As we walked along the corridors, I suddenly realized that the guys were all on mindlink without me! So I pretty much snuck in silently. They continued like I wasn't there, so I learned that tapping into beta mindlinks can provide a wealth of information.
For example, I now knew that we would be splitting up from the second floor, and by the time I reached the meeting point for my Alpha Duty, only Harvey would be babysitting.
Killion had to inspect and fetch the Lorent gifts up to our apartment. Turned out, he was actually the only one among the four of us who hadn't had a chance to rest, spending all day sorting through the stuff in our house and making a gift inventory list so that Mum could write thank-you cards.
Ben was due home too. It seemed that my three betas had some kind of schedule where each of them got allotted downtime to rest and deal with personal matters like schoolwork. Harvey's was last night, but I called him out. He took it in the morning, although that was supposed to be Killion's downtime.
Basically, Ben blamed himself for it. Last night was his shift, but I sort of dragged Killion into the meeting. Then I sort of dragged Harvey into it. But Ben felt that if he could have shifted with me, then Killion could have driven out to meet us, and Harvey would have been left in reserve.
{In a matter of time, you will be able to drive and run in your wolf,} Harvey had promised him.
But I think it wasn't helping that my parents were borrowing Killion so much either. The guy did the cooking and laundry, and now the logistics of all the new stuff.
Mum had been called out after visiting the destitute home to the hospital. Someone's son from Morning Light... Killion wasn't told the specifics, though. He was left to sort out the apartment all by himself without rest, even after last night.
{That's a dog's life for you,} Ben told Killion.
Even so, this morning had been Killion's turn to babysit, but Ben took the slot for the most part anyway.
And yes, it seemed Henry was right. The betas did see it as part of their job to babysit me.
Before, I think this would have made me furious and flaring at everyone, insisting that "I don't need a babysitter!" and "I can take care of myself!" But for some reason, I took it quite calmly.
Of course, it helped that the guys didn't call it babysitting. They called it "accompanying the Alpha."
But based on what I saw, all they did was open doors, send texts, pack extra clothes, help me into my coat, and make sure I ate my meals.
They were babysitting.
We parted ways with Killion on the second-floor landing and then waved goodbye to Ben at the porch. I waited for Harvey to bring around his pickup truck while watching Ben's hunched, broad shoulders as he crossed the road back to his home.
When did Ben grow so broad? Was it the new jacket he was wearing? It was becoming a thing—the Harvey leather jacket look. If Killion and Bell wore them too, we would be a matching set! How did you get a Lorent wolf into a leather jacket? I had only seen Killion in blazers. Bell didn't even wear shirts whenever he showed up. My bottom drawer had been stocked with some basic men's clothes. Maybe I should include a leather jacket.
Harvey and I met Nix, Flynn, and Beta Lucas after a short drive to the Central lookout tower.
"Today, you will be taking a patrol with Flynn. You need to check the traps along the border," Beta Lucas briefed. He handed us a printed map and a small manual with diagrams and steps to set up and check the traps and tripwires, and a compass. "Make sure you follow the route. The route and trap locations drawn on the map are classified information, so do not lose it. And don't rush through it. You need to be on this route for at least 45 minutes. Patrol presence is important."
Harvey received the items and passed the manual to Nix.
"Don't need the picture book, Beta. You know I can check a trap in my sleep." Nix passed the booklet back to Harvey.
I took it and put it in my jacket. "Okay! Let's go."
"This is going to be a walk in the park," Nix said.
Flynn led us to a changing shed by the tower. Incoming warriors could shift and dress here. He showed us the racks where clean warrior jackets were. "Put these on, guys, and we can go."
Our Night Leaf jackets were in a deep olive green. Warriors wore them on duty. It helped the pack feel safe, and I've heard stories about how rogue wolves avoided crossing paths with anyone in it. They knew better than to get in trouble with Night Leaf Warriors.
The jacket fit Harvey well. Nix found his size too. But even the smallest jacket was extra-large on me. I folded up the sleeves. The rest of it looked like a dress. Oh well. At least it ended above my knees.
Warriors in our pack usually met a standard height requirement, which I obviously didn't.
But the jacket was warm and comfortable. I was quite happy to flap around in it.
"Okay, let's go!" I flapped my arms.
"Princess is in a good mood today," Nix noted.
I grinned at him. "I'm in a good mood every day!"
Harvey said nothing, merely pointed out the right path with a wry smile.
Flynn said, "I'll be following behind you."
I happily clomped down the path into the woods.
I was in a good mood. We got to go on a real patrol, with real warrior uniforms, and check traps. To be honest, I hadn't known what to expect. They could have had us shoveling snow off the sidewalks. So I was really happy that the duty was something cooler than that.
Something adventurous like a patrol around the border. Who knows? Maybe we'd even find a rogue in our trap.
All right, that was highly unlikely. I don't think we had caught a rogue in one of our traps for years, but no one could tell if it was because the rogues had not come into our territory or if our traps worked at all. Our pack lands, except for that night that we let them in, were rogue-free.
At least that was what we believed... But now I was remembering the white rogue van. There were no traps or tripwires there, though. It was rather far from our town.
This route we were patrolling was the border closest to our town. So the security was much tighter.
I could see why Beta Lucas chose this route. On a bright winter afternoon so near the town, this was probably the safest real patrol route we had.
I continued flapping along as we followed the dirt path into the woods. The trees were bare, so the sunlight reflected off the snow. Flynn, Harvey, and Nix, who had all patrolled before, took out their shades.
I stepped lightly over the uneven terrain of dirt and tree roots and squinted at the white snow. No wonder the warriors wore shades on patrol. I had never needed shades in winter before.
Harvey tried offering his shades to me, but I only smiled and shook my head. At any rate, I was quite happy once I pulled up my hood so that it gave a bit of shade for my eyes.
I continued down the path. I was happy. Patrolling was a very wolf thing to do. Even in human form, my wolf was in high spirits. I sniffed the air and enjoyed the crisp, cool smell of snow and dirt and the leftover fumes of exhaust, so I knew a truck had gone by much earlier.
"The first trap is up ahead," Harvey informed us. I sniffed the air and smelled metal. Maybe that's why the trap didn't work. It was a hulking chunk of metal in the woods.
"Princess, stop!" Harvey called.
I stopped purely in reaction to the urgency in his tone.
Harvey and Nix jogged up to me.
"It should be somewhere here," Harvey said.