The first official council meeting lasted exactly twelve minutes before someone threatened to throw Leo out a window.
"In my defense," Leo said while dodging a notebook,
"that was constructive criticism."
"You called the entire proposal 'emotionally constipated,'" another wolf snapped.
"It lacked vision."
"It was a food distribution chart."
Nancy sat at the center table fighting dangerously hard not to laugh.
The rebuilt council hall buzzed with overlapping voices as wolves argued over leadership structures, territory patrols, rebuilding plans, and approximately seventeen unrelated personal grudges.
It was chaos.
Functional chaos.
Which apparently counted as progress.
Kai leaned closer beside her.
"You're smiling."
"I'm witnessing democracy."
"That sounds sarcastic."
"It is."
The old Alpha system had died with the fracture war.
Not literally.
Philosophically.
No one wanted power concentrated in one person again—not after learning what shared bonds could become.
So now the pack was trying to build something new.
Unfortunately—
wolves were dramatic.
"I still think patrol groups should rotate weekly," someone argued.
"That makes no strategic sense."
"It makes emotional sense."
Leo pointed triumphantly.
"See? Emotionally constipated."
Another notebook flew at him.
Kai casually caught it midair without looking.
Nancy finally gave up and laughed.
The room quieted slightly as several wolves looked toward her instinctively.
That still happened sometimes.
Not fear.
Trust.
Nancy was still adjusting to it.
She straightened slightly.
"Okay. New rule."
Everyone waited.
"No throwing office supplies during meetings."
Leo raised a hand immediately.
"What about emotional support throwing?"
"No."
"Dictatorship."
Kai nodded solemnly.
"She's power-hungry."
Nancy stared at both of them.
"You are literally the reason this rule exists."
Nyra's quiet amusement echoed through the bond.
Healthy conflict.
Nancy mentally snorted.
"This is healthy?"
Compared to cosmic annihilation?
Yes.
Fair enough.
The meeting somehow continued another hour.
Eventually, real decisions actually got made.
Shared patrol rotations.
Open leadership votes.
A council formed from multiple pack voices instead of one ruling Alpha.
Balanced.
Messy.
Human.
Or wolf-human.
Whatever.
When the meeting finally ended, exhausted wolves spilled out of the hall arguing about lunch instead of politics.
Progress.
Nancy remained seated briefly staring at the now-empty room.
Sunlight filtered warmly through the rebuilt windows.
The bond hummed softly across the settlement beyond the walls.
Alive.
Kai stayed beside her quietly.
"You did good."
Nancy looked at him.
"I mostly stopped people from killing Leo."
"A valuable leadership skill."
She smiled faintly.
Then her expression softened into thoughtfulness.
"It feels strange."
"What does?"
"Building things instead of surviving them."
Kai leaned back slightly against the table.
"You're still waiting for disaster."
Nancy sighed.
"Am I that obvious?"
"To me? Yeah."
The honesty should've embarrassed her.
Instead it felt… safe.
Nancy looked toward the settlement outside.
Children ran between cabins.
Wolves repaired rooftops.
Someone loudly argued with Leo in the distance already.
Life kept moving.
Not because danger disappeared forever.
Because people chose to keep living anyway.
Kai gently nudged her shoulder.
"You know what I think?"
"What?"
"I think you're finally learning peace isn't temporary."
Nancy looked at him quietly.
Then the bond.
Then the bright afternoon sky outside the hall.
Maybe he was right.
For once—
the future no longer felt like something chasing them.
It felt like something waiting.