A Den of Tricks (A Shade of Vampire #54)(49)

The pit wolf huffed, then shook its immense head and sat on all fours, like a giant dog. Its eyes were gentle as it waited for me to approach it.

“Scarlett, please, be careful,” Patrik muttered behind me. I knew he was ready to intervene if needed, so that gave me the extra ounce of courage I needed to reach the creature.

“It’s okay,” I said softly, addressing both Patrik and my strange new ally. “I won’t hurt you… and I’m guessing you don’t want to hurt me either?”

The pit wolf put its head down on the ground, patiently waiting for me to make the next move. I touched its nose with one trembling hand. It was cold and wet. Just like a dog. Hah…

I stroked the top of its head as gently as possible, and it responded with a low growl, as if it enjoyed my touch. It made me smile as I looked in its eyes—two pools of red that yielded nothing but gratitude and affection.

“I think we’re okay here, Patrik,” I said. “You should go inside and take what you need from the mine. Wolf-thingy here and I will keep an eye out for other hunter daemons.”

“Just… be careful,” Patrik replied, and climbed into the mine.

I continued stroking the pit wolf’s head. It licked my arm, then slipped forward and slapped its pink tongue against my face, making me giggle and nearly lose my footing. I then moved to scratch its back, focusing on the bony area of its shoulder blades.

“Hah, you like that, don’t you?” I muttered, delighted by the creature’s reaction. It rolled onto its back, blatantly demanding a belly rub. “You’ve got to be kidding me…”

The pit wolf lay there, its tongue out, waiting.

“Okay, fine, a belly rub it is, then.” I chuckled and scratched its belly. The skin was soft and warm, a shade of black so intense it seemed unreal, as if someone had painted this creature with black ink. “I should give you a name, though… don’t you think?”

It yawned, stretching lazily, enjoying the belly rub. My arm was getting tired—this was one big animal to pet! And… a male. Okay… As if sensing my intention to withdraw my hand, he sat up on his hind legs, then brought his head down and nuzzled my face.

“You are ridiculously friendly, dude! I like you!” I smiled, stroking his thick, muscular neck. He was roughly shorter than an Asian elephant, at a little over two meters, and made me feel so small, yet his ability to exude so much affection made me think of him as a gentle giant. “I’ll bet those collars make you mean, but you’re not mean by nature, are you?”

The pit wolf huffed again, as if understanding what I’d just asked, and slowly shook his head as he stared at me. A thought crossed my mind then.

“Do you understand what I’m saying?”

He didn’t take his eyes off me, but didn’t react, either. Maybe I’m overestimating his abilities…

“Can I call you Jack?”

He blinked a couple of times, then nodded once. Oh, hell…

“I don’t know why, but I think Jack suits you.” I shrugged, watching his expression carefully for any sign that he could, in fact, understand me. “Jack is the name of a guy I know back in my world. He lives in Hawaii. It’s a beautiful island; you’d love it. Anyway, Jack is a human. A big one. He’s like… a gentle giant. Kind of like you.”

I heard Patrik inside the mine—a metal pick hitting a hard wall, scraping and crumbling sounds followed by another clang. Both Jack and I looked around, checking for hostiles nearby. We seemed to be in the clear for the time being.

“I don’t understand why you’re here, though,” I said to the pit wolf. He nuzzled my face again, licking my ear in the process. “Is it because I released you from that collar, maybe?”

He groaned and hid his face against my chest, knocking me over. I laughed and got up, gently stroking his back.

“It’s okay now, Jack,” I murmured. “I promise I’ll do the same with every pit wolf I see out there. It’s not fair that they use you like that. You must have been so miserable…”

A couple of minutes went by as I replayed the scene from earlier in my head. Jack had known exactly where to jump and what to bite into in order to deliver a deadly blow.

“Jack, can you see the daemons?” I asked, though I wasn’t sure I’d get an answer. The pit wolf seemed selective in his responses. Jack let out a long and low growl. “I’m not sure what to make of that answer, but I’ll just assume it’s a yes, for now. Or that at least your senses are sharp. Really sharp.”

Patrik emerged from the cave with a handful of red garnet crystals. He handed them over, and I shoved them into my backpack, while he stared at the pit wolf. Jack held his ground, but seemed to accept Patrik near him… and me. Which was good. The last thing I needed was a repeat of our kiss at some point in the near future, and Jack jumping out of nowhere, biting Patrik’s face off…

“Is it friendly?” Patrik smirked, slowly reaching a hand out.

“He hasn’t eaten me yet,” I replied, patting the pit wolf’s head. “I named him Jack. It’s a he. I saw… them.”

Patrik laughed lightly as Jack licked his hand.

“He definitely likes you,” he replied, watching with slight amusement as Jack lifted his massive weight back onto all fours, towering over me while sniffing and slobbering over the entire right side of my face. How could I push this massive lump of love away? I was head over heels already!