NOTE FROM AUTHOR: Since I erred in posting the prior chapters properly, I've had to relabel so the posted chapter number matches the number of the chapter in the text. So, this next chapter is called "Chapter 21" but is following Chapter 18. There is no Chapter 19 or 20 in the text now. Confused? Sorry about that, but the flow of the text is correct. Thanks for hanging in.
CHAPTER TWENTY ONE
Diefenbaker hid behind a piling on the pier, the leather notebook clamped tightly between his teeth. He watched as his alpha brother hid in the shadows on the barge while the bad men bustled about the pier, the boat and the warehouse above him. His pack leader was nearly spotted a couple of times by the bad men, whereupon Diefenbaker was ready to render assistance, but each time, the bad men passed by without detecting Ben. Then, the barge cleared the warehouse, moving out into the big water. Dief wanted to howl in anguished frustration, but contented himself with a whine and whimper. He feared he would never see Ben, or his pack-brother, Ray, again. There were many, many bad men and they were only two, and Ray was hurt. He wanted to bite all the bad men at the pier, then swim after the departing barge. But stealth and cunning were what was called for now, and he followed Ben's example. And his instructions. He turned to go with a heavy heart.
Dief kept to the shadows until he cleared the pier. Then, he cut through the deserted warehouse lots and industrial yards north of the city. He came to one dead end where the chainlink fence was too high for him to scale and had to retrace his steps. But his unerring sense of direction led him out to an empty street and he turned south. His kind was nocturnal and thrived in the nighttime, but most of the inhabitants of the city were asleep in their own beds. A few were curled up on the sidewalks and in the alleys. He found one old man lying facedown, his head nearly in a puddle. Dief grasped him by the collar and pulled him away from the water, pushed his snout under his belly, and turned him face up to the sky. The man snored loudly, alcohol saturating his breath. Satisfied that he had done all that he could, Dief continued on his way.
He kept up a steady pace in the direction that Ben had told him to go. The other Home. The place Ben guarded, at attention, in all kinds of weather. The place She could be found. Ben referred to her by many names, "Sir", "Specter", "Thatcher" and once, in a dream, "Meg", but Dief thought of her as She.
She smelled good, but She was a mystery. Both he and Ben agreed on this. But, Diefenbaker was confused as to where She fit in to the scheme of things. She defied the social order of the pack. While Ben was alpha, She was not his mate. And although Ben was undeniably the leader of the pack, it was Ben who did Her bidding, not the other way around. Yet, there was something between them, a complex, mystifying connection that made Dief think that they wanted to be mates, though neither would take the steps to make it so. It was a conundrum to Dief that made his belly hurt if he thought too much on it.
He tried to feel his pack leader out on it, but Ben refused to discuss it. Dief sighed. Sometimes, Ben thought too much. In Dief's opinion, Ben resisted his own nature, denying his needs and desires, when he should give in to them. This was another topic that Ben refused to discuss, especially after the disastrous mating with the One Who Hurt. Ben and Dief had barely survived her wiles. On reflection, Dief supposed that Ben's reticence with She was perhaps in large measure a form of self-preservation, and not just self-denial. But, a squirrel on a high wire caught his attention and he lost that train of thought. Besides, this was the kind of thinking that made Dief's belly hurt. Or maybe, he was just hungry.
A young woman exited an apartment building ahead of him, and hurried down the street, glancing over her shoulder as she did. She wore no coat despite the cold temperature. As he came closer, Dief saw she clutched a torn shirt to her body. He could smell her fear and distress and was about to approach to offer what aid and comfort he could, when a man rushed out of the same doorway. He called angrily to her, and she quickened her pace. The man began to run and would soon overtake her. Dief could smell his violent intentions.
He put on a burst of speed, and hit the man in the back of the knees. He went down heavily. The woman looked over her shoulder once, then ran out into the street to hail a passing taxi. The man cursed and lashed out at Dief, but the wolf stepped nimbly aside. The woman climbed into the taxi, which then made a U-turn in the empty street. As it passed him, she smiled gratefully through her tears. He wagged his tail and grinned at her, then the taxi was gone. The man struggled to his feet and lurched after the wolf. Dief scooped up the notebook and dashed away. A few blocks later, he slowed down. The man had given up his pursuit after half a block.
He spotted half a frankfurter and bun in the gutter, and gobbled it down. He took the opportunity to rest, one paw firmly settled on top of the notebook. He worried about Ben and hoped that he had been able to help Ray. That was the reason Ben had stayed and sent Diefenbaker instead on this vital mission. When your pack-mate was in trouble, you had to help.
Ray was also something of a mystery. Dief had been pleased when he joined the pack, especially as food was often involved. Beta and brother to Ben, he was resourceful and clever, and good for the occasional snack. Unlike Ben and his omega-brother, Turn Fool, though, Ray was not deferential when it came to She. In Dief's opinion, it was his best quality. One he wished he could emulate, at times.
But, because Ben respected She and deferred to her wishes, Diefenbaker did too, though he found it hard to reconcile her conflicting behaviors. Sometimes, She seemed to like having him around and slipped him a treat; at other times, he scurried to get out of the way before She gave him a tongue-lashing that made him glad he'd lost most of his hearing. He was not proud of his avoidance behaviors, but felt better when he saw Ben and Turn Fool act in the same manner. Of course, Turn Fool was not too bright so it was not necessarily a good thing to emulate his behavior. Still, discretion being the better part of valor, it was better to lie low some days in the other Home when She was out of sorts.
As he always did whenever he thought on these puzzlements, Dief came to the conclusion that city packs were just different. A new environment required new rules. A wolf from the North could only adapt.
Dief sniffed the air suddenly. Mmmm, now, that was interesting. He stood and looked in the alley behind him. A female Labrador mix looked seductively back at him. Ears pricked, tongue lolling, Dief trotted over to her, enjoying the rich and stimulating scent of a bitch in heat. She glanced coquettishly at him, then lifted her tail in invitation and moved further into the alley. Dief, suddenly remembering his duty, retrieved the notebook from the curb, then trotted after her. A few minutes later, he was on his way again, the notebook in his mouth, his mission on his mind. But, there was a new spring in his step. And a new thought in his head: the tundra was never like this.
