NOW THAT DAD WAS BACK

26 FEBRUARY, FRIDAY, CONTINUED

When Dad's large wolf head nodded at me, I hitched a ride on his broad back - it wasn't quite the same as when he used to piggy-back me around in his human form, much fluffier, but it was warm and comforting that Dad was really here.

"That way!" I pointed where my lucky direction led.

"Wait, wait, wait!" Jax called out, "Our bikes are broken."

I turned to see what he meant, but quickly turned front again when I saw them stripping off their jackets. They were going to shift. At least step behind the trees or something!

So I yelled, "Hurry and keep up! If you want to follow me, you have to keep up!"

"Ah ha! That's what you always say, but ten bucks say you'll still wait for us!" Jax declared smugly.

Was that a challenge?

Neil's wolf growled at him to hurry him up.

I guess it was only Bell who wouldn't wait. Even Dad was waiting, although his large black tail had flicked once or twice in impatience.

I directed Dad back to the magic path while the other wolves followed behind. Mum, just half a step behind Dad - the traditional Luna position. Jonah next, with Jax and Neil taking the rear guard.

Where was Beta Lucas though?

Oh well, it wasn't like Dad could answer in his wolf form, no thanks to the mindlink block in the warlock lands.

But just because Dad couldn't talk, didn't mean I couldn't talk. I leaned flat on Dad's wolf back so that my face was right at his ears and took the chance to update Dad what's happening back home.

His wolf growled low and his thick fur raised in hackles, but this was reassuring to me too. Dad was back. Dad was mad (not at me), and he was going to make things right again.

Cos that's what Dads do right?

Like this one time way back in elementary school. The discipline master declared a hair check. My hair at the time was too short to be tied in a pony tail, but too long by school rules standards to be left down, so I got called out to the discipline master's office.

There were a surprising many offenders and we had to line up and one by one, like sheep to its shearing. Quite literally. When it got to our turn, we would have to sit on this chair outside his door, and he would cut off whatever offending bits of hair we had.

I was lucky because the bell rang and he had to let us go before it was my turn.

"The rest of you, leave your name and come back tomorrow." He had ordered.

I got home and told my parents I needed a hair cut. My parents asked why. I told them what happened.

Dad was furious and went to the office to make a phone call.

"Don't tell my name! Don't tell my name!" I cried out after my dad's departing back. I mean, I still had to go back to school tomorrow!

Mum was mad too, she kept tutting about how someone like that could be allowed to call himself a teacher.

"If he likes to cut hair so much, he should quit teaching and open his own barbershop." Mum seethed as she brushed my hair.

"I don't think he could Mum," I answered honestly, "I've seen the kids he cut today, and he wasn't very good."

"Your hair is already too short as it is!" Mum sighed. She hadn't liked this particular haircut to begin with. (It made my head look big.) We were waiting for it to grow out.

In the end, Mum did my hair in two little ponytails for me the next day (accentuating my big head even more). And when I got to school for assembly, the discipline master went up on stage and said he got a call from a parent last night.

(Really? After a stunt like that, you only got a single call?)

I squirmed in my seat and crossed my fingers my dad didn't squeal on me.

Anyway, the discipline master was very impressed by this girl whose parent had called.

"I asked for her name, but the parent wouldn't tell me."

Thank goddess! I knew he would try something underhanded like asking for my name! Thank goddess I warned Dad!

"I wished I knew her name because I would have liked to commend her."

Excuse me, but what now?

"This girl had taken the school's disciplinary measures seriously. She had internalised the seriousness of her offense, and told her parents the moment she got home that she needed a hair cut."

"I want all of you today to learn from this girl. We should all be like her, taking the initiative to make things right when we realize we had erred."

"That is all for today. Please return to your classrooms in an orderly manner."

And that was it.

Yeah, that was some phone call.

Anyway, Dad was here now. We were going to be okay.

"Okay." I told Dad when we reached the bazookaed clearing in the woods, "This is the path back home. Just follow it as fast as you can."

And then I raised an arm to signal for the wolves behind to follow closely. I was getting good at this arm signalling thing. I never understood its necessity - the Underground had used them when riding on bikes, and my wolves too when we made our way into the warlock forest, of course our lycan study group had included it in our syllabus, along with the Morse code and smoke signals, but who used stuff like that? I had honestly never given my notes no more than a passing glance, just enough to pass whatever test we might be given.

I had always believed that without a doubt, I would grow up and have mindlinks and a mobile phone.

Now I realized how important hand signals were - very useful for a mission into the warlock lands, and I guess when among vampires too, since using a mindlink would make us vulnerable to their mind wraps. And it also let us communicate to friendly wolves from other packs and humans riding with us.

Could it be the only reason I had looked down on it was because I was only a frog in a well? I would never look down on anything I learned in Lycan Study Group ever again.

{The wisdom of those who had gone before us, guides us to where we have not been.}

Yeah, sure, Boo. We're racing back home like our lives depended on it, and you're quoting ancient lycan literature. I mean, at least quote something that would be helpful.

{Be extremely subtle, even to the point of formlessness. Be extremely mysterious, even to the point of soundlessness.}

Which would be the most formless and mysterious advice I had ever heard, although I've read this somewhere before. I think it was a book in Dad's office. There was this one book, I'm not sure if it was still there, it had no cover, Dad had lost the book sleeve, so it was just a brown hard covered dusty old book. I used to call it "the book that makes no sense."

But it did give me an idea. The moment we stepped back onto home ground, I mindlinked, {I'm dropping off here. Dad, take back the Alpha Channel from Alpha James. I got to go.}

And without waiting, I subtly and mysteriously hopped off Dad's back and disappeared into the woods (ours, not the warlock's - I wasn't stupid).

{Sam!} Mum was the first to react, {Get back here!}

{Don't worry, Mum!} I linked back cheerily, {I'll be right back!}

And then I decided to adopt Titanium's way of dropping out of a mindlink discussion, {Sam, OUT!}

{Oh, Sam...} I heard Mum sigh, but she was too late. I was gone!

I was running in the forest again. It felt like I just had a lot of running to do. Oh the life of a wolf!

I didn't really have a real plan, but this was business as usual for me. All I had was a vague idea to run on - and as I ran, I let my lucky sense of direction guide me and I tried to think it through.

I'm not entirely sure where I got the guts to just run off on my own. Maybe it was just the exhilaration of getting Mum and Dad (and Jonah) back safely from Jonah's prophetic dream. It did feel a bit like I just cheated death, and the quick success was a the boost to my confidence I needed. After dragging it out for so long in that stupid warlock tower, I felt more than a little gratified about things working out the way I was used to again.

Also, a big part of it was due to Dad being back. I could sense his Alpha Channel, it couldn't be avoided. That's the power of the Alpha Channel. With normal mindlinks, you needed both parties to link. But an Alpha's mindlink was formed one way, I didn't need permission to link with any of my wolves.

That was also partly why I was moved when I first linked up, they didn't have to respond to my Alpha Channel - they were there as my pack wolves whether they wanted to be or not, but the point was that they had accepted my link to them so warmly that I nearly cried (but I didn't.)

Now with an Alpha Channel up, there was a packwide link meshed together so anyone speaking on that channel could be heard by everyone else in the channel.

It was a little more than the usual pack broadcast that Beta Lucas and Beta Gerald used, because the Alpha Channel was powered by one powerful Alpha wolf. While the pack broadcast was held together by only the wolves who were linked up to it at the moment.

I guess both had its pros and cons. But nothing beats the undeniable reassurance when your Alpha opens an Alpha Channel and you sensed his power flow through. Like right now, Dad had just taken over the Alpha Channel, and whoosh. Hahaha. Dad was really a more powerful alpha than Alpha James.

Okay, maybe it was because Alpha James was just holding it up for us, and not really leading so he was holding back, but now that Dad was leading, it was like WHOOOSH... I felt a shiver run down my back. My Dad was back.

{Welcome back, Alpha.} Beta Gerald said, sounding all too glad on behalf of everyone else.

{I've kept you waiting.} Dad said and everyone knew that Dad was officially back at the helm.