By the time the last nails were hammered and the final boards replaced, Libby looked almost untouched by war. The square smelled of soap and smoke; roofs gleamed under a clean dusting of snow. No scorch marks, no wreckage. Even the gouges in the dirt road had been filled in. It was the kind of normal that people build after chaos\u2014thin, maybe, but determined.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Marta called a town-hall meeting that afternoon.
The benches were full, and the mood felt different now\u2014tired but proud. Hank\u2019s deputies leaned along the back wall, rifles slung. Thane came in last, the two massive ferals trailing him like thunderclouds. Holt and Rime didn\u2019t speak; they didn\u2019t need to. The chuckles from the benches came easy and nervous\u2014Libby had gotten used to its Alpha having two shadows.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Marta tapped her clipboard. \u201cAlright. Libby\u2019s standing again. But we need to talk about Glendive.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The room went still.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hank cleared his throat. \u201cThey\u2019ll think we\u2019re weak if we just patch the walls and sit here. Voss sent those men. He\u2019s still breathing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe could send a message,\u201d one farmer said carefully. \u201cNot revenge. Just\u2026 a reminder.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A few heads nodded. \u201cMake them think twice next time.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Eyes turned to Thane. He leaned back against the wall, arms folded, listening. Everyone expected him to end the idea before it started. Mercy had been his banner since the day he\u2019d walked into Libby.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Instead, he said, \u201cA message sounds right.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Marta blinked. \u201cYou\u2019re agreeing?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI am,\u201d Thane said. \u201cNo fire, no killing. Just fear. Enough to keep them home.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That pulled a murmur through the room\u2014half surprise, half relief.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sable sat near the window, white fur silver in the late light. Her voice carried clear and calm. \u201cWe move night. Only Voss. No others. He wake small. We leave before sun.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mark gave a low whistle. \u201cWe can handle power and comms. Gabriel and I\u2019ll make sure their whole town blinks out like someone pulled the plug.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Gabriel smirked. \u201cJust long enough to get everyone jumpy. They\u2019ll have no idea what hit \u2018em.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cGood,\u201d Thane said. \u201cDo it clean. Leave no trace.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The days leading up to the mission were quiet and precise. Holt and Rime took night runs, learning the edges of Glendive\u2019s defenses. Mark and Gabriel mapped power lines and radio towers, whispering back and forth in easy conversation\u2014joking one minute, engineering the next. \u201cWe kill the juice at 0200, get a full blackout for twenty,\u201d Mark said, tracing an invisible line in the air.
\u201cPlenty,\u201d Gabriel replied. \u201cThey\u2019ll think it\u2019s the end of the world… again.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When the moon came thin and bright, they moved.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Libby stayed lit, its fires steady, while the pack vanished into the forest. Pads pressed snow; claws ticked on frozen grit. Sable\u2019s northern ferals joined silently\u2014ghosts among trees. Mark and Gabriel worked in the dark like men tuning a guitar: steady hands, quiet voices, perfect timing. A quick twist of wire, a single pull, and Glendive\u2019s lights went out all at once. Radios sighed into silence. Pumps stopped. The town slept inside its own heartbeat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Thane and the wolves crossed into Glendive\u2019s edge. They entered only one house\u2014the one with the warmest chimney, where Garrick Voss, self-proclaimed commander of the Black Winter, slept heavy and sure. A black bag went over his head, ropes followed, and within moments he was dragged into the dark without a single alarm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
No one in Libby saw a thing.
No one in Glendive knew\u2014yet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They tied him between four young pines at the camp just outside town. The ropes were thick, the knots expert. When the hood came off, he was staring into firelight and a circle of faces that made the night feel small.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Thane stood in front of him, arms loose at his sides.
Sable watched with that steady, predator\u2019s calm.
Holt and Rime loomed like carved figures at the fire\u2019s edge, silent and waiting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Voss tried to snarl, but his voice cracked. \u201cYou can\u2019t do this\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Thane\u2019s gaze never wavered. \u201cYou sent men to raid Libby. They died. So did some of ours. You built Black Winter on fear. Tonight, you learn it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYou think I\u2019m scared of a few mutts?\u201d he spat, forcing a smirk that didn\u2019t reach his eyes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Holt moved in one step, no words\u2014just a growl low in his chest. He gripped the rope at Voss\u2019s wrist and pulled until it strained. Rime mirrored the motion at the opposite arm, slow and deliberate, stretching the man\u2019s frame tight. Voss grunted, legs trembling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Thane\u2019s voice was soft, but it carried the weight of command. \u201cYou feel that? That\u2019s how easy you were to take. Your men slept while we walked into your town.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Voss tried a laugh, desperate and hollow. \u201cYou\u2019re bluffing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cTry me,\u201d Thane said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Holt leaned close, breath hot against the man\u2019s face. \u201cYou want know how hard we pull?\u201d His tone wasn\u2019t mocking\u2014it was measured, dangerous. \u201cWe find out.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Rime\u2019s claws pressed against the rope, tightening it just enough to make the man gasp. The campfire hissed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Voss broke. \u201cWait\u2014please! I\u2019ll stop the raids! I\u2019ll\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Thane didn\u2019t move. \u201cYou\u2019ll trade. Fairly. You\u2019ll leave Libby alone. You\u2019ll tell your people to leave every other town alone. You\u2019ll stop pretending you\u2019re building something when you\u2019re just stealing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Voss\u2019s head jerked in frantic nods. \u201cYes! I swear it!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Thane tilted his head slightly. \u201cLouder.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI SWEAR IT!\u201d His voice tore the quiet forest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sable\u2019s expression didn\u2019t change. \u201cGood,\u201d she said softly. \u201cHe mean it now.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Holt gave one last deliberate jerk on the rope, hard enough to make Voss yelp\u2014a punctuation mark. Then he looked over his shoulder at Thane.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Thane stepped forward until his shadow swallowed the man. \u201cGo home. Tell them we came once. If they try again, we won\u2019t stop at lessons.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He gave Holt and Rime a subtle nod. The ropes went slack. Voss collapsed onto the snow, chest heaving. Holt hauled him upright by the collar and shoved him toward the dark line of trees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cRun,\u201d Holt said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Voss stumbled, then ran\u2014bare feet slipping, half-falling into the dark until the night swallowed him whole.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The wolves stood still until even the sound of his panic faded.
Then Holt exhaled, rolled his shoulders, and let out a deep, rumbling laugh.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cDid you see eyes?!\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Rime grunted, a dry noise that might\u2019ve been approval.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Gabriel appeared from the shadows, brushing snow off his sleeves. \u201cWe\u2019re good. Power and comms will come back on in half an hour. They\u2019ll wake up confused as hell.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mark smirked. \u201cPerfect. By the time he makes it home, they\u2019ll be wondering why he looks like he saw ghosts.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Thane nodded once. \u201cGood work.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
By dawn, Glendive\u2019s lights blinked back on, street by street. Radios hissed to life, pumps groaned awake. The people found their leader stumbling back through the snow, trembling, eyes wide. He didn\u2019t speak of what had happened, only barked orders that no one should ever go near Libby again. No one argued.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Back home, Libby\u2019s morning began like any other.
The smell of baking bread.
A pair of kids racing through the square.
Holt and Rime sitting outside the caf\u00e9, mugs of coffee steaming in their paws. Holt nudged Rime. \u201cCould done it,\u201d he muttered with a grin. \u201cMessy, though.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Rime\u2019s ear flicked. \u201cNext time maybe.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Thane overheard them as he passed and shook his head, smiling faintly. \u201cYou two are hopeless.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They both laughed, low and rumbling, and went back to their mugs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Marta found Thane near the well. \u201cIt\u2019s done?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt\u2019s done,\u201d he said simply.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She studied him. \u201cAnd?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAnd they\u2019ll stay put,\u201d Thane said. \u201cFear travels fast.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Her nod was quiet approval. \u201cThen we can breathe again.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That night, Thane sat in the radio station with Sable standing beside him. The faint hum of the old console filled the silence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYou think he remember?\u201d she asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOh, he\u2019ll remember,\u201d Thane said. \u201cEvery time the lights flicker, he\u2019ll wonder if we\u2019re coming back.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sable huffed softly\u2014maybe amusement, maybe respect. \u201cYou bent branch,\u201d she said. \u201cDid not break.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Thane let the words settle. \u201cLet\u2019s hope it stays bent.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Outside, Libby slept in peace.
Inside, the wolves watched over the lights they\u2019d kept burning.
And far to the east, Garrick Voss sat awake in a warm room, hearing phantom sounds in the wind, certain that somewhere in the dark, claws were waiting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n