the ledger in her hands and watched me back the truck out of the yard, and the last thing I saw in the mirror w

had a courthouse, a bank, and a Council lodge built of dark timber on the hill above the river. I had been summo

lt like a wolf wa

room for twenty minutes with a cup of coffee I did not drink, and

emples, and his eyes were pale green, and he wore a grey suit that had been

in. You look like a w

een on th

were hung with old maps of the valley, some of them going back a hundred years,

across from me and fold

e female from the north.

es

." He said it pleasantly. "I am not angry, Cal

nted the seconds and decided that the truth, or part of t

the water. I followed her downstream for two hours and lost the scent at t

His pale green e

h it by then. The Council is convening at the end of the month, and I do not want a ro

deadline to see what I would do with it. I ha

ch time if she ha

der drawn up this morning. Cedar Hollow station, temporary assignment, effective immediately. She has been

picked up a sealed envel

would need

needs a reason to be somewhere. A posting is a reason. The ranger service is

. Vance was not my mate. He was not anything my wolf recognized except

said, "what do you

head, and the smile stayed on his fa

whether you should

ng what th

thout heat. "But I am not a cruel wolf, Callum. If she surrenders, bring her to the lodge and I

envelope i

said. "

n slow about the ridge files. Someone in the old records office has been asking questions

change. Twelve y

was a lon

his desk. "But old fires have

lked to the door and put my hand on the knob and he

ster than the file. Did she say anythin

crackling in the grate, and I thought about the question he had asked and the way he had as

ouncil dog," I sai

It was a warm

he said. "Go on, th

house and parked in the alley behind the bank. My hands were shaking. I sat there with the engine off and the envel

the rogue's description written in his own hand. At the bottom, wh

in the envelope an

the ledger in her hands. I thought about the groove worn in her boot heel. And I thought about the way Vance had said

d pulled hard, and then the pull went sidew

parked in the yard. Dar

n, and Mara's voice came

rogue. I am only go