“He’s just kidding,” Orion quickly reassures me while Cato smirks at me behind his back.
“There’s that new guy in Starsfalls who’s supposed to be some bigshot architect. I could call him,” Cato says.
Orion is still trying to convince me he’s kidding, and I assure him I know it’s a joke.
They’re obviously used to Cato’s antics, so once his packmates see I’m not taking him seriously, they ignore him. Cato gives up now that he’s not getting a reaction out of anyone.
After a few minutes, Henri says, “It’s not a bad idea to add some extra security though.”
Thatreignites the argument. Everyone seems to have a different idea about what’s going too far for home defense, er, security.
“It’s not a dungeon if it’s above ground,” Cato says.
“It’s a dungeon if it’s made of stone and the door locks from the outside!” Charm replies.
“That’s nottechnicallythe definition of a dungeon,” Orionsays.
They go back and forth until finally I can’t hold it in any longer. I burst out laughing, hiding my face in my hands in an attempt to stifle it.
Cato isn’t content to give up just yet, and says, “I don’t see how it could hurt to improve the fortification of our station.”
“Maybe so, but surveillance is one of the best defenses. We should start by adding more of those,” Henri says.
“What, like cameras? Where do we have those?” I ask.
No one answers, and suddenly they’re allverybusydecorating their gingerbread houses. Even Cato has his head down over his gingerbread castle, red hair obscuring his expression.
“What kind of surveillance are you talking about? The trail cams?” I ask again.
We have those set up around the mountain to keep track of wildlife.
Orion clears his throat, but he’s looking at Henri.
Magnus shifts and Henri jostles like he nudged his leg. Henri finally gives up on pretending to add icing to his roof and faces me.
“I have security cameras set up around the station, inside and out. Cameras are one of my…hobbies, so I’m the only one who really looks at the footage. I’m sorry, I should have mentioned them before. They’re only in common areas, none in the private rooms,” Henri says.
I’m mostly surprised I haven’t noticed his hobby before now. I’ve never seen him fiddling with cameras or looking at recordings. Although now that I think about it, he’s usually the one who adjusts our trail cams when we check them.
Is Henri using the cameras to watch us too, or is he just into the security tech aspect of it?
Does he check on us throughout the day to make sure we’re okay?
Does he look at the recordings late at night when he’s all alone?
If I had recordings ofthemcooking and getting all sweaty, or gardening with muscles bulging, or a half-naked Cato lounging in his sweatpants, I might be tempted to watch while I’m alone in my nest…
This would explain how Henri always seems to know where I am. He often appears with snacks and drinks when I need them, or stops me just as I try to sneak in a household chore.
For some reason I thought that was a special skill he had, like Henri is so attuned to taking care of the station, he senses everything that goes on in it so he can be the perfect host.
But apparently Henri’s special skill is using surveillance cameras.
Is it weird that I think it’s hot my alpha is watching over me no matter where I am? As long as he doesn’t judge me for doing something embarrassing.
“I didn’t realize you were into cameras. They’re so well placed, I never noticed them,” I say.
“I’m sorry, Hestia. We usually tell our new recruits about the security cameras. It must have slipped my mind,” Orion says.
