Three

A cabin would make a nice change from the tent, and I checked the map on my phone for Barcombe. It had a couple of B&Bs, but before I booked anything, I gave my snow leopard the choice. He said he didn’t care, before curling up.

I wouldn’t make it to the town this evening so I’d be bedding down in the tent tonight, but I booked a room for tomorrow and the day after. A cozy room in a B&B and then a cabin for a few days or even a week would break up the journey before we stopped roaming for six months.

Who knows, it might be our last stop.

But my leopard was asleep or pretending he was.

DANTE

Perimeter runs had been my favorite job as Beta since I first became one. Sure there was something rewarding about protecting the den and letting my bear do what he longed to do by both exploring and sometimes marking our territory. But that wasn’t why I loved it. No, for me, I loved the alone time with Alicia, my fellow Beta.

Alicia was my best friend. Not that I was allowed to call him that pre-A