"Oh, honestly!" Sirius exclaimed. "Of course I listened. I was just saying that it's hard to do with Remus. And I'm damned well capable of giving orders, whether I ought to or not, but 'wild creatures' don't usually get that either." That's for spineless humans.
He gave up on trying to picture Faelan or a wolf, and imagined he was facing Ian, before the short period in which they'd been friends. "Lupicinus!" Back off!
He tried to hold the spell, to feel for resistance and push against it, all swagger and posture and knives and teeth.