Caleb smiled to himself as Maria ran through the forest towards her clothes and the village. She was surprisingly quiet considering how fast she was moving the rustling of bushes giving her away.Caleb continued walking keeping his pace slow and calm an alpha was to maintain himself at all times. Caleb let out a bitter laugh after a few minutes and broke out into a fast jog winding his way through the forest carefully, he would just pretend to be calmly walking back to the village when he was actually at the village.<br/><br/>Ten minutes later Caleb was at the edge of the village and nonchalantly walking out from the forest and onto the main street. Taking a deep breath Caleb could tell Maria was already at his house to give her report, though his dad would probably wait until Caleb got there to hear the whole story at once. Caleb waved and made pleasantries with the pack members that greeted him keeping his confident alpha gait as he passed by not stopping very long for anyone but not seeming rude at the same time.  Walking up his steps Caleb opened the front door to his house to see Chloe, his mom, standing near the door holding his jacket with a mischievous grin on her face. Caleb sighed and grabbed his jacket from his mom ignoring the twinkle in her eyes as she continued to grin.<br/><br/>"Don't get your hopes up mom there is nothing going on between us. She made a mistake and I pulled her back. That is it." Caleb shrugged his jacket back on and looked back at his mom her grin still across her face.<br/><br/>"Of course dear but you really should put some thought into who your first mate will be. It is an important decision that should be given great thought." With that Chloe disappeared back into the kitchen leaving those words to bounce around in his skull, of course he knew how important the decision was after all he had already made it. Sighing to himself Caleb walked towards the back room where his father usually held pack business. Caleb walked into the room not bothering to knock he was going to be the next alpha he needed to be confident in his right to be involved in anything involving the pack or so his dad kept telling him. Maria was already inside standing next to the door her eyes on the floor Caleb shut the door behind him and walked into the middle of the room standing in front of Jack, his father.<br/><br/>"Sir I'm sure you already are aware but I am here to give a report along side the beta." Caleb stood still his shoulders straight as he looked at his father. Glancing up at Caleb Jack leaned back in his chair glancing first at Caleb then at Maria.<br/><br/>"First off I thought you had the night off Caleb what were you doing with the patrol?" Caleb could feel Maria's father glaring at him while Jack spoke. Rubbing the back of his neck Caleb spared a quick glance at Maria's dad before answering.<br/><br/>"I was taking a walk when I smelled two intruders on the breeze Maria's patrol not far off. I decided to ghost them in case they got into trouble unfortunately there was trouble and I am glad I was there." Jack looked over at Maria his face emotionless as he mulled over what Caleb said.<br/><br/>"So you decided to ghost the patrol, huh. Fine tell me what happened."Caleb shuffled his feet a little his father always made him nervous when he was reporting. Caleb could never tell what was going through his fathers mind.<br/><br/>Caleb kept his report concise and short trying not to ramble on about unnecessary details always referring to Maria as the beta, they both had to be professional in this. When he got to the part where he held Maria back he only mentioned chastising her and sending her back to make her report leaving out the rest of their talk.<br/><br/>"So after all this what would you recommend be done to punish her?" Caleb looked up at Jack surprise in his eyes, this was the first time his father had asked his opinion on disciplinary matters.<br/><br/>"Umm, I think that she should have two weeks of half rations." Jack lifted his eyebrow at Caleb's response leaning forward a bit.<br/><br/><br/>"Oh? Why only two weeks? Usually in incidents like this we limit the offender to half rations for at least a month." Caleb grimaced slightly hoping his father hadn't noticed.<br/><br/>"I feel the situation is slightly different considering the only one she put in danger was herself. It still merits punishment but not as badly as if she had put anyone else in danger." Jack nodded at Caleb's reasoning rubbing his chin thoughtfully.<br/><br/>"True enough it doesn't sound like she put anyone else from the pack in danger. But she could have. That's the point of the punishment yes no one was hurt and only she was in danger. But what if the omega had followed her or what if you hadn't been there. These are all things you must consider Caleb. It is not just about punishing them it's about helping them realize they made a foolish choice that won't be tolerated." Caleb nodded his head and looked down slightly.<br/><br/>"Yes sir." Jack leaned back in his seat resting his head on the tips of his fingers.<br/><br/>"However I do understand your reasoning fine Maria you will be reduced to half rations for two weeks. Be grateful no one got hurt. Pull another stunt like this and this will seem like a lavish luxury." Turning his head back to Caleb Jack looked down at his desk and moved a few papers around. Glancing back up at his son Jack looked at the clock on his desk.<br/><br/>"Don't you have the rest of the day off? Caleb go rest you did good." Jack then turned his gaze on Maria. "As for you I want you to make your report." Caleb spared a glance at Maria's father his glare had softened slightly but was still in his eyes. Closing the door behind him Caleb left his fathers office and headed for the kitchen to get his dinner. Inside his mother was sitting at the counter her face stretching into a smile as he walked in.<br/><br/>"So how did it go?" Chloe seemed to glow as she spoke to Caleb her eyes twinkling like they usually do when she know some new gossip.<br/><br/>"Dad let me choose the punishment for the beta. He never gave me that responsibility before it was strange." Chloe laughed and clapped her hands getting off the stool and embracing Caleb.<br/><br/>"You are growing into a remarkable shifter and your father sees that I wouldn't be surprised if he started giving you more responsibility over the pack soon." Caleb sighed and hugged his mom back, great just what I need more responsibility. Caleb pulled away from his mom and patted his stomach.<br/><br/>"We got any food I am pretty hungry."<br/><br/>"Of course you are it has been a long day for you." Chloe smiled and started moving around the kitchen putting together a big plate of food for Caleb.  Once she was done Caleb thanked his mom and walked out the large plate covered a napkin. Slowly making his way towards his tree Caleb moved cautiously to avoid spilling any of the food. Finally making it to the tree Caleb looked up the large trunk and began climbing slowly holding the plate tightly in one hand and using the other hand to help climb. Stopping at his usual branch Caleb placed the plate beside him and stretched out the branch was big enough to let two people lay side by side if they were willing to squish together. Taking the napkin off the plate Caleb tucked it into his pocket and picked up a biscuit. Watching the stars Caleb slowly ate the biscuit waiting to see if Maria would show up or not.