FLUFFY RESCUES HIMSELF

15 YEARS AGO, INCIDENT 1

I totally forgot about the 20 minute undo point. My bad. Let's just hope we didn't do anything regrettable in the 10 minutes we were here.

It wasn't like we had a choice, the moment the Time Gate opened and we spilled out, we found ourselves face to face with a small band of rogues. They were in every way dressed for the part, from their ragged clothes to unkempt faces. And the stench of rogues and unbathed bodies! Oof...

They looked as surprised to see us as we were to see them.

"F***." One of the rogue cussed, "You said this pass was unguarded."

He looked back the way they had come.

"There is no point running." Dad informed them. I think they knew it too.

One of them carried a blond child on his shoulder like a sack of potato. When the rogues tossed their bags to one side to fight, he tossed the unconscious child onto the pile of stuff.

The scariest weapon the rogues had were a crowbar. They were very poor rogues.

I suppose we were very poor pack wolves too, but that was in the past. The us who time traveled were arms with shot guns, bespoke daggers, and armor under our fancy navy blue warrior jackets.

The rogues would have a better chance shifting into their wolf forms, but they didn't quite realize it. In fact, I don't think they ever got the chance. The moment they lifted their weapons, Fluffy's daggers flew out and they fell down like flies.

It happened in a blink, I saw it, but I didn't realize what happened until Fluffy went around to collect his daggers, wiping each one on the rogue's shirt as he did.

Were they all dead?

Harvey checked to make sure.

"Big Brother Beta, you doubt my skill?" Fluffy smiled.

Harvey shook his head, "No. I know your skill. That's why I'm checking."

"Do you think I would purposely let them live?" Fluffy asked with exaggerated wide eyed surprise.

Harvey refused to answer him.

Ben scoffed, "If you know how to do a clean job properly, don't make a mess with your targets next time!"

Harvey cleared his throat. Ben shot me a side glance. Fluffy smiled, "Don't believe him, Pretty Alpha. I've never killed a fly in my life."

He wasn't lying but... I looked at the dead bodies on the ground.

Wolfgang stepped up, his broad shoulder blocking most of the evidence, "Is the child safe?"

He led me away from the dead rogues, presumably to check on the child.

Ki was glowing by the fallen child. I watched him cut the rope and gasped when the angry rope burns were exposed.

Fluffy as a small child looked fragile and beautiful, like a princess.

"Poor Fluffy." I touched the child's blond hair, it was sticky, and there was a swelling on his head, "Ki! He's been hit. Is that why he's out cold?"

Ki smiled and shook his head, "He's been drugged. On the bright side, he won't feel the pain. I think we'll let the drug run its course. By the time he wakes, he'll be fully healed."

Harvey finished checking the rogues, "They're all dead."

I saw something blue sticking out from one of the rugsacks near the child. When I pulled it, I found a small ornate cape in my hand. It was blue and embroidered and lined with fur. There was a crest made with argon and jewels pinned on it, "I think this might be yours, Fluff."

I held it up to Fluff who stopped smiling. Did he recognize it?

"Do you remember it?" I asked.

Fluffy smiled his beautiful smile at me, "Not at all."

{Lie.}

Okay, fine. Whatever.

"Looks like we're all done here." Beta Lucas decided, "What now Sam?"

"We should have brought a clean up crew." Ben grumbled.

"Just leave it." Beta Lucas said, "Someone would see the upturned soil and we'll have to dig everything up to see what's there. Leave them in a pile and let the border patrols find them. I mean the pup. What should we do with her?"

"Beta, I'm a boy." Fluffy was suddenly back to his usual self, "Do you want to check?"

"No!" Beta Lucas actually took a step back. Hahaha.

So we decided to wrap the boy up tightly in a sleeping bag and bandages, so he would neither catch a cold nor run away, and leave him on the doorstep of Beta Lucas' apartment with his cape and note in Beta Lucas' own handwriting, "To be given to good home in Night Leaf."

Because Fluffy was adamant, "Since Pretty Alpha saved me, I will stay in Night Leaf and protect her forever."

"You pretty much saved yourself actually." I told him.

"I'm not being self sacrificial, all the ladies in Night Leaf are kind, and even the lowest omega family has food to spare." Fluffy added, "I want to give myself a good life this time round."

"Yeah, okay." If this could erase away every pain from Fluffy's past, how could I refuse him?

I told the sleeping child, "Be very happy, Fluffy. Your life will be full of happy memories after tonight."

If I could go back in time to save everyone of my wolves, I would.

Everything went very smoothly. I'm not someone who credited the goddess (unless things went wrong) but it was like the goddess was blessing our mission personally.

We managed to bypass EVERY SINGLE PATROL and sneak into the Packhouse (because by now it had been built). We got to the fifth floor, and all the way to the end of the hallway without anyone noticing. It was the dead of night, but still, how was it that no one sensed our intrusion?

We place the sleeping blond haired puppy in front of the Beta family's door. We even rang the doorbell before running away.

While running down the hallway, stifling the urge to laugh out loud, I caught sight of my Dad's back running in front of me. I never imagined we'd be going back in time and playing pranks on the Beta family like this. Hahaha.

And then we all returned to Dad's office on the second floor. The first thing that struck me was how new Dad's office looked. It even still smelled like varnish.

We all just stood around breathing for the first bit. There was a feeling of exuberance running through our mindlinks. We really did it!

Not only had we kept Jude from our Packlands, we had also helped Fluffy save himself from whatever darkness that had all but devour his wolf.

{Whew.} Beta Lucas said, {I think I'm too old for this kind of thing.}

{Yeah, yeah. Just go retire.} Ben smirked, {Next time leave the action to us.}

{The girl is indeed extremely skilled at traversing the Time Gates.} Perri allowed.

But Wolfgang was in the opinion that this was a more than just skill, {How did you lead us to the right time without even knowing the date, princess?}

Was that a tinge of admiration in Sir Wolfgang's question? I felt myself puff up. If I were in my wolf form, I'd be incredibly fluffy.

{I just winged it.} I explained.

{You...winged it...} Wolfgang repeated as if not quite understanding, so I explained some more, {Yes, I'm very lucky.}

{I suppose this is what it means to say that luck is also a skill.} Wolfgang didn't sound convince.

{Don't bother, Hotstuff.} Ben shrugged, {She won't even tell ME her secrets.}

{That's cos there isn't any.} I protested, but because no one looked like they believed me, I had to elaborate, {It's like casting a spell but instead of words, we just need to step through the right gate at the right time. Like I just think of where I want to be and go.}

Even Wolfgang was frowning now, his blond brow crinkling.

{I'm telling the truth!} I told the frowning men around me.

{It's not that we don't believe you, Sam.} Ben explained (badly as usual), {It's just that it's unbelievable.}

I punched him in the arm.

"Ow…" Ben grabbed his arm and forgot to mindlink. Did he have to be so drama about it?

"Alright Sam, everyone, good job." Dad decided to leave it at that, "Let's go back. We still need to return to our timeline to check the results."

"No problem, Alpha." Beta Lucas said, "This run had gone perfectly…"

"Almost perfectly." Ben pointed out, "The hotdogs."

"They did give away the location of our camp, forcing us to retreat before we were able to confirm the traitor's fate." Harvey agreed. I guess that was one glaring lose end in my good beta's eyes.

"Don't worry." I assured them, "It's just a baby. As long as he doesn't enter our packlands, dead or alive, it's fine right?"

I didn't say this aloud but in my opinion, as long as Jude never wormed his way into our pack or Dad's trust, it wouldn't matter. Even if he lived, even if he became an enemy and attacked us, as long as he wasn't one of us, he wouldn't be able to betray Dad.

Maybe this was my own selfishness, but as long as we can solve this knot in my Dad's heart, I didn't really care.

Perri had opened the Time Gate. He sat in front of it, his tail flicking as he waited for us to leave, "Ladies first."

Hahaha… Was the cat making a joke? I took pause and waited for my lucky sense of direction to kick in, "Okay now! Let's go home!"

I stepped through full confident that my wolves would all follow in step. I didn't have to look back or slow down. I grinned ahead at the watery light filled space. I love being the alpha!