The black-haired lady paused once more to carefully inspect the surrounding forest before bending down to pick a mushroom. I should have guessed that Will would have managed to find actual fighters to accompany me. The black-haired lady was quiet and reserved, and her stance practically screamed that she was a strong fighter. She was the distant type that made me somewhat uneasy. Had I seen her when I was a rogue, I would have hidden so she would have had no chance of even realizing that I had been in the area.

The brown-haired lady was more relaxed and easy going; she seemed amused to be picking mushrooms. Her slight limp wasn’t bad enough to keep her from the training sessions. It looks like the overprotective mate bond once more took Will for a loop around the block.

I trotted through the area between them with my nose near the ground as I tried to find the scent of a deeply buried truffle. Being out of truffle season, I wasn't sure if I could find another of the rare and coveted objects. I was trying though. I was also keeping an eye on my two guards in disguise. They had obviously never picked mushrooms before. I ended up showing them how to identify some of the common ones, and they were just picking those ones.

I mindlinked the brown haired-lady, although I let the other lady listen in, "That looks just like the one I showed you earlier, but it is actually an uncommon poisonous look-alike. If it grows at the bottom of a pine, you can generally assume that type is inedible. I wasn’t aware that they grew in this area, or I would have mentioned it."

She turned the mushroom over in her hand as she examined it. Her voice was curious. "I don't see any differences in appearance. Is it just caution speaking or are you sure it is toxic?"

I trotted over to where it had been growing and dug up the small base from the leaf litter. I said, "See the pink tinge? That is a sure sign it is toxic if trying to differentiate between these two. The toxic one also only grows on pine roots. I have enough practice to tell at a glance."

She looked at the base I had dug up before nodding and dropping the mushroom that was guaranteed to give the consumer a nasty stomach ache. I didn't bother mentioning that my Omega abilities had tipped me off. I still had my people and emotion sensing abilities shielded, but I could use the others. My headache was still present, although it had, thankfully, eased up.

Neither lady had provided their names when Will had led me to them. I scooted under a bramble bush to drag out a large orange-capped mushroom and brought it closer to the black-haired lady since she was the nearest one at the moment. She put it in her basket.

We slowly made our way through the forest. The two ladies would pick paths within eyesight of each other, and I would zigzag through the area between them as I dragged back hard to reach mushrooms and kept my nose on alert for the faint earthy scent of a truffle. They were gathering quite a haul of mushrooms.

I paused to lift my head and sniff before jumping onto a log to look around, informing them, "I am picking up the scent of a bear, although I am not sure which direction the scent is coming from."

Both ladies took sniffs of the air. The brown-haired lady spoke, "I don't smell anything, but that might be because I’m in human form."

The black-haired lady narrowed her eyes before shifting into a sleek black wolf and darting off into the undergrowth. I resumed my search while remaining alert. A minute later, I heard vicious snarls quite some distance away. I glanced at the brown-haired lady who was looking in that direction.

She saw me watching her and explained, "Well, there was a black bear. She is chasing it away."

I nodded and went to pull another big mushroom out from under a bramble bush. A while later, the black wolf trotted back and shifted. Looking at me intently, the lady asked, "Just how did you scent a bear from that kind of distance while you were upwind?"

I shrugged, not easiest motion while in wolf form. "I was a rogue for quite some time, and I’m used to watching for very faint scents. There isn't much wind in this area, so the bear was probably heading away from us and had passed nearby."

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She didn't reply although she kept glancing at me with a speculative gaze when she thought I wasn’t looking. I really didn't want to lower my shields to figure out what kind of emotions were going through her head since I had only recently gotten the upper hand over my headache. I shook out my fur and kept going.

~

I took a deep breath and both ladies turned to face me while also testing the air despite being in human form. I grinned internally at their reactions as I lifted my nose to try and catch the elusive scent again. That way, I went to the left. I started digging underneath a fallen tree.

A few minutes later, I backed out of the fair-sized hole I had dug. The brown-haired lady was kneeling beside me, and she had cleared back some of the dirt I had dug up. She looked into the hole before reaching in and carefully pulling out the fist-sized truffle. She put it in a transport box before getting to her feet again.

A few hours later, both ladies had two huge shoulder bags full of mushrooms. We also had two decent-sized truffles and four small ones, which was an amazing find out of truffle season. This pack’s land seemed ideal for truffles. We were walking back, and they were ignoring most mushrooms although I was still in wolf shape trying to see if I could locate another truffle.

The two ladies were more relaxed now and walking closer together while keeping a close eye on me. I turned to circle around a patch of leaf litter and pine needles. Looking up at both of them, I asked, "Do you mind shifting? I want to see if you can pick up this scent."

Both of them immediately shifted and trotted over. I sat down while they walked through the area that I had circled with their noses near the ground. The tawny wolf looked at me. "What are we supposed to be smelling?"

I tilted my head. "Do you not scent something out of place in that patch?"

She lowered her head and followed my original tracks exactly before regarding me once more. "No."

The black wolf was watching us silently as she slowly kept circling the area while sniffing. Blinking slowly at them, I tried to be more specific as I asked, "Do you not pick up the faint trace of water willow?"

The tawny wolf sniffed once more. "I suppose, but it’s extremely faint. Why is it important?"

I spoke slowly and softly, "There are no water willows near here. That scent does not belong. A rogue with a masked scent passed through here, and it couldn't have been more than a couple of hours ago or else a scent that faint would have faded by now."

Both wolves pinned back their ears with growls as they turned their heads to scan the trees. I shook my head at their actions and reassured them, "Whoever he was, he isn't nearby or else I would have picked up his scent instead of his scent trail. My guess is that he passed through about an hour ago. From how patchy his trail is, he was moving quickly."

The black wolf shook her head hard, and her voice was tight. "We have already alerted the sentries and scouts. We are heading back to the packhouse, just in case."

I sighed with their overreaction. Somewhat dreading the answer, I asked, "Does Will know?"

The tawny wolf shook her head. "Tony advised us earlier to keep anything odd from Will if possible, as long as it was not an emergency. He says that you get to break the news to him when you two are alone."

I sighed in relief. "That is probably a good idea, especially with how he has been going overboard lately." Both wolves looked amused. I guess they agreed with me.

I started an easy lope towards the distant pack house as the other two stayed close to me, although their pace was a slow trot. Not far from the first location, I picked up a faint scent of pine and alder bush. I knew this scent and didn't mention it since he was not the type to cause trouble.

No wonder the first rogue's trail had been patchy with his speed. I suspected that the second rogue was in pursuit of the first rogue. Jisk may not start trouble, but he would sure finish it, and it would probably take an Enforcer or an Alpha to bring the fierce rogue to a standstill. I didn't want to meet whatever rogue Jisk was after. If he was chasing it, it was one of the nasty types.

~

We got back to the pack house with no other traces of rogues, although I had stopped to dig up another baseball-sized truffle. I could tell that my two shadows were getting impatient and restless with my slow pace. They were on high alert and likely itching to go help search for the trespasser, but it wasn't like I could go any faster.

We headed straight for the kitchen where the people were waiting for the mushrooms. Sylvia was delighted for the truffles and went to go store them in a special setup. I remained to help those present clean and wash the mushrooms. It didn’t escape my attention that my two guards had disappeared as soon as they dropped the mushrooms off.

I shook my head in amusement as I scrubbed the various types of mushrooms. I highly doubted that Will could ever convince them to accompany me again, let alone go mushroom hunting.