OUR RETURN TRIP

"Jerk." Ben said under his breath on the last leg of our time passageways. We were running for it - Peony, me, and the giant bubble of boxes that was now jumbled up like a bingo machine.

It wasn't like this at first. The bubble had very nicely encapsulated the neat stacks and if we pushed it carefully, the bubble would go straight.

Ben made a face, "Are you sure it would last?"

Alpha Red was confident, "For as long as I'm alive."

"But you won't be born yet!" I pointed out.

"Exactly." Alpha Red beamed, "So the moment you leave the Time Gates, it would blink out of existence."

Ben pushed it a little as if testing it. It slid forward very smoothly, and we barely needed to apply any strength. I almost asked why they didn't just get Alpha Red to come help shift the boxes from the shed in the first place, but then I remembered, "The Alpha was the head…"

"Look, it's perfect for your needs." Luc pushed the huge bubble container back to Ben, "You're in a hurry right? This will work. I guarantee it."

It was everything a used car salesman would say, and it worked exactly like that - if Luc was a used-car salesman. It worked perfectly until we stepped through the Time Gate and it was too late to go back and yell at him.

From the moment we got into the Time Gate, we realized that none of the Time Passages were traveling in straight lines. When had I ever seen a Time Passage that didn't wind or meandered? To date, not a one.

And then you know how the time gates and passages were very watery like spaces right? Our bubble just slipped an spanned. Luckily all the boxes were tightly sealed because everything got thrown within the first two minutes.

"F***." Ben told the bubble.

To make matters worse (because for some reason, the difficulties in my life was never content to just be inconvenient, they had to be inconceivably hard.) So our time passages were speeding past like someone had decided to fast forward the flow. If it were anything like when we got here, we'd need to run very quickly and hit all the right gates or we might end up in the stone ages. I wasn't kidding. The time gates had gone completely out of whack.

"He knew this would happen." Ben growled accusingly.

"Not now, Ben." I hissed back. If he had the breath to grumble, he should use it to run harder. We were speed running through like it was a game of guitar hero on expert level.

"I feel like Tails." Ben grumbled while running just behind me. He had to give space for my blue hair.

I would have laughed and told him about my computer game reference, but I was running too hard.

"Strange. It isn't usually like this." Peony murred from on my shoulder. He had long figured that it was much easier to jump on me than actually run.

"Maybe your lover was right." Peony allowed, "We've ripped the timeline in too many places and the gates have destabilized."

"WAT?" I mean, barring the lover reference - because it was obviously false news, didn't that sound like we were in real danger here?

But Peony shrugged a little cat shrug, "Meh, it happens. Worst case it collapses."

Wasn't this the cat that freaked out yowling just because I was going to take his white cat friend's directions? How could he be so nonchalant about the time gates collapsing? WTH! I didn't think cats who had the power to open and close time gates were supposed to be irresponsible like that!

Normally, for something of this magical wonder, shouldn't there be a guardian or something to protect it from being abused or at least from self destructing?

But no... Of course not. We all knew that our goddess was not the kind who would have to bother with petty trifles like responsibility and due diligence. Why didn't wolves come with a more responsible deity?

Because responsible deities wouldn't decide to turn a wolf into a human just because she got tired of hearing his prayer to be with his bonded human forever. I mean what if a magic horse wanted to be with his bonded human, would he be able to shift into a human form too?

I know the story of the first wolf was supposed to be the most romantic story of all time. One that ended with the line extending its romance to all wolves that came after because "wolves were born from prayer and magic." We had always said this as if our existence was something special.

But now I'm seriously starting to wonder if some magic was best never cast, and some prayers never answered. For the sake of everyone in the universe, I hope that someone else was holding the cosmos together. Someone more discerning about answering prayers, someone more aware of the general responsibilities of keeping the universe in one piece, someone who didn't leave all that many loose ends flapping in the winds of fate. (No offence, Goddess.)

"Sam! Stop spacing out! Which way?" Ben demanded.

"I'm not!" Okay, I totally was, but just at the moment my beta yelled at me, my lucky sense of direction kicked into gear again, "THAT WAY BEN! AND RUN LIKE…"

I couldn't finish saying it. I was too busy running for my life. I don't think I had ever ran so desperately before. It was pretty fun.

"Peony! Gate! Now!"

And we shot through and spilled out into Dad's office.

{Mate!} ~ ❤

Because he was here. And immediately, I felt like I was right where (and when) I was supposed to be.