Greykin Mountain

| 71 | A Flicker of Red

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A knock at Damon's door pulled both the Alpha and Jackson out of their quiet rest.

          Damon sat up. "What?"

          Tokala pushed the door open. "Everyone's ready to go, chief."

          The Alpha nodded. "All right. Tell them I'll be out in ten minutes."

          With a nod, Tokala went to leave, but then abruptly turned around to face them again. "Oh, I got you one of these," he said, throwing something towards Damon.

          When Damon caught it, he and Jackson looked down to see that it was one of the bags that Dustu and Bly had been sewing. Attached to a wearable harness were two satchels and a smaller compartment on the strap which looked as though it sat on the wearer's back.

          Tokala left to do as he was told, pulling the door shut behind him.

          Jackson felt angst slowly ensnaring his heart. Was it really time to leave already? Damon was still hurt—he needed more time to heal. But they had to get out of the ruin before Kane's wolves came to see why they hadn't yet set out towards the meeting point with Julian. And the bigger the head start they had, the better. Leaving now made the most sense.

          But he still had to ask, "Are you sure you're okay to travel right now?"

          Damon nodded as he got up and went over to the small table. He pulled the drawer open and took out the ring that Jackson gave him. "I'll be fine. Put that amulet in here," he said as he put the ring in the small top compartment and then held the bags out to Jackson.

          Jackson took the amulet from his pocket and tucked it into the same compartment the ring was in.

          "Hold it," Damon said.

          He held the bags and watched the Alpha gather some shirts and trousers, as well as the few packs of food he had in one of his drawers. Damon moved back over to him and put the clothes in the left satchel and the food inside the right one.

          "Shift; I'll put this on you," he said, taking the bags from him.

          As he was told, Jackson pulled off his trousers and then shifted into his wolf form. After packing Jackson's trousers away, Damon attached the harness straps around Jackson—one around his neck and the other around his body. The two larger satchels sat on either side of him close to his front legs, and the smaller compartment—as he'd assumed—sat on his back. It wasn't tight or uncomfortable, and fit perfectly on his wolf body. Bly and Dustu had done a great job at creating something which would allow everyone to carry supplies with them.

          "Do you need me to adjust the straps?" Damon asked him.

          "No," he said, turning to face the Alpha. "It's fine."

          Damon nodded. "Okay, let's go."

          Jackson followed Damon out of his room and across the corridor into the room where Julian was locked up. The dark-haired person was sitting in their wolf form, watching them as they made their way over.

          "So, it's time to go, huh?" Julian asked, standing up. "What's that?"

          Seeing that Julian was referring to the satchels on his sides, Jackson answered, "Kind of like saddlebags, I guess. We can carry stuff with us now."