The Shadows of Christmas Past

harder than the blow on the head had.
    Her attacker held her close to him, her arms forced behind her back. "I don't see it," he replied.
    "She'll know," the other one said. "The animal couldn't be anywhere but here."

    "Move." Her attacker pushed her toward the interior of the building.
    Just then, the dogs stopped barking.
    There was a moment of tense, expectant silence.
    Then a deep snarl rumbled outside.
    Marj's captor twisted around, taking her with him. And a huge, dark body came rushing through the doorway. She caught a glimpse of fangs. And eyes. Ferocious eyes that glowed bright blue neon.
    There was a shout. Someone screamed.
    And the wolf leapt.
    Soft fur brushed her cheek as the wolf jumped at the man behind her. The hands gripping her let go. Marj stumbled forward and fell, her head hitting the concrete again. She was vaguely aware of a struggle behind her, and a pair of boots flashed by close to her face as the world faded to darkness.

    "Taffy, you're a hero."
    The dog thumped his tail on the kitchen tiles when Harry spoke to him. Harry patted the chocolate Lab's head, watching out the open back door as the sheriff drove away with the two prisoners.
    The last couple of hours had been nothing if not interesting, and Harry felt a certain satisfaction at the way things had gone.
    He'd been sneaking around Marj's ranch for perfectly innocent reasons when the ruckus started. After he'd dropped the Fennicks off at their place, he'd gathered several sets of clothing and taken them to leave at various out-of-the-way places on Marj's property. The one disadvantage in shifting from human to animal shape was that nakedness was required. Oh, one could go were while fully dressed, but then you'd have to claw your way out of the restrictive cloth. That was uncomfortable, took precious time that could prove dangerous, and ruined the clothes in the process. Better to strip down and have clothes waiting in a convenient spot when it was time to become human again. To maximize one's options, more than one spot was best.
    He'd been upwind of the kennel on the farthest side of the property when the dogs began to bark, and his reaction had been stronger and more visceral than he'd ever experienced before.
    He had instinctively responded to threat of danger to the woman by morphing and racing to the rescue in wereform.
    And she'd seen him!

    As had her attackers. Once he'd secured the men and made sure Marj was safe, he went to work on them. He called the sheriff, as well. By the time she arrived, bringing the local nurse practitioner with her, Harry had used his kind's hypnotic gift to convince the intruders they hadn't seen a huge black wolf. They believed that the animal that rushed out of the night to protect Marj was her brown Labrador retriever, that's what they'd told the sheriff. At no point in the evening had anyone mentioned anything about any wolf.
    Thus, Taffy was the hero. People were far more likely to accept a logical explanation.
    The men had also admitted they'd broken into the kennel, and attacked Marj, to find a racing greyhound they'd stolen that had escaped from their van. Having gotten their confessions to several crimes, the sheriff packed them into the back of her SUV and drove away. Harry hadn't used his hypnotic talent to coerce the truth out of the men. The pair were none too bright and had babbled their story freely, each trying to implicate the other more deeply than himself.
    The nurse, who turned out to be Marj's friend Alice, was still in Marj's bedroom.
    Harry dosed the back door and headed toward the bedroom to see how Marj was doing. Alice met him in the hallway that led to the front of the house and put a finger over her lips, to tell him to be quiet. Then she took his arm, and escorted him back to the kitchen. Harry disliked being led around by anyone, but for the moment he curbed his alpha urge to do exactly what he wanted to do.
    Once they were in the kitchen, Alice asked, "What on earth are you doing here, Mr.
    Blethyin?"
    He'd realized at the high school that Alice was one of the community leaders, and he figured what she knew, the town knew. It wouldn't hurt to circulate a story about his and Marj's connection that had nothing to do with wolves, or werewolves.
    But first, Harry asked, "How is Marj? Will she be all right?"
    "She's asleep."
    "Is that good, if she has a concussion?"
    "I don't think it's a concussion. But I'll take her to the clinic in Paloma tomorrow to have her checked