Argus shrugged. “And when he saw us, he took a shot.”

The ranger took a deep breath. “Was anyone hurt?”

They all shook their heads.

“But there’s one less tree out behind his house,” said Argus.

The pack laughed at that, but the ranger and Phyllis didn’t find it funny. “You four have got to be more careful,” he said. “I don’t want you going anywhere near that place, not as wolves…not even as humans. Understood?”

The pack hesitated a moment, but all of them nodded in agreement. “Yes, ranger,” Noble said, speaking for the group.

Ranger Brock said nothing for few moments, giving himself the chance to calm down. Finally he said, “Now, where were we?”

Noble leaned forward and rested his elbows on the table. “We were talking about the dog. Obviously, it wasn’t killed by any wolf. Not one, not two. Not even a whole pack.”

“Well,” the ranger sighed. “That’s the official story, as far as I’m concerned right now. It’s what Ernie Ilson thinks, and it’s what I told Sergeant Martin.”

“He believes you?” Argus asked.

“I don’t know. It doesn’t really matter. I told him it was wolves and he trusts me enough to put that into the occurrence police report.”

Just then the phone rang. Phyllis, who was sitting closest to it, got up from her chair to answer it.

The ranger and the pack all fell silent, eager to know who would be calling at this time of night.

“Hello?”

A pause.

“Oh, hi, Erin, how are you?” Phyllis said, chatting quietly in the corner, away from the rest of them.

As she talked, Noble picked up the conversation where they’d left off. “So if the sergeant doesn’t really think it’s wolves, what’s the rest of the town going to think?”

“We can’t worry about that now,” the ranger said. “There’s a wild wolf man running loose in the forest and the first thing we’ve got to do is make sure everyone is safe.”

Tora snickered.

Argus looked at her. “What’s so funny?”

“He called it a wolf man.”

Everyone looked to the ranger for a response.