War Dog

Chapter 30

"You need to rein her in!"

"Johnny, I think you forget yourself. She was entirely right to remind you she is just as much wolf as she is human."

"That doesn't excuse her behaviour, Ghost. Just because we have to kill for a living doesn't mean she should be making it excessively painful and drawn out. She's torturing them and she looks like she's enjoying it."

"Johnny," I sighed running a hand across my face. 

"No, don't Johnny me. Besides, why can't she use a gun like the rest of us? Seems like she knows how to use one, so why doesn't she carry one?"

"Johnny," I growled this time to get him to pause for long enough to let me get a word in edgewise. "It's because excessive equipment would slow her down. She's fast enough that she can take down swathes of enemy combatants without batting an eye. The equipment of having a gun on her would get in the way of what she is designed for. She's there for infiltration, getting in and out as silently as possible. She can do that without a gun simply because of her ability to kill silently with her physical abilities alone. As for the how of her killing, ninety-nine percent of the time Johnny, she will kill them quickly. It's no different to what we've both had to do out in the field before. So why do you have such a problem with her doing her job?"

Johnny growled in frustration, slashing at the air. words not coming out as easily as he would have wished. I waited for him to articulate the problem. "It's how much she seemed to enjoy it Ghost. She didn't do it out of necessity, but because she wanted to."

I waited patiently, arms crossed against my chest waiting for him to o expand further. 

"It was disturbing to see just how much she seemed to enjoy it."

"Johnny, is this a problem because you are romantically interested in her and you don't like being attracted to someone more bloodthirsty than you, or are you genuinely concerned about war crimes here?"

Johnny paused, his slight hesitation very telling before he commented. "War crimes, obviously." He muttered, hand running through that ridiculous mohawk he refused to get rid of. 

"Uhuh. How about you try that again, Johnny." 

"Ghost, are you seriously telling me that watching her be literally bathed in the blood of our enemies when she fights doesn't bother you in the slightest?"

"Johnny, I think you forget I have done far worse things to those who have betrayed me and mine. Watching a Dog of War in action, in her element doing what she was designed for? I have no problems with how she operates as long as she continues to get the job done."

I watched him fight an internal battle, and decided to give him a nudge. "You have to remember Johnny, she's not human. Not any more. She doesn't think like a human does despite what it may seem like. She has a lot of good qualities that come with being a wolf hybrid that you are missing in that picture of yours. She is highly empathic and cares deeply for those that she considers her pack members. She will always put others first even to the detriment of herself. If you get my dog killed Johnny, because she was trying to sanitise herself on the battlefield to save your delicate sensibilities, I am going to be beyond pissed." The warning was clear. Sort your shit out or don't mess with my dog.

"Ghost," He whined softly, "I wouldn't put her at risk."

"Not deliberately Johnny, but she knew how disgusted you were with her when you saw what she did." I saw him pale slightly. "You keep forgetting Johnny, she is the worlds best lie detector. Her sense of smell is one of the reasons why she works so seamlessly with everyone. She literally adjusts what she's doing to elicit specific scents and responses and she acts on what she can sense. So again, sort your shit out, or stay away from her, because she absolutely would try to change for you Johnny, and you'll get her killed."