Page 27 of Welcome Home: When Shifters Unite!

Ramos jumps to his feet in the back of my mind and viciously snarls. My neck tingles, which tells me Ramos has all the hair on the back of his neck standing on end. I smell something foul, and know that we have feral rogues somewhere close to where I’m standing.

Mind linking Leo, Stella and Thorn, I ask who is nearest to my location, and thankfully Stella is not far. Relaying she’s on her way as quickly as she can.

Three rogues come into view, and I can see they are past the point of saving. They are in their animal form, with red eyes and drool pouring from their mouths. This tells me they are past shifting back to their human form. I have to kill them beforethey get into town, where innocent humans and children are vulnerable.

I shift into Ramos and give him the go-ahead to do what is needed. Snarling, Ramos squeezes his paws, allowing his claws to be ready. We wait for the first or all to make their move.

Hearing a growl behind me, I know Stella is here, and her wolf, Iris, is in attendance. Continuing to growl, Iris steps to my side, and as we train together I know she’ll watch my back and I’ll watch hers. I don’t think these three will be a problem to eliminate.

One of the rogues lunges forward in his wolf form, and Iris is on him before I get the chance to move. Now, I’ve seen Iris fight in training but I have never seen her in a fight to the death, and I have to say she is magnificent.

Before I can consider anything further, one of the other ferals, again in wolf form, lunges towards me, but as I lunge toward it, a wolf pushes past and engages with it. Quickly glancing, I note it’s Lars Frekin, one of the town council members.

I turn to look at the other feral who is shaking. I’m sure the human side is trying to shift, but he’s too far gone to complete fully. Seeing me slowly stalking towards him, in his leopard form, he turns and runs. Now I can outrun him if I keep him to the hard parts of the forest. I can cut my running distance in places, where he will run wherever he thinks he can get away. Leopards are marginally faster, and he could outrun me if the distance is long, but I’m going to push him over to the canyon and see if I get him to run over the edge!

Running through the forest, I jump fallen tree branches through underbrush and keep abreast to the right or left, steering the feral where I want him. It is a good distance and I can see he’stiring, but I keep pushing. Bursting out of the tree line, the feral is running at full speed and has no time to stop, but he digs his claws into the earth, trying to slow himself before he gets to the edge. Sliding on all four paws, he continues to the edge, and just when I think he’ll stop he tips over. I hear him yowl and walk to the edge, looking over. He hits the side of the canyon, bouncing from one ragged rock to another until he reaches the water with an enormous splash. Squinting my eyes, I keep watching to see if he's alive because if he is, he may come back. But he’s floating on the surface, not moving for a moment or two. Then the body starts to sink, and that’s when I know I did my job.

Turning, I make my way back to the others. I want to be sure they are both okay, and that they’ve taken care of the two ferals.

“Where have you been?” Stella asks when I get back to them.

Grinning because she’s wearing a beat up shirt and shorts. They look like they’ve seen better days. “I like your outfit, Stella,” I chuckle.

“Shut up. It’s all that was around. Now where have you been and did you get that last one?”

Lars is waiting too in a pair of shorts, and I give him a nod. “Thanks for turning up, Lars.”

“No problem. I was letting Marrok, my wolf, stretch his legs when I smelled the rogues. Nothing worse than the rotten way they smell. So, I came over to see if I could help. Marrok is bragging he’s still got it, and enjoyed the kill,” Lars smirks as he replies to me.

“The one I had turned and ran, no idea why. But you could tell he was trying to shift to his human form, but his animal was too far gone to allow it. I pushed him into the canyon and he ran thatfast he couldn’t stop. Plop! Over the edge he went. I checked that he was dead before I headed back here.”

“Come on, get digging. Let’s get this done and then we can get back to normal duties.” Stella shifts into Iris and starts to dig a grave for the two rogues we have to get rid of. Myself and Lars sigh, knowing this is going to take some time and effort. But, we shift quickly and get started.

Two hours later, I follow children as they run to the school basement, which is the nearest for them. Their little legs and arms are pumping, and it is as though they are competing to see who can get to the basement first. A little girl falls and as I head toward her, a little boy notices, stops running and gallops back to her, helps her onto her feet. He keeps hold of her hand and runs with her. Now, I can’t help but think he’s going to be a great pack member in the future.

Now I’ve seen the drill is working fine I make my way to the farmhouse. I want to check Stella reported on the rogue incident, and I’ll update Alpha Adira on how well the drill is going with the children.

Stepping into the kitchen door of the farmhouse, I take a deep breath because something smells mouthwatering in here. Looking around, I see a pile of something that I’ve never seen before. It’s a layer of pastry with bacon and cheese. Oh, my, it looks divine. I can’t stop myself. I reach forward to take one, but my hand gets a hard slap.

“No, leave them alone. They are for later.” Robbie gives me a fierce scowl.

“Sorry. I couldn’t resist. I’m hungry and the smell is divine. I came into the kitchen and the aroma hit my stomach, making itgrowl and roll. My mouth even watered. It’s a testament to how well you cook, Robbie.”

Robbie blinks a few times, then his lips tip up slightly, as though he's going to smile. “Okay, try one.”

Now, I’m not a fool. I quickly pick one up and take a bite. The pastry is crisp but flaky, the bacon flavor pops through with a touch of saltiness, but the cheese tops it off. I absolutely love this. It only takes a few bites before it’s gone, and I turn and give Robbie a huge smile. “It’s a winner. I loved it. Not sure what you’ll call it, but it’s a success as far as I’m concerned.”

“I haven’t made my mind up on a name yet, but I’m thrilled you think it’s a delightful combination.” Turning with a smile on his face, Robbie doesn’t see me snag another one as I walk into the hallway. It is eaten just as quickly as the first, and with the same amount of enthusiasm.

After knocking, I enter Alpha Adira’s office, and give Mavis a smile as she’s about to leave. “I’ll only be a moment, Mavis.”

“Oh, okay, but I’ll nip to the kitchen and be back quickly.” Mavis scurries past and closes the door.

Looking at Alpha Adira, she smiles. “What can I do for you, Rom?”

“Nothing really. I wanted to check in that Stella reported the rogue issue from this morning?”

“Yes, she did. I think it’s so sad when we see shifters turn rogue. Mostly it’s because they have left their packs or been banished, and you know often they have done nothing to earn that punishment. We have some bad rogues, of course we do, but the ones that are like we were had no hand in their fate. That’s why I’m so passionate about keeping our pack open to all.” AlphaAdira looks sad, but I understand what she is saying as I’ve met some good shifters on my travels.

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