"How's her 'disarm?'" Zasen asked, his voice loud enough to be heard but soft enough it wouldn't carry on the cool night air.
I rocked my head from side to side. "She's okay. She keeps forgetting to go around to the side, but she is very good at knocking people down."
"That dog is a killer," he teased, flashing me a grin to show that wasn't a bad thing. "Holly's what they call a working dog. She can do a bit of everything, which makes her one of the most sought-out types. Pepper? She's a guard dog, Ayla. The one thing she wants to do is protect her family."
"Me?" I asked.
He nodded. "Holly too, I bet. Dogs live in families too." He smiled at my girls. "So, Rymar thinks we need to build kennels onto the house."
I made a gesture to summon both my dogs before me. "Why?"
Holly spun to face me and sat immediately. Pepper was watching Zasen and didn't seem to care about obeying at all. Snapping my fingers got her to look at me, so I pointed again. Letting out a heavy sigh, she moved to mimic Holly, then sat.
"Good girls!" I praised, petting Pepper first because she needed it more, then Holly got more attention. "You're a good girl, aren't you?"
"Now that," Zasen said, "is adorable. And why kennels? Because that's where you keep the puppies, Ayla. I mean, we'd have to save up and buy you a male to breed these girls to, but you do have a nice pair there."
"I think you've been talking to Lansin," I teased.
He picked up a stick, waving it to get the girls' attention. "Yep." Then he threw it.
Both dogs raced after it, so I moved to join Zasen, keeping an eye on them. Holly was faster, but only because she had longer legs. Pepper was shorter but broader, and the difference in their speed was the length of a nose.
"I don't think I'm ready to raise puppies," I admitted as I lowered myself to the ground beside him. "I like puppies, don't get me wrong, but..."
"Feels too much like what you faced in the compound?" he guessed as the girls brought back the stick for him to throw again.
"No!" I hurried to assure him. "I'm more worried about knowing what to do with them. I can't imagine a dog that can't be controlled. Zasen, I've seen them bite people!"
"But you're good with them," he reminded me.
I grunted. "Maybe, but that isn't the same as experienced. I'm making everything up, and both of these dogs have the basics already. I think I want to learn how to teach a dog the starting stuff first, but I can't do that with the Moles attacking every other week!"
"Yeah, that's a good point," he agreed. "Also a surprisingly sensible one."
This time, Pepper got to the stick first, and when she carried it back, she spit it out on my lap. Reaching in to give her a good petting first, I then held up the stick until they were watching before throwing it as hard as I could.
It didn't go as far as Zasen's throw, but it went further than I expected. I was getting stronger every day, and the men kept reminding me of it, but seeing it was even better. This was proof of my progress, just like having Pepper listen to her commands was proof of hers.
But only a few feet before the stick, both dogs stopped so hard they skidded, ending up on their bellies in the fallen leaves.
Confused, I looked at Zasen, checking to see if he'd given them a command somehow, but he was looking back at me. Okay, maybe they'd seen something? Either way, they'd probably lost their stick, so I leaned out to grab another from the forest litter around me.
"Come!" I said, not needing to yell. Then I whistled softly.
The dogs turned as they took off, racing back to me as fast as they could. I didn't know why, but I loved when they did that. It made me feel like they actually wanted to be around me, and something about it was amazing.
"Want it?" I asked, waving the stick. "Come. Sit."
And again, the girls slid down onto their bellies, stopping hard. Not in front of me like I'd expected, and not sitting like they'd been taught. Both of them stopped and lay down, going so far as to pause their panting for a few seconds at a time while their ears swiveled to the sides.
"Come," I tried again.
Pepper did, but Holly? She crawled, glancing back into the trees like something was wrong.
"Guard!" Zasen hissed, scrambling to his feet.
Pepper immediately moved to my side, staring the same way Holly was, but Holly? She turned on her belly, but her face looked intent. Then Pepper lay down again, both girls looking the same way - and I realized I was a fool.
