Julep.
The leader of the police dogs towered over Rudd, his mouth pulled back to show his teeth.
“Let me go!” Rudd spat. “I must feed!”
“Not a chance,” Julep drawled. “Simmer down, wolf, or you’re not going anywhere.” Glancing at Max, he added, “You all right?”
Relaxing slightly, Max said, “I am. Thanks for coming.”
Behind Max came the startled cries of the chickens, pigs, and goats, followed by more moos from the cows. Dozens of paws beat a heavy rhythm into the yard.
Max turned to see Dixie and five other police dogs running to join their leader. Next to them ran Rocky and Gizmo.
“So it’s true,” said a female police dog as the pack formed a half-circle around Julep and the angry, snapping wolf. “There were wolves in the woods. How did we not know this?”
“We were spread too thin,” Julep said. “And we were not as prepared as we should have been. We will run new drills starting tomorrow.”
From under the police dog, Rudd howled, “You speak as if I am not here. Fear me, dog!”
Julep swatted the wolf with his paw. “Hush.”
Reaching Max, Gizmo leaped up and hugged him around his front leg. “You’re okay!” she said. “I heard all the noise and knew I should come.”
Rocky scrabbled backward, his eyes on the woods. “Big guy, it’s Dolph! He’s here!”
All the police dogs turned to look into the shadowed trees. Dolph still stood there, tall and defiant.
Growling, Dixie stepped toward the scarred creature. “Do not attempt to enter our town, wolf,” she said. “We will not let you harm the animals under our protection.”
Dolph glared at the line of Shepherds and snorted.
Julep carefully stepped off Rudd. He nipped at Rudd’s side, and the red wolf howled before running back to Dolph, his tail between his legs. Julep barked, “You heard the officer. You are not welcome here.”
Dolph roared, the sound sudden and loud. Max jerked in surprise, and the farm animals squawked and squealed.
Rounding on Rudd, Dolph lashed out with his claws, drawing a line of blood from the wolf’s snout.
“Control yourself!” he bellowed as Rudd cowered. “If our numbers were not so small, I would exile you for your actions!”
“Sorry, Dolph,” Rudd gasped.
“Take your problems somewhere else!” Julep commanded.
Dolph hesitated until his eyes met Max’s.
“Julep, wait,” Max said. “Rudd acted on his own. His alpha, Dolph, came to ask for help.”
Dixie growled. “Why would we help wolves?”
Max shoved through the line of German Shepherds to face Dolph. Instinct screamed at Max to run, or fight, to take down the wild animal before he could do any harm. Even in his weakened state, Dolph still looked fearsome and dangerous.
But Max’s thoughts returned once more to Dr. Lynn, and to Boss, and Raoul, and Madame Curie—all the leaders who’d put others before themselves. Maybe if Max had never been blasted by Praxis he wouldn’t have considered being compassionate, though he hoped he would.
He had to help.
“Do I have your word,” Max said slowly, not looking away from Dolph’s face, “that if we let your pack through and give you some of our food, you will eat and leave without harming anyone?”
Dolph’s body trembled, and his lip twitched, as if holding back a snarl. Through clenched teeth, the gray wolf said, “You have my word.”
“What are you doing, buddy?” Rocky asked. “This is Dolph we’re talking about! He’s been trying to kill us for weeks now!”
Max sighed. “I know, Rocky. But look at them. They’re starving. It would be cruel to let them die.”
His whole body quivering, Rocky backed away from Max toward the stern, silent Shepherds.
“I don’t care!” Rocky howled. “That other wolf just tried to attack you, big guy. There’s no way we can trust them.”
“Dolph tried to stop him,” Max said.
The wolf leader nipped at Rudd’s side, and the red wolf flinched and slunk deeper into the shadows.
“He will be punished,” Dolph said.
Rocky raised his snout. “Nope, no way. Your pack tried to eat us,” he said. “Gizmo, you remember. He called you Bite Size!”
The terrier darted her head back and forth between Rocky and Dolph.
“I think I agree with Max,” she said finally. “We should help them.”
Rocky’s eyes went wide. “What? Are you crazy?”
“Oh, Rocky, don’t be so dramatic,” Gizmo said. “Smell them. They smell of fear and pain. We have to help.” Wagging her tail, she looked at Dolph. “And maybe we can finally come to some sort of peace.”
Dolph did not reply. He glared at Gizmo, then averted his gaze.
Max lowered his head to lick Rocky’s side. “It’ll be okay. And if things do go wrong, I’ll protect you.”
Sighing, Rocky dropped to his belly and set his head on his paws. “Fine, I guess. As long as they leave us alone.”
Someone cleared his throat, and Max looked up from Rocky to see Julep towering over him, a tense, grim shadow.
“You might be forgetting,” Julep said, “that you are not the one in charge here.”
Max ducked his head. “I’m sorry, Julep. I don’t mean to overstep. It’s just—”
“I heard all you said,” the police-dog leader said. “Come with me.” To Dixie, he added, “You, too. The rest of you, keep an eye on these wolves.”
Julep turned from Max and brushed past his officers to head back toward the animal pens. Max glanced over his shoulder at Dolph, then followed.
Julep, Dixie, Max, Rocky, and Gizmo huddled by the white fence that surrounded the barnyard. Before anyone could speak, one of the cows mooed loudly.
“We are all in such a state,” she said, her brown eyes wide with fear. “What is happening? Are there really predators?”
“Don’t fret your pretty head, Buttercup,” Julep said to the big animal. “Just go back into the shed. We’re taking care of it.”
The cow looked uncertain, but Julep offered her a reassuring wag of his tail. Once Buttercup was out of sight, Julep’s tail went still.
“What’s this I hear about you lot being able to understand human talk?” he asked.
Max blinked in surprise. “What does that have to do with the wolves?”
Dixie burst out, “You mentioned it earlier! Something about pixies or taxes.”
“Praxis?” Gizmo asked.
“Yes! Praxis!” Dixie said. “It seemed crazy, but you said it let you talk to humans.”
“I hardly believed Dixie’s story myself,” Julep said. “But then I got reports of the old woman taking you to the big house, and some said it seemed like the three of you were conversing with her.”
“I still don’t understand why you’re bringing this up now,” Max said.
Dixie rolled her eyes. “Don’t you see? An animal who can truly understand humans, not just a few simple commands, would be the best companion any human could hope for.”
Julep nodded. “Our K9 force would be able to work with our human officers better than ever before.”
Max asked, “But what about the wolves?”
“I see what they’re getting at,” Rocky said. “Clever. They know we want to help the wolves, and we need their permission to do so. They’re going to make us give them what they want before they’ll help.”
“Is that true?” Max asked.
Julep sat down and scratched his ear. “It sounds like a reasonable trade to me.”
Dixie’s tail was a blur. “It sure does. You’re going to tell us how to get this Praxis, aren’t you? You have to!”
Gizmo growled. “I can’t believe you police dogs wouldn’t help just to make sure the town pets don’t get hurt.”
“It’s all right, Gizmo,” Max said, nuzzling her side. Meeting Julep’s eyes, he said, “Fine. Once the wolves have been fed, we�
�ll tell you how to be changed like us.”
Rising to all fours once more, Julep wagged his tail. “I knew you would make the right choice.”
He marched back to his line of police dogs, who sat watching Dolph and Rudd. The others trailed behind.
“All right, wolf,” Julep barked. “Gather your pack. We will let you eat.”
“Kibble!” Dixie added from behind him.
Julep cleared his throat. “We will let you eat kibble. Everything—and everyone—else is off-limits. Understood?”
Dolph nodded. He growled a command at Rudd, and the smaller wolf nodded before darting back through the trees.
For a moment, the alpha wolf met Max’s eyes. Max hoped to see thanks in them, but he couldn’t tell what Dolph was thinking.
Then Dolph disappeared into the darkness to collect the rest of his pack.
While they waited, Julep sent one of his force to alert the remainder of their team. He returned moments later with ten more dogs. The canine police stood evenly spaced in two lines, forming a path through the grass.
Max, Rocky, and Gizmo sat watching the trees. The cows, chickens, pigs, and goats huddled together, bleating and mooing and squawking among themselves. None could sleep.
Then, finally, the underbrush rustled, and the wolves emerged.
Dolph’s pack was fewer than it had been back near the riverboat, only about ten total, and many of the faces Max had seen there were now gone. In their place were a half-dozen new wolves who looked similar to Rudd—slightly smaller in stature than the gray wolves, with reddish-brown fur.
With Dolph in the lead, the wolves kept their heads and tails low as they slunk between the lines of German Shepherds. They were all so skinny they seemed little more than bones and flesh, and their fur was patchy and sparse. Some bore scars and wounds like Dolph, though none were scarred as severely as their leader.
Though Rudd averted his eyes, a few of the other wolves cast defiant glances and bared their teeth at the police dogs. All it took was a growl or a bark from one of the Shepherds, though, and the wild beasts fell back in line.
The chickens gasped as the wolves passed by, most of them darting inside their coop. Max saw Ricky the pig faint into an unconscious, hairy pink heap.
But the wolves made no attempt to attack the livestock. As the police dogs marched alongside them past the vet’s office, the wolf pack remained in two orderly lines.
“Come on,” Max said to Rocky and Gizmo as Dolph’s wolves and their police escorts disappeared from view. “Let’s go around the other side and catch up.”
In the vet’s driveway, they found several pets still arguing among themselves: the Lhasa Apso, the Pug, Minerva the black cat, the boy Golden Retriever puppy, and, surprisingly, Georgie.
The Saint Bernard sat away from the other animals on the grass. His head drooped as he watched them bicker, a puddle of drool forming at his feet.
“I’m telling you, she’ll be back!” Minerva yowled, her tail flicking in annoyance. “There is no use going after her.”
“But Dee and Zee said walking the roads was no trouble at all,” the Golden Retriever puppy said. “They said the walk from Baton Rouge was fun!”
Minerva swiped a paw at him. “Walking for miles out of doors is no fun!”
“Hey, leave him alone,” the Pug said with a growl.
“What if she doesn’t come back?” yipped the Lhasa Apso, Darlene. “We need her!”
No one noticed Max, Rocky, and Gizmo at first—until Georgie’s tail thumped heavily against the ground, and he bellowed, “There you are!”
“Georgie!” Gizmo said. “How was your evening?”
The big, drooping dog came to meet them. “It was good! I met some other dogs from Baton Rouge who know stuff about Belle.” Lowering his voice, he asked, “Is it true? Did the old lady in the hat leave?”
Max nodded. “It’s true. But—”
“What?” Minerva yowled.
“Oh, no!” Darlene moaned.
The Golden Retriever puppy spun in a frantic circle. “We gotta go find the lady!”
Before Max, Rocky, or Gizmo could say anything, they found themselves surrounded.
“Did you see where she went?”
“You made her go!”
“How are we supposed to eat?”
Max backed away, trying to figure out whom to answer first.
But he didn’t have to. New, musky smells filled the yard, and all the animals went still. The procession of wolves had arrived.
As they saw Dolph’s pack slink onto the lawn, the animals’ voices rose once again—this time as yowls and yips of fear.
“Wolves,” Georgie gasped. “Oh, no.”
“Don’t worry, big guy,” Rocky reassured him. “They’ll be leaving soon.”
As the pets stood frozen, the police dogs formed a circle around the stack of kibble bags in the yard.
“Can we feed?” Dolph growled.
Julep nodded at the wolf leader. “One bag. Just one. Have at it.”
And the wolves turned into a blur.
They swarmed the mountain of dog food. Dolph opened his jaw wide and wrenched into the bag as though biting into fresh kill. Yanking his head back and forth, he tore a hole, letting the kibble cascade free.
Though the police dogs remained firm and stone still, all the pets watched with wide eyes as the starving wolves attacked the food. They nipped one another’s sides, clawing and fighting their way into the pile of kibble with snarls and growls. Sharp teeth flashed, and their yellow eyes seemed to glow in the dark. Only Dolph, as pack leader, ate without being bothered.
Then, it was over. Satiated, the wolves fell back, leaving nothing behind but the shredded remnants of the kibble bag.
“That’s it,” Julep barked. “You’re done. We will escort you back to the woods.”
Huffing, their eyes still frenzied, the wolves formed a line. All except Dolph.
The wolf leader limped toward the driveway, his pale eyes narrowed. As he reached the circle, two of the police dogs blocked his way.
“Max,” Dolph snarled. “I must speak to Max.”
“You heard Julep,” one of the dogs barked. “Back in line.”
“It’s fine,” Max said. “I’ll speak with him.”
From the sidewalk, Julep nodded, and the police dogs parted to let Max through, Rocky and Gizmo behind him.
“Is your pack well fed?” Max asked.
Dolph ignored the question. “We are not done,” he said.
Max shook his head, certain he’d misheard. After he’d made sure the wolves wouldn’t go hungry, he at least expected a thank-you.
“I don’t know what you mean,” Max said.
Dolph barked, “Yes, you do, mutt. We have unfinished business. We will leave now, but I will not stop my pursuit of you.”
“That’s not fair!” Gizmo barked at Dolph. “We helped you! Why won’t you leave us alone?”
Dolph glared at her but said nothing.
Rocky gently nudged Gizmo’s side. “They’re wolves,” the Dachshund said. “I told you, we can’t trust them.”
Growling, Dolph met Max’s eyes. “I am not unreasonable. We will leave this town alone, since they gave us food. We have no quarrel with them. You also helped me feed, and though it does not erase your past misdeeds, it is enough that I will give you a day’s head start—beginning at dawn.”
The wolf put out a paw, but the police dogs moved in, and he pulled back.
“You’d better leave this place first thing in the morning, Max,” Dolph said. “Once our strength is regained and we can feed ourselves in the natural way, we will come for you, stronger and faster than before.”
Max trembled. His heart pounded.
Just as finding Dr. Lynn hadn’t ended his journey, this small truce hadn’t ended the wolf’s crusade against him. Dolph was unrelenting. No matter what he went through, he always got back on his feet and continued his quest to destroy Max.
Max could hav
e roared at the wolf leader or tried to fight him and catch him off guard. Instead, he said, “All right, Dolph. Just as long as we have your word you’ll leave this town alone.”
“You have it,” Dolph spat.
The wolf leader turned and limped back to his pack. As the police dogs lined up to escort the wolves to the trees, Dolph’s voice rang out. “See you soon, Max,” he cried. “See you very, very soon.”
CHAPTER 17
UNWELCOME
Everyone sat still and silent as the German Shepherds escorted the wolves out of town.
Then there was chaos as the assembled pets realized what a narrow escape they’d had. Darlene yowled in unbridled panic, then collapsed in the grass, her eyes covered.
The Pug barked, “What do we do? We need to do something! What if they come back?”
One of the Golden Retriever puppies asked Minerva, “So, do you want to stay here now, kitty?”
In answer, Minerva hissed and spat, lashing out with her razor claws, narrowly missing the pup’s face. He whimpered and ran off to where his sister sat with a few other young dogs.
Rocky and Gizmo huddled next to Max, ignoring the panicking pets and whispering to each other about Dolph’s betrayal. Georgie melted into a large, tearful puddle in the grass.
All Max could think about were Dolph’s parting words. The wolf hadn’t even seemed angry, really. He’d been calm, almost rational, as if no longer seeking Max’s death out of rage, but from another deep, hidden emotion.
“What’s all this?” a dog barked. It was Julep, who was marching past the mound of kibble bags with Dixie.
Minerva darted through the grass. As soon as she reached the two police dogs, she hissed. “How dare you,” said the black cat. “How dare you!”
“How dare us what, Miss Minerva?” Julep asked.
Minerva snapped her tail. “You know what! Your pack just escorted a whole herd of wild beasts through our town. Those creatures could have attacked me.” Fur bristling, she added, “And I bet they have my scent now, too. They’ll be after me for sure.”
Dixie stepped around the cat and nosed Darlene until the Lhasa Apso lowered the paw covering her eyes.
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