Page 23 of Welcome Home: When Shifters Unite!

“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 differentspecies 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 thisspace 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’vedone 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.

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