters when I can’t come up to town.”

“Are you going to write to me too?”

“I just might.” He smiled—and heard a Wolfish huff right behind him. “Guess I’d better go.”

He watched Jana go into her house and close the door. Then he turned to look at Virgil. Big damn mother of a Wolf and not someone he wanted to cross.

“You have any objections to me courting her?” he asked.

Virgil trotted up the street and leaped into the bed of the pickup—and Tobias had a feeling the Wolf was laughing at him for taking on the wolverine.

* * *

* * *

Parlan Blackstone stared at Dalton and Lawry. “You went to an occupied ranch when there are so many abandoned places in this region? By all the dark gods, what were you thinking? Were you thinking?”

“Charlie Webb and Sweeney Cooke had scouted the place.” Lawry glanced at Judd McCall instead of Parlan as he stumbled to explain. “They claimed there was no one in the house just before first light, that the owners and ranch hands were all out doing chores before breakfast and we’d have a clean run of the house. And they said the doors were left open. The way stations we’d checked had already been cleaned out of anything useful, and what passed for towns were too small for us to try to sell off anything we’d acquired.”

“Should have been simple, Pa,” Dalton said.

Judd McCall smiled at Dalton and Lawry. “Should have been.”

“Should have been.” Lawry sounded angry and bitter.

Good. If Lawry tried to shrug it off, he might “accidentally” fall on Judd’s knife, and that could attract attention to the whole clan. This fiasco had already attracted enough attention.

“Would have been if a girl hadn’t been in the kitchen and if Sweeney was capable of keeping his cock behind his zipper,” Lawry continued. “Gods, I swear, Parlan, that man isn’t right in the head whenever he sees a female. He was supposed to grab a couple of sacks of food and get out. Instead …”

Lawry stopped talking.

“Did the girl see anyone besides Sweeney?” Parlan asked. He listened to the clock tick, tick, tick.

“She saw me,” Dalton finally said. “But only for a second. I’m not sure she saw much. She was on her knees and Sweeney was in front of her and I was in the doorway for just a second to tell Sweeney we had to get out. Then I went out the front door and me and Uncle Lawry drove away.”

“Dalton told me no names were used,” Lawry said. “Even if the girl got a glimpse of him, she doesn’t know who he is.”

“You act like we don’t sense things, get feelings about when a deck is stacked against us and we need to walk away,” Parlan said.

“Dalton did his part,” Lawry said heatedly. “He came away with some nice bits of jewelry and a stack of cash in a cashbox that was right out in the open. Something warned them, something Sweeney and Charlie missed.”

Parlan stared at his son. “Did you handle those nice bits of jewelry?”

Dalton returned his father’s stare, but he paled. “That was just a con, the distraction to give Uncle Lawry time to work.”

No, it wasn’t. Maybe Dalton resented his sister having that odd bit of talent when he didn’t and that’s why the boy had always dismissed it as nonsense. How could a gemstone bring good fortune or leave someone open to misfortune? Except it wasn’t the stone itself. Never the stone itself. It was a particular stone matched with a particular person that seemed to do the impossible.

So the question was, did the ranch have a warning system that Sweeney and Charlie missed when they cased the place, or had their luck turned the moment Dalton grabbed some jewelry that had stones that created opportunities for misfortune?

Better for the family if everyone believed the trouble was because of Sweeney Cooke and Charlie Webb.