Tempeh for Two

I’d hesitated deliberately, hoping to put my visitor off-balance. He would have expected me to barge outside to confront him, because that was what dominant wolves did when someone invaded their territory. I wasn’t a typical dominant wolf, though, something the Anax should have told his little pal.

Now I opened the door and stepped outside. My eyes adjusted almost instantly to the difference in light between the kitchen, where two nightlights stayed on throughout the night, and the back yard.

I saw no one, but the sense of an unfamiliar presence grew stronger. He waited just out of sight, possibly hidden in the trees on the other side of the lawn.

I stepped down onto the grass. “I know you’re there.” I spoke softly and sent a pulse of compulsion through the words. “Come out and speak to me. Tell me who sent you. Tell me why you’re here.”

If I was wrong and this was merely a typical visitor, the compulsion would have worked. I was more dominant, and therefore more powerful, than most of the wolves in the country. Generally I could even cut through compulsions set by alphas or other arkhons. But I couldn’t counter a compulsion set by the Anax, especially if he still controlled the wolf. Somehow, over the course of his rule, the Anax had gained the power to completely take over any of his wolves who were weak enough. It made him and his servants even more dangerous.

I took two slow steps forward, bracing myself for an attack that still didn’t come. The scent of an unfamiliar wolf, not from my region, filled my nose. I was unable to detect his exact location. He was definitely male, and definitely ready for a fight. Waiting, most likely, for me to come to him.

“You don’t have to fight me,” I said gently. “Come speak with me. I can help you.”

Something rustled to my left. The intruder was in the woods, then. That might be a problem. The trees would give him cover to attack me before I saw.

“I can help you,” I said again, adding more compulsion to the words.

I felt as if I were pushing on a brick wall. Only the Anax had the power to block my compulsion so thoroughly. And yet I did get through the block to a degree. A soft whine from the same spot as the rustling told me so.

I couldn’t let this drag on. There was no way I could completely break the Anax’s control of my visitor. If I simply went back inside, refusing to fight, the intruder might follow, which would bring danger to Kyle and to my employees. If I remained where I was, he would come to me, which would at least put any fight in my control.

We would fight, though. That was what I sensed most strongly. The wolf who had come to me hadn’t come by choice, and he wouldn’t leave until one of us was dead.

It would be him. I was a better fighter than anyone the Anax could send. I didn’t want to kill the poor sap lurking in the bushes, but if it came to a choice between him and me, I would survive by whatever means necessary.

I approached the area where I’d heard the sounds. Even though it probably would have been smarter to remain silent, I continued to speak, hoping I would somehow persuade him to at least return to human form. I didn’t want to fight in wolf form. Wolf fights tended to be messy. If he confronted me in human form, I might be able to prevent death.

“Shift back,” I urged. “Become human again so we can talk. I know what your orders are and from whom they come. That doesn’t mean you have to follow through. We can talk about it. I can help you if you shift back.”

Sending strong compulsion against the block the Anax had set in the wolf ’s mind gave me a headache, but I kept trying as I slowly walked forward. The wolf whined again, more loudly. Pain flooded the noise. His head was probably also throbbing right now from the dueling compulsions in his brain.

“I know it hurts,” I murmured. “Shift back and I can help you stop the pain.”

Before I could say another word, he lunged out of the bushes and knocked me to the ground. Claws and teeth tore at me, and an ugly, putrid scent filled my nose. This wolf was nearly dead already. God only knew how far he’d traveled on the Anax’s orders.

I had a second to glance into his eyes. Any rationality that might once have been there was gone.