He downed the whiskey in a single gulp, then poured himself another drink. “Those wolves are killers. Nothing but stone-cold killers. And that idiot ranger is trying to save one of them—fer what? So it can come back here and take another one of my rabbits, or someone else’s dog?” He paused a moment, breathing deeply and seething with rage. He took another drink to calm his nerves, and this time he felt the fuzzy warmth of the whiskey start to cloud his head. “Damn government people. You have to wait until someone’s killed before they’ll do anything.”

Ernie caught his breath. Again he looked down at the spot where his best friend, Jaeger, should have been. There were doggie toys strewn about, and a stain on the hardwood where Jaeger had thrown up a bowl of table scraps that hadn’t agreed with him. He stared at the empty space for a long, long time until his eyes welled up with tears.

Uncapping the bottle of whiskey again, he tried to pour another glass, but his hand shook and he spilled most of the amber liquid. He stopped pouring, grabbed the bottle by the neck, and brought it to his lips. “I won’t forget you, Jaeger.” He took a swig from the bottle. “No matter what.” One last swig. “And I won’t let them get away with it, neither.”

Ernie got up slowly from his chair, swaying slightly, then put on his coat. He slipped into his boots, pulled a tuque down hard onto his head, then picked up two things—the bottle of whiskey and his gun.

“They’ll be back,” he said, stumbling toward the door. “And when they come, I’ll be ready for ‘em.”

He headed out to the edge of his property, the bottle in one hand, his gun in the other.

And waited…

* * *

After dinner, Garrett and Phyllis left the dishes for the pack to clean and put away so they could head into Redstone. Janice Xia, a friend of Garrett’s and a former ranger, had been accepted into the RCMP and there was a get-together for her at the Legion.

“You will clean the dishes, won’t you?” said Phyllis, making the question sound like an order.

“Of course,” answered Noble.

“And you have the number for the Legion in case you need to get in touch with us, right?”

Tora gestured with her head. “I can see it from here.”

“And you’ll keep an eye on the wolf out in the pen,” said the ranger, as he stepped through the back door after checking up on it himself.

“Every thirty minutes,” said Harlan.

“Do you think it’s all right to leave her?” Phyllis asked the ranger.

“She’ll be fine,” the ranger said, with a smile. “It’s not like we’re leaving the animal alone. They’re here, and we’ll be back in a couple of hours.”