Chapter 849 Chapter 849
Uri watched Ben and Wyatt help Calum load up one of the toboggans. He hadn’t done the math but was now wondering if they were going to have enough space to put all the younger ones on the other three.
Tait came out of the trees and walked toward him. Usually, the furry shifters resembled their animal, but he was an exception. He was tall with long blond hair, and no one would guess he was an orange-shaded fox when he shifted.
“It’s all clear.” He grinned. “After a few jags and polar bears running through, I’m pretty sure all of the wildlife has relocated.” He looked him up and down. “Are you good?”
Uri nodded. “Yeah. My shoulder will be good enough that I can shift tomorrow.” He looked over to see Tony come outside. “I haven’t slept much.”
Tait gave him a non-committal shrug. “With good reason.” He tucked his hands in his pockets and looked around. “I can’t believe she kept eight kids off the radar this long.” He turned back to him. “Not just from our kind, but the one-form authorities.”
Uri had thought the same thing at least fifty times since seeing the kids. “She did good.” He turned when Calum came in their direction. “When you’re on the road, get in touch with Fallan and have her dig into the history of my kind in this area. Esen said her grandfather moved the clan, and I know my original one was somewhere on this side of the map…”
“You want to know who dropped the ball and left another clan without protection.”
Uri nodded. “Yeah.”
“I’ll get into it.”
Calum smiled at them. “I think young Wyatt is obsessed with Konner.”
Uri laughed. “Guess Konner will have to start his own training program.”
Calum nodded. “Shae has cleared all of the kids health-wise except the three we knew about.”
Uri breathed a sigh of relief. “What’s her take on Charlotte.?”
“I don’t know yet. She's on the phone with the Alliance medical team.”
Uri hoped it wasn’t something too serious. The kids had been through enough. Ben laughing had all three of them turn to see why. Adam was trying to pull the loaded toboggan, and it was like he was walking on the spot. Uri turned back to the men. “Listen, there’s a really good chance one of the boys will have their first shift on the trip to my clan. Ben is close.”
“Any instructions on how we deal with that?” Calum asked.
“Oryn isn’t coming?”
Uri looked at Tait. “No. Which, I think, isn’t all bad. She’s been watching Kenric’s place, so her knowledge might speed things up for us.”
Tait shrugged.
Calum glanced at the boys. “Back to the first shift. None of us can go after a flier.”
“I talked to Ben. He knows what to expect.” He watched Ben go into the building. “Even if they tried to fly, they wouldn’t get far.”
“What do you mean?” Tait’s expression was one of concussion, reminding Uri that the paw shifters had things a lot easier.
“First shift for a flier is exhausting. It’s a little more complicated than one for pawed shifters.” Calum smirked at that description. “I told Ben to get a feel for his muscles, flex his wings, that sort of thing. Flying involves subtle shifts of muscles…”
“Damn. That’s harsh. Finally, shift and don’t even get to take the new body for a test drive.”
Tait wouldn’t get an argument from him. “Just—” Uri watched Wyatt pull the loaded toboggan a few feet. “—watch out for talons.” He shrugged. “And beaks.”
Calum grinned. “How long will the first shift last?”
Ben came out of the building and started walking toward them.
Uri looked at Calum. “Normally, ten minutes is a long time, but for any of these boys.” He looked at Ben again. “It could be longer. They’re tough kids.”
Calum made a sound of agreement.
Uri tried to figure out what the expression was on Ben’s face, but the kid was good at hiding any internal feelings. He could relate to that. It took five years of being with his new clan before he allowed himself to relax and smile.
Ben glanced at Tony and Adam and then checked the entire area as he reached them.
“How’s Charlotte?”
Uri, mentioning his sister, had that guarded look drop for a second. “The lady…”
“Shaelan,” Calum said with a nod.
“Yeah. Shaelan says there are no obvious obstructions or-or masses. She called some other doctors, and they suspect—” he checked on the other kids again. “They think it might be caused by stress.”
Uri nodded. “You’ve all had enough of that this last year.”
Ben sighed. “Yeah.” He looked at Calum and then back to Uri. “I know Oryn’s going to stay behind with you.” He rubbed his hand through his dark hair. “Can you keep an eye on her? Keep her safe? She’ll keep moving when she should stop and rest.”
The fact that this boy, no, young man, was worried about Oryn wasn’t lost on Uri. She was family to him now. They would always be each other’s family, no matter what. He nodded. “I will. There are more people on the way, so she’ll be safe.”
Ben nodded and then turned when Emma came out of the building with Wynter. “I should go help get them rounded up, " he said, nodding to Calum and Tait. “Thanks for this.” He walked away.
“That kid has a mountain resting on his shoulders,” Tait said quietly.
“Wyatt and Adam, too.” Uri glanced at the other boys. “They kept watch whenever Oryn was gone for supplies.”
Oryn came out with Dylan and Charlotte. Uri watched her immediately check on all the other kids outside before she went over to a toboggan and motioned for Tony to come over.
They watched her as she had Tony sit on it and then Charlotte in front of him. Dylan sat down in front of her. Wynter came out of the building with blankets and wrapped the two younger ones up.
“The trek down is going to be slow going, but we should reach the vans before dark.”
Tait nodded at Calum’s words. “Calum and I are going to shift and keep watch as we go down.”
Uri wished he could watch from the air. He looked at Oryn as she was talking to Ben and Wyatt. “Oryn will probably be in the sky the whole time.”
Tait snorted when she walked over, picked up a rifle, and handed it to Ben. “I’m not upset by that. I was pretty sure she was going to shoot me earlier.”
Uri grinned. “She was until Calum came out of the bush.”
“Yeah. I’ll be escorting from a distance on the way down.” Tait sighed and then walked over toward Ben.
“Are you going to be able to keep her in line? Stop her from going directly at Kenric?”
Uri looked at Calum. “I hope to. Maybe when Amari and Eaton get here, they can talk her down.”
Calum looked at him and then started laughing and walked away.
Uri sighed. It was things like this that made him like working alone.