Lupi 08 - Death Magic

been very excited about the rabbit. He’d lost him quickly, of course—rabbits were fast and agile, and this wolf was still unused to his body. But he’d had a marvelous time making the attempt.
    Rule rather regretted that rabbit now, though. He was hungry and getting hungrier by the minute.
    It wouldn’t be long now. Immediately in front of them lay the Citibank parking lot. Rule approached close enough to watch the lot while remaining hidden himself, covered by the shadow of a large elm. With the wind at their backs, they’d have scent to alert them of intruders from behind.
    He lay down—not curled up for sleep, but keeping his head erect. The other wolf settled close to him, their sides touching, and licked his muzzle. Rule allowed that for a moment, then sniffed along the other wolf ’s muzzle and jaw and gave his ear a single lick: Y ou’re safe. You’re not alone. You’ve done well. I will look out for you.
    The new wolf wagged his tail once, then rested his head on his forelegs with a tired sigh, relaxing.
    He needed the physical contact. He needed a great deal more. A new wolf should be surrounded by clan—by their scent, the feel of their bodies, with even their pulses coursing in time with his.
    Rule could give this wolf only a small taste of that comfort. He’d done what he could. He’d defeated him, dominated him, and fed him, so the wolf trusted him now. But instinctively, the new wolf would be longing for many, and Rule was only one. One who did not smell like Wythe.
    Rule had hoped the new wolf might accept non-Wythe wolves. No luck with that. When Rule had paused in the scrap of woods near Ruben’s house to contact his guards stationed there, the new wolf had snapped and snarled at them. In spite of that, Rule had signaled the others to circle the new one, knowing what would happen when he Changed so he could give them instructions. Sure enough, when the only wolf he trusted turned into a man, the new wolf had tried to flee. The others hadn’t let him, but it had been a near thing. Rule had given his instructions, sending Scott to the house to relay some of them, and Changed back quickly.
    Three Changes in close succession, and only a single, gulped chicken breast to eat. No wonder he felt half-starved. Rule continued to wait upon the company that would arrive soon.
    That company would please him more than his charge. Wolves who were not-Wythe did not comfort this wolf—who instinctively tried to gather them under his own dominion, and never mind how bad an idea that was. The new wolf didn’t know that, didn’t know much of anything yet, but a new wolf had to be controlled. Not only because he was dangerous, being all power and instinct and no control, but because he needed the security of knowing he was guided by one able to dominate him.
    Very few could dominate this wolf. Only those with a mantle.
    A new wolf with a full mantle—what was the Lady thinking?
    Rule wasn’t surprised Scott had submitted. The surprise was that the black wolf had chosen to cripple rather than kill. That was remarkable restraint in a wolf fresh from First Change.
    But then, Ruben the man was highly dominant. As a wolf he had the same instincts, even without memory’s guide.
    Lily, he thought, wouldn’t understand the connection. She didn’t understand dominance. It frustrated Rule. How could she not understand, when she herself was so clearly dominant? But she confused dominance with the need to control others—and that was part of it, yes, yet naming the whole for the part distorted meaning into incoherence.
    He suspected she saw dominance and submission in vaguely sexual terms. She considered submission a surrender of autonomy. But autonomy as humans used the term seemed absurdly artificial to Rule. He understood personal responsibility. He also understood that “no man is an island.” He did not understand why so many humans embraced the myth that individuals could and should stand alone. It was as if they thought everyone should be dominant.
    No, at its heart, submission simply acknowledged fact: the other had the skill and power to kill you . . . and the skill and power to defend you. The two were inseparable. When you submitted, you placed your life in the other’s jaws. If the other was truly dominant, he accepted this. And would then defend that life as if it were his own.
    That’s what he must tell Lily, Rule realized. A dominant wolf controlled, yes—but the need to control arose