Wolf Tech 6: The Pups

Chapter 30

Zane lead the wolves at a slow jog—for him, at least—so the two humans and the young pups could stay together. Jake and Rachel may not have grown up with wolves, but it seemed they had learned a great deal, and they cuddled like it had always been their way of life. After the two weeks that they had been at the lodge, he was feeling better, but it felt like he was neglecting the pack. He sighed as he reached the packhouse; he was glad to be back, finally.

He was glad that he had been able to get Beth down from the two months to two weeks, but he had to agree to light duties, and she could take him off for the rest of the day if she saw the need. It would end when Katya went into heat. That meant when she came out, he could resume his normal duties; he couldn't wait!

From the smug tilt of her ears and tail, he was beginning to think it is what she intended to settle with. He wanted to growl at her for it, but when he had done so in the past, she had nearly taken a chunk out of him! He hadn't realised there was fierce bone in her before that, but she now had his respect; she could take him down, as his wolf would not let him harm a healer of any sort, let alone a mind healer!

Adam, Brook, Tala, Tommy, and the rest of the Next Alpha team was there. Adam and Brook smiled and petted each of the wolves as they padded past them and into the pack house. Tala and Tommy took control of the four they had loaned, along with the little bit of baggage which had been in the Argo.

Adam and Brook followed the Seconds team into their suite, where they split to shift in their rooms. They followed Zane into his room, "Beth passed us your marching orders. Light duties till Katya goes into Heat."

Katya grinned, as she had been slipped a vial that contained a drug that helped to slow her Heat from starting. It would have her starting with the later ones, not the beginning as normal. It wouldn't work if they were all bottled up inside from a blizzard, though. She felt he needed as long of a rest as he could. She was with Beth in trying to stop him from leaving. It was why he hadn't followed her back after a week.

Zane sighed, "I did agree to that," he conceded. "So, what can I do?"

Beth walked in, having changed in her room, "You can do inner patrols," Those were the ones that check the areas that were closest in, and generally were a two or three-hour patrol. It was unlikely they would even discover a cousin predator, as there were enough wolf smells to keep them away. "You can train with the pups, or Thetas." Zane would have to slow down and not use his strength. "And you can do no more than three hours of paperwork a day."

"I'm not an invalid you know. I need to get back to my work and what I know. So, no long patrols but I don't need to be kept to the junior enforcer's patrols. As far as training fine. I'll stick with that. I will cut back on the paperwork once I've reviewed what's happened since I've left." If they didn't give him some slack, he might go and play elder for a while.

Beth nodded, "You are not physically invalid, but it is my professional opinion that you need a break from all your workload." She told him firmly before softening, "I want to ease you back into your work and make sure you can deal with the stress. I will add more work as I see you being able to handle it, but take it as a break. Your usual tasks are being covered. We don't want to have you burned out; the pack wants you to eventually reach the age of being an Elder, and able to step down with honour, not be demoted for medical reasons. Look to your wolf, ask him what he wants."

Adam nodded, "As of this morning, there was no paperwork that need to be looked at. Also, I am assigning Tala and her team to help you with your duties. They are also going to be covering any and all patrols needed, so that you can have your team close. They will be coming to check in in the morning. It has been passed around that they are the group on-call instead of yours." He pulled out several letters from a pocket, "These are from the others that you worked with down in the US." He didn't tell him Beth had more from the pack Mik had left, and from his family. She had agreed that he could get these ones, but wanted to see his reaction before the others were opened.