Chapter 34: Chapter 34

I wanted to thank Aiden for taking care of me, but the Alpha left before I had the chance to corner him. Cooking for him was out of the question after the last time. My cheeks burned as I thought back to his allergic reaction. He was pissed, and rightfully so after all the trouble, he had to endure because of me.

A sigh escaped my lips. I spent the rest of the morning completing tasks usually avoid as long as possible, like cleaning the kitchen and bathroom, picking out the clothes strewn across the hallways and airing the upper floors to dry out any dampness that still clung to them from yesterday's blizzard.

The cabin was just too big for one person, I thought, exhaling loudly as I made sure all the windows were opened, and there's no water leaking through the roof. There were too many nooks and corners, too much antique furniture, but I didn't know if Aiden would appreciate me getting rid of them. Sometimes I felt like I was living in a museum with the amount of old worn out things around.

I was on my second cup of tea when the doorbell rang. Assuming it to be Aiden, I quickly ran a hand down my air, patting my pale cheeks before making my way to the front door and opened it without a second thought. But the person standing on the porch was not my Alpha. I should have known that he would not be back anytime soon. After all, he missed the duties and training for a while.

"Liam!" I blurted out, probably blinking rather dumbly at the man in front of me. The beta dropped in almost without proper notice. Did Aiden send him with groceries again? Shaking my head, I narrowed my eyes at him. "What are you doing here?"

"Good afternoon Luna" He greeted me, sliding to his left only to reveal a pup by his side. A small girl who couldn't be over seven years of age with rosy cheeks and greenish eyes. Her hair was tied in two pigtails and a pink bow on the side. My lips immediately broke out in a smile.

Liam mirrored my smile, his formerly clean-shaven cheeks now covered with what can probably be described as a scruff. He's wearing a dark, heavy coat and a new white shirt that contrasted sharply. "I need a tiny favour to ask."

"Sure, please come in."

I motioned for the pup to join in when she shyly tucked herself in Liam's jacket.

"This is my sister's daughter, Fauna. Her parents had some urgent work, so they went to town today."

"Hi, Fauna!" I waved at her.

The little pup bowed, her cheeks tinted pink before she sweetly greeted. "Hello, Luna."

"Aren't you the cutest?"

Liam cleared his throat. "Umm...so can you please watch her for the day, Luna? I have to take my pregnant mate to the clinic." He scratched the back of his neck. "I would have asked someone in the packhouse, but everyone is busy cleaning up."

I didn't want to imagine what that place must look like right now with the blizzard and remaining thick snow flooding outside.

"No problem. I can watch her."

"Thank you so much! I'll pick her up in the evening." Liam handed a bag to me. "Here's everything you may need. Again thank you so much for taking care of her."

***

Fauna got loud just after an hour. All the shyness dropped once I gave her a bowl full of cereal for lunch. She didn't want to eat the sandwich her mother packed for her, so I indulged the pup—wrong move.

Maybe it's the sugar rush or sudden burst of energy the girl transformed into her wolf form and started running around.

"Fauna!" I growled at her, which was enough to make the pup halt in the spot. Her paws slowly inched towards me, the brown tail still wagging like she's a dog.

"Please stay still."

She whined, using her wolf voice to talk. "I want to go out, Luna. Can you hunt?”

"Of course I can”

“Then let’s go!” Her voice raised. The pups eyes glimmered as she let out soft sounds to convince me.

“Now?"

"P-Please, Luna"

I gave her a stare and walked towards the windows to peek outside. Most of the ground was cleared, and easy for us to take a walk outside. Besides, there's only so much we could do by staying inside with the power still out. No wonder the pup was bored. Sighing, I looked over my shoulder to see the dejected look on her face, her tail dropped.

"Okay, let's go then."

Her ears perked, almost bouncing into the air with a howl. I let out a laugh before deciding to shift into the wolf form.

***

I shook my head fondly, staring at the pup

trying to catch up before leading the way up into the hills. We headed up away from the training area, where there were fewer wolves and, therefore, more prey. Fauna was bouncing with each step. Whenever she caught me watching her, she'd get quiet, obviously trying to contain her excitement and look appropriately serious. Such a puppy.

I couldn't help but think back to my first patrol duty. My father requested the pack Alpha if I could join, and he allowed, but I was not in the front. The Pack Alpha thought it would give away the weakness and put me last. In our pack, only Alphas and betas captured the prey they desired while omegas were left picking up scraps.

That’s the day I learned how to hunt.

My snout touched the ground, taking a sniff, sorting through the scents and ticking off the ones walking across. I used the link to talk with Fauna.

“There are some rabbits around here, but you need to stay as still and as silent as possible."

The small wolf swiped her tongue across her snout, became all focus then, nose twitching as she searched around for the scent. After a few moments, her head went down, and the pup headed off downhill. I  followed a couple of body lengths behind, making sure to be quiet and tread gently not to disturb any prey around.

Fauna was getting ready to pounce; I just hoped that she was still far enough away that the rabbit couldn't feel it as well. She missed naturally, sending the creature running into the woods. I got there in time to see Fauna take off after the rabbit.

"Fauna!" I growled, shaking my head, "Let it go; it is faster than us!"

The pup wasn't listening. It was only moments later that the foreign scents filled my nose. Border markers. It meant the end of our territory. I hadn't realised that we were so close. The new section of this side made shivers run down my spine.

"Fauna?" I howled loudly, nose to the ground, trying to figure out if she'd crossed. The single scent of the pup was hard to distinguish from the general pack scent of the markers, the overwhelming stink of the neighbouring pack and other preys nearby. My heart started thudding loudly, paws digging into the ground as I tried to use the sound to guide me.

She couldn't have gone away too far. Just then, a loud snarl shattered my ears, followed by a yelp of the smaller wolf.

"Luna!"