Chapter 1

If could recall, it was sometime around the early evening that I realized something was wrong. Garth, as I should have expected, was not in the den when I woke up this morning, but that was not a matter to cause alarm because his alpha duties always require him to be awake before dawn. However, since today was a Thursday, he was only supposed to work half the day and then get the rest of the day off to rest before his night shift on the border, but he did not return home as he normally would. He made it a strict policy to come back to the den after work, even if only tell me something would require his presence before attending to such matters, but I had yet to see him all day. Call me crazy for worrying so much after only a timespan of three hours, but when you are married to a mate as faithful as my Garth, you know something is wrong when he doesn't make an appearance or make any attempt at contact at all.

For the first hour I waited, thinking that maybe he was just held over late, because it had happened in the past, but as time wore on, my imagination began to run wild. At first I envisioned him being trampled by a raging herd of caribou, but then scarier scenarios began to surface. What if he were kidnapped? Or worse, what if he, and possibly his entire squadron, were murdered by a group of psychopaths from the North? What if he was hurt, bleeding, slowly dying alone out in some undisclosed location where no help could come and no hope could be had of ever finding him again?

It was at about the halfway point through the second hour that I could not bear the waiting any longer, the worrying, the restless pacing. I had to talk to somebody about this, express my concerns, so, gathering as much composure as I could, I turned my body to the mouth of our den and stepped forth into the fading light of the evening, being greeted promptly by a warm breeze, pleasant as it rolled slowly through my fur, but at the moment, it was unimportant to me. All I cared about was finding my Garth.

My first destination was my parents' den, because they were the ones who dictated the schedule, but as I climbed the ramp and entered the den, I found it to be empty.

Disappointed and slightly embittered by their absence, I rolled my eyes and turned away, but when I turned, I was surprised to find my mother approaching from behind.

I will admit that she startled me, and I will admit to nearly jumping out of my fur, but after realizing who was now in my midst, my nerves were quick to settle.

"Oh mom," I greeted with a bit of a chuckle, "you scared me."

She smiled.

"I'm sorry, dear," she apologized, "are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'll be alright," I replied, "but... I need to talk to you."

"Oh?" she asked, cocking her head to the side, "what about? Is there something I can help you with?"

"Well that depends," I said, "you wouldn't happen to know the duties Garth was assigned today, would you?"

"Not off the top of my head," she answered, "why?"

"Well... it's just that it's getting late and I haven't heard from him all day," I explained, "call me insecure, but I'm just worried because he never does this."

My mom nodded.

"Well like I said, I have no idea, but if you'd like I can go find Winston," she offered, "I'm sure he'll know."

I nodded.

"Okay, sounds good."

"Do you wanna come?" my mother asked.

I thought about taking her up on her offer, but after a moment I shook my head.

"No," I replied, "I'm just gonna wait back at the den just in case he comes back."

She nodded.

"Alright, baby," she said, pulling me in for a hug, "I'll swing by later to let you know what's what, but if he's there, come find me, deal?"

"Deal," I replied, hugging her back.

After a moment we separated then walked together down the ramp, allowing silence to carry us along our way, and once we reached the bottom, we said a final goodbye then parted ways.

A little short and long overdue, but here it is.