As much as I''d like nothing better than to take my mate back upstals andplete our mating bond, | need to see the pack


    lands, | know there is a lot of work that needs to be done, but I’m hoping some has been done in my absence.


    We don’t spend much time in the packhouse, | had started these repairs before 1 brought Cara here. It doesn’t appear that any


    more has been done. As we walk out back Carlos begins pointing out the structures that are being built.


    “We''re repurposing the concrete blocks from the dpidated buildings around the pack to build homes for new families. As you


    can see over there,” he points to another group of houses, “Those houses had a strong structure, so we are just refurbishing


    those.”


    “How do you keep track of which houses are full and which ones are avable?”


    He looks at her sheepishly. “It’s another stack of papers that | have. | just try to keep up with


    have. N. how many families we have and how many unupied homes we


    have. No one seems to mind doing the work if we can give them a house, but we ran out of structures and are now having to


    build more to keep up with the influx of people.”N?velDrama.Org copyrighted ? content.


    All around the pack, people are working. Some are breaking down buildings that are crumbling, some toting salvageable


    concrete blocks from the broken—down buildings to a stack where they can be used for new construction. | can see at the edge


    of the forest line, a number of trees have been cut down. “I’m guessing that those trees were used for lumber?” | ask, pointing to


    where several tree stumps.


    are in view.


    “Yes. It wasn’t ideal, but we needed more supplies, and that was our only option.” Carlos says.


    to


    There’s so much work and so much money needed to bring this pack up normal standards. I’m d to hear that people are just


    happy to have a ce to live, but in the end, the pack has to run on more than justbor.


    We walk up to a fenced in area and | see lots of nts in various stages of growth. “This is the garden.” Carlos says as a woman


    | don’t know stands up.


    “Good afternoon, Alpha. Luna. Beta.” She inclines her head to first me, then Grace, then Carlos. Grace steps forward.


    “What are you growing here?” She asks and the woman puts down her spade and


    +15 BONOS


    pulls off her gloves.


    “I''m happy to give you a quick tour if you''d like.”


    “| would love that.” Grace says, looking at me. | nod in agreement. It will be good to know what we can grow here versus what


    we need to buy.


    “lm Maddison.” She says, extending her hand.


    Grace steps up, shaking her hand. “It’s nice to meet you, Maddison. I’m Grace. and this is Eli.”


    Maddison smiles. “Yes, word travels fast around here. And please, call me Maddie.” She looks at me. “Good to have you home


    Alpha.”


    She turns and begins showing us around the garden. There’s quite a variety of nts, from tomatoes and pepper nts to


    melons, beets and broli. There are also peach trees, apple trees and blueberry and ckberry bushes. The garden is


    extensive, and it would need to be to be able to feed 300 pack members.


    “How many people help you work the garden?” Grace asks her.


    “Right now, while we’re just making sure the nts are watered and parasites aren''t getting into the food and eating it, there are


    about five of us thate out and look after the nts. During harvesting and nting times, we need many more people just


    given the number of nts that we have.”


    “And how do you go about getting people to assist you?” Grace continues her questioning. | can see her wheels turning, but I’m


    not exactly sure what she’s thinking.


    “We ask and we hope.” Maddie tells her. “But mostly, people want to eat, so it’s not hard to get helpers. Plus, it’s a great way to


    get the pups involved and keep them busy.”


    We finish our tour of the garden, thanking Maddie before moving on to the patrols. “Carlos, how are you setting up patrols?”


    “We have several men and women that have done patrols in the past. | have assigned patrol leaders for each team on every


    shift. Shifts run in 8-hour increments with a break for food alternating between the shifts, so the borders are always monitored.”


    “Have there been any attempts from other packs to breach the borders?” | ask.


    “Not many. Most don’t realize that we’re here and when they do, they are easily diverted around our packnds. Only a couple


    had to be encouraged to move along.” He says. I’m guessing by ‘encouraged’ he means there was a fight and


    our side won.