“Lock down the east boundary,” I tell the runner. “Double patrol pairs and shift them closer to the road. No wolf moves alone.”
He nods sharply and leaves.
Ciaran watches the doorway a moment longer. “A ranch dog brings rifles,” he says quietly.
“Yes,” I reply. “And anger.”
The pack feels the shift before I call it. Doors open. Footsteps gather. The air thickens with unease. News travels fast in stone halls.
“Call a council meeting” I say.
Ciaran nods and moves ahead to summon them.
By the time I enter the stone clearing, the elders are already seated around the long stone table. Brynn rests her staff across her knees, expression calm but alert. Marek’s broad hands are clasped tightly in front of him. Lydia’s gaze is sharp and calculating. Ronan sits rigid, shoulders squared.
Gideon arrives last, measured and composed as always.
“What happened,” Brynn asks before anyone else can speak.
Ciaran steps forward. “A ranch dog was killed on Pritchard land. The body was staged near the road.”
Marek exhales slowly. “That is deliberate.”
“It is escalation,” Lydia adds.
Gideon folds his hands loosely on his lap. “Pets carry names,” he says. “Families grieve them differently.”
Silence follows that observation. No one needs the rest of the thought spelled out.
“They will organize,” Ronan says. “Hunters, perhaps deputies.”
“They will cross into our terrain,” Marek continues.
“And they will not distinguish shifter from wild wolf,” Lydia finishes.
Ciaran looks to me. “Outer patrols were already tightened. We can compress the eastern rotations further.”
“Do it,” I say. “No wolf approaches the town road alone.”
Gideon studies me carefully. “You have already compressed the patrol grid,” he says. “And still this happened.”
The implication hangs in the air.
“The rogue is accelerating,” I reply. “This is meant to provoke retaliation.”
Gideon tilts his head slightly. “Or it is meant to expose weakness.”
Marek shifts in his seat. “Weakness where?”
Gideon’s gaze does not leave mine. “In leadership priorities.”
Ciaran straightens. “Are you trying to say something?”
Gideon’s tone remains even. “Patrol routes were adjusted recently. A human was brought in to analyze our internal schedules. That shift may have created instability.”
My wolf presses forward, even when I exert all my restraint. He wanted to bring Cassidy into the mix, and I couldn’t let her become a target. His vendetta against her involvement agitated my wolf, and by extension, me.
“The patrol gaps existed before her involvement,” I say. “She identified them.”