Third felt guilty keeping the picture to himself; keeping the oasis to himself would be a betrayal. The photo could be written off. If the twins asked Prime he could honestly say he hadn’t found it. They’d be curious, yes, but it wasn’t like the dorms were very secure. With all the panty raids and the twins breaking into his room it was possible someone else had taken it.

This was different, though. This could benefit them. It was closer than the forest for water, a source of fresh food, and there were actual trees here. Not forest trees, but still trees. Third had missed them.

He still hesitated to share it. The wolf that had brought him here was odd. It had almost herded him to the oasis and that wasn’t something a wild animal would do. That was something a person did. And then the offering up of the food…

Almost like foxes did for courting. Maybe it was a wild wolf after all. Alone too long and confused. Wild wolves were like their humanoid counterparts in their overprotective hoarding. Cubs and packmates stayed in their territory.

Third sat back on his haunches for a moment and scratched at his ear with a back paw. There was no doubt that he was telling his brothers about the oasis. He had to. The question was what to do about the wolf.

An antelope stepped up to get a drink from the clear water, ears flicking this way and that.

Third shook off his doubts and darted back through the dunes towards camp. Prime was in the village at the moment but he could still discuss the situation with Second. They could use the oasis. Fresh water and meat would do wonders for their diets.

“Oh, it’s you,” Second grunted as Third slipped into the cave and nosed under his bedroll. He preferred changing back into his skin without showing all his vulnerable spots.

“Yeah, me,” he said when he poked his head out of the blankets. “Something interesting happened when I was out hunting.” His hand darted out to grab his pants and drag them into his nest.

“Good interesting or bad interesting.”

“Just interesting. A wolf herded me to an oasis.”

Second’s gaze was sharp, and his teeth were sharper. “You let one of them see you? Herd you? Explain. Now.”

“I think it was an animal,” Third said as he slipped into his shirt, sitting up so he could finish arranging his clothes properly. “He took my mouse and gave me some sort of rodent thing. The poor guy must have been confused and thought I was another wolf. He sniffed my ass. Twice.”

Second was still scowling, but the bite had gone out of his tone when he said: “Sounds like a courting, but it could be a trap.”

That was, unfortunately, true. “He didn’t look like any wolf I’ve seen in the village - but I haven’t seen all of them.”

Second nodded. “At least that means he probably didn’t recognize you if he was from the village. You should have killed him.”

“I can’t just go around killing wolves,” Third grumbled. “Someone would surely notice the dead bodies cropping up all over the place. Even Desert Devils look outside their front door sometimes.”

“So far it’s only the one. You can get away with killing one. Did you at least hide your trail so he couldn’t follow your scent back here?”

Third gave Second the most unimpressed look he could muster up. “I was trained same as you. I know better than to compromise base.”

Second grunted. “I wonder sometimes. You can’t go back.”

Third whined without really thinking about it. “It’s an oasis!” he protested. “It’d be a better base! So much closer than the forest, with fresh water and -”

“And probably something the village wolves know about, and stop at to and from missions,” Second pointed out with the worst weapon of all: logic. “We need to avoid being noticed and you’re so unique in coloring that someone from the village would be immediately investigating when they saw you,” Second countered. “Face it, you’re not natural.”

Third pouted. “Won’t they be just as suspicious if I suddenly disappear?”

“If you disappear then you were probably just someone passing through - animal or not, it wouldn’t matter. If you stay they’ll want to know who we are.”

Second was right, of course, and Third knew it. As he suspected, they wouldn’t be using the oasis again. If he had kept it secret…

His brothers would have found out eventually, though, and they would have been angry. Betrayed. Treason was a death sentence for them.

“There were trees,” Third muttered. “Real plants. Not those prickly cactus things. And antelope.”

“You really want to risk it?”

Third sighed. “No, you’re right. I want it because it’s easy, but that doesn’t mean we should.”

Second kept looking at him for a moment, and Third set about cleaning up the den. Prime and Second rarely cleaned but Third didn’t like living in mess. When it seemed like Second was satisfied Third wouldn’t go running off to the oasis on his own, Third asked: “Do you think we might be able to stay in the village while the main pack is out? Maybe just two of us?” Second’s scowl was back, so Third rushed on to explain, “We could search so much faster if we had the full-sized documents instead of these tiny screen captures, and the main pack is the best. With them out of the village who is the real threat?”

“The security teams, for one,” Second huffed. “And just because that pack is the best doesn’t mean the rest aren’t good. There’s at least three other captains leading packs with considerable talent.”

Third twitched an ear. “Wait. There’s more than one Captain?”

“The Captain of the main pack is actually named Captain, as far as I can tell. It’s also his rank.”

“Oh.” That sounded awkward. “So that’s a no-go on infiltrating the village?”

“No-go until we’re together again. We don’t make decisions like that alone,” Second confirmed. With a longing look back outside, wishing he’d taken the time to wash his face and paws at least, Third took to scanning the den for their latest infestation (spiders, which was just plain wrong) and fighting the eternal battle against the sand that blew in. He knew he wasn’t going to win, but he would count it as a victory if he went to bed without feeling like tiny ants had invaded his underwear.