He parked the truck and waited for Truman to walk into the saloon. Then he got out and removed the shotgun from the gun rack attached to the back of the cab. He loaded two shells in the gun. After a brief hesitation, he laid the shotgun on the seat and pulled out the under-the-seat box where he kept his revolver and gun belt when he had a passenger.

These days, carrying a gun in Bennett wasn’t just a bad idea; it was suicide. The Others had made it clear that they wouldn’t tolerate humans carrying weapons—especially the kind of weapons that had killed so many of the Wolfgard. And the ones called the Elders wouldn’t give a man time to explain before they ripped him to pieces. But the ache in his ribs was getting worse, and that meant something was going to happen, so …

Tobias fastened the gun belt around his hips, then drew the revolver out of the holster and opened the cylinder to confirm the gun was loaded. He didn’t usually drive around with a loaded six-gun under the seat when he was traveling from the ranch to Prairie Gold. There was no need for that. But lately, when making the drive to Bennett, he’d taken to keeping the loaded, holstered weapon on the seat beside him when he was alone.

By now he was sure some of the terra indigene had spotted him and knew he was armed, but he couldn’t think about that because the ache along his ribs had turned into pressure. Had to get moving. Had to check on the horses.

As he reached for the shotgun, he hesitated. Something was going to happen, and he needed … the rifle.

Tobias broke open the shotgun, removed the shells, replaced the gun on the rack, and took the loaded rifle. After chambering a round, he locked the truck and headed across the square toward the livery stable.

He heard dogs but ignored the sound since it was coming from the wrong direction. Then he heard something that wasn’t animal but wasn’t quite human—a sound loud enough to be heard from a distance.

One of the Others in a fight with some dogs?

Spinning around, he ran toward the sound. As he turned down the side street next to the diner, Tobias saw the youth surrounded by three large dogs. Not pets he’d helped free and feed. Not animals that were looked after by the woman Tolya called the almost-vet.

They’re wrong ones. There must have been an arena for dogfights hidden somewhere in the town. Dogs raised and trained to fight and kill. Loose in the town. Feral packs will form around them and then …

His ribs hurt so much it was hard to breathe.

The dogs harried the youth, snapping and snarling, but even trained killers weren’t brave enough to close in. When the youth swiped at them with something that looked like claws and made that not-quite-human sound again, Tobias realized who the boy was and why the dogs hadn’t brought down their prey yet. They weren’t sure what to do with someone who looked human and smelled a little like Panther.

“I’m coming up behind you,” Tobias said quietly, not wanting to break Joshua Painter’s focus and give the dogs an opening to attack. Then loudly, “Hey! Dogs! Get out of here!”

Two of the dogs hesitated. Joshua didn’t turn at the sound of Tobias’s voice, didn’t lose his focus on the largest of the three dogs since that one was still trying to close in.

Tobias raised the rifle.

“Saul’s here too,” Joshua said moments before Tobias heard the angry growl.

Three against three. Two of the dogs ran off. The last dog hesitated a moment longer before turning to run—and Tobias made his choice. He shot the dog as soon as it was clear of everyone else. Then he ran for the livery stable, the pressure on his ribs telling him the threat to livestock wasn’t over.

A split pack of snarling dogs. Panicked horses trying to break out of one of the corrals. A Simple Life man with a pitchfork trying to drive away the dogs without getting trampled. And the buckskin gelding, alone in the other corral and smart enough to know he had no room to run, stood his ground as several dogs moved in.

Working the lever to chamber a new round, Tobias raised his rifle but didn’t have a clear shot. More men shouting, running. More panic among the horses, who could hurt themselves if they broke through the corral.

Then two huge Wolves leaped over the top rail of the buckskin’s corral and charged the dogs. One Wolf grabbed the leg of a dog that turned to run, and Tobias heard the bone snap in those unforgiving jaws. Another dog yelped as the other Wolf grabbed it behind the head and shook it until the neck snapped.

The rest of the dogs turned and ran. The Wolves didn’t pursue them. Instead, they turned to look at the buckskin, who snorted and pawed the ground. The Wolves cocked their heads, then rose on their hind legs and shifted into humans who still had the Wolf pelt covering their shoulders, torso, and backs.

The rest of the horses were bunched at the far end of the other corral. The humans now gathered to watch the standoff between the buckskin and Wolves, hardly daring to breathe.

The wind shifted, bringing the Wolves’ scent to the gelding—a scent that must have meant something to the buckskin, because he relaxed and took a step toward the Wolves.

“We are allies,” Virgil Wolfgard said, the words a little slurred.

Tobias guessed that the Wolf’s mouth wasn’t completely shaped for human speech.

“We are allies,” Kane Wolfgard said.

Wondering if the Wolves knew the buckskin was just a horse and not something like them in some way, Tobias watched the gelding and felt sure the horse would know these two Wolfgard from now on, regardless of their shape.

Satisfied for the moment, Tobias looked around for any sign of Elders before handing the rifle to Truman when his friend joined him. Not that anyone could see an Elder until it was too late, but betterto chance leaving the rifle with someone he trusted than to leave it unattended. “Hold on to that for a moment.”

He ducked between the rails and approached the buckskin. “Easy now, Mel. Easy. You did good.”

The buckskin turned toward him, nudging him as it looked for a treat.

“Don’t have any on me, but you do deserve a treat for being so brave, and I’ll make sure you get one.” With a firm grip on the halter, Tobias led the gelding to the gate. As one of the other men opened it, he said, “Let’s get the rest of the horses into their stalls.”

“Tobias Walker,” Virgil said. “When you are finished with the horses, come to the sheriff’s office. We need to talk.”

“I’ll be there.” Taking the rifle from Truman, he led Mel into the stable.

Since he’d violated one of the town’s strictest rules by carrying a gun, he was certain he wasn’t going to like the topic of discussion.

* * *

* * *

Virgil shifted back to Wolf form, passed the dog whose neck he’d snapped, and went to look at an injured dog lying under the rails at the far end of the corral while Kane followed the scent of the dog with the broken leg. He looked up and watched the Eagle soaring high above the land beyond the train station, watched the Ravens flying ahead of Kane to keep track of the dog pack, allowing Kane to focus on the dog he needed to kill.

The injured dog saw Virgil and moved its front legs as if it could still stand and run, but Virgil knew it wasn’t going to run anywhere. The horse that was not meat must have kicked this one, breaking bone and damaging the dog’s insides. That was good. Humans couldn’t whine about him finishing what the horse had started. Not that he cared if humans whined about dead dogs.

Well, there was one human who was going to whine a lot, and he was not going to be the only one who had to listen to Barbara Ellen.

He killed the dog, then left the carcass for the humans to move once they denned the horses that would be meat if they weren’t with humans when they left the boundaries of the town. Then he trotted over to the sheriff’s office, where he shifted to human form and put on clothes in order to do sheriff growling instead of Wolf growling.

<Tolya,> Virgil called. <I need you here.> He didn’t really, but the Sanguinati dealt with many humans during the day, leaving him to walk around the town to remind the humans that there were rules that were backed by sharp teeth and strong jaws. So it would be better to have Tolya here to agree with what he wanted to do about Tobias Walker and the human weapons.

Tolya arrived moments before Tobias Walker, who smelled of fear and was still wearing a forbidden weapon. It took effort, but Virgil ignored the fear smell. That was easier when Saul Panthergard and Joshua Painter walked into the office, because the Panther’s anger overpowered every other scent.

The Sanguinati didn’t live in the wild country, so Tolya and the others living in Bennett were Virgil’s first experience with this form of terra indigene. So far they’d figured out how to work together, mostly because Tolya had had experience working with Wolves when he’d first arrived in Prairie Gold, and there had been some Wolves in the Courtyard back east that had been Tolya’s home territory. But Virgil was still learning how to read the town’s leader.

Tolya’s face and body provided no clues, so Virgil couldn’t decide if the Sanguinati was angry or sad.

“You are carrying a forbidden weapon, Tobias Walker,” Tolya said, his voice revealing nothing.

“Where is the long weapon?” Virgil asked.

“I took it back to the truck and put it in the gun rack,” Tobias Walker replied. “The truck is locked, and there’s a big Eagle perched on the tailgate, so I guess one of your people is keeping an eye on things.”

“This human killed a dog that was attacking Joshua,” Saul said.

“Why did you bring a weapon?” Tolya asked, looking at Tobias Walker.

“I usually carry a shotgun and rifle in the truck’s gun rack. I usually have the revolver in a case under the driver’s seat. I work on a ranch. It’s a long drive to this town for supplies or when my mother comes up here to help you.”

“You think such weapons will protect you from what lives in the wild country?” Tolya asked.

“Your kind, you mean?” Tobias Walker shook his head. “But there are rumors lately of men stopping people on the road and stealing from them. Even hurting them. There have always been people like that. I guess there always will be people like that. So I have weapons in my truck when I drive up here, just like I’ve got them on the ranch.”

“Have you seen these humans?” Virgil asked.

“No, but when it comes to sensing people, my mother is the best there is in Prairie Gold, and she’s been feeling uneasy about being away from home so much.” Tobias Walker looked at Tolya. “Not that she isn’t willing to help out, but it’s not just the people coming in here that have been pushing at what she’s feeling.”

“Jesse Walker is concerned for her safety?” Tolya asked sharply. “She has said nothing to me.”

“Maybe she thought you already had enough on your mind and didn’t need to know about something on the horizon that might never reach here.”

“If she didn’t think it was going to reach here, she wouldn’t feel concerned.”