Page 12

*Leo*

F inding Robbie in the garden, I walk over and watch him for a minute because he’s talking to the damn seeds he’s sowing!

“Come on, my beauties. Grow for daddy, let me see you sprout and pop out of the soil, ready to feel the sunshine.”

“You talking to them seeds, Robbie?”

Robbie squeals like a pup, and jumps a foot from the ground before turning and giving me a filthy look. “For Goddess’s sake, you nearly gave me a heart attack. Don’t be sneaking up on people like that.”

I grin at his use of the Goddess’s name, and not his own God. But, I suppose being around shifters so much; they learn to love her as much as we do.

“Thorn and Rom will give you extra training sessions, Robbie. Hand-to-hand because that’s what you are lacking at the moment.

They will teach you which animal has a weakness, where it is, and how to give you and anyone with you the best chance to stay alive.

If need be, we’ll pull in some of the different species we have so you can learn from them.

But I reckon Talon’s panther, Rajah will be up for it. ”

“Oh, that’s good. I’m up for that. I have been making sure the roof of the farmhouse and the school will be ready for any skirmishes we may have.

I have Arak making some shutters for the roof of the farmhouse, so if we need to, we can open them and fire at will.

” The grin on his face tells me how pleased he is with himself and his idea. But I’ve got to admit it’s a good one.

“Well, that is great. Was Arak a carpenter before he came to Huntsville Town?” I ask, trying to remember what I’ve heard about him. I know he’s human, but that’s about all I know.

“Yes, he was, and that was before he joined the military. He left that with an honorable discharge after saving the three men that were with him at the time. That’s all I know, but he is a loner and I’ve never seen him with any of the women in town.

He keeps that house he bought spotless.” Robbie is obviously impressed with the man, and I’ll look forward to getting to know him better.

“Have you seen the basement? It’s finished and just needs any cabinets, beds, tables or whatever taken down.” Robbie cocks his head on one side as he speaks and I know he’s thinking I should have seen it already.

“No, because I’ve been making sure the patrol is good.

Teaching Rom what is expected of him, and I’ve been helping Alpha Adira with her training.

So, all-in-all Robbie, I haven’t had time to even scratch the back of my head.

But I’ll go check the basement now.” Sighing more to myself than Robbie, I walk away to inspect the basement.

Looking around the basement, I have to agree it is ready for furniture to be added.

Knowing it is going to be a safe place in case anyone cannot get to the school, we will need to make this space like a small apartment.

I make a mental note of what we’ll need and I’ll write it down when I get to the office.

Thankfully, there is a spare table in the corner of the office that we all use if necessary.

Beds, table, fridge, microwave, weapons cabinet…..the list goes on and it’s not long before I realize this is going to be costly. I need to hand this to Adira and let her deal with it.

After leaving my list with Adira, who I have to say looks shocked at the amount that is needed, I head out to check on patrol.

I know Rom is watching the northern section, and Thorn has taken the southern.

It’s a good thing we are between two rivers, which are broad, so nobody tries to infiltrate the pack from those directions.

But I have two of the patrol warriors watching that border as a ‘just in case’ scenario.

At the main border, I see Rom speaking with the two warriors that are stationed at this main border entrance. I know Adira has thought of putting fencing up and a gate, which would make it easier for everyone to be aware as far as someone sneaking inside without detection.

Stopping in front of Rom and the two warriors, I give a small nod to acknowledge them before speaking. “Anything out of the ordinary?”

“No, we’ve seen nothing, and I’ve been here four hours,” Rom responds. I also get a nod of agreement from the warriors.

“Okay, that’s good to hear. Have you checked the perimeter?” I ask Rom and look directly at him so he knows it’s him I’m speaking to.

“I have done the northern border personally. I’m about to head out to the southern, but I’ll head down the east border. Once I’ve done the southern, I’ll come back via the western border. That way, I’ll have covered the whole border,” Rom responds.

“That’s good. I’ll make sure Robbie keeps you something on one side, so you’ll have a meal when you get back. You’ll be well ready because it’s going to be late by the time you reach the farmhouse. If you need anything, mind link, and don’t take any risks.”

“Ramo can hunt if we need any nourishment. You don’t have to ask Robbie. We like the hunt and can do it as we are patrolling.”

“Okay, but tomorrow I’ll have Thorn do the entire perimeter. Then we need to set-up times that the warriors check-in. That way, we don’t have to patrol all the borders ourselves.” I turn to one of the warriors as he speaks out.

“I agree with you on that. It’s a lot of border and the more you do it, the less you see. Those of us that are patrolling have said we need to rotate the borders because you get complacent, and stop seeing things around you.”

“Hm, I’ll have to consider that. But I can see what you are saying, and it is an easy remedy.”

An hour later, I’m listening to Kazi as he is agitated.

“What’s wrong?” I ask him.

‘I can smell lion. We need to go look.’

“Okay, take us there.”

I shift, allowing Kazi to lead us, but I quickly mind link Thorn and Stella. They are both on what we class as our down day, so they stay around the farmhouse and town keeping a watch on Adira, mostly. They both head my way and I keep them informed of where I am going.

It doesn’t take long before the scent of lions becomes stronger.

‘I smell two lions, from old pride.’

I thought we’d made it clear we were done with the pride? Maybe I’ll have to make a visit if this keeps up. But for now, they’ll have some explaining to do.

It doesn’t take long before I come across two of the pride members. Two that I grew up with. Kazi snarls, letting them know they are on land they are not welcome on.

Both shift back to their human form, and I shift from Kazi. I walk over to a hollowed tree and take out shorts. Throwing a pair to each of them and taking a pair myself, quickly yanking them on before standing with my hands loose at my sides, waiting.

“What is it you want? I’ve made it clear I am not coming back to the pride.”

“The pride needs you, Leo. Everything is falling apart. We need a leader that can pull it together and bring the pride some peace and harmony.”

Zorak is the one that has spoken, and I tilt my head to the side as I give him my full attention.

“I will not now, or in the future, return to the pride. When I tried to do the right thing, all stood behind William. Now you have your leader in him, so let him lead. I want nothing to do with any of you.” Seeing Zorak open his mouth to speak, I quickly hold my hand up to stop him, and continue.

“You all knew what he was like, and you all knew that he would not bring good things to the pride. You all can suffer in the pile of dung you have created. Now, I am Beta to the Hunters Bow Pack. My allegiance is to Alpha Adira. Nothing before death will change that. I suggest you turn and leave before the Gamma and Delta arrive because they won’t worry about your pride issues. ”

“Come on, Zorak, nothing is going to change his mind,” Yarik speaks for the first time. He looks sad at this outcome, but also resigned. He turns to look at me and asks, “This pack has no species that are unwelcome, is that correct?”

“Yes, Alpha Adira doesn’t care what you are, just that you are a decent being,” I respond.

Nodding, both Zorak and Yarik turn to leave, and just in time as I hear Stella and Thorn closing in on our position. It would be a little late if things had gone wrong here, and a fight had broken out. Turning, I walk away from the lions as they rush over the border and to relative safety.

“What’s going on?” Thorn asks as he rushes up to me.

I chuckle before responding. “Well, it’s a bit late, but we had two lion visitors.

Seems they want me to go back and rid them of the trash they allowed to lead them.

I’ll never go back. At one time I’d have happily died for the pride, but when they turn their back on you, it’s something you never forget. ”

“No, I agree. Once they’ve done that there is no turning back, and you never trust them again,” Stella states, and from her tone of voice she has experience with the topic.

“I don’t think they’ll be back for any reason other than wanting to join the pack. I have a feeling that the pride is ready to implode and if that happens, they will want somewhere to go where the cubs will be safe.” I give them both a look that tells them my comment is serious.

Back in town, and with Stella and Thorn going about their business, I take a quiet moment.

I stand and watch the pups running toward the school, where they are going to be quickly heading down to the basement.

We are running these safety exercises three times a week, and when the horn blows, everyone has to get to their stations or safety area.

That includes the pups, cubs or children, and it’s comical to watch small pups leading human children to safety.

But it’s amazing that in this place, it doesn’t matter what you are.

A single pup in human form is wandering around, looking lost. I make my way over, making sure the pup sees me coming. The last thing I want is to frighten her into running.

“You lost, little one?” I ask in a gentle voice.

She is so cute as she looks up at me with a pool of tears on the rim of her eyes. She nods rather than speaks, and her little bottom lip trembles. Honest to goodness, it’s enough to break your heart.

“Can I pick you up?” I speak quietly still, as she looks spooked by being lost. I’m not sure why she’s alone, but I’ll make sure she’s okay.

As soon as she gives me a little nod with her head, I pick her up and hold her gently against my chest. But when she wraps her arms around my neck and tucks her face under my chin, I feel Kazi sigh.

He likes the feel of the pup, and I know he would have loved any cubs we would have had.

Once we step into the basement a young woman runs over to me, “Bestra, oh my, where did you find her?”

“Are you her mother?” I ask right away.

“Yes, and she was with me one minute, and gone the next. I teach and had seven of the children with me. But Bestra just poof, disappeared!”

The woman is obviously irate, and about to burst into tears, but before that can happen I hand her the child and step away. “Everything is good now. Maybe you could teach them to hold hands, so you have like a chain of children, then you won’t lose one?”

“That is a good idea. Thank you. I’ll try that the next time we do the drill.” Giving me a smile as she turns back to the children, I hurry away to check out if things are as they should be now in the basement before heading back to the farmhouse.

As I’m walking back to the farmhouse, I look over to wave at Greta and Tarlo, but as I lift my hand, Greta rushes away with her face flushed. My eyebrows shoot up in shock as Tarlo watches Greta run, then turns and gives me one heck of a smug smile.

Nope, I don’t want to know. I don’t want to get involved. It has nothing to do with me. But I’m going to tell Adira the gossip, nonetheless.