Dogs of War

by Geonn Cannon

  "So you decided the best course was just to drug me. No, I get it. It makes complete sense."

  "I apologize, for what it's worth."

  Ari sighed. "Small potatoes. But thanks. As for resting, the best thing I can do right now is stop Lorne and Keighley from getting away with their shit. I'll let you and the Brits handle the big-picture stuff, but these guys are mine."

  "Understood. Let me know if you need any help. Especially with Keighley."

  Ari looked at her mother in the mirror rather than meeting her eye. "It's bizarre to meet him after all this time. Especially like that."

  "I can't even imagine. I'm sorry you had to go through that. I never wanted you to know him."

  "Did you know him?"

  Gwen was silent for so long that Ari almost let her off the hook by withdrawing the question, but she finally said, "Yes. We weren't friends, but I had seen him around. He and his friends spent a fair amount of time confirming they were right about what I was before they acted. And I suppose to work up the courage to actually do it. I thought they were interested in me. I found their attention flattering, not that I ever would have acted on it."

  Ari turned to face her. "Did you act on it with anyone?"

  Gwen blinked. "I beg your pardon?"

  "No, it's not an angry question. It's just that I've never seen you date. I've never heard you talk about a past boyfriend or girlfriend or anything. I guess at some point I just decided you were asexual, but... I don't know. I guess now that we're being forced to spend time together, I want to know more about you. Was there ever someone special?"

  "Before..." She looked at the sink. "Before what happened, there was someone I had feelings for. He was canidae like me, and we used to go for runs. We went to Canada once on spring break, talked of getting married once we graduated. After the... afterward, when I told him what happened, he tried to be supportive. But he could smell them on me. Deciding to keep the baby was the final straw for him. After that I didn't feel like dating."

  "Thirty years," Ari said. "That's a long time."

  "Well, it's not like I was celibate."

  Ari held up her hand. "Whoa, stop, don't need to know that."

  Gwen smiled. "That's one reason I was so suspicious of Dale when I met her. But she's proven me wrong at least a dozen times in the past few days. You're very lucky to have her in your life."

  "Believe me, I know."

  She pushed away from the wall. "I'll go tell her you're almost ready to go."

  "Mom." Gwen stopped and came back into the room. "I don't forgive you for what you did to me when I was a baby. If you want absolution for that, it'll be a long time coming. But with everything that's happened the past few days, and knowing the whole story, it changes things. I don't know what I would have done in your shoes so I can't keep punishing you for making a choice. You were doing what you thought was best for me. And having seen the alternative, I don't know if I could live with myself if you'd let the hunter side take over."

  Gwen steadied her shoulders and kept very still, as if afraid of frightening away Ari's statement if she made any sudden movements. Finally she just nodded. "Thank you."

  "It's been long enough."

  Gwen stepped into the bathroom and hugged her daughter. Ari tensed at first out of sheer instinct, unaccustomed to displays of affection with her mother, but eventually she brought her hands up and rested them on Gwen's shoulders. She closed her eyes and breathed in the scent of the first wolf she'd ever run with, the first pack she'd ever had, and felt an unexpected swell of emotion.

  "I've missed you, Ariadne. You've made me so proud, sweetheart."

  Ari opened her eyes to blink away the tears. "Dale is waiting..."

  "Yes." She stepped back and wiped at her own tears as she smiled. "We have a war to focus on. Be safe. Protect that girl of yours at all costs. She's extremely good for you."

  Ari laughed. "So she tells me. I'll check in later."

  Gwen nodded and took a step back so Ari could leave the bathroom. Dale was sitting at the kitchen island with Tarun discussing ways she could finesse an ID for him so he could get a job at Orarian without citizenship. She arrived in time to hear Dale say, "...not legal in the law-abiding sense, but close enough for us to get away with it for a few days."

  "Don't let her corrupt you, Tarun," Ari said. "Once you're down her rabbit hole, you're in for life."

  Dale smiled and slipped off her stool. "Feeling better?"

  "Better, yeah. Ready?"

  "Yeah. I'm going to figure some things out and get Tarun credentials so he doesn't raise any red flags when he joins up with the Orarian Group, but we can do that at the office." She turned to him. "I'll call you when the stuff is ready."

  "Much appreciated. Thank you."

  "My pleasure. I do it for Ari all the time."

  "Are you sure your office is safe?" Tarun said. "That is where they left the message."

  Ari said, "They burned down my home. I won't let them run me away from my office. If they're lying in wait, I'll smell them."

  They said their farewells and left the house. Ari waited until they were on the street before she revealed her news. "Mom and I had a talk. I said I still don't forgive her for what she did, but I understood it a little more."

  "Wow. How'd she take that?"

  "She hugged me."

  Dale smiled. "How'd you take that?"

  "I'm not sure yet. But I guess if you and she are going to be all buddy-buddy, I might as well make the effort."

  Dale took Ari's hand. "It was a big step."

  Ari linked her fingers with Dale's. "Thank you. For everything. This past week, you've been phenomenal, Dale. If there was some kind of canidae Medal of Honor, I'd award it to you."

  "How about you just stay with me, love me, and help me find an apartment for us to move into?"

  "Is that all? Hell, I could do that with my eyes closed."

  Dale retrieved her hand so she could drive. She offered to take Ari by her apartment, but she rightfully said that they couldn't risk being seen by any hunters who were staking it out. She was curious about her things, what had survived and what she'd have to live without, but the risk was too great. Dale parked outside the office and remembered the graffiti on the glass just before Ari spotted it.

  "That's ironic."

  "What? How so?"

  Ari said, "The door already said ‘bitches,' so the graffiti says ‘wolf.' Usually it would be the other way around."

  Dale chuckled. "I didn't think of it that way." She pushed open the door and Ari held up a hand to stop her from going inside. She sniffed the air, scanned the room slowly, and then moved to the door of her private office. Once she had declared everything was clean, she finally nodded. Dale shut the door and shuddered on her way to the thermostat so she could turn on the heat. Ari took off her jacket and went into her office, hung it on the hook, and came out as Dale sat behind her desk and booted up the computer.

  "Get Tarun's stuff situated first. I want him in that lab as soon as possible. They probably put the wolfsbane production on the fast track as soon as Mom got her hands on their stash. I don't want them building up another cache of it. Once it's all set, I want everything you can find on Keighley. I mean everything you can find on him. I'm going to look over the stuff you found me on Detective Lorne." Dale grinned. "What?"

  "Nothing. It's just..." She waved her hand between them. "This? You and me? After the past few weeks, it feels normal again. It's really nice, despite the situation."

  Ari smiled. "I know what you mean. Now back to work."

  "Aye-aye, captain." Dale turned back to her computer screen and got to work.

  #

  At noon, Ari volunteered to go back to Dale's apartment to retrieve some food for lunch and some fresh clothes. When she returned to the office she also had a small white grocery bag. Dale nodded at it as she took the food. "What did you buy?"

  "I wanted to get rid of that graffiti as soon as possible. It kind of turns m
y stomach thinking of it on there." Dale nodded and Ari went back to the door. She took out one bottle of water and another of dish soap. She mixed the two in a spray bottle and then spread a newspaper out on the floor underneath where she would be working. Dale ate her sandwich as she watched Ari work, fascinated by the way Ari's muscles worked under her shirt as she scraped.

  "Where did you learn to do that?"

  "I did my fair share of graffiti when I was on the streets. It was something to do. I got caught a couple of times and had to clean it off."

  Dale hissed through her teeth. "That must have been scary. All those shop owners screaming at you for defacing their property."

  "Oh, no, I hoped for angry screaming. Angry I could deal with. I hated the ones who were... disappointed. The last shop I ever painted up, the woman asked me if I knew how much the business meant to her. She asked if I understood what it meant for her to walk down the street and see my stupid little drawing covering up the name of the work she'd been doing for years. I was ashamed then, but I understand now how she felt. It hurts."

  "Yeah," Dale said. She looked at the remaining LF of the message. "Ariadne... I... when I suggested the name of the agency, I didn't think." Ari looked at her without understanding. "Bitches. I didn't think about what it might mean to you. The whole pejorative thing... calling your people wolves and dogs..."

  Ari smiled. "Dale, we went over this back when Milo showed up. I'm fine with you calling me a wolf, and I absolutely love it when you call me your puppy. Hell, you could call me a mutt if you did it lovingly. That one is true, actually." She tapped the glass scraper against the paint. "This was hateful. This was a slur. So yeah, I hate looking at it. There's a difference. Meaning is everything, and I never have to worry about what you mean."

  Dale nodded slowly. "I guess..."

  "No guessing, Dale." She put down her tools and went to rest her hands on Dale's desk. She leaned down until they were eye-to-eye. "I've never met anyone who accepted what I am the way you have. You're the girl I dreamt of finding one day. I dreamed of finding someone who wouldn't just go with the fact I was a wolf but took it as part of the whole package. Someone who would make me a better person. I set up these goals and I was willing to settle for a seven out of ten. I would have settled for a C-minus, Dale. But you came along and aced the test without even knowing you were taking it."

  Dale hooked her index finger under Ari's collar and pulled her forward. "You pass my test, too." She kissed her. "I needed someone like you. Someone I could take care of, but who could turn around and take care of me if I was the one who needed it. You're my strong, independent basket case."

  Ari laughed and pecked Dale's nose and eyebrows. "Let me go. I have to finish with the door." Dale let go of the collar and Ari went back to work. She washed the glass when she was done, and Dale had to admit the finished product looked even better than it had before. Ari wiped her hands on a paper towel, folded the newspaper she'd used as a drop cloth, and shut the door with her foot. "Where are you on Tarun's stuff?"

  "Oh. He came by and picked up what he needed while you were out getting lunch. I've been digging up dirt on Jacob Keighley."

  "Daddy dearest. Anything interesting?"

  "Depends on your definition. He started working at his father's company just out of college, climbed the ladder through hard work and nepotism. He seems to be good at his job, though. They have stores in Oregon, Idaho. They're planning to branch out into Canada later this year."

  "All places with heavy wolf populations. He's basically a supplier for the war against wolves."

  "Looks like. What about Lorne? Find anything?"

  Ari shook her head. "Nothing we didn't already know, but I did remember one thing. There's at least one cop who doesn't like him. Remember Diana Rios?"

  "Your ex-girlfriend?"

  "Jealous?"

  "Nope. I won, she lost, and I can be a gracious winner. What about her?"

  Ari smiled. "She's a detective now. And married, by the way. She took her wife's name so she's Diana Macallan. When she found out I was working with Lorne she warned me to watch my back. I thought I'd give her a call."

  "Is that a good idea? Lorne's probably got half the cops in the city looking for you right now."

  "I can get around that."

  Dale raised an eyebrow but let the matter drop. Ari knocked her knuckles on the edge of the desk. "Are you at a place where you can stop for an hour or so?"

  "Probably. Why?"

  "There was another shop I wanted to visit, but I didn't want to go there alone."

  "You want me to protect you?"

  Ari shrugged. "Sort of."

  "Is it in a bad neighborhood? Should I pack my brass knuckles or my nunchucks?"

  "It's not that kind of dangerous."

  #

  "So you consider this dangerous?"

  "When I'm alone, yeah. It's incredibly dangerous."

  Ari held the door open to let Dale lead her into the store. The front windows were covered so casual passersby couldn't see inside, and for good reason. The brightly-lit store looked like a typical strip mall shop, with bright fluorescent lighting and shelves of products ready to be bought. The difference was that everything in the shop was designed to inspire or enhance sexual intercourse. Ari eyed a display of rubber erections and stuffed her hands into her pockets, quickly moving past the front counter. Dale hooked her arm around Ari's elbow and chuckled.

  "Do you need me to hold your hand?"

  "No, I need you to keep me from feeling like a pervert."

  Dale picked up a package. "Why in the world are we here now? I mean, I'm all for stocking up the bedroom and everything. But don't we have higher priorities than... oh, wow, this has seven speeds."

  Ari took the box away and placed it back on the shelf. "We're not here for that. We're here for something that actually is necessary. It's back here."

  She led Dale to a section filled with black leather accessories, whips and a wide assortment of padded eye masks. Dale glanced at a shelf of furry handcuffs and looked at Ari.

  "I didn't know you had this kink."

  "I don't." She stopped in front of the wall display and searched until she found what she wanted. "Here. This... it attaches under the mattress, and you can secure my hands and legs. I was also thinking some sort of gag. Not a ball gag, because I think my jaw would be killing me in the morning, but maybe a bit? Something that slips easily into my mouth, something I could bite down on..."

  "Ari." The amusement had left Dale's voice. "What's going on, puppy?"

  "The last time we slept together, I transformed into the wolf without realizing it. It's far from the first time that's ever happened. I still have the wolfsbane in my system. I'm fighting it, and I've been purging as much as I can, but there's still a chance, however remote, that I'll... lose control."

  Dale stroked Ari's cheek. Ari leaned in and rested her forehead against Dale's, her eyes closed as she tried to push away the mental image she'd just conjured. Dale slid her hand to the base of Ari's skull and massaged gently with three fingers until the tension in Ari's face relaxed.

  "So a bit? Something tubular, maybe? Something you can just bite down on without having your jaw stretched out all night?"

  Ari sniffled. "Yeah. That's basically what I was thinking."

  Dale stepped back and took Ari's hand. "Okay. Let's see what we can find."

  Chapter Fourteen

  January 6

  The roar of traffic echoed off the concrete passageways of Freeway Park. Ari paused in one of the dark corners and watched as Diana Macallan arrived at the spot where Ari had instructed her to wait. Diana paced around one of the blocks, eyed the entrances to the clear space with both hands in her pockets, and checked her watch before she finally took a seat and crossed her legs. She took out her phone and began tapping the screen and Ari stepped out of her hiding place and approached her from behind. She eyed the screen as she came around the block and confirmed that she was typing an emai
l.

  "You're not texting your pals to hold off until I show myself, are you?"

  Diana jumped and rolled her eyes as Ari held out a cup of coffee. She took it as Ari sat down next to her. "Could you have chosen a more crime-ridden part of town to meet up?"

  "Probably," Ari said. "I have to be careful. I don't know what Lorne is telling people about me."

  Diana sipped and touched her top lip with her tongue. "Nothing good. Out of the blue, you're public enemy number one as far as he's concerned. I thought you two were tight."

  "We were. I remembered you warned me about him so I thought maybe you'd be willing to help me out a little."

  "A little. Maybe."

  Ari sipped her own coffee. It had grown cold while she was waiting for Diana, but it was still warm enough to ease the wind chill. "I'm not asking you to break any laws. I just want to know what the temperature is like. Lorne and I had a falling out and I'd like to know what I have to expect when I pop my head back out."

  "He's telling people he tracked down the van used in the hit-and-run. He connected it to your mother, Gwyneth Willow, and told everyone you were involved. You helped set it up and coordinated the attack with people in the other van. The video techs were able to identify your partner Dale Frye on one of the videotapes. Is it true?"

  Ari bounced the heel of her foot on the ground. "Sort of. Technically."

  "Ari..."

  "Look, Diana, it's complicated. Technically, yes, I was involved. Dale was in the van, as was my mother." She wasn't concerned about the confession since she'd chosen the park not only for its maze-like construction but because the I-5 roaring by underneath would have rendered any recording device useless. "This thing that's going on right now is a lot more complicated than cops and robbers or good guys versus bad guys."

  "Then explain it to me."

  Ari looked at the small opening on her coffee cup lid. "Is there an inventory of what was stolen from Orarian?"

  "No. They only said it was a proprietary formula. Since Lorne was in charge of the transport, they're talking about a lawsuit against him and the city of Seattle for losing it. If your mother stole it..."