"Just making sure I know where you won't be." He smirks. "Southern ridge. Border markers. Don't let the humandie."
"That's the idea."
He leaves. I hear him crossing the clearing, his voice carrying—"Kestria. You're with me."
Her response, sharp: "Why?"
"Your brother wants us to babysit."
"I don'tbabysitMel."
"Right. You babysithim. Today it's Mel."
I close my eyes.
The northern patrol takes an hour. Ridge clear. No Graw scent on the wind, no fresh trails crossing the line.
Deer, old.
Fox, older.
Pack scent layered over all of it, which is how it should be. The border holds.
The creek runs cold against my paws when I cross to check the traps. Two rabbits. I shift back enough to reset the wire, hands doing what paws can't, then drop down again and move on.
Done.
Whole morning ahead. Eastern circuit doesn't need checking until dusk. Western pass is Rhen's until midday.
The southern border hasn't been walked in days.
I'm already moving south before I've finished deciding to. Graw's scouts were spotted near the southern ridge last week. One of the younger wolves reported tracks. Unconfirmed.
Could be deer. Could be nothing.
I cut through the tree line. Fast, not running. Ground moves easy under four paws, faster than two. Pine sap. Wet moss. Deer trail, yesterday. Nothing that shouldn't be here.
I hear them before I see them.
Then—honey. Chamomile. Warm skin. Her.
My paws slow.
"—and that one?" Melori's voice, carrying through the trees. High. Clear. Impossible to miss.
"Claw marks. Three deep, see? That's Keer's." Axan. "He re-marks the southern line every few weeks. Other packs see it, they know whose land this is."
"He scratches trees."
"Yes."
"So he's a cat."
Kestria laughs, sharp and surprised. "Oh, please tell him that. Please. I'll pay you."
I veer off behind the ridge of pines, out of sight, and shift. Bone and muscle fold back and I'm on two feet again, breathing hard. There's a cache staked into the base of the old split cedar a few yards off—oilcloth bundle, pack standard, clothes swapped out every few weeks by whoever runs this section. I dig it out. Pants. A shirt I don't bother with. I pull the pants on, tie them off, leave the rest.
Back through the pines. Axan sees me first, his eyes landing on me, and then he looks away. Back to Melori. Keeps talking.
