《Druidification》


 Chapter 1

    BEEP BEEP BEEP BEE*SMACK*


    "Ugh." Unintelligible groans come out from underneath the covers as a hand retreats back underneath after delivering sweet justice to the perpetrator. Peeking out, a set of green eyes set themselves to see the nuisance reading out 6:00 AM. ''Bleh, I want more sleep, but I need to get up.'' Slowly, the blankets rise up, with nothing but a head popping out of the top, and makes its way to the bathroom.


    Once arriving at the bathroom, the blanket shifts over and hits the light switch. "Argh" the blanket cries out, in a feminine voice, as the blankets rise up to cover the head to keep the rays of pain away. ''Its too early for this'', she thought while shielding her eyes from the blinding whiteness. As her eyes adjusted, she starts to be able to see the same face in the mirror that she has seen every morning. Complete with long chestnut hair and the body of a blanket monster, she strikes a pose that is as threatening as she can make at this hour. "Rawr, all shall fear my incredible softness, and lovable warmth!" is declared out, followed by a symphony of giggles.


    ''So, today is the last day I can take care of those giant fur balls before I am forced to take time off. Hopefully I can get Bryden to take care of it while I am off'', she thinks to herself as she starts brushing her hair. ''because I really do not want to leave their care to Angie, no living being should ever be that unlucky.'' Imagining the outcome, a slight shiver runs down her back, causing her to put it far out of mind. She takes a few more minutes in the bathroom finishing off this part of the morning routine, before heading back to her bedroom and throwing the blanket back onto the bed, sans her. Despite it being early March in Canada, it is surprisingly warm. A nice brisk 5 degrees reads out on the thermometer beside her bedroom window. However, the blanket shell was just cast off, and the rush of the cooler air causes hair to stand on end. With a burst of speed, she quickly gets into her work uniform, just to escape the biting winds that the blanket (praise be!) protected her from.


    Continuing on the morning routine, she prepared a bowl of oatmeal, turned on the TV, and sat down on the couch. And yet again, the news today was still filled with controversy, scandals, and outrage. There were only two things that really stood out as different this morning. An asteroid was heading to the planet and people were crying out its the end of the world, again. Almost like its the year 2012. And then the other actually seemed positive, the opening of a new 110% efficient powerplant over in Thunder Bay. While skeptical, if it works it could potentially solve the issue of global warming just from the technology itself. The potential that this held was immense. Then, of course, there were the people saying that the asteroid would hit the power plant and end the world, but they were being pushed away as conspiracy theorists.


    Turning off the TV, she goes and cleans the bowl, before putting it in the drying rack. Seeing that its 6:40, she grabs some leftovers from the fridge, gets her boots on, grabs her keys, and heads out. While locking up her house, she hears from the house next to her "Hey there Natalie, heading off to work? It could be more fun to just stay over here with me for the day. I would pay for anything you could want."


    "Troy, for the love of fuck, stop. Please just never say any of that ever again. I will never ''get with you'', as you so put it." Before he could add on anymore to the verbal sewage that he had spewed, she quickly left after locking up her house. She never wanted to deal with him, but lately he has just been more of a pain than any neighbour should be. That is not the first time he has approached her with that offer. ''All he sees is my body and wants to show me off. He does not care about anything but himself, that disgusting pig.'' Every time Troy has tried approaching her, he has been shot down harshly and quickly. However it just seems to give him more determination for the next time


    After a quick fifteen minute walk, she arrives at the Waterton Park Fish and Wildlife Conservation office, thoroughly putting the morning despair from dealing with her neighbour behind her as fast as she can. Swiping her badge, she enters and heads straight to the break room. As she walks in, she notices that her boss is chilling in there, sipping on a cup of coffee. "Morning Bryden. Good brew today?"


    "Ehh, it''s a little weaker than I would like. But all in all, it''s a solid cup of joe. Definitely is putting in more work than Angie will this morning..." he answers back, sardonically.


    "Is that air-headed Barbie going to be late again? Why is she not fired yet?"


    "Cause sadly, she still gets her work done enough where I cannot fire her. Us Federal employees get all of those added protections you know." they both sigh, exasperated. Then Bryden gets up, heading out of the break room, "Well, if you need anything I will be in my office dealing with our budget. Have to make sure we are getting paid. Your continuing with that group of wolves today, yea?"


    "Yeah, I am just wanting to make sure that they are taken care of. They barely let me approach them as it is, let alone you or Angie. I just want to make sure that they are in as good of a spot that I can get them before my weekend." She replies as she puts her lunch in the fridge. "Have fun with the paperwork!" All she gets in response is a groan and the door closing. She punches in, and then heads toward the back. Its time to be the Doctor with Wolves!


    If you feel like reading ahead in the story, you could always check out my Patreon! I keep it 10 chapters ahead at all times! https://www.patreon.com/tahu653

 Chapter 2

    Just realized that I never stated this before, but right now I am looking at releasing a chapter daily. I have not had a creative outlet in my life for over five years and am making writing that new outlet. In that regard, I am writing a minimum of 1000 words a day, which I personally will not count towards my goal until I post it. Hope you enjoy the new chapter!


    Heading down the hallway towards the back of the facility, Natalie starts to review her job for the day to ensure everything was done properly. "These wolves were found about five months ago, on the brink of starvation. Still territorial however repeated exposure to me has allowed me to get in and help reduce the damage. Reason for starvation was Severe swelling of lesions from Oral Papillomatosis in the mouth and nasal regions, causing a change in attitude and lack of hunting. Over half of the pack was found dead when we got to them, with the remaining adult wolves in a stable position. Quick surgery managed to save the two remaining pups who were in critical condition, as these lesions expanded enough to restrict airways." Shaking her head, she sighs and steps through the door to the separating room between the offices and the enclosure. She still has the occasional nightmare just from walking into that den, and seeing the poor state that pack was in. From the original twenty-two in this pack, only seven had remained.


    Pulling out a dolly, she sets up meat, medications, some small veterinarian tools, and puts on plastic gloves. After going over a checklist to make sure she did not have any excess items that could cause either distress or violence from her patients, she got behind the dolly and pushed it out of the doors. "All right, time to go and ''meat'' the patients." She said while laughing lightly to herself. Just outside of the doors, she came across a series of metal bowls. Acting quickly, she deposited the meat between all of the dishes, then retreating back to the cart. As the vastly important informational videos have shown, getting in between a wild animal and their food is generally a bad idea.


    Her waiting time was minimal, very much unlike the DMV, since she saw movement as soon as she got back to the dolly. While not making any sudden moves, she waits patiently as three gray wolves come out. They move slowly, yet methodically, as they check to see where the delicious smell of elk meat is coming from. After they go around the area, one positions themselves between her and the bowls, while another yips out softly. Then, from out behind come 2 more full grown wolves, who the whole while are escorting two wolf pups. They take a lot of time, but spare nothing in the pursuit of protecting their young.


    When the pups got to the bowls, the two did very different things. The first one got up to the side of the bowl, positions themselves, and does a little pounce onto the meat, which made Natalie just want to access the security cameras just to get a loop of that. The second pup sticks their head into the bowl, grabs the meat, and starts dragging it over to Natalie. The adult wolves hang back, however, and decide to just watch what their pup does. Two of the other adult wolves do stop eating and position themselves around her. Slowly, she sits down and crosses her leg, already prepared for what will happen. Its only a given that they would feel safer and more comfortable with her after being looked after for 5 months almost exclusively by her.


    When the pup finally gets the meat in front of her legs, so close its actually up against her legs, they walk up onto her lap, get comfy, and slowly start to dig in on their meal. Taking slow and calculated movements, Natalie grabs a small dental mirror and a flashlight from the cart behind her and starts to examine the mouth of the pup on her lap. "Look at that healthy appetite! You are almost back to full health from the look of it, the swelling is dying down nicely and should be gone in a month or two at most!" she says, almost as if she is praising a baby. Cute small animal syndrome can make anyone dumb down their words and vocal tone. No one is safe from the cuteness! As if to respond to her words, the puppy looks back at her, wags their tail, and barks out in joy. Smiling, she reaches up and starts lightly rubbing the top of the puppy''s head, doing her best to keep it soft as to not disrupt eating time.


    Looking up, she notices one of the adult wolves who just finished eating walk over to her. Realizing its both of the pup''s mother, she just keeps as she is until the wolf gets close. The female wolf sits down right beside Natalie, looks her in the face, and slightly opens her muzzle. Switching the focus to the fully grown wolf beside her, Natalie continues with the check up. "Starting to look good there, maybe a week or two at most and all of your swelling will be non-existent." With a slight wag going to her tail, the wolf moves her head forward, and grabs her baby by the scruff of the neck just as they finish off their meat, and heads back to join the rest.


    One by one, the wolves come up to her, though the mother of the two brings her other pup personally, all to get checked over. This was a more recent thing, but after noticing how calm, collected, and passive that Natalie was, they all just started to trust her implicitly as she has shown she wanted nothing more than for all of them to recover as fast as possible. It all went smoothly and efficiently, which is the nice thing about this disease, as usually all it takes is time to heal from. Usually it would take 6-12 months to heal naturally, and only 3 months for the disease itself to regress. The issue only comes up when it alters feeding and hunting behaviour or restricts eating, drinking, or breathing, and that it generally targets younger canines. The virality of it just happens to allow it to be passed on to other, more mature members of their pack.


    As she was finishing cleaning up everything on the cart and getting ready to head back in, she hears the click of the door. She looks over to see a blob of fur, blonde hair poking out of the top, eating what seemed to be a BLT. All of a sudden she yells out, "Hey Natalie, there you are! Do you know what we need to work on today?"


    If you feel like reading ahead in the story, you could always check out my Patreon! I keep it 10 chapters ahead at all times! https://www.patreon.com/tahu653

 Chapter 3

    Finally figured out how to get the Patreon button on the bottom. I can be a bit slow at times. Just as a going forward, it is always kept ten chapters ahead. Do not feel as if you have to support it to read it, it is just there for those who wish to read it immediately after I finish writing. I will continue to keep uploading to scribble hub regardless.


    Before she could even start to think, Natalie''s legs were already moving. ''That fucking dumbass! Does she not remember what is in here? Why did she just ignore the guidelines?'' As she got close enough, she threw her body at Angie in a full body tackle. Just after she makes contact and they start to fall, she hears a whoosh of air and a growl pass by behind her. Holy crap, this idiot literally almost died! As soon as they landed, Nat got to work fast, stripping the fur coat off of her air-headed co-worker. Thankfully, the tackle caused two things that helped her take care of the idiot sooner. Firstly, the BLT went flying directly towards the next wolf that was lining up. That distracted the wolf and once they caught it, they were content to just sit down and eat the delicious morsel. Secondly, she seemed to have stunned her target, making the removal of the fur coat be relatively resistance free.


    Throwing the fur coat away, she then quickly stops all movement. As the abomination lands on the ground, two wolves descend on it and start ripping it to pieces. Slowly, Natalie picks up Angie and slowly starts making her way to the door. Thankfully, due to the distracting nature of the fur coat and the tastiness of the BLT, they make it to the door without any issues. Once inside, Natalie starts moving exponentially faster, carrying a still dazed Angie down the hall. Arriving at a door near the end of the hall, she quickly opens it up, and deposits her package onto one of the chairs. "Okay Natalie, why are you carrying Angie in here and why does she look like she just got mugged?" The original occupant of the room, Bryden, asks with increasing worry and volume.


    "This fucking Dumbass not only went into the enclosure with food, but while wearing a goddamn fur coat! She is lucky she is not dead right now! I now need to go deal with the aftermath, so I am leaving this moron with you." Nat says to him, still exasperated at the idiocy that she had witnessed. Before Bryden can say anything else, she leaves the room and heads back they way she came. Getting to the separating room, she just sits down on a chair and works to calm herself down while mentally digesting what just happened. ''Angie ignored the guidelines and protocols, and almost got herself killed. If she does not get fired for this, I am totally going to submit a formal complaint to the higher ups and state that she is completely incapable of working in this field as she has no ability when it comes to working with wild and dangerous animals.'' Once she had sufficiently calmed down, she got up off the chair and headed back to the door.


    For the rest of the morning she just went through the enclosure, making sure that all pieces that were left of the abomination were cleaned up and disposed of, doing standard checks of the area, and filling out all of the reports that she needed to in the separating room. The only eventful thing happening was when she went to grab a sleeve, the more friendly pup decided that then was a good time for a game of tug of war. Of which, she did humour for a good while, even after its mother came by and watched. It almost looked like the mother wolf was smiling while watching the whole situation.


    As the clock finally rung out 11:00 AM, she got up from the paperwork covering her desk and headed to the lunchroom. As she walked in, she was confronted by a crying, angry mess of a human being. "How could you do that to me! Not only did you assault me for no reason, you also destroyed that beautiful coat! Do you even know how much that cost! I will have you pay me back for that. It was a limited run designer coat you uncultured harlot!" Angie just blows up at her. "I am going to sue you into the ground for this. Just wait till you hear from my lawyers!" After she finished yelling, Angie grabs her belongings and walks straight out of the door. Natalie just stands there, unable to process what even just happened. There was just too much that just felt wrong with everything, that she was left unable to retort the emotional wreck of a co-worker. As she just stood there shell-shocked, a hand settled gently on her shoulder.


    "Do not worry Nat, Angie finally went off the deep end. Not only has she been fired, but if she does try to press anything you can have full access to the security camera footage. They all caught the whole thing wonderfully."


    "Thanks Bryden. Guess now its time to hire some new blood, eh?" Nat responds, starting to have a bit of a smile. Not having to deal with that air head anymore sounds like a giant blessing, and with her birthday next week, she could not have asked for a better gift.


    Bryden just smiles back, "I guess we do. Hopefully, we can get another person with as much care as you have shown. Now, with all that happened today, you are to head home early. Take care of yourself, and ill see you back here no sooner than five days from now."


    "You sure boss? You won''t get lonely just being on your lonesome without anyone else here? You might go crazy from the lack of attention." she responds, with obvious humour carrying through her voice.


    "Get out of here your rascal, I am going to be fine. Would much rather be alone here than suffer with your terrible sense of humour a minute longer!"


    Laughing, Natalie grabs her stuff, punches out, and heads out of the office. "Thanks Bryden, take care of those wolves while I am gone. And yourself while you are at it!" She calls out as she leaves. Walking outside, she takes a large breath of air, smiles, and looks out to the horizon. "Now," she asks herself, "what am I going to do with four days off?"

 Chapter 4

    Even after the fifteen minute walk home, Natalie still had no idea how she wanted to spend her time. Did she want to garden? Spring clean? Bury herself in a pile of books? She had no idea how she wanted to deal with the massive amount of downtime that she had available. There was just too many options, yet none sounded quite like the most ideal. As she got to her house, she felt a massive amount of disgust as Troy was standing in front of her door, looking smug with his hands on his hip. "So, I see that you have decided to take me up on that offer. My magnanimous self shall make sure you want for nothing!"


    "Troy, first of all, fuck off. Second, fuck no. And thirdly, get off my fucking property." Nat delivered, with a light seething rage. She already had to deal with one idiot today, she did not have the energy to deal with another. Sadly, life has a way of giving us exactly what we do not need.


    "Come now, my little strumpet. No need for harsh words, just come into Master''s arms and forget all of your worries." As Troy responds, clearly not even listening, he starts to move down the walkway towards Natalie, holding his arms out for a hug with a salacious grin across his face. Seeing this, Nat backs up slightly, both due to disgust and to get into a more grounded stance. Troy continues forward, seemingly ignorant of her body language. As soon as he gets close to Natalie and starts leaning in, her foot launches straight up, in between his legs. The next thing either of them know, he is on the ground gasping for breath while groaning in pain.


    "Fuck off. Don''t come near me, especially with that hideous look on your face." trying to walk past him, she moves relatively quickly. At least, until her progress is halted when she feels her ankle getting grabbed. Looking back, she sees that he still has one hand cradling his jewels, while the other is holding onto her ankle, as if he was saying that he wasn''t done with her yet. Spinning around, she slams her heel into his face, causing him to let go.


    "I told you to fuck off. Maybe next time you should try listening instead of just going as your dick tells you to." Saying her piece, Nat steps away from him and into her house, not sparing another second on the asshole who lives in delusions of his own grandeur. Locking the door, she slumps against it. ''Why couldn''t anything go right today. First there was the whole debacle with Angie, now this? What do you have for me next universe? Dumb police coming to arrest me for self defense? Monsters? End of the world?'' As she is freaking out over how crappy her day has been, all the sudden there is a heavy slam on her door.


    "I know you are in there bitch. I will make you mine, and by the time that I am done with you, you are gonna be begging for me to put a collar on around your neck with my name on it." She stays sitting there, petrified that he will try to break in should he have any acknowledgement that she heard him. Once she hears his footsteps and heavy breathing moving away from her front door, does she get up and head deeper in her house, towards her bedroom.


    As soon as she reaches her bedroom, she collapses face first onto her bed and lets out a meaty groan. ''I have 4 days off, and this asshole is probably going to bother me for each of those fucking days, if not try and force his way to doing worse.'' Shuddering at this thought, she curls up around one of her pillows. The idea of spending her entire time here getting accosted by that freak is not her idea of a good time. All she wants now is to be as far away from here as she can be.


    "That''s it!" she exclaims, jumping up from the bed, "I''ll just go camping in the brush for my time off. I will be out, in the middle of nowhere. No idiots, no people, just me and nature." Excitedly, she quickly changes out of her work uniform and into comfy hiking clothes. Then, grabbing her pack, she loads up her tent, some basic tools, some spare clothing, a first aid kit, and a flare gun. Always better to be prepared in case something might go wrong, rather than hope nothing goes wrong and be screwed when everything goes sideways.


    Throwing on all of her stuff, she is about to head out of the door when all the sudden, her stomach grumbles. Pausing, she takes a step back, takes off her boots and sets her pack down and heads back into the kitchen. Cooking up a fulfilling yet light meal of tomato soup with grilled cheese, she quells the beast that lays dormant inside of her, and makes sure its satisfied before it will be forced to last with living off the land and whatever preservatives she decides to pack. Taking care of her stomach is akin to taking care of her mind after all.


    Cleaning up everything from lunch, and refrigerating the leftover soup for when she gets back, she goes through her house and makes sure all lights are off and all windows and doors are locked. Checking her front window with as much stealth as she can muster, she is relieved to notice that Troy has moved on since he was dropped on her front walkway. She then gets back on her boot, shoulders her pack, and warily heads out the front door, locking it up behind her. Taking a quick look around to make sure the creep is no where near, Natalie makes her way into town. There are a couple of things she feels like she has to do before she can venture out into the wilderness to be away from anyone and anything. Chief among those, is to pick up more food!

 Chapter 5

    Walking down the street, Natalie kept looking behind her every couple of minutes. Troy''s earlier perseverance increasing her paranoia to record highs. She was now extremely conscious of her surroundings, to the point where any noise makes her take a look. Unconsciously. She was even giving a wide berth around the few people she passed on the street


    Very few people actually lived here, as it was only people who worked either in one of the stores or in the park that actually had a house here. Most of the town itself was actually just one giant campground. Sadly, that meant it had the same glaring flaws as most small towns. Mainly, ostracize the new people that move there. Since moving here three years ago after post secondary, she had really only interacted with three people on a personal level. Angie, who was newer than she was and spent most of her weekends driving to nearby cities. Bryden, who was her boss, yet around long enough that the locals actually respected him and treated him as one of them. And Troy, who made her life hell, but since he was born and raised there everyone else in town was way more apt to believe him than think one of their own was that deranged.


    Arriving at the general store, she quickly went inside and got simple food stuff, such as jerky, some vegetables, and a couple of water bottles. She didn''t feel the need to pack too much food, as she was planning on setting up some traps for some small game. Mm fire roasted rabbit. Stopping herself from drooling at the mental imagery, she quickly paid for the items and left, without having so much as a word between her and the people working there. At least she enjoyed being on her own for the most part. Otherwise, she was sure to have gone insane years ago.


    Leaving the store, she starts back down the street. ''Now, before I go out of town for multiple days at a time, I should let someone know. Only person I trust enough is Bryden, so back to work, and then into the great beauty of nature.'' Heading down the street, she gets there quickly, since all of the businesses and offices are in the same part of town. Makes it easier for tourist to navigate, or some shit like that.


    "Honey, I''m home!" Natalie belts out as she walks into her work. All that follows is a crash, some light cursing, and a door opening. Bryden walks out of the door, looking obviously unimpressed.


    "What in the hell are you doing back here? I told you to scram," he says while approaching her. A slight grin peeking through his fa?ade. "You need to take time off, whether you admit it or not!"


    "Don''t worry Bryden, I am actually taking time off. Just planning to go do some camping in the brush and get away from it all. Troy is becoming a much bigger issue and I will not take my chances with staying in town as it is."


    "Oh gods no, what did that fool do this time," Bryden inquired, worry starting to colour his face.


    "That piece of shit was blocking my door, deluded himself into believing I got home early because I wanted to be with him, then came at me with the most disgusting look on his face. He thankfully left himself open, so I delivered a quick foot to his family jewels, and moved to step past him." She explains, visibly getting worked up from remembering it all. "And then, as i try to step past him to be able to go home, he grabs me by the ankle, as if to say he wasn''t giving up yet. This freaked me out so much I just spun and kicked him in the face. And if that all wasn''t fucking enough, after I got inside and locked my door, he slammed on it and threatened me, saying he was gonna make me his bitch and putting his collar on me."


    "Damn rotten swine. He besmirches our town like a stain on a wedding dress. If only everyone else in town was able to see his bullshit, this place would be better off. Want me to submit anything to the cops?"


    "Please? Last time I went to them they just laughed me out of the detachment. It might help if you go to them instead."


    "Alright, I can take care of that for you. Since you are going off the grid, I''ll just need to know where you are planning to camp." Walking back to his office, they both come up to the map mounted on the wall. Every time Nat sees it, she is surprised that it still is fully legible, considering that its covered in migration routes, where wild animal territories are, and all the trails that people hike on. Realizing that she hasn''t thought about where to actually go, just that she wanted to go, she takes a few minutes gauging where seems like the best place for a couple of days.


    Firstly, wherever it is she is camping, it needs to be fairly far away from any trails or other civilization. The whole point of this trip is to get away. Second, there has to be a decently sized body of water. That way, she doesn''t have to make multiple trips back to town just so she can get something to drink. And finally, it needs to be in the general area just in case something goes wrong. Wouldn''t want to shoot off a flare looking for help when nobody can see it past the mountain that is in the way. There were a couple of places that stood out as potential.


    Finally deciding on a location, she moves forwards and points towards a spot on the giant map. "I think I will go south of Mount Alderson, and west of Mount Richards. Probably just a couple minute walk away from those two smaller lakes down there."


    Moving forward, Bryden takes a red pin and puts it on the map in that area. "Sounds like a plan to me. I am going to assume that you are bringing your flare gun, so if i see or hear of a flare going off in that area, you know I will be the first one headed out that way. And try not to worry about that filth. If he tries to cause anything, I''ll deal with it for ya."


    "Thanks Bryden, you are the best! I need to get going though, if I want to be all set up before it becomes too dark." Waving farewell, she rushes out the door and towards the trail leading into the wilderness. ''Finally, it''s time to put all this madness behind me, now its time to enjoy the simplicity of nature!''


    Huge thanks to Jake for supporting me and my writing!

 Chapter 6

    As soon as she left the building, Natalie looked up to see where the sun was at. Sadly, it was directly overhead of her, as it was just after noon. Realizing that she was shorter on time than she would have liked, she started heading west towards the main hiking trail. It cut through the forest nicely, and even wrapped around the northern base of Mount Alderson all the way up to Mount Carthew. ''Now, to just follow this trail around Alderson, then cut south and go over a smaller ridge along the mountain line until she saw the small lakes show up on her right. All in all, it was shaping up to be an over four hour hike to get out there. That only left her about two hours of sunlight to make up her camp at most before she was limited on what she could see. Thankfully, there was no fire ban in place, so she could cozy up by a small fire in those later hours.


    As she reached Cameron Falls, she took a minute and double checked all of her gear. Making sure she forgot nothing, that everything was secured, and that she had the bear spray easily accessible. She was pretty good about remembering, especially after ''bear''-ing through all of Bryden''s safety meetings. Those just lasted ''fur"-ever. Once satisfied, Nat started making her way up the path.


    The way this path started, you first followed Cameron Creek going up the hill beside the falls themselves. Then for about 10-20 mins, you followed the creek above the falls. As the path broke away from the running water, it started to go around the bend of Bertha Peak. That peak was the main reason that anyone came to Waterton this time of year. The view from the top, especially in the morning, was majestic. Sun glinting over mountaintops, the shadows of the many trees starting to dance, and the small glint that came off the many small lakes in the area made it so you could just look at the surroundings for hours and never get bored. If it wasn''t for her schedule already being cramped, she would have gone up to see the view again.


    Continuing on down the path, Natalie finally reached the southern most point of the path, marking where she was breaking away from civilization and going into the wilds. Breaking south-west, she headed for where the mountains were the lowest. The range in this area averaged about 1500 feet above the path at its top, but the area she was heading to had a difference in elevation of just under 1000 feet. As long as someone was careful, the ascent and descent were negligible.


    All in all, the trip was a slow but uneventful one. Walking along the ridge line heading south, she finally saw the destination she was aiming for on her left. Before heading down, she turned to her right and help up her hands below the sun. ''Hand and a half, huh. Guess I have about an hour and a half till sundown. That took a bit more time than I thought, but not by much.'' Shrugging, she gets down from the ridge and starts scouting out spots slightly away from the lake. This is a pond far away from humanity, so numerous animals must use this as a watering hole.


    Finding a spot that seems to be low in tracks, Nat gets to work by first hammering in her tent pegs and getting it set up. Nothing would be worse for her than to not have her tent set up before the sun goes down. Trying to do it with either a flashlight or by the light of a fire would be next to impossible. Once it was secured and set up, she then takes out a bunch of string with bells on it. Moving slowly, she sets the string up all around her campsite, setting up a small almost warded off area. Knowing full well that there are wolves that frequent the area means that she will spare nothing in terms of safety.


    Satisfied with the set up, Nat heads into her pack and pulls out three sets of rabbit snares. All she would need is probably two rabbits for the three days she was planning to be out here, but it was better to catch too many than not enough. Taking a while, she finally finds three good spots to set up the snares, especially so that they wont attempt to catch anything bigger. As she makes her way back to her little camp, Natalie grabs bits of wood here and there for tinder. ''I wish there was a dead tree here. Could just break that into pieces and have plenty of firewood for the weekend.''


    Just as it is starting to turn dark, she gets back to her tent. Stepping over the warning line of bells, she clears the area in front of her tent and starts making a small fire pit. After lighting the small amalgamation of sticks and dead plants, she sits back and enjoys the view of the sun setting over the mountaintops. As the final rays of light fade, tiny sparks of light pop up in the night sky one by one. For hours, Natalie just sat there, tending the fire and enjoying the view of the stars. The only thing that could make this view better in her mind was most likely an aurora borealis, the dancing lights of the north. She didn''t see them as much down here compared to back home in High Level, but she enjoyed her job.


    Yawning, she got up and doused the fire, taking care to make sure not a single ember remained. While her tent was insulated, it was the direct opposite of fire-proof. Heading into the tent, she pulled of her boots, got out her sleeping bag, and crawled in. As she fell asleep, the soft sounds of nature soothed her ears until finally, everything faded peacefully to black.


    Huge thanks to Jake for supporting me and my writing!

 Chapter 7

    BANG!


    "AHHHHH" Natalie screams while being suddenly awoken by the loud crash. Taking deep breaths, she starts to calm down as her eyes adjust to the darkness. ''Did someone knock on my door? Who would come by at this hour.... Wait. This isn''t my house. I''m out camping away from everyone. So what was that loud bang?'' While being slightly awake, she starts to listen for anything that could giver her a clue. All she can hear is the leaves rustling, the light sound of the pond water moving up against the banks, a muted whining, and the crickets chirping off as if they own the place. Wait, muted whining. As Nat''s brain wakes up and realizes the outlier, she can more clearly hear the whining sounds of distress nearby. Quickly scrambling out of her sleeping bag, she puts on her boots, grabs her flashlight, and heads out of the tent.


    Stepping out of the warm tent, she shivers slightly in the cold mountain air. Grabbing her pack, Natalie slowly starts to head toward the sounds of distress. Because of how muted they are, she had to move slowly and methodically so that she wouldn''t either loose the sound amongst her own, or scare whatever was hurt into becoming quiet. She was so focused on moving quietly, that she almost walked right into her warning line. Walking over it, she started moving tree to tree, slowly making her way closer.


    As she got closer, she started to hear little yips going off, and they seemed to be near to the original sound she was following. ''Could this be another set of wolves? Are they out hunting and are cornering their prey? But then why would there be one whining? And why would the yips be so quiet and small?'' Natalie racked her brain for what she could be coming up to. If it really was a bunch of wolves hunting, the best thing she could do would be to get out of there and back to her camp as fast as she can. If she doesn''t disturb them, they won''t disturb her. However, a nagging voice in the back of her head keeps telling her to push on forwards, to investigate what is truly going on. As she gets to the next tree, all of her questions become answered almost immediately.


    Ahead of her and down a small hill covered with a fine layer of snow, sits an small opening in the forest, the Moon illuminating the scene in front of her vividly through the treetops. With the full moon just a couple days prior, the light levels were extraordinary. Laying in the pseudo clearing in front of her lay a giant fir tree. That tree falling must have been what woke her up, especially considering how green its branches still were. In the area around the middle of the gigantic tree, was the origination of the sounds she had heard from her camp.


    A large grey wolf, especially for what appeared to be a female wolf, laid down beside it. It seemed that when the tree fell, it must have landed on one of her legs, trapping her underneath its weight. There were a few things that helped Natalie figure out that it was female, either the pitch of the voice, or the contours of her muzzle. The one that nailed it home however, was the five small pups working on moving whatever they could away from her trapped leg, doing their best to free who appeared to either be their mother or at least a close older wolf. The fact that there was no other wolves around was what made Natalie worried, as that would mean that these five pups probably relied on the sole older wolf to do all of the hunting, and to make sure they were fed. A crushed leg on a wolf was usually a death sentence, even more so when the one injured is the sole hunter.


    Conflict raged inside of Natalie, as she was torn on what to do. The proper thing to do was to leave them alone. Wolves are larger predators, and would have no problem eating anything they can get if they are hungry and desperate enough. If she decided to go in and help, she would be risking her own life to help her potentially would be killer. On the other hand, the right thing to do would be to help them out. Sitting idly by, knowing full well that doing nothing would sentence the young lives of those wolf pups to end early, never having even gone on their first hunt.


    As the debate raged on inside of Natalie''s heart, she failed to notice that she unconsciously was leaning in further and further to try and get a better idea of the situation. All of a sudden, her foot slipped! Alternating between sliding and rolling, she descended the hill towards the tree at an alarming rate. Trying to find purchase on anything to slow her descent towards the small family of predators, Nat flailed her arms and legs with reckless abandon. Near the bottom, she felt both of her legs brace on a tree. Catching her breath quick, she looked up from the tree that caught her towards the group of wolves now just twenty meters in front of her.


    The wolf pups had stopped struggling with the packed dirt around her leg to all collectively take up a formation around her, their hackles raised. They were growling as ferociously as they could, as if they just wanted to scare her off to save the older wolf. As for their elder, she had stopped whining and did nothing but stare towards Natalie. As their eyes locked, time seemed to slow. As the seconds ticked by, Natalie felt like the wolf was staring through her, right into her very soul. After a short time passed, the female wolf let out a single, but strained, bark.


    Hearing this bark, Natalie''s eyes moved quickly and watched in surprise as the pups stopped growling, and started moving off to the sides, almost all at once. Taking this in, she looked up to the adult wolf with a look of confusion. It almost looked like she was smiling. When the female wolf noticed that Nat was looking back at her, she turned her head to look at her trapped leg, then looked back at Nat and nodded. Taking that as a request for help, Natalie then finally made up her mind. She would do her best to help these wolves, and then got up from the tree she stopped on, and slowly started walking over towards the fallen tree.


    Huge thanks to Jake for supporting me and my writing!

 Chapter 8

    As she slowly made her way towards the pinned wolf, Natalie kept her eyes locked onto the adult wolf''s eyes. This in itself would determine how the entire scene played out after they were done. Canines, either wild or domesticated, established dominance through three key signs. The more dominant of the wolf kept their eyes on the eyes of the other canid, their tail stood up, and the ears are forward and attentive. As long as Nat kept up with at least the eyes, the wolf shouldn''t see her as beneath them and decide to go for an easy meal.


    The strange thing about all of this however, was the fact that the wolf she was approaching was acting slightly differently than she expected. Their eyes were similarly locked onto hers, but the tail and ears were in a resting position. Almost as if she trusted Natalie as a member of their pack, like she was family. All it gave Nat however was a warm, yet confused feeling as she did not know what to make of this at all. Once in front of the wolf, instead of moving around to immediately check on the leg, she crouched down towards the prone wolf, which was now just a meter away. "I am going to move around you now, and test some feelers on your leg. If you feel any pain, please let me know immediately. Just, try to avoid biting me. Please?" The wolf just stared at her for a second, then nodded.


    Moving around to the tree, she noticed one of the pups had come over to see what she was doing. It just sat down on the other side of trapped leg that she was on and just watched. Shaking her head lightly, so she would not be distracted by the cuteness, she then moved her gaze towards the trapped appendage. Upon closer investigation, she noticed that the three had landed on the metatarsal bones right below the wolf''s ankle on the back right leg. "Damn, it sucks that we are out in the middle of the mountains, cause we are going to have to hope it sets right. If I could do surgery on that foot, I would in a heartbeat. At best this will be six weeks to recover. At worst, you could be looking at over two months. And these words probably mean almost nothing to a wolf." As she said that, she turned her face to get met with probably the most blank stare she had ever received. "Long time to heal." Hearing that, the female wolf had a troubled look on her face.


    Turning her attention back to the tree, she noticed that the pups had already started clearing dirt out to slide the foot out. Quickly taking her pack off of her shoulders, she pulled her folding shovel off the back of it and started moving dirt. As she did, she noticed that the pups watching her had multiplied. Three of the five were now watching her with wide eyes, most likely surprised and in awe of her ability to move a lot of dirt quickly. Just imagine the holes they could make with that! Giggling lightly at the thought process, she continued to move the dirt away. She had to move deliberately, so as to not accidentally stab her patient with the giant, and now dirty, metal instrument.


    After about 10 minutes of shifting dirt, finally she saw the wolf''s leg relax and slide out from underneath the tree. That was accompanied by a slight whine, then a strong exhale of relieved breath. Natalie put the shovel down, and got closer to the wound. It looked like there was some bleeding coming from the leg, however it did seem straight and true. Hopefully, that meant that it was just some minimal closed acute fractures on the bones, as they were one of the nicer ones to heal. "Before you bleed too much, I''m gonna wrap up your leg. Its gonna feel a bit weird, but you are gonna have to bear with me on this, okay?" Noticing the wolf nod once more, she turned her attention to the pups. "Hey little ones, want to help me help her?" seeing that the three that were watching her dig nod enthusiastically, she continues, "I am going to need you to find me some of the straightest sticks to can find me. Can you do that?" As she finished saying that, the three pups headed off in three different directions to go and look for the straightest stick that ever sticked. The other two seemed content to just sit by their mothers head, nuzzled up against her.


    Pulling out her first aid kit, she grabbed a bandage and started carefully wrapping up the wolf''s leg. Thankfully, other than a couple of flinches, she got the area around the wound wrapped up in no time. Just as she secured the bandage, she heard a dragging sound coming from behind her. There she noticed that one of the pups was dragging a sizable stick,  while the other two were carrying a similar sized one together. Thanking them, she quickly used the sticks to make up a splint to help secure the foot in place. "There we go, all done." she said, looking at the female wolf. "Hopefully, this heals as fast as it can."


    As she started to get up, she heard the wind pick up in volume to the east. As she looked that way, a green wave of light and wind passed over top of the mountain in front of her. It moved so fast, that before Natalie could even attempt to scream in fright at the oncoming wave she was engulfed in it. As soon as it hit, it was gone, and after turning to the west, she saw it quickly disappear over the mountains. Turning to the wolves, the pups probably were mirroring her look of confusion on what just happened. The mother wolf instead had gone wide-eyed, almost as if a giant amount of understanding and knowledge had just been found out. Like a kid learning that their parents had been Santa Claus all along.


    With a single bark, the adult wolf got all the pups to change their look from confusion and into a ready state. Confused by what was happening, Natalie looked back and forth between the wolves, wondering what was going on. Another bark, and all the pups started running at her, with the mother wolf getting up and turning towards her. But as Nat saw them touch her, one by one the pups seemed to enter her. As the momma wolf entered her, Natalie was left alone in the moonlit clearing. She sat there for a few minutes, before finally saying, "What the fuck?"


    Huge thanks to Jake, Viktor, and Kevin for supporting me and my writing!

 Chapter 9

    Natalie sat there for almost half an hour, just looking back and forth between the log and her body. ''Was it all just a dream? What had just happened? Was she just imagining things due to sleep deprivation?'' All these questions and more just rattled through her brain as she tried to make any sense of what just happened. After all, having six wolves enter your body after being hit by a giant and fast wave of energy should not be a normal thing. After half an hour, a yawn escaped her lips. Realizing that she was needing sleep, otherwise she might collapse in the middle of the woods, Natalie finally got up to get back to her camp.


    As she folded up her shovel, she wondered if she was delusional. After all, there was a hole under a log, dirt on her shovel, and no sign of any living being around her. The only thing that remained of the wolves was the now dried blood on her hands from the bandaging of the wound. No matter where she checked on herself though, she found no wound that could have caused the blood, nor was there any other explanation. Her tired mind slowly coming to understand the fact that she was not delusional, and the most impossible thing she could have imagined had actually happened to her. How exactly was one to just immediately accept that other living beings could enter you, and you would feel no different?


    As she finished repacking her bag with her shovel and first aid kit, she got up, slung it back over her shoulder and started heading back towards her camp. Thankfully the terrain on the hill was still messed up from when she fell down. She was not sure she would have been able to find the way back. While walking, a new set of questions entered her mind. This line of thought had a much different direction that it took, mainly due to the fact that she finally viewed the events to have all actually happened. ''Okay, now am I the only one that this happened to? Is everybody able to have animals enter them? Are they able to come back out? What actually ended up happening to them?'' Her questions had only increased in frequency since accepting the whole situation, now actually having a baseline to go on.


    ''Since this wave came, did it hit the whole world? Was it only Canada that was affected? Were her parents doing okay? What about Shannon... Nah, if anyone she will probably be fine. I don''t know anyone who can fight nearly as well as she can.'' The journey back was mostly uneventful, just the occasional almost falling on her face due to the tree roots sticking out. Her distracted mind failing to pay attention to where she was walking. As she got back to her camp, in her tired and addled state, she walked right into the line of bells. Snapped out of her thoughts she looked down and noticed that she had tripped her perimeter line. Looking back up, she sighed as she noticed that her entire camp was in disarray from the wave of wind and light.


    Her tent was one of the only things left standing in its original spot. Looking inside it however, she could tell that some leaves, branches, and dirt had made its way into the temporary dwelling.  Her sleeping bag was thrown to the back corner of the tent, and was almost buried in the debris. In her rush to get out earlier she had left the door to her tent wide open. Ash from the fire pit was spread out in a cone, showing clearly what direction the wind was moving and how strong it was. The set of kindling and branches that she had as extra were strewn out in an almost parallel cone beside the cone of ash. Shaking her head, she started moving through her camp, fixing everything so that she could sleep in peace.


    Starting first with the spread out ash, she pulled back out her folding shovel and quickly worked the dirt, doing her best to bury the particulate. This one was the biggest worry she had as if there was any ash that still had any heat left from the fire, she could be creating the biggest forest fire the region had seen in years. This took her a fair while, as the strong and fast wind had carried the ash for meters from its resting position. After that was done, she checked the perimeter line that she herself had walked into. Thankfully, nothing seemed to be wrong with it and was still able to act as a warning for the rest of the night. Then, Nat went to her tent, and started with throwing all of the debris into the general area of the fire pit. At this point, her body was sore and her mind tired. She decided to not care about all of the dirt in her tent and just gave her sleeping bag a couple of good shakes to make sure that there was no dirt present to disturb her rest.


    Making sure to close up the tent, she takes her boots off right beside the sleeping bag so she can track in as little dirt as possible, only to realize the folly of her idea as she looks down at her dirt and blood covered self. Shrugging, as she was far too tired to deal with it, she climbed into the sleeping bag as is. Just as she got comfy, she feels a warm sense of weight on her chest. Looking inside the sleeping bag, she notices one of the pups had just made itself comfy and fell asleep in the sleeping bag with her. It nestled itself right in the middle of her chest, probably cause that area had the most body warmth. ''Huh, so they can come back out of me at will,'' she thinks to herself before drifting off to sleep.


    Huge thanks to Jake, Viktor, and Kevin for supporting me and my writing!

 Chapter 10

    Waking up, Nat was unable to move anything except her hands and feet. Looking down, she saw that not only had the little pup stayed curled up on her chest, but the rest of the wolf family had ended up sleeping on top of her in the sleeping bag. While normally she would have felt fear at the fact she was covered in wild predators, all she felt was warmth, comfort, and security. And then confusion for feeling that way.


    ''Don''t worry, won''t hurt. Pack mate.'' Suddenly, Natalie heard a voice in her head that wasn''t hers. With wide eyes she looked towards the adult wolf curled up on her waist. The wolf was looking at her with kind eyes that still had the remnant of sleep to them, as if she had just woken up as well. Did this wolf just speak to her in her mind? ''Yes. Bonded. Can sense, feelings?'' The wolf though to her, almost unsure of the word choice.


    Natalie''s mind instantly put together all of the pieces. The green wave affected her and the wolves. It allowed them to ''bond'' with her as the wolf put it, and apparently allowed them to talk mentally. However, it must have either difficulty thinking out in detail. Was the wolf learning English as she was mentally talking to her? Perhaps the more she talked with the wolf, then the faster it would actually learn how to think in English. Deciding to try out how the connection worked from her end, Nat tried to project her thoughts towards the wolf in question, ''How is your leg feeling?''


    All the response she got in response was, ''Hurt.'' Shaking her head at the curtness of the response, she was glad that the communication between the two seemed to go both ways. Thinking back to wolf, so as to not wake all of the sleeping pups, ''I know that it hurts, I was just wondering if it hurt less than yesterday.'' Being able to get how a patient was feeling was important for doctors, and now she could finally understand how her patient was feeling! She felt joy at being able to finally talk to animals, regardless of the fact that they probably had to be bonded to her to do so.


    ''Better. Still hard walk. Why happy?'' Realizing that the wolf had said earlier that she could know her feelings, she giggled a bit. Before she could start to explain, the giggling which had caused her chest to move up and down erratically caused the pups sleeping there to wake up. One by one, almost like a line of dominoes, they all yawned. The first one to finish yawning, which happened to be the first one that joined her last night, took a couple steps towards her and started to lick her face. She heard a third voice go through her head, ''Clean! Clean!'' Realizing that it was the pup just trying to help clean her off, she could not help but giggle some more at the pups adorable efforts.


    "You all know that I would be able to get a lot cleaner if I was able to get up and go into the pond, right?" After saying that, the mother wolf barked once more. This bark shocked Natalie, as she felt she could understand what it was saying, or at least what it was implying. She had just told all of the pups to go back in. One by one, the sleepy pups entered back in, followed at last by the female wolf. Getting up, she remembered how much of a mess everything was. Looking around and noticing that her whole tent was dirty, she just took off her clothes and tossed them into one corner, and headed over towards the pond with a towel wrapped around her, even if it was just currently for warmth.


    As she got in the pond, she realized she never answered the female wolf''s question. Thinking towards her, she all the sudden had an image of a blank area, populated only by the wolves. ''Is that what it looks inside me?'' she couldn''t help but think that first. It just looked so bland and white. She almost felt bad for the wolves as while they could run around, there was nothing in there. ''Yes'' was the only response to that she heard from the wolf. Moving on, she explained her love of animals and her want to be able to talk with them like a certain fairy tale character while she cleaned the dirt and blood off of her as best she can.


    Noticing that the feeling sense worked both ways as well was interesting, as she felt that the more she explained, the more of an understanding feeling came from the wolf. She was surprised that she wasn''t sensing the pain, but that could have been any number of things. Getting out of the water, she dried herself off as best she could while heading towards her tent. While walking back, she remembered that she hadn''t even asked a basic question for someone she just met. ''Do you have a name that I could call you? Mine is Natalie.''


    ''What name?'' the wolf inside responded.


    ''It''s something that you use to identify yourself, something that anyone can use and you know they are talking about you.'' Natalie realized that having to explain what a name was meant that the wolf probably did not have one.


    ''No. You give one?'' the wolf asked, while giving Nat a feeling of acceptance.


    After she got back to camp, Natalie finally thought of one that might work well. ''How about Kali?'' Feeling happiness at the new name, Natalie assumed that Kali was happy with her choice. Walking into her tent, she sighed. ''I wish that all of this dirt would be easier to clean." As she said that, the pups came out and rolled all around the tent. As they were rolling, they gathered all of the dirt up to Natalie and then brought it into her with them. Shocked at seeing dirt just enter her, Natalie peered inside the space the wolves occupied. As she did, the space inside had changed. The space now had a clearly defined sky, with land covered in dirt. Could stuff that wasn''t bonded enter her body?


    Huge thanks to Jake, Viktor, and Kevin for supporting me and my writing! Remember that I keep Patreon ten chapters ahead at all times.

 Chapter 11

    Seeing the dirt now covering the space inside her, Natalie decided to see what the limits of what she could do with the space that she had decided to call her Soulscape. Something about the word just seemed to feel right, but she did not know why. She walked over to the pile of branches she had gathered and tried to will the dead wood inside. No matter what she tried or thought, nothing would happen. As she was on the edge of giving up, one of the pups noticed what she was trying to do and came over. It first set one paw on the wood, then the other on her causing it to enter into her. Unlike any of her attempts, the branches went with the pup inside her.


    ''So, a bonded animal has to bring it in. That makes it difficult to do anything on my own. Can they bring it out though?'' Following her train of thought, she asked the pup to pull back out the branch. While watching inside, Nat saw the pup put their paw back on the branch, and then saw the pup come out of her with the branch almost magnetically attached to it''s paw. At least, until the pup was fully out. Then the branch just flopped onto the ground and acted like any other branch. As she was considering how useful it was, her attention was drawn back inside the Soulscape by Kali.


    ''Natalie. New thing. Watch.'' As her gaze moved inward, she saw Kali sitting with another branch that was an exact copy of the one that the pup had just brought out. Looking back in front of her, she noticed that the other one was still there, albeit being sat on by a wolf pup with a wagging tail. Asking the pup once more, she saw it disappear into her Soulscape and grab the other branch, and exit with it. Now she had two branches that were exactly the same. Holding the two, she couldn''t even tell the difference.


    ''Kali, can you create more of them?'' Nat had to know. The idea of being able to duplicate anything brought in was more than she could have hoped when she started these experiments. An easy way to store all of her things was all she was hoping for, but this turned out to be so much more.


    ''Yes. Only total brought though.'' Looking back in, she could see yet another branch was in there while the two remained outside. Thinking about it practically, she tried to have the pup bring one of those two branches that were outside back in. Sadly, neither of them were able to be brought back in. This meant she could only bring in unique items then. Trying again, she got the pup to try again, but this time with a completely different branch. This time, it went in smoothly, supporting her theory that no duplicates of what were in there could be re-added. Almost as if there was a directory of some sort.


    ''Hey Kali, when you create the branch, how do you select it?''


    ''List. Blue good. Red bad.'' going by this, Nat could assume that if Kali could spawn something, then it showed up in blue, while things that were unavailable to spawn showed up in red. Now having all of this info, she quickly went around her camp getting everything brought in and out by her helper pup. As she went around, she noticed that every place the pups entered her had tiny spots bare of grass. Looking inside herself, she saw that there was a small patch of grass, and little bits were growing around it. This hinted that living organisms were treated differently than dead matter, as dirt just spread out completely despite only having a little added. Kali helped confirm this by saying that she did not notice it on the list. She did however move over and start laying down on said grass.


    learning about this, she decided to bring a couple of the trees around camp into her. Again, they did not show up on the list, but they looked as vibrant and lively as they did out here. Once she finished with everything around her camp, she headed out to check on her rabbit snares. The first two she came across were still set, so she left them be. As she came across the final one, she found that it had caught and killed a hare. Separating the hare from the snare, she first got the snare in her space before turning to the hare. Deciding that more knowledge is always better, she got one of the pups to bring it in. What happened next she did not expect.


    Peering inwards, she noticed that as soon as the hare had entered, it started hopping around as if it was alive! Before it could move too far however, Kali was on it and had clamped down on its neck, ending the poor rabbits life. Satisfied watching all the pups gather around and eat it, she smiled for a second before asking Kali, ''did that treat show up on the list?''


    Looking up from her meal, Kali seemingly checked the list, and then went wide eyed. A sole ''Yes,'' came out of her before turning back to the meal. Natalie watched in fascination as when they finished the hare, the remains turned into particles. Almost immediately, another one had spawned. This time, Kali got the pups to work together to bring down this hare. As they did, both Kali and Nat had a feeling of satisfaction from watching the pups, as if they were growing up in front of their eyes. When they finished their hunt, they surprised them both when they collectively brought the hare they hunted and presented it to Natalie. Praising them, Natalie turned back to her camp, content to let the wolves hunt as it seemed to have no negative effects on her. No, now was for something much more important. Now was the time for food!


    Huge thanks to Jake, Viktor, and Kevin for supporting me and my writing! Remember that I keep Patreon ten chapters ahead at all times.

 Chapter 12

    Natalie decided to roast the hare with a touch of rosemary. On her way back to camp with her delectable morsel, she kept a eye out for anything that she did not have any of yet in her Soulscape. Better to be prepared to face the worst and collect a little of everything that you can, then need something later on and not have any. By the time she got back to her camp, Nat had a veritable forest growing inside. All that was missing was a motley of smaller creatures to make the forest truly come alive. As she started dressing the rabbit, she had an idea. She wasn''t able to put items into her Soulscape that were already there. She noticed this with the branches. However she had not tried changing the object that she put in. Getting Kali to summon another hare in there, she attempted to get the pelt she had just skinned into her. Much to her delight, the pelt entered without any issue. Now if she just kept skinning any of her hunts, she could have a comfy bed set up in no time.


    She was pulled out of her daydream of a pelt bed by her stomach rumbling at her. Doubling down, she finished dressing and preparing the hare as fast as she could. Thankfully, it was a simple recipe, one that her father had taught her when he took her on a hunting trip. Just few herbs, seared over a campfire on a rotisserie. Simple, yet really tasteful. And if you could not finish it all, it was safe to leave out, as nothing in it was poisonous to animals. Her father was the one that taught her how to survive and hunt, and was the one that inspired her to pursue a job the helped animals.


    Lighting the fire took no time at all, and she quickly got the hare roasting. It let off the most delectable scents as it cooked over the open fire. Just as she finished cooking the hare and had put it on her plate, she got surprised by Kali suddenly poking her head out of her chest. ''Look good. Smell good. Taste good?'' the questioning caught her off guard, but she figured that if she could look in, it would make sense for the wolves to be able to look out.


    "I think it tastes good. How about you take it inside, share it with your pups, and let me know what you think. Then please bring out another one, as I am still quite hungry." Natalie''s stomach rumbled, almost as if to help accentuate her point. She watched Kali seize the roasted hare in her mouth, before disappearing back inside the Soulscape. Nat did not even have to look inside to know their impression of it, as the pups relentlessly called out ''Tasty, tasty!'' over and over again after eating it. Next thing she knew, Kali''s paw had extended back out her chest, with a brand new hare, still sizzling as if it had just come off the fire. ''Huh, guess things save the temperature at the moment they are brought in. Sounds like I am able to get some ice and snow in there then.''


    Quickly finishing off the hare, she cleaned up her cooking area and utensils. Since the hare itself was large enough to feed six people comfortably, she just sent the rest of the hare into herself, where it was consumed with haste by the wolves. ''Try not to spoil your pups with that too much, wouldn''t want them to become lazy and unable to hunt.'' She sent to Kali. After receiving a feeling of affirmation, followed by five individual feelings of disappointment, she giggled to herself as she imagined them being lectured by their mother about the importance to maintain ones hunting ability was. When she headed down to the pond to wash everything up, she got one of the pups to bring some of the water inside, before bringing that same amount back out. After taking a look, Natalie was satisfied when she saw a medium size pond had become an installation on the landscape.


    Finishing her clean up, Natalie continued her journey through the wooded area. She collected some bigger rocks that would be perfect for laying around and sunbathing on, many more varieties of plant life, and some fallen trees, to both use as potential building materials and a large source of firewood. One of the trees that she grabbed was even the one that pinned Kali the night before. After it was brought in, it may or may not have been scratched up in revenge. We will refuse to make any comments or answer any questions at this time.


    When the time for dinner had finally rolled around, Natalie''s Soulscape looked almost picturesque. There was an outcropping of rocks, a pond, trees with smaller brush around its bases, a solid start to a meadow that was sprawling between the three. The wolves were lounging about for the most part, except for two that were playing tag. Through this game, she realized that the wolves couldn''t be hurt inside there. How else would you explain a pup taking a fall off of a rock that would break its neck, and then just run around and have fun as if nothing happened. As far as she or Kali could tell, there was no damage anywhere. However, after a day full of walking around the forest and mountainside, Nat was exhausted and did not feel up to cooking anything different. She just got Kali to pop out another roasted hare for her, and surprised herself by eating all of it in just one sitting.


    Doing a quick tidy of the camp, she headed back into her tent and immediately crawled into her sleeping bag. As soon as she closed her eyes she was asleep. As she woke up the next morning, she was not surprised in the slightest to find that the wolves had once again joined her and made the sleeping bag full yet comfy once more. Sighing in relief at the warm fur all around her, she laid there for another half hour just enjoying the sensation. Finally feeling a need to get up, Nat woke up the wolves, put on her boots and walked out her tent. As she looked around to see if anything was out of place, there was one thing that seemed off to her. A giant plume of smoke was rising into the clouds in the distance. As her mind woke up, she realized what seemed off about this most of all. That smoke, was coming from the direction of Waterton!


    Huge thanks to my Elder Wolves Jake, Viktor, and Kevin for supporting me and my writing! Remember that I keep Patreon ten chapters ahead at all times.

 Chapter 13

    Panic started to fill Natalie''s mind. Was her place on fire? Were Bryden and the wolves okay? Frantically, she started trying to pack up camp as quickly as she could. While rushing around, Kali came out from the tent, and noticed Nat running around like a crazy person. ''Seem panicked. What wrong?''


    "There is a good chance that the smoke over there is coming from my home, where I have people that I care and worry about. I need to get back and see if they are alright!" Natalie stated. Noticing the worry emanating from Nat, Kali quickly got the pups to work, running around and helping her quickly store things into the Soulscape. Thankfully nothing that was sitting around camp had a duplicate sitting in the space, so it was made extremely easy to get everything put away in record time. They were incredibly thorough, picking up and taking care of the smallest pieces of refuse. Though she was freaking out and worrying why there would be such a large plume of smoke coming from where she lived, Nat did not want to disrespect this park and the nature that it held. She had spent the last three years of her life to help keep the human influence on this land as minimal as possible. And she sure as hell wasn''t going to start now.


    Satisfied that there was no trace left of her camping there aside from the disturbed ground and a couple missing trees, she started tracing her path back towards civilization. Sadly, she could not rush this first part of the journey, as the height of the peaks and cliffs that she passed were treacherous should anyone take them for granted. Her getting herself hurt by rushing back would not help anyone. If anything, it would only add to the issues that people were probably already dealing with. They most likely wouldn''t have time to go into the brush to look for someone, even if they notice her flare heading off into the sky.


    While she was heading back to Waterton, Kali decided to try to distract her worried mind and try and help her relax a bit. ''Who people you care about?'' While the language was still a work in progress, Natalie could both understand the intention and appreciate the speed at which Kali seemed to be picking it up.


    Humouring the big wolf inside of her, Natalie decided to explain all about her life back in town. However, she chose to do it mentally as she would need to save her breath for when she ran down the path back to town. ''Well, the only human I care about back there is Bryden. He is my boss, and a great man. I guess the equivalent as you would see it as is that he is the alpha of my pack, but I am his second in command. He has helped me so much and taught me a shit ton about working in nature, for nature.''


    ''Alpha Bryden, mate with him?'' Kali asked her, a inquisitive tone taking to her voice.


    ''What? No, no. He is sweet, however I see him more as a role model and instructor. Not in any kind of romantic way. He has just earned my respect many times and even saved my life once. It was when I had just started working under him, and I wanted to spend a day just having a meal out in the woods, and just enjoy the wild. Well, a brown bear smelled my food, and decided he wanted a piece. Bryden arrived just in time, and helped me get away without any issues. He didn''t even yell or get mad at me for it, he was just worried whether or not I was okay. I really hope he is okay.


    Other than him, there are these other wolves that I am close to. They are gray wolves like you and your pups, but they got sick with the rest of their pack. Sadly, we were not fast enough to save their even most of their pack, and they are all that is left.'' Natalie finished, feeling sadder now after thinking about the terrible loss those wolves have had, and hoping that nothing happened to them. She did not want them to lose anymore than they already have.


    ''Maybe they join your pack?'' Kali suggested, all for getting new friends for her pups to play with. Especially if any of these wolves turned out to be pups themselves, then they could bounce their energy off each other. She did not inquire about this however, as she wanted Nat''s sadness to go away sooner. Asking more questions about them wouldn''t help with that right now.


    As Natalie finally descended down from the final peak she had to cross and neared the path, she heard a sound that seemed angry, violent, and wrong. She slowed down to a crawl immediately, and slowly worked her way forward, trying to make as little noise as possible. As she got closer, she noticed that the brush around her was beaten down, and there were little blood splatters here and there. As she came around one tree, she almost screamed in fright as she came face to face with a crumpled body leaning against the tree.


    Upon closer investigation, it had to have been no taller than three feet tall, was green from head to toe, and seemed utterly barbaric. It''s head was caved in with a very clear hoof print. It seemed to belong to a mid-age elk, probably female going by the size and shape. Black blood was oozing out of its wounds, but even creepier was a black smoke that was coming off the skin of the little corpse. Almost as if the body was evaporating. Thanks to her nerd of a mother, and her almost religious following of all things fantasy, Natalie assumed that this could be nothing other than a goblin. What were they doing here, on Earth?


    Continuing onto the path without bothering with the disturbing monster corpse, she finally snuck up to the edge of the treeline. What she saw there was disturbing. There was another goblin corpse crushed into the ground. Its black blood oozing into the ground. An elk, with its guts opened up was laying on the ground nearby, black blood on two of its hoofs, one front and one rear hoof. And standing over top the corpse of the elk were three goblins, very much alive and arguing. Probably about who gets to eat what she assumed. That however did not matter to her, as she was so revolted at the sight of them that she only had one thought on her mind. That the only good kind of goblin, was a dead one.


    Huge thanks to my Elder Wolves Jake, Viktor, and Kevin for supporting me and my writing! Remember that I keep Patreon ten chapters ahead at all times.

 Chapter 14

    Crawling back into the brush of the forest, Natalie made some distance between her and the monsters. She could likely deal with them no issue, but since she was dealing with an unknown she wanted to take no chances. Planning how she was going in would be just as important, if not more so than maintaining the element of surprise. She decided to go through her items and see what could work out well. Her flare gun could probably take one out, but she wanted to fire it closer as to guarantee a hit. That was one dealt with, but what about the other two? Her hatchet was briefly considered before being decided as a bad choice. She could hit one of them, but leave herself open to a follow up attack from the final one. Using a stick, either to beat them or as a spear, could work, but she had no idea if the stick would hold up to pierce or do enough damage before breaking. Her carving knife was meant for fine delicate work, so it was out as it was more likely to shatter than be able to be used to kill. She finally settled on the last item she could reasonably use.


    The best choice she could use for a weapon was her folding shovel. It had a tapered sharp edge for digging, plus it had the length for both power and reach. It was made with carbon steel, so it breaking from the force she could exert was a laughable concept. Now having a general idea she moved behind a tree and had one of the pups bring it out after it had been wrapped in a sweater. Due to needing the element of surprise, she had the pup head back in with the sweater, leaving her with the shovel.


    As she was preparing herself to deal with the goblins, Kali sent her a thought that reassured her and made her feel safer in her idea. ''Will be ready. Help if needed.'' Knowing she was not alone and had reliable backup that was ready at a moments notice was quite a relief for Nat''s increasing stress. Quietly as she could, she crawled forward to see where the goblins were. As she got forward to the bushes on the edge of the path, she was glad to see that they all had their backs to her, still arguing over top the dead elk.


    Slowly getting up, Natalie stalked towards the unaware monsters in front of her. Every step measured, every placement of her feet double checked, she moved forward wary of being detected. The goblins voices were loud, which helped mask her approach. Still, all it took was for one to turn around in anger, disgust, or some other reason to notice her. As she got within range, she swung the shovel into the head of the goblin furthest to the right. A satisfying crunch came from its head as the skull visibly deformed by the metal implement.


    Pulling the shovel back, she stabbed it forward towards the middle goblin as if it were a spear. After hearing its fellow goblin go crunch, it started turning to see what happened to its brethren. The shovel flew forward and the left side landed right on the throat of the goblin, piercing through and tearing a deep gash into its neck. Pitch black blood squirted out of its neck wound, covering its crushed brethren in front of it and the shovel with the liquid. The third goblin started moving toward Natalie as she drew her flare gun and aimed at it. The goblin clearly was either angry, unworried, or unaware of what she was holding as there was no restraint in its eyes as it started rushing toward her. Having lined up the shot, Nat pulled the trigger.


    CLICK!....... CLICK! CLICK!


    Nothing happened when she pulled the trigger. Trying to bring the shovel around she started to back up, away from the enraged creature. She started moving too late though, and the goblin''s claws raked her forearm and caused gashes going down the outside. Screaming in pain, she pulled the arm into her, not noticing that she was lowering the shovel due to the pain. As the goblin came closer, it started reaching for the shovel, as if to wrestle away the weapon to give itself the advantage over Natalie. Just as it was about to grab the shovel, Kali''s came out of Natalie''s chest, pouncing on the goblin with her fangs latching onto the goblins throat. As she landed on the goblin, Kali started shaking her head, tearing the throat out of the monster, and ending the creatures life.


    Grasping her arm in pain, Nat did her best to apply pressure to the wound. As she did, she asked the wolf pups to bring out the first aid kit. Thankfully, it seemed that it was ready to go and it was brought out instantly. It seemed Kali had recognized it from when it was used to tend to her wounds and had it ready and waiting for in case it was needed. While Kali cleaned herself from the blood of the goblin, Nat got to work disinfecting and bandaging her own wound. She had no way of knowing if anything would be wrong, but all the portrayals of goblins in pop culture had her believe that they were grimy, disgusting things. She was not gonna take any chances after one had opened wounds on her body.


    While still hurting, once her wound was bandaged and taken care of she turned her attention to Kali. "Are you okay? Not feeling anything weird from having that black blood in you?" As she learned with the second one, these guys bled a lot from the throat, right where Kali had clamped her open mouth around.


    ''Feel fine. Taste nasty.'' Hearing this, Nat could not help but sigh in relief. She was glad that Kali was with her and nothing was wrong. It had only been a day, but she felt closer with Kali than most of the people she had known in her life. Natalie did not want to lose this new close friend so soon after meeting her. They had not even had the chance to have a girls night yet!


    Huge thanks to my Elder Wolves Jake, Viktor, and Kevin for supporting me and my writing! Remember that I keep Patreon ten chapters ahead at all times.

 Chapter 15

    Getting up off the ground, Natalie took a step over to Kali and stroked her head a few times. "Thanks for the save there, the closer that thing got to me, the more disgusted I felt." The look in its eyes was bad, but Nat was much more disturbed by the creature. It was not in how it looked or in what way it acted, but more of the mere presence of it felt disgusting and wrong. Taking a look at the three corpses, she noted that they were already starting to smoke out the black mist. The colour draining from them slowly.


    Together with Kali, the slowly made their way over to the body of the elk that was on the ground. If the wolves were able to hunt rabbits after she brought a dead one into her Soulscape, then the same should be true of an elk as well. Sadly, Kali acting on her own would have difficulties with an elk. They are big, and can be mean as shown by the hoof prints it left in those goblins. As Kali returned into her, she brought the elk with. True enough, the female elk was able to be summoned, running around like nothing was wrong. Kali did claim to have no designs on the elk, as it was far better to keep spawning hares and give her pups more experience hunting themselves.


    Moving on from where the elk lay, she started moving towards town. While she could have gotten the goblins in her realm for the wolves to hunt as well, she did not want anything to do with them. Not touching, not seeing, and most certainly not inside her. The mere thought of having goblins inside her creeped her the hell out. With the way they made her feel, she could not imagine anyone would want anything to do with those disgusting things.


    Moving down the path after what she saw seemed like a poor choice. Especially now that she was wounded. While it would take a lot longer, Natalie took her time moving through the brush on the side of the trail, so she would be less likely to be ambushed. Her goal was to get back to town and make sure everyone was okay. Well, maybe not everyone. It would be a nice change of pace if Troy had an ''unfortunate accident.'' The mere thought of the creepy neighbour being beaten, killed, and eaten by ravenous goblins caused her mood to improve and made her feel happy.


    ''Nat happy. Why you happy?'' Kali questioned her. The increase in mood positivity while sneaking through the brush caught her by surprise.


    ''You remember how I told you about my boss Bryden, and how he is the person that I am closest to in town?'' Nat asked. After getting an affirmation from Kali, she continued, ''Well, there is also someone that I do not get along with whatsoever. His name is Troy, and describing how he acts is difficult to explain to you. The best way I can think of is that he acts like the oldest, disgusting, rotting corpse that you could find in the forest. So bad that you lead your pups the long way around as you do not even want them to catch the slightest whiff of that as you think that the decay could spread should they get to close. He is the most stubborn, obnoxious, pompous full of himself piece of crap that I have ever seen. And I was just imagining him dead. Imagining how wonderful it would make my life going forward to never have to deal with that asshole ever again.''


    Kali took a second, doing her best to wrap her head around and understand everything she was just told. After thinking for a solid five minutes, she responded to Nat, ''So if still alive, can I kill? Could make painful for harassing Alpha.''


    Natalie stopped sneaking through the brush. ''Alpha? As in pack Alpha?''


    ''Yes. You decide where pack go. What pack do. Therefore you pack Alpha.'' Kali responded, as if that was the most natural decision. Nat could even hear the pups chanting in the background, ''Alpha! Alpha!''


    Shaking her head, she could not help but agree with Kali in this situation. They were bonded to her, and she was the one moving throughout the world right now. She was just realizing how her decisions no longer just affected her, but this small family of wolves as well. She resumed moving towards town, ''While I accept that I am the Alpha, I do respect your opinion as a friend and as a companion. I would also still prefer for you to call me by my name rather than Alpha. As for killing that sleaze bag, sadly that is a bit more difficult. If he tries anything again, be my guest. However, I do not want to start just killing people just because I disagree with them. I want to give people a chance, and should they throw it away, then we will move to the more, violent options.'' Feeling an agreement from not only Kali, but the pups as well, Nat felt relief. Relief that no one would try to arrest her for setting her wolves on people.


    As she reached the end of the path, the town looked far worse than she imagined. The wide wooden bridge in front of her had a giant hole in it. The buildings she could see had doors ripped off their hinges, windows shattered, and siding ripped off. The cars in the streets had broken windows and some broken tires, and all of this was still not bad. The bad part, as the fact that there were corpses strewn about the street, some in cars or draped out of houses. Crows circling overhead, preparing to descend upon the bodies of the town folk that lay about. It took all Natalie could do to hold in her bile as she looked upon the scene. She started moving down the street to her work, as her worry for her boss''s well being skyrocketed.


    Huge thanks to my Elder Wolves Jake, Viktor, and Kevin for supporting me and my writing! Remember that I keep Patreon ten chapters ahead at all times.

 Chapter 16

    AN: Just a warning, this chapter starts where this story gets graphic and disturbing. The stories tone will start going into more of a grey area from this point on, as it will flip between happy and sad regularly. I just wanted to give a warning on that for people so they are not surprised. This story was always planned to go a darker direction.


    As she moved towards her work place, the picture of devastation just got more clear. The men that she passed by had claw marks and looked like they were beaten with rocks. Small pools of black blood surrounded them, showing that they took some of the aggressors with them. Enough time had passed though that the bodies of any fallen enemies were gone. What made it all worse was the women she passed by. Clothing torn, claw marks all over their bodies, and startling evidence that they had most likely killed themselves. Whatever had attacked had only wanted to kill the men, and make the women they found live and suffer.


    As Natalie came across more scenes of the carnage, she became more and more sure that it was goblins that had attacked. Enough to completely overrun this town of just over a hundred people. The part that scared her about this is that she saw no goblins at all. Where had they all gone? Were the ones she found in the forest stragglers, or a separate group of them. Seeing that the sun was already starting to fall towards the mountains, she guessed that it must have taken her twice as long to get here as it did to get out to her camp. Considering that she saw the smoke at around sunrise, they could have gone anywhere.


    Nearing her work, Nat started to hear the familiar sounds of the disgusting monsters. Slowly, she moved through the open door, carefully avoiding the shattered glass. As she got up to the break room area, her worst suspicions about the goblins were proven true. Three goblins were all huddled around a prone body, raping the poor woman on the ground. As she got closer, she noticed that the person in question on the ground was none other than Angie. Claw marks covered her arms and legs, making her unable to put as much strength in them. Tears filled her eyes, which now looked devoid of life. She tried to resist but was not doing anywhere near enough to dissuade the goblins. While Nat did not like Angie, this was to cruel to be done to anyone.


    ''Kali, I am gonna take care of the two on the left, can you eliminate the one on the right?'' Natalie quickly asked, already stalking up to the goblins. All she got was a feeling of affirmation, and that was all she needed. Her left arm started throbbing as she put her strength into a swing into the middle goblin. As the crunch of its skull sounded out, Nat felt Kali leap out of her Soulscape and pounce on the goblin. The final goblin had a look of surprise and anger as it started to get up from Angie''s prone figure, but before it could Nat already had the shovel swinging back at it. Another satisfying crunch rang out as she connected with its chin, sending the monster flying into the wall.


    Dropping the shovel, Natalie took a second to grip her forearm, as the pain that was radiating from using it was incredible. After a few seconds, she moved down beside Angie and took her hand. Kali was already standing nearby, vigilant in case any other goblins showed up due to the death cries of their brethren. "Angie, I am here for you. Its gonna be okay now." Angie''s eyes focused on Nat''s, a small spark of light popping in them. She tried speaking, but her voice was hoarse and weak. Natalie could not make out anything that she was saying. "Sorry, I couldn''t hear that. Could you please repeat that?" She asked, moving her head closer to Angie''s. The two words she heard however, broke her heart.


    "... Kill...... Me." Angie''s voice rasped out, pleading Natalie. The look in her eyes showing that she had given up and did not want to continue living. Not after what she went through. She was clearly distraught and in pain, but this was the most sincere Natalie had ever seen her. Nodding slowly, Natalie took out her knife, and held it above Angie''s heart. Her hands were shaking as she held it there, hesitant to end the life of another human being. A person that she knew and worked with. The longer it took, the less she wanted to follow through and more that she wanted to try and help Angie live on. That feeling however was passed on through her eyes.


    While Nat was still trying to make her decision, she did not notice Angie''s hands moving. Before she knew, Angie''s hands overlapped hers on the knife and pulled down. The edge went smoothly between her ribs and into her heart. As her last act, Angie looked at Nat, smiled, and softly said, "Thank.... You." before breathing her last breath. Her look in death being one of peace. All that Natalie saw in that moment though, was the knife in Angie''s chest with her hands around it. Letting go, she fell back on her ass, and cried. Someone she knew, someone she worked with died at her hands. And thanked her for it. What had this world become, when monsters roamed and people killed their neighbours.


    Kali limped over and nuzzled against Natalie. She said nothing, but her presence was all that was needed. Nat turned and hugged onto Kali, sitting there for minutes crying at the loss. Not a word was said between them, as no words were needed. They both felt grief, and those feeling were transmitted back and forth between the two. Getting up, Natalie turned towards Kali, about to say something when Kali just nuzzled against her. The grief was still coming through, but so was a feeling of understanding. Natalie just sent back a feeling of thanks and appreciation as Kali went back into the Soulscape. She picked up her shovel and started to move down the hall, towards the enclosure at the back. Now it was time to check on the wolves that were back there.


    Huge thanks to my Elder Wolves Jake, Viktor, and Kevin for supporting me and my writing! Remember that I keep Patreon ten chapters ahead at all times.

 Chapter 17

    The hallway leading to the enclosure was littered with blood everywhere. Majority of it was pools of black blood, but there was a steady pace of drops of red. The further down the hall, the less pools of black blood there were, while the groups of red grew in size. Natalie followed the blood with a grim determination, knowing that since she already found Angie, this blood could only belong to one other. There had to be close to fifty pools of black blood down this hallway. While she wanted to believe that Bryden was alive, the farther down the hallway she got the less she believed that he would have made it. Finally, as she entered the standby room to the enclosure, all of her doubts came crashing down.


    Collapsed against the door into the enclosure was Bryden. Claw wounds covered the parts of his body that she could see, bruises spattered about in between, and he was in a pool of his own blood. Surrounding him was a semi-circle of black blood. But none were inside that semi-circle. It was as if he took every single one that came at him down, before succumbing to the wounds they had given him. The fire axe at his side was stained black, the only parts showing through were the two handholds where his hands would have been. He must have fought off dozens of them, holding the line against the horde of monsters. However all that Nat saw was his body.


    Natalie dropped her shovel, and unsteadily walked up to him. Reaching the spot beside his body, she collapsed to her knees. Reaching forward gingerly, she tried to find a pulse, some warmth, any sign of life that she could. When nothing came up, she hugged his body close and started crying once more. While she was lost in grief, Kali came out and nuzzled up against her, to provide some warmth and stability to her mourning friend. They stayed like that for almost half an hour before Nat wiped the tears from her eyes, and backed away from his body.


    Kali put one paw on her shoulder. ''Seemed good, strong man. Will be missed. Will be remembered.'' Nat just nodded sullenly to this, still distraught over the loss of her mentor and role model. Unable to form words, she gestured to Bryden, and then to herself. Thankfully, Kali understood exactly what she was asking. Putting one paw on Bryden, she moved into Natalie''s Soulscape. This time however, Bryden''s body did not follow her in. Finally finding a limitation in the Soulscape, and realizing that she would never again be able to see or spend time with the boss she looked up to again, she broke down and cried yet again. Kali came back out and let Natalie hug it out while she was stricken with sadness yet again.


    Getting up off the ground, Natalie gently picked up Bryden''s body and put him on a dolly. Now that his corpse was temporarily dealt with, she moved towards the door with Kali following close beside. As she opened the door, her tear stained face was met with the wolves all in a semi-circle around the door. They seemed ready to pounce on whatever came through, in case whatever came through was a threat to them or their pups. When they saw that it was Natalie, and that she was in grief, they all slowly walked up to her and nuzzled her, showing warmth and togetherness in the action.


    While the cuddle puddle was going on, Kali explained to the wolves there about the Soulscape as best she could, and how it was to bond to Natalie. The first to bond to her was not one of the adult wolves cuddling her to give her stability, but the over eager pup who loved being the center of attention. He just pranced right up to her, licked a tear off her face, and stepped into the Soulscape. When he poked his head out to lick more tears off her face, the rest of the wolves took turns bonding to Nat, before coming back out to comfort her more. Finally, all that was left was the more cautious of the two pups. She took her time walking up to Natalie, but given that she was in the middle of a literal dog pile, she made no movements toward the hesitant pup. The pup sniffed her hand carefully, gauging whether or not she liked Natalie, before barking once and entering into the Soulscape.


    When Natalie finally felt like she had gotten it all out and felt better, she asked all of the wolves if she could get up. All disappeared inside of her save two. The over eager pup tried to stay on her shoulder, excited at the view it could see. The other was the leader of the pack that was in there. She turned to him with a questioning look. When he noticed, all he responded with was, ''You are now Alpha. We stand beside.'' Touched by the feeling she patted his head lightly.


    Still unable to form words with her parched mouth, she thought to the wolf, ''You don''t have a name, right?'' Unlike with Kali where she asked what a name was, the wolf just replied with, ''No, you choose.'' given the reliability that this wolf had shown so far, she decided to name him Bryden. Upon hearing this, the wolf''s tail started wagging. ''Other human? Strong, reliable, nice. Like name, acceptable.'' Glad that he liked the name, she moved towards the door to the standby room. Walking inside, she gathered up all the medical tools that she could. Given that she still had to help get these seven wolves healed, she would need all the supplies she could get. She also grabbed the fire axe, but she did not clean it off before getting it stored in the Soulscape. It was now part of Bryden''s legacy. And she planned to respect her memory of him in the best way she could. By using it to cut down a bunch more disgusting goblins.


    Huge thanks to my Elder Wolves Jake, Viktor, and Kevin for supporting me and my writing! Remember that I keep Patreon ten chapters ahead at all times.

 Chapter 18

    As Natalie was going around the standby room collecting gear and supplies, she could not help but notice Bryden''s body laying on the dolly she deposited him on earlier. Leaving him there, and Angie''s body out in the break room did not sit right with her. Grabbing a second dolly, she moved it down the hall and into the break room. There she carefully loaded Angie onto the dolly before rolling back to the standby room. She rolled the dolly up beside the one holding Bryden, before heading out into the enclosure. Picking an area clear of rocks and plant life, she started digging.


    Bryden, who had been following her around and observing everything, raised a question to her, ''Digging hole. What for?'' To him, he could not see a connection between collecting the two bodies and digging a hole in the ground.


    "Well, in our culture, we show respect to our dead by burying them, and letting their bodies peacefully return to nature. It is mostly to avoid scavengers from picking apart those we care about." Nat replied in between digging and throwing dirt. "Usually, by custom, we bury them just a little deeper in the ground than I am tall. I am not sure if I am going to be able to dig that much though."


    Bryden took a look at her working, before moving quickly into her Soulscape. Not a minute had passed and all of the wolves came out of the Soulscape, except for Kali. Before Nat could even ask what was going on, the wolves had started digging themselves. It was one thing to know that a wolf could dig a area of about three feet or one meter cubed in less than a day. It was another thing entirely to see it in person. The pace with which the holes were being dug was astounding. Seven pups went at one area, while two adult wolves helped her dig the hole she started on. Bryden had led the other two adult wolves to start digging another hole beside that one. When she noticed what he was doing, she looked over to him questioningly.


    ''Bury to respect. Bury separately to respect both equally.'' Bryden responded. He may not have gotten as close with the other people working there, but he had spent time with his name sake. He knew the man was kind, caring, and deserving of respect and admiration. Upon hearing his response, Nat was touched. She had always gotten into arguments in university, debating with other aspiring veterinarians on which the best kind of animal to have by your side was. This just made her all the more happy that she had always vouched for canines. The fact that they had the empathy and ability to understand reasons they were unfamiliar with had always been astounding. The move that these wolves were doing made her realize that despite losing someone close to her, she had gained not just friends, but a valuable family that would stick together through thick and thin.


    Many hands, or paws in this case, made light work. It only took about two hours to have two six foot deep graves dug into the ground. All the while, Natalie either talked about moments with either of the departed, or described what their grave would have looked like if they had passed when civilization was still prevalent. She went into detail about how Angie had frustrated her day after day, how Bryden would scold her for making a mistake but would always immediately show her how to do it better or safer. The wolves listened on in silence as she carried on and on with the stories, memories, and descriptions. For half of the time she digging, Natalie had tears running down her face. Unlike the grieving tears she had cried for them earlier, these were with a smile on her face. The memories now were not in mourning of their passing, but in celebration of their life. The more that she shared with the wolves, the more it felt like a weight was coming off her chest.


    Thanks to the pups efforts, there was a small ramp leading into each grave making it easier to carefully deposit the two bodies to the bottom of each grave. Moving into the standby room, she rolled both dolly''s out one by one. Carefully she lifted the corpses and carried them down into where would be their final resting spot. As she came out of the second grave, the wolves all sat around the graves. In their own sort of funeral, they all howled to the sky in unison sending off the souls of the departed in harmony with each other. The howls were followed by a moment of silence, before they started back on filling in the graves.


    By the time that they finished filling in the two memorials, the once lustrous coats that all the wolves had were covered in dirt. They did not necessarily look happier with the dirt, but they did all seem more at ease than when they had started the digging. Just as they were finishing, Kali popped out of the Soulscape, bringing two rocks with her. They looked like a rougher version of the tombstones that Nat had described earlier. They were set up at the head of the graves after a quick hug between Kali and Nat, and left the whole situation feeling complete. They weren''t carved, and nothing would be able to tell the two apart, but that did not matter. To Natalie, the two who had touched her life the most here in this park were respected and taken care of.


    After taking a few minutes to thank every wolf for their help, she finally took a chance to notice the time. The sun was on the verge of setting, with the moon already sitting fairly high in the sky. Travelling would not be an option with how late it was, so it was decided that they would crash the night at her place before leaving in the morning. Heading back into the standby room, she did one final pass, making sure that any tools that would be useful and any medicines or supplies were all stored within the Soulscape. On her way out of the building, the last thing she took and stored in the Soulscape, was the picture of her and Bryden that he had kept sitting on his desk since she had started working with him, all those years ago.


    Huge thanks to my Elder Wolves Jake, Viktor, and Kevin for supporting me and my writing! Remember that I keep Patreon ten chapters ahead at all times.

 Chapter 19

    Leaving the office, Natalie made her way through town towards where her house was. It was usually a pretty short walk, however Nat made it take almost three times as long. After multiple run ins with goblins, she wanted to do her best to avoid an ambush. So far, she has always been the ambusher. The idea of becoming the ambushed side was not appealing in the slightest to her. She cut through backyards, an alleyway, and her neighbour two doors down house. Not getting a house with a rear door had finally come to bite her in the ass. And the only reason she didn''t go through the one closer is because that was the one that belonged to Troy. Nobody could pay her enough to willingly set foot in that den of douchebaggery. The home she passed through belonged to a lovely old couple who had decided to retire here. Thankfully, as far as Nat was aware, they were currently on a vacation down in Florida.


    As she was moving through the house, she started to hear a muffled banging coming from outside. Coming out of their front door, nothing stood out in her view as off or wrong. she moved towards her house, still giving Troy''s house as wide of a berth as she felt comfortable. As she moved towards her house, the banging got louder and louder. Coming around the front, the view was something that made her glad she was not at home for these past couple of days even more so.


    Clearly, filth loves to stick together, as Troy was leading two goblins with a poorly made makeshift battering ram and attempting to break down her door. The goblins were grunting and clearly fatigued, sweat poured off their skin like waterfalls. As for Troy, he seemed to get angrier with every failed attempt at breaking down her door. Nat was convinced she was sleep deprived, as she could almost swear that Troy had some of the same black mist coming off of him that the evaporating goblins did. Her door was the true MVP in this situation, as it had some scuff marks and a slight dent visible in the middle of it, but was otherwise in tip top shape. If it wasn''t for the fact that it was her house they were trying to get into, it would have been hilarious.


    Despite taking all the care to getting to that point, all it took was one action to ruin it. As Natalie started to move back, her foot landed on some broken glass that was lying on the ground behind her. Freezing in place, she took a look at her front door. Both the goblins and Troy had stopped moving and looked at her, the crude implement still sitting in their hands. As if he was snapping up from a daze, Troy threw the poor entry tool to the side and cracked a wide grin on his face. "You kept me waiting princess, but that is no matter. They always say more is merrier, so me and my new friends shall make sure you feel welcome and cared for." He started sauntering down her walkway towards her, goblins following his lead. Slowly, the goblins grins changed to match his as they realized what their new comrade had planned.


    Seeing this, Natalie quickly thought to the adult wolves. ''Kali, Bryden can you two please take care of the two goblins? The other four of you, can you please subdue this creep? I do not care how much you hurt him, just don''t kill him. I want this pleasure for everything this asshole has said and done towards me for these last three years.'' Bryden and the others from the office all sent an affirmation to her.


    Kali however, had almost a giddiness to her. ''This is creep? Glad we can end creep who disrespects our Alpha.'' A feral and almost crazed look came upon her inside the Soulscape. The other wolves were shocked at these words, before following Kali''s lead and adopted her look onto their own faces. The growled in anticipation of the fight that was to come. Natalie was emboldened by the wolves unity against him that she felt sure of what was to come. ''Hey pups, when I ask, can you bring me out the axe? I Believe it will be glad to end one more monster today.'' The pups, who had no idea of what was going on, just chanted, ''Axe! Axe!'' The innocent and excitement almost made Nat break into a fit of giggles due to the disparity. Quickly schooling her features, she started striding confidently towards Troy.


    Seeing her not scared and walking towards him with fervor, Troy staggered. "Hey, you two. Go subdue her, and I will grant you the first taste." Hearing this, the goblins got visibly excited and started rushing at her. Trails of drool escaped their mouth as they cheered Troy on, and ran forward towards Natalie. When they got within one meter of her however, their entire tone changed. This was due to two large full grown gray wolves coming out of Nat and pouncing on top of them. They barely got out a scream of anguish before their throats were torn out by the predatorial canines.


    Seeing his goblins getting set upon by wolves caused Troy to stagger backwards and fall on his ass. As he attempted to scramble away from the wolves now flanking Natalie, four more came out and ran at him. He did not make it more than a couple meters before he was hounded back to the ground. His sides were clawed, his tendons were nipped, and each of his limbs was held down by the beasts. He looked up to Natalie to ask for help, only to see a group of puppies come out of her and hand her an axe. He started whimpering and begging, asking to be spared. Natalie had long since learned how to tune out his horrid voice, and carried on as if he was silent. She brought the axe around and lifted it over her head. Without one word from any of the wolves or her, she brought the blade down upon his head, rendering him silent.


    Looking down at his corpse and seeing his blood covering the axe, Natalie did not feel any grief from his death. Angie at least meant well most of the time, and she did not deserve what happened to her. Troy however, he deserved death in her opinion. If she felt anything at this point, it was relief. Knowing that he would never try and get his way with her or any other woman ever again. Satisfied, she unlocked her door and headed inside with the wolves. It was a long day, and now all that she really wanted was to sleep.


    Huge thanks to my Elder Wolves Jake, Viktor, and Kevin for supporting me and my writing! Remember that I keep Patreon ten chapters ahead at all times.

 Chapter 20

    Natalie woke up staring at the ceiling in her bedroom. After getting home the night before, she just instantly locked up and collapsed into her bed. She did not remember cleaning off or even getting out of the clothes she had on before, plus she felt sore all over. When she looked down however, she was still just as unsure of her current state of apparel and functionality. Her chest was covered by the seven wolf pups, and her limbs and stomach were all being laid on by the adult wolves. Was the soreness she was feeling from all the movement she did yesterday? Or did the pain come from the dog pile that was laying on top of her all night long. Either way, she was completely done with just laying in bed and being unproductive. The sun was shining brightly through her window, signaling that the day was long past beginning.


    It took a few minutes to rile all of the wolves up from their slumber so she could get out of bed. Really, the problem was the one cautious wolf pup from the office, who refused to get up as she was comfy. It was hard to tell whether she was asleep or awake though, as the arguing sounded like it could have been sleep talking. While the argument over it being time to get up raged on, the rest of the pups bounced around the room, inspecting every little thing in the room. Most of the items being completely foreign and new to the small bundles of fur and morning energy. From exploring the dark area underneath her bed, to her closet filled with colourful clothing the pups spared nothing in their investigation of the new stuff.


    As Nat finally got up, she noticed she was still wearing the same clothes that she had started yesterday in. Sighing, she quickly got out of them and walked to the bathroom. Walking into the room, she hit the light switch on the wall. Then immediately hit it five more times in confusion. Realization dawned on her that the green wave not only knocked out her flare gun and made it inoperable, but it also disabled all forms of power. Walking over to the tub, she tried to turn on the water, only to be met with nothing. She turned back to the bedroom full of inquisitive wolves, "Hey guys, can I please get a hand here?"


    Bryden walked in, unsurprisingly flanked by a couple of curious pups who were trying to see everything they could. "Could you help me out with this. Water is normally supposed to come out of here, but apparently nothing is working anymore. Could you please fill this with water from the Soulscape?" Nat asked, gesturing to the tub. All she got was a slight nod before Bryden set one paw into the tub, and then one into Natalie. Then like a weird garden fountain, water came pouring out of Bryden''s paw. When it was filled up enough, Nat signaled that it was good and thanked him for the help. He gave a solid lick to the side of Nat''s face, before heading out of the bathroom to continue exploring the residence.


    One quick, cold bath in the dark later, Natalie walked out of the bathroom feeling refreshed and clean. She was glad to no longer have dried blood covering her, with dirt taking root in her hair. As she was getting changed into jeans and a comfy hoodie, Nat saw that Kali was lying on the bed, not moving around. Remembering about her leg, she quickly exclaimed, "Oh right Kali! How is your leg doing?"


    Looking over to Nat, she responded, ''Better. Does not hurt unless standing.'' Nat walked over and looked over the leg. As she did, she had to do a double take. After letting Kali know, she started removing the bandage and splints and inspected the injury. It had happened just a day and a half ago, yet it was showing signs as if it had been healing for a week. Startled by this discovery, she called over the energetic pup that had the lesions around its mouth and took a look at his mouth. Despite it being two days since she last checked him, there was a measurable difference in the size of the lesions. The had reduced slightly, almost as if a couple of extra days had gone by. The only reasonable explanation was the green wave.


    It had changed so much. Nothing technological worked as it should have, she now had wolves that could enter and leave her body that she could talk with telepathically. And apparently, these wolves that had bonded to her now healed much faster. What else had changed with her directly that she had yet to find out? Natalie decided that these questions were better left for later, and started bandaging back up Kali''s paw with a fresh bandage and some medical splints. They weighed about the same as the sticks, but were stronger and far more durable. After finishing that, she conscripted the pups once again to move things into her Soulscape. While this was her home, she did not want to stay in a town where she was the only person left alive.


    As she got downstairs, she pulled out a map of southern Alberta, and got all of the adult wolves to gather around. Gesturing down to the Waterton area, "This is where we are. My current plan is to follow highway five here up past Cardston and Magrath and go straight toward Lethbridge. There we can hopefully meet up with my friend Shannon, and go from there. Any questions? Concerns?" Looking around the group of wolves, none of them raised any complaints. There was more of a sense of excitement, to be able to meet someone who is close to their Alpha.


    Doing one last check through her house, Natalie was sure that they had picked up everything that could be of use. Anything tech related was left alone, but books, food, and all other sorts of supplies were taken. They even grabbed her bed, though that one wasn''t her idea. One of Kali''s pups had grabbed it almost immediately for the Soulscape. Before she even noticed the bed going in, Kali was already relaxing upon it in the Soulscape. Satisfied with their looting of her own stuff, she headed out the front door. All of the wolves moved back into her Soulscape, since none but Kali''s pups were at full health. They did not know if being in the space helped with recovery, but they all felt as if it would not hurt to be on the safe side. Moving towards the northern side of town, Natalie moved forward cautiously, still wary in case there were any more goblins or creeps lurking in the town.


    Huge thanks to my Elder Wolves Jake, Viktor, and Kevin for supporting me and my writing! Remember that I keep Patreon ten chapters ahead at all times.

 Chapter 21

    Moving though the town, Natalie made stops at all of the shops. Grabbing tools, more varied supplies, and even a steel frame collapsible pool. The last one was so she could have baths every now and then. Because if this world had truly gone to shit and monsters were gonna keep attacking her, she wanted a way to take care of the blood that would inevitably cover her. As her looting spree continued, she found no trace of any monster other than footprints in the dirt, but those tracks were over a day old by this point. Sadly, the only people she found were all of the bodies, left behind in the wake of their death. Some already being fought over by scavenging crows, rodents, and insects. They were given an extra large berth by Nat, as she did not want anything to do with them.


    As the count of corpses she passed increased, so did her sense of nausea. So to however, did her feeling of thankfulness. She was glad that she had taken care of Bryden and gave him a burial. While he would still be feasted on by the underground denizens, at least he was not on display for the world to see his grisly end. The thought of doing a mass burial for everyone else in town had occurred to Nat, but the fear of goblins in the area and her extremely sore muscles had dissuaded her from that. There were over a hundred people in Waterton, and digging a hole big enough to bury them all without any power equipment was too big of a job for her to be able to handle. She felt some guilt, but she felt a distinct need to leave town.


    Waterton was a small town, and there was no way of knowing if this was all that was happening, or if the worst was yet to come. In all of the fantasy series she shared with her mother, goblins were always the lowest on the power scale. Orcs could be next, or the goblins might ride through on wargs. The trees themselves could come alive and decide they wish to destroy everything fleshy. When it came to monsters in fantasy, anything was possible. The fact that right now, was that all of the terrible monsters she saw growing up could just show up in front of her trying to eat her. Not knowing what was out there, thinking of her as dinner, scared her.


    Working as a fish and wildlife officer had helped, but that was because every animal they could come across was listed and observed. There were plans and guides on how to deal with any kind of threat they encountered out in the bush. Now, none of those guides were worth shit, as she was now the Alpha of a wolf pack, on the watch out for goblins that wanted to do far worse to her than kill or eat her. There was no standard to act on. No rule book that made sense of things. The stress she had been bottling up inside was rising, and she had no idea how to deal with it.


    LICK!


    Startled by the sudden lick on her face, she turned to her right to see one of the pups sitting on her shoulder. His tail was wagging, looking at Nat with bright, cheery eyes. That was right, she was not alone. The wolves were there and would back her up. While still feeling stressed, she kept repeating to herself in her head, ''One step at a time, just worry about one step. The rest just follows after.'' she scratched the pups head, before starting to move down the five.


    After moving for just over an hour down by the road, she heard an unnatural shriek. While she did not immediately recognize it, the sounds following it placed it. The loud laughter of goblins resonated through the air. Looking to her left, she noticed that this was the location of the golf course. Knowing that they were there forced Natalie to make a decision. Did she move on and ignore them, hoping nothing would come of it? Was it better to take them out while they were distracted? Remembering her choice about wanting to stay being the ambusher made her choice simple.


    She moved away from the road and through the brush, not following the main path up to the golf lodge. That approach was the one that goblins might actually watch. As she did, she let the wolves know that they were probably gonna fight some more goblins, depending on how many there were. All of them got to a ready position inside the Soulscape, knowing it was easier to sneak with less. Coming up to the edge of the parking lot, Natalie saw that she was probably biting off more than she could chew. Over twenty goblins were milling about in the parking lot. Some were just sitting around with their finger literally up their ass. Others were swinging around golf clubs and laughing about the damage they did to the parked cars. Seeing their numbers, Nat quickly started to back track, knowing that this number was way to much for her to handle.


    Before she had moved back though, the goblin closer to her took another swing at a car with a driver. As it hit, the driver bounced back and flew out of the hands of the amateur golfer. It spun through the air before colliding with Natalie''s shin. Before she could stop herself, she briefly cried out in pain. Clutching her leg, she noticed that it was bruised, but it didn''t hit hard enough to cause a break or fracture. Looking up from the sore leg, she noticed that every single goblin in the lot was looking directly at her. "Oh shit!" She breathed, before quickly hobbling off back towards the five. The bruise on the leg already inhibiting her usual movement speed. Behind her, a loud shriek sounded out, and every goblin started rushing after her. Their loud cries, laughter, and shrieks followed after her as she fled into the forest.


    Huge thanks to my Elder Wolves Jake, Viktor, and Kevin for supporting me and my writing! Remember that I keep Patreon ten chapters ahead at all times.

 possible change of release

    So, it was brought to my attention that some people believe these chapters are too short. My whole goal when I started this was to write a thousand words a day, get into writing and get myself back into a creative swing of things. No matter the outcome, I would continue on with this plan. However, would you rather it changed to one post every six days, but that one post is a day in her life? Or keep the current bit, where I release my thousand words each day? Or just post them in batches where i release all the chapters for a day on here at once? I will not change my writing to accommodate this. it will just be added in editing. Patreon will maintain the 1000 words a day chapter regardless, as I am using that to keep track and stay honest about my personal writing goals. Any questions, comments, or concerns are all welcome and greatly appreciated, as I am quite new to this whole posting my creativity and rambling to the world thing.

 Chapter 22

    I will be closing the poll and using that info when I post Chapter 24. This poll is just for my knowledge to see what people refer in terms of release. At this point, nothing is changing and i will still release chapters after I finish writing the next one for my Patreon.


    Natalie hobbled through the small forested area as fast as she could. The years she had spent hiking and patrolling the area paying dividends. The goblins did not have that experience. While chasing her, they tripped over roots, stumbled into each other, and rolled over the uneven ground. Despite her advantage in moving ability, the injury on her leg impaired her enough that they were slowly but surely  steadily catching up to her. Nat broke the treeline and got out to the road and moved as fast as she could down it. While she was good at the strenuous movement needed to navigate the mountain forest, her leg was currently not up to it. Looking back as she ran, she noticed that the goblin in the lead had almost caught up to her. As they reached to grab her, they stopped dead in the middle of the road.


    The goblin in question dropped to its knees with a hatchet buried in her face. Natalie stopped for a second before she heard Kali call out, ''Keep moving. Will help.'' She abruptly started moving again heading down the highway while focusing her mind on Kali. Inside the Soulscape, she saw Kali summon another hatchet and pop her head just out of Natalie''s back. It almost looked like Kali was part ostrich with her head just disappearing into the ground beneath her. Looking behind as she ran, Nat saw Kali whip her head and loose another hatchet towards the pursuers. This one hit handle first, causing the goblin it hit to fall on their back, before slowly getting up and rushing forward to rejoin in the chase.


    Focusing forward, Nat kept moving down the empty road. She just wanted to lay down and rest, her muscles still sore from burying Angie and Bryden the day before. Pushing herself onwards, Natalie willed her limbs to keep moving. The thought of what would happen if they caught or surrounded her spurning her on as she fled. Noticing the situation, Bryden directed the other four wolves to head off in pairs. They fell off to the sides of the road, only to follow up behind the pursuing monsters. Any monsters that were separated or downed by hammers were subsequently ended by the wolves hounding them. Bryden himself ran beside Natalie, in case she collapsed or needed a hand. Her body at this point was not in a good position. Exhaustion, bruised shins, strained muscles, and her forearm opening up underneath the bandage made this run exhausting for Natalie. The worry that all of the wolves felt for her was high.


    After running for what felt like five hours, but was really five minutes, the group came up to the turn off to range road 300A. Sitting at the intersection was a small cargo truck. It must have been delivering stuff to Waterton when it stopped working. As Natalie got near, she thanked whoever left it for leaving the back open. Normally, that would be an issue for things like scavengers and attracting wild animals. But now, it was serving as a haven for Natalie. She quickly climbed into the back of the truck and received the fire axe from Kali. The dozen goblins that were left surrounded the back, six facing her, six facing back at the four wolves that had been trailing them. Time sat still for a moment as both groups gauged one another. Waiting to see what the other would do.


    One of the goblins shrieked and cried out something that Natalie could not understand. What she did understand was how bad it was that all twelve goblins started charging towards her at once. The wolves behind all pounced on a goblin, but the other eight reached the truck otherwise unimpaired. Blood flowing down her forearm into her hand, Natalie swung the axe into the lead goblin. After sinking far into the goblin, Nat could not get the axe back out before the next goblin got close to her. Letting go, she backed away into the truck. As she did, Bryden pounced on that goblin, taking them both out of the truck. All at once the goblins started swarming over Bryden as he tore out that goblins throat.


    Seeing this, Natalie moved forward, picking up whatever was in the truck and throwing it at the goblins that were trying to swarm Bryden. The other four came up and each took care of another goblin, but the last two started raking their claws across his pelt. Letting go of the now dead goblin, Bryden cried out in pain. Rushing at them to try and force them off of him, Natalie tried to think. ''What can I do? I need to help him, but how?'' she knew that she needed to help him, but she did not know how. Her body was out of strength, and she had no tools in hand with which to take down the monsters assaulting him.


    As Natalie neared within one meter of the goblins that were clawing at Bryden, trying to take him down, more wolves flooded out of her Soulscape. The pups leaped out of Nat and landed onto the goblins. They showed that their training in hunting was paying off, ripping into the goblins vital spots. As Bryden limped away from the two now dead goblins that had assaulted him, the pups howled out in unison at their victory. Seeing that all of the goblins were dead. Natalie collapsed against the ground and sighed out a breath of relief. Bryden came and collapsed beside her, exhausted. He wore this pleased smile on his face, having seen the pups take on enemies of the pack without fear. One of the other female wolves walked up, and started licking Bryden''s wounds, trying to stop the bleeding.


    Forcing herself up, Nat got the pups to get the medical supplies as she started tending to his wounds. Thankfully, all of the wounds were shallow, so all they needed was some cleaning and then bandaging. She couldn''t help but think that Bryden whined cutely when he was struggling with the burn of the rubbing alcohol. Looking at the wolf that had come to make sure he was okay, she noticed that she seemed to have the same thought. They both giggled as they shared their view, leaving Bryden in the dark. He looked at both of them with confusion, but neither decided to elaborate. Looking at all of the other wolves, Natalie sighed. "Well, I guess the rest of you are gonna need names after that. A bit hard to know who I am gossiping with when there are only two of you with them."


    Huge thanks to my Elder Wolves Jake, Viktor, and Kevin for supporting me and my writing! Remember that I keep Patreon ten chapters ahead at all times.

 Chapter 23

    Taking care of Bryden''s wounds took quite a while to go through. There were multiple gashes on both his back and either of his sides. All of the while, Nat kept one part of her mind on what names to give the rest of the wolves. It took her half an hour to go through and get names for all but Kali''s five pups thought up. In that time, she had just finished cleaning ad dressing Bryden''s wounds, and started working on her forearm. The wound opening up hurt, but she just wanted to make sure that it was still clean and healing properly before re bandaging it. Her wound she got the day before was deeper than any of Bryden''s, but he also had his fur to dampen the hits from the goblins.


    Finishing re bandaging her wound, Natalie took the chance to just lay down and rest some more. Her entire body hurt from all of the exertion she had in the past couple days. The sun beaming heat down upon her felt nice in comparison to the slight chill in the air. Bryden moved his muzzle over and touched Nat with it, before disappearing into the Soulscape to heal. Excited about the prospect of getting names, the rest of them stayed out and looked expectantly towards Nat. She chuckled, before asking Kali, ''Could you get me a strong stick that I could use to support myself? I would like to keep moving and get to decent camp area before it gets too dark.''


    Kali quickly acquiesced the request, before disappearing into the Soulscape herself for the trip. One of the branches that they had stored in the forest earlier turned out to be a great thickness for a walking stick, if not a little on the tall side. Getting up, Nat started hobbling down the road at a more relaxed pace, while the wolves flanked her and kept watch. Most of the pups just bounced around her, excited for what was coming. She looked down and noticed that the cautious one kept walking beside her, right between Nat and her mother. Deciding to start there Nat looked down at the  little pup.


    "I decided to give you the name Rogue, for your always careful and planning attitude. You always seem to want to be prepared before you do anything." Natalie was surprised when a feeling of smugness and pride came from the little pup. Apparently, she really liked the name. It was seeming to fit her more as Nat started to understand and get closer to this little pup. Looking to her mother, "And I wanted to give you the name Maia. It is the name of a strong mother in my kinds history." All that the female wolf did was start walking closer to Nat and nuzzled her for a second, before moving back into her previous spot. She had always been hard to read, but Nat took that as a positive opinion of the name. Looking towards Maia''s other pup, she noticed that he was leading the rest of the pups with seemingly boundless energy. Giggling, Nat gestured towards him with her free hand, "And I am giving you the name Spirit, for you are probably the most spirited of all of us." After hearing this, he seemed to bounce even more than he was, which was astounding to her as he was already moving three times as much as the rest of them.


    Going to the adult wolves from the enclosure, she first spoke to the one that came over to check on Bryden. "I am gifting you the name Emily. Bryden''s namesake had a wife, who perished in an accident a couple years back. That was her name." Emily looked over, and had a twinkle in her eye. ''Thanks, Alpha. Take that as okay?'' Getting a smile on her face, Nat just nodded back. The gleam in Emily''s eyes got sharper, as if she now had prey to focus on. Moving on from the wolf with romantic intentions, she looked towards the pair walking on the other side of her. "My idea was to name you two Ash and Shadow. The female of you two is Ash. I have not interacted with either of you that much, so I just went off the colour of your fur. Is that alright?" The two wolves looked between themselves, before turning towards Natalie, nodding in unison. They must have been paying attention to her behaviour, as she had never heard of wolves nodding in acceptance before.


    Noticing that they had been making good time, and that the intersection between Highways five and six. Stopping and resting against a road sign, she got the last five pups that had yet to be named to line up. When they did, the three female pups lined up on the left and the two male ones beside them on the right. Working her way down from the left, "I decided to give you the names Athena, Hera, Artemis, Apollo, and Ares. They are a family of powerful people in our history, from the same stories and myths where Maia''s name came from." Happy about the new names, the pups all jumped onto Nat and licked her all over. She sat there and rested, submitting herself to their vicious attacks, for a short time, before finally getting up.


    Moving down the road, she just walked a little farther to get to the spot overlooking the lake. Maskinonge Lake looked as beautiful as ever, reflecting the mountains and sky beyond clearly. It had a beautiful open view of the surroundings, and just had the feeling of peacefulness. This was probably the best spot for camping the night that she would come to today, and it would take her longer to set up anyways. The injuries on her body sore and demanding. Taking one last look at the majestic view, Nat turned back from the cliff and got to work setting up camp.


    Huge thanks to my Elder Wolves Jake, Viktor, and Kevin for supporting me and my writing! Remember that I keep Patreon ten chapters ahead at all times.

 Chapter 24

    Happy new year! So with the results I am seeing in the poll, people seem to mostly like the current release schedule. This means that I currently plan to stick to the same release rate that I have been. For all of you who wanted the longer chapters, all I ask is to be patient. I have just started with writing and to keep myself growing, I will eventually push myself from writing 1k words a day, to 1.5k, to 2k and on. This is going to be a process of me getting better and more comfortable with writing as I go. Hopefully you all continue to enjoy the series, and have a great new year!


    Setting up camp was took the same amount of time it used to for Natalie. While her multiple wounds slowed her down, her enthusiastic helpers helped her get everything done. Most of the wolf pups bounced in and out of the Soulscape, getting what Natalie needed to get everything settled. Rogue, true to her inquisitive nature, just followed Nat around and watched as everything was put together. She did not help with the set up of camp, but she always made sure to stay out of the way of the rest of the group. First they set up the tent, which Nat decided to just put her mattress in there with a bunch of blankets and pillows all over the place. This was followed by the fire pit, which Spirit lead the group to take care of with haste. In his excitement, he had gotten all of the pups to dig a little too much and got them all trapped in the hole they just dug.


    After rescuing the excavation team, Nat set up some logs and tinder. Thankfully, the parking lot at the overlook was just cleared off dirt, so there was no risk to set any periphery grass on fire. It had been a dry winter, and if technology was not working, then a grass fire could become a major issue. Fire fighters would not be able to deal with any blazes that came up, and so entire ecosystems would be at risk of being destroyed. After getting the fire started, she surveyed the little camp that they had made. It was simple, with nothing around to tie the warning bell''s she had on, but the wolves had proven themselves to be quite light sleepers. The tent looked the comfiest and coziest way Natalie had ever camped before. While looking at it, Kali came out of the Soulscape and plodded down on it. After enjoying the comfort of the few dozen pillows and the couple blankets that were in there for a minute, she looked dead at Nat and said, ''This great! Need more for inside.''


    Shaking her head, Nat peered in to her Soulscape to see what the other wolves were doing. Bryden was lounging by the water, having a nap. The way that the Soulscape reduced the amount of pain he was in made him want to stay there for a while. Feeling sorry for the wounded wolf, she took a look at the other four. As she switched to view them, she saw them hunt and take down a copy of the elk that she had gotten in there the day before. As she watched them tear into it, she noticed Emily tore off a sizable piece of the elk and carry it over to where Bryden lay resting. Dropping it front of him, she nudged him with her snout to wake him up. Lifting his head slowly, the first thing he saw was the elk meat sitting in front of him. Slowly, he started eating the meat, savouring the taste while trying not to over exert himself and stretch his wounds.


    Knowing that they would have to hunt another elk to be able to feed all of the pups, Natalie made a request to the wolves inside. ''Can you guys bring me out some of the meat? I would like to cook some up for myself.'' Before any of the other wolves could even react, Maia was tearing a sizable chunk of meat off the rump of the elk. Seeing what she would be dealing with, Nat asked Kali for help with getting the supplies she needed. After a light grumble about losing her recently found comfort, Kali quickly went back into the Soulscape and got a meat tenderizer, a large cutting board, a frying pan, and the set of knives that they had grabbed from Nat''s house. "Thanks Kali! I just did not want any of the pups handling those knives at all." looking back at Kali, she noticed that she had already re-positioned herself back into the giant pile of pillows.


    As Maia brought out the slab of meat, Natalie got to work. First, she pounded the venison with the meat tenderizer. Thankfully, she was right handed as the injury on her left forearm was still sensitive. When she was satisfied with how tender the meat was, she then pulled out one of the knifes and started trimming any excess fat that she could find off of the cut. The slab of meat turned out to be fairly lean, as barely any fat was found. Natalie followed that up with cutting it into steaks. When she looked down to grab the salt, pepper, and olive oil, she noticed that she already had an audience. All of the pups were watching her intensely. Spirit kept looking at the fat cut offs, but whenever he tried to move forward, his sister Rogue kept bopping him backwards. She did not want anything her brother would do to disrupt what Nat was working on.


    Chuckling to herself, Natalie lightly seasoned the meat with the salt and pepper, then rubbed it into the meat with the olive oil. Confident that it was fully covered in the light seasoning, she threw the steaks into her frying pan and put it over the fire. Watching the pups, she noticed that all of their tails started wagging incessantly after the steaks started sizzling. The smell of the meat reaching their noses and filling their minds with the image of the tantalizing meat. Knowing what was coming, Kali''s five pups started hanging their tongues out of their mouths and focused directly on the frying pan, wondering what the taste of this creation would be like. Spirit and Rogue however, had still not even tried the hare that had been prepared before hand. Spirit was sitting still for once and mirrored his sister, both of them looking on at what Natalie was doing with curiosity.


    When the steaks were cooked to medium rare, she took them off the fire and put them on a platter. At this point the pups kept trying to get closer to try out the new creations. "Hold up. You can not eat them yet. They are not ready yet." Hearing this, the pups went back to sitting down, though whines escaped their muzzles as the smell was driving them crazy. After ten minutes passed, Natalie had Maia take the finished steaks into the Soulscape so they could be recreated at will. Seeing where they went, the pups were led by Athena into the Soulscape. As they got there, Maia sent some steaks back out to Nat as they summoned more for the pups. They tore into the steaks with reckless abandon, and the more that they ate, the faster their tails wagged. Seeing the satisfaction that they had from the food, Nat turned to her own steaks, and dug in.


    Huge thanks to my Elder Wolves Jake, Viktor, and Kevin for supporting me and my writing! Remember that I keep Patreon ten chapters ahead at all times.

 Chapter 25

    Biting down into the steaks, Natalie couldn''t help but moan at how good it tasted in her mouth. It was simple and barely seasoned, but it played so well with the meat that it tasted exquisite. Within a minute, she had polished off her plate and was already asking the wolves to send her out another one. This time, she got them to also send out some of the buns. They were out in seconds as the wolves continued to eat inside the Soulscape. Not even a second glance was given at the mounds of baked flour, as the meat in front of them was so tantalizing it took over their attention almost entirely. Shaking her head at the ferocity at which the wolves tore at the steaks she made, Natalie continued to dig in, now using the buns to soak up the juices from the meat. The flavour carrying dough balls were the perfect fluffiness to go with the juices from the elk.


    Finishing up the meal, Nat quickly cleaned all of the tools before getting them put away into her. Reclining backwards, she just lay beside the fire and enjoyed the view of the stars. With the fire being the only light source anywhere around, the sky was lit up by a curtain of star light, looking as though glitter was just thrown in the sky.  The view was so mesmerizing, that Natalie did not notice the fire go out. After a yawn broke out of her, she finally got up and took a look around. Noticing that the fire was already out, she quickly pushed some dirt on top of the coals before heading back into the tent. Laying down, Nat got comfy beside Kali in the bed before the rest of the wolves decided to come join the pile. As everyone else got comfy, Nat closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep.


    As she opened back up her eyes, all she saw was the road that she was running down earlier. Looking around she could not see anyone nor anything. She walked around the road, calling out to see if anyone was there. There were no tracks, no trace of wolf, goblin, or anything else having come through the area. As she walked, she realized that the woods on the side almost seemed to be repeating herself. Sure all woods looked similar on a roadside, but they could not all look that similar. Turning off the road, she started walking into the forest. Slowly, she walked through the forest taking a look in every direction, taking note of how eerily empty it felt, as if it was devoid of life.


    Stepping out from behind a tree, she found herself overlooking a plains. Or at least, what Natalie assumed was a plains. For covering the ground as far as her eyes could see, goblins milled about. Some fighting, some laughing, some eating. As she observed the horde, struck still by the sheer number of them, a shriek ran out. Looking at its origin, she saw a goblin pointing directly at her. It started yelling, gesturing wildly at her. One by one, the goblins in the field started joining in with the shrieking lookout. Seeing the goblins all shrieking and pointing at her, Natalie turned and ran.as she started moving into the tree line, she heard just as much as she felt the goblins giving chase after her. The sounds of their feet sounding like thunder rolling, but never ending. The ground itself shook under the strength of their numbers. The more she heard and felt, the more desperately Natalie ran to get away from the horde of monsters.


    "Kali! Bryden! Shadow! Maia! Anyone! Please help me!" She yelled out as she ran. She could feel the goblins getting closer with each passing second. Alas, no matter how much she called out, not one human nor wolf appeared to help her. Not watching her footing, Nat tripped over a root sticking out of the ground and tumbled down against a tree. Looking up, she could see the goblins close in on her. Panicked, she turned and tried to quickly scramble up the tree. She did not make it a meter off the ground before she felt a clawed hand wrap around her ankle. Clinging onto the tree with all her might, she did her best to hold onto the tree. The one thing that was keeping her from getting assaulted by the hideous goblins below. As time passed, more and more hands wrapped around her ankles. Soon enough, she was pulled into the horde.


    Shooting awake, Natalie started hyperventilating. She looked around panickily, before realizing that she was still in the tent. No goblins, just her, her bedding and the tent. That, and the wolves were now looking at her in worry. They said noting, but all the adult wolves pushed feeling of concern towards her. The pups nuzzled up against her, and only pushed forward happy, comforted feelings and thoughts. It took her a few minutes to calm down. ''It was just a night mare. I am not alone. All of these wonderful family members are here with me. They will help me fend off anyone who would hurt any of us.'' She repeated this in her head three times, before laying back down into bed. Her breathing finally slowed down.


    As she lay there, Kali came up to her and licked her face. A slight smile came across her face as this happened. As the wolves all saw this, they all shared a knowing grin between them. Before she knew it all of the wolves were licking her from head to toe. The coordinated attack of the tongues easily penetrated her defences, and Natalie was rolling around laughing at how ticklish their tongues were. Her rolling was not to dissuade them from their efforts, and they continued for five minutes before Natalie called out for them to stop and that she was okay. Satisfied, the wolves took up positions sleeping again. This time they positioned themselves even closer to Natalie. Looking at Kali''s head resting beside her own, she reached up and scratched behind the female wolfs ears briefly, before finally surrendering herself back to the void of sleep.


    Huge thanks to my Elder Wolves Jake, Viktor, and Kevin for supporting me and my writing! Remember that I keep Patreon ten chapters ahead at all times.

 Chapter 26

    Natalie awoke in a fugue, feeling her body slowly rocking side to side. Blinking her eyes a bit to get adjusted to the brightness in the tent, she looked down and saw the cause. Most of the pups were up early, with Rogue still sleeping beside her head. Spirit was leading Apollo, Artemis, and Hera on a bouncing run around the tent. While the bottom part of their track was below her feet, the top section was across her chest, shoulder to shoulder. Lower down on her belly, Athena and Ares were wrestling with one another. It was hard to believe they weren''t just playing and having fun, given the rate that their tails beat upon the blanket.  Most of the adult wolves were asleep, however the one who was awake just sat by and watched as the pups played, a satisfied smugness surrounding her. As Maia noticed that Nat had woken up, she turned her attention towards her.


    ''Morning Alpha. Feeling better?'' Maia asked. The tone was joking as if hinting that the pups playing around was her idea. However, the feeling underlying that joking tone was filled with worry. Remembering the events of the previous night, Nat closed her eyes for a minute and did her best to keep her emotions in check. It was just a nightmare. It means nothing. Slowly she opened back up her eyes and looked towards the concerned wolf. As Nat looked at Maia, she could tell the wolf did not want to worry the pups, the idea supported the more that she felt the two wrestling on her belly. Understanding the thought, she smiled towards the wolf in a show of strength. ''Better than last night. It was just a night mare. Nothing to worry too much about. Just a little bit of missed sleep is all it should amount to.''


    ''Don''t let affect you much. Less sleep means less prepared.'' Natalie had to acknowledge the wisdom in the wolf''s words. Already she could feel sluggish and less focused than before. She also found she was less perceptive as she suddenly felt a tongue lap out across the side of her face. Both turning towards the movement while also leaning away, she found Kali''s face there, concern in her face. Signalling Maia to come over, Natalie wrapped her arm around Kali. As Maia got close, she was pulled into a small hug. Natalie sat there for a while, just hugging the two wolves closely. She had moved out from home immediately to go to university, and other than Shannon, no one had checked to make sure she was okay regularly. The compassion she was feeling from the two mother wolves overwhelmed her and left her so happy she started to cry.


    "Thank you. Both of you." She whispered to the two as she let them go. Before backing off, they nuzzled briefly against her before rounding up their pups. Spirit and his running buddies slowed down and stopped running right by Nat. Ares and Athena had not felt like they played enough yet, so they both escaped their mother quickly and disappeared into the Soulscape to continue wrestling. Shaking her head, Kali just left them be to continue since they were no longer in the way. Now that the pups were not moving on top of her anymore, Nat finally got up out of the bed, and started changing clothes. She kept the same jeans that she had on the day before, but she just changed her top to a darker sweater. The hoodie from the day before was a nice grey, but the recent encounter with the goblins and the night mare both made her more paranoid about travelling carelessly.


    Leaving the tent, Natalie was just as impressed by the morning view of the lake as she was by the view the night before. The crisp morning air quickly snapping her out of her daze, she moved to sit down beside the extinguished fire pit. Having noticed that Maia and the pups had followed her outside, she asked them to quickly pull out one of the boxes of cereal. Hearing this, Spirit broke into a run and quickly grabbed it from inside. After a few more trips back and forth, she finally also had the bowl, spoon, and milk that she needed for breakfast. When she was good, Maia led all the pups, including the very sleepy looking Rogue, into the Soulscape. She was not going to let them just have an easy breakfast. Thanks to this, Nat got another chance to watch the training hunt of the pups going after a hare.


    Nat finished her breakfast at about the same time the seven pups managed to finally bring down the hare. They had a few issues here and there, such as Spirit accidentally tripping over many roots since he wasn''t looking where he was going and Hera not quite making a turn properly and slid sideways into a tree. Nonetheless, she had Maia help her clean up the breakfast stuff as it was her usual helpers turn to eat. She walked toward the tent, only to be met with two of the wolves coming out. Shadow and ash came out and just as quickly as they came out, they disappeared into her. There they woke Emily and dragged her away from Bryden. They had to set an example to the pups. It would be no good to try and teach them to stay on top of their hunting ability if they did not show that they also needed to stay there.


    As they got breakfast for the rest of the wolves, Kali and Nat went to work getting the camp taken down and stored away. Every time they deposited and de-spawned a pillow or blanket, Kali kept reminding Nat that they had to get more. More of all the comfy things. As the last piece disappeared into the Soulscape, the hunting group finished dragging their captured prey back to the rest of the wolves. This time Bryden got up himself and walked over to the elk, digging in right beside Emily. Leaving the wolves to their meal, Natalie did one quick final check around camp to make sure that they had gotten everything. Satisfied at the cleanliness, she started heading east down the highway.


    Huge thanks to my Elder Wolves Jake, Viktor, Nikolas, Saganatsu and Kevin for supporting me and my writing! Remember that I keep Patreon ten chapters ahead at all times.

 Chapter 27

    Moving down the five, Natalie felt relieved. The bruise she got on her leg the day before had not swelled during her sleep, and seemed to be mostly gone. It would probably cause a little discomfort later, but nothing that would really hinder her. She did not choose to travel on top of the road, as then she would be visible for miles. Instead the ditch became her pathway for travelling eastward. Thankfully, there was not much for the first leg of her journey to meet up with her friend. The only things stationed between her and Cardston was a couple of villages, a small private campground, and the occasional private piece of property. Otherwise, it was an area filled with rolling foothills and rivers, pocketed with smaller lakes all around. Waterton had really been on the edge of civilization before everything went natural and wild.


    Unlike before, Natalie did not walk this lonely road alone. Shadow and Ash walked on either side of her, checking the area around for both threats or new meals. The wolves had agreed that if Nat could do this with the type of meats they had, that they wanted more of the meats they already loved to be amplified. Therefore, the two traveled with her, while Maia and Emily were on standby. Whether a threat or potential prey came by, they could be called out in an instant. Otherwise, they kept themselves preoccupied in the Soulscape. Maia watched over the pups, doing her best to give Kali as much time to rest and recover as she could. Emily spent all of her time with Bryden, either supporting him with what he wanted to do, or just relaxing beside him. There was never any objection from him, so she did not hesitate nor did Nat try and intervene. Secretly though, even if he asked for help, Natalie planned to leave him to Emily''s machinations and not interfere in the slightest.


    The travel was smooth, and six kilometers were traveled at a pretty decent pace. The lack of sounds or recent tracks led them to believe that the monster going wild in the Waterton area caused a lot of the animals to clear out. Rounding around a corner on the road, the travelling party slowed down to a stop. They had come across the campground. While it was usually pretty dead this time of year, they decided not to take any chances. The whole goblin horde at the golf parking lot had shown that they were not capable of just ambushing everything. There were so many near death experiences in that moment alone that everyone agreed to take it slower. Shadow took point and started to lead the group into the campground, who was shortly followed by Natalie and then Ash.


    They moved slowly up the ditch of Range Road 292 on the opposite side from the camping area. Looking across, it appeared to be as empty as they first thought. Nothing was sitting in the clearing except for the main building itself. Having already decided as a group to loot everything as a precautionary measure, they crossed the road one at a time, keeping watch as each other crossed. Nothing out of place, they made their way warily up to the shack at the back of the lot. While they saw no tracks in the dirt, they did not lower their vigilance. With the appearance of the monsters, nothing was the way they knew. At any point, something could happen that there was no way to predict, and all that they were capable of doing was in how they respond to the event. Preparing for the unknown is a lot like going on a blind date. Nothing interesting could happen, they could be a decent person and be totally chill, or you could think that someone set you up with a serial murderer and wanted to see what would happen.


    Arriving at the office, they found the door locked and the closed sign up. Not seeing the owners vehicle anywhere in area, Natalie did one final check around her before bringing out the axe. Originally a fire axe was designed to be used by a proficiently trained individual to either break down burning debris or to gain access to a locked building so that emergency crews could deal with any fires or other issues. There was only two problems with this. Firstly, Nat had the wound on her arm, making her wielding of the tool clunky and unfocused. It just took a bit more effort on her part to get the proper power and aim when going for the door. The second problem, was that Natalie was absolutely not a trained individual who knew how to open a door with it quickly.


    Hit after hit, Nat slowly made a hole in the door. It took her much longer than she expected to get in to the building, though her entry time was based off horror movies where the killer used an axe. Her sore and tired self was not the best example to compare time estimations with the never tiring monsters that those films had as the murderers. There was a good reason few got away from them. They were designed to kill and be unstoppable. She was by far not designed for that. After fifteen minutes of swinging the axe at the door, the last remaining strands of wood and glue that were holding it together snapped. Dropping the axe, Natalie just walked into the office and collapsed on a chair. The newfound exertion placed upon her muscles was causing all of her limbs that were finally recovered from the digging to start to ache once more.


    Natalie sat there for a short while before getting up. Grabbing her axe from the now very open doorway, she made her way through the small interior, grabbing anything that would be of use. There were a few more maps of the area, but the ones she grabbed from her work were far more detailed. The few survival supplies, whose price was grossly inflated, were grabbed and stored. She almost tore apart the chairs for the cushions, but Kali said not to bother as they were apparently not up to par. The cheap office chairs lacked the base amount of comfort required to make it worth tearing them apart for the cushions. Noting that there was not much to be had when it came to this building, the group of three wrapped up the looting spree and continued their journey eastward down the highway.


    Huge thanks to my Elder Wolves Jake, Viktor, Nikolas, Saganatsu and Kevin for supporting me and my writing! Remember that I keep Patreon ten chapters ahead at all times.

 Chapter 28

    It was not until the group had traveled two more kilometers that they finally came across anything new. They could see a bridge crossing the river valley ahead, but that was not the thing that caught their attention. In the dirt of the ditch where there was a motley of tracks. It was either six bipedal or three quadrupedal animals. However, the tracks themselves did not match any that she had seen before. She inspected them for a minute, trying to glean anything, before looking forward to Shadow, "I do not recognize these tracks. They could belong to goblins, but I haven''t actually looked at their feet so I am not entirely sure. We should be careful moving forward." The wolf nodded before resuming his movement forward, sniffing out the tracks themselves. Maia and Emily came out and started moving on the flanks of the group in case there was an ambush set up.


    ''Smells like goblin. Don''t know numbers.'' The reply came grimly from Shadow. The wolves all tensed up, preparing for a fight. After Natalie brought up that it looked like there was about six going by the tracks, the wolves all moved down into a hunting stance and moved quickly and quietly along the ground, following the tracks. It took Nat everything she was capable of to keep pace with them silently, but she was just not able to bend down nearly as low as them. As they neared the bridge, they could make out the sound of some high pitched yips and barking coming from underneath. Shocked by the sounds, Natalie checked the position of the sun. Noting that it was still high in the sky, she knew that something was going wrong.


    While she had not recognized the tracks from earlier, these sounds were common place. A coyote''s high pitched noises were very easily distinguishable. The part about this that was all wrong though, was that coyotes were a generally nocturnal creature. As they came up to the bridge, it was easy to tell that the sounds were coming from below. And they sounded very violent. Something that was easily guessed on why based on the fact that the tracks they were following lead straight down into the valley. Believing that the coyotes could be getting attacked by the goblins they had been tracking, the group picked up their pace. As they reached the bottom of the valley, they finally saw the source of the commotion.


    On the west side of the valley, two adult coyotes had their backs against a rock wall underneath the bridge. Surrounding them were six goblins, who were slowly getting closer. As the goblins moved closer, the coyotes tried to nip out defensively, but never fully committed to an attack. Upon a closer look, huddled up behind the two coyotes were three pups pressing themselves against the wall behind them as if they hoped to fall through to safety. When compared to the wolves, the coyotes smaller size made it so they did not have a size advantage over the little monsters. Add that to the fact that they were defending young and outnumbered, they were in a bad way. As quick as she could, Nat started running towards the goblins, axe in hand. The wolves ran beside her, keeping pace as they approached the besieged coyotes.


    As she neared the goblins, one turned around as they heard her approach. However it was unable to do anything before the axe buried itself in its head. The sight of four wolves flanking someone with what it saw as a big ass stick shocked it so much it could not move. As the axe was going through the goblins soft head, each of the wolves pounced onto one of the monsters, their superior size and strength allowing them to take down the goblins easily and quickly. Seeing the opening caused by the sudden attack, the two coyotes launched forward and took down the final goblin. It left a glancing hit on one of them, but it was poorly aimed and would at most leave a bruise. Satisfied that the first threat to their young was dealt with, they slinked back towards their young.


    Seeing them move back to their pups, Natalie took the opportunity to quickly look over the two coyotes. They had a bunch of small gashes, mainly open on their muzzles. It seemed the goblins had gotten a couple hits in as the coyotes fought defensively. Moving forward slowly, she approached the wounded duo with trepidation. As she got within a few meters, both of them turned toward her and growled, their hackles raising instantaneously. Stopping where she was, she gestured to the two predators, "I just want to help. I can heal you up and take care of those cuts for you. I do not mean any harm to either you or your pups." The coyotes just stared and looked at her, then looking that the four wolves that came to flank her. Noticing the trust that the wolves had for her, they turned to each other. Small high pitched yips went back and forth as they seemed to discuss things.


    After a very short deliberation, they roused their pups and moved them towards Nat. Seeing that they were guiding the pups first, she sat down. It would be easier to check to see if anything was wrong if she was lower to the ground. There was no fear or worry like the first time she had done this with Kali, as the wolves on her sides were bigger and stronger than the smaller canines coming up to her. Contrary to her expectations, the pups bonded with her and entered the Soulscape as soon as they got to her, then were followed by their parents. When she looked in, all of them settled down and laid down. Before they all went to sleep, one of the adult ones thought to her, ''Thank you. Need sleep.'' now finally being a lot more used to the bonding process, Nat got up and started moving up the west side of the valley. Shadow and Ash quickly returned to their previous places in the formation, while Emily and Maia went back into the Soulscape. Someone had to keep the wolf pups from disturbing their new members rest after all.


    Huge thanks to my Elder Wolves Jake, Viktor, Nikolas, Saganatsu, Coen, and Kevin for supporting me and my writing! Remember that I keep Patreon ten chapters ahead at all times.

 Chapter 29

    The group moved back up the west side of the valley, following the path they had come down. Now that goblins were for sure wandering about, Nat wanted to cross over the bridge instead of going up the valley. She did not want them to have the high ground against her. Then it was quite likely that it would be over for her and the canines that traveled with her. Coming up to the bridge, they decided it was too far across to do what they did at the campground, so Natalie and the two wolves just crossed slowly in formation. Shadow lead while watching in front, Nat was in the middle, but kept her head on a swivel looking to see if there were any monsters that could spot them crossing.


    After the successful crossing of the valley bridge, the group continued along the ditch eastwards. Nothing much was left between here and Mountain View. Just a couple of private houses and small farm lands. The houses were checked, but seemed to have been stripped bare of any food or valuables. Well, they were stripped bare of what humans considered valuable. The veritable troves of pillows and blankets had left the wolves excited. After going through these houses, The inside of the Soulscape had a new land mark. It wasn''t quite a mountain, but Kali''s hill of comfort was slowly working its way there. The wolf pups attempted to play tag through the blankets and pillows, but more often than not they had to crawl along so they did not fall in between two of the pillows. Those that did had to get rescued out by Maia or Kali. Then that became a whole other game in and of itself.


    As they came to the crest of the first hill since the bridge, they saw a farm to the right. Knowing that a farm would generally have bigger tools and supplies, Nat lead the wolves and veered off southwards towards the farmhouse. As they came up to the door, Shadow froze, his hackles raising. Unlike the houses they passed earlier, the front door of the house was broken and open. ''Goblins.'' Was all that came from shadow, and that was all they needed. Slowly, they backed up away from the building. However, while they were backing up on the way out, Ash forgot to take notice of the cattle gate they had passed over. Her paw slipped in between the rungs, causing her to yip out in surprise as her balance shifted wildly.


    As the yip rang out, the three of them froze in place and looked towards the house. At first, it was quiet, nothing was happening. Then from inside the house came a rising crescendo of shrieks and screams, followed by goblins flowing out of the house. Dozens of goblins poured out of the door, their beady eyes locking onto Nat and the two wolves as they ran forwards. "Run!" Natalie yelled out, prompting the two wolves to turn and run. Shadow jumped clear over the cattle gate as Ash deftly worked herself out. They headed back out to the road, wondering where to go until Natalie caught up with them and guided them east up the next hill.


    Thankfully, as none of them were injured before, they managed to make good time up the hill ahead of the goblins. As they got to the top, Nat suddenly called out, "Wait! I have a plan!" Stopping, Ash and Shadow bolted over to her to find out what the plan was. Once they heard it, both wolves had a menacing smile grow over their faces to match the one that Natalie had covering hers. They Jumped into the Soulscape and began to get ready to give the hurt to the goblins.


    As the first goblin approached the top of the hill, it was surprised to find the female standing there, all alone. Smiling at it good fortune, it bolted forward with fresh energy, slobbering in anticipation as it ran. As it came close to her, its view was suddenly obstructed, it wondered what had blocked its view, just before a Giant dead tree log slammed into and rolled down the hill. Natalie had decided that the hill allowed her to make use of those logs that they picked up back on the mountain side. She got Shadow and Ash to spawn and throw them down the road and into the following goblins. The ones in the lead were struck dumb or tried to turn around in fear, but they could not get out of the way of the weighty hunks of wood due to their comrades pushing them forward from behind.


    After a dozen logs were sent down, Natalie got the two wolves to hold on for a second before bringing out anymore. As she looked down the hill, she could see the black mist flowing upwards in a great amount, and no signs of movements from the horde of monsters that was once chasing her. Satisfied at the elimination of that many goblins, Nat smiled smugly to herself, and congratulated the two wolves on a job well done. They quickly cuddled and nuzzled up against Nat and each other before Shadow broke off and took point. While they had just taken out a crap ton of monsters, they did not know if there were more following them.


    Exhausted, they continued down the road until they came up to the next farm. When they saw that the door on this one seemed firmly closed, they got Maia and Emily to help them walk around the area to make sure it was clear. The run from the goblin horde had exhausted the three travelers immensely, and while they could have traveled the rest of the way to Mountain View, there was nothing they wanted more than to rest. As they realized it was safe, Nat made use of their outdoor fire pit they had sitting in the back and started to prepare for making some food. There was some steaks that she had grabbed from home that she was feeling like cooking up!


    Huge thanks to my Elder Wolves Jake, Viktor, Nikolas, Saganatsu, Coen, Adam, John, and Kevin for supporting me and my writing! Remember that I keep Patreon ten chapters ahead at all times.

 Chapter 30

    Cooking the steaks went smoothly thanks to the metal grate that was near by the fire pit, just a quick clean, and grilling the steaks on top of it went smoothly. The sizzling of the meat and the tantalizing smell of the salt and pepper coming off them mixed wonderfully with the heat of the fire, giving relief to Nat and the wolves that lay down beside her. The three of them basked in the warmth of the fire, letting it seep into their strained and exhausted muscles. After all of the travelling and running today, mixed in with the fighting had caused them to exert themselves a lot more than they had originally expected. It was normally a four hour walk to Mountain View from Waterton, but it had taken them about six hours to get to a farm right before it. It was hard to tell time with no working clocks around.


    Just as the steaks were finishing up, the coyotes walked out of the Soulscape. Smelling the food, they slowly walked up to the fire. Before they got too close, Natalie called out, "I would not get close to that, the fire will hurt. Besides, I need to check out your wounds from before." A quick yip had the three coyote pups running around the area, going to join with the wolf pups in their games. Nat and the two coyotes watched on as the wolf pups welcomed in the coyotes and started playing with them immediately. It was adorable watching the three smaller pups keeping up and playing with the bigger adolescent pups. Slowly the two coyotes came over to her and hesitantly let her check them over. Their natural aversion to humans battling them as they tried to trust this one who had saved them.


    Checking them over, Nat was relieved to see that there was no sign off infection, and that the cuts across their muzzles were already healing smoothly. Letting them know that they were all good, the coyotes immediately backed up and took up their own area near the fire pit. They groomed each other for a bit, before the female looked over at Natalie. ''Don''t worry. Not scared. Just cautious.'' Nat let out a sigh of relief. She thought that the coyotes had backed off because they were scared of her as most animals were. Humans tended to be big and intimidating to most smaller animals.


    "Thank fuck. Well, do you or you pups have names? It would make it easier to talk as it has been easier to talk with Shadow and Ash here since they got names." After going through the same song and dance that she originally did with Kali and the other wolves, she found that the coyotes did not in fact have names as well. Maybe it was a human thing. After checking which gender the pups were, she decided to give the names Edwin and Lucille to the two adult coyotes, while she gave the pups the names Bob, Joe, and Sue. They seemed pleased with the names, especially the pups who just started putting even more energy into the race they were having with the other pups. "So, do you all usually sleep during the day?" Nat asked the two adult coyotes.


    ''Yes. Pups may sleep at night. We will sleep during day. Keep watch at night.'' Hearing this, Natalie felt like an idiot. They had been extremely lucky thus far, as all of them had been sleeping together in a closed up tent. Not once had they been attacked, but not once had they ever set up a watch for when they were sleeping. Thanking the coyotes for their offer, she made sure to stress that if they needed or wanted anything, all they had to was ask. When they mentioned they were hungry, Maia offered to hunt a couple extra hares. They were not going for an elk today as Shadow and Ash were too exhausted. When they responded kindly to the offer for a couple hares, two recently hunted hares were tossed their way out of Natalie. It was still weird for her to have dead animals being tossed out of herself, but she was slowly getting more used to it as the predators did it repeatedly.


    Taking the steaks off the grate, Nat got them stored first by Kali before digging in. She made a mental note to store the grate later, when it was not piping hot from the fire. As she bit into the steak, she found that she had left it on a little long and instead of medium rare, it was more well done. While some people really enjoyed it being cooked this much, Nat was not one of those people. She had gotten distracted by the coyotes coming out and lost track of the time. Not one to waste food, she persisted through and ate the tough steaks. Its not that she did not like the taste, she just preferred them more juicy and tender to how they currently were.


    After everything from supper was cleaned up, she just sat their by the fire, enjoying the view of all of the pups playing together. It was rare for wolves to just let others into their pack easily, but there was no discrimination against the new members. The adults talked back and forth kindly, while the pups just had fun playing. When asked about it, Kali just responded, ''Alpha let them in, of course they are part of pack.'' After being impressed at Kali''s growth with the English language, she took what Kali had said to heart. All of them viewed her as the Alpha. Therefore, if she made a decision, all of them would follow it to the letter. This worried her more than it supported her, as she was not used to leading people, and all of the canines had faith and followed her lead without question. The stress of being responsible for all of them ate at her for a short while.


    At least, it did until Kali nuzzled up against her shortly after the thought came to mind. ''Don''t worry. I will question.'' Hearing this, Nat was relieved. She was glad that Kali was able to pick up what she was feeling, and know that she needed support. Raising her hand, Nat scratched behind Kali''s ears. How she had such a helpful second was a blessing that she would never question. After scratching her for a little while, Nat got her tent set up in the yard. Something about sleeping in someone else''s home felt wrong. As She watched Kali bring it out, she noticed it already filled with pillows and blankets. Giving Kali a side eye glance, she said good night to the coyote couple and crawled into the tent. As she fell asleep, the familiar warmth of all the canines piling on top of her comforted her into a quick and restful sleep.


    Huge thanks to my Elder Wolves Jake, Viktor, Nikolas, Saganatsu, Coen, Adam, John, and Kevin for supporting me and my writing! Remember that I keep Patreon ten chapters ahead at all times.

 Chapter 31

    Waking up, all that Natalie could see and taste was once again mounds of fur. Getting up was more of a chore than an action, as the moving of the canines that were lying on top of her did not happen easily. Most times, they just cuddled in closer to her rather than move away. As she got the first two off, she noticed that all of the pups piled together on her stomach. The wolf pups slept in a sort of ring, with the coyote pups laying in the middle of them. As if they were protecting their smaller brethren. She stopped moving bodies off of her to look at it, before Emily who she had just moved off her yawned loudly as she woke up. The noise waking the pups, causing them to head out the open door of the tent to play in the morning dew covering the grass. She could only shake her head as all of the pups, even including Rogue, rolled around in the grass and over top one another.


    The sight that awaited Nat outside the tent surprised her. As she walked out, she saw that the two coyotes were sitting by the fire pit, with black blood covering their muzzles. Seeing the sight, she immediately went to them and checked them over for any injuries or issues, not even taking a second to ask what had happened. Surprised at the sudden advance of the crazed human, they were unable to move in time as she started feeling over their muzzles and backs. When Nat found no signs of damage or injury, she collapsed onto her ass and breathed out a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness you two are alright. Why did you not wake anyone to help?"


    ''Was late. Only three. Moved quietly. Picked off easily.'' Was the reply she got from Edwin. Thankful that the coyotes were fine, the idea of there being more goblins was a little worrying. They had taken out so many the day before running up the hill. Were these three stragglers? Were they scouting out for another large group? It was impossible to know. Knowing that she could not do anything about it now, she confronted the two coyotes, "Do not be afraid to wake any of us if there are more goblins. I would rather lose sleep than lose any of you." The two coyotes bowed their heads, their ears lowering and their tails stilling as if they had been scolded. Seeing that they were properly reflected, Natalie moved forward and pet both of their heads. "That''s for next time. For last night, good job to both of you. Thank you for keeping us all safe." Hearing the praise, both coyote'' tails picked back up in frequency and they moved forward, licking and nuzzling against Nat in compassion.


    As she got their help with breakfast, Emily walked over to her and got the pups to come on in from their playing. The adult wolves were making it a standard thing for the pups to hunt for breakfast, and after talking with Edwin and Lucille, they even got the coyote pups to join in on the practice. As a way to provide competition and growth, they decided to run them in two groups, males versus females. Today was the first day they were trying it as now they had equal numbers between them. First up was Emily watching over and seeing how they did. The only incentive they could give was that the winning group got first pick of the meat off the morning hares.


    Starting up a small fire, Nat got the grate back in place and got Lucille to help with getting bread, butter, and jam from the Soulscape. Buttering up one side of the bread, Nat put the buttered side onto the grate and let them toast over the fire. The grate made it a little easier to make toast, but it still barely held a flame to the toaster she had. How she missed the convenience of having toast ready in no time at all at just a push of a button. The coyotes beside her checked to see if she was all good with what she needed, and then disappeared into her when she confirmed that she was. They decided to first wash off the black blood around their muzzles at the lake before they observed the pups all going through the hunting practice.


    The toast was finished and pulled off the fire just as the rest of the wolves finished waking up and came out of the tent. Throwing on another layer of butter, than covering it with jam, Nat dug in to the crispy pieces of bread. When the wolves saw that there was no meat out in her cooking they headed into the Soulscape. Seeing that the male pups had finished, they all gathered up with the two coyotes and watched the female pups hunt together and bring down their hare. As they brought back the hare that they caught, Emily declared them as having been the better hunters, for having done it in less time and with more precision in their attacks. They had lead the hare right to Athena, who was hiding in a small bush. After their hare had gotten in range, she leapt out and caught it by the neck. The sudden latch on of the pup caused the hair to stumble, and before it could try and run off, sue had gotten to it and tore into its rear leg. Without that, it collapsed causing Athena to have an easy time tearing out its throat. The guys had just all chased it and then bit on at random parts and had fun riding it till it passed from blood loss.


    Having known the two hares would not be enough, Shadow and Ash headed off and quickly hunted three more hares.  To keep the eighteen canines fed for the day would take a fair amount of food. The reason they went for it was because it was their turn to rest in the Soulscape today. So as to not cause any favoritism, they switched out who traveled outside with Natalie. Today was Emily and Maia''s day to travel with her. Tomorrow was back to Shadow and Ash, as Bryden and Kali were still injured. They were recovering swiftly, with both of them set to be back to full strength within a week at this rate. After they had eaten, Emily and Maia headed out to help Nat with the clean up of the camp. They tried to do an extra thorough clean as they had at every property they passed along the way, replacing everything they looted. There was no way to know if people would return to their homes here or not, but it seemed like the respectful thing to do was to leave it as they found it. When they finished up, they headed back out to road and on to Mountain View.


    Huge thanks to my Elder Wolves Jake, Viktor, Nikolas, Saganatsu, Lachlan, Coen, Adam, John, and Kevin for supporting me and my writing! Remember that I keep Patreon ten chapters ahead at all times.

 Chapter 32

    Maia took up the point position as they moved in a line down the ditch. They all moved slowly, now that the experience of dozens of goblins all fitting into a single house. Numerous inns and lodges dotted the side of the road, all of them seeming to have been boarded up from the outside. With no clear access to be seen, the party decided to ignore looting for the moment, as too much noise from breaking in could cause unwelcome visitors to greet them. As they came up to the gas station, Natalie took a look at the surrounding area. There was a fair amount of trees in the area, except when it came to the surroundings of the school building. There were a couple trees along the back of it, but otherwise it was the only place with clear sight lines despite it only being a single story structure.


    While looking at the school, the more time she spent fixated on the building, she slowly started seeing more and more. The windows were covered up like the houses they had passed by. The main difference with these ones were that they were barricaded from the inside. It also appeared to have a make shift blockade built up in front of the main door, or at least what she assumed was the main door. It was hard to be certain from her point of view. Letting Emily and Maia know, they slowly snuck down the road until they were obscured from view of the school by the line of trees that sat just across the road from it. They took turns crossing, checking multiple times to see if they were spotted. Once all three were across just fine, they moved up the tree line towards the spot opposite the barricaded entrance.


    When they ended up at the point just across the street from the school doors, Natalie peeked out from behind a tree. Maia and Emily each took positions to make sure to watch for anything approaching them from behind or the sides. From what Nat could see, there was a random collection of chairs and desks in a rough semi-circle in front of the doorway, with a slight opening at the front. There were a couple human head popping up above the wall, looking out as if they were on watch. They seemed skittish, afraid, and on edge as their heads whipped back and forth, trying to make sure every angle was covered. Surrounding and even partially covering the outside of their homemade wall were more black stains. It had been long enough since the last time they were attacked that all of the blood had dried up.


    She thought over the situation in front of her. Chances are this was a group of people who had banded together. They could either turn violent towards her, or be willing to trade supplies and information. The information anyone could have on the world now or on if anyone else found out anything about the Soulscape could be beneficial. The possible reward, though slim, far outweighed any risk that could come from making her presence known. Coming to a decision, Nat called out while remaining hidden, "Hello there! Are you friendly?" Immediately she heard some banging and rattling come from the entrance way. They must not have been expecting to hear anything intelligible, for there was a sizable amount of movement behind the barricade as people seemed to scramble into position. From her view through the hole in the wall, she saw people running back and forth, seemingly attempting to get everything into position. From behind the organised chaos, an older woman came out and asked a question to one of the people rushing about.


    Watching her shake her head, Natalie was surprised when this woman walked right up to the hole. "That depends. Are you friendly?" Hearing this response, a smile crept over Natalie face. She got the two wolves to fall in and enter her Soulscape before she got up and walked out onto the road. These people seemed terrified of shadows, bringing a couple of wolves alongside her was sure to cause an incident. She felt all eyes focus on her as she walked out onto the road, which was hilariously enough actually named School Ave. She held her hands out as she came to a stop, barely stepping onto the asphalt. "Well, I am Canadian, so I think I am about as friendly as one could get."


    The elderly woman just starts laughing out loud at Natalie''s response. "I would consider that friendly. Come on in, we can share some details about what each of us know." Slowly, Nat crossed the road to the waiting woman, feeling the eyes of the people manning the barricade following her every movement. As she came up to the literal hole in the wall, she held out her hand to the elderly woman. "Nice to meet you, I''m Natalie."


    The woman took the hand and delivered a solid handshake, "Its a pleasure Natalie. My name is Gertrude. Was not expecting to see another face so soon. Come, come, we have much to discuss." Leading Natalie inside, Gertrude brought her to what was the principals office. As they entered the room, Nat could not help but notice a Tabby cat lounging on the desk. As Gertrude and Nat sat in opposing chairs, the cat stretched and got up, leaping into the older woman''s lap. Lightly scratching the felines head, Gertrude inquired first. "So Natalie, where are you from. Dangerous days to be hiking across the country side. What with them monsters and all. Hard to see this and believe it is all real sometimes."


    "Well Gertrude, I used to live in Waterton. Was a wildlife conservation officer. As you can see," she lifted her bandaged up left arm, "It is still definitely dangerous. Those monsters are vicious little fuckers. But I have made it here fairly easily." Throughout the answer, Gertrude''s face remained pensive, unchanging no matter what words were brought up. Finally, after a few moments of silence where both of them were carefully observing the other, Gertrude spoke up, leaning forward while putting her hands together. "So, you used to live in Waterton. I have a few good friends that live there. Do you know Bryden? Is he still the head of fish and wildlife conservation? And do you know my grandson and where he might be at this moment? His name is Troy, and he always did seem to speak of a Natalie."


    Huge thanks to my Elder Wolves Jake, Viktor, Nikolas, Saganatsu, Lachlan, Coen, Adam, John, and Kevin for supporting me and my writing! Remember that I keep Patreon ten chapters ahead at all times.

 Chapter 33

    Natalie instantly broke into a cold sweat. Of all the luck, she had to have run into family of the one man she killed. Sure he was a piece of shit who did not deserve to breathe the same air as everyone else, but trying to convince a family member of that would be insanely difficult. Did she try and see where honesty would get her? Should she try and blame it on the monsters? Lying could work, but Nat has never had a strong poker face. Wearing your heart on your sleeve is great, until you feel a need to deceive. As Natalie internally batted back and forth her options, a loud cough sounded through the room. "Well, what happened in Waterton? Does my cat have your tongue?" Gertrude inquired pointedly. There it was, she obviously knew that there was something conflicting Natalie, and decided to bring it to the foreground. Why did old people always seem to know someone was hiding something?


    Preparing herself, Nat looked Gertrude dead in the eyes. "Out of everyone in Waterton, I am the only person left who is alive. The monsters got to everyone else. However with your grandson it was different." Pausing, Nat breathed deeply to calm herself and make sure she had her facts straight. "When I came across him, he was trying to break into my house with the help of two goblins." All throughout her speech, her eyes never left Gertrude''s.


    Gertrude stared back into her eyes for a few seconds, before sighing and leaning back into the chair. She rubbed her forehead in thought, "So Troy was working with goblins. Do you know why? And what happened to the three of them?"


    "He was probably going to try and make me his bed toy. He had talked about making me his for the past three years. This time was different. Not only was I fed up with his shit, but I was already in a shit mood and was tired from having just buried Bryden''s remains when I came across him. As he tried to take me by force, me and mine killed the three of them with no mercy." As Nat finished explaining this, she already started leaning forwards, so as she could make a run for it should this get violent. Since she never got to know any good sides of Troy, she had no idea on what kind of relationship he had with his grandmother. She sensed the wolves getting ready to come out and help her fight her way out, should it be needed.


    "Fucking idiot." The words that came from Gertrude''s mouth surprised Natalie. "He kept saying how he found the one and was doing his best to make her happy. Turns out he still didn''t know how to treat people properly. I take it none of the stories he told me were correct?" After hearing this, Natalie eased her grip on the couch and leaned back. Point by point, the two of them compared notes on what he had said versus what he had actually done. The more that they actually went through the list, the more disgusted Gertrude got with her grandson. "I am sorry you had to deal with that idiot. I had hoped that his parent had taught him better, but apparently he was spoiled and left without understanding how to interact with others properly. Turns out what Bryden had been telling me was not all made up to spite me. Tell me, why were you the one to live and everyone but my son passed on? Surely that old coot alone would not have gone quietly."


    Slowly, Natalie went through the events of what had happened, with her heading off on a camping trip, seeing the smoke and rushing back. She left out the wolves, as that could be a lot to deal with for the old lady. Who in their right mind would just believe that someone has a pack of wolves in them? Or trust them after words for that fact. She went over how she had encountered a few goblins in the woods, briefly mentioned what happened with Angie before explaining how she found Bryden. Gertrude''s eyes had started tearing up partway through, and she finally lost it when she heard what state he was in and what he had done for the wolves at the enclosure. The elderly woman got up and walked over to Natalie, before collapsing beside her into the chair and just hugged her, bawling. Feeling the loss of her mentor once more, Nat hugged her back and started crying with her.


    Once they got all of the tears out that they could, they slightly separated again. Natalie shared how she had dug and buried both Bryden and Angie in the enclosure, trying not to leave a single detail out. As she finished explaining that, Gertrude grasped her hands. "Thank you for what you did for him. He deserved so much better than to have it all end that way, but I am glad that my friend was taken care of in the end. Now, I just have something I want to clear up. You said you were the only survivor. But you also said that you and yours took care of the goblins and my good for nothing grandson. So who were the others who have helped you along?"


    Adopting a deer in headlights look, Natalie was about to respond to her when a voice resonated in her mind. ''She seems kind and understanding. Let her know.'' Kali''s words broke the final wall that held her back. She just did not want to expose them without checking for their opinion. It was said though that dogs could tell if a person was good or bad. The possibility that wolves could do the same was not an unfounded thought. Breathing out a breath of relief, "There were some friends I made while I was camping and back right after I found Bryden. They have helped keep me alive and even helped me give him a proper burial." Getting Maia, Kali, and Ash to come out into the office, she gestured to the wolves beside her, "These are just three of the canines that have become family to me. And they helped me find out that our world changed so much more than we initially thought."


    Huge thanks to my Elder Wolves Jake, Viktor, Nikolas, Saganatsu, Lachlan, Coen, Adam, John, and Kevin for supporting me and my writing! Remember that I keep Patreon ten chapters ahead at all times.

 Chapter 34

    Gertrude scrambled back up the chair as high as she could when the wolves were suddenly in front of her. The predators that appeared out of nowhere were by no means small. Each one was probably as big as her, and clearly stronger. As she pointed and stared at them, she slowly began to calm down. One of them sat on the chair with Natalie, while the other two sat on either side. They made no movements, nor did they seem to be angry or hungry. Natalie herself was as calm and collected as could be, save for the wry smile she had on her face. This is what she was hiding throughout the whole conversation. Gertrude had been sure that most people would not just walk into a compound like theirs unarmed, and boy was she right. Most people would not be hiding giant ass predators that could rip her face off.


    As Gertrude finally started to calm her breathing and lower herself back into the chair, Nat decided to start explaining the whole circumstance behind the wolves. The discovery of Kali trapped under a tree, how the others were wolves that Bryden had given his life to protect. How all of them had helped bury him and given the man who fought to keep them safe as much respect as possible. How they had traveled and fought goblins all along the way from Waterton to here. Before going to far in depth with the whole Soulscape side of things, Nat took a decent sized pause in her explanation to give Gertrude some time to collect her thoughts. The older woman appeared to have her eyes spinning at all of the extra info as she tried to connect the parts of these stories to the ones that Nat had just finished going over.


    Placing her hands on her knees to steady herself, Gertrude looked at Natalie, "You said they helped you fight off a bunch of goblins. Any in this area in large groups? We have been harassed daily by a horde of them every evening, but they never showed up last night. We have all be on edge ever since."


    "There was a large group that we found at a farm outside of town. There were dozens of them but we never stopped to count. Those we did all take care of, but they may or may not be the group that has been attacking you." Nat explained, doing her best to recollect the memories of the encounter the previous day. By this point, she could tell that none had tried bonding with any animals. Gertrude''s reaction and the constant looking back and forth between the canines and Natalie as if she was trying to find out where she was hiding them. Almost as if she had kept them in her pockets, and just threw them out like pocket sand. Heh, pocket sand upgrades directly to pocket wolves. Better, improved, and with a hundred percent more fluff.


    Slowly, Nat started explaining what it was like to bond with an animal. How it felt, what you could do afterwards, anything she thought might be of use. After hearing about all of this, Gertrude slowly looked over at her cat, which was already staring back at her. Stretching, the feline got up and walked over to Gertrude. As the tabby leapt up as if to perch on her lap, the cat disappeared into the elderly woman. Looking down at where the cat entered her in surprise, she was even more taken aback when the cat''s head popped back out and meowed at her. The wide eyed look made it painfully obvious that being able to talk with her pet was something she was not expecting to actually be able to do. Tearing her eyes away from her feline friend, she started pressing Nat for all of the information that she had.


    After a couple hours of just hearing all of the stuff that Nat had tried, Gertrude started going around and tried to get stuff inside herself. When it worked and was able to duplicate, tears started to gather in her eyes. "Thank you. Thank you so much. I was so worried that we would run out of supplies before help would arrive. Now I feel like we can make it through." Once more, Gertrude turned into a bawling mess and hugged Natalie, however this time the feelings that were felt were of pure joy and relief. The sudden hug caught her off guard, and Natalie stood there for a second surprised at the emotional lady. Almost out of instinct, she started returning the hug and just let Gertrude just let all of her emotions out.


    Now knowing that it was not just her, but that everyone was able to do this, Natalie brought up ideas for a whole new list of tests that they could do. Hearing some of the ideas, Gertrude was immediately on board. They checked numerous things, such as whether a duplicated item could be stored by someone else and get access to it, whether bonded animals could enter another''s Soulscape, and could a live person enter into someone else. While duplicated items could be transferred easily, giving access to a whole new side of possibilities for growth, people could not enter one another at all. There was just no feeling of being able to enter into one another. Kali offered to be the one to try, though she said if she became un-bonded, she would immediately turn back and re-bond with Natalie. Hearing this made Natalie glad that she had helped Kali, though it felt like much longer than the five days that it had been.


    What was found out was hat while Kali could feel like she could enter into Gertrude''s Soulscape, it felt as if she was getting far more distant to Nat as she did. This prompted the idea that only bonded animals could go inside, but animals could change who they are bonded to. There was apparently no feeling of being blocked from entry, nor from leaving. Just as if she was making a choice as to which person to be with. The info was reassuring to Nat, as her biggest fear with it was that if someone wanted power, they could force animals to bond with them, from which they could never leave. Knowing that the choice was entirely in their hands made that issue null, and she felt immense relief flooding her mind. That was until Gertrude asked a certain line of questions that lead to Nat''s other main worry. "Could people bond with monsters? Could that be what Troy had done?"


    Huge thanks to my Elder Wolves Jake, Viktor, Nikolas, Saganatsu, Lachlan, Coen, Adam, John, and Kevin for supporting me and my writing! Remember that I keep Patreon ten chapters ahead at all times.

 Chapter 35

    The tension in the room could have been cut with a knife. Slowly, Natalie remembered that she thought she saw black mist coming off him, just as the monsters did when they died. Was she not just seeing things? Slowly as she thought over the scene in her head, she noticed some mist coming off of Gertrude. Instead of the black mist that came from the monsters, this was much thinner and green. She was sure that it was not present earlier. While she was staring at the green specks coming off Gertrude, a hand waving in front of her face snapped her out of her daze. "Earth to Natalie. Are you there sweetie?"


    Blinking and regaining focus, Natalie answers in a daze, "Huh yeah, I''m here, what''s up?"


    "You were just kind of staring at me, quiet intently if I do say so myself. Do I have something stuck in my teeth?" Gertrude goes into her purse that was sitting beside the chair and pulls out a compact mirror.


    "No, no, nothing like that. I was just remembering thinking that I was seeing things when I confronted Troy. I thought my eyes were fooling me and showing black mist coming off of him. The same that comes off dead monsters. Then I noticed that you have a green variant of it coming off of you"


    Gertrude''s eyes moved from the mirror to look into Nat''s, widening at the younger woman''s words. "Monsters have a mist that comes off their dead bodies? And I have a mist coming off me? I could not see any in the mirror. But that would mean that my eye sight is not going, as you seem to be oozing off a green mist yourself." Shocked at the words, Natalie gestured to the mirror. Looking at it quickly, she could not see anything coming off her. Turning around, she tried to get a look at Gertrude in the mirror. Again no green mist was visible in the mirror, but when she looked directly at her it was still there.


    "Have I had this mist coming off of me all this time?"


    "No, I do not remember seeing it until... After I bonded with Finnigan..." Gertrude''s words trailed off as both of their eyes met, widening this time out of a sudden understanding. The mist was only visible by those with a Soulscape that was active. Otherwise the people she passed by at the entrance would have reacted far differently to her when she entered. It was almost like an aura surrounding a person. So since green most likely meant that there were animals inside, did the black mist that came off Troy signify the monsters? It matched with what happened to monsters after they passed. Did dead animals have the same thing. She never really noticed with the elk, but that could have been because the horrid green skins that surrounded it. As she pondered what this all could imply, a sudden grumble resonated through the room.


    "I guess we have been at this for a while. Want to join us for dinner dear?" Gertrude asked. Natalie realized that it was probably too late to make any reasonable distance towards Lethbridge, so she accepted the request. Getting up, they headed down the hall to the gymnasium. Once there, Nat noticed that there were a lot of tables filled with people. There was a canteen on the side that seemed to have a metal shutter, though they were cooking with a fire using coals inside the oven. With tech being down, they probably improvised it so it would work. Looking around the gym, she could not help but notice the looks people had. Most were sad, defeated, and lacking in any hope or drive. It was as if they saw this as the end and they were just staying here waiting to die.


    Gertrude guided her to a table off to the side, which was completely empty of people. A fair number of the residents tracked the two with their eyes, with a bit of both curiosity and caution. Probably wondering who the new person was, and if they were staying. The biggest problem if she stayed would be securing food for them as well, as that would mean that much less to share between everyone else. Sitting down, Nat looked at the canteen for a second before turning to her dinner partner and cocking an eyebrow. After being told to look back, she noticed that two kids were carefully bringing over bowls towards her, while some other kids were carrying dishes to other people as they filtered in. It was not much of a surprise to Natalie though, as most of them were probably farm kids who were used to helping out at home. That was just the nature of the area. The meal that everyone got was a stew that was somewhat bland, but it still was pretty decent. Nat went straight into the food and ate every last bit, so as to respect the works of the cooks.


    Dinner was a silent affair, where no one came up to them to talk nor did they talk between themselves. Once done, Gertrude guided Natalie into bringing her dish back up to the kitchen, before leading her to the store room. As part of the thanks for all of the info that Nat gave her, Gertrude offered a copy of everything they had in their storeroom. To pay back for the thanks, Nat had the wolves bring out a copy of everything that wasn''t stored. The only thing that Gertrude was unable to take in herself to copy were the corpses of the freshly hunted hare and elk. Nat just got them a couple more elk and a dozen more hare to butcher up and use as a source of protein, at least until they were able to procure more themselves.


    After the exchange of supplies ended, the room looked four times as filled as it was previously, with much more variety as well. Gertrude assigned people to sort it and deal with the butchering of the meat, before leading Nat away from the bewildered helpers. Quickly leading her back to her office, Gertrude offered for her to sleep in there for the night, and even join them. Thanking her, Nat gladly took the sleeping spot, but claimed that she had someone she wanted to meet up with. After being left alone as Gertrude went to her own bed, the wolves quickly set up a bed area up against the wall. The coyotes got out themselves and took up positions by the door, maintaining their decision to keep up night watch for the group. After they all got comfy, all the wolves and the coyote pups fell asleep pretty swiftly. Nat was kept up by her thoughts about everything they found out that day for a short while, but slowly embraced the quiet of sleep.


    Huge thanks to my Elder Wolves Jake, Viktor, Nikolas, Saganatsu, Lachlan, Coen, Adam, John, and Kevin for supporting me and my writing! Remember that I keep Patreon ten chapters ahead at all times.

 Chapter 36

    Finally have the finished art that I commissioned for this series. It was done by the wonderful @fauzanzein who you can check out their work on Instagram. definitely recommend checking them out as I find their work amazing! The full image is available to see publicly on my Patreon!


    Natalie opened her eyes and saw a familiar forest. It was the same one from her previous nightmare she had just a couple days prior. Knowing that this was a dream, she chose to move in a direction that she believed to be different from before. Walking straight towards an open plain full of goblins was not her idea of a good and relaxing time sleeping. As she moved through the forest, it slowly became less filled with shrubbery. The dirt under her bare feet slowly turned to cold stone. Surprised at the feeling of stone under her feet, she looked down at her feet. She found that not only did she have no shoes nor socks, but she was completely Au Naturel. The wind suddenly picked up, flowing through the trees and fog to bite against her skin. Shivering slightly, Nat continued on through the dream forest.


    Eventually the trees followed the smaller vegetation and slowly dwindled in number until all that was left was stone under her feet, a light biting wind, and a thick layer of fog. Suddenly, the wind picked up, strong enough to force her to close her eyes. As they opened back when the wind died back down, the view she had was spectacular. She had come across a giant mountain range, where either clouds or fog obscured the tops from view. Numerous caves dotted all over the faces of the mountains, giving the feel of almost a beehive. It looked as though you explore those caves for years and still not even see most of them. Before she knew it she was already approaching the mountains, moving at a snails pace as she stared on in awe of giant landmarks. Just as she reached the base of the nearest mountain, a howl rung out through the air, making Nat freeze in place.


    As if to answer the noise, more howls came out, slowly growing in volume as what sounded like hundreds of canines sounded out. As the howl stopped in front of her, the sound continued riding down the mountains like a wave, as it was maintained by the next closest wolves downwards. Then, as the howls from each cave stopped, canines came out from the caves in mass. Hundreds of coyotes, wolves, and larger household dogs came out of the caves, all moving in unison. There were even other sizes among them, but some of those were the size of a truck. As Natalie stared on in shock at the giant mass of hounds, they all craned their necks and looked at her. The view itself was daunting, as hundreds of apex predators were staring her down, with a clear numerical advantage. Nat''s mind told her to run, while her gut told her to stay put. The argument between the two halted for a minute, when an all too familiar bark rang out from the closest cave.


    Looking at the cave, she saw two female wolves at the entrance. Kali and Maia stood beside one another, standing tall as they looked upon Nat. Around them, were five more cave entrances which were also occupied, and it was easy to tell that these were all of the pups. While she could not piece together which was which, as they had all become mature canines, she could still recognize who they were as a group. Two were pairs of wolves, while the other three had pairings of one wolf and one coyote. The difference in size between them was not jarring, but cute and adorable. A second bark rang out from her right. There she saw Emily and Bryden, standing at the mouth of their own set of caves with more surrounding them. Looking left, she noticed that Shadow and Ash were there as well. Turning around, the dream had changed, making the mountains wrapping around her completely. Sitting at the mouth of their own cave was Edwin and Lucille. Many cave surrounded all of them all, with canines of many types and sizes carrying outwards.


    Another bark rang out, however this time was from a different set of beasts. Where a wolf was generally two to three times as large as a coyote, this pair were each two to three times as big as Bryden or Kali, who were at the upper range for gray wolves. Slowly, they started walking towards her. As they did, every other canine in the mountains surrounding her started to move forward, keeping the same pace as the larger ones. Coming close, the words ''Help us.'' were suddenly thought towards her. While the voice itself was unrecognizable, it was obvious that it came from the two larger predators in front of her. Than as if they were all standing in a whirlpool, all of the hounds congregated on Natalie, causing her to be lost in a mound of fur brushing and pushing against her in every direction. She tried to climb her way out, but was unable to find any purchase. Slowly, she slid into a darkness filled of fur.


    Groaning as she awoke, she noticed that she had her face pressed against Maia''s back. Her tongue covered in loose fur, helped her realize that she must have woken because her mouth had been filled with wolf hair, making breathing difficult and uneven. The small wet mark on Maia''s back helped reinforce the idea, causing Nat to quickly try and clean the fur off her tongue. Looking up, she slowly took a quick account of the area, she found she was still in the office, but it was well into the night as it was pitch black. The starlight barely coming in through the boarded up window allowed her to barely see Edwin and Lucille still watching the door, but nuzzling up against each other to stay comfy. Settling back down into the bed, she tried to quickly tried to will herself back to sleep. What had been that dream, and who those two were remained to be questions to answer another day. For now, she was tired, and quickly re-embraced the void of sleep.


    Huge thanks to my Elder Wolves Jake, Viktor, Nikolas, Saganatsu, Lachlan, Coen, Adam, John, and Kevin for supporting me and my writing! Remember that I keep Patreon ten chapters ahead at all times.

 Chapter 37

    Sunlight glinted in from the boarded up window as Natalie awoke. The dream she had from the night before slowly coming back to her in pieces, she rubbed her eyes as they adjusted to the light in the room. Sitting up, she noticed that the only other two in the room that seemed awake were Edwin and Lucille, still keeping a lookout on the door. Lucille looked over at her for as she attempted to climb around the pile of canines surrounding her. ''Morning'' was sent to her by the female coyote, but Nat just grunted in response. It was too early in the morning for this. She managed to extract herself from the dog pile of a bed with only slight difficulties. Turning back to look at the giant bunched of fur, she noticed that Bryden was sleeping with everyone else now. Leaning over to take a look, his wounds had already completely closed, as well as the signs that fur was growing back were starting to be visible.


    As Natalie got changed into new clothes, the rest of the wolves started to stir. Most of them quietly got up and stretched, working the sleep out of their muscles, but Spirit yawned loudly causing the rest of the pups to jolt awake. All of them except for his sister, who just opened one eye to look at him, before doing her best to return to sleep. They all started running around the room, full of energy. When it seemed that they realized that there was not much room to run, all of the active pups ran into the Soulscape and started a giant game of tag. Smiling at their antics, Natalie walked over the two coyotes and thanked them for their work. They briefly nuzzled against her, before going into the Soulscape to start directing the pups into hunting practice. Meanwhile the adult wolves started moving items back into Nat and tried to clean up everything that they had brought. They were the pack''s items, and they were not just gonna leave them for anyone else.


    After everyone and everything was safely inside, Nat made her way out the door and back down to the gym. The sight that met her greatly contrasted with the day before. People had smiles on their faces, kids were running around laughing, and the smell that came out from the canteen was delightful. Noticing Gertrude sitting at the same table they were at the night before, she headed over to rejoin the elderly woman. Sitting down, she looked up to see people coming up to them. Startled, she looked at Gertrude as to ask what was going on, but all that she got was a smug smile. Turning back to the people that approached her, nothing surprised her more than the parade of thanks and appreciation that bombarded her. Apparently Gertrude had told them that she was responsible for getting a restock of supplies, let alone the constant ability to resupply. Some even broke down into tears of joy, happy that they would not have to watch their children starve as they waited for help to arrive.


    While this went on, a couple of the kids that were helping out the night before brought her multiple plates of food. There was a plate piled high with bacon and sausages, while another had a mountain of scrambled eggs. Both paled in comparison to the third and final plate that was brought to her. It was piled high with pancakes that were topped with multiple varieties of fruit and whipped cream. Natalie did not remember there being any cool whip in any of the supplies, so it must have been made and whipped entirely by hand. As she turned to look at Gertrude, the woman finally gave an verbal response, "They are grateful for both the supplies and knowledge you gave us. And I already told them about your canines, so feel free to store these for later. I know that I did." As the words left her mouth, three wolf heads popped out of Nat before she could communicate anything and grabbed the plates. As quick as they appeared, they disappeared back into her before promptly returning the plates back out, still loaded with food. Peering inside the ''Scape, she saw that there was only one plate actually being eaten from, and it was getting devoured at an incredible pace. Apparently wolves liked the taste of the three pigs worth of pork.


    Some people around her gasped, while other leaned in closer with sounds of awe and curiosity. Not used to being the center of attention, Natalie started chuckling nervously while scratching the back of her head. Noticing the body language, Gertrude shooed everyone away so that she could have room to eat and enjoy her meal. As everyone left, Natalie picked up her fork and started eating, trying to brush aside how uncomfortable the whole thing made her feel. She was used to the small town feel, being an outsider and only interacting with a couple people each day. The sudden praise and recognition from such a large group of people threw her through a loop. The food however was incredibly delicious, and served as a wonderful distraction from the feelings that she had. Though she could swear she heard the sound of a couple wolves giggling ringing through her head.


    After finishing the food, Natalie thanked Gertrude for all of the hospitality while insisting that she had to head off. There was no attempt to stop her, just a hug shared between the two, before they both started to head out of the gym. When people noticed that she was leaving, they all called out goodbyes and well wishes. The feeling of community here was strong, and the thought that so many people sincerely wished her well touched her deeply. A smile forced itself onto her face, unable to be contained. Quickly they walked out and down the halls, though Gertrude was giggling the entire time. After one final farewell from Gertrude and everyone keeping watch at the barricade, Natalie headed back out onto the road and eastward. While the friendliness of all of them helped improve her spirits, it also made her ache to see Shannon all the sooner.


    Huge thanks to my Elder Wolves Jake, Viktor, Nikolas, Saganatsu, Lachlan, Coen, Adam, John, and Kevin for supporting me and my writing! Remember that I keep Patreon ten chapters ahead at all times.

 Chapter 38

    Looking up as she walked down highway five, the sun was already a quarter of the way between the horizon and directly above her. There were a few clouds, but otherwise it was a completely clear day. As they left Mountain View, Nat was not surprised when Bryden and Ash both came out to travel with her. Today was originally gonna be Shadow and Ash''s day to travel with, but with Bryden now being healed he wanted to travel with. The past few days healing and resting had apparently left him a little stir crazy, and he wanted to help and pull his weight. Smiling at the eager to please wolf, she had him take point while they moved into the ditch and headed along the road. They did not stop anywhere in town, as everywhere here was boarded up to prevent any incursions while they were all at the school. Instead, they just moved down the road, keeping an eye and ear out for anything nearby.


    After reaching a couple kilometers outside of the town, the farm houses started to no longer be boarded up. The group treated the ones with open doors warily, but found no trace of any monsters inside. Food, plant life, and tools such as hammers and knives were both looted than immediately replaced. After now having interacted with the local people, she did not want to cause any more damage or pain towards them. Her biggest regret so far was turning into breaking into the office of that campsite the couple of days prior. She had no interaction with the owners, nor had she heard anything bad. But as soon as the world took a downward spiral, she used an axe to take what she wanted. Thus, she made it a rule to not break people''s personal property unless it was for self defense. Not making use of her surroundings when it was life or death just because she did not want to break other peoples belongings seemed like a dumb reason to lose her life.


    That thought lead her down a rabbit hole as she walked. What happens to all of the canines bonded to me when I die? Would they all get ejected from the Soulscape? Would they perish alongside her? While this caused her a little bit of anxiety thinking about, she pushed it off to the side. Mainly because there was no way to test that without either her dying or another person who was bonded with animals dying. Pulling out a notebook, she started writing down a list of all the questions she has had about the Soulscape and how it works while they walked. She filled up a number of pages, with both the questions and either the answers to them, or room for the answer to be written in later. She knew that she had forgotten a lot of the questions she had about, and felt like she had asked herself the same questions she had before hand repeatedly.


    While she was writing in her notebook, Bryden stopped in place. Noticing him stop, Nat quickly dropped down and put her notebook away. They were nearing up to a farm, and it had the front door open. There were a couple cows and a bull in the field, which was dotted with small puddles of black. Noticing that there were a couple of corpses of cattle lying around, they had been attacked but either killed or ran off their aggressors. Moving up to the enclosure slowly, Nat got a couple of the dead cows stored inside with the help of Shadow. Moving up to the ones still alive, she tried to get them to enter her Soulscape. Not only did they not try and enter, they backed away from her. Their eyes glistened with fear, they all moved behind the bull, which took up a defensive posture in front of the herd. It was not their standard reaction to a human approaching. It was their default reaction to being approached by a predator.


    Looking behind her, she saw that Bryden and Ash were still waiting by the road, ready to run in should a group of monsters come out. Looking back at the fear filled cattle, she noticed that all of their attention and fear was focused on her. Did she give off a similar feel as a wolf to animals? Did they not want to bond with her because they sensed the wolves? Not wanting to scare the cows to badly, she backed away and left towards the house. She saw the cattle visibly relax as she left them, confirming some of her suspicions. Bryden and Ash rejoined her in front of the house, and moved inside with her in their travelling formation. Entering the house, they found more dried up black puddles, showing that it had been a while since some goblins had died here.


    Upon entering the kitchen, they came across the corpse of the farmer who had lived here previously. Multiple dried puddles of ick both surrounded and covered him, causing the body to be soaked in the ilk. Most of the skin covering it had also discoloured to a grey-black combination. As they neared towards him to see what was going on, suddenly, it started to get up! "Back off, do not bite him or let him bite you!" the body stood up and swayed, his guts hanging out from the open hole in his stomach area. What was this world she was living in. First goblins go through and kill most of the people she had known for the last few years, and now people who should be dead are getting up? Their was only one reason why something dead could stand like it was alive, and that was because it became undead. Black mist rolled off the rotting corpse that started shuffling towards her.


    Taking a few steps back into the hall to make some space, Natalie got Shadow to bring out the fire axe. Hefting it up, she waited behind a corner as she heard what she currently dubbed as a zombie shuffle closer. As soon as it came out from behind the corner, Nat swung the fire axe straight down on its head. The head squelched out some grey matter as the body collapsed into a heap on the floor. Bits of blood pooled out from the body, but what was most disturbing was that the blood was mixed, being both black and red. Almost like a really dark candy cane. Taking a few steps back, she collapsed against a wall and took stock of what she had just seen. There was a dead body that got up and came at her. The black mist was there even as it was moving. And the body had been covered by the black ilk that was goblin blood. Did that mean that any corpse could become a zombie if it was exposed to the black blood?


    Huge thanks to my Elder Wolves Jake, Viktor, Nikolas, Saganatsu, Lachlan, Coen, Adam, John, and Kevin for supporting me and my writing! Remember that I keep Patreon ten chapters ahead at all times. Our next goal on Patreon will be getting up to 25 patrons, which I will then open up an official discord for everyone to come and discuss the story in and hang out!

 Chapter 39

    Moving into the living room of the farm house, Natalie had all of the canines come out one at a time. After seeing what the black blood most likely did to the previous owner of this house, she wanted to make sure none of her pack were suffering due to this. Starting with the coyotes so that they could quickly get back to sleep, she gave each of them full physicals. The coyotes snouts were all that seemed outside of perfect physical health, and those had already closed and were already fading behind fresh, new skin. Going through each of the pups, Rogue and Spirit were the only ones without a clean bill of health, but their lesions from the disease they had already shrunk immensely and now they were but nubs. Both the fast healing shown that she had seen so far and the lack of any extraneous issues caused Natalie to feel better about the whole situation. Did it only affect the bodies of those who passed? She remembered some getting sprayed onto her in and around Waterton, but there was nothing that she could tell was wrong with how her body felt and moved.


    Going through the adult wolves, the first to be checked was Bryden. He was the only one to have fresh wounds to be covered in the black ilk. Taking a look at the swatches of missing fur, she found nothing discoloured or out of place. Looking up, Nat jumped back a little bit, as Emily was right in her face with worry plastered all over hers. After a quick reassurance that everything with him was fine, Nat worked her way through all of them, checking to see if anything was wrong as well as looking for a general state of being. Making sure they had enough exercise, that they had balanced diets and enough to eat. The veterinarian soul inside of her did not rest until she made sure that all of the canines that were with her were in as good of a state of health that they could be. Finally, she finished the checks with Kali.


    Starting at her muzzle, Nat worked her way down, checking every part of Kali as she had done for the rest of the pack. Eventually she came across the bandaged and splinted paw. Taking all of the wrappings off, she was stunned at what she saw. This was an injury that had happened almost six days prior, yet the level of healing that was showcased looked as if it had been left to rest and heal without any issues for almost a month. At this point, Kali could walk around without splints and have minimal to no pain. She just could not put that much stress on it in case it aggravates the wound. Upon hearing all of this, Kali got up and walked around the living room, enjoying the feeling of walking without pain once more. She was extremely cautious of the paw to start, but slowly she started to get into a rhythm as she prodded her current limits. Satisfied at how far her foot allowed her to now go, she went exploring through the house with her pups and Maia as Natalie got a fresh notebook and finished recording how everyone''s physical went. She gave each wolf two pages each, so that anything new they found would hopefully have plenty of space to be added. The bonus with writing in the notebook is that the Soulscape counted it as a new and different item, even compared to her questions about the apocalypse notebook that now had zombie questions added.


    Content that all of the canines were fine despite all of them being exposed to and ingesting the ilk, she quickly recorded that currently no living beings showed signs of illness despite exposure. She also recorded her brief encounter with the herd of cows, as well as a few of her ideas. While it could have just been happen stance, she wanted to make sure just in case something similar happened in the future. Putting both of the notebooks away, she headed deeper into the house after the group escorting the recovering mother. As she found them in what looked like a storage room, she was suddenly overwhelmed by the wolves bringing items into her Soulscape. As they did, Kali walked up with them but did not immediately enter. Held in her mouth was a compound bow. Maia followed up behind her with a quiver full of arrows.


    Collecting the bow from Kali, Nat gave it a quick once over. It was in pretty decent shape, save the thin layer of dust that was covering it. Clearly the previous owner did not use it that much. Checking the draw weight, it was sitting at a solid fifty five pounds. Giving it a test pull, it took a little effort to draw the bow, but not too much. Easing it back so as to not dry fire, she passed the bow back to Kali to store while checking out the arrows that Maia had. Pulling one out of the quiver, she found that most likely these arrows had almost never been used. They were a broadhead tipped arrow with standard fletching, with no signs of wear on either. The shafts were straight and true and the tips sharp. Perfect for hunting deer with, and probably most other prey that was native to the area. Carefully returning the arrow to the quiver, she passed it back to Maia so it could be stored alongside the bow.


    Slowly the group went through everything, making sure that anything that could be of use was duplicated. While they knew the previous owner had passed, it felt wrong not to leave things as they were. Everything that they grabbed was duplicated and left back in place where they had found it. Moving out from the house, Nat took a few minutes to get the quiver set up on her hip, before heading back over to the road with the compound bow in hand. Confirming that all other members of the back were with her, they headed eastward once more with Bryden leading the way. They moved fast and low, now with the sun slowly falling in the sky behind them giving them urgency to get to a good area to rest before it set behind the mountains.


    Huge thanks to my Elder Wolves Jake, Viktor, Nikolas, Saganatsu, Lachlan, Coen, Adam, John, and Kevin for supporting me and my writing! Remember that I keep Patreon ten chapters ahead at all times. Our next goal on Patreon will be getting up to 25 patrons, which I will then open up an official discord for everyone to come and discuss the story in and hang out!

 Chapter 40

    I am thinking of Opening up the discord before hitting 25 patrons, whenever here or RR get the view count to surpass the word count. I do want to hear peoples thoughts on this, see if that is even something that people actually want, or if I am just crazy.


    Eventually they came up to the town of Leavitt. They had not made any more stops along the way, as Natalie felt that they had everything they could need out of people''s houses, and the rest of the farms had yet to have any crops planted as the ground was still too frozen. Given that planting season was a month away, all that the pack could get there paws on was a sizable amount of seeds for the different crops that were usually grown here. The main problem was that Nat had absolutely no farming knowledge, and she was not about to think that the canines would have any idea themselves. Since none of the farms had anything the group actually cared about anymore, they just focused on heading down the road and staying perceptive for any aggressors they may run across. However none of the properties they passed by had any signs of life, be they wild, monster, or undead. Thought thinking about it, would signs of undead be counted as signs of life? Or just as signs of movement? Maybe they register as signs of death? The stupidity of that line of thought and the severe lack of any actual bearing it had on anything made it so those were some of the few questions left to be forgotten and never written down.


    As they looked into Leavitt, they all simultaneously agreed to leave it. The center building that was visible in the hamlet was a decent sized church. Milling around it were countless zombies, intermingled with goblins moving about and scavenging. The fact that they did not try and fight each other just went to show that raised corpses counted as monsters, at least in the view of whatever new rules affected this world. Some goblins were just sitting around doing nothing, some were walking around, but neither of those groups were what gave Nat anxiety. There was a goblin who was holding a really long stick, and with the other hand and his teeth was trying to attach a pointy piece of metal to it. Goblin''s claws and teeth were already bad enough threats to deal with, but if they had weapons that gave them more reach and potentially more damage, fighting them would become a heck of a lot more dangerous.


    Thanking whoever may have been listening, Natalie was extremely glad that they were on the north side of the main road. It was on the side directly out of the line of sight of the cobbled horde. Not being seen by any of them seemed like a great idea. Thankfully as they headed through the north end, none of the monsters came anywhere near. They all seemed satisfied to hang out around the church. As the group reached the edge of town, Nat''s foot accidentally caught a rock. While normally it would have not made that much noise, it was hit down a driveway and audibly tapped against a garage door. Freezing in place, they all looked back towards the bunch of creatures they had just snuck past. By some sort of divine grace, none of them seemed to hear the noise, that or they thought it was nothing. As they were about to move on, a noise broke into their ears, faint but near.


    Looking in the direction of the noise, it was found to be coming from the garage that had just been hit with a rock. It was a light scratching sound, though it was very infrequent and sounded weak. Curiosity won out for Natalie, and she directed Bryden and Ash to join her in investigating the sound. Arriving at the main door to the garage, Nat got one of the pups to bring out a stump that they had grabbed before. Having it placed up against the door, she slowly climbed up and looked through the windows that rand down the length. Inside was a pretty empty garage, save for some general hand tools and outdoor camping supplies. The stuff that caught her eyes though was the dog bed in the far corner. Hearing the scratching from her left, she slowly pushed her head against the door to get a better view. What she saw made her upset beyond words.


    Up against the door was a German shepherd. The part that was upsetting was that it was clearly malnourished, and lacking in energy. The reason behind it was not important to Natalie, just the fact that someone''s dog was sitting here waiting for its family to come home, just so it could have some food. Still conscious of the goblins and zombies nearby, she went up to check the front door, followed by the windows and back door. Sadly, none of them were open or easily accessed. The back patio door however, was a sliding glass door. Getting Bryden and Ash to be on lookout in case the noise alerted the monsters, she got to work. Some of the pups brought out a couple blankets, while Maia quickly went off to hunt a hare. Laying down the blanket all around the screen door, Nat got the pups to bring her a hammer.


    After making sure that all of the canines were inside the Soulscape save for the two on lookout, Nat swung the hammer at the glass. While most of it shattered inwards, some did fall out and land on the blanket causing part of the sound to be deafened. Not waiting to hear whether or not the monsters had heard the break in, she made her way into the house in towards the attached garage. Upon walking in, the shepherd looked over at her, its tail droopily wagging. When it saw it was no one it recognized, it attempted to stand and raise its hackles, but was to weak to even do that much. Slowly moving towards it, she got Maia to pass her out the hare. "Hey there. I know that I am not someone you know. I am just here to help." Just as she got within a meter of the dog, she stopped and tossed the hare towards it.


    ''No movement. Monsters heard nothing.'' The notice from Bryden instantly relaxed Natalie''s shoulders. Turning back to the dog, she was happy to see that it had no reservations about eating the hare. Continuing where she left off, "I will give you a choice. You can stay here and wait, possibly seeing your family again should they still be alive. Alternatively, you can come with me and join my family. If we come across your current family while we are travelling you would be free to leave and join with them. The choice in this is ultimately up to you." The Shepherd looked up from its meal, seeming to study Natalie. Their eyes never left one another for a couple minutes, before the dog nodded slightly. It most likely had no capability to move much more than that. Reaching out towards it, she made the physical connection to the dog herself, which it then entered into her Soulscape. Getting the dogs bedding and a couple of the toys that it had, Nat left the house and rejoined Bryden and Ash outside.


    Huge thanks to my Elder Wolves Jake, Viktor, Nikolas, Saganatsu, Lachlan, Coen, Adam, John, and Kevin for supporting me and my writing! Remember that I keep Patreon ten chapters ahead at all times. Our next goal on Patreon will be getting up to 25 patrons, which I will then open up an official discord for everyone to come and discuss the story in and hang out!

 Chapter 41

    As she rejoined with her two lookouts, she quickly gave their head a scratch as thanks for the help they gave. As they left the backyard and continued to follow the highway, Natalie could not help but smile as Bryden tried to act serious and concentrated in front of her while his tail moved a mile a minute. Apparently he really enjoyed either the feeling of attention or the feeling of the scratches so much that he could not stop his true feelings coming through. As they left Leavitt, the road went northeast. However, they never deviated from the path it led them on, as just after they had departed the hamlet did they come across a road sign. On it had three different towns and how far it was to them. Cardston was sitting at and even ten kilometers away, while Magrath was fifty three and Lethbridge was eighty five.


    Passing the info that they were on the right track and how far away they were proved to be more trouble than it was worth. First the wolves asked how she knew this. Then they questioned what a kilometer even was. The entire conversation spiraled out of control, causing Nat to spend a solid half hour while they were walking trying to explain how long a meter was and why it was. Fun fact, she had no idea why, but that answer did not fly with the wolves and sounded like she was evading the question. So to appease the curiosity of every wolf except Kali, as she told her that she believed that Nat did not actually know, Natalie made up a story. All about a guy who was named Meter, and how his speech impediment made everyone think that a certain distance was a kilo instead of colossal. The misunderstanding then became fact and it became an almost universal form of measurement.


    Another half hour passed while they traveled, with Nat having to come up with another fake history lesson. The tale of Foote and his son Inch and how this second misunderstanding was seen by some as a predominant unit of measurement was taken as yet another hard truth by most of the canines. How they were in a family of midgets, and that they always described things according to their height. Kali was doing her best to hold back laughing, and when Maia came over to check if she was okay, was joined. Silently Kali filled her in that all of it was made up because of Bryden''s stupidity, and Maia fought to hold back her laughter so that the other wolves would not suspect anything. They just sat together and looked like they were shaking for some reason, but none of the others noticed. Even the pups were too enthralled with the epic tales that Natalie was telling them, excited to be learning more and more. Natalie was doing her best to hold her laughter back with them, the feeling the two gave off was infectious and great.


    The rest of their travels passed smoothly. The pair of mothers finally lost it near the end of the story of Foote, and told everyone in between their laughter that it was all made up. That because they did not believe that Nat could not know something, that they pressed her for an answer. They immediately felt foolish, until Shadow started to laugh himself. The chain reactions of laughter filled the Soulscape and even left the mouths of the three travelling. By this point, the coyotes had been up for a little while already and were laughing with them. The shepherd however was so asleep that not even a foghorn could rouse him from his sleep. Despite the ruckus of the laughter and howls that sounded out from the nearby canines, not one move aside from the steady breathing of sleep came from the dog. Nat did not expect much from him for the next while. It normally took a minimum of steady eating and taking care of oneself to recover from the state of starvation he was in.


    Thinking back to how she found him in that garage, Natalie regained a little fury and anger. The malnourishment and starvation that he had gone through could not have been from just the past five days. It would have to have taken around twice that long to be at the point it was at. Someone had locked that dog in the garage and starved it, for most likely some stupid and inane reason. She hoped she ran into the fucks who mistreated him. Not to give him the chance to go back to them, but so she could beat the ever loving crap out of the sycophants who could do that to such a cute and fluffy dog. It was funny to Natalie, she could see people dead in the dozens, people who she had lived beside for three years, and not be angry. But as soon as one dog that she had never met before was mistreated, immediately rage filled her entire being.


    Feeling a massive font of anger coming from behind him, Bryden turned around to find out what it was. What he found was that it was all coming off of Nat. When asked what was wrong, she unloaded how she felt, and shared it with all of the mature canines. The pups were still young and did not need to hear her anger or her ferocity at this point. The wolves listened to her ranting with rapt attention, and slowly started to adopt similar feelings. Someone had done this, and the victim of all of this was now part of their pack. As her ranting came to an end and Cardston came into view, all of the canines agreed with her. Should they ever meet this fucking prick who would do such a thing to a family member, all bets were off. They agreed to make sure that he would suffer and be in pain, forever regretting that he had crossed this pack full of predators.


    Huge thanks to my Elder Wolves Jake, Viktor, Nikolas, Saganatsu, Lachlan, Coen, Adam, John, and Kevin for supporting me and my writing! Remember that I keep Patreon ten chapters ahead at all times. Our next goal on Patreon will be getting up to 25 patrons, which I will then open up an official discord for everyone to come and discuss the story in and hang out!

 Chapter 42

    Noticing that the sun was about to set, the pack got to work setting up camp behind a copse of trees. This left them out of view of the town, so nothing inside could see them wile they conversely could not see in. The state that the hamlet they had just passed through had been in discouraged any idea of cooking or setting up a fire. The thought of broadcasting their location out being a move that seemed inconceivably stupid. The buried their tent into the tress, and did their best to obscure the sight and smell of it with dead fauna both from the area and the Soulscape. When they were suitably content with their camouflaging work, they all just gathered into the tent and relaxed. Today was one where they just had the precooked meats that Nat had made up for supper, hare and elk meat passed freely between the pack. It was a fun and homely feeling inside, with Spirit and Hera even fighting over a leg bone covered in meat. The tug of war only lasted a few seconds, before they both lost grip and it went sailing across the tent into Rogue. She then claimed it as hers and enjoyed the meal, ignoring the meat juice now dripping down her side.


    Finishing off the food, most of the group laid down to get comfy in the blankets and pillows covering the interior. Edwin and Lucille took their usual places at the door as lookouts for the night. Both seemed content with it, as they look well rested and happy. Probably not having to deal with their own pups endless energy was the cause. Due to them being there, everyone was fine with leaving the door to the tent open so that the coyotes could properly see. Curling up in bed, most of the pack got to sleep fairly quickly. Natalie took a half hour to get to sleep, but that was mainly because the stars dotting the outlines of the mountains were so beautiful that she was distracted. When she finally came back down to reality, she noticed she was one of only three awake. The other two were the lookouts, who took turns looking at her and giggling softly. Snorting at them, Nat finally got settled in to the mound of softness and fur and let herself go to the void of sleep.


    Natalie once again woke up in the dream world. Full of questions, she ran back the way as best she remembered towards the mountains. Thankfully, her sense of direction was true, and she quickly arrived at the towering rocky peaks. As she approached them, the caves were there, but none had any canines in front of them. "Hello?" She shouted out towards the caves, "Are any of you there?" The shouts echoed through the mountains, but as they faded no other noise came forward. Repeating her questions numerous times, every time the same response came. Discouraged by how this was going, she turned around to head back into the forest. As she did though, she came face to face with one of the larger wolves, the ones that had approached her for help the night before. As she stumbled back from the shock of sudden wolf, they all the sudden let out a loud howl.


    There was not enough time to cover her ears, as instead of a gentle crescendo like last time, a loud and blaring howl came from all of the caves surrounding her at once. The volume of the noise itself dropped her to her knees as she held her head in pain at the sudden increase in volume. The sound finished as soon as it started, fading off without so much as an echo to remember it by. The giant wolf in front of her lowered its head and looked straight in her eyes as another two flanked it. One was the partner the first one had the night before, while the other was similar in size and stature, but clearly different. The three of them started to advance on Natalie chanting, ''Help us. Help us," over and over again. Instead of the dog pile like last time, the two wolves on the lank each grabbed her ankles with their mouths and started to drag her. The one she had initially ran into led the way back and disappeared into the cave, their chanting still ringing in her head. The ground was smooth, and she found no purchase as she was dragged into the cave by the two large canines.


    She woke up with a start as she entered the cave. Despite this being the real world and not the dream one, she still felt a tug on her leg. Looking down, Lucille was tugging on her leg to get her attention. Getting up, Nat crept forward towards the door where Edwin was focused on something beyond the trees. Following his gaze, she could not believe what she saw. There in the moonlight plodding along was goblin riding a beast. This goblin however had to have been taller than the other ones she had come across by at least a head. This was shown by the size of the beast it was riding. While they were far away, it was easy for her to know how big each were comparatively to the goblins she had seen before. This was all due to one reason. The beast that this larger goblin rode on was one of the larger wolves from her dream!


    What did this mean? Was it working with the monsters? Was it being forced to work with them? Was the dream by chance and nothing in it correlated to what she was seeing? While these and many other questions shot through her head, Natalie was way to tired to actually focus on them long enough to try and answer any. Together with the two coyotes, she just watched as the mounted pair continued on. When they were out of sight, Nat collapsed back on her ass and breathed out a sigh of relief. Their concealment of the tent had worked, and the possible threat passed them by. Thanking the two for their wonderful work, Nat crawled into bed and laid back down to go back to sleep. Right now she needed rest. Any of these questions or concerns that she had could wait until the morning. Getting cozy up beside Kali, Nat drifted back off into dream land.


    Huge thanks to my Elder Wolves Jake, Viktor, Nikolas, Saganatsu, Lachlan, Coen, Adam, John, Ty, and Kevin for supporting me and my writing! Remember that I keep Patreon ten chapters ahead at all times. Our next goal on Patreon will be getting up to 25 patrons, which I will then open up an official discord for everyone to come and discuss the story in and hang out!

 Chapter 43

    Natalie woke up to a bouncing feeling on her belly. Looking down the blanket as she rubbed her eyes awake, she saw that it was unsurprisingly Spirit bouncing in a circle on top of her, chasing his own tail. Did that pup ever lose energy, or could we hook him up and power the entire continent and still have excess energy? Disregarding that train of thought, Nat slowly got up and moved towards the entrance of the tent. After confirming with Edwin and Lucille that there was no other happenings in the night, she went around and roused up all of the wolves and the coyote pups. The three pups had ended up changing their sleeping schedule to match the rest of the pack, and away from the nocturnal way their parents slept. After a few licks from the pups and the two coyotes, they all disappeared into the Soulscape. The coyotes had taken the morning hunting training as their responsibility before going to sleep.


    After a quick breakfast of cereal for Nat and some hares for the canines, they all cleaned up and made sure that there was no trace of them. The knowledge that there were bigger and meaner threats prowling around raised the potential for issues to arise. Quickly everything was taken down and stored and they were on their way into Cardston. Given the sight the night prior, Emily, Ash, Maia, and Shadow all traveled out with her, and Bryden and Kali kept at the ready in case more help was needed. They followed the highway into town and moved along the south side of the road, keeping to shadows and moving slowly from building to building. According to Shadow who was on point today, the scent from the passerby''s last night went down the same road they were on.


    They followed the road for a few blocks until they came up to a vet clinic. Knowing that she did not have a full complement of gear to help deal with wounded animals, they all went inside and quickly stocked up on what they could. Most of what the pack stored for her were medicines, but there was a fair amount of tools and specialty bandages and braces that could prove useful in the right situation. Hopefully they would never get into such a situation, but it was always better to be prepared for the worst and never have to deal with it, than assume that it would not happen and be fucked when it did. Once satisfied with her current inventory of medical equipment, Nat directed the wolves outside. Resuming their journey down the road, they all froze after half a block of travel when they all heard a loud shriek, followed by a symphony of muted laughter to the south, deeper into the town.


    Initially, Nat had the instinct to head straight north and then find her way back to the road later. The volume of the noises indicated that while they were not close, there were a sizable number of them. However two things stopped her feet from turning that way and running. The thoughts on the dream from the nights before, and how it might be an issue that she needed to save those large wolves from. This was supported by the second reason, which was the sound of the shriek. While she had gotten familiar with the shriek of goblins, whether in pain or from being alarmed. This did not sounds anywhere close to either. It more closely sounded like a wounded dog, almost like the yelp one would make from having its tail stepped on. Her mind said to run away and leave, for it would be foolish to fight. However she could not say no to her heart and leave a dog of any kind to suffer. Pushing the thoughts about the dream out of mind, discrediting them as just wishful delusions, she guided the pack towards the sounds of cruelty.


    Cutting diagonally through the backyards of a couple blocks brought them up to the high school. Moving up to the corner of the building adjacent to the parking lot, she suddenly heard another yelp, which sounded much closer. However, the sound of ugly laughing and maniacal shrieks sounded just as close. Peeking her head out from the corner of the building, rage immediately bubbled inside of her. There was a park on the other side of the road, with what looked to be a swimming pool complex beside it that was completely fenced in. What was occupying that park was probably three dozen goblins, and another half dozen of the bigger variety she had seen in the moonlight. They had a makeshift camp set up, and some of them were just idling about the camp. Most of them however were lined up around the pool. Inside the fence was a bunch of giant canines. Given their size in comparison to the goblins outside the fence, Natalie felt like calling them wargs. That however was all superfluous to Nat, as her eyes were focused on the monsters laughing as they threw stones at the huddled up creatures.


    Even knowing that there were almost forty of the fucks, Nat decided right then and there that every single one was gonna die. No one should treat any animals that way, least of wall these ones, which were basically just bigger, fluffier wolves. Moving backwards a little so she was not seen, she got down and explained what she wanted to do. As she outlined her plan to save the mistreated beasts, the wolves around her adopted a predatory grin, and their tails slowly wagged faster and faster out of excitement. Once the plan was outlined, most of the wolves found the plan perfectly acceptable. Maia had other ideas and pointed to the roof of the nearby building. It appeared to be an ice rink, but had one part that was mostly flat, hidden behind the domed top of the building. Hearing the idea of the wolf, Nat could not help but match the grins of the canines. These were going to be the prey of the pack, and they would be taken down without mercy.


    Huge thanks to my Elder Wolves Jake, Viktor, Nikolas, Saganatsu, Lachlan, Coen, Adam, John, Ty, and Kevin for supporting me and my writing! Remember that I keep Patreon ten chapters ahead at all times. Our next goal on Patreon will be getting up to 25 patrons, which I will then open up an official discord for everyone to come and discuss the story in and hang out!

 Chapter 44

    Moving over to the building holding the ice rink, the wolves all joined her in the Soulscape before she ascended up a ladder that she had grabbed on one of the farms she had passed. Once up there, Maia and Nat led the wolves and got logs brought out and stacked up. They blocked the front off with a plank that should be easy enough for one wolf to remove from the side, and then got a dozen logs set up. The idea was very similar to what they had done with the horde of goblins that chased them a few days before, just with a bit more setup and planning going behind it. When they were satisfied with how everything sat, they had to decide who would push it over. Nat could not, as her part in the plan was to be bait for the monsters. And she needed some wolves down there with her to help keep her safe in case the plan failed.


    Shadow and Ash volunteered to be with Natalie, which everyone immediately agreed. While they were fast, they were the two smallest of the wolves. This left the four bigger canines up top to push the heavy logs over at the right time. After confirming the plan once more, Natalie headed back down the ladder with Ash and Shadow in tow. Once down, it was time to get set up for their side of things. She first left a axe beside the ladder, so that she did not have to worry about pulling one out of the Soulscape while everything was hectic. Then she double checked her quiver and bow, making sure that they had not gotten damaged and needed replacing. Once they were confirmed to be fine, she left Ash and Shadow back beside where she left the axe and moved out to the alleyway. From there she had a clear line of sight to the goblins, who were still harassing the wargs.


    Drawing her first arrow, she nocked it and pulled back on the bow. This being the first time she has shot it since they found it, she had no idea what the aim or range was on it. Doing her best to guess that it was aiming to the large mob of bodies, she breathed out slowly and released the arrow. The arrow flew straight and true, and imbedded itself into the leg of the closest goblin to her. Glad that the first arrow was close, she aimed a little higher with the second one. The goblins had stopped harassing the captive canines and were now looking around to find where they were being attacked from. Just as one of them turned to look in the direction of Natalie, the second arrow found its home in its eye socket. As it fell backwards with blood and goo spraying out of the wound, all of the monsters turned to look her direction. Just in time to see her fumbling with the nocking of the third arrow.


    A loud shriek came from one of the bigger ones and all of the goblins around the pool and in the camp started running in her direction. Finally after managing to nock the arrow, Nat launched it towards the now charging mob. This one hit right between the eyes on a bigger one, causing a couple of goblins that were behind him to trip on his body. Given that there had only been maybe two hundred to two hundred and fifty meters between them, Nat was only able to launch off another three arrows, downing three small goblins and another larger one. One of the arrows had pierced straight through the head of one goblin, and when he had stopped moving the goblin behind it ran eye first into the sharp implement.


    "NOW!" She shouted out as she turned and ran for the axe. As she dropped the bow and grabbed the axe, she turned around to see four goblins and a bigger one round the corner, followed by a thundering rumble and dust cloud. Glad that they had gotten most of them in the trap, she led the attack on the five monsters in front of her. Pulling back, she swung the axe as hard as she could sideways. It went through two of the smaller ones necks before hitting the larger one''s shoulder. The bigger, and now as they could tell, uglier monster had a gash in his shoulder, but was still able to use his arm. Lunging with both arms out at Nat, it tried to grab her arms to stop her from swinging again. Used to the lunges of the monsters from before, she evaded the outstretched claws and slammed the handle of the axe into the goblins forehead. While this had been enough to kill the goblins before, this one stumbled backwards and held its head as if it was dazed.


    Taking advantage of its confusion, she brought the fire axe down on the creatures head. A crunch sounded out from its skull as the axe got lodged inside. Whatever this monster was, it was more durable than any of the goblins they had faced so far. Looking to her sides as the larger creature collapsed dead, she was glad to see that her two protectors had already dealt with the two other goblins that were with it. Taking a minute to go up the ladder and get the rest of the pack, all of the adult wolves minus Kali moved through the debris field they had created with the logs. They systematically finished off any injured and maimed monsters they came across, giving none of the disgusting creatures mercy. There were three that actually tried to fight back against the pack, the three remaining big ones. However they quickly fell to getting attacked by multiple wolves at once, unable to properly defend themselves against the strong, agile predators. Once they were sure that all of the monsters were dead, the pack moved in unison towards the still penned up wargs at the pool.


    Huge thanks to my Elder Wolves Jake, Viktor, Nikolas, Saganatsu, Eeleater Lachlan, Coen, Adam, John, Ty, and Kevin for supporting me and my writing! Remember that I keep Patreon ten chapters ahead at all times. Our next goal on Patreon will be getting up to 25 patrons, which I will then open up an official discord for everyone to come and discuss the story in and hang out!

 Chapter 45

    As they approached the pool, most of the wargs looked upon them with caution. Sure, they may have dealt with the goblins that were harassing and harming them, but who was to say they themselves were going to be any better. It could have just been so that they would hold control over them instead. Seeing them remain cautious and backed against the far side of the pool made Natalie sad. It just went to show how much they had been hurt, that even the pups did their best to hide from anyone outside of their group. Seeing this, Nat steeled her resolve and walked up to the gate in the fence. It had been secured roughly with a large amount of rusty chain, that was easy enough to take care of by either undoing or breaking with another metal tool. Before opening up the pen, she first wanted to speak to the giant wolves.


    "Hello everyone. I know that you have not had the best of times and that many of you are injured. All that I wish to do is help. I have been trained to help animals in pain and wish to help take care of yours. All that I ask is that when i open this up, you all come out one at a time so that I can make sure each of you are okay." While their was no movement from the wargs, there was a little bit of light returning to their previously listless eyes. While watching this, she silently thought to the pack surrounding her, ''If any ask questions or have concerns, can you please explain and talk to them calmly? I want to help them move on, and being hostile right now will not achieve that goal.'' After getting confirmations from each of them, Nat lifted up the axe she had used to brain the bigger goblin.


    Those fucks were bigger, tougher, and probably stronger than the smaller ones. Deciding to label them as hobgoblins, Nat took a step forward and brought the axe down on the chain. A loud snapping sound rung out from the gate as the chain broke in the first couple places. While she could have just undid the chain, that might have shown an intent to use it again to the wargs. Being rescued by someone who wanted to use the same item that imprisoned them would not send the right message. It took another three swings of the axe before the chain was completely broken and the door slowly swung open. Glad to see that the work was done, Nat tossed the axe over to the side and took a few steps back from the gate. Meanwhile, Maia and Bryden had directed the pack to spread out around the opening, as if to guide anyone who left towards Natalie. After she had moved a few steps back, Kali came out and sat beside her, to act as both translator and bodyguard.


    Minutes passed, with the wolves sitting down in their spots and the wargs looking between the opening and the human who was waiting for them. The two sides watched each other, seeing who would make the first move. Eventually one of the larger wargs made the first few steps forward. It slowly made its way towards the opening, cautious and ready to run back in case this was all an elaborate ruse. Some whines came out from behind them as they left their group, but a single bark backwards caused them all to cease. Slowly and with great caution, they came up to the opening and poked their head out. Seeing no movement from the wolves or the human, it started to take measured steps forward.


    No others made a move until it came to be in front of Nat. Slowly as to not scare the giant canine, she lifted her hand and held it in front of them. While she could have just started walking towards the warg to check its wounds, it would be far easier to do so should it give her trust. The beast inched forward, sniffing intently at her had to try and understand whether or not she was hostile. When she made no other moves despite his snout touching her palm, the warg visibly relaxed and took a step forward. Noticing that the warg was relaxed and willing to approach, she quickly got to work analysing the canine for any issues it may have been facing. She constantly asked how it felt, where things hurt, and how bad, but the warg gave extremely limited replies. Despite it putting on a proud face, it seemed to be in a great amount of pain. Nat had found that it had no less than three fractured ribs and numerous bruises covering its body. Finding out it was a he, she assumed that he was the Alpha of this group, who decided to check if everything was safe for its pack.


    After finding everything out that she could about the warg''s health, she explained how it would take a while but the pain should heal on its own. Fractured ribs took usually a month or two to heal on their own, and as long as you caused them no stress and kept up steady breathing to avoid pneumonia, one would be perfectly fine afterwards. Once she had finished explaining what the warg needed to know and confirming it understood it through Kali, she directed him past herself, out towards the park and city. His eyes and ears perked up, and immediately tested her words. He started running out into the field and when he turned around was surprised to see that the wolves and human that had surrounded the gate were not even looking at him. They were true to their word, only wanting to help and then not needing or wanting anything in return. Seeing how they just checked how he was and just told him how to get better, he let out a series of barks back to the pool.


    Instantly, all of the wargs started getting up and lining up at the gate. Looking down at Kali for an explanation, she was surprised to hear what the warg had said. ''He said to trust you, as you truly only wish to help and want nothing in return. Rejoice, for we are free!'' Looking at the Wargs that were lining up, Nat counted there to be at least thirty of them, maybe more. Imagine trying to get pups to line up and be patient when they are told to rejoice and be free. Shaking her head, Nat got to work as the next warg sauntered up to her with far less caution than the previous patient.


    Huge thanks to my Elder Wolves Jake, Viktor, Nikolas, Saganatsu, Eeleater, Lachlan, Coen, Adam, John, Ty, and Kevin for supporting me and my writing! Remember that I keep Patreon ten chapters ahead at all times. Our next goal on Patreon will be getting up to 25 patrons, which I will then open up an official discord for everyone to come and discuss the story in and hang out!

 Chapter 46

    Going through and doing check ups on a bunch of animals may seem easy, but when there are twenty that are bigger than you and another nine smaller variants that have a hundred percent more energy, it becomes quite time consuming. By the time that every warg was checked, the sun had already started making a bee line towards the mountains. The assumed Alpha of the group had the most heinous injuries of all them, with the next runner up for wounds being just a couple bruises. Otherwise the only other shared problem they had was slight malnutrition, but that was remedied easily with getting the pups to spend their time showing off their hunting skills they had been honing. Hares flowed out of the Soulscape, each feeding a warg. Almost as if they were the lollipop given out for good behaviour. The lack of injuries helped make the process of checking each and every warg go by a bit faster, but twenty-nine patients is a lot to get through in one sitting. The main upside though was that Nat got to pet that many really large and really fluffy wolves. Her heart felt like everything balanced out in the end. Her work was paid for with fluff and giant adorableness.


    Turning to face the now fully reassembled pack, tears of joy started to flood up from her eyes. The pups were bouncing around in the park, enjoying running in the open space. Meanwhile a majority of the older canines were lounging out on their backs, relaxing in the sun without worrying for one another''s safety for the first time in a long while. The moment easily became one of the top three most joyous things that Nat had ever seen. While they would be slow to trust others, they were now free to make that call themselves, not worrying how much they may be tortured or beat the next day. Seeing that they were all content to just wait around and hang out enjoying the sun, Nat sat down beside where Kali had sat for the entire procedure and joined them. All of the other wolves got up and came and sat around her, all just enjoying the sun and peace together. It had been a hectic past week, and taking a moment to just relax felt really good.


    All of them just relaxed or played for a short while before the Alpha warg barked out a short hoof, and then turned towards Natalie and her pack and barked a few more times. Without having to take her eyes off the warg or gesture, Kali filled her in, ''He wishes to say thanks for all that you have done, and wishes for your hunts to be as prosperous as the furs on your head.''


    "It was my pleasure to help you all. We do not have to part ways here though, if you or any of yours wish, I will welcome all to our pack and to join our hunts, so they may be even more bountiful than the leaves on the trees." While she had to hold back giggling at the way she responded, she felt it was only right to respond to the warg as it had spoken. This was all while pushing aside her surprise at how quickly Kali had gotten a handle on the English language. No matter how often she had seen it in the past, you can never assume how smart someone''s pet or a wild animal may be. They will always far out shine whatever expectations you may have made before hand.


    The warg however seemed please with her response, whether that was because it was in similar kind or due to the nature of it however, was entirely up to ones own discretion. He huffed out a few more low sounding barks, while his tail swayed gently back and forth behind him. ''Thank you for the offer, but I doubt any will take you up on it. I will still ask, but most of us are family, and we wish to stay that way, free to make our own choices.'' Kali translated again, enjoying the thanks sent her way by scratches right behind her ears. Together they watched the Alpha warg group up all of the now free canines and started conversing amongst one another. In the end, almost all of the wargs ended up heading off together, sending a goodbye to Nat and her pack by way of a large group howl. Appreciating the gesture, they all howled back, including Natalie. They only managed to hold onto the howl for a few seconds before breaking down laughing, finding Natalie''s horrible howl too bad and humorous to continue.


    Three of the wargs ended up staying behind however, and sauntered up towards the group of wolves laughing at the human that helped them. When Nat looked their direction, pouting at the mockery that her family was giving her, she noticed that the three that had stayed behind were the three she had seen the night before in her dream. In an attempt to change the topic, Nat addressed the three approaching canines, "Welcome, I am surprised that any of you decided they wanted to join us, but you are gladly accepted in." Hearing that there was no issue with them wanting to join up with them, the wargs ears shot straight up and their tail''s speed increased drastically. They ran forward and nuzzled against Nat and the other wolves in the group, saying there hellos back and forth while starting to get to know one another. Within no time it devolved into a dog pile on top of Nat once again, which was tougher for her to get out of as these wargs were far larger, and thereby heavier than the wolves she was used to laying on top of her. This definitely helped prove and set in stone the old adage that she had always heard as a kid. No matter how big a dog is, it will always believe that it is a lap dog.


    Huge thanks to my Elder Wolves Jake, Viktor, Nikolas, Saganatsu, Eeleater, Lachlan, Coen, Adam, John, Ty, and Kevin for supporting me and my writing! Remember that I keep Patreon ten chapters ahead at all times. Our next goal on Patreon will be getting up to 25 patrons, which I will then open up an official discord for everyone to come and discuss the story in and hang out!

 Chapter 47

    It took a while, but eventually Natalie was able to get up from underneath the newest members of the pack. She could not say that she was trying seriously to get out though, as she repeatedly just enjoyed the soft fur of the wargs as it rubbed against her face. When she did, she moved her hands closer to the skin of the large canines in an attempt to scratch and found that just like the wolves they had a layer of hard, bristling fur underneath that acted as sort of an insulation and protection. Looking at sky in freedom, she was startled at how high the sun was already. Judging by how long it had been up this week and attempting the whole fingers against the horizon trick, she guessed that there were maybe three hours left of light. Quickly she got the pack sorted and into the Soulscape, save for Emily, Ash, and Shadow. They insisted to finish the day travelling with her, while Maia went inside to try and help the new arrivals get comfy.


    Wary in case other groups of goblins were in the area, they continued to move block by block, going shadow to shadow. As they were now heading northwards through the town, the slowly setting sun helped create deeper shadows for the group to disappear into. They only made one stop to grab loot on the way out, due to their limited time. On the main street was a pharmacy that seemed to still be in one piece. None of the windows were broken, and every thing inside was still extremely nice and orderly, as if waiting for new customers to come in at any point. That demonstrated one of three things. That either goblins knew nothing about medication, that there were no survivors nearby, or that the nearby survivors just did not have time or capability to get to it. Natalie was hoping that it was a combination of the first and last one, so that there would be less victims to this whole shit show. The store was located half a block away from where the goblin''s camp in the park was, so it may have been deemed as a high risk location to go into. After leaving duplicates of everything behind in the hopes that it would help someone, the continued north and quickly left the town.


    Leaving town helped the entire group feel more at ease. Unlike how packed everything was in the urban environment, out here was open and free. One could see to the horizon easily as the fields were still bare, but prepared for once the ground thawed out. As they started to follow the five that was now heading to the north-east, Nat decided that it was time to find out more about their newest initiates. ''Hello you three, once again I wish to thank and welcome you into the fold with us. I was just curious though, why did you decide to join us instead of sticking with the others? I was under the assumption that all of you were family.''


    Feelings of hesitation, slightly mixed with worry and a slight bit of anxiety came through the mental link, before one of them responded, ''Joined recently. Not family. Thought safe with numbers. Found wrong. Plus, you''re kind, caring. Want to help you.'' Everything clicked into place. The feelings that Nat was feeling from the three of them was due to them leaving their previous pack. Would they be treated as permanent members of a new family, or just temporary hanger-on that may leave at any point should another opportunity that seemed better come up. Would anyone else be trying to tell her otherwise, there would be doubt forming inside Natalie''s mind. With how this warg conveyed it to her in both words and feeling however, made her feel that they wanted a family. That they wanted a group with which they belonged.


    As the group of four followed the highway, questions mentally flew back and forth between all members of the pack. After finding out that the wargs also had no concept of a name before hand due to a pups innocent question, Nat took a backseat to the conversation and thought on what would be good names. While listening to the conversation, she found out many things about them. One of them was a male, while the other two were female. The male warg was already mated with one of the females, but they had yet to have any pups. After hearing this and getting to know their personalities, she offered the name Sol to the male warg, and the name Luna to his partner. Both were quite happy, as now when they referred to one another as their most brilliant, it just made it that much better. The third one was harder for her to figure out, as she was more reserved and quiet compared to the other two. Eventually she was offered the name Seeka, after Kali kept pointing out how she had been keeping tabs on the direction of everybody in there. The pups wanted to practice their sneaking but had apparently been found out instantaneously.


    It was not until the sun finally started disappearing behind the mountains that they found an appropriate place outside Cardston to set up camp. It was a small house just off the road, surrounded with trees and bushes. As a group, the wolves and Nat searched the outside of the property, before moving inside the unlocked door. Finding no trace of monsters or people, they did their usual sweep for tools and supplies throughout the house before heading outside. Going through the kitchen, they found that at this point, most of the stuff in the fridge had already gone bad, and all of the bread on the counter was stale or moldy. Moving on to the rooms and finally the basement, the only thing that they found of any sort of worth was the full set of hiking and mountaineering equipment. Whoever lived here apparently loved going climbing up in the mountains. Duplicating the potentially valuable gear, they did one final sweep of the building before heading back out to the yard. Tonight was one to finally try cooking the cattle she picked up those couple days ago.


    Huge thanks to my Elder Wolves Jake, Viktor, Nikolas, Saganatsu, Eeleater, Lachlan, Coen, Adam, John, Ty, and Kevin for supporting me and my writing! Remember that I keep Patreon ten chapters ahead at all times. Our next goal on Patreon will be getting up to 25 patrons, which I will then open up an official discord for everyone to come and discuss the story in and hang out!

 Chapter 48

    In the yard they found that there was already a fire pit carved out of the ground, surrounded by some wooden lounge chairs. Nat walked up to the pit as all of the canines left the Soulscape. Kali made sure to leave with the tent still set up from the night prior and dropped into it as she exited. Thanks to the repetitive nature of setting up camp over the last few days, everyone made it go so fast that the wargs were dumbfounded at how much everything around Nat changed in minutes. While Kali got the tent filled with pillows and blankets out and prepared, Ash and Shadow dropped firewood off beside Nat at the pit. Bryden and Emily took care of making sure none of the pups went adventuring too far away from the pack, while Maia took care of running tools and ingredients that were needed for the supper that night out so they were accessible. Lucille and Edwin took it upon themselves to take care of getting the meat needed from one of the cattle inside, which all that was needed was a single creature. All except for the wargs knew that they were in for a treat when Nat got started cooking.


    Getting a part of the top sirloin cut off the hunted down cattle, Nat got to work as the rest was just stored and un-summoned inside her. Weirdly enough, if you took one cut off an animal hunted in there, the animal nor the cut of meat counted as a different unique item to store in the Soulscape. She quickly hung the meat up so as to let it drain a little as it was just freshly cut off. While the meat was draining, she ground up a sizable amount of parsley and basil for seasoning. While she did not know if the wargs had any dietary issues, as they had no idea that was a thing, she just went and assumed that their bodies composition was similar to the gray wolves that surrounded them. As such, she held back from using either salt or pepper, and especially held back from garlic or anything spicy as they all had the chance to cause severe complications for canines. Once the two herbs were all minced and ground, she cut the meat into small cubes before tossing it all in a bowl with the basil and parsley. After the meat was fairly evenly covered with the herbs, Nat turned to the small fire in the bit beside her.


    Placing a large skillet above the fire, she tossed in a few tablespoons of butter to grease up the pan before throwing in half the meat. Any more than this would not cook right, and any less meant the canines around her may start slobbering on her shoulder trying to get closer. Thankfully it only took half a minute to cook each side of the cubes, so within 10 minutes of trying to flip them all and fending the wolves away from the half finished plate, the meat was all cooked. Before any of the canines could get near, Nat took the pan and poured the browned and melted butter over top of the meat. Giving the signal to her usual assistant Maia that it was all good to go, Maia put a paw on the outer edge of the plate, and quickly stored it inside, before bringing a plate back out to Nat. A train of canines went in and out of her as she moved back to sit beside the tent, grabbing plates for themselves to eat and enjoy.


    The wargs looked on at the insanity and movement in confusion. How could any one figure out where to go, let alone what was happening. As they heard a whistle, they turned to look at the tent. Nat, Maia, and Kali all gestured for the to come over. Sitting in front of each of them was one plate, but then there were another three settings beside them. Each of these however had three times as many plates of the cooked beef compared to anyone else. The wargs slowly walked over to the beckoning trio, and cautiously took a bite. As soon as they did, they all started ravenously eating as fast as they could, enjoying the taste of the meat and herbs that mixed together in the fire. Growls of satisfaction sounded out from them, and every one else in the camp.


    It took not even five minutes for every piece of meat to be eaten, but no canine was left unsatisfied. After relaxing, and having a large amount of food, the exhaustion from the long day finally set in, and collectively all of them made it towards the tent. Nat made sure that the fire was doused before checking to make sure the two coyote lookouts were good. Hearing confirmations from both of them, she crawled into the tent and laid down in the middle of the mound of fur. Feeling the tiredness in her bones, Nat quickly passed out.


    Next that she knew, she was back in the forest of dreamland. However, as she turned around to get her bearings, a wide hole suddenly opened up beneath her, swallowing her into the ground. She did not fall for long, but abruptly landed in a dark and cold place. Unlike the plains filled with goblins, this one had a feeling of dread and captivity. Suddenly a dim and cold light came on behind her. Turning around she was aghast at what she saw. There was Shannon, the one she had always been close to and looked up to, covered in bruises and cuts. Her wrists and ankles were bound by chains of shadow, and looked as if she had strained against them time and time again. Natalie started running towards her, to free her from her bindings. The more that she ran at her, the further she seemed to be from Shannon. Looking back, Nat saw shadows, wispy and flowing, pulling at her, drawing her away into the dark. The last thing she remembered before succumbing to the void was the sight of shadows mounting her friend, as Nat screamed out, powerless to help her entrapped friend as she was dragged away.


    Huge thanks to my Elder Wolves Jake, Viktor, Nikolas, Saganatsu, Eeleater, Lachlan, Coen, Adam, John, Ty, and Kevin for supporting me and my writing! Remember that I keep Patreon ten chapters ahead at all times. Our next goal on Patreon will be getting up to 25 patrons, which I will then open up an official discord for everyone to come and discuss the story in and hang out!

 Chapter 49

    As the morning sun entered the open door of the tent, Natalie awoke groggily. This had to have been her worst sleep in a long time, and most of it was probably due to that night mare she had. Everything about it rubbed her the wrong way. Seeing her friend, who she respects and believes in being in such a state of dismay and pain was terrible. Shaking her head to get rid of the memories of the twisted nightmare, she tried to rationalize what could have caused it. She was worried for her friend, so that worry that has been building up for the past few days probably came to a crashing point last night and it was stress. There was no way a martial artist who is ranked so high globally could be in such a situation.


    As she rationalized the dream away, a thought entered her mind that made her afraid. There were the wargs asking her for help in a dream just days before, and now they were lounging beside her in the tent warm and snug. What if the dreams were not just dreams, but some sort of prophetic vision. That if she did not hurry, her friend could be in that terrible predicament. But then the realization came that could not be the case. The wargs had been tortured by their goblin captors for days before she had any dreams showing them. Did that mean that that was already happening to Shannon? No, this was just a one off dream, like the thousands of goblins running after me through the forest. ''She is fine. There is nothing to worry about.'' Nat repeated to herself over and over in her head, calming her breathing and pulse.


    Extricating herself from the mound of fluff surrounding her, she immediately retreated back in when she first felt the air come in from outside. The temperature had dropped considerably, and the wind coming in was enough to make her hair stand on end. Peeking out of the tent, a fresh layer of snow could be seen covering the ground outside, with more lightly falling from the sunny sky. As quick as she could, she got Kali, who as usual slept beside her, to wake up and get her warmer clothes from inside. While her jeans would probably still be fine, her tee shirt that she had just would not be enough. Thankfully, items coming out from the Soulscape maintained the temperature they were stored at, as her sweater was stored at room temperature. That was much warmer and cozier than the probably negative fifteen weather blowing in from the open door of the tent.


    After getting on the gloves and beanie that Kali had brought out for her, it was time to get some food. With the fire pit now covered in snow, she decided to just pull back out the toast she had made before. Finally looking at the door, she noticed that Edwin and Lucille were inside the tent with everyone instead of outside. While still using one hand to eat the toast, she pet the heads of the two faithful lookouts in thanks. They then went inside the Soulscape, followed by most of the pack. Kali and Maia stayed behind as her company while she had breakfast, each nuzzling up against a different side of her to share warmth.


    Today was a slightly different day as far as the morning hunting went. The pups maintained their practice, getting a hare per group and splitting that as their meal. For the others, the group that decided to hunt today was none other than the wargs. They had apparently missed hunting while they were captive, and wished to ''stretch their legs'' as they put it. Single handed, each one took out a full grown elk on their own, and brought it back to the group. One of the elks was enough for the eight other canines, but the other two caught prey were eaten solely by the wargs. When they were that big, it was a good idea to assume that they ate a lot more as well. Thinking on that, Nat realized that she had been eating more lately, but her diet has also become a lot different. Where as before she would usually default to salads with meat only once in a while, steak was becoming a staple to her and in large quantities. The toast itself seemed to be a bit bland to her, the only part truly holding her taste to it was the peanut butter slathered over top. Maybe bonding with the canines was doing more to her than she thought.


    She just laughed off the notion as soon as she thought about it. The pack ate mostly meat, and everything that she made was shared by them. It was not the bond changing her, but the company. When you are cooking for others, tastes begin to overlap and intersect, and she was finding herself eating like them far more. Next time she cooked, she swore that she would do up the bacon strips they had stored a while ago. Nice crispy bacon would go really well with toast in the morning. Once everyone was finished eating, Kali and Maia included, they quickly took down camp. Looking outside, she wanted nothing more than to ride one of the wargs onwards, but she had no scarves or goggles to protect her face. With the speed that they could probably run at, wind burn would become a serious issue. Despite not being able to ride them, Sol volunteered to take point today, with Luna taking up the rear. Given the weight of the logs they pushed as well as the fighting they did against the monsters the day before, all of the wolves were perfectly content with letting them take on the long part of the day. Once they were all good, leaving just an open patch of grass in the middle of a snowy yard, they set off along the road through the white expanse northwards.


    Huge thanks to my Elder Wolves Jake, Viktor, Nikolas, Saganatsu, Eeleater, Lachlan, Coen, Adam, John, Ty, and Kevin for supporting me and my writing! Remember that I keep Patreon ten chapters ahead at all times. Our next goal on Patreon will be getting up to 25 patrons, which I will then open up an official discord for everyone to come and discuss the story in and hang out!

 Chapter 50

    Moving through the snow was slow work. There had to be at least twenty centimeters, or eight inches, of the cold powdered water covering the grounds on top of the road. Meanwhile they were still moving through the ditch, but now more as an attempt to give themselves some more protection from the wind. What made the travelling much easier was the warg travelling in front of her. Sol had to be almost seven feet tall, and that was just from the ground to his shoulder. He had no visible issues travelling in this weather, be it from the snow or the cold. The path he carved through the ditch made it so that Nat was not fighting against the snow, just keeping her head down and making sure to put one foot after another into his paw prints. Behind her, Luna was taking her time and keeping her head on a swivel. Following Nat''s footprints was easy work for her so she did her best to take advantage of the opportunity to watch for any monsters or people out there. If she was lucky, she was hoping to even spot a bit of prey.


    While Luna''s vigil over their surroundings was appreciated, it left Natalie feeling conflicted. Firstly, all monsters she had seen so far, be they the goblins or hobgoblins, had a loin cloth at most for clothing. None of them seemed capable of dealing with the cold or easily moving through almost a foot worth of deep snow. The idea of the tiny goblins moving through this was humorous to her, them waddling through while up to their belly button in snow. ''Wait a minute, did any of those goblins even have belly buttons?'' As there was snow worry about missing anything in this winter wonderland, Nat kept her mind active while walking by debating silly topics with any willing participants. Those willing were the usual three that joined in with her in scheming and planning, as Emily, Mai, and Kali loved the conversations they had. The questions went from do goblins have belly buttons to if they shed enough fur and collected it, would a new wolf just spawn? How many hares would it take to fully satisfy the hunger of a warg? Did the colour red really go all that well with black?


    As the inane questions went back and forth, the group stopped for a few minute at every residence they passed. They did not attempt to enter them, as Nat felt that they had everything they could currently need stored away. They just wanted to check and see if anyone had stayed in their homes during this week of madness. Farms would be the most likely spot that people would not head outside to see if something was wrong when they lost power. A lot of the houses they had passed by previously had wood burning stoves or actual fireplaces that they needed to cut wood for. Add that to most people usually buy their groceries for a week or two at a time, and some people would probably not even be bothered by lack of power. Alas, no residents were found in their door to door checks.


    Eventually they came up to the town of Spring Coulee. Well, town was a tad exaggerated. This hamlet could not have had a population larger than Waterton''s, but what it did have over her old home was that it had a church. Noticing it closer, it seemed that every town since hers that they had passed by, had a church, and all of them were of the exact same denomination. Were they a bigger thing here than she thought? Putting the questions about peoples belief aside, what really drew her eyes to the church was the plume of white smoke coming out the top that was barely visible against the snowing sky. Letting Sol know, they turned their way towards the large building.


    Coming up to the front door, she was not surprised to find scattered goblins that had no signs of wounds on them, but were all afflicted with frostbite. One had even frozen in place at the door, holding onto the handle in a pose that looked like he was trying to open it before he had frozen solid. Strangely enough, their frozen forms emitted no mist. The wargs stood to either side of her to block the wind as she walked up and knocked on the other door away from the goblin popsicle. A bit of wild movement and some crashing sounds reverberated from within before a raspy and dry voice came from inside, "Who goes there?"


    "A fellow Canadian who is seeing if there are any survivors." Nat responded. Silence filled the air between them, with only the dry sounds of whispers happening. Assuming that the people inside were debating as to what they should do, she decided to wait until the voice responded back to her. The wargs themselves started batting at the goblins to pass the time, and started a competition between each other to see who could get a funnier break to happen from the goblins. Interestingly, when the goblins were broken, only then did they start emitting mist. As if they had just been temporarily frozen in time. When the voice came back, it had equal parts sadness and determination. "Go away. We have no supplies to spare for another person. We are struggling with what supplies we have for ourselves."


    "Well, what if I said that I was willing to share some of mine." Before she knew it, she could hear people moving large furniture away from the door and the lock being undone. As the door opened, she came face to face with a middle aged man, who did not seem the type to have the voice she heard. The same man was confronted with one person flanked by two giant wolves, who were each larger than he was. He froze their wide eyed in shock until Natalie asked, "So are we allowed to come in from the cold for a minute?" He nodded profusely before stepping away from the door. Nat entered first, followed by the other two. After they entered, the two wargs shook out their fur, getting the snow off of their coats. Turning to the wide eyed man who was trying to formulate his words, Nat spoke to him first. "So, where do you want me to drop off water and food?"


    Huge thanks to my Elder Wolves Jake, Viktor, Nikolas, Saganatsu, Eeleater, Lachlan, Coen, Adam, John, Ty, and Kevin for supporting me and my writing! Remember that I keep Patreon ten chapters ahead at all times. Our next goal on Patreon will be getting up to 25 patrons, which I will then open up an official discord for everyone to come and discuss the story in and hang out!

 Chapter 51

    Slack jawed, the man led Natalie and the two wargs back further into the church. He still had not said a word about the giant canines, but he was not even worried about that. ''She had said that she had supplies to share, so where were they? She did not have any bags on herself, nor did her companions have any packs themselves.'' He wondered to himself. Too afraid to confront her when those giant predators were flanking her, he led the way quietly. When they finally got to the kitchen, there were two people who were cleaning the dishes from this morning as best they could. The lack of any running water made it difficult, but they managed. Nat walked over to one of the large and empty counters and proceeded to get supplies unloaded. Bottled water, bandages, simple meds, and a variety of medical tools came out onto the counter from the mouths of wolves. The three onlookers were flabbergasted at the sight. Wolves kept leaving and entering her body, bringing supplies galore out. At this sight, the man had to speak up, "How are you doing this?"


    "When that green wave came by, everything changed. You can bond with animals, and they can do so much more than they used to. They are smarter, more dexterous, and possibly stronger than before." Nat replied, not even focusing on him and just organizing the canines helping out. They had moved over to another counter now and were just unloading food.


    "So that means Fred wasn''t crazy." He muttered to himself. His eyes widened in realization, "Could any animal do what you are doing right now?" At her affirmation, he ran out of the room. Confused, Nat shrugged and finished organizing the supplies the wolves were bringing out to share with this group of survivors. Just a few minutes after she finished, the man ran back in dragging someone in with him. This one seemed to be a little younger, but the part that stood out to Nat the most was the green mist coming off him. It was much stronger than Gertrude''s had been after she got her tabby in. Did that mean there was more creatures inside? Or just bigger?


    After a small discussion, she could not get to a conclusive answer. For the guy had bonded with his cattle, but had been unable to with his horses. That, and the man felt terrified of Nat the entire time. Apparently, she gave off the same vibe to him as Sol and Luna did. Knowing that she now was being looked at as a dangerous predator, she felt slightly chagrined. So that was why the cows from before were afraid of her. Her very being was being seen as similar to the wolves. They shared information back and forth, but there was not much that he knew that Nat did not. He had been surprised to know about being able to duplicate items, making barricades or managing supplies much easier. The relief and joy in the faces of everyone who was listening was bright. The one thing he did know about was pregnancy relating directly to bonded animals. One of his cattle had been pregnant before bonding with him a week ago, and the timeline for how pregnant she was close. Apparently, out of the 280 average days of pregnancy, the cow had been at around 260 days at the time of bonding. The surprising part, was that just five days after bonding she had given birth. As soon as the calf had been born, he claimed to have already felt a bond with the newborn babe.


    As a vet, this intrigued Nat. The timeline for the pregnancy sped up four times while bonded in the Soulscape, which matched with the healing increase she had seen on Bryden and Kali. Did that mean that if any of her bonded wolves got pregnant, that they only would be pregnant for two weeks instead of the two months? That mixed with the immediate bonding made it interesting. Did the four times apply to their age as well? Making a mental note to check for signs of age later, she thanked Fred for his info. She could see that they were all still cautious of a woman with an army of canines inside of her, and she wanted to get back on the road. Bidding the group good bye and good luck, she headed back out the church, warm and prepared.


    On the way out, she made sure to break every frozen goblin outside. While they currently posed no threat, she wanted to be sure that they would not just warm up and go back to attacking people if they were still fine. Once that was done, they made their way back to the highway. Luna took point this time, as a way of balancing the workload between the two. As she walked between her two large pack members, she could not help but imagine what their pups would look like. Would they be huge? Would they be extra fluffy? So many questions surrounded this, which led to a whole other fun debate with the canines still in the Soulscape. This time, it was between every female of the pack. Emily seemed extra excited that she could still have pups while bonded. Seeka seemed curious to more than anyone expected, especially when she revealed that she had been eyeing up the malnourished shepherd. While his recovery was faster, Nat warned her not to push anything yet, as he was still needing his energy to heal. Hearing that as the only reason, to hold back, Emily quickly left them all behind and dragged Bryden into the forest, away from the eyes of the pups.


    Seeing that, Shadow and Ash followed suit and disappeared into a different area. The watching females giggled to themselves at their antics, especially Maia and Kali. They remembered their time of young love before fondly, but neither had anymore wish to have pups again any time soon. Nat did her best not to look into the Soulscape while they walked, as she wanted to make sure to give the two couples their privacy. Seeka on the other hand just got more meat and brought it over to the shepherd. He hadn''t been out since the bonding, but also had not had the energy or want to converse. Therefore, she did not want to attempt to give him a name, as he probably still wanted to go by the one marked on the collar he still wore. One of the last mementos he had of his previous family.


    Huge thanks to my Elder Wolves Jake, Viktor, Nikolas, Saganatsu, Eeleater, Zmal, Lachlan, Coen, Adam, John, Ty, and Kevin for supporting me and my writing! Remember that I keep Patreon ten chapters ahead at all times. Our next goal on Patreon will be getting up to 25 patrons, which I will then open up an official discord for everyone to come and discuss the story in and hang out!

 Chapter 52

    While the wolves separated off into pairs and did their own thing inside the Soulscape, the party of three continued to move onwards through the snow. While the wind had not settled down, the snow had stopped falling. Now the only added snow they had to worry about was whatever the wind blew in their way. Trudging on, they made decent time down the highway. About once every hour and a half, they came across a new farm house that they temporarily used to warm up. Not being out in the cold and sheltered from the wind made sure that any issues of frost damage were completely neutralized. They only spent about five minutes in each house, though they did check all over them for motorcycle gear. If she was able to get protective wear, she would be able to just ride one of the wargs and massively accelerate their movement speed. A wolf could maintain a pace of about twenty to twenty five kilometers per hour. That was four to five times the fastest they could move, and they weren''t even going nearly that fast!


    Unfortunately, there was no one who seemed to have any gear for motorcycles or snowmobiles. It was unlikely to find any out here, especially on farm land. Maybe someone in Magrath had some, but it was not likely. Lethbridge was the place were it was most likely to be. And that was if nobody was using it as pseudo armor to protect themselves. With monsters roaming at large, people would probably make use of whatever they could. Hours passed, and the travel was more and more of the same until they finally saw Magrath on the horizon. After a quick check backwards, it was decided by the group to find a place in the town to hunker down for the night.


    Given by the track record that they had for towns, Nat did not want to go deeper into this town. It had gone from Monster Ville to survivors holding out, back and forth repeatedly. If the streak continued, this place would be infested with goblins. Sure enough, as they entered the town, they found a bunch of goblins huddled around each other. They were so close to each other, that it must have been for warmth. Thankfully it did not look like they figured out how to light fires. Just imagine, three foot tall monsters with a violent attitude and a penchant for lighting things on fire. There would soon be nothing left in the world if that came to pass. Shattering the frozen monsters, the three followed the highway into town.


    They went from building to building, checking to see if any seemed decent to hole up in for the night. It was not until the third building, a hardware store, that they felt satisfied. It only had a few side doors, and any windows on the building were up high next to the ceiling. As they went inside, they noticed many things that could be handy. Tools, building materials, even a kitchen sink! Okay, while that had absolutely no value right now, the standalone fire pits they had were fantastic. Grabbing one and a charcoal barbeque, they moved over to a corner that was underneath some of the higher up windows. Picking up some hammers, Nat threw one at the window above to break it for ventilation. Obviously, she first forced every canine into the Soulscape before doing this. As she threw it, she watched as it flew straight and true. Into the roof. Groaning at her poor throwing arm, she proceeded to chuck multiple hammers at the window. While there were a good few dents placed around the window from all of her misses, on the eleventh throw she finally took out the window. Even better, all of the glass fell outside, following the force of the hammer.


    Happy that they could now warm up decently, Nat got the pack to bring out all of their supplies. Since they were inside with nowhere to anchor it, there just became a mound of pillows, blankets, and mattresses in the corner instead of in the usual tent. Settling down with a sore throwing arm beside the fire, just getting a plate of steak bites out to eat for dinner. She did not want to have to do anything with her arm that night, especially after failing to hit that window so many times. While Kali and Maia came out to rest with her, as well as most of the pups and Edwin and Lucille, most stayed inside the Soulscape. Luna had been particularly impatient after hearing everyone''s determination for pups, and practically dragged Sol inside as soon as they were sure that the building was empty and safe. Nat did not worry about that too much though, as all of them seemed to be incredibly happy.


    While they had the downtime, Nat got Kali to show her leg off. Taking the bandages off, Nat was impressed with how it healed. Nothing was visibly wrong, and when prodded Kali said she felt nothing. After a little bit of pushing, Kali finally tried walking about in the shop. She took it slow at first, but as time went on, she started moving faster and faster. Up and down the aisles she ran, a dumb but happy smile on her face at being able to move freely again. Ecstatic, she ran and tackled Natalie, nuzzling her and licking her face all over. It had only been a week ago that she had been trapped under that tree, alone with her pups and no way to provide for them. Natalie had been their saviour then, and the act made her ever grateful. So much so that she did not feel she could ever express it. Thankfully she did not have to, as the feelings of joy, and thanks fully transmitted across the bond straight to Nat.


    Unprepared for the onslaught of emotions, Nat hugged Kali back, breaking into tears. Maia maneuvered her own way in, and the three of them just cuddled together in joy. At least until the pups all jumped on top worrying what was wrong as Nat had tears flowing down her face. After explaining that nothing was wrong and that it was cause the were happy, the pups all joined in and the giant nuzzling party continued. Exhausting themselves from the excitement, Nat quickly went and made sure Edwin and Lucille were fine and knew what to do. Now that they had a standalone thing, leaving the fire burning as they went to sleep did not seem like a bad idea, so long as the two lookouts knew what to do if something went wrong. Warm but tired, she crawled back into the mound of softness and fur in the corner before drifting off to sleep.


    Huge thanks to my Elder Wolves Jake, Viktor, Nikolas, Saganatsu, Eeleater, Zmal, Lachlan, Coen, Adam, John, Ty, and Kevin for supporting me and my writing! Remember that I keep Patreon ten chapters ahead at all times. Our next goal on Patreon will be getting up to 25 patrons, which I will then open up an official discord for everyone to come and discuss the story in and hang out!

 Chapter 53

    When next she knew, all Nat could feel and hear was the wind rushing past her. Opening her eyes, she was inside a pitch black area, with no light visible anywhere. After a couple seconds, she finally realized where the wind was coming from. It was her, she was falling down yet again. Down into the dark abyss where she saw her best friend being abused and tortured. Wait, of the two other dreams she had recently, only one had repeated itself. Which happened to be the one that actually came true. Despite not being religious at all, she started to pray, hard and fast. ''Don''t let Shannon be at the bottom of this. Oh please do not let this repeat and be true!'' She repeated to herself over and over again. Thankfully, her falling did not last too long, as she quickly ended up submerged in liquid. Worried about air, she scrambled in swimming in the direction that she felt was upwards. Falling and then being submerged really messed with her sense of direction.


    Surfacing with a gasp of air, Nat spent a few minutes treading water as she regained her breath and a sense of calm. At least, as much as she could. She could already see a shore, outlined by a lit up area behind it. Despite the fear of what she may find, Natalie felt she had to know. If this nightmare truly repeated itself like it did with the wargs before hand, pain be damned she was riding one of them straight to Lethbridge in the morning. Well, maybe not one of them. They were pack predators, meaning that they did not have to worry about long bursts of stamina like a pursuit predator would, just short bursts with a bunch of power. They overpowered their prey instead of outlasting. Rotating them out when one was tired may be the best option, especially with the four times recovery. With that it would make it in time. As she pulled herself out of the body of liquid, her fears came to life.


    In front of her, bound to what looked like office desk was her best friend. There was no cushioning, scars all over her body, and marks of where she had struggled against the restraints. Those marks however had already slightly healed, showing that she either did not have the energy or the will to try and break free. Whispering words unto the wind, Nat heard, "Kill me" come softly out, before figures surrounded her and started violating and beating her. While the figures made no sound, they where made entirely of black mist and were not in the shape of either variety of goblins, but of people. Human people shrouded in black mist. Nat was physically unable to move her body as she watched on. In the scramble, papers flew off the desk, scattering in the air before turning to nothing in the void. However, on those papers was the biggest clue she could have hoped for. At the top of each and every page was a symbol, one that was easily recognizable for anyone in area.it was Lethbridge''s university.


    As she watched on, everything froze with a howl. Looking around, she saw no canines anywhere around her. Yet once more the howl rang out. This time she was listening and could tell that it was higher pitched. Almost like a coyote..... Edwin and Lucille! Waking up with a shock, she looked towards where the two lookouts were positioned the night before, to see them slowly backing up towards the corner. Pushing them back were five hobgoblins, each armed with a thick pointy stick about as long as they were tall. They were moving together, slowly and carefully toward the growling coyotes and by extension her. As she got up out of the bed, her movement disrupted the sleep of Maia and Kali, causing their slow waking forms to instantly wake up. Seeing the sight, they sent their pups into the Soulscape. One quickly returned to them with Nat''s axe in hand. They were already too close for the bow to be useful more than for a quick and poorly aimed shot. She felt the axe would serve her better.


    The efforts of the other pups became quickly apparent to all involved. The three wargs and every wolf came out of the Soulscape. Before the hobs could react, the pack ran as a whole against the hobs. Two of the monsters that were side by side managed to raise their sticks as if they were spears, but with Natalie''s positioning, she made those two sticks the first thing she hit. With them knocked out of the way, the canines tackled the hobs to the ground, effortlessly tearing them apart. Edwin and Lucille took care of the biggest one together, grateful that their hard work paid off. After holding back the monsters for a little while before waking up, tearing into one of them gave them the greatest feeling of satisfaction. Within a minute, all the hobs were dead, with limbs ripped off, throats torn out, and one just had their head plain missing. Looking at the three wargs, she could not help but gasp in surprise as one of them spit out the head, and arcing straight into one of the higher up bathtub displays.


    Once they were sure that the hardware store was completely cleared out of any other monsters that may be hiding, the pack dropped a bunch of logs in front of the broken glass door that was at the front of the building. As that exit was blocked off, every canine that came out headed back into the Soulscape, but not before giving a quick nuzzle to the two coyote lookouts. They had just saved all of them from something terrible once more, or worse. Scratching behind their ears while whispering words of thanks, Nat left the two back to their diligent watch as she returned to the corner of comfort with Maia and Kali. No sooner had the three settled down as pups came back out and quickly curled back up on top of them. They were still tired, which was expected for puppies at three months of age. ''Wait, I still need to check for signs of aging. Eh, I''ll do it in the morning.'' Putting the thought to the side, Nat and the canines surrounding her quickly went to sleep. This time, no dreams or nightmares were had by any, and by the time morning would come, Nat was going to be grateful that there were no more terrors in her sleep.


    Huge thanks to my Elder Wolves Jake, Viktor, Nikolas, Saganatsu, Eeleater, Corgi, Zmal, Lachlan, Coen, Adam, John, Ty, and Kevin for supporting me and my writing! Remember that I keep Patreon ten chapters ahead at all times. Our next goal on Patreon will be getting up to 25 patrons, which I will then open up an official discord for everyone to come and discuss the story in and hang out!

 Chapter 54

    So I am sadly starting to feel the effects, minimally, of burnout. From here on, I will be only updating Druidification Monday through Friday, so down from seven to five times a week. Worry not! As this means I will now be using the weekend to start up one of my other story ideas. I can guarantee that patrons on Patreon will get the first look at it by the end of the weekend! I have been excitedly planning this one for a while, and cannot wait to write it up. Regardless, Patreon will be kept 10 chapters ahead on each individual story I write. Sadly it may be some time before you all read this new one, but I promise that it will have longer chapters, hopefully more action, and hopefully some more dialogue. Anyhow, hope you all enjoy the chapter!


    Waking up the next morning was a loud and boisterous affair. Stuff was being cleaned up as fast as possible, breakfast were chomped down expediently, and feet were moving. For just Natalie. Every other canine that was with her just looked at her like she was crazy. Mornings were usually more relaxing affairs, not a panicked attempt to get out of the door as fast as they could. Turning around, Nat looked at the pack still at the bed area confused, as if she was wondering what was taking them so long. Then it clicked, she had woken up and talked last night, but that was only about the ambush from the hobs. She had not said anything about her dreams, or what she saw and believed. Getting everyone up and awake, she got all of the adults of the pack up and out so she could let them know. All except Edwin and Lucille. After the job they had done during the night, they deserved their rest. However they promised to stay awake until the meeting was done, so that the pups were not interrupting or distracting.


    Knowing that it would not make sense right away, Nat started from the beginning. "So the reason for all of this boils down to the dreams I have been having. Four days ago, I had a dream where it brought me to a mountain range filled with canines, and everyone was there. Especially Sol, Luna, and Seeka." Hearing that the wargs sat up straighter, until a thought came into their head. Feeling their confusion, Nat continued, "Yes, I know. At that point we had not yet met. However, the weirdest thing about the whole dream was that one of you approached me and kept repeatedly asking me to help. Over and over, it went on for a while. The following night, I had another dream, same place, same thing. I was once again approached for help, but this time by all three of you. It felt more desperate and afraid than the night before. The day after, was when we found and rescued you from being tortured and beaten by those monsters."


    Taking a breath steadying herself, Nat collapsed down into a ball. "These last two nights, I have had the same nightmare, only it has kept increasing in detail. The last time that anything I saw in my sleep repeated, it happened to be true. You guys did need help and were in danger. What I see at night now is far worse to me than having some of you appear to ask me for help. I see my best friend, one of the only humans in this world that I have ever gotten close with and felt comfortable around, being tortured, abused, and raped. Repeatedly." Taking another moment to take a breath and attempt to hold her tears back, before continuing on, "And every time that I am there watching, I cannot go forward and help. And I am unable to turn away. It forces me to watch this. The first night I wrote it off, as just my dreams feeding off my fears for how she is doing. After last night, I cannot help but to compare it to the repeating dreams from the days before. So please help me be fast and strong, for I need your help to get to her as fast as we can. Please." Unable to hold back any more, her tears streamed down her face as she sobbed into her hands.


    Her sobbing briefly halted when she felt the back of her hands getting licked. Looking up from her palms, she saw Kali right in front of her, eyes lit with determination. Incapable of holding herself back and moved forward, hugging Kali around her neck and sobbing tears of joy, repeating thank you over and over again till her throat started to hurt. As she did, every member came up and nuzzled against her, comforting her. They all took turns licking her face, which Natalie thought at first was to get rid of the tears. But then she realized that they were doing what is standard in any pack, speaking and conveying messages through body language. That they were there for her, and that there were no hard feelings. As she realized this, the sobbing only intensified as the feelings that were conveyed from the pack filled her to the brim.


    She sat there crying for ten minutes, surrounded by her second family. As she let go of Kali and started to get up, none got in the way. Looking around, she found that all of the things they had brought out the night before, save the log blocking the entrance, had been stored away already. Thanking them, most of them disappeared into the Soulscape, leaving just Sol and Kali still out there with her. Making her way over to the log, she thanked Kali one more time before the wolf took the log inside the Soulscape with her. Surprised about the fact that only one canine was out here with her, a confused look came upon her face. Seeing her reaction to being alone, Sol lightly picked up some sunglasses from a display stand by the cash register and tossed them to her before walking outside. ''Come with.'' Was all that he said to her, but she just followed him out, putting the sunglasses on.


    As she stepped outside, she was surprised to see Sol standing sideways looking at her. As if expecting her to know immediately, he lowered himself down to the ground so she would be able to get on. Realizing that all of them intended to travel this way today, she quickly went over to him and climbed on top. Thinking back on how they kept passing up on the horse saddles they passed by, Nat shook her head as she lowered herself as close to his body as he could and hung onto his fur. While she could reach around his neck to hold on, she was only able to barely. Feeling as secure as she could, she let him know that she was good, and then all she could do was hold on tight, as the wind flew past her as the warg underneath ran forward. ''Hold on Shannon, I''m coming to save you.''


    Huge thanks to my Elder Wolves Jake, Viktor, Nikolas, Saganatsu, Eeleater, Corgi, Zmal, Lachlan, Coen, Adam, John, Ty, and Kevin for supporting me and my writing! Remember that I keep Patreon ten chapters ahead at all times. Our next goal on Patreon will be getting up to 25 patrons, which I will then open up an official discord for everyone to come and discuss the story in and hang out!

 Chapter 55

    Wind whipped past Natalie''s face as she rode the large canine down the highway. After a day had passes, minimal snow was on the road with most of it being blown off into the ditches on either side. Add that to no vehicles having gone down the road, and it was nice and loose powder. The only downside was that they had a head wind as they ran. While that did not slow down Sol in the slightest, it did cause more wind to slam against her face. She buried her face in his fur in an attempt to reduce the amount hitting bare skin, but there was still a sizable amount hitting the sides that she could not cover. Her hood had flown off long before and it was ill advised to loose your grip when you mode of travel was a giant canine running at just over sixty kilometers an hour. The speed, plus the jostling from him being unused to running with weight on his back, made for a really bad predicament if she fell. Speed was of the essence, so she decided to endure until the wargs swapped out.


    Thankfully she did not have to wait long, as after about twenty minutes of running down the road Sol started to slow down. While he could run faster than a horse, he could only do so in short bursts. Wolves, and apparently wargs, were all power, but lacked the stamina for long, difficult runs. Slowing down to a stop, he did not even wait for Nat to get off. As he lowered them closer to the ground, he fell into the Soulscape. As he entered, Luna came out to continue the run. They took a couple minutes, mainly so that Nat could try and get feeling back in her face. The wind had stung it good and she could feel it being raw to the touch already. Taking extra precautions, she had the pups bring out two scarfs for her as she clambered up onto Luna''s back. Putting her hood up, she quickly wrapped the scarfs around her head, layering them and tying them off. While she was unable to see anything, she would be protected from the wind. Plus, it was not as if she was able to see much on the run so far. Leaning forward, she gripped onto the fur in front of her and lay as close to Luna''s torso as she could. As she said she was ready, she could feel them running yet again.


    This time was much better. While there was still some wind that made contact with her skin, it had been so little or already slowed down by all of her precautions that it was a non issue. While a bit late, at least she knew it would not be worse than it already was. The thought of how painful her face would be if she had to endure another twenty minutes of harsh and strong wind when her face was already this sore made her wince. She knew that she would not be in any shape to move right away when they got to Lethbridge, as her legs were also incredibly sore. Without a saddle or any support, and not being used to riding a creature made it incredibly difficult on Nat''s body. Getting a properly fitting saddle for the wargs was definitely added to the priority find list if she wanted to continue riding them like this. That and talking with someone who rode horses regularly. While different, any riding tips would probably make it far easier, on both her and whoever it was giving her the ride.


    After riding for just over fifteen minutes, she could feel Luna slowing down. ''Can see shapes ahead. Maybe city?'' Luna thought towards her. Sitting up, Nat slowly took off her scarfs. As she did, the sudden rush of light into where she had already adjusted to the dimness behind the cloth stung at her eyes. As they readjusted, she saw many things in her surroundings. True enough, in the north was the outlines of the buildings and stores designating the outer edge of Lethbridge. Mainly, the small airport and a bunch of warehouses, mixed in with a couple of RV dealerships. Around them was fields, though they were not covered with snow. The difference that can happen within a few kilometers is astounding. Looking up to the sky, Nat instantly spotted the culprit. A clear chinook arch was visible, high up in the sky a little to her east. It was then that she finally realized she had paid no attention to the weather that morning. Heading out of Magrath and getting north was all she could focus on.


    As Luna came to a stop, Nat sent her in to rest and recuperate. They had no idea what they would find as they headed into Lethbridge, and having everyone in as good of a shape as they could would be the most helpful in case something were to go wrong. As she went in to regain her energy, Ash, Shadow, Kali, and Maia all came out. They insisted that no less would not be safe, and Nat was glad that they were willing to travel with her that much. Together, they headed into the eastern side of Lethbridge. On their way in, they happened to pass by the Canadian armoury that was located here. While there appeared to be no movement from the base, there was a large hole in the wall. Just looking at it, the opening had to be at least ten feet tall. Was there a piece of news that she did not hear about before the end of the world? Did something in there react violently to the change? Or was it a sign of something much worse?


    Cataloguing that thought for later, they continued down into the small city. Time was of the essence right now, and as much as she wanted to investigate and see if anything of use was there, there was nothing that she wanted more than to reunite with Shannon. Passing by a small suburbs and another RV dealership, they finally came into the south eastern shopping area of the city. No sooner had they got there, did they all book it behind the closest building which happened to be a furniture store. Peeking around the corner, Nat was terrified at what she saw. There were two giant creatures, each standing at what she assumed was twice her height. What was scaring her was not that, but that they were occupying their time playing catch with a smart car. If they were strong enough to play catch with a smart car, she wanted absolutely nothing to do with them, and thankfully neither did any of the wolves.


    Huge thanks to my Elder Wolves Jake, Viktor, Nikolas, Saganatsu, Eeleater, Corgi, Zmal, Lachlan, Coen, Adam, John, Ty, and Kevin for supporting me and my writing! Remember that I keep Patreon ten chapters ahead at all times. Our next goal on Patreon will be getting up to 25 patrons, which I will then open up an official discord for everyone to come and discuss the story in and hang out!

 Chapter 56

    After seeing the hulking monsters, Nat quickly came to the conclusion that her original planned route would not work. Her main problem going forward was that she was very unfamiliar with Lethbridge, and the few times that she had been there were in a car heading down the main roads. Getting one of the canines to bring her out a map, she realized that while they knew what things were, they had no idea on how to read. Apparently, speaking was something that the change had helped, but reading was a bit too hard. It took a few tries, but eventually they came out with a map that was for Lethbridge and its surrounding area. Maybe they grabbed a few too many maps on the journey over. Opening up the map, she took a quick look at the nearby intersection to know where they were. Once she had a solid idea on their location, she started working backwards from her destination.


    In the end, the goal was to get to the university. However, that was on the other side of the river valley, and the rivers at this time of year would more than likely be running high and fast. Crossing through the water was the last resort, as that would both be the most time consuming and the most dangerous. Other than going in the waters, there were four bridges that they could use. The two closest were practically beside each other, but one was a foot bridge while the other was a main road. Further up the river was a train bridge, and finally the one farthest north was starting to lead out the north end of the city. The goal was that hopefully one of the first two bridges were functional, as they landed directly beside the university on the other side. Fastest way to get there was a road labeled as Scenic Drive. Probably because the entire roadway overlooked the river valley, giving quite a nice view. Hopefully there was not too many issues going up it, so she decided to head straight to it and hopefully follow it to the bridges. As long as they avoided going up the five, she felt confident they would be safe. There could not be that many of those huge freaks, but there were probably a lot of little ones.


    Deciding to go up through the residential, Nat put the map away and led them to the other end of the building. Looking past the corner, she saw nothing but a mostly empty parking lot. There were a couple of cars, but they had most likely been sitting there well before the whole event. Just as she was about to start heading across, a sudden fount of black mist came up in the middle of the desolate parking lot. Holding back, she kept watching as it continued to grow in intensity. Slowly, black ooze started pooling around the base of the mist and widened out, to look as if there was a giant puddle. As she kept watching the puddle of ilk, monsters climbed out as if it was a pit. Goblins swarmed out in the dozens, followed by over a dozen hobs. What followed them was one more monster that they had not seen yet. While not as monstrous as the two throwing a car around, this thing stood out as intimidating. It was tall, ripped, green, and had tusks that grew out from its mouth. The first word that came to her mind was the most glaring and explaining description she could think of. It was an orc. And it looked like it could rip her in half. Most of the monsters ran northwards through the parking lot, but the orc stalked sideways out between the two stores there. Right towards where her planned path was.


    Seeing monsters spawn was not a plan she had, but now that she saw, Nat felt a lot more comfortable moving around. Making a note to write down all of her questions surrounding that, she made a call. While the orc went to where they were planning on going, it was just one monster. They had dealt with many along the way and she felt that the pack and her could take it down easily. Making a quick gesture to the four wolves that were with her, they all sprinted across the opening between the building they were behind and the next one over. Thankfully they were not spotted by anything that had appeared ahead. Just as they were about to get to the other building, Nat happened to see what happened with the ooze puddle. As quickly as it came, it continued shooting of black mist until it seemed as if the entire thing evaporated. At a quick glance, it seemed as though it had never been there in the first place.


    Crossing around the side of the building, they all saw the orc slowly walking up the path, towards the residential area that Nat had planned to cut through. Seeing no other threats in the area, they all moved towards the orc as quickly as Nat could move quietly. The wolves had no issue with maintaining the speed and stealth, but Nat had difficulties moving as efficiently, especially since she was already carrying the fire axe. However they managed to get up behind the lumbering monster without it noticing. Winding up for a big hit, Nat swung as hard as she could at the monster. It had to be close to seven feet tall, and at that height she had no confidence in hitting the creatures head. Instead, she aimed for the next likely place to do serious damage. The middle of its back. Striking hard, she felt the axe reverberate in her hand as she bit into the orcs back with the sharp tool. Almost as if she had just swung it at a solid stone. The orc let out a grunt of pain, and started to turn. Startled at his movement, Nat looked at where she connected with the axe. It was still embedded into it''s back, but probably not even an inch deep. This thing had far tougher skin than the hobs and goblins combined. As it turned, it swung its fist out in an attempt to catch whoever just attacked it.


    Barely seeing the fist coming, Nat managed to dodge by the skin of her scalp, as she felt the wind from the monsters fist as it passed by over her crouching form. This attack left the orc wide open though, and the four wolves descended on top of the creature. While they were not as large as the orc, they were close enough for Shadow to be able to latch on and tear at the monsters throat. Nat started to cry out a warning, that it was much stronger and probably would need a bit of hounding and wounding before they could take it down, when she suddenly stopped. Just as easily as with a goblin, Shadow tore the throat out of the orc and quickly backed off. Seeing that his strike was successful, the rest of the pack backed off and nipped at the orc, keeping their distance as it both asphyxiated and bled out. Within a couple second of useless flailing, the orc crashed violently to the ground dead, the axe falling out of its back and laying down over top of it. Slowly, Nat walked up and grabbed the axe, prodding the orc to make sure it was dead. Slowly, black mist started to come off the corpse, relieving Natalie''s worries. After checking on all of the wolves to make sure they were fine, they quickly left the area and continued on, vacating the area in case any monsters in the area heard the scuffle.


    Huge thanks to my Elder Wolves Jake, Viktor, Nikolas, Saganatsu, Eeleater, Corgi, Zmal, Lachlan, Coen, Adam, John, Ty, and Kevin for supporting me and my writing! Remember that I keep Patreon ten chapters ahead at all times. Our next goal on Patreon will be getting up to 25 patrons, which I will then open up an official discord for everyone to come and discuss the story in and hang out!

 Chapter 57

    They left the area, following the road north straight into the residential area. Already having seen serious numbers of monsters in the area had made the pack wary, causing them to move building to building. The view itself was desolate and hellish though, as doors were broken or ripped of hinges, windows were shattered, and the interiors of the buildings that they could see were is a sorry state. And those were the nice ones. There were buildings where body parts littered the properties, and remains of barriers and barricades could be seen. Some people had tried to hold down the fort in their homes, but had been quite apparently overpowered. Every now and then, they could spot a zombie shuffling inside, showing that the people here were taken down easily.


    Questions flared in Nat''s head. Did the monsters come from somewhere else, or were they just spawning into existence? If they were coming in, from where? And if they were spawning, what determined where they spawned? Having only seen the one incident, everything was guesses so far out that even she laughed some of her own ideas off. Her attention tore back to the world in front of her as Shadow''s hackles raised. Looking forward around the corner, three zombies were shuffling in their general direction. The mist clearly leaked off all three of them, but moreover the visual itself was heart wrenching. One of the zombies was a little boy, and he had to have been no older than eight. Assuming that the other two were his parents was a long shot, as one of the zombies looked to have been about seventy pre-death. Just the knowledge and visual that none were safe from the corruption irked her and almost made her throw up. However, there was no helping them at this point, save ending whatever suffering they may be experiencing. Given how they might spot and alarm the rest of the undead community here to their presence, Nat got three of the wolves to quickly take down the reanimated people. She was still wary of attacking anything, as she was unsure of how tough things were. Was everything here as tough as that orc? Or was it just how strong that strain of monster was?


    After those zombies were disposed of, they continued on down the street, taking out another two groups of zombies on the way. As they left the area, they came across a large grocery store with a gravel parking lot behind it. Noticing that the two were separated by a thin strip of grass, Shadow led them that way, swiftly crossing the length of the building. Once at the other side of the building, Nat took a look at the path ahead. Scenic Drive was just ahead, but in between the road and them was a car dealership. Normally they would have just passed right through, but it was teeming with monsters. Hobs, orcs, and even another one of the stupidly tall ones was loitering about, milling between the cars and using them as chairs or beds. Thankfully the parking lot was fairly packed, and so she led them around to the west of the dealership. By some sheer luck, they were not spotted nor heard as they made their way around the gathering of creatures before getting onto and away along the main road.


    Their trek down the road was very lackluster, for a lack of a better word. Despite houses being on either side of the road with occasional openings to see the river valley, not one view of life was seen. Plenty of not life was seen, from windows opening into the houses, but those zombies were usually quite focused on a certain patch of wall. What that was for was anyone''s best guess. Maybe there was a laser pointer? Or perhaps they were all aspiring interior decorators and were stuck trying to choose a palette? Putting the silly thoughts out of mind, they hurried down the road being as expedient yet quiet as they could manage. Eventually they ended up passing by one of the city''s cemeteries. At first Nat thought that it would be crawling with zombies, but as she looked in, she was pleasantly surprised at how peaceful it looked. Trees dotted the edges, with the view of mountains peeking through them. The light itself glistening through the leaves onto the tombstones below was breathtaking. The whole sight gave her a bit more faith that they would all be okay. Taking the sight one last time, she continued past the cemetery and around the bend ahead with the warm image of what she just saw implanted into her memories.


    As the five of them rounded the bend, they were finally able to get their first unobstructed view of the first bridge. The only reason that they could not see the second was it was sitting on the far side away from them, hiding in its neighbour''s shadow. Turning her head to look across the valley, she could clearly see the university campus sitting atop the opposite ridge. Her destination in sight, a sudden boost of energy flooded Nat, filling her and giving her the drive to move further. Her legs were starting to complain from the riding and walking they had done so far, and it was not even noon yet. However, she swore that she would not lay her head down and rest until this was all sorted, for better or worse. Until she saw her friend rescued, only death would stop her in her quest. Realistically though, she knew that after all of this was done, she would not want to move in the slightest for the next day or two. This had already been a day that has given her legs one of the more intensive workouts she had ever felt.


    It took them another half hour of walking, but they made it to the bridge. As they made their way up the ramp, shrieks came from the east and a gentle rumbling began to be heard, slowly gaining in volume. Hiding behind the concrete barriers, the pack waited to see what would happen. Being unsure about her own abilities with the axe, Nat quickly got it traded out with the bow. Not a moment later, the source of the sound was revealed in its full glory. Easily over a hundred goblins and about half as many hobs flooded past them, shrieking in delight as they ran across the large bridge. There was no way that they could have taken that force head on. After the last one ran by, they waited a minute for any stragglers to pass by before following the horde. As far as they knew, Shannon was on the other side of that bridge. So now it was up to them to make sure that they would not have a chance at getting to her. Thankfully, Natalie had plenty of arrows that just so happened to develop a taste for goblin blood.


    Huge thanks to my Elder Wolves Jake, Viktor, Nikolas, Saganatsu, Eeleater, Corgi, Zmal, Lachlan, Coen, Adam, John, Nicholas, Ty, and Kevin for supporting me and my writing! Remember that I keep Patreon ten chapters ahead at all times. Our next goal on Patreon will be getting up to 25 patrons, which I will then open up an official discord for everyone to come and discuss the story in and hang out!

 Chapter 58

    The bridge was wide, open and empty. No stalled cars were anywhere along its expanse, leaving the horde highly visible ahead of them. However, that meant the pack was just as visible to them and any that may follow. Thankfully the shrieking and excited horde seemed far more interested in whatever they were running too to take the time to look over their shoulders. This both relieved and stressed Natalie out at the same time. On the one hand, they weren''t all coming and running at her. That was way to many monsters to be able to fight on her own, even with all of the canines helping. Vice versa, this meant they were all running towards the area that her best friend was in, supposedly. A small part of her hoped the dreams themselves would be fake. A extension of her fear plaguing her subconscious mind. The rest of her was prepared for the worst, but was trying to make sure that she was not too late to save her, should she need it.


    After running after the horde for about ten minutes, she saw that the road ahead had changed. Where it came up out of the valley and was surrounded on either side by steep hills, the road seemed to have been blocked off. When she could spot a plethora of movement, she quickly directed the wolves back into her Soulscape. If there were people from the city fighting off the monsters, they would probably be scared at the sight of a large pack of predators. Assuming that some of them had ways to attack at range at the oncoming horde, she did not want to take a chance with any of her pack getting injured by people just trying to survive. However, she asked if one of them could just pop their head out of her back slightly, so that she could get warning if someone tried to approach her from behind. After Kali gave her confirmation that it was all clear, she continued following the horde, drawing out and nocking an arrow as she went.


    Not even two minutes passed by before she heard sounds of fighting going on. Screams of pain that she recognized as both monster and human alike rang out from further ahead. Now that she was closer, she could see that there were maybe two or three people with bows, but the rest seemed to be using either makeshift spears, blades of varying length, or whatever hand tools they seemed to have been able to get a hold of. She was surprised in herself to be able to see so much detail from such a range, but now was not the time to dwell on that. As she got within range of a cluster of monsters, she pulled the arrow back and loosed it towards the nearest hob. By the time the arrow landed in the back of the unfortunate monster''s head, she already was in the process of nocking her next arrow. None of the creatures thought anything was up, probably assuming that the ones they were attacking were the ones making those attacks. Thanks to this, Nat was able to send arrow after arrow uninterrupted into the rear monsters of the horde. She did her best to aim exclusively for hobs, but she did end up missing occasionally. Those missed were still hits though, as with that quantity of numbers they just impaled whichever goblin had the misfortune to be standing there at that time.


    With what felt like an hour, but was in reality just a couple of minutes, the numbers dwindled enough that the monsters were being taken down one-sidedly by the defenders. None of them turned and tried to run, but instead threw themselves forwards in what must have been hopes to get past. There had been so many goblins, that Nat had shot out two whole quivers by the end of it. The tip of her fingers on her right hand were starting to match the soreness of her legs, just from the constant friction of releasing arrow after arrow. While she could have just walked forward, something about the whole situation she was in made her wary of the other people. Clipping both quivers to opposite sides of her jeans, she moved forwards towards the defenders, scavenging her arrows from the bodies she passed. While she did not need them, she was hesitant to show off endless supplies to these people. As she looked at them, none of them had green mist coming off them like the other bonded people she had met. Add that with the nightmares that had been happening recently gave her a sizable amount of paranoia. As she approached the barricade, one of the men that had come down to gather whatever materials they could off the horde approached her. "Hello there! Thanks for the assist, that was a large group right there. How did you end up behind them?"


    While the question seemed innocuous enough, her paranoia red it as pointed and prying. "I was just passing through when I heard them running as I approached the bridge. After waiting for them to run past, I continued down the bridge and found you fighting them off." He scratched the back of his head with a defeated look on his face, before sighing loudly.


    "Damn, I was hoping you were a fellow resident. That would have given us hope that there were still people holding out over there. Anyways, welcome to West Lethbridge, currently monster free and home to a crap ton of people. Should not be any issue for you to pass on through, but please do not cause any trouble. And if any give you trouble, ell them Mark gave you the okay!" He gave a thumbs up backwards before continuing to go through the bodies on the road. While majority of them were monster corpses, some of them were human. A couple people even went around lighting them on fire. Probably a preventative measure for the whole zombie issue. Carrying on walking, she passed through the main opening of the barricade with two full quivers and her bow. Once through, she just kept on the road forward, while constantly keeping a side eye on the university to her left.


    Huge thanks to my Elder Wolves Jake, Viktor, Nikolas, Saganatsu, Eeleater, Corgi, Zmal, Lachlan, Coen, Adam, John, Nicholas, Ty, and Kevin for supporting me and my writing! Remember that I keep Patreon ten chapters ahead at all times. Our next goal on Patreon will be getting up to 25 patrons, which I will then open up an official discord for everyone to come and discuss the story in and hang out!

 Chapter 59

    As Natalie walked down the road with her bow in hand, she was surprised at what she saw. Along the sides of the roads and in parking lots a tent city was set up. People all around were bartering for supplies, tools, and even some weapons. There had to have been thousands of tents set up, as they went farther than she could see in most directions. It appeared that they evacuated everyone they could to this side of town as fast as they could once monsters started attacking. Turning onto a street, she headed down and approached the institution. She could not help but shake her head though, when she found out this street was called University Drive. Whoever named these before when they were paved must not have been very imaginative. As she headed down the road, people kept shouting out thanks for protecting them. They must have thought that she was one of the barricade guards that was on a break. She did not feel like correcting their mistake, partly because she had just helped the defenders. Mainly though the praise felt really nice.


    Moving onto the campus, it appeared that there were more tents, and even people residing inside the buildings. The amount of people they were cramming into such a small space surprised Nat, but not overly. Almost everyone here lived in the city. Surviving in the wild was not something that most people knew how to do. To them, joining together into a larger group helped them feel safe. While this was easily understood by her, she did not share the sentiment. She was not a people person, and the larger of a group she was in, the more uncomfortable she felt. She would have already left the city and headed out if not for her dreams. However there was no clues or hints that she could act on. All she thought she knew was that Shannon was restrained somewhere here on campus, if the nightmares were completely accurate. So she just wandered about, looking for anything that stuck out as odd or out of place.


    After fifteen minutes of wandering through the grounds, she felt no closer to discovering her friends whereabouts. She could have asked around, but the paranoia that grew stopped her. Asking about would only let people know that person is being looked for. Unsuspecting people usually ended up talking the most. However, she realized something as she looked around. Neither the people at the barricade nor in the tent city seemed to have the telltale green mist that showed bonding, nor were there any animals. As she asked somebody and explained that she was passing through, the answer she got raised her paranoia to the peak, though not about any of the normal residents. Apparently, the council that had taken charge had claimed that they lacked supplies to keep animals fed, so they either had to be released into the wild or put down. While one might be able to understand if this was a normal apocalypse, Nat was put on edge by this. She knew that animals were key to keeping her supplied right now. That couldn''t be the reason that they were sent away. There had to be something more to it.


    Finally, as her wandering brought her around to the Fine Arts building, she caught sight of one of the council. People were thanking him as he walked up to the guarded building, which he waved and thanked them for as any politician would. However, as soon as she laid eyes on the man, everything about this place became laid bare. Black mist, thicker than she had seen before, columned off the man. Remembering her discussion with Gertrude, either he had a lot of monsters, or a few really big ones. Either way, the lack of animals was directly due to his influence, and probably the other members of this council. Politicians had historically been corrupt, but this level was unprecedented. Seeing he went inside the building, Natalie tried to follow him to see where he was going. When she approached the doors, the guards levelled their spears at her, warning her not to come too close. She backed off while mentally holding the wolves inside back, as they wanted to jump out and rip apart these two for threatening their Alpha. As she backed away though, she noticed the man uncaringly ignore the whole situation, and walk up a spiral staircase.


    As she backed away into the crowd, she made her decision. Whether or not they had Shannon tied up and being abused now, the people who declared themselves as leaders were corrupt and a threat to the innocent people they claimed to be protecting. That was a tertiary reason though. The main thing that drove her to want to end those scumbags was due to them giving out that order to put down animals or release them into the wild. That would doom most house pets anyways, and was a blatant and inhumane choice of action. With her mind focused, she slipped stealthily out of the crowd and alongside the outside of the building. Slowly she went along, careful not to cause any noise, as she tried each and every possible entrance she could find. Windows, doors, nothing was spared an attempt to enter. However each and every one was solidly locked. Almost giving up, she came across a patio that had wide open glass windows and a glass door. While the other windows were all much closer to where the crowds were at the front, these were at the back of the complex, overlooking the river valley.


    After doing a quick check to make sure that no one was around, she got her compound bow traded out for the fire axe. Using the pointed back end of it, she swung it down into the center window. With a loud smash, the window caved inside to the room, which happened to be a small cafeteria. Not waiting to see if anyone heard the noise, Natalie stole inside the building and started to maneuver her way through the unfamiliar building. All she knew was that she had to head upwards. The main staircase was probably the best place to go up, but she did not want to enter it on the first floor, in direct view of the crowd outside. Moving around, she found a couple more rooms, presumably classrooms, before she found a side staircase going up. Heading up it as far as it went, she then turned in the direction of the spiral staircase. While it may not go higher than here, she would stand a better chance at locating the parasites that called themselves leaders.


    Huge thanks to my Elder Wolves Jake, Viktor, Nikolas, Saganatsu, Eeleater, Eric, Corgi, Zmal, Lachlan, Coen, Adam, John, Nicholas, Ty, and Kevin for supporting me and my writing! Remember that I keep Patreon ten chapters ahead at all times. Our next goal on Patreon will be getting up to 25 patrons, which I will then open up an official discord for everyone to come and discuss the story in and hang out!

 Chapter 60

    Moving down the hallway back towards the direction of the main entrance, Nat took a quick look down each hallway they passed to see if anything stood out as being in use. None of the canines came out to help search, but that was mainly due to a safety in numbers mentality. They had no idea how many enemies there were, where they were, or how strong they could be. No sounds or movement came from any of the rooms they passed however, leaving her to continue moving forward. Arriving at the main stairs, she found nothing that indicated they had made use of this floor. Upon inspection of the stairs, there were marks were it seemed to have had feet that were soaked passing through here. Given by what she could tell, they had been there for maybe a day or two, and there were multiple sets of foot prints. Looking down at the lower floors quickly, it was easily seen that the tracks only led straight up the staircase with no deviations. With a clear signal of where to follow, she headed up the stairs following the trail of messy feet.


    Natalie ended up reaching the top floor, as the tracks had not deviated in the slightest. Figures, if people want to feel big and self important, they would all be in the highest spot around. Her tracking however hit a roadblock of sorts. The stairway opened onto a carpeted area with a couple branching hallways. One of them clearly went to the top floor of the library that was next door, but that door looked like it was locked shut. The other 4 hallways were all fair game, but going by the footprints alone, there was no way to tell which was which. Sadly, she did not have to guess what direction to go in. Faintly down one of the hallways, she could hear some sounds coming from them. Getting all of the canines to be on the ready for when she gave them the signal, she moved into the hallway. While she could just start with canines, the possibility of them using people as meat shields from the large predators was a very real threat. Luring them in with a false sense of security had more likelihood to succeed in taking out all of the enemies.


    As Nat moved down the hallway, there were two main things that intensified. First was the sounds, which could be now heard as muted screaming, the slapping of flesh, and laughter. In direct correlation, the other intensifying state was Natalie''s hold of her axe. The sounds aggravated her ears, and caused her grip on the weapon stained with monster blood to heighten. At the end of the hall on the right, was the only open door she had come across in the entire building.  As she came up to the edge of the doorway, the sight in what happened to be a classroom disgusted her beyond measure. There were two women, who she did not recognize, strung up on tables. Their feet were tied to the legs near the floor, and their arms were tied to the other legs, making their asses barely hand off the edge of the desk. Their eyes were watery and their mouths gagged, they struggled what little they could. What must have been horribly painful and uncomfortable for them was all done to make it easier for the four men around each of them to continually assault them. The men all had thick black mist coming out of them, but they were just laughing and smacking her as they had their way with the poor souls. Peering further into the room, what she saw made her furious.


    At the front of the room, trussed up on the teachers desk in a similar fashion, was Shannon. Three men appeared to be having a smoke break as one just went to town. Seeing this, Natalie was moving before she knew it. Before any man in the room could react, she slammed the head of the fire axe deep into the fucker''s head, causing him to start to fall backwards with the weight of the handle. Nat did not bother with retrieving the axe as she moved over in front of her friend. "You mother fuckers. You all just signed your own death warrant."


    The remaining men all gathered in front of her, looked at one another, before all of them started to laugh. It could sound like Shannon was trying to say something, but Nat could not take her focus off of the eleven men in front of her. One of them finally gained enough composure too finally address her. "Yeah right, what could you do? Don''t worry, we will just make you one of our dolls as well, the same way we took the rest of them. Time to come out and play boys!" out of each and every man came an orc, as well as a couple hobs. Unsurprisingly none came out of the dead man, meaning that either the monsters that were in there could not leave, or they perished at the same time he did. Two orcs, who seemed incredibly sure of themselves strode up towards Nat. As she was trying to figure out what to do, Kali''s voice was heard in her head, ''Feel our bond. Embrace my power.'' With unparalleled trust, Natalie focused and drew on her link to the female wolf.


    Time seemed to slow down for Natalie, as she felt herself change and grow. Her height rose to match that of the seven foot tall orcs, her mouth extended into a wolfen muzzle, and he could feel a tail sprout out from behind her. While the massive change in her size ripped all of her clothes, she was not embarrassed in the slightest. Sharp claws formed on either hand, and her muscles enlarged and strengthened, while her entire form was covered with a coat of fur, completely similar to Kali''s colouring. With an unfamiliar speed, strength, and grace, she reached forward and grasped at the throats of the two dumbfounded orcs. Where as before she could not pierce their skin with the axe, a tool made to cut, her hands easily sank into the throats of the two monsters. With a sharp pull, she ripped both of their throats out simultaneously, then grabbing each by the head tossing them towards the group. While most managed to get away in time, six hobgoblins got hit by the two meaty orcs and had their necks snapped. Natalie looked at each and every man and monster opposing her, and snarled out to them, "Whos next?"


    Huge thanks to my Elder Wolves Jake, Viktor, Nikolas, Saganatsu, Eeleater, Eric, Corgi, Lachlan, Coen, Adam, John, Nicholas, Ty, and Kevin for supporting me and my writing! Remember that I keep Patreon ten chapters ahead at all times. Our next goal on Patreon will be getting up to 25 patrons, which I will then open up an official discord for everyone to come and discuss the story in and hang out!

 Chapter 61

    The men stood there with dumb looks on their faces, jaws dropped nearly to the floor. They had watched orcs brutalize people by the dozen without issue, but she walks in and just tears two down bare handed. The sight alone scarred the fuck out of them. While most were happy that she was alone and they had the value of numbers, there were some who freaked out. Mainly, the three that lost all of their hobs and the two that lost their orcs. After seeing their forces get destroyed in seconds, they all turned and ran at the door. The remaining orc that was bonded to one of them watched in confusion as the man ran for his life towards the open door. As soon as they cleared the line of desks though, it was over for them. Ash, Emily, and Maia all came out and tackled on top of the panicking cretins. As they got tackled to the ground by the female wolves, their screams and gurgles for help and pain rung out through the room like sweet music to all female company. Because while a wolf''s jaw strength is formidable, it is nowhere near strong enough to be able to crush a grown mans neck from behind instantly. It took a few seconds for them to die, in which the orc made a mad scramble towards the three. However his bonded died before he could get through the desks and crashed onto the ground dead.


    The rest of the men and monsters were terrified. They had just seen what happened first hand when one of the bonded died. While the person had been fine, the monsters were at risk should their human pass. As they started to form a defensive circle around the human ''leaders'', the rest of the adult canines flowed out of Natalie''s Soulscape and surrounded the small gathering of degenerates. Except the shepherd, who walked out carrying a kitchen knife in its mouth and slowly started cutting the bindings holding Shannon to the desk as best he could. He still looked incredibly week and emaciated from his whole ordeal, but the few days that had passed with him just resting and eating had done wonders for his health. Just the fact that he had the strength to do that much was impressive. The only one that did not grace the presence of the rest of them was Kali, but that seemed to be due to what her and Nat were doing, and she was unable to leave the Soulscape as they were joined in this manner. Neither seemed to mind though, as both felt they had equal credit to the first two kills this hunt offered. Slowly stalking forward, the group moved in on the defensive huddle.


    While not charging straight in, they danced around the outside of them, trying to bait them into a false sense of security. A couple orcs and numerous hobs fell to these tricks before they wizened up. Where they thought they had seen openings were just faints, and it was the wolf beside them that would take down any aggressors as soon as they extended past the safety of their circle. The smell of piss and shit started to permeate the air, and it was clear that it came from the men in the centre of the group. Their naked forms left nothing to be hidden as their bowels evacuated themselves in fear. Which was extremely hilarious, given that they were all huddled up with each other, but too afraid to notice one another''s excrement starting to cover their bodies. After the monsters had smartened up, it turned time to a more aggressive plan. From four different sides, Nat and the wargs rushed in, aiming for the orcs first and foremost. Sol and Luna each took down two, one with a claw spilling their guts onto the floor, while the other was bit around the head .compared to the wolves earlier, wargs were bigger, stronger, and had far sharper teeth. The heads of the unfortunate orcs were ripped off, then thrown away, one of them landing in the middle of the men who started screaming prolifically.


    Seeka took care of her orc in a very similar manner that head managed to bean a hob goblin though, either knocking it out or straight up killing the creepy little creature. Natalie''s execution was by far the most brutal. Both of her hands went into the orcs stomach like knives, sliding in with little force until she found the creatures spine. Without any weapons, it tried to beat on her to try to get her to relax her grip, but Nat was already running on pure adrenaline at this point. Not feeling the desperate hits of the creature, she grabbed onto its spine and started to twist it. The orc in question started screaming in pain, so loud that she would be surprised if people downstairs did not hear this. Finally with a snap, the spine broke, and the orc stopped all flailing as it passed on. This act of brutality did not satisfy her rage however, and so Nat proceeded to rip apart the orc along its midsection. Blood sprayed everywhere as the monster got bisected along the middle of his torso, before she held each half by the spine in either hand. At this point, the wolves had taken care of all of the hobs and were standing by. Each and everyone of them could feel the anger and pain their alpha felt at what she had seen happening in this room. Wielding both orc half''s like clubs, she single-handedly proceeded to use them to beat each and every one of the men in the centre into as much of a bloody pulp as she could.


    Once satisfied with her brutal actions, Nat took the chance to take stock of everything around the room. Every monster was dead, confirmed now with the bloody mess that was their former bonded. The shepherd (she had to get his name at some point) had already gotten all three women freed and was cuddling up with Shannon. The other two were huddled up crying, but even from a distance Nat could tell that they were tears of joy. Walking over to her best friend, she stopped her adjoining with Kali and stopped a few steps away from her. In all of her naked glory, Natalie looked down at her, "There, now you''re safe. Hope this makes us even." As she finished saying that, she felt the adrenaline wear off and the fatigue set in. She did not even feel her muscles scream at her in pain, as before she knew it the floor was getting closer and everything went black.


    Huge thanks to my Elder Wolves Jake, Viktor, Nikolas, Saganatsu, Eeleater, Eric, Corgi, Lachlan, Coen, Adam, John, Nicholas, Ty, Jacob, Sir Hellington, and Kevin for supporting me and my writing! Remember that I keep Patreon ten chapters ahead at all times. Our next goal on Patreon will be getting up to 25 patrons, which I will then open up an official discord for everyone to come and discuss the story in and hang out!

 Chapter 62

    The return of Natalie''s conscience was heralded by  symphony of grunts and groans coming straight from her mouth. Her entire body hurt, and that pain was all she felt as she awoke from slumber. Her legs were the worst, screaming at her for all of the running they did after that arduous task of riding the wargs in haste. Her back and sides had what felt to be giant bruises on them, probably from the orc that got all of those hits on her as she was wrestling with its spine. And to top it all off, her entire body itched something fierce, while also having an unpleasant amount of soreness. Those she credited to the joining with Kali, as the newfound sensation of having fur was by far different to anything she had known. Opening her eyes, she saw she was in what seemed to be a nurses office, most likely still on the campus. While she did confirm that after seeing the symbol of the university while looking around, what she saw around her was far more eye catching. Four beds were lined up side by side, with hers at one end. On the other three were Shannon and the two other women that they found in that den of debauchery. Sitting at the foot of all three beds was a team of three, all female, all talking in whispers over a giant pile of sheets in front of them. Groaning as she tried to sit back up, Nat was surprised when one of them rushed over and gently pushed her back down.


    "We are glad that you are awake, but you need to rest. Your body has undergone severe strain and exertion and needs to recover a bit more." Surprised at the gentle nature, Nat did not even try to fight what was happening. As she laid back down, she noticed that the only door leading in or out was not only half the height and grey, but fully there and beige, sitting wide open. Luna, Seeka, and Sol all sat in the doorway, keeping out a vigil. Before she could raise a voice to ask what was going on, one of the other three walked over as Kali attacked Nat''s face with her tongue, happy that her friend was finally awake. Calming down the happy wolf was not an easy task, but the approaching woman was patient enough to wait. Once she had gotten Kali to settle down, the wolf jumped onto the bed and lay down beside her, prompting Nat turned her attention to the woman walking up to her.


    "Good morning, my name is Doctor Michelle Smith, and I have been the one in charge of taking care of the four of you. I am already aware of the gist of the situation thanks to the other three, so I was just hoping to fill you in on what you missed." After getting a nod of understanding from her now bedridden self, Michelle went into describing what had happened after Nat had lost consciousness. Apparently, that orc screaming alerted everyone in the campus below and people stormed upwards, prepared to fight off monsters to protect their leaders. Instead what they all found was a room with a bunch of dead bodies and four naked women, all being guarded by large canines. Before either side escalated the situation, the two women that Nat did not know had started explaining the situation, and how the canines and the one woman had all come in and saved them from the abuse they had been suffering for most of the week. Most people doubted the story, until one elderly woman pushed past the crowd, hugging the two affectionately while crying. Apparently they were some of the people that were claimed to have been lost in night raids, and were thought to have been dead, as was Shannon.


    Once the story had been confirmed more by Shannon as she sat beside the Shepherd, a lot of people eased off, and then were promptly shooed away by ever female there. The fact that the four were naked caused every single man to back away. Slowly and carefully, women came in and slowly carried each of the women away and down to the nurses office in the same building. The only one they had issues with was Natalie, as when they attempted to approach her, the canines formed a defensive circle around her until Shannon was able to convince them that they only wanted to help. Apparently having giant furry guards managed to help deter anyone from saying or doing anything rash as the four of them were brought down. Some men who claimed to be doctors were quickly chased off and not allowed into the infirmary, causing everyone to question all female survivors to see if there were any doctors. Thankfully, there was one, as well as two nurses that stepped forward to help. Once they managed to get the canines to let them in, the three of them had been working almost tirelessly since the previous day to get all four of the wounded in better shape.


    After a quick thank you, to both the medical team and her pack, Nat closed her eyes and thought about what she had just heard. She had been out of it for almost an entire day and she still felt pain. Knowing that she was not going to go anywhere today, she let one of the nurses help her eat. Once she had actually consumed something so her stomach was groaning in protest at its vacancy, she took one look over at her best friend. What she saw made her believe that the worst was now behind them, for Shannon''s face looked so at rest and peaceful that it was almost as if she was receiving a world class massage that was soothing to the bone. Images of Angie flashed back in her mind, causing Nat to resolve her self and come to an unwavering decision. She would not let her friend go quietly into the void. She would be there beside her, to help her grow and become stronger than she had been before. She would devote everything she could so that her friend would be able to live. Turning back, Nat closed her eyes and willed herself back to sleep, hoping the pain would be gone next she woke.


    Huge thanks to my Elder Wolves Jake, Viktor, Nikolas, Saganatsu, Eeleater, Eric, Corgi, Lachlan, Coen, Adam, John, Nicholas, Ty, Jacob, Sir Hellington, and Kevin for supporting me and my writing! Remember that I keep Patreon ten chapters ahead at all times. Our next goal on Patreon will be getting up to 25 patrons, which I will then open up an official discord for everyone to come and discuss the story in and hang out!

 Chapter 63

    It took a couple tries, but eventually Natalie was able to get up and walk once more, albeit shakily. She had woken up once in the night, and had believed everything was fine. Her limbs had quieted down and did not seem to be in pain, until she tried to move them. As she did, lances of pain shot through her, debilitating her and keeping her prisoner in the bedding. After that pain had died down, she went back to sleep wary of a repeat episode. What dreams she had were hazy and barely remembered. Something about riding a giant lollipop into the mouth of a squirrel, then skating up a waterfall. It was the sort of dream that almost felt like a bad music video. The kind that makes you cringe and laugh, where you just cannot tear your eyes away from the train wreck of a production. Looking out the eastern window over viewing the monster half of Lethbridge, she saw the sun rising and realized she had missed an entire day.


    Turning around, as if it was clockwork, Edwin and Lucille were sitting in the doorway, keeping watch on the surroundings and making sure no unwanted guests popped in. Kali was starting to rouse and woke up on the bed, and as the female wolf noticed that her bed buddy was no longer there, she turned her head around till she saw Nat. ''Feeling better?'' She lightly inquired towards Natalie. A quick nod was enough to satisfy the wolf, who then slowly lowered herself down from the bed and took up a position beside Nat. ''Just in case you decide to fall down again, I will catch you this time.'' Feeling the ribbing was warranted, a slight chuckle escaped Nat''s lips before thanking the wolf.


    "Thanks for the faith. By the way, what was that thing we did? My skin still feels weird from it, and I think that''s the main reason I got so exhausted." While the power she had while joined with Kali was incredible, the drawbacks that she felt in that bed were not worth the hassle. She was still weak on her feet, with small bits of numb and sore spots all over her body.


    ''I do not honestly know. I just felt that it was something we could do just earlier that day. Maybe the amount of time passed bonded allowed it to happen?''


    "So over time, we could get more used to it, with far less drawbacks. That and there is the possibility that even more things are left unknown, just waiting for enough time to pass before we can do them." Passing back and forth ideas, they started brainstorming ways to improve their capabilities in that state. Whether it was doing it more often to just get used to it, or how to push the boundaries of what they could do, they tried to think up each and everything. Maia even joined in the conversation from the Soulscape.


    The two''s theory crafting came to a quick and early halt as they heard a groan come from the bed beside Nat''s. Looking over, Shannon was moving to sit up and still seemed a bit sore. Those ropes had apparently been incredibly tight and had not been loosened at all. Days stuck in that wrenching position left her muscles just as over strained if not more than how bad Natalie''s were. Moving over to her, Nat went to sit on the edge of the bed. As she got closer, she finally noticed that she had not been the only one to have a bed buddy. On the far side of Shannon lay the shepherd, nuzzled up right against her best friends side. After checking mentally, it turned out that he had a soft spot for her friend, as she had also been abused by people in terrible ways. Apparently the days inside the Soulscape with all of the other canines had not been just him relaxing and recovering. He had also been reflecting on what he had been through and where he now was.  After a quick check, he confirmed Nat''s suspicions that he wanted to keep his name, Scout, that he had before hand. Apparently he had gotten it from the child of his previous family, but when the kid passed away due to an illness, the dog was seen as a reminder of their loss. All of that only made her feel worse for Scout, as he was abused right after losing a family member by others of the same family. It must have been so hard on him.


    As Nat sat down on the bed, Shannon visibly jumped and moved backward. While normally, most people would feel like that was personal and distrustful, the years of friendship had Nat see the reaction as something quite different. Her friend was entirely scared of other people. After being abused by a dozen men, and probably their bonded monsters, for days on end, she was now skittish of anyone around her. She was trying to move away from any and everyone that came near to her. Deciding to try and ease her friends nerves, Nat spoke up first. "Hey Sham, how are you doing?"


    Shannon''s eyes had been full of fear at the sudden presence of another person, but hearing the old nickname caused them to gather a little more light. "Nat, you''re okay. It''s all over right?" Tears started gathering around her eyes. Getting Maia to pop out a pillow quickly, she passed it gently over to her friend. Ignoring the shocked nurses outburst due to the pillow coming out of nowhere, Nat kept focused on Shannon. While her body language clearly showed that she did not want any physical contact, her face said she wanted something to hug. Burying her face into the pillow as she squeezed it tightly, Shannon cried tears of joy as she sobbed into the pillow. Scout even got up and nuzzled against her side, trying his best to comfort her as he had been comforted when he was saved those few days prior. Torn between happiness and sadness, Nat sat patiently with Kali beside her as the two waited for Shannon to let it all out. She was glad that her friend was safe now, but the memory of Shannon''s strong and over confident self conflicted to harshly with the person beside her now.


    Huge thanks to my Elder Wolves Jake, Viktor, Nikolas, Saganatsu, Eeleater, Eric, Corgi, Lachlan, Coen, Adam, John, Nicholas, Ty, Jacob, Sir Hellington, and Kevin for supporting me and my writing! Remember that I keep Patreon ten chapters ahead at all times. Our next goal on Patreon will be getting up to 25 patrons, which I will then open up an official discord for everyone to come and discuss the story in and hang out!

 Chapter 64

    It took almost an hour for Shannon to calm down. The memory of what had happened for the past week had all seemed like one long nightmare, but the pain her body felt and where she felt it kept as a constant reminder of what had happened. After about ten minutes the pillow had become uncomfortably wet from the tears, but was quickly filled in for by Scout. The whole time, Nat sat patiently and quietly on the bed. She did not really have anywhere else to be, nor did she feel a need to say anything. She just let her friend process the feelings that were overwhelming her. She would have been more worried when Scout was grabbed to be used as a body pillow to cry into had his tail not been wagging emphatically. He had apparently felt unhelpful these last few days, having watched everyone hunt and fight to take out the monsters, and wanted to help in anyway he could. In his current state however, he was quite limited to what he could actually accomplish. During the hour, Edwin and Lucille had finally felt the affect of the morning sun, and turned back into the Soulscape to get some sleep. To replace them at the door, the three wargs came out. Nat was quite surprised to see Seeka boop Scout on the nose before heading over to the door. His tail sped up for a little after she did, showing that he shared the feelings she had seemed to have for him.


    When Shannon finally separated herself from the comfort of the shepherd, she rubbed her eyes to clear away the tears before turning to Nat. "Sorry you had to see that Lie, it just been.... Hard." she seemed to be exhausted from crying so much, as well as still sore from the fuckers ''ministrations''.


    "All good Sham, I''m just glad that you are still with us." Natalie paused, unsure of what to say. She wanted to be careful to not bring back up the events while they were still so raw. Plus, Shannon would talk about it if she wanted to. Trying to change the subject, "So, what are you wanting to do from now on?"


    Shannon just looked at her friend confused, then her eyes lit up as she finally understood what Nat was actually asking about, before going back to a confused look. A few minutes of silence, only filled with the scratches of the pencil that the nurse was using to fill out some paperwork. The whole time throwing glances towards Nat. Probably wanting answers about where that pillow or the clothes she was wearing now came from. Finally after almost five minutes, did Shannon turn her focus towards Nat, and responded without meeting her friends eyes. "I don''t know, I just know that I do not want to be here anymore."


    Nodding, Nat got up and got Maia to pass out some of her clothes. While they were a different size, especially in the chest region, having something to cover up would be far better than nothing. Once she had set the clothe down on the bed, Nat turned around and got the nurse to turn around as well. All though they had all already seen her naked, this not being the first time for Nat, this was one way that Nat had thought of to help Shannon recover. It was all her friends choice on who got to see her that freely, and this was one of the ways that she could think to help emphasize this with actions. The sounds of sheets moving and clothes rustling tempted her to look back, but that would do only harm at the moment.


    As Shannon was getting changed, Nat noticed that the other two were getting up themselves. While at least one of them had family in the area, neither had been delivered any clothes. Feeling sorry for them, having gone through the same hell that Shannon had, Nat got two more sets of clothes to come out of her Soulscape. All three of the outfits were different, but still all definitely her style. All natural materials, bland colour palette, and no graphics on anything. Fashion had never been something she had cared overly about. As Nat was thanked for the gift to the two, she heard Shannon say she was ready. Turning around to have a look at her, the view was both stunning and unsurprising. Shannon had always looked good no matter what she wore, at least in Nat''s opinion. Moving towards the door, they almost left the infirmary before the nurse ran up to them. "How did you make those things out of thin air? Could the same be done with food? Medicine? Building supplies."


    As much as she wanted to highlight everything the previous administration had done wrong, Natalie''s only goal was to get Shannon out of this location and towards somewhere better. Turning back, she quickly filled in the nurse, "It works with everything except other people. The only requirement is to bond with an animal of any kind. They are the only ones that can enter or leave that area. With or without any supplies." Thanking the nurse one last time for her help, the pack plus Shannon moved out towards the main atrium of the university.


    As they came up to the main atrium, they heard many people shouting and arguing. All of them quieted down however when three wargs and four wolves escorted two women and a German shepherd through there. Without a word or glance from any of the group, they walked straight through the crowd and towards the front doors. Not one soul said a peep or made a move towards them the entire time they were there. Together they all went through the doors and out into the sunlight, not caring one bit about whatever they had been arguing about. They had not done any checks or investigations to make sure that their ''leaders'' were up to par, and so Nat did not care about what any of them thought. Together, side by side, Nat walked with her now safe best friend, northwards out of the campus.


    Huge thanks to my Elder Wolves Jake, Viktor, Nikolas, Saganatsu, Eeleater, Eric, Corgi, Lachlan, Coen, Adam, John, Nicholas, Ty, Jacob, Sir Hellington, and Kevin for supporting me and my writing! Remember that I keep Patreon ten chapters ahead at all times. Our next goal on Patreon will be getting up to 25 patrons, which I will then open up an official discord for everyone to come and discuss the story in and hang out!

 Chapter 65

    As they headed north out of the campus, the group could not help but attract the eyes of all the people that they passed by. Most people probably did not even know the specifics of what went on, but when you were being escorted by a large pack of predators, some around the size of a small car, it had the effect of drawing attention. Noticing a path that led down into the river valley, Nat knew this might be the best chance to avoid crowds. The entire western side of the city was covered with tents and people, but she had not seen any when she passed over on the bridge earlier. She could be wrong though, as her focus was primarily on the giant horde of goblins that she essentially chased across. Gesturing the direction to Shannon, her friend''s nod was all the prompting she needed before directing the canines to head down the path. Thankfully, no one followed them as they went down. As the number of eyes watching them dwindled, Nat could feel her shoulders relaxing.


    They followed the path down for a while, passing underneath the bridge that Nat had crossed on days before. Finally, after they were five minutes passed the bridge, Nat decided to get a direction from Shannon. "So, where do you want to go from here? To your home here in Lethbridge? To your family in Ontario? Or maybe leave it all to me and my amazing decision skills?" That last one got a snort out of the downtrodden woman.


    "What amazing decision skills? Whose idea was it to glitter bomb the school cafeteria at university? We spent a week cleaning that up, and glitter was still found for months!" Laughter erupted out of both of them as they remembered the whole thing. It was the year they were graduating, and they had wanted to go out in a bang. How they managed to come up with that idea, or think it was a good idea was anyone''s guess. However, a no glitter allowed rule was strictly enforced after that by campus security. After their laughter died down, Shannon was finally walking with a smile. Sure, it was strained as all hell, but it was a smile none the less, and for that. "You know, if we were able to, I would like to stop by my home, grab my things and settle things with this town once and for all. It''s just, my house is up in the north, on the eastern side."


    "That''s the only problem? We are just making another jaunt into monster central? Whatever, it is not that bad, especially when you have such wonderful giant fur balls of death travelling with you! Lead the way, dear friend of mine." Upon seeing the bright determination on Nat''s face, Shannon could not help but have a slight bounce to her step. Everyone had already written off the entirety of the eastern side as completely uninhabitable, but here she was. Leading her friend straight into the madness. The obvious lack of fear or hesitation shown emboldened Shannon, causing her to lead them on. Instead of turning back to cross the foot bridge, they pushed forward to the one farthest north. They could have used the train bridge, but should there be any issues, they did not want to have to worry about balance while dealing with monsters. As they walked down the trail, they ended up walking alongside the river as well as moving alongside a protected wetland area. Neither had much movement other than in the water, but there were a few fishes and frogs, and thankfully barely any bugs. This early in the year, it would not be too bad as a lot of the still water was still either frozen or close to. But if they had to pass through a month from now, the amount of mosquitos would make them rethink on whether vampires turned into bats rather than swarms of the little blood suckers.


    Coming up to the bridge, they were not surprised to find that another barricade was set up here. Having it set up anywhere else would just make it easy to bypass after all. While most were fine with them leaving with the giant predators to head to the east side, there was one man that tried to convince them that they would be safer staying over here. When he tried to make his protests physical, he was abruptly interrupted and chased off by a visibly pissed off Seeka. The look on the man''s face as well as the image of him backpedaling as hard as he could was so funny, and while Shannon did her best to internalize it, Natalie could not help but laugh out loud at the man. Who in their right mind would try and stop someone who was travelling with canines that were this large, let alone try and get physical? Barely able to breathe between calling him an idiot and laughing, Nat had to be pushed down the road and past the barricade by Luna. However, the warg was also doing her best to refrain from the show that her pack mate put on. As soon as the rest of the group was past the barricade, Seeka huffed loudly then chuckled audibly for everyone at the barricade to hear before running out to join back up with the pack.


    Thankfully, no monster horde rushed the bridge this time as they crossed it. As they got to the other side, Nat came face to face with a realization. Scenic Drive did not end at the previous bridge, as it was the main road that ran through most of the eastern side of the city. Understanding that they were back on the scenic route, they started their way back along the road as Shannon led them towards her house. Unlike before, where the road was flanked by greenery everywhere, the road seemed to just be completely open at this point. Knowing that they would easily be able to be seen even with the sun slowly starting to lower in the sky, they moved as fast and low as possible. Three times along the road they were attacked by the most basic of goblins, but they were able to be seen just as far away as they were themselves.  Each encounter was just a slaughter of goblins, though Scout and Shannon held back each time.


    Eventually, they came up to an intersection, where Scenic Drive turned more into the city. Turning left, Shannon led the pack up a road named Stafford Drive, and up past a power station. Thankfully the whole place was open and desolate, but as they got closer to it, the more that Nat got a feeling of wrongness to it.  After going past, the weird feeling dissipated away as they found themselves in a still growing suburb. As they went in, lots were still clear, with some of them having houses that were in progress, doomed to never be finished. As they came to the end of what was slotted out to be a cul-de-sac, Nat was surprised to see that there were only two houses. Before they walked up to Shannon''s house, she just had to ask a question. "Hey Shannon. Do any of your neighbours have a motorcycle?"


    Huge thanks to my Elder Wolves Jake, Viktor, Nikolas, Saganatsu, Eeleater, Eric, Corgi, Lachlan, Coen, Adam, John, Nicholas, Ty, Jacob, Onean, Sir Hellington, and Kevin for supporting me and my writing! Remember that I keep Patreon ten chapters ahead at all times. Our next goal on Patreon will be getting up to 25 patrons, which I will then open up an official discord for everyone to come and discuss the story in and hang out!

 Chapter 66

    "What?"


    "Do any of your neighbours have a motorcycle? Possibly an ATV? Snowmobile?"


    Shannon could not help but give off a look that made it seem as though Nat had grown a second head. "Why is that relevant to right now? Noting works. There is no point because they are just useless hunks of metal!"


    "And why do you think that I am wanting to know? To try and ride one out of here?" Natalie questioned. "I could not care less about those, as you put them, useless hunks of metal. However, their riding gear would be extremely useful for when we ride these giant wargs!" At her words, Shannon''s eyes finally went wide in understanding. Sure enough, riding those wargs would both be comfy and fast, but that was also part of the problem. Riding them would cause wind to whip against their faces and bodies, potentially causing damage and irritation. Finally understanding Nat''s reasoning, Shannon racked her brain, but could not remember if any did. That was what was so similar enough between the two of them which had brought them together as friends all of those years ago. Neither of them were social creatures, and usually preferred to be on their own. Weirdly enough, their personalities were similar enough that it just made them feel closer, as if neither could get enough of the others companionship. While it was great for their friendship, it had the effect of giving both of them tunnel vision when it came to building any sort of relationship with other people. Hence why Nat knew no one in that small town, nor did Shannon even know the names of any of her neighbours.


    When Shannon shook her head, she almost squealed in alarm at Nat''s next action. She just walked straight up to the house of one of her neighbours and opened the front door. Running after her, Shannon was about to lay into Nat for intruding on someone else''s home until she saw what she was up to. Items in the house were being grabbed and brought into her by a bunch of small wolfs, probably pups of some of the other ones she had seen. As they were brought into her, they were brought right back out again and put back in place as nicely as possible. Struck dumb by the flurry of activity that was happening in front of her, Shannon''s next words just fell out of her mouth. "What is going on? Where did they come from? Where are they going?"


    Realization hit Nat like a freight train. She had not explained anything about the whole situation to Shannon. Not the Soulscape, not the canines, and not how she ended up here. Starting on that fateful day that felt like so long ago, she started going through everything that had happened to her. From the stupidity of Angie on her last day at work before the event, to how she found Kali and her pups that very same day. The monsters she had aced, the people she had seen, and the discoveries that she made with the space inside of her. Not one bit of info was left out, sharing everything about the dreams and the whole situation with Troy. Shannon just listened quietly as Nat told the tale of her life for the past ten days, following her and the pack around as they went house to house. Only one house was locked, but on the fourth one they got access to, they finally hit the jackpot. The person there had a matching set of motorcycles, with helmets and full body gear to go with them. Quickly looting, duplicating, and return of the gear, the pack headed out and back towards Shannon''s house. As they got up to the door, Nat finally finished the telling of her tale to Shannon, who now looked incredibly thoughtful.


    "I see. That is a lot to unpack right there, and I don''t even know how to feel about it. I will need some time."


    "Take all the time you need. Though it is getting late, do we want to just stay here for the night before moving on?" Just getting a nod from her friend, Natalie turned around and locked the front door.


    "I think that I am just going to take some time to think, and reflect over everything. I''ll be upstairs if you need me."


    "Likewise, if you need me, I am going to be down here at the couch. Take your time, I will let you know when dinner is ready." A faint smile spread onto Shannon''s face, before she slowly lumbered up the stairs, Seeka and Scout following her up. No efforts were made to turn away either of them, and Nat was fine with them heading up. Right now, Shannon needed support more than anything. While she could not personally help, she was glad that two of her pack members were stepping up to help.


    The rest of the day went by quickly. While the three of them had stayed upstairs all of the way till dinnertime, the living room became quite lively. The pups ran around, playing amongst themselves. And for once they were not any part of Nat''s problems. Kali and Maia had found a large hair brush inside the Soulscape and decided to ask what is was for. The next few hours were filled with Natalie just brushing the hair of all the canines one by one. Seeka had even thought to her that she would take her brushing later, as she was currently indisposed. Dinner turned out to be just a variety platter of all the different foods that had been prepared along the way, as her arms felt way too heavy after hours of brushing thick fur. The pile of loose fur alone could probably make another two wargs easily, and she still had not gotten to Seeka yet. Shannon came down for food, but was reserved the entire time, focusing just on her plate while sparing occasional glances towards Nat. Once done, she claimed to be going to bed, and told Nat to make herself at home in the living room. Taking her up, Kali and Maia quickly got the room set up back into the same set up they had in the hardware store. Sleep quickly claimed most of the group, save the two coyotes who proudly took over the night watch. Nat was one of the last ones to fall asleep, relief and worry plaguing her at the exact same time.


    Huge thanks to my Elder Wolves Jake, Viktor, Nikolas, Saganatsu, Eeleater, Eric, Corgi, Lachlan, Coen, Adam, John, Nicholas, Ty, Jacob, Onean, Hades, Neal, Sebastian, Sir Hellington, and Kevin for supporting me and my writing! Remember that I keep Patreon ten chapters ahead at all times. Our next goal on Patreon will be getting up to 25 patrons, which I will then open up an official discord for everyone to come and discuss the story in and hang out!

 Chapter 67

    As the morning sun started to rise in the east, its rays found their way through the front window of Shannon''s house and directly into Natalie''s face. The sudden burst of light, followed by a slowly rising temperature, gave way to the sleeping woman to start turning over. Groaning at the sudden interruption to her sleep. Sitting up, Nat yawned loud and wide, stretching her arms as she ascended form the couch. Looking around with squinted eyes, it took her a solid minute to remember where she was. Remembering that she was at her friend''s house in Lethbridge, she made an attempt to get up and head over to the bathroom. However, she found that she had extremely limited movement in her legs. Looking down to her lap, she was unsurprised to find Kali laying there. The couch was thin and narrow, leaving no room for the wolf who usually slept nestled up beside her. Thankfully it appeared as though her yawn and movements had already gotten the wolf to start moving. Slowly coaxing the wolf off her lap, she headed over to the bathroom once she was free.


    Getting there, she got assistance from the recently roused Kali and got the bathtub filled up. After a week of travelling, and all of the fighting and sweating that had transpired throughout, left her with quite a pungent scent. Given that they wanted to wait for everyone to wake up before having breakfast, now seemed to be the perfect time to relax and soak. While it was cold water, on Nat''s sore muscles it felt invigorating and relaxing. Kali just laid down on the bathmat in front of the tub and watched toward the door. From her angle, Nat was unable to tell if she was going back to sleep or just getting comfy. In the end, it did not matter anyways. Both of them just laid there relaxing for the next half an hour, and probably would have stayed there for a while longer. The main reason was a tired and groggy Shannon walking into the bathroom without noticing. As she had walked in, her eyes slowly acclimated to the darkness that was present inside the room. No windows with power not working turned the bathroom into its own little hiding hole. While Nat already thought of this as the norm, a now clearly flustered Shannon was still getting used to the whole situation.


    "Whoa, I did not know you were already in here. Next time if you take a bath, could you at least turn on the lights?"


    Slowly opening her eyes and looking at Shannon, Nat smirked. "Sure, sure. I will make sure to do that. You know, once we actually have some power and working lights."


    Shannon froze where she was. "Oh, right. Forgot about that." With that, Shannon quickly turned around and headed out of the bathroom. While she was confused by her friend''s actions, Nat thought nothing of it. However, now that she knew almost everyone else was up, it became time to get some food. Slowly pulling herself out of the tub, Nat carefully stepped over Kali''s resting form. Out of the entire pack, she felt that Kali was the only one as tired as she was, yet also the one she had gotten the closest too. The fusion between the two of them, despite how brief it was, had hardened the bond between the two so much, that Nat was sure she could almost hold it physically in her hands. Grabbing one of the towels that were hanging up, she started drying herself off. However, a decent amount of water ended up dripping onto Kali, even some on her head. As Nat started to dry herself, so did Kali. The wolf stood up and shook herself out completely, fur and tail repeatedly hitting against the walls of the small room as well as Nat.


    Once the two of them were dry, they quickly replaced the water inside the tub with some that was fresher, as well as refilling the hanging towel stock. While Nat was not completely sure, there was a good chance that Shannon would want a bath as well. Leaving it sitting there ready and waiting, the two of them headed back out to the living room. As they came out, they noticed that while the pups ran around, Shannon sat off to the side in a chair, holding her head between her hands. Seeing it as a sign the she was still thinking things over, Nat went into the kitchen and started pulling out toast, cereal and fruits with the help of Maia and Kali. As they did this, Edwin and Lucille came over and popped back into the Soulscape, clearly tired from the long night. They were quickly followed in by the three wargs, who started hunting down some elk so that all of the canine members of the pack had something good to eat that morning as well.


    Slowly but surely, almost every other canine followed them inside, knowing that their hunting would not be a timely thing. The only one that stayed out at the end of it all was Scout, who stayed beside Shannon the entire time. He knew that once they got moving, he would not be able to keep up and would have to be inside the Soulscape at that time, but he wanted to help Shannon as much as he could until then. When everything was pulled out and organized on the counter like a discount buffet, Nat called out to Shannon that breakfast was ready. Snapping out of her daze, she stood up and slowly walked over.


    Breakfast was exceedingly quiet, save the sounds that came from eating and drinking. Seeka even passed out a chunk of elk on a platter so that Scout could join everyone in eating. Despite the lack of noise, Nat did not feel awkward. She was doing all she could to give Shannon time and space, as she had asked for the night before. Trying to force small talk or drive forward any conversation right now would not be of any help, and were more likely to cause issues than to fix them. Shannon kept her entire focus on the food, but was only nibbling and picking at it. While she had not been starved nearly as long as Scout had, she still went several days without anything to eat, and barely getting enough water to survive. It would likely be a while before she was eating in comparable amounts to Natalie at all. Finally, as the plates were getting cleared and they started cleaning everything up, did Shannon start addressing Natali with a question. "Hey, you remember those dreams you claimed to have that turned out real?" After a slight nod from Nat, she continued, "Well, I think I may have had one like that last night."


    Huge thanks to my Elder Wolves Jake, Viktor, Nikolas, Saganatsu, Eeleater, Eric, Corgi, Lachlan, Coen, Adam, John, Nicholas, Jacob, Onean, Hades, Neal, Sebastian, Sir Hellington, and Kevin for supporting me and my writing! Remember that I keep Patreon ten chapters ahead at all times. Our next goal on Patreon will be getting up to 25 patrons, which I will then open up an official discord for everyone to come and discuss the story in and hang out!

 Chapter 68

    Natalie''s fork clattered against the tile floor of the kitchen. She still remembered the dreams she had gotten since the event with great detail. Only one of them had been false, but none of them were particularly bright or happy. In most cases it was either warnings or premonitions of something terrible. First was the one with the wargs that she had found being tortured and abused by a horde of hobs and gobs, followed up by the entire situation they had just gotten free of here in Lethbridge. Preparing herself for anything, she turned to Shannon and asked, "What happened in this dream, if I may ask bluntly?"


    Breathing in sharply, Shannon appeared to brace herself for either what she was about to say or for the reaction towards it. "It was weird, but on a similar level to the one where you saw all of the canines in the mountains. I found myself in this dojo, and it went by as if the whole thing was a training montage. The part that made it weird though, was that every single other member of that dojo who was in the montage were gorillas. I would spar with them, show them throws and grapples, and none of them were bad at it either." Silence reigned over the room, letting everyone digest and think about the information. All of Nat''s had wolves be a fairly major part to them, so hearing that it was all gorillas made some thoughts come to mind. However, at the same time, she knew that right now would be the worst time to try and force or coerce Shannon into going or doing anything. The trauma she had just escaped from was still fresh, and was not likely to go away in a short period of time.


    "Well, what do you want to do about it?" Nat asked, with as much sincerity in her voice as she could create.


    "Huh?"


    "You said that your dream sounded like mine. Where mine tended to have a reason. What do you want to do about the dream of primates? Only thing I can think of is probably the lowland gorillas up in Calgary."


    Shannon collapsed into the chair she had just gotten out of. "I don''t know. Maybe go see the gorillas? As you said, there has to be a reason, right?"


    As the only answer she could give, Nat just shrugged. "Maybe. The first dream I had had me seeing hundreds upon hundreds of goblins, all chasing me through a forest. So far, I have not had anything of that regard happening to me since. It could just be a weird dream. Regardless, do you want to make Calgary our current destination, as a place to head towards?" At this, Shannon seemed to mull over the decision for a little bit, before meekly nodding. "Alright, then that is where we shall go." With newfound energy, Nat started running around the house getting everything stored. Seeing her friend''s antics, Shannon quickly headed back to the bathroom to take a quick bath. It had been ages since she last had a proper bath, and since it was already prepared, she figured why not. Slowly, Nat went through the house, collecting everything of Shannon''s that she could. Because her friend was not currently bonded with any animals, she was not able to get them stored herself yet. Instead of leaving it all and potentially having her have to come back to this place that would likely haunt her, Nat made the executive decision to take it all, no matter if it was nailed down or not.


    Fifteen minutes later, Shannon came back out from the bath, fully changed into fresh clothes, her hair still dripping wet from the bath. What she saw was her entire house picked clean, looking almost as it had when she bought the place. Looking over to the most likely perpetrator, she found Natalie on the carpet of the living room, playing around with a bunch of wolf and coyote pups. Upon noticing that her friend was staring at her, Nat got up from the carpet with slight difficulty. The pups did not feel as if they had played enough. Apologizing for stealing all of her belongings, Nat got permission before moving onto her friend''s bedroom. There, her bed, wardrobe and furniture were all stored away inside of Natalie, ready and waiting for whenever Shannon bonded with an animal and opened up her own Soulscape.


    They were unable to ride the wargs, mainly because while Nat had only overexerted herself, Shannon had some pretty serious damage done to her. It would be a while before the two of them could rode off into the distance on warg back, but both were excited for the day that dream could be a reality. Making sure they got everything, Shannon said her last goodbyes to the house before both left out of the front door. Shannon did not even bother locking the door, no longer concerned with what happened to the place. At this point, the sun was slowly approaching its zenith, but was not quite there yet. It was a long distance to the next big city, and this early start would be a good move in the path forward.


    Retracing their steps from the day before, the two of them moved back through the residential area with ease. Al of the canines had decided to stay in the Soulscape at the moment, some wanting to relax from the past few busy days, others spending some time together with their partners. Sadly, the good times for the pack were not to last. As Natalie and Shannon left the residential area, they came face to face with a growing horde of monsters. Looking past them, it was now clear as to the source. Multiple holes of darkness were opened up in the power station that was nearby. Nat had felt wrongness from it, and now she saw why. It was one of the locations those holes opened up. Quickly they backed around behind a parked car, peeking out to watch what the gathering of monsters would do next.


    Huge thanks to my Elder Wolves Jake, Viktor, Nikolas, Saganatsu, Eeleater, Eric, Corgi, Lachlan, Coen, Adam, John, Nicholas, Jacob, Onean, Hades, Neal, Sebastian, Sir Hellington, and Kevin for supporting me and my writing! Remember that I keep Patreon ten chapters ahead at all times. Our next goal on Patreon will be getting up to 25 patrons, which I will then open up an official discord for everyone to come and discuss the story in and hang out!

 Chapter 69

    After watching for around ten minutes, it was obvious to the two of them that the monsters were just slowly milling about in the wide-open area. While they did not seem to have any actual destination at the moment, they all continued to move away from the power station as more flooded out of the dark pits. There just seemed to be no end to them. For the first bit, they had just kept an eye on either the creatures closest to them, or the spewing pits in the middle of the horde. As time went on though, Natalie in particular started to notice a few more subtle signs. Almost in tandem with when the monsters came out, parts of the power station seemed to age. Metal was gathering rust at a visible rate, the concrete was cracking and breaking apart, and the structures inside were starting to bend and sag. It was as if the structure itself was sacrificing itself for the portal. Quickly getting her notebook brought out, Nat wrote down her observations as well as a couple questions, before getting a pup to bring it back in. Looking back up, she saw Shannon wide eyed facing the monster horde.


    Turning her gaze back towards the power station, Nat''s view was returned by the eyes of hundreds of gobs and hobs, dozens of orcs, and a couple of the bigger ones, that she had yet to decide what to name them. Every single one was focused right on her. Could they sense items entering and leaving the Soulscape? Before she could bother with that question though, her feet were already moving. "Run!" she shouted at Shannon, as they fled back into the residential area, screams and cries sounded out behind them, swiftly followed by the thundering of their feet as the horde gave chase. Running back down the street towards Shannon''s house cut off the horde''s view the fastest, while also leading toward the river valley.


    As the two of them got halfway down the street, the first monsters rounded the behind them. Gobs and hobs flowed out, chasing down their fleeing prey. While they were similar in speeds, the goblins were slowly catching up to the two fleeing women. Their injuries had not fully healed, as it had only been a couple days, slowing them down immensely from where they would be at their prime running speed. "Really, you sure that dream was about goblins chasing you in a forest? Not here, in the city?" Shannon screamed at her best friend. As Nat was about to respond, a loud crashing noise came out from behind them. Looking back, their speed increased as well as their wish that they had not looked in the first place. Some of the bigger ones had just ran diagonally instead of going for the opening where they were seen. While there were houses in the ways, the monsters either did not care, or were not worried about the obstructions. The crashing sound they heard was multiple of the ten-foot-tall freaks just running through the houses, breaking the houses apart as they moved closer.


    Shrieks and cries continued getting louder and closer as Natalie and Shannon ran through an open construction site. It was one of the few that did not have the back closed off by a fence yet, giving them the ability to just keep running away. When they passed out the other side, they had already entered the hilly crags that led down toward the river below. Running along the tops of one of the hills, they continued forward despite the soreness prevalent throughout both of their bodies. After they ran out, suddenly some of the cries sounded to be heading sideways instead of closer. Nat looked back only to see that some of the goblins had more dexterity, despite being at the front of the chasing horde. Wrong foot placements caused the occasional goblin to fall and start rolling down the hill, causing blood to fly in a spiral behind them as their heads made contact with the rocks dotting the hill.


    Sadly, the drop was not that big, as most of the ones that fell got up again, albeit clutching their heads while trying to stem the bleeding. Thanks to a lot of monsters falling down the hill, the two increased the gap by a fair margin, until the larger ones had some sort of bright idea. Their only warning was a scream, swiftly increasing in volume. Turning around, they barely had enough time to duck as a goblin went soaring past them. Seeing that the fuckers had started picking up more goblins, Nat quickly led Shannon down off the hills and into the river valley. With it being late March, the river was both swift and deep, which would have made them take a more cautious approach for crossing it. However, with goblins constantly flying at them, with the horde close behind, they quickly agreed that the only option they had left was to cross the stream. Facing upstream, they moved as quickly as they could, keeping one of their feet on the bed of the river at all times while they held onto each other''s arms by their forearms.


    While the water got up to their necks, they were barely able to get across. Shannon had almost been swept away once, but Natalie''s grasp held true. Getting up onto the other bank and away from the water, they turned around to see what would happen. As they expected, the first couple gobs immediately tried to cross when they got there. However, their short stature had them go sailing downstream, carried by the current. Seeing this, the rest of the monsters hesitated. The big guys, which now that she had a minute of breathing room Natalie had dubbed them ogres, had started picking up hobs and gobs to throw them across. This time though, neither of the girls ran. Slowly, they got up and started walking towards the hills leading up and away from the river to their west. As for the goblins that had been attempted to be thrown over, the three wargs had decided that it was a fun game of catch. As they flew through the air, the goblins were snatched up like frisbees, only to have their necks broken in the strong jaws of the large canines. Neither of the women gave any care to it however. They were sore and exhausted already, yet it was not even noon.


    Huge thanks to my Elder Wolves Jake, Viktor, Nikolas, Saganatsu, Eeleater, Eric, Corgi, Lachlan, Coen, Adam, John, Nicholas, Jacob, Onean, Hades, Neal, Sebastian, Sir Hellington, and Kevin for supporting me and my writing! Remember that I keep Patreon ten chapters ahead at all times. Our next goal on Patreon will be getting up to 25 patrons, which I will then open up an official discord for everyone to come and discuss the story in and hang out!

 Chapter 70

    Natalie and Shannon shuffled away from the river bank, and slowly crossed the fields that were down in the valley. At this point, all of the adult wolves had come out as well, taking care of the incoming monsters. The further they moved away from the ogres, the worse their aim became. As goblins touched down in the field, the wolves would head over to them and quickly put an end to the monster before it could get up. Meanwhile, the wargs hung close to them, making sure to intercept any of the creatures that were thrown a bit more accurately. As they got to the far side of the field, the goblins were no longer being thrown at them. The far limit of the ogre''s range came out to be revealed, but it was still a ghastly distance. They were just barely landing short of where the pack was, but that was more than enough distance to clear the bridges leading into west Lethbridge. Seeing what the groups here had to deal with made both of them want to leave faster. Flying goblins and just the sheer number of monsters that they had witnessed made the fact that they were undisturbed last night feel like a miracle. All it would have taken was a single monster discovering that they were there, and hundreds would have been upon them.


    Moving forward, they slowly walked up the hill in front of them. Thankfully, none of these hills were that steep, giving their tired and out of breath bodies a much needed chance to recover. They had essentially sprinted for almost a kilometer, and then crossed a raging river, all while running for their lives. Nat wished that the four times recovery that applied to the canines would apply to her, but previous wounds from fights had still healed at the normal rate. Getting to the top of the hill, Shannon collapsed onto the grass with a sigh of relief. Seeing this, Nat could not help but follow suit and collapsed down just a few feet from her. Minutes passed until their breathing finally returned to a slow, steady pace.


    "Next time. Next time do not let them all know where we are. For the love of all that is good, if you do that again I will strangle you myself." Shannon declared, between breathes.


    "I promise. I promise that I had absolutely. No idea that they could sense that. News to me." Natalie wheezed out in response.


    "Really? Fuck, then just do not do it near any again. My legs can''t take much more." Slowly, Natalie devolved into a bundle of laughter, which Shannon mildly joined in after words. They laid on the grass, unmoving and just laughing for a solid few minutes, before finally getting their breath back and got back onto their feet. As they had laid there, most of the canines went back into the Soulscape. Seeka, Kali, and Maia stayed out to be their ears and eyes for the day. Together, the five of them headed west across a few more barren farming fields. Right now, after seeing the scene at the power station, Natalie felt so much better being out in the open than inside the city. While she did not know for sure, it appeared as though something to do with man-made structures had the ability to bring over monsters. Did they just spawn out of the materials? Or did they make use of them as a transport medium? Unless they got close to one of those pits while they were open, Nat felt as if she might never know.


    On the other side of the field, the five came up to another road. However, at best Nat was only able to guess where they were. Without any landmarks in the area, and no road signs or markings of any kind, it was hard to know where they were on a map exactly. Heading north, their small group followed the road along its path, keeping an eye out for anything that could tell them where they were. While there were a couple of farm houses along the way, most of the land around them was wide open fields. After their harrowing experience, which Shannon''s was far longer and more traumatizing, the emptiness of nature and lack of any cityscapes was much more welcome. Unlike the feeling that Nat got from the power station, she felt far more comfortable and happier out here. It was almost as if the land itself sang, happy to have their company.


    It was not until they passed four different farms and the road had started to bend, did they find their first road marker. Getting her map collection pulled out, Nat went through and checked them for where they were. The intersection of Highway 25 and Range Road 222. After going through half a dozen maps, she finally found one that showed where they were as well as what was in the area. Seeing that the town of Coalhurst was immediately to the west, both sighed in relief that they decided to head north. They had no wish to enter another town for at least a few more days. Seeing that the highway led into Diamond City, both immediately vetoed following the highway. Leaving their only route that they had left open to go up the Range Road. Neither of them had an issue with this, as it was even more desolate of any large man-made communities than the highway was. Instead of a paved road, it looked to just be a dirt and gravel road, unlike the paved highway they had been on. Getting all of the maps stored back inside, they turned onto their chosen path and kept walking.


    As the five of them continued north, it was far more peaceful than any of them had expected. No tracks of any kind of monsters were to be found, and none were sighted nor heard. None of them dropped their guard, but they did not try to be stealthy at all while walking brazenly down the middle of the road. They took a couple breaks, mainly because the two women were still very sore and exhausted from the past few days of activity. They knew they were pushing their bodies, but getting out into the countryside and away from the city was worth it. Natalie had a smile on her face the entire walk so far, and Shannon''s face was far less downcast than it had been. All in all, not a bad second half of their day, as they walked underneath the sun slowly heading towards the majestic mountains.


    Huge thanks to my Elder Wolves Jake, Viktor, Nikolas, Saganatsu, Eeleater, Eric, Corgi, Lachlan, Coen, Adam, John, Nicholas, Jacob, Onean, Hades, Neal, Sebastian, Sir Hellington, and Kevin for supporting me and my writing! Remember that I keep Patreon ten chapters ahead at all times. Our next goal on Patreon will be getting up to 25 patrons, which I will then open up an official discord for everyone to come and discuss the story in and hang out!

 Chapter 71

    As the sun finally descended enough that its rays danced between the mountaintops towards the pack, they found a quaint little place to camp for the night. It was just a small house, surrounded on all sides by trees and shrubbery. While it stood out like a castle on the wide and open prairie landscape, it gave them the most probable defence, as well as blocking most of the view from the outside. Given their exhausted nature, neither Nat nor Shannon felt like cooking whatsoever that night. Getting a bunch of cold cuts out from the Soulscape, the two of them just had some quick sub sandwiches for dinner. For the canines, the pups hunted their own food, keeping their practice up with hares, though the occasional calf was thrown into the mix by the adults. If they hunted the same thing over and over, they could have gotten complacent and used to hunting down just hares which could have consequences in the future. While they did that, Bryden led Ash and Shadow in taking down a cow. They decided as a group to just let the wargs take care of how much meat they needed, as their size made them require far more sustenance.


    Laying back in the grass, the two women just relaxed as the canines hunted and ate, watching the sun set from one of the few openings in their surrounding tree line. Slowly, they observed as the sky began to shift and dance in an increasing amount of colour. The view itself only lasted about ten minutes, but it was breathtaking none the less. All the while, the two remained silent. There were so many things that Nat wanted to say and ask, but it felt too soon. That feeling, mixed with the body language that Shannon had the night before made her hold her tongue, until her best friend was ready to open up. When the light had almost fully faded from the sky, Shannon finally broke the quiet spell.


    "So, you killed a person. A bunch of people really."


    "Yeah." Natalie responded, leading back into quietness between the two of them. Feeling that it was far more awkward than before, she was quick to add on to her previously statement. "I felt that each time, it was necessary. And both times, it involved people that had already bonded with monsters. They had gone against humanity and nature and sided with those destroyers and defilers. I may have some regrets since this whole thing started, but killing anyone who can side with creatures that torture and kill for fun is not one of them."


    An uneasy silence held for about a minute, giving Shannon a chance to mull over her words. Once it was up, Shannon asked another inquiry, "So how did killing someone feel like?"


    Nat paused, unsure on how to answer. Both times, she had just gone through with it, not thinking on what was going on or how it might affect her. In fact, she had put it completely out of mind and just had dregs of the memory of committing those acts. "It was different each time, in its own way. Both had a similar underlying reason. I was angry and fed up with either what was happening or what actions were being taken. I find it almost scary to admit that I am not sure I felt anything with them other than anger."


    The moment of self-reflection had surprised Natalie. While she had not put any thought into it before, she found that she really felt nothing from either of her murderous incidents. No relief nor remorse, no guilt or satisfaction. Just emptiness where she believed that there should be feelings. Before going too far into her own mind, Shannon had one final question. "If you had the option, would you do it again? Would you repeat the actions you have gone through with so far if you had the chance to redo?"


    "Yes." Natalie''s immediate reply surprised even herself. "The only actions that I would change are the ones I have regretted, and at the time when I ended up killing those people, both times it felt like not only the best choice, but the right one. If I ever feel like the right choice would be to kill someone because they were threatening either myself or those I care about, I would end them in a heartbeat." The more Natalie talked, the more she felt convinced and empowered by her own thoughts. There had been no need to feel things. The people that she had taken out had been monsters in their own right. If it was not her, their targets could become those who were too weak to fight back. Ending people who have that twisted mindset felt right. Not good or bad, but more like the right choice.


    "Thanks," Shannon replied after a few more minutes, now with both of them just looking at the sky as stars started popping out in the absence of the sun''s light. "It''s just, after seeing what you did to those men in the university, I wanted to make sure that it was still my friend inside there. I''m glad to see you have stuck to what you always believed in, you wannabe nature extremist." Upon saying that, both women erupted into laughter. Even back in university, Natalie had been quite extreme towards people who committed animal abuse. When she had heard about the two French fucks who set a quokka on fire in Australia, she had tried setting up a petition to have both of them doused and lit on fire, just so they could see how much they liked it. It took some aggressive wrangling to keep her from going online with it, but Shannon had eventually convinced her that it would be very much against the law.


    Getting up, as Nat turned around to start the setup of the tents, she was surprise hugged from behind by Shannon. "Thank you for coming for me." After that, Shannon quickly separated and took a few steps back. She was obviously still hesitant of getting near people, but in this short of time it felt like a large step. With a slight smile, Nat got Maia and Kali to help her get two identical tents out and set up side by side. While most relaxed inside Nat''s tent, Seeka and Scout went together to sleep with Shannon. They were being extremely reliable support for her friend, and were probably part of the reason she was showing such a massive jump in self-confidence and mental health. Saying good night to the two coyotes, both women and the rest of the pack crawled up in the tents, getting warm and comfy as they all surrendered to the void of sleep.


    Huge thanks to my Elder Wolves Jake, Viktor, Nikolas, Saganatsu, Eeleater, Eric, Corgi, Lachlan, Coen, Adam, John, Nicholas, Jacob, Onean, Hades, Neal, Sebastian, Sir Hellington, and Kevin for supporting me and my writing! Remember that I keep Patreon ten chapters ahead at all times. Our next goal on Patreon will be getting up to 25 patrons, which I will then open up an official discord for everyone to come and discuss the story in and hang out!

 Chapter 72

    Natalie opened her eyes only to find she was back in the world of her dreams. This time, there was no forest, no mountains, just the cliff that she appeared on and plains surrounding it. Looking around, their seemed to be nothing around her. Confused, she peered over the cliff edge. Thousands upon thousands of monsters all stared back at her before crying out in what she assumed was a war cry. The voice of thousands of creatures of varying sizes rushed up the cliff face to greet her, but in the end, she did not feel fear. Nor did she feel strength, pride, or really anything at all. It was as if she was a passenger just watching how things went. This was further drilled home to her as her own body arched backwards and howled at the sky, going into the half human, half wolf form. When the howl finished, so did the transformation. Looking down upon the massive horde, Nat could swear that she was smiling while eyeing the horde in front of her as prey.


    Before either the monsters or she moved, bursts of green light came out of her body. More half human, half canine forms came out and lined up along the ridge with her. With each burst, another one came out. Hundreds flowed out, but the ones that stuck closer to her were far too easily recognizable. Kali, Maia, Bryden, and all of the other canines that inhabited her Soulscape came out in bipedal forms. Seeing that all of them came out, Natalie realized something that she felt was important. Did this dream mean to say she could shift into this form on her own? Without the help of one of her bonded family? Before she had much time to think on this, her body''s earlier howl was responded too, with every form around her howling in strength despite their size.


    The next thing she knew, her body had jumped down the cliff. As she did, every other half and half form followed her with a feral grin on their faces as they flew towards the mass of monster bodies. Another war cry came out from the horde as the two sides clashed. Clubs and fists hit her body, and she could feel the strain on her as some spots had already started bruising to appear. But for every hit she received, she dealt another two back at a minimum. Throats were slashed, heads were ripped off, and claws went through the squishy stomach regions of the monsters that attempted to stop the packs advance. While the number of orcs and hobs felt never ending, it was overshadowed by the unstopping ferocity of the pack as they all tore through the crowd, sparing none of the twisted creatures.


    After what seemed like no time at all, the pack had broken through the other side of the horde. Hobs and gobs fled while shrieking as the pack collectively stood overtop the corpses that littered the battlefield, howling in victory. As they did, Nat felt herself getting ejected from her body. Now floating as if she were nothing, her shapeshifted body lowered its head to look at her. "Next, is your turn." Her body declared, pointing directly at her. After seeing the scene, Nat could not believe herself. Shapeshifting into that form was one thing, but she found it incredibly unlikely that she would be leading a charge into a numerically superior group of enemies. Especially if it was possible to evade them and escape notice. She just could not see herself leading her family into that kind of danger. As she had these thoughts, she almost completely missed the sight of everything fading to black.


    Waking up with a start, Nat attempted to sit straight up and breath. However, Maia had once again rolled on top of her chest, making sitting up a near impossible task without using her arms. Instead, Nat just lay there and collected her thoughts. Not only was she able to shift freely on her own, but all of the canines with her had been in different forms. Before, she had doubted the dreams, and very much regretted it when she found out it was true. Taking the dreams at face value, she started brainstorming what it could be. An evolution of the energy over time? Possible, but unlikely. Was it her own body changing to be that way? Doubtful, as the Soulscape was not a physical thing on her body but a manifestation of her inner self. That was a thought. What if her soul was changing and was making those sorts of changes more viable? That could explain so much. Why she could not bond with the cattle, why she was getting better eyesight, and why she had started craving meat more and more lately. Her soul could be becoming a mix of the human soul she had up until the event and a canine soul like those she had bonded with. Did this mean that it was all a matter of time? Or did she have to practice as she grew more into the abilities? Remembering how drained she felt after the last time, she decided that all of that could be checked before going to bed.


    As it was, it was almost time to start another day. The sun was starting to rise in the east, slowly bathing the tent in an orange light. She lay there for a few more minutes, coming to term with her newfound discoveries. Her soul was probably changing, but that was probably the same reason that the canines with her in the dream had been able to shift. Bonding had been shown to be a two-way street, and if her soul really was changing to become more like theirs, than it was extremely likely that theirs were changing to become more like hers. The more complex feelings, understanding of language and every other realization that had happened to those she bonded with started to make more and more sense. Knowing all of this, she knew two things. One, she had inadvertently created a cat lady out of a grandma. Secondly, she had to tell Shannon. For whatever she first bonded with could change her more than they originally thought. Feeling a bit stir crazy in bed, she started scratching Maia right behind the ears. After a week, she had started to get an idea on how to wake up the wolves. Well, Kali and Maia anyways. The two of them were always the ones that seemed to pin her to the mattress they all slept on. Once Maia was up, Nat finally rose from the blankets and moved out of the tent door. However, she froze in front of the exit to the tent. Rubbing her eyes, she convinced herself she was not seeing double. Sitting beside Edwin and Lucille, was another pair of coyotes.


    Huge thanks to my Elder Wolves Jake, Viktor, Nikolas, Saganatsu, Eeleater, Eric, Corgi, Lachlan, Coen, Adam, John, Nicholas, Jacob, Onean, Hades, Neal, Sebastian, Sir Hellington, and Kevin for supporting me and my writing! Remember that I keep Patreon ten chapters ahead at all times. Our next goal on Patreon will be getting up to 25 patrons, which I will then open up an official discord for everyone to come and discuss the story in and hang out!

 Chapter 73

    Natalie stood at the door of the tent for a few seconds, taking in the sight in front of her. Coming to the realization that she would not get any answers if she stayed inside the tent, she got up and slowly started walking towards the two pairs of coyotes. As she approached, she called out, "Hey you lot. How''s it going this morning?"


    While Edwin and Lucille just turned their heads to look at her, the other two showed off the skittish side of coyotes perfectly. Within seconds, both of them were already at the bushes, carefully peering at the new arrival. Upon noticing that neither of the other two moved, some cautionary yips came out from the bushes. Lucille calmly seemed to reply back to the pair of cautious canines, with a great deal of calm and patience as Natalie came up and started scratching them both behind the ears. The yipping went back and forth, but it was always Lucille being the only one responding between the pair on either side of Nat. Edwin was still doing his best to keep a watchful eye out on the horizon, despite the furious wagging of his tail. He always seemed to enjoy head scratches the most out of the pack.


    Eventually, the yipping died down, and she was left just scratching the two coyotes'' heads in silence. Both seemed to be enjoying it, and she felt as though she never got to spend that much time with the two of them. Therefore, Natalie was perfectly content to just stand there between her two faithful night lookouts and pamper them a little bit. With everything they had done for her and the pack, they had deserved at least this much, if not so much more. It had been almost nine days since they had joined up with her, and they had been faithfully keeping watch at night. Wondering on what everything that was happening was, she asked the two of them, "So, what exactly is going on? I just woke up and am not following at all."


    ''They were wandering through about an hour ago when we saw them. Since then, we have just been talking about we have been up to, how the bond is, stuff like that.'' Lucille responded.


    "So, are they just wanting to continue chatting? Join up in the bond? Seemed like a long discussion back and forth."


    ''They are considering it. The two of them were more caught off guard by your sudden appearance than anything, and had many questions after seeing you. However, it does seem to me as if they have come to a decision.''


    Looking up at the bushes, Nat saw the two coyotes poking their heads out to observe the three of them. Noticing she was still standing up, Natalie paused in scratching the two coyotes'' heads to sit down. Lucille just sat there, patiently waiting, but Edwin''s tail instantly stopped wagging, his head whipping around to look at Natalie to see why she had stopped. After getting seated cross-legged on the ground, she looked up to see Edwin looking at her full of concern. Feeling what he was implying, she moved both of her hands back up to their heads and resumed the pampering. Getting attention again, Edwin immediately turned his head back around to stay vigilant. His tail however, resumed its rapid pace, now whacking Natalie lightly on her leg with each pass. His whole shy act was so good, that Nat could not help but send a thought directly to Lucille, ''So cute!'' All that came back was a sense of agreement overshadowed by giggles.


    When the two spying from the bushes saw her moving, they immediately pulled their heads back into the foliage. Peering out once more, they saw that she was now sitting between the other two coyotes. Slowly, they started inching towards the group of three. Natalie, Edwin, nor Lucille made a single move the entire time the new pair approached, save the scratching of the heads and movements of tails. Slowly they worked their way closer and closer, sniffing the air between them in caution. Coming up to her, they each took turns poking her with their snouts, gauging for a reaction. Natalie just sat there, pleasantly content with just scratching the heads of her watch coyotes. The two started circling her, trying to get a measure of her in some regard.


    As they circled, Nat remembered her dream from last night, as well as what happened as they left Lethbridge. The monsters had been able to sense or notice when things came out of her Soulscape, and in her dream there had been green light coming off when the canines left to join her fight. If the two really did bond with her, it was the best time for her to see if she could notice that light, or whatever it was. Focusing her eyes on the two newcomers, she watched as they stopped circling and started walking towards her from the front. With their tails down and their ears laid flat, the body language was overly clear as to what they were saying. It was a standard form of canine body language, that always showed submission. Slowly, she stopped the hand scratching Lucille''s head and outstretched it towards the approaching canines. She would have done both, but she did not want to get that look of betrayal from Edwin again.


    The two coyotes paused for a second, before Lucille let out a quick yip. Hearing that, the two slowly trotted forwards, and placed their paws on her hand one at a time. Intently, Nat focused directly on her palm where the two new coyotes bonded and entered her through. Not surprisingly to her, faint lines of green smoke seemed to come out of her hand whenever one was entering. It felt similar to the black mist that came of dead monsters, but it felt different in nature. Whereas the one from monsters felt oppressive and stifling, this one felt freeing and wild. It was if they were opposing ends of a magnet. Filing that away in her mental archives, Nat felt she now had a much more pressing problem. The two new pack members needed names!


    Huge thanks to my Elder Wolves Jake, Viktor, Nikolas, Saganatsu, Eeleater, Eric, Corgi, Lachlan, Coen, Adam, John, Nicholas, Jacob, Onean, Hades, Neal, Sebastian, Sir Hellington, and Kevin for supporting me and my writing! Remember that I keep Patreon ten chapters ahead at all times. Our next goal on Patreon will be getting up to 25 patrons, which I will then open up an official discord for everyone to come and discuss the story in and hang out!

 Chapter 74

    Shortly after bonding with Natalie, the female of the couple came out and laid her head on Natalie''s lap. Feeling what she was wanting, Nat moved her hand slowly towards hers, and slowly began scratching the female coyotes head. While at first, she seemed tense and uneasy, slowly her nerves seemed to melt under the careful care of Nat''s hand. Her tongue came out as her tail picked up speed, enjoying the massage she was receiving to her scalp. As their partner came out, he took a mirrored position on Natalie''s other side. Quickly sending an apology to Edwin, she moved her hand from his head towards their new helper. He did not feel dejected this time, and almost had a smug aura around him as he watched his fellow coyotes understand the joy of her ministrations. Looking between the two new pack members, choosing a name was proving to be more difficult the more times it happened. The only thing that stood out was he had a more reddish sheen to his fur, while the female''s coat was a more matte grey tone.


    After a few minutes of thinking and head scratching, Nat finally had an idea. Pausing in her ministrations, which instantly got the attention of the two, she asked, "So, what do you think about the names Copper and Tin?" Since they were still unfamiliar with how the bonding worked and felt, both coyotes yipped multiple times in response. Looking up to Lucille and Edwin, she sent thoughts of asking for a translation.


    ''They both are fine with it, so long as you resume scratching their heads. They may have become addicted.'' Lucille translated for her. With a smile spreading across her face, Nat gleefully continued massaging the two new coyotes'' scalps. While they had felt different from Edwin and Lucille''s fur, they felt no worse. They still passed along a satisfaction of fluffy fur gently scratching against the skin as her fingers moved through it. Seeing it as a prime opportunity, Nat gave both coyotes a quick look over as she maintained her pace with her hands. Neither seemed to be seriously injured or malnourished. No signs of any infections or diseases. Both of their fur coats were in a decent condition, if not a little dirty. Other than Tin seeming to have a slightly bloated belly, both of them seemed to be in perfect health...


    Wait a minute. Bloated belly, at the end of march? This was standard mating season for canines in the wild. And given how coyotes tended to travel in pairs with their mates. Well, what was one more set of pups to deal with. There were already four sets of potential parents at the moment, though it was too soon to tell if any of them were carrying babies. If her math was right, with the whole four times multiplier on how fast time passed in the Soulscape, it would probably be another three days before any of the female canines that had gone and mated would show signs of pregnancy. In any regard, it was easily a problem for another day. Going back and forth, while making use of Lucille''s ability to translate for Natalie, numerous things were found out. Tin knew she was pregnant, but was worried about a safe place for their pups. That was the main reason they had bonded with her, it seemed. Family was a respectable enough reason, so that was not a problem at all. What also seemed to be a boon was that they wanted to join Edwin and Lucille as night guards as well. That would hopefully take some pressure off the two of them a little, as well as make it easier to deal with incidents like what happened in the hardware store.


    No sooner had they covered that, then did the sound of a tent unzipping come up behind them. Unlike Natalie, it seemed Shannon closed her tent up for the night. As the sound rang out, both Copper and Tin instantly tensed up, before almost immediately melting back into Natalie''s hands and lap. Turning her head around, she saw a fully clothed Shannon come out of the tent, followed by a barely awake pair of canines. Upon seeing the new pack members receiving head massages from Natalie, both immediately became jealous and started nuzzling up against Natalie''s sides. Laughing, she could not help but mover her hands to start working on Seeka and Scout''s heads as well, giving them careful and soothing love. This started a whole train, and Breakfast was postponed for almost an hour as each and every canine that Nat was bonded to wanted to get some of the head scratches. Looking at Edwin, he turned his head away and made what sounded to be an attempt at whistling. Where he had learned that did not matter nearly as much as how much he was going to pay for the hand cramps she was getting. Probably with belly rubs, as Nat was enjoying the feeling, despite the pain that came with it.


    Still sore from the week they had been having, neither of the two of them felt much like cooking at the moment. That meant that breakfast was toast, cereal, and some fruit. Pretty laid back, especially considering that the toast came out from the Soulscape as if it had just come from the toaster. Pup hunting practice was done again, with new spectators in the forms of Copper and Tin. They were glad to see that the coyote pups got along with the wolf pups just fine and had high hopes for their own. Hares were hunted by all except the wargs, who just all shared one elk. None of them felt like having a heavy breakfast and decided to keep things light.


    Cleanup had become a quick and methodical task. All the big items were promptly stored, and the group just started combing through the area they stayed in, making sure nothing was missed. With how she was feeling, Nat did not even approach the house, and instead just made sure that Shannon was doing alright. When she confirmed she was good, Nat got up to help look around camp before finding that everyone beside Shadow, Ash, and Emily had already entered into the Soulscape without her noticing. Sighing in defeat, she led the three wolves and Shannon out of the property and down the road back westward. With their current destination being in the middle of Calgary, the best route that they could go on was straight up Highway Two. And this was the fastest way to get there. Something about the dreams usually made them time sensitive, and Nat did not want to get there too late to help.


    Huge thanks to my Elder Wolves Jake, Viktor, Nikolas, Saganatsu, Eeleater, Eric, Corgi, Lachlan, Coen, Adam, John, Nicholas, Jacob, Onean, Hades, Neal, Sebastian, Sir Hellington, and Kevin for supporting me and my writing! Remember that I keep Patreon ten chapters ahead at all times. Our next goal on Patreon will be getting up to 25 patrons, which I will then open up an official discord for everyone to come and discuss the story in and hang out!

 Chapter 75

    Together, the five of them made their way straight down highway 519. it did not have much along their path, a couple farm houses, and two small towns. They were not that big, and one was not even directly on the road, instead sitting directly north of it. As they were walking, Natalie explained her plan to Shannon. That while it meant going through the middle of numerous small towns and even some that bordered on being cities themselves, they would get to what was most likely the source of the dreams she had been having.


    "Why do you want to rush straight there though? It will probably be fine whenever we get there." Shannon asked, confused by her friends plan to move north towards Calgary as fast as possible.


    Natalie sighed, "Because most of the dreams that I have had had been fairly time sensitive. The wargs were rescued after two dreams, but they had been suffering for far longer. Then there was the series of dreams with you. Given what has happened, I do not want anyone else to suffer more than they have to because we took these fucking prophetic dreams lightly. Fuck do I hate them though."


    Shannon was quiet for a little bit, chewing on what Nat just said. After about five minutes, she finally spoke back up. "I understand why we should take them seriously. And I appreciate that they brought you to me to help me. What I am still not grasping is why you hate them so much."


    Natalie let out a long exhale. "I hate them because it feels like we are being guided to do certain things. Like we don''t have a choice in what we do. I hate it, because it feels as though we are being pushed down a path with no control ourselves." Natalie paused at the top of a hill, looking back towards Shannon who was trailing behind her. "I also hate them for that if I never had them, I would not have been able to save you. They make me feel powerless, just like back then."


    "Fuck, you still feel hung up on back then? You don''t need to worry about that at all. I just did what any other reasonable person would do."


    "Sham, no normal person would go and fight off a dozen mafia members when they were dragging away one drugged unconscious person from a bar. You saved my life that night." An awkward silence followed after that. Neither had particularly enjoyed talking about the whole incident. Both women had to be hospitalized afterwards, and if it was not for almost a dozen witness testimonies, Shannon would have been charged with numerous charges, both for assault and assault with a deadly weapon among others. She was a registered martial artist who competed in world championships after all. Her body itself counted as a deadly weapon in the view of the law. While her knuckles were broken and she had a few cracked ribs, along with a minor concussion, Shannon had turned out of that whole scuffle looking in the second-best shape, with Natalie coming away with the fewest injuries or issues. Every single person of the mafia that was there that night had broken ribs, some of which were dangerously close to puncturing lungs, most of their limbs either broken or dislocated, and with at a minimum a minor concussion each. They were in the hospital for months after that. What set the nail in the coffin for them though, was when one of the younger members regained consciousness, he went full snitch. The day after, dozens of arrests were made and an entire human trafficking operation was uprooted from its core. If she hadn''t gone after her friend that night, they would still probably be continuing to this day. "You are my hero Sham."


    "That night was the start of our friendship." Shannon mused out loud. Then, whispering to herself, "If you knew the real reason why I did that, you probably wouldn''t look at me the same."


    However, she did not know how Natalie''s body had been changing these past two weeks. With her enhanced hearing, Nat heard every mumbled word loud and clear. "Sham, no matter what reason you did it for, I appreciate what you did no less. And I would never think of you as lesser, no matter the reason. Unless you were the one who drugged me."


    "Wait, you heard that?" Shannon asked meekly. At Natalie''s nod, she sighed out. "I was not the one who drugged you. I did however pay for a number of your drinks. Mainly because I wanted to take you home myself. When I saw you fall unconscious at the bar, I got worried that I had gotten you too many. Then I saw those men scoop you up without saying anything to anyone and walked out. Honestly, I just did not want them taking who I found to be the most beautiful woman in the bar that night."


    "So that is where all those drinks came from. Those assholes must have gotten one of them drugged. So, wait, you were wanting to sleep with me when you first met me?"


    "Yea, I did." Shannon admitted, a heavy blush now covering most of her face. "But as time went on, and we became closer as friends, those feelings changed. We spent a lot of time together, and got to know each other really well. The more I got to know you, I fell more in love with you and who you are. The animal loving, freak of nature that had an addiction to the outdoors." Natalie stopped dead in the middle of the road, and stared wide-eyed directly at Shannon. This was not the direction she was expecting this conversation to go. Before Natalie had a chance to open her mouth, Shannon drove the whole conversation home as she stared back into Natalie''s wide eyes. "So, there it is. I am deeply and hopelessly in love with you, my best friend in the whole world."


    Huge thanks to my Elder Wolves Jake, Viktor, Nikolas, Saganatsu, Eeleater, Eric, Corgi, Lachlan, Adam, John, Nicholas, Jacob, Onean, Hades, Neal, Sebastian, Sir Hellington, and Kevin for supporting me and my writing! Remember that I keep Patreon ten chapters ahead at all times. Our next goal on Patreon will be getting up to 25 patrons, which I will then open up an official discord for everyone to come and discuss the story in and hang out!

 Chapter 76

    Natalie froze in place entirely. The words that came out from Shannon''s mouth were so unbelievable, it was almost as if she was dreaming once more. Natalie''s brain struggled to catch up with what had just been said. Shannon loved her. Strong, beautiful Shannon was hopelessly in love with her nature addict self. That must have been why she acted the way she did when she walked in on her having a bath. The thought was almost too much for her to handle. Remembering the event, she now felt slightly embarrassed from the whole thing. "Sham, if that is truly how you feel, then I feel the need to be just as honest and open with you."


    Shannon audibly gulped. She had laid feelings bare, and so she felt the need to brace herself. She admitted to her friend of over five years that she was in love with her. Natalie had never dated anyone, the whole time they were friends. Always dedicating herself to studying or her job. Her only free moments were usually hanging or going out with just the two of them. While she waited impatiently, she never took her eyes off of Natalie''s while she quietly waited for her friend to respond.


    "When I first met you, it was in the hospital after finding out you were the person who saved me from being dragged away. Then we got talking, and found that we were attending the same university. Not in the same classes, but similar enough of disciplines to be able to bounce questions off each other for things here and there. Then we went to spend days with each other, almost inseparable while we had the time. All of those times, as well as now, I have thought the exact same thing when I looked at you." Natalie paused for a second to collect her thoughts, making sure that they were cohesive and together. "You are the most beautiful, stunning, and sexy woman I have ever had the pleasure of meeting. Every day, I wondered how someone as amazing as you were single. You have the brain to be a physical therapist, the strength to fight off a dozen men, and the drive to push yourself. If anyone who ever truly knew you ever said that they did not like you, they would be liars. The worst liars on the planet."


    Looking directly at Shannon, Nat saw her best friend was on the verge of tears. Not ones born of grief and loss, but born of joy and happiness. "Just as time did to you, I have also fallen hopelessly in love with my best friend. Shannon, will you please do me the pleasure of being my girlfriend?" With her question, Nat held her hand out towards her tear-stricken friend. At this, Shannon''s tears started to flow freely. Quickly it turned into ugly, happy sobbing as Shannon''s head dropped into her hands to try and contain the waterworks.


    It took a minute for Shannon''s sobbing to subside enough to be able to communicate. Taking a minute, she cleaned up her face and tried to gain back a modicum of decorum. Looking directly at Natalie, she adopted a mischievous grin on her face as a plan went through her head. Pretending to think it over, she responded to Natalie, "Hmm. No." Shannon''s eyes twinkled with delight at Nat''s reaction to the outright refusal.


    "Wait, what?" Natalie asked, flabbergasted by the sudden shift in personality. They both just admitted to loving one another, what reason would there be to refuse?


    "If you think for one goddamned minute that I would settle for just being your girlfriend, you have another thing coming. Either count me as your wife at this point, or just as friend. I will accept nothing less than having you all to myself!" Shannon declared through tears, while still somehow managing to have a smug smile on her face.


    Natalie looked at Shannon with wide eyes for a few minutes, before breaking out into laughter. "You fucking dork. You made me all worried there for nothing! Damn straight I''ll be your wife. You aren''t the only one who is selfish here. I want you all to myself as well!" Nat choked out between laughs. She stepped forward towards her now wife to embrace her, but stopped when Shannon held an arm up.


    "While I do love you, and want to hold you, it feels too soon for me. I need some time to get over what happened. If you would not mind being patient, just for a little longer." Shannon asked, a sad look coming onto her face. The shadow of what she suffered in Lethbridge still hung close over her head.


    Seeing the hurt look on Shannon''s face, she felt the need to try and improve it. "Of course not babe. I mean, we both held down the feelings we had for the other for what, five years? How bad could another five years be?" At that, both of them struggled to keep a smile off their faces. In the end, both of them failed and devolved into full blown laughter.


    "You better not make me wait for another five years. No way am I going to let being with you wait anywhere near that long again." Shannon croaked out, straining for air. The laughter from her earlier ultimatum, mixed with the one from now, left both of them wheezing for air as they struggled to supress their giggles. Ash, Shadow, and Emily all howled together for the joyous moments, and inside the Soulscape, Nat could feel the rest of the canines cheering them on as well with howls of their own.


    As soon as they were done laughing and got their breath back, they turned back towards the west. They still had a large distance to go, but their steps now had an additional bounce to them, as if a giant weight was taken off their shoulders. Side by side, but not quite close enough to hold hands, they walked down toward the mountains in the distance as the sun blazed directly over their heads.


    Huge thanks to my Elder Wolves Jake, Viktor, Nikolas, Saganatsu, Eeleater, Eric, Corgi, Lachlan, Adam, John, Nicholas, Jacob, Onean, Hades, Neal, Sebastian, Sir Hellington, and Kevin for supporting me and my writing! Remember that I keep Patreon ten chapters ahead at all times. Our next goal on Patreon will be getting up to 25 patrons, which I will then open up an official discord for everyone to come and discuss the story in and hang out!

 Chapter 77

    Walking down the road, the five travelers passed by field after field. No words were shared among any members of the group, but the silence itself was comfortable. There were barely any signs or tracks indicating anything had been through recently. Apparently, Copper and Tin had come from the east as they were looking for a good place to have their litter, so there was no chance in even running into any of their tracks. However, regardless of the lack of tracks, Natalie and Shannon continued down the road armed. Since she was not up to full strength and dexterity quite yet, Nat passed the fire axe that had served her well so far to Shannon. That way, she would at least have a measure of offence and defence. While hoping that it would fill Shannon with some measure of confidence or at least security, Nat herself traveled with her bow out, quiver full of arrows hanging off her hip. The pack stayed wary of anything that may be around them, still unsure if goblins would just pop out of the woodwork of one of the nearby barns.


    Eventually they finally ended up passing the village of Nobleford. Despite not seeing any movement or hearing any noises, the newly coupled women both agreed they did not want to enter the village at all. Surprisingly enough, they did not even have to vocalize their short-lived debate. All it had taken was a single shake of Shannon''s head for them to agree to move on. They both had their fill of unknown people back in Lethbridge, and neither wanted to deal with anyone else for as long as possible, albeit for different reasons. Shannon was still was working through her recent trauma, and probably still would for the rest of her life. Natalie felt that if she had to deal with anyone, she was just as likely to stab them as she was to help them. Unanimous in their decision, Emily led the way as they continued down the highway.


    As they continued to head towards the looming giants in front of them, the road never shifted towards either side. Not a bend, nor turn to be seen. Finally, after what felt three times as long as it really was, they saw another town on the horizon. However, as they did, they noticed that the sun had already started to kiss the tops of the mountains. With maybe an hour of daylight left, they had to find a place to set up camp and settle down before it became too dark to see. Continuing along, they found a densely wooded property just inside the city limits. Going through all of the buildings, they quickly made sure the area was clear of anyone else before getting camp set up in the middle of the yard. To expedite the whole process, most of the other canines came out to help check. Kali, Maia, and the coyotes stayed back and kept watch over the pups who seemed to be bouncing with energy. They set up two tents again, at Shannon''s request. While she was happy with their new relationship, she was apparently too shy and too stricken with pain and grief to join Nat right away.


    Noticing the pained look on her new partner''s face, Nat knew exactly what was needed. Getting out the movable fire pit they picked up, she got a fire going before covering it with a grate to grill on. In these troubled times, it was very likely that Shannon had not had her favourite food in a while, and she also knew none of the canines had probably had it ever before. Knowing that she would need quantity, she got Maia to help her bring out everything she needed to make a lot of hamburgers. As the canines saw that she was cooking once more, their tails started wagging enough to act like a fan, causing enough wind pressure to cause ripples on the surface of the tents behind them. Putting five whole boxes worth of hamburger patties on the large grill, she started cooking up the still frozen slabs of meat. Shannon tried to offer to help set up, but Nat just returned the mischievous smile she had received earlier, along with, "Nope!" Hearing the message loud and clear, Shannon went back and started petting one of the canines that sat down beside her. Before Nat could warn her, every single one had swarmed her, wanting to receive scratches from her as well. Chuckling, Nat was glad for the space, taking the opportunity to focus on making up the burgers.


    Melting cheese on top of the patties, Nat made sure that they were all grilled, put in buns, and put on the large platter before getting Maia to store them. Calling out that dinner was on, Maia proceeded to bring out a dozen platters of burgers. What Nat would have thought was overkill for any barbeque before, she now wondered if having only a dozen platters would be enough. Moving on, she got her plate and filled it with burgers, topping them with ketchup and relish. Moving to sit down, she saw Shannon already sitting down with a plate that had to have at least eight individual burgers piled onto it, Each with Shannon''s unique combination of toppings. Pickles, mayo, barbeque sauce, and sauerkraut were Shannon''s go to additions to her burgers, a sight that even weirded out Nat. Nothing was said on the matter though, as Shannon''s expression was the happiest that Nat had seen since rescuing her from Lethbridge. Almost as if they had temporarily returned to better times. Turning her head, she saw that each warg had monopolized a platter. None of the others cared that much.


    When dinner and clean-up was done, most of the group retired to the tent for the night. The four coyotes stayed out, starting their watch over the surroundings, and Natalie still sat by the dimly glowing fire pit. Focusing on her hand, she tried to draw out whatever feeling she could remember from when she shifted previously. As she tried to bring that to the forefront, she felt a sort of warmth flow from her chest out down her arm and into her hand. Slowly, as the warmth accumulated there, she looked on in awe as fur started sprouting from her hand. Almost as soon as it started however, she felt forced to stop it. The fur receded back into her skin, as she fell short of breath and exhausted. Sitting there, she picked up her notebook and wrote down her observations on the whole thing. It seemed to take energy, and was tough to do at the moment. Would it grow as a muscle, and be easier to use the more she exercised the ability? Was it tied to her Soulscape, and require her to bond with more canines? Was it something that jut grew over time and she had no way to influence the process? With so many questions, and no energy left to try for answers, she quickly doused the fire, said good night to the coyotes, and stumbled to her tent. Seeing an opening in between Maia and Kali yet again, she collapsed directly into the vacant spot. And as soon as her head hit the pillow, Nat zoned out into a nice, deep sleep.


    Huge thanks to my Elder Wolves Jake, Viktor, Nikolas, Saganatsu, Eeleater, Eric, Corgi, Lachlan, Adam, John, Nicholas, Jacob, Onean, Hades, Neal, Sebastian, Sir Hellington, and Kevin for supporting me and my writing! Remember that I keep Patreon ten chapters ahead at all times. Our next goal on Patreon will be getting up to 25 patrons, which I will then open up an official discord for everyone to come and discuss the story in and hang out!

 Chapter 78

    Waking up in the morning, Natalie was as groggy as always after she woke up. She had another dream, but it was just a copy of the one she had before. Her leading an army, turning full warrior wolf woman and ripping monsters to shreds as they attempted to hurt her. Nothing changed for her, except a slightly increasing desire to learn how to do that, and be able to not be tired after using it for an extended period of time. However, now that she woke up, she realized that she could faintly feel the same warmth from the night before. Hesitantly, she just started trying to move it around her body without initiating any change. The movements themselves felt sluggish, unresponsive even. Like she was a toddler trying to walk without constantly swaying or falling over. Unlike the shift she had attempted the night before, this time did not wear here out, nor decrease the energy inside of her. Maybe the whole thing was just a matter of control, and the more delicate and fine she could manipulate the energy made everything easier. It could be any or a combination of all the different theories she currently had.


    Resolving to practice it while she walked later, Natalie got up from the tangled mess of canine bodies around her and headed out of the tent. Just as she reached the door, a few different smells hit her nose at the same time. Wood burning, fat being grilled, and the smell of bread being toasted. The smells were soon mirrored by sounds of what seemed to be things grilling on a fire. Stepping out, Nat looked at the fire pit only to see Shannon there, cooking over top of a solid sheet of metal. Where had she gotten all of that? It took Nat a few minutes, but she eventually noticed that Scout and Seeka were already up and about. They must have come in the tent and Soulscape to grab things that Shannon requested.


    ""Morning." Natalie grumbled out as she went up to sit on the opposite side of the fire from Shannon. As she got closer, she finally realized what Shannon was making and got excited. Bread had been buttered and was being grilled, eggs were slowly cooking as they got scrambled, and bacon sizzled over top the metal sheet that Shannon had gotten to cook on. Thankfully, as Natalie looked over what had been used to flavour the breakfast, she felt relieved. None of the items were harmful to canines or their digestive systems. Sure, the salt could be bad in larger quantities, but Shannon''s breakfast BLT''s barely had any salt on them anyways. The main way she flavoured them had always been a crowd favourite. She would always throw the bacon on first, and when she built up a suitable amount of grease and drippings from the meat, did she mix it with the eggs. They always ended up being far greasier than one would expect, and the eggs would take on a brown colouring as they absorbed the juices. But damn did they taste delicious.


    "Morning." Shannon replied, the extravaganza in front of her taking up almost all of her concentration. Seeing the quantity of burgers that had been gone through for dinner last night, she took the idea of quantity to a whole new level than she had ever before. A small mountain of scrambled eggs was constantly being mixed with the grease from the meat, while everything else cooked. Shannon was trying to make three dozen of the sandwiches at once, and she managing everything fluidly. The fact nothing showed signs of burning was probably one of the most impressive things of the whole spread. Using a similar platter to what had been used for the burgers, she started stacking up completed sandwiches as she went. The sight was so impressive, you could believe that she went to cooking school for her dexterity. Within minutes, everything was plattered up and prepared, looking delicious as all hell.


    Storing it quick, as all of them knew the canines would want more than this despite the already impressive quantity, Scout quickly went in and out of the Soulscape. Once the delicious sandwiches were stored safely away, the four of them were joined by the coyotes that had been on lookout until that point and they all dug in to the meal together. While eating, slowly more and more bodies emerged from Nat''s tent and joined in on the early morning feast. When they started complimenting Nat on another amazing creation, she along with Seeka, Scout, and the four coyotes all pointed directly at Shannon. One by one, each of the canines went up to give her their thanks. Which happened to be in the form of giant sloppy of kisses all over Shannon''s face. At first, Shannon seemed nervous when the other pointed at her, but by the end, she was laughing as multiple wolf pups stood around her prone form tickling her with their tongues in thanks for the food.


    While they were eating, Nat filled Shannon in on her findings. Both with the changes that were probably happening to her, and the energy she could feel inside that she could use to shift. While she did exude a desire to see Natalie shift into a giant wolf woman again, she relented when she found out how draining and hard it was. But only with a promise to be the first one to see her do it. She still planned on bonding with gorillas if she got the chance, since the dreams had been continuing their entire journey, and she was now wanting to get to Calgary as fast as possible. She had apparently originally thought of temporarily bonding with Scout to get her Soulscape started, but now was unsure if that was the best idea. If she did, would that lock her to only bonding with canines as well? It was a risk that she was unwilling to take right now. As they cleaned up camp and prepared to leave though, she kept muttering to herself, "Run away, it''s Kongette!" Natalie struggled to keep her laughter down as both of them headed down the road towards Granum.


    Huge thanks to my Elder Wolves Jake, Viktor, Nikolas, Saganatsu, Eeleater, Eric, Corgi, Lachlan, Adam, John, Nicholas, Jacob, Onean, Hades, Neal, Sebastian, Sir Hellington, and Kevin for supporting me and my writing! Remember that I keep Patreon ten chapters ahead at all times. Our next goal on Patreon will be getting up to 25 patrons, which I will then open up an official discord for everyone to come and discuss the story in and hang out!

 Chapter 79

    As they walked toward the small agriculture town, Shannon and Natalie were flanked by their three biggest bruisers. Today was going to be the first day in a short while that they were entering into what once was civilization. That was why Bryden, Sol, and Luna decided to act as their guard today. With Bryden taking point, and the warg pair covering each flank, they all felt confident about how the day would go. Granum was small, and while it would for sure have goblins, hobs were only a maybe. There had to be something relating to town size when it came to monster spawns. Otherwise, none of it made sense to Natalie. There weren''t even any hobgoblins in Waterton, nor any of the other small towns she had been to. But as soon as she got to Lethbridge, there were monsters suddenly ten feet tall throwing around cars? It did count as a city, but arbitrary things like that were most likely not an indication of how they were considered for monster to be spawning in.


    As Natalie theorized why and how monster spawns were designated, if they even were, the group entered into Granum. Immediately as they were about to pass by a building to walk by a parking lot, Bryden growled. At this, everyone paused and dropped lower to the ground, while Nat was no longer playing what if games in her head. Nocking an arrow to her bow, she slowly walked around to the corner where Bryden was. As she peered around, she noticed that there was a bunch of goblins milling about in the lot in front of them. Why they chose to hang out in front of a gas station was anyone''s guess, but they were in the way of direct travel. Thankfully, there only seemed to be five of the buggers. Letting everyone know to prepare for a quick fight, Natalie drew her bow back. Aiming at the group, two of the five were walking in opposite directions. As their paths lined up, Natalie released her arrow, and watched it fly straight through both of the unlucky monsters. Screeches of confusion rang out from the five, but before they could do anything the two wargs had descended upon them, making quick work of the remaining three. A sixth goblin, who was for some reason dressed rather extravagantly, walked out to see what the others were screeching about. As he left the double doors into the station, all he was met with was an arrow between the eyes as Nat picked them off. The entire group stood still and surveyed their surroundings, waiting for more goblins to show up.


    When no more creatures came to investigate after five minutes, did everyone lose the tension they were carrying. Quickly checking in with where the wargs who ran out were feeling, they were all about to continue down the road until Natalie noticed something peculiar. Walking over to the station, she followed the path of her first arrow, up until it found its way into a tanker truck marked with the word gasoline on the side. While that in itself was not terribly unusual, what was out of the ordinary was the liquid flowing out from the hole punctured in the side of the tank. It was a clear and viscous fluid, that looked to be water at first glance. Confused, Nat made her way to the open driver''s door and checked inside.


    "What''s up Nat? You are acting a little weird." Shannon questioned. She did not understand what had driven her partner to such actions.


    "Just looking for something. Where is it... Aha, found it!" Natalie exclaimed, stepping out of the cab and back down beside the truck. In her hands was the manifest for the shipment. Looking it over briefly, all it did was raise Natalie''s confusion regarding everything. The truck and manifest both clearly stated that gasoline should be in that tank. However, what was flowing out of it was clearly not. Was there some sort of mix up? Doubtful, as it already was marked on the manifest that he had already offloaded some gas before the event. Did the event change what the gasoline was? If so, then was this now water, or something else.


    ''Kali, could you please take some of this in the Soulscape and let me know what it gets registered as? Also, if you could please do it with as minimal direct contact as possible.'' Kali''s paw instantly shot out of Nat''s leg, touched some of the liquid and then disappeared inside.


    ''I do not know why you did that; it just comes up as clean water. No need to be so worried.'' Kali replied a second later. This info really drove home the point that nothing they knew was the same. The world as they had known had completely changed. Monsters ran amok, no power to be seen anywhere, and what should have been flammable gasoline was now water. Chemical compounds themselves had changed. All the medication they had grabbed could now be basically worthless, or have completely different effects from what they knew. The ramifications of this were huge.


    Sharing her findings with Shannon, her jaw now matched Natalie''s. Where did the changes that were happening stop at? With no idea, and no way to get any answers, they both tabled the thought. While that affected many things, there was nothing they could do to figure things out as they were. Right now, survival was the biggest thing they needed to focus on right now. If they were unable to live, none of the answers they wanted would mean anything. Together, they walked with slightly confused canines through the rest of the town. They had no idea what any of the things that were now plaguing Natalie and Shannon''s minds were about. Instead they just did their part and kept watch as they walked down the main street of Granum. Thankfully, no other monsters were found as they exited the west side of the town and came up to Highway 2. Turning north, the five of them kept walking, with the mountains on their left and the sun up in the sky on their right.


    Huge thanks to my Elder Wolves Jake, Viktor, Nikolas, Saganatsu, Eeleater, Eric, Corgi, Lachlan, Adam, John, Nicholas, Jacob, Onean, Hades, Neal, Sebastian, Sir Hellington, and Kevin for supporting me and my writing! Remember that I keep Patreon ten chapters ahead at all times. Our next goal on Patreon will be getting up to 25 patrons, which I will then open up an official discord for everyone to come and discuss the story in and hang out!

 Chapter 80

    Since the party got back onto the open road, Natalie felt confident that this would be the best time to practise with the energy inside of her. Keeping her eyes forward on where she was walking, she slowly focused on getting it move back and forth between her chest and stomach. Her control still felt clumsy and poorly directed, so she kept away from her limbs for the moment. For if any actually started being used, she would just get exhausted as she had before bed the night before. She did note that it felt just as difficult to move the energy as it had both the night before and this morning. That ruled out the idea that time would make it easier to handle. That left two ideas, and one she was testing out now. Thankfully, none of the group felt a need to talk while travelling. Staying quiet and aware of their surroundings proved to be a much more important endeavor time and time again. That, and they knew that she was trying to get a handle on the new energy. The canines were excited for their Alpha to become closer with them, while Shannon wanted to be able to use all of her partner''s findings for when she got access to the power herself.


    After an hour of them travelling down the highway, the changes were minimal at best. There were no signs, scents, or tracks of any monsters along the road sides, and a peaceful quiet enveloped the land around them. As for Natalie''s practice, she could feel that it was getting easier to move as time went on. Slowly, she felt that while it was still hard to direct it, moving it in a direction was getting easier. The more she learned about this ability that she, and probably all other bonded humans, had access to, the more she was convinced that it was similar to a muscle. At the beginning, they were like newborns, not even knowing it existed, and using it just got easier and more coordinated over time. Knowing that practice with moving it translated directly to being more proficient at it, just gave evidence to the practice makes perfect theory they had originally. Now it just led to the question, what would bonding with more animals do to this energy? Would it increase the amount she had? Would it increase the max she could have? Would it even have an effect at this point? Too many variables and nowhere near enough samples to draw the information from. At this point, for all they knew what they ate would determine the amount of energy they had.


    After another two hours of walking and training, they finally were able to see the next town they had to pass through. Claaresholm loomed in front of them. Well, maybe not loom, as barely anything was two stories tall, let alone three. Before they even entered the town, Shannon called out, "Hey Nat, I want you to remember not to bring anything in or out of the Soulscape unless it is absolutely needed. Am I understood?" At her words, Natalie could do nothing but nod meekly.


    When Shannon saw the meek nod, her glare intensified, almost as if it her eyes were a threat all in themselves. "Alright, yes, I understand. Only in emergency situations will I utilize the Soulscape." At her words, Shannon let up with her death glare. Apparently, the incident of two days ago was still a prevalent fear for her. To be fair, it also scared Nat quite a bit as well. She had used the ability around smaller monsters before, and nothing seemed to be amiss then. Was it only with the bigger monsters? Did they just get stronger or did other senses grow as well? Or was it just all monsters growing and able to do it from that point on? More questions, but these Nat was fine to leave unanswered. Getting results for that would mean purposely goading monsters into attacking them and giving away their location, and that did not sound like a recipe for a good time, no matter how many canines she had alongside her.


    Entering town, they carefully moved down the sidewalk of the main street. The parked cars and eighteen-wheelers gave at least a modicum of protection from being spotted. Walking down the centre of the main road of a town that potentially could be a monster den just did not seem like the smart call. As they went down, they passed by a number of businesses, including the animal shelter. It was a struggle to not go inside, despite the heavy smell of death that came out of the broken windows. Having now been almost two weeks since the events, it was extremely unlikely any animals would still be alive after being neglected for so long. Her finding Scout was probably about as lucky as she was going to get in terms of bringing in animals that were not able to provide for themselves. A few doors down from that however was a horseback outfitting retailer. Praising the luck for the farming towns of southern Alberta, they made a brief stop inside. Once there, they quickly made sure no monsters were inside of the store before doing a fitting for all three wargs. They had a wide variety of saddles in stock, making it just take a matter of time for the wargs to each find one that they felt comfortable with. Just in case though, they did store and duplicate each and every saddle that was there. No idea on what would happen in the future after all.


    Heading out of the store stocked up and excited, the group got back to the sidewalk and continued down highway 2. After Nat''s extravagant looting spree that she had on the way to Lethbridge, most of what they needed was already taken care of, and what wasn''t was either specialty or acquired when they looted Shannon''s old house. As they headed down the street, dried blood accumulated slightly on the sidewalk, but none of it was in the shape of drops. All of it were sets of bloody footprints, and all of them belonged to either gobs or hobs. Thankfully, this seemed to rule out orcs as possible combatants, but there could still be large numbers of the tiny monsters as well, just overwhelming with brute force. Taking care, they made most of the way through town without incident. However, one second of carelessness was all it took.


    *CLANG*


    Everyone froze at the noise, watching as a can bounced past them as they approached the grocery store. Looking back, four sets of eyes laid upon Shannon, whose face had turned into a sight of fear. After a few seconds, all of them slowly relaxed, believing themselves lucky, when a shrill shriek sounded throughout the air. Seconds later, it was mirrored by many more similar sounds. Turning around, the group laid eyes in the direction of the grocery store. Flowing out had to be dozens of goblins and at least a dozen hobgoblins. At this point in time, every single member of the pack had the same thought simultaneously.


    "Fuck!"


    Huge thanks to my Elder Wolves Jake, Viktor, Nikolas, Saganatsu, Eeleater, Eric, Corgi, Lachlan, Adam, John, Nicholas, Jacob, Onean, Erudual, Hades, Neal, Sebastian, Sir Hellington, and Kevin for supporting me and my writing! Remember that I keep Patreon ten chapters ahead at all times. Our next goal on Patreon will be getting up to 25 patrons, which I will then open up an official discord for everyone to come and discuss the story in and hang out!

 Chapter 81

    please trust me


    Instantly they all moved into action. Wolves and the last warg flew out of the Soulscape to join in the combat. Shannon held her axe solidly, while still shaking from just straight fear. And Natalie shot arrow after arrow from her bow. She was able to six off before she had to switch it out for her own axe, swinging wildly into the oncoming horde. The pack never moved forward to attack, but instead held a solid line of defence, trying not to let too many goblins manoeuvre past them towards their Alpha and the terrified Shannon. Claws clashed, and maws clamped down around necks as the sides confronted one another. All of the hobgoblins held back while the goblins attacked, making Natalie wish she was still able to fire her arrows off instead of fending off the smaller goblins. Of her six arrows, five of them had taken out hobs. That left seven of them, but that was still far too many. The bigger monsters were using tactics and logic to try and win, and that was terrifying her. That, and the fact that the hobgoblins had what could pass of as rudimentary spears. The monsters were getting smarter, and they were getting more beaten down.


    As the minutes passed, Natalie brought down a dozen goblins on her own, while the wolves were each nearing two dozen kills. Shannon even had managed to get three of them, each one seeming to bolster her confidence. However, the canines out front were running ragged. The wolves were built for strength and speed, not stamina. The longer this fight dragged on, the worse for wear they got. More and more of the goblin''s swipes landed on the canines as they were mulled down. Blood dripped from the wounds the canines received as they stayed their ground, drawing on their stamina to the fullest until the horde may be broken. The Soulscape would give them space to rest afterwards, they just needed to make sure they got there in one piece. That just meant that all of the monsters had to be brought down.


    As the horde thinned out and the last goblins ran belligerently towards the line, the hobgoblins finally started to move. In a rough formation, they moved forward holding their spears out pointed towards the canine line. Seeing this, and knowing that the wolves and wargs were already exhausted and sore, Nat moved forward to join them. With her first swing of the axe, she took out the three leading spears as the wolves on the sides took down the last goblins. Together with the wargs and Bryden, Nat rushed into the hob''s now broken formation. Together with them, they knocked down and took out the hobs one by one. When the last one had fallen to the ground, Nat collapsed to the ground, panting heavily. She was exhausted from the fight. In direct head-on fight, this had been the most opponents they had ever had at once. The limits of their stamina were becoming blatantly clear.


    However, the last hob that had fallen was not quite out. In a last effort, it raised its spear and thrust it directly at Natalie''s exposed back. Shannon''s voiced cried out, but everything seemed to be in slow motion for Nat as she turned her head. At the same time, she saw the spear tip coming towards her, heard the call from Shannon, and already started to accept what was about to happen. She closed her eyes and waited for the searing pain to come. But instead of a searing pain, she felt warm fur on her back, and heard a remorseful wail coming out from one of the other wolves.


    Reopening her eyes, she saw each and every pack member tearing the last hob to pieces, making its final death vicious and bloody. However, all of that seemed to be in gray tones. Slumped against her back, with the hobgoblin''s spear sticking out, was Bryden''s body. Turning around, Nat moved almost like a machine, checking everything she could to try to save the wolf. However, by the time she had turned around, his pulse had already stopped. Warm red blood flowed from the wound over her hand and down to the ground. It stood out as the one point of colour that she was able to see.


    Moving away from what used to be the hobgoblin''s corpse, Emily walked over and nuzzled in between Nat and Bryden''s bodies. Soft whines were let out, but no actual words were shared between the two, who both were shocked by the loss. Shannon came up and put her hand on Natalie''s shoulder, attempting to comfort her partner. The entire pack, got up and surrounded the pair, nuzzling and providing what comfort they could. He had been around since the beginning, and Nat and a lot of the other wolves had grown close to him over these last two weeks.


    After a few minutes passed, with the entire pack joining Nat and Emily in their mourning, whining and expressing their sorrows in their own way, Shannon finally spoke up. "Let''s leave town, and find somewhere to camp. The gorillas can wait, you need some time to deal with this."


    "No." Natalie muttered, "We can press on. We have to. I don''t want them to face a similar fate as Bryden did."


    "Enough!" Shannon shouted, gaining the attention of every canine and Natalie. "You all have been pushing yourselves to the limit each and every day, and have not taken any real time to rest or relax. The event was two weeks ago! Did any of you have a day off since then?" Silence was all that responded to her, everyone too tired to answer, but smart enough to see that she was right. If they were not already exhausted from all of the previous days, maybe things could have turned out differently, maybe Bryden would still be with them. "We need to take a day or two to relax and recharge. And hold a funeral for our fallen hero." However, just as Shannon finished speaking that, Bryden''s body violently erupted into green mist.


    Huge thanks to my Elder Wolves Jake, Viktor, Nikolas, Saganatsu, Eeleater, Eric, Corgi, Lachlan, Adam, John, Nicholas, Jacob, Onean, Erudual, Hades, Neal, Sebastian, Sir Hellington, and Kevin for supporting me and my writing! Remember that I keep Patreon ten chapters ahead at all times. Our next goal on Patreon will be getting up to 25 patrons, which I will then open up an official discord for everyone to come and discuss the story in and hang out!

 Chapter 82

    As the green mist came out of Bryden''s body, it coalesced in the air above the huddled pack. Feeling her arms lighten, Nat looked down and saw that it was his body itself that was becoming the mist, not something escaping from it. None of the watching crowd moved a muscle, as they were too surprised at what was happening. Was this another part of bonding? Was it just a response due to their proximity or wishes? No one had any idea, but none were about to question what they were seeing. For as the green mist coalesced, it was shaping to be the same shape as Bryden. As the last dregs of Bryden''s corpse turned into mist and merged with the rest, the form in the air started to stir. It looked around, ran in a circle a couple of times, and then dived straight towards Natalie. She was about to raise her arms to block it, when she suddenly felt a strong instinct, coming from deep within her. Following that feeling, she spread her arms out wide, as if she accepting a hug from family she had not seen in years. As smooth as water, the mist form slipped straight into her body, as if her body was not even there. Feeling her Soulscape open up, she turned her view inwards, and was surprised by what she saw happen.


    Inside the Soulscape, the green mist swirled around before shaping itself into an almost two-dimensional swirl at ground level. Then it proceeded to move upwards, almost acting like a 3D printer, printing out Bryden''s body. As his body started to be rebuilt inside, the mist moved upwards, while slowly diminishing in volume. Natalie watched on in silence as his body was built back up from the green mist, becoming similar in appearance to how it looked before the fight. As the mist finished, Natalie kept watching to see if anything would happen. Was this just a statue? Or was it something even more bizarre. When she was about to move her gaze outside, something happened that made her stop and drop her jaw. Bryden''s ear started twitching.


    ''Bryden!'' Natalie called out. Could he have somehow been saved due to the fact that he was bonded to Natalie? She was extremely hopeful, as he had proven himself a good friend, and a great mate to Emily. For her sake as much as her own, she wished that Bryden was alright.


    ''Ow, not so loud please. That was loud enough to wake the dead.'' Bryden deadpanned to Natalie, exhaustion coming clear in his voice. As her face started to tear up, she was about to say something to him when she got interrupted by a guest. Emily had bolted into the Soulscape and tackled into her mate, nuzzling him and checking him all over. Seeing that he was being marauded by his loved one, she turned her view back out into the world. Where she was met by confused faces from everyone, especially Shannon. Realizing she was smiling, she quickly explained what she saw. Upon hearing that Bryden was alive and inside the Soulscape, most of the canines rushed inwards to check on him, leaving just Maia and Kali outside with the two human women.


    Both women broke down into tears of joy, with the two wolves nuzzling alongside them for comfort. They had all been so afraid they lost one of their family members, the world had felt more dead for a minute. Slowly, they all calmed down and got to their feet. Shannon broke the silence, "Now, let us get out of this town. We need to set up camp, and then celebrate the fact that he is still with us!" with a cheer from Natalie and a howl from each of the two wolves, the four of them started heading north through the city again, still following the highway. Thankfully, they could already see where Claresholm ended, as the grocery store was on the far north side of the town. They moved together, slowly but surely, along the road.


    Thankfully, they did not have to move far. Half an hour later, the small group spotted a large grove of trees to the east. Being on the plains, anything of that sort really stood out among all of the barren fields set aside for farming. Given a couple years though in these conditions, and you almost would be unable to tell that there was even a farm here to begin with. Moving off to the right, they moved into the trees and took a quick look around. There were a couple small buildings, all of which seemed to be abandoned. No signs of any monsters or humans were evident, but that did not give them a reason to be lazy about it. Knowing that they would be staying here for at least a day, due to Shannon''s valid points earlier, Nat got around and set up her warning lines around the property. Shannon followed along, because while she did not know the best way to help, she was doing her best to learn. That way, they would be able to do this set up faster.


    Once the perimeter was covered in alarms, the four of them made their way back to the center of the area. As the sun was starting its descent towards the mountains, it felt like the day should have been over already for them. The fighting, stress, grief, and sudden turn around to joy had completely drained the entirety of the pack. Feeling their legs about to buckle, Nat sent a plea to the pups still inside the Soulscape. They were the only ones that were not utterly exhausted after all. As soon as the pups popped out with some cushions and mattresses, the two women collapsed on top the comfy implements, narrowly missing the pups that were bouncing around them. Their muscles screamed at them, leaving them unable to currently move. Not caring for the mischievous antics the pups were pulling, Maia and Kali flopped down between Shannon and Natalie, both looking similarly exhausted. The four women laid there for a few minutes, but it was not long before all of them finally surrendered to the exhaustion they felt. Almost in unison, the four of them passed out right there, laying on top of the cushions that had been hastily sprawled out.


    Huge thanks to my Elder Wolves Jake, Viktor, Nikolas, Saganatsu, Eeleater, Eric, Corgi, Lachlan, Adam, John, Nicholas, Jacob, Onean, Erudual, Hades, Neal, Sebastian, Sir Hellington, and Kevin for supporting me and my writing! Remember that I keep Patreon ten chapters ahead at all times. Our next goal on Patreon will be getting up to 25 patrons, which I will then open up an official discord for everyone to come and discuss the story in and hang out!

 Chapter 83

    Waking up, Natalie was surprised to be confronted with the sight of dawn breaking over the eastern horizon. Most times these days, she slept inside a tent. She was not used to seeing such beautiful colours as she first awoke. She lay there, watching the sky as it slowly danced with the new colours before sitting up and looking around. The other three she collapsed with were still out cold, but covered with a blanket. In a spot just slightly away from the group, sat the four coyotes. Otherwise, nothing was different about the area. Looking down, she saw the blanket also covered herself. Knowing Lucille''s caring nature, Nat made a guess that it was her. That coyote seemed to be one of the three mother figures for the pack. And with the other two unconscious beside her, the safest bet was that she had done it. Not that it mattered who, but thanks had to go where they were deserved.


    Laying back down, Natalie''s body was still much too sore to move around. Realizing that she had already slept for too long, she turned her gaze inwards to the Soulscape. As she entered, she felt a bit better capability to move her view throughout the small world inside of her. It almost felt like moving around the energy she had before. Realizing this, she spent some time moving and adjusting her field of view. At the moment, it was sluggish to move, but she found she could also magnify slightly now. If this growth was due to her practice with moving around the energy inside of her, she needed to practice more. She may eventually be able to interact with the Soulscape herself, instead of needing help from a canine. And if any of them get injured, she might be able to have her view inside act as a direct microscope. Being able to see stuff up close and on a microscopic layer helped greatly when it came to treating people''s injuries. Though it could also help her understand how things may have changed. That made her think about her view. Would she be able to switch her view to an x-ray style, seeing just the bones of the canines inside?


    Putting those questions aside until the future, Nat shifted her view around till he found Bryden, with Emily plastered to his side as they slept. As she got closer to the sleeping pair, Nat focused in on Bryden. There was no sign of any wounds, nor where there any signs of scaring anywhere on him. It was as if he had been completely reborn into a brand-new body. She was not able to zoom in all that much at the moment, but since he looked fine enough, she would wait until he woke up before prodding him with questions and fingers. As she loosened her inspective gaze, she notices that something was different about Emily. As she looked closer, she noticed that the wolf in question was starting to show signs of being pregnant. That day a week ago must have been successful, as signs did not start appearing in wolves until their pregnancies were about halfway to term. All variable on each individual female of course. Moving around inside the Soulscape, she noticed that each of the female canines that were sleeping in there were starting to sport the signs of new life. All save Seeka that is. Nat had yet to give her approval for her to pounce on scout, but she promised herself that she would give him a check over at first opportunity. After all, they were about to be swarmed by a lot of puppies.


    Right, the pups! In her constant rush to keep moving, Nat realized that she had never checked to see where the pups they had were at, and how the Soulscape''s time acceleration was affecting them. Moving her view over, she found that all of them were sleeping together, wolf and coyote together in a pile of fluff. Looking closer, she made a note that for their sizes, they all seemed to be relatively close in age. This made it easier to find a starting point, knowing that Rogue and Spirit were just at the thirty-six weeks old point when she last did their physical before the event. However, they were all easily looking to be at around forty-four-week-old pups. If they were small dogs, this would be getting close to the end of their growth cycle. However, they were still very small compared to their parents, clearly showing they all had quite a ways to grow.


    Seeing where everyone was at was meant to help de-stress Natalie, however now she was worried for entirely different reasons. Too much stress on the mothers would be bad for their pups. Shannon had been both right and wrong apparently. They did need a break, but taking a break for only a day was not what was currently needed. They would probably need to take a break for at least the next week or so. Given that the canines all showed signs of pregnancy a day earlier than she had originally expected, she had no idea on when they would actually give birth. They would need to take care and be patient with where they were for the time being, just to make sure that all pups would be born healthy and safely.


    Turning her view back out into the world, Nat found that the sky had become brighter, and she realized that all of her investigating inside took far longer than she realized. Looking around, nothing other than the sun had ended up moving. Turning her head to look towards the coyotes, she decided to get clarification. ''Lucille, were you the one who put the blanket over all of us?'' Getting an affirmative feeling back, she thanked the motherly coyote. Looking back at the sky, Nat enjoyed the sight while she could. With what she knew she had to do, as well as when those puppies were born, she knew that it was only going to become more hectic than it ever has been. Thankfully she had so many already experienced mothers inside her pack, making her feel a little hopeful for what the future would entail.


    Huge thanks to my Elder Wolves Jake, Viktor, Nikolas, Saganatsu, Eeleater, Eric, Corgi, Lachlan, Adam, John, Nicholas, Jacob, Onean, Erudual, Hades, Neal, Sebastian, Sir Hellington, and Kevin for supporting me and my writing! Remember that I keep Patreon ten chapters ahead at all times. Our next goal on Patreon will be getting up to 25 patrons, which I will then open up an official discord for everyone to come and discuss the story in and hang out!

 Chapter 84

    And thus began the pack''s much needed time off. The first couple days were nothing much more than eating and relaxing. The last encounter they had pushed them all to their limits, and that was when their tanks were already near empty. Sun bathing, relaxing under the trees, and just enjoying one another''s company was the only real objectives for them. The only one still doing anything not relaxing was Natalie. Throughout each day, she practised more and more with moving the energy around inside of her. When she felt moving it around in her chest was easy enough, she started moving it through her limbs. When that became less straining, she tried to split it into parts and move it independently of one another. That was where her control faltered the most, as the amount of times she accidentally sent some energy outwards was far higher in that practice than any others. Bits of fur with flurries of exhaustion kept coming to her, but she kept at it seriously.


    One thing that stood out is that Bryden was unable to exit the Soulscape and join everyone outside. Every time he tried, he was blocked by a wall of rapidly appearing green mist, as well as a timer. However, this timer was not moving at the same speed as the Soulscape, but rather the outside worlds. When he first checked it, it was saying six days and just over four hours. Hearing this, Nat bet it had to be related to the green mist reforming his body. While it was plentiful inside the Soulscape, it was ridiculously scarce outside. His body probably had to stabilize before he could exit, or risk having to go through the whole process again. However, this was both good and bad news to everyone. While they now knew death was not necessarily the end, not having access to Natalie or Shannon''s therapeutic petting and belly rubbing seemed like torture in and of itself. The hardest part for Bryden though was apparently his lack of an ability to walk around with Emily outside. He was definitely shaping up to be a worrywart of a father, not that any of the canines were surprised. He just had that air about him from the beginning.


    Most of the cooking was being done by Shannon. She was by far the least physically exhausted of the group, and felt that it was the best way for her to help. While she was not as used to cooking with the more gamey meat that Natalie had a tendency to use, she was quite proficient with the chicken, pork, and beef that they had. Being in the sports medicine course throughout university, as well as spending time as a personal trainer, coach, and top level martial artist, Shannon had quite a strong idea as to what was needed to make whole, filling meals that were both good for taste as well as rich in nutrients that were needed. Large batches were made up regularly, mainly so the wargs would be able to eat enough in just a couple of sittings rather than a few dozen. She only had to ask a few questions to Nat for the food, such as what was healthy and not for canines to intake, but otherwise she was happy to be left to her own devices. Scout always seemed to be getting larger portions than the wolves, but none of them minded that much. Nat had actually directed Shannon to do that. All because when Seeka saw that the rest were showing signs of pups, she started getting a serious case of baby fever. The sooner that he was at full health, the sooner that Seeka would hopefully calm down.


    Starting on the third day, the canines seemed to be starting to get restless. They understood the need for Natalie and Shannon to rest longer, and to wait until all of the pups were birthed safely. However, that small bit of stir-crazy started to rear its ugly head. Looking around the abandoned property for something for the active hounds to do, Natalie came across something that might just work. An old school plow, one meant to be pulled along by a horse, was found lying around in a shed. Seeing that there were not even signs of rust, Natalie counted their blessings. Explaining her idea to the canines, all of them immediately got onboard. They had gotten such a large variety of seeds, fertilizer, and other farming supplies from all the farms they looted, that they were going to start one in the Soulscape. However, with Nat having been unable to directly change how the soil sat, she had difficulties planting anything in there before now. With this plow though, that all changed in a blink of an eye.


    Hearing the potential, Sol immediately got his saddle out from the Soulscape, while Maia stored the plow, only to bring it back out in an open clearing. Now, since none of them had ever tried to hook a plow up to a saddle, much less one on a warg, it took a bit of figuring. That took an hour of problem solving, but everyone was participating and having fun. After that, when he tried to take it for a test run, he quickly found he moved to fast and unsteadily to be really effective. Nothing he tried really seemed to help, till Seeka came up and did her best to guide it from one of the handles in the back. After that, they went around in the Soulscape, getting better and faster with each and every line they plowed. The wolves split to each grouping and planted a variety of different seeds. None of them knew what they were planting, just that it had the potential to be used as food. Sadly, it would be at least twenty days till they got any decent returns, according to what Natalie knew.


    However, on that day none of them saw Seeka or Scout till the end of the day. However, none wondered why or where they had gone. Apparently, that morning, Nat gave the green light on Scout''s bill of health, and Seeka had all but dragged him off to her own corner in the Soulscape. All of them did appreciate the space and quiet though. Seeka''s pup-craziness had spread in its reach, and everyone had to deal with it. When they got back, Seeka seemed to have this glow radiating out from her, while Scout seemed to be weak and staggering as he walked. Immediately Shannon tended to him, while Nat chastised Seeka for pushing him too hard. No matter what was said though, Seeka''s grin never seemed to leave her face, with a matching grin coming straight from the shepherd''s muzzle.


    Huge thanks to my Elder Wolves Jake, Viktor, Nikolas, Saganatsu, Eeleater, Eric, Corgi, Lachlan, Adam, John, Nicholas, Jacob, Onean, Erudual, Hades, Neal, Sebastian, Sir Hellington, and Kevin for supporting me and my writing! Remember that I keep Patreon ten chapters ahead at all times. Our next goal on Patreon will be getting up to 50 patrons, which I will then spend more time each month writing some side stories and shorts that show other perspectives throughout my stories!


    Feel free to join us all on my Discord! https://discord.gg/b8gRkD4

 Chapter 85

    So, I got laid off from my job today. There will be no changes in the release rate of Druidification, still will be one every weekday. However, I will be using this time to work on my other stories I have in the works, so please be excited for that! Also, the discord is now live! The link is down in the author''s note at the bottom, feel free to jump in and chat! I am always down to talk with people, answer questions, and receive constructive criticism! Hope to talk with you all soon and that you all continue to enjoy my noobish writing.


    The rest of the week seemed to just fly by to the pack. Resting, hunting, or trying their paws at farming preoccupied all of the canines, save for the coyotes. To them, it was just business as usual. Shannon spent most of her time spilt between two things, cooking or training. There were so many ingredients and food stuffs available to her now, and not having to worry about limits in budget, she went to town experimenting. Only the good ones were kept and stored into the Soulscape, while the bad ones were tossed in a refuse pit that the wolves had dug. Most times when the food turned out wrong, it was the canines themselves tossing the food in there, never to see the light of day again. However, a good majority of her cooking was well received, leaving them with a steady supply of ready to eat meals at any point. Training wise, she was slowly moving her body as she used to when practicing martial arts. She was quite stiff and sore still, but she wanted to be ready to move and act the next time, not spending a good chunk of the action frozen in place. Natalie was spending most of it focused on the energy, practicing and further complicating what she was trying to do. The growth was slow, but steady. And every time she felt a noticeable amount of growth, it just gave Nat more confidence in working with the power in harder ways.


    Now that she was not completely exhausted from travelling all day, Nat even spent a couple of the nights staying up late, just hanging out with the coyotes that stood guard for them every night. They never asked for anything, and always seemed happy. The four of them just grabbed what they needed food wise, and they seemed to be content with that, plus they were pleasant partners for conversation, though if a bit soft spoken. Copper and Tin were still as skittish as they had been before, but that would just take time for them to open up. Well, that and more head scratches. Edwin and Lucille had already full on opened up, and gossiping time after dinner featured most of the female canines. Seeka usually spent that time exhausting scout some more, while Tin joined in only occasionally. Most of the guys wondered what was up, but they all seemed to smartly keep their muzzles out of it. The few times they had tried to but in had left them all feeling the cold fear of death approaching from their respective mates.


    On the fifth day, everything started going to hell in a handbasket. Natalie was woken up early in the morning by a extremely worried Copper. Still sleep-ridden, Natalie blinked in confusion until she finally realized what was up. Tin''s water had apparently just broken. Quickly, Nat got up and ran out to where tin was laying on the ground, letting out a low whine. Beside her, Lucille was walking her through, trying to help ease her through the process she had been through before. As Nat approached, she felt an urge on an instinctual level. Quickly getting up beside the coyote about to give birth, she put her hand lightly on the soon-to-be mother''s back. Almost instantly, she disappeared into the Soulscape with Lucille following her close behind. Now reduced to just two out on night watch, both of the male coyotes hung around outside. Edwin seemed entirely uninterested in the whole things, so long as you did not look at his tail. He must really have missed tending to his pups and was probably hoping to help Copper get through the first few weeks. Copper on the other hand was pacing nervously, anxiously taking peeks every now and then in Natalie''s direction.


    "I am awake now; I can sit in on the watch should you wish to go in and be with her." Natalie urged. The sense of responsibility he had conflicted with the feelings of wanting to be there for his pups'' birth. No sooner had Nat finished her sentence when he ran full speed into the Soulscape, not waiting a minute longer. Chuckling to herself, Nat relocated herself to be sitting beside Edwin. No words were shared between the two, one having lived through this experience in Copper''s shoes before, and the other having helped to deliver numerous puppies herself due to her work. Together, they sat by and kept an eye on the surroundings, while Nat gently stroked Edwin''s back. Neither felt worried or anxious, just relaxed while on guard.


    Hours passed by, the sun rose, and finally after what had to have been six hours, did the whole process finish. When it comes to canine litters, each individual puppy takes at average an hour to deliver. While there were variances, there were six brand new coyote puppies huddled up against Tin''s belly. Throughout the whole event was a weird feeling for Natalie. Each time that a new pup came out and had its first breath, she could feel it bond in that instant to her. Whether or not this would be a good thing for the pups or not, was yet to be seen. At this point, all of the other canines were up and awake. Every female except for Natalie and Shannon swarmed the brand-new mother, wanting to get a look at the new little bundles of joy. Nat let it go on for a few minutes, before telling each and every one of them off. The males were far more composed about it. They all just acted the same way Edwin did. Sitting off at a distance, acting disinterested, while continually taking peeks at the new additions to their family.


    With her practice for the past few days, Natalie was far better at looking in close inside the Soulscape. Carefully, she checked over every puppy visibly as they now slept, curled up between Tin and Copper''s bodies. Each one showed no signs of deformities, nor any signs of issues from Tin''s body. It looked like it was a nice healthy birth, with an average amount of coyotes to boot. The best part that Natalie noticed though was the lack of a mess. All of the fluids and the embryotic sacs that normally came with the birth of a litter were nowhere in sight. Taking her sight out, she decided to check how much energy she had available now after getting six more pups. Checking carefully, there was a small but noticeable increase in the amount of energy she had. It had been growing slowly this entire time, but this was a more sudden burst. That meant that new bonds did mean more energy. But why was the amount of energy she gained for six new bonds so little? Was it possible that the age of the bonded creature plays a part in how much energy she got from them?


    Huge thanks to my Elder Wolves Jake, Viktor, Nikolas, Saganatsu, Eeleater, Eric, Corgi, Lachlan, Adam, John, Nicholas, Jacob, Onean, Erudual, Hades, Neal, Sebastian, Sir Hellington, and Kevin for supporting me and my writing! Remember that I keep Patreon ten chapters ahead at all times. Our next goal on Patreon will be getting up to 50 patrons, which I will then spend more time each month writing some side stories and shorts that show other perspectives throughout my stories!


    Feel free to join us all on my Discord! https://discord.gg/b8gRkD4

 Chapter 86

    The next few days were far more raucous compared to the beginning of the week. Copper ran around like he lost his head, trying to make sure that he got each and everything that their new pups could possibly be interested in, despite their eyes not even being open yet. He did try to stay quiet though, as their whole family were currently only awake during the night. And while she could not witness it all the time personally, Lucille loved to watch his antics and retell them, mainly so Tin knew what her man was up to outside the Soulscape while she was stuck inside with their brand-new pups. None of it was bad, so she had not brought it up to him. It was just one more thing for the girls to laugh about, with some intermittent sighs. As if they needed anymore to laugh and sigh about. Ever since Tin had given birth to her litter, all of the visibly pregnant canines had become a bunch of overexcited children. Natalie had to shut them down when they started making bets on who would have the biggest litter. While most felt confident in themselves, it was most likely going to be Luna. It was a consistent statistic that the larger the breed of canine, the more numerous their litter would be. When that was brought up, they then started to try and bet who would have the second biggest litter, as well as how many Luna would have. At that point Natalie gave up and joined with the male canines.


    They had probably done the smarter thing, Natalie realized in hindsight. While they took care of their mates, most of their time was spent away from the baby crazy predators. They just always found something to either talk about or compete with, usually a mix of the two. The men wisely realized this and usually spent what free time they could in wonderful silence. They would either take time working on the multitude of farms that they were constantly expanding. They currently had six different plots plowed already, and were slowly working on a seventh. They currently only had seven different types of seeds stored away; barley, rye, wheat, mustard seed, non-psychoactive hemp, canary seed, and buckwheat. Most of them, she could understand wanting to harvest. Most were able to be used quite well in baking, they just needed to get some equipment to grind and thresh the grains. The hemp had a multitude of uses, including being able to be used for durable rope. The only thing that stood out to Natalie was the canary seed. It was only really used as bird feed, why would wolves want to cultivate it. Apparently, it was for a similar reason to why they were doing all of the others, if not slightly different. They wanted to use it to bait some avian prey down to the ground, thus increasing the variety of meat they could get.  When Shannon heard that, she doubled over laughing. Only to let the canines know that she would do her best to cook with whatever she was given. Well, she did once she got her breath back anyways.


    It would probably be a while before they could harvest it at all, so that was a worry for later. What Nat was really curious was the effect that growing plants in her Soulscape would have. New bonds increased the amount of energy she had, so would living plants do anything. She already knew that she could take living plants inside her Soulscape. Now that she was cultivating new ones, with the help of the canines, would that affect her at all? It was a hurry up and wait situation. So, she passed her time in what was becoming quite normal for her, by practicing with her energy. It already had shown such great benefits, there was sure to be more down the road. It was all just a matter of getting to that point. There were so many things they did not know, and the more time they spent trying to get answers only resulted in finding more questions. It was like she was trying to run a long-distance race, but was strapped to a treadmill. Sure, she was still running as fast as she could and accomplishing some goals, but it did not feel like she was really getting anywhere at the moment. But she instinctually knew she had to keep running, because if she ever got off that treadmill, she would shoot forward so fast she would not be able to believe it herself.


    As the next few days passed, their meal repertoire increased some more, as did Nat''s control over her ability. One night, after dinner, Nat decided that she wanted to try something she had not done before. Getting Shannon to be at the ready should she collapse, she tried moving her energy into her eyes. Strangely enough, none seemed to escape, even as they hit the edge of the eyeballs. A gasp from Shannon caused Nat to turn and look at her partner. "Nat, your eyes. They are glowing green!" Shannon exclaimed, almost breathless. Getting Kali''s help, Nat got a mirror out of her Soulscape and took a look. She only had about fifty percent of the energy in her eyes at this point, and could see they were subtly glowing. Curious, she poured more and more energy into her eyeballs. Just as she thought, the glow increased based on how much energy she had in her eyes. Turning away from the mirror to let everyone know what was currently happening, she stopped short.


    As her eyes crossed over the group assembled around her, she was surprised at what she could see. When she looked at Shannon, all she could see was a faint outline of where her friend was and her features. However, each and every canine in their pack glowed green in this vision. They almost looked more alive than if they were standing in front of her. As she looked more, she began to notice more things. While the coyotes and wolves glowed at a similar level, the wargs seemed to have a denser glow coming from them. Maybe that was why they had become larger and stronger than their wolfen counterparts, while still staying mostly similar biologically. The other things she noticed, were certain areas that glowed brighter on some of the canines. Squinting to try and get a better look, she quickly went wide-eyed with realization. Each of the brighter areas was on the female canines that were showing signs of pregnancy, and each and every glow was a waiting to be born pup. And from what she could see, the day when they all gave birth was going to be a very long day.


    Huge thanks to my Elder Wolves Jake, Viktor, Nikolas, Saganatsu, Eeleater, Eric, Corgi, Lachlan, Adam, John, Nicholas, Jacob, Onean, Erudual, Hades, Neal, Sebastian, Sir Hellington, and Kevin for supporting me and my writing! Remember that I keep Patreon ten chapters ahead at all times. Our next goal on Patreon will be getting up to 50 patrons, which I will then spend more time each month writing some side stories and shorts that show other perspectives throughout my stories!


    Feel free to join us all on my Discord! https://discord.gg/b8gRkD4

 Chapter 87

    On the seventh day, they discovered yet another potential use for the energy that Nat was moving around inside of her. However, the discovery this time was a complete fluke. Natalie had been moving it around, getting practice at stretching it to cover a larger surface area with less. That way she could hopefully transform more efficiently. While she was doing that, Bryden''s timer finally ran out. He was able to leave the Soulscape once again. Without giving any heads up, he left right through Natalie''s chest, which happened to be where she was currently circulating her power. As a result, when Bryden came out, he stumbled and fell over, as if he was needing to relearn how to walk. Which, after taking a look at his body, everyone knew that was exactly the problem he had.


    When he exited the Soulscape, he was not in his wolf form, nor did he seem to be made of the green mist. Instead, he closely resembled the form of a werewolf, similar to what Natalie looked like when she shifted in Lethbridge. While everyone slowly went up to him to figure out what happened, Natalie stayed seated on the ground, feeling drained. Now she knew why all of the canines seemed to be in half-human forms in that dream of hers. She could now have them take humanoid forms. Just in a extremely draining manner. The energy inside of her had acted as a sort of veil just underneath her skin. When Bryden exited, he went from the depths of her being, through this veil, and out into the world. A good amount of the energy felt drained from the endeavor, as if he had taken a bunch with him. However, she was glad to notice that it still passively regenerated, and at no less of a speed than it was prior.


    That was when the unthinkable happened. "Ow. Why did my legs stop working?" Bryden asked as he started to pick himself up. Shannon gasped, as did most of the other onlookers, Nat being too exhausted to move. Bryden had just spoken, and not in their minds, or in the usual barks and growls that the canines did. In pure, unadulterated English.


    "Bryden, you can talk now?" Shannon asked, finally breaking everyone''s silence. Bryden stopped moving for a second, and turned his head over to look at Shannon, eyes wide as he took in her words.


    "You could understand me?" He asked her, shocked beyond belief. To this, Shannon slowly started nodding. It was then that he was fully snapped out of his reverie of being out in the world once more. Looking down at his own body, Bryden slowly used one of his hands to investigate his new body. It felt bigger, stronger, and far more limber. However, as he tried to stand once more, he swayed on his feet before taking a knee. He had spent his whole life walking around on four legs, to suddenly try and walk on two was proving to be quite the challenge.


    When they all saw what he was now capable of doing, and how much more intimidating he felt to their honed sense''s, the entire pack turned to Natalie with stars in their eyes. Those however, quickly faded as soon as they saw her. It looked as if she had just run three marathons back to back. Her face was pale, sweat dripping down the exposed parts of her body, and her breathing was ragged. Slowly though, as her energy came back to her, colour came back to her and her breath stabilized more and more. While all of the canines wanted to be able to learn how to walk around on two legs, they did not want to put more strain on Natalie. Just seeing how she looked, they could tell it was draining to do that at the moment. Not that it helped when Bryden came charging through in the densest part of the energy veil she had going on inside her body.


    When Nat finally recovered enough to be able to move, she got up and started to help Bryden get the hang of walking on two paws. Interestingly enough, his hind legs stayed mostly the same, where as his frontal legs changed into beefy arms with hands. His fingers tipped with claws, and his fur maintaining the exact same coloration. His head showed the least change, looking almost identical to before he shifted. For the next few hours, Nat helped guide him through walking while she practiced thinning out the energy. The big question to her was how much of the energy did she need to use so that they could successfully transform into these lycanthrope forms? While she was not up to it immediately, she did want to do some testing on it later. For now, she had a bipedal canine who was having issues standing up.


    As the hours passed and it approached dinner time, he had finally gotten the hang of standing on two feet. While he required focus to move, he could also walk around at a slow pace. Seeing now as a good time for a break from his practice, Nat asked if he would not mind helping run a few tests for her. Gladly accepting, she followed her directions and went back into the Soulscape. Once there, he found that he had a few more options available to him. While in the Soulscape, he could now freely shift between the two forms. Apparently, the form was named inside the Soulscape as an empowered form. This meant it probably required the energy itself to instigate the change in the first place. This was further confirmed by him exiting back in his normal quadrupedal form later on, when Nat did not have the energy veil up inside of her. After a few more tests, just to make sure none of their findings were flukes, the entire pack had supper and called it for the night. As the sun set on the seventh day, Nat had all pregnant canines stay the night inside the Soulscape. After all, tomorrow was their expected due date.


    Huge thanks to my Elder Wolves Jake, Viktor, Nikolas, Saganatsu, Eeleater, Eric, Corgi, Lachlan, Adam, John, Nicholas, Jacob, Onean, Erudual, Hades, Neal, Juuso, Sebastian, Sir Hellington, and Kevin for supporting me and my writing! Remember that I keep Patreon ten chapters ahead at all times. Our next goal on Patreon will be getting up to 50 patrons, which I will then spend more time each month writing some side stories and shorts that show other perspectives throughout my stories!


    Feel free to join us all on my Discord!https://discord.gg/b8gRkD4

 Chapter 88

    The minute that Natalie woke up, she turned her senses inwards to the Soulscape. This day was the reason that they took the extended time off, the main delivery day for all off the canines who weren''t nocturnal. And for Tin and Copper''s pups, if her math was correct, today was the day when they would open their eyes for the first time. However, given that the pups had been waking and sleeping closer to her schedule, it was more likely for it to happen some point tonight than it was during the day. The tiny little fur balls were already asleep, still curled up beside their mother. The grass in the Soulscape beside them had an indent, where Copper would probably go to sleep in when he finished lookout duty with Edwin and Lucille. Out of everyone so far, he probably had the least sleep, bouncing between lookout duty and his own want to help look after his pups. Lucille had already given up trying to talk him into taking a break from lookout duty, as he still wanted to maintain his promise to help them, and was quite adamant about it.


    Checking each of the female canines, who all slept with their mates, Nat was relieved to see that none of them had their water break during the night. Generally, as soon as it does with a canine, the first pup of the litter is usually coming out within minutes. Natalie wanted to be available to each couple, should any complications pop up. Seeing everything was still going fine for the moment, she returned her view back outwards. Seeing light start to creep up in the sky outside her tent''s door, she attempted to get up and out of bed. This time however, the two wolves using her as a hugging pillow had laid directly on top of her, pinning her to the mattress. Maia and Kali had started slowly sleeping closer and closer together, ever since the whole confession incident over a week prior. Nat did not think much of it, except for the fact that they usually slept on either side of her. Instead of moving to another spot to sleep, they just slowly slept more and more on top of Natalie. Realizing she was not going to move until these two late risers got up, she just laid there, and continued practicing with her energy circulation internally.


    Natalie made some decent headway before anything changed for her situation, and even then, barely. Scout, Seeka, and Shannon all walked past the door entrance to her tent, paused and back tracked slightly. All of them took a few seconds to take in the sight of her current predicament. After asking for help, the three just started laughing their asses off and walked away, Leaving Nat alone to deal with the two still on top of her. Not really needing to move today, she just shrugged as much as she could and continued her practice. This time though, things changed far sooner. Within minutes, the smell of meat cooking over a fire flooded into the tent, tingling the nostrils of everyone inside. As soon as the smell hit them, Maia and Kali were already on their way out of the tent as if they had been awake for hours. Proving once more that the old wife''s tale was true, the shortest way to anyone''s heart was through their stomach. Shaking her head, Natalie went out and joined them for breakfast.


    Thus, signaled the start of a long and stressful day for Natalie. As soon as she finished off one plate of food, Sol popped his head out and let her know that Luna''s water had broken, only to be followed immediately by Bryden and Shadow. Not only had one gone off, but they all did almost in unison. Thankfully, Nat had some experienced helpers. Maia and Kali each went to a different pair of wolves, doing their best to help guide them through and make it go as smoothly as possible. Given that no one knew what to expect for Luna''s birth or the process for a canine of such size, Natalie oversaw it personally. That was the one thing that she was confused by with the Soulscape. When it was injuries or aging, it was all sped up to take a quarter of the time. Why did births take the same amount of time as they did outside? Was it purely because it involved another life? More questions she would probably never know the answer to.


    Twelve hours later, the final pup came out and was taken care of. All in all, it was pretty successful, as Nat only had to get Sol to step in to help once. One of them did not quite have the sac it come out in break, so he had to just get in and tear it open. Otherwise, a total of twenty-seven new pups had entered the Soulscape, and were now either sleeping or eating. Ash had given birth to seven, Emily had eight pups, and Luna had a whopping twelve. All of the mothers were exhausted, but were being cared for by their mates. Now that the entire stressful session was over, Nat finally left the view of her Soulscape, she was exhausted and hungry. As she exited, Maia and Kali came out with her, and all of their stomachs rumbled at the lack of food they had received. Thankfully, Shannon was still cooking, and had Seeka and Scout help bring her over some food to ease her wife and her trusty helper''s empty stomachs. A decently large shepherds pot pie was placed in front of the spent team, steam still coming off the top. Thanking Shannon for the grub, the three of them dug in.


    As she ate, Nat checked her energy amount just to make sure that she was not imaging the growth she thought she had noticed a couple days prior. And sure enough, there was a much larger growth this time, easily corresponded to the over four times as many new bonds. Knowing it would take two to three days for them to be able to open their eyes, and another 2 after that until they were able to walk around or hear anything. With them unable to hear, or have a personality of their own develop, Natalie decided to hold off on giving them names quite yet. Letting Shannon know of what the schedule for puppy development was, they agreed to take another four days off, just so the group could get back into a more stable rhythm without half of them being distracted by the little balls of fluff that were inside the Soulscape.


    Huge thanks to my Elder Wolves Jake, Viktor, Nikolas, Saganatsu, Eeleater, Eric, Corgi, Lachlan, Adam, John, Nicholas, Jacob, Onean, Erudual, Hades, Neal, Juuso, Sebastian, Sir Hellington, and Kevin for supporting me and my writing! Remember that I keep Patreon ten chapters ahead at all times. Our next goal on Patreon will be getting up to 50 patrons, which I will then spend more time each month writing some side stories and shorts that show other perspectives throughout my stories!


    Feel free to join us all on my Discord! https://discord.gg/b8gRkD4

 Chapter 89

    The next four days passed by completely uneventfully, as it was mainly time that was just there to let everyone calm down a bit. Training, eating, and prepping were all that the group did, outside of relaxing. There were only a few changes that happened. Mainly, the pups had all opened their eyes, and some were even attempting to stand on their stubby little legs. All four of the new mothers seemed exhausted, but happy, and have all slowly moved their groups of young ones near to each other, so that they could still talk and converse while they were all nursing their young. As for their mates, they took turns getting their new forms unlocked. Because of how draining it was for her, Nat only did one a day. Then, they took most of the day to learn how to walk and get used to their new form. Shannon had fun being able to converse with all of the hounds after they shifted, and felt she would be more help instructing them through walking instead of cooking more meals. Especially since they had not even gotten around to trying half of the ones she had already made collectively as a group.


    The first day was Sol. He was probably the most needed partner and so would go through with it when the going was easiest, but no one blamed him or Luna for that. Twelve puppies is a very demanding workload. When he came out in his transformed state, his form had carried over the warg''s naturally larger size. Where Bryden had probably been about seven feet tall standing up, Sol came in much closer to ten. He could actually give those ogres a run for their money in the size department. The second day was Shadow. Apparently, he had been watching the others and their attempts to walk, as his exit from the Soulscape went the smoothest of all of them so far. He matched Bryden in size, easily sitting a foot and a half taller than Nat when they both stood up straight. While he still stumbled about a bit, he was making the most rapid progress so far of learning how to move about on only two limbs. On the third day, Nat asked the coyotes if any of them wanted to get access to that form. However, none of them really felt a need at the moment, and would grab it later. Hearing that some spots opened up, Maia and Kali swarmed onto Nat, begging to be able to shift. And so, the third and fourth days became the days for Kali and Maia, respectively. Kali had been the first to join Nat in her Soulscape after all. What did not surprise anyone, was the amount of girl talk that went on between those two and Shannon. It was as if they were trying to catch up as friends that had not seen each other in years.


    Throughout this whole process, Natalie had come to learn a fair number of things about her power. Firstly, she was not able to make her energy veil inside thin enough to not provoke the change yet. It was also still lumpy and uneven, making it draw even more power from her. Secondly, it felt as though the energy was becoming faster in returning. It was behaving as a long-neglected muscle, the more she used it and limbered up, the more often she was able to use it. Her practice in moving it around internally did a fair amount in helping her mediate how much was used, but did nothing for getting her own body used to it. That brought her to the third point, as each time one of the canines went through the process, it took less and less out of her. Sure, some of it was due to her getting better at thinning the veil, but that could only account for so much. The change she was noticing was far too large to be due to just practice alone, as she had not improved like that before. Her max energy had grown, but it was still negligible in the face of the growth she felt. The only thing that could come to her mind was her body was growing used to having that strain placed upon it now, and was adapting towards making it easier to handle. Realizing where she went wrong in her training, as she was specializing on control while neglecting consumption management, the end of her days now marked with her shifting larger amounts of her body.


    On the fourth day, Maia had Kali and Shannon guiding her through her new form and how to maneuver in it, leading to her having it down and running laps in less than half an hour. This led to most of the group taking the day to relax in the sun. Nat kept up a modicum of training as she did, but the warm sun felt soothing on their bodies as they lay in the grass. A calm and peaceful silence lay overtop of the group, none wanting to end their relaxation early. When the sun was finally starting to near the peaks of the mountains in the west, Natalie finally said the words everyone had been expecting. "This is going to be our last night here. It was good while it lasted, but we need to move on forward. Tomorrow is going to be a day back on the road." Nat paused for a second, considering something in her head. Coming to a decision, she added, "Of the canines joining us as we walk, I want one of them to be in a shifted state. We should get used to moving as a group when we have people who are shifted now."


    Since none could argue her logic, grunts of approval were heard across the grassy knoll they lay upon. Glad that the pack had not disagreed with her idea, Nat turned on her side, only to find herself staring directly at Shannon''s face. The two smiled as they stared at each other, lust clear in their eyes, pure in Natalie''s but mixed with apprehension in Shannon''s. However, neither moved to break this view until a chorus of growling stomachs sounded off. Both blushing, they got up and ate some meatloaf that Shannon had made a few days prior. Side by side, and without words, the two just watched the sun set behind the mountains together. After it had fully disappeared and the stars appeared overhead, did they wish each other good night and went to bed, resting for their journey to resume in the morning.


    Huge thanks to my Elder Wolves Jake, Viktor, Nikolas, Saganatsu, Eeleater, Eric, Corgi, Lachlan, Adam, John, Nicholas, Jacob, Onean, Erudual, Hades, Neal, Juuso, Sebastian, Sir Hellington, and Kevin for supporting me and my writing! Remember that I keep Patreon ten chapters ahead at all times. Our next goal on Patreon will be getting up to 50 patrons, which I will then spend more time each month writing some side stories and shorts that show other perspectives throughout my stories!


    Feel free to join us all on my Discord! https://discord.gg/b8gRkD4

 Chapter 90

    Waking up, Nat once again could not move. Looking to her left, Kali was sleeping beside her as always, but did not seem to be laying on top of her. Turning to her right, the problem instantly became apparent. Maia had not gone back into the Soulscape, resulting in her maintaining the shifted form. Apparently, none of the canines felt that this form drained them at all. Now, though probably by accident, she was able to see that a shift would last at least a day, however if there was a time limit longer, that was currently unknown. Nothing pointed to it having a time limit, but with everything that they had learned in the last month, it was still anything goes. As Nat lay there, trapped as a warm huggable pillow by Maia, she realized that it had been almost a month since the event. While it had been that, in reality it felt so much longer. The things they experienced, and the distance they had travelled felt so long, that her days in Waterton felt so distant, as if it had been another life.


    Reaching around, Natalie started scratching Maia in the small of her back. Unconsciously, Maia slowly released her grip as her breath slowly became more ragged. Once she felt the hold on her sufficiently loosened, Nat slipped out of the wolf''s grip. As she did, and the scratching ceased, Maia reached back out for her warm cuddle buddy. Since Nat escaped the spot, the still asleep Maia grasped a few times without purchase, before finally coming in contact with Kali''s prone body. In an almost effortless motion, Kali was slid across the mattress into Maia''s embrace. The whole scene made Nat wish that video cameras still worked, as she wanted to document the entire scene just to replay it over and over. She stood there for a few minutes, doing her best to commit the sight before her to memory.


    Once she felt as though she had enough to never forget the sight, Nat turned out of the tent and headed toward their fire pit. Today was the last time they would be in this location, as they needed to press on. Most of the canines had given birth, with all of the pups now able to open their eyes. All that was left was Seeka, who already agreed not to leave the Soulscape unless they had set up camp already for the night. She did only agree to that when Scout made the same agreement. Hearing that, it was incredibly easy to pressure him into the deal, as he wouldn''t want to be the source of any stress for his pregnant mate. As she came up to the fire pit, three coyotes sat there, yipping back and forth while keeping watch. While she could not understand the yips, Nat had a pretty good idea on what the topic was. After all, the one doing most of the talking was Copper. He had become a doting and caring parent, who had seemingly no filter. Thankfully, his audience most of the time was Lucille and Edwin. Both of them being caring parents, very much understood why he was so obsessed, and had no issues listening to the new father. Though, while Lucille was mainly being polite, Edwin was far more into it. At least, that was if you went by the speed his tail was wagging.


    Sitting between the mated pair of coyotes, Nat got a morning fire started before proceeding to scratch the two behind the ears. She knew that she needed to start with these two, but that was because they would notice immediately if she scratched Copper first. Copper was too far gone in his own world of what his pups had done during the night that he was not liable to notice for a while. And sure enough, it was not until the fire had been crackling for five minutes did he notice her presence. Taking a quick look around, he meekly moved over and laid his head in Natalie''s lap. He rarely communicated with words to Nat, and focused on body language. Probably because he was still struggling with picking up English, and the broken bits he could speak embarrassed him. Realizing his want, she moved her hand from Lucille''s head to his. As soon as her hand was removed, Lucille got up, nuzzled up against Nat for a few seconds before continuing on around to nuzzle against her mate. It was at this point that Natalie was glad that Edwin''s tail was extremely fluffy. The speed that it moved at after Lucille nuzzled up against him increased so much, that it began to have its own motion blur. The repeated swats against Nat''s leg felt as if long grass was constantly dragging across it aggressively.


    Not long after, Shannon came out of her tent and sat down on the other side of the paired coyotes. Following her was Scout and Seeka, still incredibly happy with one another. As Scout went into the Soulscape to grab some food for breakfast, Shannon started giving Lucille''s head some affection. After a few more seconds, food had been brought out for Scout, Seeka, Shannon, and Nat. Seeing that breakfast had been brought out, and more than one person was up, the coyotes bid the group good day before retiring into the Soulscape. Edwin and Lucille nuzzled Nat for a second in thanks for the head scratches, while Copper ran straight in to spend more time with his adorable children. Breakfast was peaceful, with more and more of the pack waking up and joining in. After about twenty minutes, everyone had finally woken up and eaten. Knowing that having more than one would be more useful, Nat got Kali to join Maia in being shifted outside. While it was draining, it was not nearly as bad as when they had first discovered it. Nat was still able to walk, so they could resume their travels post-haste. Taking a few minutes to make sure that there were as minimal traces of their presence left behind, the two women, two shifted wolves, and Sol started heading north once more on Highway Two.


    Huge thanks to my Elder Wolves Jake, Viktor, Nikolas, Saganatsu, Eeleater, Eric, Corgi, Lachlan, Adam, John, Nicholas, Jacob, Onean, Erudual, Hades, Krimson, Neal, Juuso, Sebastian, Sir Hellington, and Kevin for supporting me and my writing! Remember that I keep Patreon ten chapters ahead at all times. Our next goal on Patreon will be getting up to 50 patrons, which I will then spend more time each month writing some side stories and shorts that show other perspectives throughout my stories!


    Feel free to join us all on my Discord! https://discord.gg/b8gRkD4

 Chapter 91

    Walking down the highway, they ended up having to move somewhat slowly for the first fifteen minutes. Kali and Maia were still unused to walking in their shifted forms. Thankfully, the two of them were quick learners, and most of their issues were resolved as they pressed forward. No better way to learn than by doing it, they became a physical embodiment of that saying with their current actions. Where the days prior they had been stumbling about, almost falling over with every movement, now, they became more and more fluid walking as time went on. It was still an awkward set of motions from the two of them, but with Shannon guiding them through and pointing out how and where they could improve was helping them get used to it so much faster. Her work as a physical trainer and physiotherapy was paying dividends right now, helping get the two female wolves moving better with each step. Neither talked back, or argued with Shannon and her directions. If anything, they just kept asking questions, mostly ''why?'' like a toddler who was learning how to walk would. Sol walked by them, paying attention to all the details that Shannon brought up while also doing his best to maintain his vigilance. And Nat was still working on her control of her power.


    The energy felt almost as if it was a mix between electricity and water. It was fast, powerful, and loved to go the way of least resistance, but also flowed and pooled. This was what made it so hard to have a thin and even veil laying underneath her skin. There were some spots that the energy did not want to go, and others where it just wanted to collect and sit. Moving the energy around such spots seemed to be reducing the resistances she had in moving it, probably due to exposure. At this point, she was adequately able to have her entire torso filled in with a layer of energy, but that was about the extent she could manage. When she tried flowing it out into her limbs, she either had some explode out of her skin from lack of control, or it would be stretched too thin and separate, causing a whole new slew of mental strain. The pack oved down the road, all trying to either learn to have better control of their bodies, or pass along knowledge that may help. Shannon had even said some things that helped with Nat''s progression, despite not understanding why.


    After two hours, neither of the wolves felt confident in their ability to fight in the current form, but could tell that they had far greater stamina and strength in it. Unsurprisingly, their quadrupedal form was far superior in terms of speed and agility, but that could just become a matter of time. Without more info, it was hard to tell if the new forms were completely superior, or if it was just in certain areas. Regardless, they were now all on edge as they came across the small town of Stavely. While it had been almost two weeks since they had last entered a town, the last one had left them on a sour note. Remembering what happened to Bryden, all of them steeled their gazes and kept a watchful eye out, both on the buildings and their feet.


    Leading up to the town, it sat on the east side of the highway. Unlike the previous towns though, the highways seemed to split a bit just for the length of the town. One set of lanes ran right beside it, while the other ran a block away from the closest buildings. If they had not been paying close attention to the buildings on the edge of town, the group would have played it safe and went along the outer road. However, one building stood out to both Natalie and Shannon. The building apparently was an auction house, purely for the sale and exchange of livestock. With their current set of resources to hunt and cook, Shannon asked if they could make a quick detour in. Since it sat at the end of a road on the far outside of town, everyone else agreed, so long as they all left at the first sign of trouble. Because while the chances were that all of the animals they may find there would have passed on, the ability to store their dead bodies and have the canines hunt them as a renewable source of food could prove invaluable. After all, different kinds of meat had different effects on health and wellbeing.


    As they approached the auction grounds, the smell of decay and rot flooded the party''s nostrils. Knowing that led to their goal, they followed the scent and walked up onto the grounds. Most of the land was covered with outdoor pens, with a couple barns located here and there. From what they could see, it was all large animals such as horses and cattle outside, leaving the smaller livestock such as chickens and rabbits. The wolves kept a watch for them, doing their best to ignore the smell that was coming from all around them. As far as Nat could see, most of these animals seemed to have died of dehydration. With that most likely happening three weeks ago, the corpses of the farm animals had already started smelling and attracting all kinds of bugs. Nat and Shannon started going around, pen to pen, trying to find other animals they had not gotten yet. There was quite a variety of animals there, giving them the opportunity to get a couple sheep, some pigs, and even some bison. Thankfully, through the help of Bryden and Scout, they confirmed that the animals that were now spawned in the Soulscape were not rotting or decaying, but seemed healthy and looked quite tasty. Once they had went through every outdoor pen, they both walked up to the front door of the barn. Having a good idea on what to expect, they both braced themselves as the wolves took a step back. When everyone was prepared, they opened up the door.


    As the door creaked open, a wave of warmth and pestilence flew out to great them. Leaving the canines outside of the barn, Nat and Shannon made their way inside the barn using spare shirts as an impromptu mask. The barn was filled with chicken coops, rabbit cages, and a couple pens. All were filled, with both their animal occupants and the bugs that were feasting on the decaying flesh. Continuing with the help of Scout, who only stuck a paw out of the Soulscape to make as minimum contact with the foul air that filled the barn, they managed to get some chickens, rabbits, and a couple goats. There was even a turkey in one of the pens, making the new supply potential of meat to grow almost exponentially in size compared to the choices they had before. Once satisfied with their haul, they left the barn as quickly as they could. After all, the shirts could only stop so much of the smell.


    Huge thanks to my Elder Wolves Jake, Viktor, Nikolas, Saganatsu, Eeleater, Eric, Corgi, Lachlan, Adam, John, Nicholas, Jacob, Onean, Erudual, Hades, Krimson, Neal, Juuso, Sebastian, Sir Hellington, and Kevin for supporting me and my writing! Remember that I keep Patreon ten chapters ahead at all times. Our next goal on Patreon will be getting up to 50 patrons, which I will then spend more time each month writing some side stories and shorts that show other perspectives throughout my stories!


    Feel free to join us all on my Discord! https://discord.gg/b8gRkD4

 Chapter 92

    As quick as they could, the five of them quickly left the auction house premises and moved to the far western side of the highway. Sadly, the offending stench of death had traveled with the group, having already become part of the clothes that they wore. That much was clear with how far the canines were standing from the two of them. The concentration and enclosement of the rot inside the barn had been atrocious. Getting the other three to keep a watch out for literally anyone or anything that was making a move, Natalie and Shannon started stripping. As they did, they could not help but leer at one another''s naked forms. As they did, their eyes made contact. Nat''s first reaction was to smirk and lick her lips. As soon as she did, Shannon turned away from her, embarrassed at being stared at so openly. However, her ears gave her away, as the blush that she attempted to hide spread all the way out, turning her ears a stunning red colour.


    Proud of her actions, Nat finished getting all of her now offensive clothing off and into the middle of the highway. There was no point in getting new clothes if the smell was just going to transfer over and continue to be an issue. Helping Shannon by grabbing the disregarded clothes, she built them up to burn quickly and efficiently. As Shannon finished undressing, Natalie lit up the pile of smelling refuse. Quickly, so the smell of smoke would not cover them too much, they moved back towards the west and hung out on the edge of the field. Thankfully, it did not take long for the clothes to take, and within five minutes they had almost completely turned to ash. During those five minutes, the two of them took a shower, doing their best to get as much of the smell out of their hair as humanly possible. This was made possible due to the multitude of motherly canines inside the Soulscape taking care of their new pups. Ash and Luna each stuck out a paw, sending water out in a small but steady stream. Once they were sure that the clothes had burned enough to get rid of any smells of rot, Nat moved the bare minimum distance needed for them to hit the smoldering pile with water.


    Drying off, the two of them quickly got dressed, the slightly chilly spring air causing them to want extra layers for at least part of the afternoon walk. This time, Shannon finished getting dressed first. When Nat took a look over and saw that Shannon was done, her eyes narrowed to a glare as she pulled her pants on. This turned into a mild "Fuck you!" when Shannon returned the same smirk and lip licking that she had given earlier. They both tried to hold serious expressions for a few seconds before breaking into laughter. As Nat finished dressing, the canines came back over to them, moving slowly should the scent from before reappear. When none came up, until there was the barest flicker of the stench only surfacing when they were basically pressing their snout against the two, they were nuzzled by Sol and hugged by Maia and Kali. It was extremely awkward, as they were still overly conscious of the claws that they had on the end of each finger, but it was still a fluffy filled embrace full of warmth.


    At that point, all five were done with the town at this point. They did not want to check to see if anyone was there, nor if there were any monsters. Mostly they just did not care for any unnecessary interaction. Having an easy consensus, the group proceeded to walk north on the highway, resuming their training where it had left off. Nothing felt different to Nat after the whole grabbing of more varied meats, which meant that they probably had no effect on her Soulscape either. This just drove home the idea that the energy, the bonding, and her soul were all connected. Since there was no bond, and no energy in the corpses they acquired, the lack of any immediate growth fell in well within her expectations. If there had been a difference, she would have been more surprised. That would mean yet another thing she was unable to wrap her head around. Now, with careful checking and repeated tests with slightly changing variables, some of the pieces were starting to fall into place.


    The rest of the journey that day was fairly mellow. They passed by what appeared to be a small hamlet, which they found out was named Parkland later after taking a look at their map. It looked small and unassuming as they walked by, nothing grabbing their eyes as they bypassed the area in its entirety. As the sun started to set, they noticed a town on the horizon. Stopping early, they made camp at a small orchard sitting just off the highway on Range Road 281. Camp was made, and Shannon immediately got to butchering and cooking up a lamb that Shadow had nabbed her. While she did that, Shadow got his payment for the deed from Natalie. He had been practicing and watching the advice that Shannon had been giving to the two wolves that were outside and shifted. As thanks for grabbing the meat, he came out of the Soulscape shifted. Apparently, walking in the Soulscape on two legs was far easier than walking around in the real world. It was almost as if it was assisting them with how to walk while they were there. Given Nat''s soul had plenty of experience walking on two legs, that did not come as a great surprise.


    Now, during the journey, Maia and Kali had become so good at walking that they were only being criticized once a half hour at the end, and usually for the same thing. To them, this meant that they had become experts of the form. While Shadow did his best to get his feet under him, the two women started throwing critiques at him, pointing out what he was doing wrong, and even trying to physically adjust his posture. However, they were basically assistants now to Shannon, as she would keep an ear on them and correct their errors when heard, or comment on how the posture would help down the road. This was both a good and bad thing. Good, in the sense that Shadow got better at walking on two legs at a much faster rate. The bad side was that he almost driven to the point of tearing his fur out with the constant critiques coming from the two wolves. However, he was saved by the bell, almost literally. Just as he was about to snap, Shannon made the call that dinner was ready, fresh blood still running down the leg of the table she butchered the lamb on.


    Huge thanks to my Elder Wolves Jake, Viktor, Nikolas, Saganatsu, Eeleater, Eric, Corgi, Lachlan, Adam, John, Nicholas, Jacob, Onean, Erudual, Hades, Krimson, Neal, Juuso, Sebastian, Sir Hellington, and Kevin for supporting me and my writing! Remember that I keep Patreon ten chapters ahead at all times. Our next goal on Patreon will be getting up to 50 patrons, which I will then spend more time each month writing some side stories and shorts that show other perspectives throughout my stories!


    Feel free to join us all on my Discord! https://discord.gg/b8gRkD4

 Chapter 93

    As they gathered around to eat, the delicious smell of roasted lamb filled the air. Shannon had ended up making a lamb roast, which was cooked alongside a bunch of miniature potatoes. As was the case with most meats that Shannon had cooked up in the past few weeks, it was cooked rare. It was mostly still really juicy, but had a nicely seared outside, giving it a solid and meaty crunch as you bit into it. As it was duplicated to an extravagant regard for the wargs, everyone started to dig in. The lamb was not a small size thankfully, leading to it being the perfect size of a roast for a single wolf, when added with the potatoes. No one spoke or made excess noise throughout dinner, leaving only the sound of flapping jaws to be heard among one''s own eating. Seeing everyone so singularly focused on her food, Shannon felt pride well up inside of her. She had felt particularly useless in the fight that critically wounded Bryden two weeks prior, and was glad to feel like she was able to take care of her new family. They had accepted her in as one of their own readily, but it was hard for her to accept it immediately. Thankfully, the last two weeks had helped show her how much she was cared for by everyone present. Holding back more tears of joy, she dug into the lamb roast herself.


    Just by looking at Shannon, Natalie could tell her partners current feelings fairly accurately. However, she felt it would be a poor idea to bring up or point out right now. Though not because it would have much effect on Shannon''s recovery. If it was brought up to the canines that Shannon still felt distant and as if she was an outsider, she was more afraid for Shannon''s physical wellbeing. The most likely scenario was that they would pile on top of her to make her feel as loved as they could. And as every dog thought they were a lap dog no matter their size, they tended to get a bit reckless. Having someone as heavy as Sol jumping onto a woman who was not even six feet tall was just a recipe for disaster. Instead, she kept the feeling of happiness from her dearest friend''s recovery progressing along. It was not as if there was anything she could do to speed it up, after all everyone had their own schedule for healing. Hers would only move as fast as it could, and all that Natalie and her pack of canines could do to help was just to be by her, supporting her as she started trying to walk on her own once more. It felt slightly crushing not being able to help in a more definitive way, but sometimes a helping hand could cause more pain then good.


    As the pack finished up their food, most just lay down on the grass where they were, completely full and satisfied. There were only three who did not join in on just basking in the moment of being pleasantly stuffed. Edwin, Lucille, and Copper had already taken their post, keeping watch while their tails wagged from their enjoyment of the meal. It was a bit cloudier tonight, so the stars were only visible here and there as they peeked through the layer of clouds. That mixed the warmth from the dying fire beside them however, left the entire area feeling warm and cozy. The fact that the three coyotes were able to resist to the comforting atmosphere of the camp just showed how serious and focused the group came to be about jobs and tasks. When they could, fooling around happened regularly, but as soon as things were moving, it was precision focus on the task at hand. It was not until the embers of what remained of the fire started to dim that the entire group moved to the tents, feeling the need to sleep coming on. Bidding each other a good night, Shan and Nat went to their tents, that were sitting a bit closer together than they had previously. It took a few minutes for them to get comfy, but the warmth of the humanoid Maia and Kali that cuddled up to Nat soothed her into a quick sleep.


    When her eyes next opened, Nat realized that she was once again in the dream world. Bits of mist floated about, as she was back in the forest clearing that she had not been in for so long. Forgetting which direction was which, she picked one at random and started moving. These usually had a message to show her, or things to worry about. She walked for what felt like hours past an unchanging forest landscape, until she came to the end of the woods. What greeted her was a familiar cityscape looming above. While the buildings looked more like ruins, cracked and desiccated, they still were the sights she remembered seeing from here years in post-secondary. The Calgary cityscape of down town felt so reminiscent, and filled her with both nostalgia and worry. Most times she had these visions, they had shown a darker future than one might wish. As if to prove her right, a roar came up behind her. Turning around, she saw a horde of monsters approaching her from numerous city blocks away. Gobs, hobs, orcs, ogres, and one more form were moving in almost unison. The final one she had not seen before, but it had to have been three times her height, judging by its comparison to the ogres beside it.


    Remembering the last dream she had, she tried to call on the energy inside of her to shift into her hybrid form. However, the power inside of her refused to respond to her will, as if it was being beaten down and kept repressed. Looking around for an alternative, she saw her bow and numerous quivers of arrows laying at her side. Picking them up quickly, she nocked an arrow as fast as she could before letting it fly in the oncoming horde''s general direction. It went clean through two goblins before it got caught in a hob. Arrow after arrow was sent down the street, dispatching the smaller monsters with ease, and even one of the shots getting lucky and landing in an orc''s eye. Her next shot put the fear of death in her, as it hit the biggest monster in the group. The arrow did not even leave a mark, instead bouncing off the chest of the monster with a ding, as if it had hit a metal sheet. The monster looked down at where the arrow had hit, then tilted his head up slowly as a smile crept over his face. With a louder roar than before, he started running straight at Natalie.


    Huge thanks to my Elder Wolves Jake, Viktor, Nikolas, Saganatsu, Eeleater, Eric, Corgi, Lachlan, Adam, John, Nicholas, Jacob, Onean, Erudual, Hades, Krimson, Neal, Juuso, Sebastian, Sir Hellington, and Kevin for supporting me and my writing! Remember that I keep Patreon ten chapters ahead at all times. Our next goal on Patreon will be getting up to 50 patrons, which I will then spend more time each month writing some side stories and shorts that show other perspectives throughout my stories!


    Feel free to join us all on my Discord! https://discord.gg/b8gRkD4

 Chapter 94

    Frantically, Natalie started sending arrow after arrow toward the giant creature. However, it mostly shrugged off the arrows that she sent its way. His roar sounding more and more like a laugh. Some of the arrows did find purchase however with the monsters running beside him, as the ricochets veered and luckily impales a few goblins in the head. As she finally reached toward the quiver and found no more arrows, the behemoth was now only half a block away, with no signs of any sort of wounds. Fear now taking up her mind, Nat dropped her bow to turn and run. Or at least she tried to. Her feet felt stuck in place, unwilling to move from that spot. The sound of the bow hitting the ground and tumbling away was completely overshadowed by the sound of the monster. When it came within ten meters, it jumped towards her, lifting both of its arms overhead to smash her to paste with the momentum it was building. Forcing her eyes shut, Nat waited for the pain from that monster slamming her into the pavement.


    Instead of feeling pain, a gust of air rushed by her as a multitude of sounds came by her. The sound of the monster landing in front of her, the sound of something being caught, and two pairs of rough and ragged breathing. Wait, two pairs? Opening her eyes, she was face to face with the monstrosity, which looked like a larger version of the troll in that one series. Given that the one in question was a baby, this had to be a full-grown troll. Easily standing at fifteen feet tall, its eyes burned down on Natalie as if he wanted nothing more than to kill her. This was when she noticed why it hadn''t yet. Both of its hands were held just a few feet above her head by large pairs of hands. Feeling that her feet let her turn around, she came face to face with the second creature breathing raggedly. An eight-foot-tall gorilla loomed over her, holding both of the arms of a being twice its size in place. The strangest thing about it, was that unlike any gorilla she had seen before, it had four arms. All of them were large, imposing, and you could see the muscles rippling underneath the layer of hair covering them. However, its eyes were not looking down at Natalie at all, instead focusing on the troll in front of it, and they were burning with hate.


    What happened next shocked Natalie to the core. The mutated gorilla threw the arms of the troll out to the side, before hitting it quick with some one-two jabs. Staggering backwards, the troll struggled to keep up with the faster pace of the gorilla. Faster than she could see, the ape had moved up close to the troll and drew back one of his right arms, holding his other three in a blocking formation. Then, before he swung the punch forward, green energy flowed out of the gorilla, creating a boxing mitt on the outside of its fist. From then on, everything went in slow motion. The ape let his punch fly, the green mitt travelling with it as it headed straight towards the centre of the troll''s wide-open chest. As it made contact, the energy finally left the fist, shooting straight through the torso of the monster. After the arm was pulled back in for a block, the damage was clear to see. A hole, clearly in the shape of the gorilla''s fist, went straight through the monster''s chest. It stumbled back a few more steps, grasping at the hole that was left, before collapsing on its back dead. When it fell, all of the other monsters took one look between the dead troll and the mutated gorilla, before running away as fast as they could.


    When the last monster ran away, the gorilla finally collapsed down onto one knee. It had stood upright while the monster looked on, using two of its arms to brace itself on the ground while the other two beat on its chest. The display was clearly meant to intimidate the others away, as it was too weak to fight anymore. Using the energy externally like that must have been exhausting, but it definitely proved to be worth it. The monster that she could not even scratch with arrows was taken down in a single hit. Before she could move up to make sure the gorilla was alright, white fog billowed out from every direction and consumed the scene before her. By the time she opened her mouth, it encompassed her fully, warmly carrying her mind drifting back into nothingness.


    When her eyes opened next, the barest glimpse of sunlight was peeking through her tent. Setting up the door to face the east helped have the sun be a proper alarm clock, especially when there were no other reliable alternatives. However, the other issue she was running into a lot recently was an inability to move in the morning. And as of late, it had been harder and harder to leave her bed. The twin cuddles from both Maia and Kali were warm and fluffy, but just a bit suffocating. Their faces were positioned next to hers, and their fur and ears draped over hers, almost completely blocking her vision. All that came through was the light of the rising sun, and even that barely. However, the dream in the night before left her with a few ideas. She just lay there and basked in the warmth of the two wolves hugging her either side while she sorted through everything that she could remember from the dream.


    After she had finally got everything planned out in her mind, she lifted her arms as much as she could and started scratching the backs of the wolves that lay on top of her limbs. While it was difficult at first, they both eventually rolled back subconsciously to try and get the scratches in the best spot. However, Natalie''s arms were still pinned and she was unable to break free this time. Thinking for a second, she tried to come up with the best way to get free. Her idea turned out to be a huge success, waking the two and letting her free. It was a classic strategy, where if you could not beat an opponent by yourself, get reinforcements so that you can beat them in numbers. And there was no better way to wake up a mother wolf than to have those reinforcements be their own children!


    Huge thanks to my Elder Wolves Jake, Viktor, Nikolas, Saganatsu, Eeleater, Eric, Corgi, Lachlan, Adam, John, Nicholas, Jacob, Onean, Erudual, Hades, Krimson, Neal, Juuso, Sebastian, Sir Hellington, and Kevin for supporting me and my writing! Remember that I keep Patreon ten chapters ahead at all times. Our next goal on Patreon will be getting up to 50 patrons, which I will then spend more time each month writing some side stories and shorts that show other perspectives throughout my stories!


    Feel free to join us all on my Discord! https://discord.gg/b8gRkD4

 Chapter 95

    Natalie walked out of the tent with two less than pleased wolves following her. Their pups were now quite sizable, and very unaccustomed to how much weight they had to throw around now. This meant that they still had the nasty habit of jumping up on you when they wanted attention. And while Natalie called for them to help her get up, she herself was not safe from the sheer vitality and energy that was present in the pups. There was sure to be a bruise on her stomach later, but it was totally worth it. Quickly, she ran off to the bushes on the side to take care of business. While the pups still bounced around them, Maia and Kali walked up and checked with the coyotes how the night went. Spirit was becoming exceptionally large for a wolf pup, almost matching Edwin in size now. However, Spirit never tried to push boundaries with any of the more mature pack members. As a whole, they had become a very close family, and all of the group gave respect out in spades to one another. Probably the reason that Edwin had no issues talking or dealing with Spirit, and even seemed to be quite happy as he did. None of his pups were able to talk nearly as much with him, but that sort of fell upon him, and his lack of any sort of communication skills. With at least three in the pack that talked to him and understood him, he never felt unwanted though. Some of the other canines were even making an effort to get to understand him better, as they were trying to with everyone.


    As Natalie came back from her morning relief, she saw that the night lookouts were talking with Maia and Kali. Well, at least with Lucille. The final one, Copper, was still keeping a watchful eye out on the horizon. Assuming that everything was fine, as they would probably say something otherwise, she headed straight for the fire pit to get it started. Thankfully, it was still nice and dry, so the firewood sitting beside the pit was still nice and usable. It took a couple minutes, but once the fire got started, it was a quick and easy thing to get it to build up. By the time that Shannon got up and came out of the tent, the fire was raring to go and the metal sheet that they used to grill on was in position. "Morning," Shannon said, still sleepy, "any breakfast requests?"


    "Morning hun. And I am not too picky, maybe eggs today?" Upon hearing Natalie''s idea, Shannon thought for a second, before making a list of what she needed from the Soulscape and dictating it towards Scout. When she believed she had thought of everything she needed, Scout bolted forwards and into Nat. Seconds later, Scouts paw came out with a table, followed by ingredient after ingredient. And everything would have fit on the table, had Shannon not made a request for meat. With a loud thud, a dead pig dropped out and onto the ground, surprising everyone but Seeka and Shannon. As soon as it came out, Shannon got to work butchering up the back. While others would look at them skeptically, the draw of back bacon to a Canadian was almost irresistible. Cutting and grilling that up, she mixed it up with some scrambled eggs, some peppers, and a fair chunk of cheese. The smell itself was divine, and almost instantly a large group had gathered, patiently waiting for the chef to finish her work.


    Having once again made a large batch, it was stored and brought out numerous times by her two assistants. That was all followed by silence. Well, as silent as it could be with a fire raging and a bunch of predators devouring a ridiculous amount of scrambled eggs. And other than Nat and Shannon, all of them were messy and noisy eaters. The sheer delight on the faces of the canines as they ate her cooking elated Shannon''s mood immensely, getting her all fired up for the day.


    Maia and Kali planned to stay out once more, but Bryden planned on joining them for the trek today. Once he was finished eating, he bounced in and out of the Soulscape, leaving enough time for Nat to put the veil of energy up and let him know where to exit. He was still one of the more awkward of the group when it came to walking on two legs, but he felt confident that he could learn relatively quick with three teachers watching his every move. As long as he did not get too irritated with them first as Shadow had. Still, after seeing the other male wolf''s improvement after that session of criticism, he almost begged to be the one to join them on the next day. The feeling of falling behind was not one that he enjoyed, and this would be his chance to catch up and surpass both Shadow, but also Sol. Both of them had the step on him.


    Cleanup this day took longer than expected, as bits of egg had flown everywhere. Messy eaters plus such a loose food proved to be disastrous. While both Natalie and Shannon were glad that it was not spaghetti, their minds could not help but imagine the sight of a bunch of canines trying to eat the thin pasta as it was covered with sauce. Sharing a look, they both knew what the plan for dinner that night was. It was going to be tasty; it was going to be messy; it was going to be so worth it. When their impromptu camp was finally cleaned up and left in a comparable state to how they found it, all of the other canines disappeared inside the Soulscape, either to spend the day with their mates, or to work on improvements. Either in the area of their attempt to farm, or in working on getting all of the pups more used to the idea of learning how to hunt and fight as a group. Meanwhile, the journey north continued, with training and a bit more shouting than what had been normal.


    Huge thanks to my Elder Wolves Jake, Viktor, Nikolas, Saganatsu, Eeleater, Eric, Corgi, Lachlan, Adam, John, Nicholas, Jacob, Onean, Erudual, Hades, Krimson, Neal, Juuso, Sebastian, Sir Hellington, and Kevin for supporting me and my writing! Remember that I keep Patreon ten chapters ahead at all times. Our next goal on Patreon will be getting up to 50 patrons, which I will then spend more time each month writing some side stories and shorts that show other perspectives throughout my stories!


    Feel free to join us all on my Discord! https://discord.gg/b8gRkD4

 Chapter 96

    Hey everyone, just wanting to poll everyone quickly, but would announcing on my discord as to when new chapters get posted be appreciated? If you could please let me know down below, that would be great!


    It took them about thirty minutes before they came up to the entrance of Nanton. However, as soon as they saw it, Natalie ushered them all into the ditch as quick as they could. Sitting across the road in was a large barricade, covered in signs. Sending some energy to her eyes, Natalie did her best to enhance her vision. However, except for in the Soulscape she had not practised with zooming her vision in. Slowly, they slunk along the roadside, keeping as low as they could until they could make anything out. It was not until they reached the intersection that sat just outside that Natalie could make out the writing. From there, it was about half a kilometer away from the barricade, and it did not look good. The writing all looked as if it was done with blood, though hopefully it was just read paint done sloppily. Thought the signs varied with what was said cross them all, the message they all conveyed was a clear one. ''Go away, we don''t have any supplies for anyone else. People who ignore these warnings shall be shot on sight.'' What added to the whole scene was a number of dead bodies and pools of black blood.


    Before any of the pack moved, bushes on the other side of the road rustled loudly. Keeping low to the ground, they peered over to see what the movement was. As they watched, a Man came up and out of the bushes, and started walking straight towards the barricade. From the look of him, he had to have been travelling for a while. He looked dehydrated, malnourished, and was starting to get scruffy. His eyes solely focused on the barricade, and did not even turn to notice his surroundings. His walk had an unsteady gait, probably coming from the large blood spot on his pants. Parts of him were covered with dried black goo, and he looked truly downtrodden. As he got close enough to read the signs, than man started shouting out, "Help me! Please! I am hurt and hungry, and I just want to live!" He repeated this over and over, slowly gathering hope more and more in his voice.


    That voice was cut horribly short, as after he got close enough to the barricade, the sound of a crossbow rang out from it. The next thing everyone knew, the man staggered back a few steps, clutching his chest, before falling to the ground in a crumpled heap. As the man lay there dead, and the pack stared on at the sight, the crossbow rang out once more. This time, his head blossomed open, with red mist shooting up and around the corpse. While Nat understood why they did it, as the zombies were a stubborn pain, it did not make the act any less gruesome or revolting. For their own friends and family, it was now clear that the people behind that barricade were more than willing to kill to ensure their safety. Taking the warning at face value, the group unanimously decided that going through town was not a great idea. Not in the slightest.


    Slowly and carefully, they all moved westward, keeping behind the ditch as much as they could to keep out of view of the barricade. All of them figured they would be fine, but Natalie knew what a crossbow was like. While it would only be accurate up to about a hundred meters or so, they could shoot farther than five hundred meters. All it took was one stray shot and it could be lights out for any of them. She did not want to take that risk with her family against a weapon that the church had banned at one point for being to deathly efficient. As they walked down the road, no more signs of barricades were seen anywhere else in the town. They had probably limited the size of it so they could better protect everyone. Thankfully for them, there was good chances that the largest enemy they would see here was a Hob, just going off of similarly sized towns they had already passed.


    Shannon had everyone take a turn up 26th Avenue. This way they were now heading northwards once more. The lack of barricades seen had given everyone faith that they would not run into any more people on this side of town. However, as they walked down the street, signs of looting and destruction were prevalent everywhere. Houses were broken into, cars were torn apart for scraps, and even churches had been picked clean for barricade supplies. While they traveled through the town, no one made any attempts to practice or make noise. The locals clearly were not happy to have anyone else here, so they all kept their perception up, so as to not tip off anyone that they were even here. Far better to avoid conflict rather than fight constantly and have another one of their family get hurt.


    After twenty minutes, they finally reached the northern side of Nanton. As the group got back onto the main highway and made some distance between them and the town, they all let out a collective sigh of relief. In most towns they had gone through, something always happened to them. This being one of the few times where they got in and out without hassle had a slight chance of being the last time that this would happen. Looking ahead, they all carried on along the road, slowly working into their practice and training the farther away they got from the town. The three ''personal trainers'' only really got into harshly and loudly critiquing Bryden''s walking form when they felt as though they would not be heard from anyone. And as it turned out, they had taken notes on what he did as they moved through Nanton. The notes were hitting him so hard and fast that he was completely unable to keep up with what the three women were telling him to do. Nat just giggled at the sight, before focusing on her own practice with the energy inside her while.


    Huge thanks to my Elder Wolves Jake, Selvaria, Viktor, Nikolas, Saganatsu, Eeleater, Eric, Corgi, Lachlan, Adam, John, Nicholas, Jacob, Onean, Erudual, Hades, Krimson, Neal, Juuso, Sebastian, Sir Hellington, and Kevin for supporting me and my writing! Remember that I keep Patreon ten chapters ahead at all times. Our next goal on Patreon will be getting up to 50 patrons, which I will then spend more time each month writing some side stories and shorts that show other perspectives throughout my stories!


    Feel free to join us all on my Discord! https://discord.gg/b8gRkD4

 Chapter 97

    The rest of the day proved to be uneventful for the pack. Most of the time, it was not quiet in the slightest. Maia and Kali had fun with making sure that Bryden learned as fast as he could. They were just quite vocal about the areas he needed to improve. Shannon had worked to get better at navigating, so they would not have to rely on only Natalie to know where they had to go. Thus, a lot of her time was spent reading a map to follow their current course. She was getting better at it, but still had to ask questions to Natalie on a fairly regular basis. Otherwise the only thing she did was correct the two female wolves whenever they made a wrong statement. That happened very rarely though. As for Bryden, he was improving at an astronomical rate. Though the look on his face and his grunts of frustration showed that it was more to try and get the two women off his back. They were persistent, and insisted to make sure that he was getting better, but their smiles betrayed how much fun they were having, making him only get that much more infuriated with his current situation.


    Meanwhile Natalie was working hard on diversifying the range of her abilities. She had not been able to make nearly as much progress compared to the week off, but it was not due to lack of effort. Each day, the amount of reward she got for her efforts was diminishing, and her skill with it was hardly improving. Something was missing from having her progress further, be it just a time element, or if she needed to grow in a certain way first. She spent all of their time on the highway just working on enhancing her vision with the energy. Using her medical knowledge, she experimented with injecting her power into the individual parts of her eye. While most parts did not seem to provide any noticeable changes, there were two that stood out. When she infused the lens of her eyes, the distance she could see improved greatly. The more she put in, the further her view magnified, allowing her to see quite far into the distance. However, the drain it imposed on her also increased with the higher levels of energy infusion. If she instead infused her energy towards her pupil, it would apply a sort of filter over her vision. This one did not feel draining in the slightest, but it was what allowed her to see the energy both inside and what came off from her surroundings. The wolves and plants around her all gave off the same green energy as she had always seen, and the road gave off miniscule amounts of the black mist. Was this due to them being unnatural?


    Nothing of interest stood out to them as they travelled. Apparently, they had passed a town that sit further west, but only Nat was able to clearly make it out at that distance. They would not have even noticed it if not for Shannon''s focus on the map. Eventually, they came up to a sign that stated they were about to come up to High River. With where the sun sat in the sky, they all agreed to stop for the night before reaching the town. Moving through a town as the sun set and night fell felt like a dangerous idea. So much so that Shannon was quite adamant about her dislike of the unneeded risk. Thankfully, everyone agreed with her readily on the subject. They had already witnessed death once before today, they had no desire to see it again so soon.


    They quickly found a farmhouse that sat beside the road, and made sure that it was all clear before starting to set up their camp. However, there were tracks that lead through the camp this time, mostly hob and gob tracks seemed to mill about, but all of them led out of the property. After making sure that the coyote team knew what they had seen, everyone started to relax and settle into their nightly practices. Tonight, Seeka was Shannon''s main helper while Scout got his first go at walking upright. He probably had the most ease at first compared to everyone else, though that was probably due to the fact that he had spent more time around people than any other canine in the group. When this happened though, Bryden let out a loud sigh of relief, as Maia and Kali''s sights had shifted to a new target. They were having difficulty critiquing Bryden and his ability as they came upon the end of their travelling, and quickly got into it with poor Scout, not holding any of their views back. Throughout all of this, Seeka just watched on with mirth, satisfied to see the cute little worrywart of hers get pushed through his paces.


    Dinner ended up being some pork chops, with some potatoes on the side for all of the adults. Feeling that their training had been slacking recently, the pups were all made to go hunt for their meals. However, they could no longer hunt in groups. This time, they were now solo hunting, and it had varied levels of success. Some of them were too used to being the distraction, and made far too much noise. Spirit was exceptionally notable in this regard, scaring off not just his prey, but the prey of two others due to his excessive energy. However, they were saved by the ones who did well. Rogue seemed to be so good at disappearing, her name was becoming the most fitting. They never knew she had finished hunting till she was already back among the group, digging into her fresh meat. She was growing up to be exceptional as a huntress, as most of the females were. Ares was the only male wolf who successfully hunted on his own, but Bob and Joe were taken pity on, due to Spirit''s behaviour. This was going to become the norm though, and eventually all of them would be able to hopefully act as the murderous predators that they descended from.


    Before going to bed, Natalie made sure to try and train as much as possible, exhausting herself just outside her tent. However, this time she did not train alone. Shannon started moving through some forms, working on getting back into a better shape for martial arts. With everything that she had seen and heard from Natalie, the ability to control one''s body freely would most likely be a boon once she had her own bonded partners in crime. She was so into it; she did not notice any of the times that Natalie had gotten distracted and just watched her move and exert herself until she had finally finished. When both were exhausted, they each retreated to their own tents, each heavily blushing at the whole thing. Thankfully, at least to their minds, sleep came fast and both were snoring quickly, dreaming about one another.


    Huge thanks to my Elder Wolves Selvaria, Viktor, Saganatsu, Eeleater, Eric, Lachlan, Adam, John, Nicholas, Jacob, Onean, Erudual, Hades, Krimson, Neal, Juuso, Sebastian, Sir Hellington, and Kevin for supporting me and my writing! Remember that I keep Patreon ten chapters ahead at all times. Our next goal on Patreon will be getting up to 50 patrons, which I will then spend more time each month writing some side stories and shorts that show other perspectives throughout my stories!


    Feel free to join us all on my Discord! https://discord.gg/b8gRkD4

 Chapter 98

    Hey guys, I decided to open a sort of mini challenge. This is completely free to enter, and is limited on a per site basis. Rules are simple, you are limited to one entry, and you MUST DM me the answer. Comments on chapters will not be accepted. This is to let three people per site put in a name for the story. These have to be normal names, nothing like usernames will be allowed. They will be worked into the story naturally, when it feels natural to me to put in new characters with names. The objective is simple though, in my mind. Natalie''s journey has taken her about a quarter of the way across the province. To be able to win the prize of naming a character that is coming up, all you have to do is DM me what day it currently is at this chapter release. For SH, RR, and my $1 patrons, this means what day is it in Chap 98, $5 patrons have chapter 103, and $10 patrons have 108. I have been keeping track of the day this entire time, and figured it works good for a small contest. Best of luck, and may the lucky win!


    The sun woke up Natalie once more. This time, getting out of bed proved to be far easier than night prior, but she still had to wrench her arms free of Maia and Kali''s grasp. Either their bodies subconsciously learned their lesson from the puppy assault, or they just did not end up cuddling with her as aggressively. Regardless, it meant she was able to get up and head out of the tent when she woke up. While she had enjoyed the past two weeks of just cuddling with the two in the morning, Natalie had something she needed to do today before they headed out. Leaving the tent, she was surprised by what she saw. While there were no signs otherwise in their camp, the three coyotes who kept the vigil throughout the night had spots of their bodies that were covered with dried black goo. With worry on her face, she rushed over to the three, and began checking them all over for any injuries. While they raised some minor protests, none of them actively tried to stop her from searching them. When no injuries were apparent, Nat finally sat down with a large sigh of relief. Once she composed herself, she looked up to the three coyotes in front of her, "So, please explain to me what happened while we all slept."


    Lucille took a few minutes to Fill Nat in. Apparently, there were goblin stragglers that were walking around in the area all throughout the night. So as to not exhaust themselves, they each took turns heading out and picking one off before returning. Doing this, while leaving minimal tracks behind, had apparently let them pick off close to a dozen goblins in eight hours while being completely undetected. Hearing that they were being properly careful so that the pack did not fall into danger, Natalie could not help but praise the group this time. They had prioritised their well-being, while also dealing with potential threats. As thanks, she offered to take over for them and give them a light massage for their efforts. Copper was fine without the massage though, and immediately rushed inside to the Soulscape to be with his mate. Edwin and Lucille both took her up on her offer though, and got their heads scratched for five minutes before disappearing themselves to get ready to oversee the pups as they did their hunt for breakfast.


    Now that she was free of worry for her lookouts, Natalie now turned to what she had to do this morning. One by one, starting with Tin, she got the new mothers to come out of the Soulscape with their newborn pups. While this would not necessarily be an issue with how the Soulscape now worked, she still wanted to maintain what she knew from veterinary school. The pups were now hitting the four-week-old mark, going by the time acceleration of the Soulscape. At this point was the usual time that brand new puppies were brought to veterinarians for their first exams. While she suspected that they should be fine, she did not want to take chances with her now tremendously large family. For the next two hours, Natalie individually checked on every single pup that was now starting to be weaned off their mother''s milk. The whole process consisted of two things, checking for any sign of worms or infection, and making sure that all of them were developing properly, such as starting to grow their teeth in and developing a healthy coat.


    True enough, as she got to the last pup, no issues were found health wise for any of the young. While this was strange, as many canines were usually born with some sort of worms present, none were found. While Natalie suspected that was due to the nature of the Soulscape that boosted the health of the bonded within, there was no solid evidence as of yet. Therefore, she felt the need to treat this as she normally did before the hole change. That meant that there would be weekly checkups for each and every pup, where they would get dewormed. Starting next week would be the first round of vaccines as well. Thankfully, she knew that she had a good stock of both the 4-in-1 vaccine as well as the rabies shot. This was going to be a busy next few weeks for her, but to her there was no better way to spend her time.


    Getting up as Luna took the last of her pups inside, she noticed that everyone else was already moving around camp, starting to clean up and get organized. Noticing that her lover had finished what she had been up to, Shannon brought over a plate full of food and passed it over to Natalie. She had apparently made up breakfast burritos today, and the smell coming off of them was divine. Not waiting for a moment, she started scoffing down the offering of food. She only paused when she heard Shannon giggle, to which she just looked up at her for a second, before winking and continuing to eat. She returned to the food so fast that she did not even notice the blush that covered Shannon''s face due to her actions, nor the smile that crept up her cheeks.


    Once she was done eating, she realized that everyone was good to go, other than one. After Shadow quickly shifted to the more humanoid form, they set back out on the road once more. However, it seems that the coyotes work had indeed not gone unnoticed. As they came up to the overpass that went off Highway 2 and into High river, they saw a sight that chilled their bones. Coming both from the town as well as the highway from the north, was a large horde of monsters. There had to be over a hundred, and while it was mostly goblins, there were still numerous hobs and even a few orcs leading the groups. Making a split-second decision, Natalie directed everyone to head west across the field beside them, and hope that they would not be spotted as they made a break for the hotel on the other side. After all, this was far more monsters than there were in Claresholm, and they did not feel that their luck would hold a second time.


    Huge thanks to my Elder Wolves Selvaria, Viktor, Saganatsu, Eeleater, Eric, Lachlan, Adam, John, Nicholas, Jacob, Onean, Erudual, Hades, Krimson, Neal, Juuso, Sebastian, Sir Hellington, and Kevin for supporting me and my writing! Remember that I keep Patreon ten chapters ahead at all times. Our next goal on Patreon will be getting up to 50 patrons, which I will then spend more time each month writing some side stories and shorts that show other perspectives throughout my stories!


    Feel free to join us all on my Discord! https://discord.gg/b8gRkD4

 Chapter 99

    Well, my challenge is well underway. already I have had one person message me with the correct date. that means there are only eight spots left in total. I am excited to see what some of you decide to name some characters! hope you all enjoy the story!


    None of them spared a glance towards the nearby hordes, focusing purely on the goal in front of them. However, as they ran, the distance was proving to be farther than it initially seemed. And while Maia, Shadow, and Kali had all gotten far better at moving on two legs, they were stumbling trying to keep up a fast pace. Silently, Natalie directed each of them back into the Soulscape, as they were at risk of not just alerting the monsters to where they were, but also of hurting themselves. Now, because all they needed was a solid burst of speed, Sol was called out. While they were making alright time getting across, every second spent out in the open was a chance of them being seen by a single goblin. As quick as she could, Natalie mounted up on Sol. Turning around, she reached her hand outwards to Shannon. Indecision plagued her face, and she held off for a few seconds before she grasped the hand of her partner. Natalie quickly pulled her up and sat Shannon behind her. Without letting go of her hand, Natalie wrapped that hand around her midsection as fast as she could. That may have been the only thing that held Shannon on top of the warg, as Sol started sprinting towards cover as soon as Shannon was mounted up on his back.


    Within a minute, they were behind the hotel. As soon as they stopped, Shannon disengaged herself and collapsed against the wall. She had started to hyperventilate part of the way over, but their overall safety took priority right now. As Shannon regained her state of mind, and Sol caught his breath, Natalie took a look out at the horde from the corner of the building. From the look of things, the orcs were redirecting the monsters, shifting their path towards where she had changed out her canine companions. However, some of the stubborn hobs and gobs kept moving in their original direction. Did this mean that the larger the monster, the more sensitive it was to her energy? It was looking to be a viable theory, but not one she actively wanted to test. Maybe if they met some loner goblins out on the road, but inside a town was too dangerous of an idea. She even decided to put circulating the energy inside of her on hold, in case that was also able to be sensed. Thankfully, they were not seen directly, as the orcs had been in the middle of the group. As long as they moved on, it was unlikely that they would be found by the monsters they had just avoided. And given how many were there, she expected that there may only be a few stragglers left in town.


    Turning back now that she was more confident of their safety, Natalie walked over and sat down against an abandoned car a few meters away from Shannon. It had been a few weeks since Nat had saved her from Lethbridge, and she was making great strides in her recovery. However, this was not contact when Shannon was ready, but more out of a necessity. She could only hope it did not adversely affect her partner''s recovery, as that could have just as easily pulled open the wound and aggravated the situation. When she saw that Shannon had finally regulated her breathing and seemed to be in a better state of mind, Natalie decided to confront the issue instead of deftly avoiding it. Standing up, she walked over to Shannon, stopped a meter in front of her, and bowed her head. "I am sorry for forcing you into that situation. I do still want to take it at your pace, as your health and happiness mean a lot to me. I knew it was a bad idea when I basically forced you into that close contact with me, but I also do not regret what I did. Do you forgive me?"


    Natalie stayed standing with her head bowed, not daring to raise it until she heard her answer. Shannon waited a minute, thinking things through, before finally replying, "I am not mad. It was the best option we could take, and we are able to live. I would have been madder if you had left it as is and got us into even more trouble. However, I will need a bit to process all of my feeling, so my forgiveness will have to wait until then."


    Tears of joy had started falling from Natalie''s face. "Thank god", she cried out over and over again. She did not know what she would have done if that had driven a wedge in between the two of them. Wiping her face clear, she stood up straight and did her best to hold back any more tears. They were out of the frying pan, but still beside the fire. They had to move so that the monsters that were now swarming into the field behind them did not pick up any smells or tracks before they could consider themselves safe. All three of them got up and started heading west, as Shannon pulled out her map. However, what she saw was not promising. There was only one bridge that crossed the Highwood River, and it was right in the middle of town. With the number of monsters that they passed; they felt the need to move fast. Should they pull back into the town, it would be bad times? for their pack.


    Not wanting to get trapped in the maze of the suburbs, the three went forward along the south side of Highway 2A. None of the other canines came out, now that they knew them moving in and out were able to be detected. Every place of business they passed showed signs of looting however, especially the grocery store by the traffic circle that they needed to turn into town at. They did not bother going and investigating, as they did not want the extra weight nor chance the monsters detecting them storing stuff into the Soulscape. Thus, they forged onwards, and deeper into the town of High River.


    Huge thanks to my Elder Wolves Selvaria, Viktor, Saganatsu, Eeleater, Eric, Lachlan, Adam, John, Nicholas, Jacob, Onean, Erudual, Hades, Krimson, Neal, Juuso, Sebastian, Sir Hellington, and Kevin for supporting me and my writing! Remember that I keep Patreon ten chapters ahead at all times. Our next goal on Patreon will be getting up to 50 patrons, which I will then spend more time each month writing some side stories and shorts that show other perspectives throughout my stories!


    Feel free to join us all on my Discord! https://discord.gg/b8gRkD4

 Chapter 100

    The main road through High River gave off the vibes of a ghost town. Looted buildings all around, with no traces of life or happiness. If it wasn''t for the splatters of blood and black goo here and there along the pavement, it would seem as if people had just up and left. The big question, was where had all of the bodies gone. Deep within, Nat hoped that as many people got out as possible, and the people left behind were just eaten by the monsters. However, they had not been seen to eat the dead in previous towns. The monsters had always been more apt to leave a body where it lay, and move on to the next. That was because, if they left them, they would.... Turn.... "Shit!" Natalie cursed, now having all the dots connect. How could she forget what would happen to the dead? She started walking faster down the main street, warily keeping an eye out on any of the connecting roads.


    "What''s wrong Nat? Why are we moving faster?" Shannon asked, confused. She had seen all of the monsters as they had entered the town. What could be so bad that would make her wife worry?


    It was in this moment that numerous things happened at once. Natalie realized that she had not explained the whole zombie issue to Shannon. How corpses could come back to life and be ridiculously tough and strong. The three of them all got their first view of the bridge through the buildings, barely spotted through the abundance of trees. And the answer to all of Shannon''s question came out from all around them. Zombies, with a count far too high to count came out, and more were swarming out of the buildings around them by the minute. From their reaction, they did not like the light of the sun, but that did not quench their hate for the living apparently. As she saw the zombies come out from the suburbs, two thoughts went through Natalie''s mind. How glad she was that they had not tried to cut through the maze of houses beside them, and how foolish she had been for thinking that there may only be a few goblins left in town. Seeing that the zombies had already turned their way, Nat shouted out, "Run!" before bolting forward.


    Sol and Shannon were one step behind her. They had just passed 5th Ave SE, and still had a few blocks left to go until they got to the bridge, but even that now did not even seem like a sure-fire path to safety. There were just way too many zombies for them to deal with, and bottlenecking them to fight them all off was only going to delay the inevitable. If these were truly zombies from the standard fiction of the past decade, then these were enemies that would never tire, follow them as long as they could, and get taken down by no less than a critical hit to the brain. She had not taken the time to confirm any of them when she faced one on its own before, immediately braining the reanimated corpse before trying to make sure she knew the enemy. Now it was coming back to bite her, literally. Not even bothering to pull up her bow, Natalie did her best to weave through the crowd. With their number and how close they already were, stopping to fight would just result in a death sentence. She did not look back to make sure the other two were following, as if she was unable to survive, she would not be able to help them. That, and she got reassured by the other canines in the Soulscape that they were keeping an eye on them and that they were doing fine.


    As she broke through the far side of the group of zombies, Natalie made a few strides to give herself some space before turning around. As she did, she was relieved to see Shannon and Sol come through the zombies, albeit not nearly as gracefully as she did. Sol had acted like a battering ram, and brute forced his way through a bunch of zombies, clearing a path for Shannon behind him. He came out with a few missing tufts of fur and a couple scratches, but all in all came out no worse for wear. Shannon had not a wound on her, but she was already getting out of breath and sweating. Not having worked out extensively while she was recovering, her stamina was worse off, but that ultimately would be a matter of time. Time they currently did not have. As the three of them moved across the bridge, Natalie repeatedly shot arrows backwards at the following horde. However, as she was shooting while moving, her shots were all over the place. Arrows in shoulders and torsos did nothing to slow any of the shambling corpses. However, one lucky shot impaled one of the leading zombies in the head.


    At that moment, each and every zombie started shrieking. Natalie, Shannon, and Sol all stopped their movements to just see what would happen. They had never fought a group of zombies before, and this was something they had not seen before. However, stopping there was a terrible mistake. As one, the massive mob of zombies started running straight towards the bridge, where they had been attacked from. Seeing this, Sol immediately picked Shannon up by her jacket and tossed her onto his back and started running down the road. Luna even came out underneath Natalie, lifting her up and following her mate. If they had tried running from them normally, the zombies would have caught up with them in a sheer race of attrition. If it was not for their warg rides, Shannon and Natalie would have inevitably joined in that horde. Now it was just a matter of if they could escape the zombies, or would the wargs tire out first.


    Huge thanks to my Elder Wolves Selvaria, Viktor, Saganatsu, Eeleater, Lachlan, Adam, John, Nicholas, Jacob, Onean, Hades, Krimson, Neal, Sebastian, Ethan, Sir Hellington, and Kevin for supporting me and my writing! Remember that I keep Patreon ten chapters ahead at all times. Our next goal on Patreon will be getting up to 50 patrons, which I will then spend more time each month writing some side stories and shorts that show other perspectives throughout my stories!


    Feel free to join us all on my Discord! https://discord.gg/b8gRkD4

 Chapter 101

    I am starting to feel a little burnt out on the story, hence why I have been releasing later and later these days. Next week, I am planning to take the week off, just to plan, storyboard, and recover mentally. This will be my first break since I started this story back in late November, so this had been a long time coming. Hope you all enjoy the chapter!


    The paws of the wargs smacked against the pavement as they ran down the street. However, even if one listened closely, that sound was barely audible in comparison to the thunderous sound of the running zombie horde. While the gap between them was widening, the undead did not slow or deviate, chasing the group in front of them. As Nat looked back from atop of Luna, she saw the moment when the horde reached the narrow single lane bridge that spanned the river. Instead of funneling into a point to cross, they continued unabashed all around it. And while Nat could not see exactly how, they came up and over the banks on this side. Water did not turn out to be any sort of effective deterrent to keep them away, and it was a race against time. Sol was already breathing raggedly as he ran, exhausted from all of the running that he had already done that day. But every second they were travelling ten times as fast as the horde chasing them. All they needed to do was break away and not be seen, and they would be safe.


    Turning the corner, their line of sight with the zombies broke. However, none of them celebrated, as the sound of their feet still sounded out. Even with line of sight broken, the zombies continued after them. Quickly, Shannon and Natalie racked their brains, trying to figure out a way out of this. As they were passing by an apartment complex that sat beside the road, Shannon called out for Nat. Following her mate, Luna ran after them up to the far side of the complex. Upon being led there, Nat figured out Shannon''s daring plan. It was extremely risky, but it may be the only way out of it right now. Sol looked ready to just collapse on the ground, and Luna was still at the point where she was working to wean her pups off her milk, causing her to be extremely drained. Seeing that the two wargs were both on their last legs, Nat had them go back into the Soulscape and decided to risk everything with this idea.


    As was common in cities, there was a fully enclosed area to hold the garbage bins set up. This was mainly to keep animals away, while keeping the area looking good. Now, it was going to be used as a hiding space of last resort. As the sound of the horde came nearer, the two women went in and closed the gate behind them. Together, they crouched down behind the bin and waited. They barely breathed, terrified of alerting the monsters to their location. Minutes passed by, the sound getting louder and louder as the seconds seemed to drawl on. Shannon reached out and enclosed Natalie in a hug, shivering like a leaf in a gale. While surprised by the gesture, Natalie returned it as tightly as she could. Right now, she was Shannon''s anchor, her safety. While there was nothing more she could do, Natalie did her best to relay a sense of calm and security towards her terrified partner.


    And then the horde came upon their little hiding hole. As the sound of the running corpses seemed to go around them, they both jumped in fright when the first one slammed into the gate. By the shadows that the eastern sun was displaying, they could see the zombie get up and move around the closed off box. For minutes, the sounds of thousands of bodies running past their hideout continued to go off like a continuous rumble, with the occasional crash of a zombie running into either the gate or side of the box. Natalie quickly got used to the sound and sudden impact, but Shannon jumped with every hit, scared that this one will break through. Finally, after over a dozen zombies had crashed into the gate and more into the brick sides of the box, the sound of the charging undead horde started to peter out and fade towards the north.


    As the last sounds of running passed them by, there was one crash of a zombie running into the gate, coupled with the sounds of wood breaking. Right on the other side of the bin, the sounds of a zombie came out. Slowly, Shannon and Natalie stood up, and moved out around either side of their hiding space. As they did, they came to see that a zombie had broken through the gate, but had broken its legs in the process. His shins were ripped to shreds, both from the wood and the broken bone shooting through his skin. He groaned as he attempted to get up on his feet, stumbling each time due to the lack of support his legs gave. As he noticed the two people, he opened his mouth to shriek out, to alert his zombie brethren to their location, but was cut short by an axe to his cranium. Shannon''s fire axe sunk easily into the corpse''s skull, spraying a bit of grey matter and cranial fluid out onto the concrete and garbage bin.


    Shannon held onto the axe that she buried into the zombie''s decaying skull, waiting for a scream to come up from one of the zombies that they just avoided. When no sounds came up aside from their breathing, both her and Natalie let out a long sigh of relief. Zombies apparently got angered by one of their zombies getting killed, but only if they had witnessed the murder. Extracting the axe from the now eliminated corpse, they cautiously peeked out from the broken gate, making sure the coast was clear. When neither saw any more monsters, they left the enclosure. Slowly they headed out back onto the road. Moving out, they came to see that the zombies had stopped running out on the open plain and started milling about north of the town. Seeing that the way was blocked, and not wanting to have to run away again, the two of them moved across the ditch and down Longview Trail, in a hope to be able to move around the zombie swarm.


    Huge thanks to my Elder Wolves Selvaria, Viktor, Saganatsu, Eeleater, Lachlan, Adam, John, Nicholas, Jacob, Onean, Hades, Krimson, Neal, Sebastian, Ethan, Sir Hellington, and Kevin for supporting me and my writing! Remember that I keep Patreon ten chapters ahead at all times. Our next goal on Patreon will be getting up to 50 patrons, which I will then spend more time each month writing some side stories and shorts that show other perspectives throughout my stories!


    Feel free to join us all on my Discord! https://discord.gg/b8gRkD4

 Chapter 102

    Thankfully there was a fairly deep ditch on the south side of the road, as the zombies did not stay milling about in the field. Within minutes of the two women crossing the road and entering the ditch, they all started to slowly shuffle back towards High River. More specifically, they started moving back towards the rough direction of the downtown core where they had first been encountered by the pack. As Natalie saw this, more questions popped up in her head about how the zombies'' function. It was possible that they were tied to the area where they were raised, and were only able to go up to a certain distance away. Did that meant that it was possible to eventually run away from a group of zombies? It would also explain at least one reason why they did not follow the orcs out of town. Sure, they were rambling corpses of the recently deceased brought back to tear all life a new one, but they more and more seemed to be similar to a territorial animal. What other things could she find out by examining them?


    She was shaken out of her musings by Shannon, who physically grabbed her shoulder and shook her. No words were said, but the motion of Shannon''s arm implied for her to hurry up. Staying low in the ditch so as to not be seen by the returning zombies, they moved west alongside the road. When they passed the first inroad back into High river along the trail, Nat chanced a look back, and was glad that they had moved when they did. When thousands of zombies started shambling back towards town, some went slightly off course. She watched as one literally tripped over nothing and went face first right by where she had stopped before. If Shannon was not there, she may have had to test out her theory about being able to run far enough away. Now seeing how widely all of the monsters had spread out, she moved forward with gusto, doing her best to maintain a certain amount of distance from the desiccated bodies.


    As the two put the zombies behind them, none of the canines came out to join them. While Nat''s theory that only the larger monsters could sense the use of the Soulscape, they did not want to chance she was wrong. They were still walking along the edge of town, and the range of their senses was currently unknown. As they came up to the end of the trail, it branched into a few other directions. There were two immediate turns, both to the left and right, with a road heading straight west breaking off just a few meters into the turn to the north. Honestly it was one of the weirdest intersections she had ever seen. Granted, she did not get out much and barely traveled outside the province, let alone the country. Her repertoire of weird things she had seen when it came to roads was severely limited compared to others. Natalie just stood there and admired the strangeness of the design while Shannon consulted the map.


    Apparently, they were on a backroad, but that suited the two of them just fine. And with the zombie horde being extremely slow at moving away from where they were, travelling along it seemed to be the most prudent of ideas. Thankfully, it flowed all the way back up and into Calgary. They just had to decide on which path they wanted to follow to the big city. In the end, they decided to go through Okotoks, and make the quickest time they could. That, and similar to Lethbridge, it had four bridges that had been built to cross the Sheep River. That meant that crossing it should be relatively easy, as long as they did not run into additional complications.


    Having their course figured out, the two started moving north. It was not until they hit Highway 543 that Maia and Kali came back out to travel with them. Given how rough of a day it had been, both came out in their quadruped forms, as to not add additional strain onto Natalie. Together, the four of them headed west on the highway, staying vigilant despite the lack of anything along the road. The main thing that all of them agreed to travel around was a small power distribution complex, not dissimilar to the one that was by Shannon''s old home in Lethbridge. After giving that a wide berth, the only other things of interest was a dip in and out of a small recess in the ground. Small on a geographic scale anyways, as it was only about ten meters deeper than the rest of the road.


    After that came their right turn onto Highway 783, which was a straight shot to Okotoks. Almost immediately there was an actual valley, but it took them barely anytime to walk down the road to the bottom and back up the other side. The only thing of note that they came across on this road before seeing the small city was Okotoks'' landfill. Seagulls seemed to have laid claim of the area, circling the area and perching upon both the fence and the interior. They came to the top of a small hill, which sat a fair distance away from the city, but was still able to overview most of it just as clouds started to form overhead. These looked like some solid storm clouds, and rather than travel and attempt to set up in the rain, the pack agreed that it was better to call it a day now.


    Finding a slightly slower batching of trees on the west side of the road, camp was set up not a moment too soon. As soon as both tents had been set up and placed, raindrops started to fall from the sky. All that came to Nat and Shannon''s minds was that April showers brought May flowers was a possibility this year. With their tents placed side by side, food and other materials were passed back and forth through the windows. The coyotes even split up for the night, with Copper taking watch from inside Shannon''s tent while Edwin and Lucille set themselves up at the mouth of Natalie''s. After the evening practice and workout, and the shifting of Kali, everyone but the night watch laid down and embraced the void of sleep.


    Huge thanks to my Elder Wolves Selvaria, Viktor, Saganatsu, Eeleater, Lachlan, Adam, John, Nicholas, Jacob, Onean, Hades, Krimson, Neal, Sebastian, Ethan, Sir Hellington, and Kevin for supporting me and my writing! Remember that I keep Patreon ten chapters ahead at all times. Our next goal on Patreon will be getting up to 50 patrons, which I will then spend more time each month writing some side stories and shorts that show other perspectives throughout my stories!


    Feel free to join us all on my Discord! https://discord.gg/b8gRkD4

 Chapter 103

    When Shannon next opened her eyes, she was in the middle of her father''s dojo. Behind her was the door that lead out to the yard, and hallways lead off into each other direction. The hallway directly ahead led to where her family''s abode and her father''s office lay. To her left, was the path to the dorms and store room, where disciples could live on the expansive property. To her right the path led to the training halls, some were open while others had obstacles or dummies set up. The entire scene she was seeing was filled with nostalgia, as she had not seen it in years. Not since it had burned down and her family moved out east to Ontario. All of it was just as she remembered, from the smell of the wooden floor boards to the stains that had been left accidentally from carelessness. Each of them holding a dear memory to her, and having a touching story behind them.


    This was the first dream for a while where she not only felt safe, but in control. Most of her dreams had been just her reliving the terrible events she had experienced in Lethbridge. She had only one that wasn''t, and that was like she was watching a movie. One with gorillas training in martial arts all around in the very dojo she stood in now. But now she was able to move freely, and not just feel like she was along for the ride. However, this felt more in line with what Nat had told her about her prophetic dreams. It probably did not make a difference on where she went, she would get a similar sight at each of them. Knowing that, she decided to go see the front yard. It was the last sight she remembered seeing as the entire complex went up in flames when she was just a child.


    As she walked up to the front door, everything stayed peaceful and quiet, as if this dream world was at a perfect state of Zen and balance. That all went out the window as soon as Shannon cracked the door open. As soon as she had opened the door the slightest bit, it flew all the way open with a massive gust of wind, accompanied by a number of bestial roars and screams. Despite the wind blowing strongly against her face, she rushed out into the front yard. There it became a scene of nightmares. The yard was on fire almost exactly the same as that night, but the ones that caused it were clearly monsters. Goblins, hobgoblins, orcs, and even trolls were milling about, destroying everything they touched with either strength or fire. Collapsing to her knees, Shannon tried her best to look for a ray of light somewhere amongst the flames of despair. As she did, a number of the monsters started moving towards her in unison. They neither walked nor ran, but more of stalked towards her, as if they were slowly hunting the most delicious prey. Scared of what came next, Shannon forced her eyes closed and willed the entire scene away.


    What happened next was not the entire scene fading from sight, nor did the monsters reach her. A new roar sounded out in challenge before numerous thuds landed on the ground around her, accompanied by the sounds of creatures getting crushed. Opening her eyes, Shannon was met with the backs of a dozen gorillas. Looking down, some of them had splatter underneath their feet, but with the distinctive black goo that came from the accursed monsters. The challenging roar rang out once more, from the gorilla in the middle of the group. He was different than the rest of them, but not just due to the fact that he was taller than each other gorilla there. Its back was wider, their muscles more defined, and he had an extra pair of arms that did not lose in size to his normal ones. Before anything else, he turned around to look at Shannon. With a toothy grin that revealed tusks similar to a boar, he held up his two right hands in a thumbs up gesture, before running straight towards the largest of the monsters that were around them.


    The fight was brutal, as both sides went at each other without hesitation. However, the gorillas had a clear advantage. With one swing of their arms, a gorilla sent almost a dozen goblins flying, as another one jumped on top of an orc, crushing the orc''s ribcage. The mutated gorilla went straight through, using two of his arms to help propel him forward as the other two grabbed and threw orcs against the walls. At his full speed, he rammed straight into a troll in a body slam. As the troll staggered from the impact, the four arms of the mutant wrapped around the shin of the troll. Before anyone could react, the giant monster was being treated as nothing more than a hammer, being whirled about and slammed into other monsters and the ground repeatedly. It was not until every other monster was defeated that the four-armed ape put down his ''weapon'', which was beaten past the point of recognition.


    One of the smaller gorillas, who Shannon assumed was female, came over to her as the rest walked around, ripping up the ground and dumping loads of dirt over top of the fire. "Now that we have helped you, please come return the favour." As the gorilla said this, who was for sure female now by the sound of her voice, Shannon started to fall backwards. Before her eyes closed as she fell backwards into the void, she saw the gorillas all wave farewell. She waved back at the last second, and uttered two words that would spur her forwards like none other. "I will."


    The next thing she knew, she was shooting awake in her tent. Scout was curled around her left side as always, and Copper was sitting at the entrance, keeping his gaze aimed outside. Following his, she saw the weather was not much different from what they had seen the night before, still raining with the occasional crash of thunder and lightning. However, she now had an objective to follow, and no weather was going to stand in her way.


    Huge thanks to my Elder Wolves Selvaria, Viktor, Saganatsu, Eeleater, Lachlan, Adam, John, Nicholas, Jacob, Onean, Hades, Krimson, Neal, Sebastian, Ethan, Sir Hellington, and Kevin for supporting me and my writing! Remember that I keep Patreon ten chapters ahead at all times. Our next goal on Patreon will be getting up to 50 patrons, which I will then spend more time each month writing some side stories and shorts that show other perspectives throughout my stories!


    Feel free to join us all on my Discord! https://discord.gg/b8gRkD4

 Chapter 104

    Just a reminder, but there will be no Druidification chapters next week. I hope everyone had a good Easter weekend and enjoys the chapter!


    When Natalie woke up, she could still clearly hear the sound of the rain as it fell on top of the two tents. Sitting up, she saw Edwin and Lucille still sitting at the entrance keeping their vigil. Given by the fact that the two coyotes were dry, that meant that they had not gone out to deal with anything. Knowing that this meant they were safe from a sudden group of monsters coming to investigate the disturbance, she let out a sigh of relief. She got up and went to scratch the heads of the two faithful lookouts, making sure that they knew how much she appreciated their efforts to keep everyone safe. Turning her vision inwards to check out the situation with the pups, she was still just as surprised to see what she did as the first time she had seen the effects of the time acceleration that happened within. With slight variances, most of the older pups were hitting that one-year old mark. The coyote pups were almost at their full height, but were not quite there weight wise. That would be happening in about six months at the earliest in normal time, or about six weeks by the assumed Soulscape time. Of course, it could take longer, as in the case of the wolf pups, they were not likely to reach their full adult size until they were three years old. Sure, they were growing fast, but each day seemed to drag by, the six weeks for the coyote''s growth seemed so far, let alone the six months for the wolf pups.


    Shifting her view over, she took a look at how the new additions were looking. The offspring of Tin and Copper were almost fully weaned off their mother''s milk, leading them to walk around and interact with the other canines more. They were walking around on their own checking out everything that they could see, hear, or smell. Tin followed them, and corrected them when they acted out of line, but generally let them learn and experience everything they could. At this point, they had adopted the same sleep schedule as their mother, and were starting to wind down to be ready for bed. As she watched the new pups, Copper suddenly popped into the Soulscape, thoroughly drenched. Shaking off as much water as he could, he walked up and started playing with his pups. Most of his time that he had to play with them was while everyone was milling about camp and having dinner, or right as they were all getting ready to head to bed. However, he did play the good husband duties, and took care of directing all of their pups back and wringing the last bits of energy from them so his mate could get some decent rest. With the amount that he did, he probably deserved some time inside the Soulscape just relaxing with his children. Maybe after they had been fully weaned off, he could just swap duties with Tin. With all of the other pups still asleep, and just having started to be weaned off milk, Nat pulled her view out of the Soulscape.


    She came back to a giant wet spot in the middle of her shirt where Copper had jumped into the Soulscape from. Extricating herself from between Edwin and Lucille, she quickly changed it out for a brand new one with the slight help of Tin. However, as she did that, she heard the sounds of movement from the other tent. It made sense for either Scout or Shannon to be up, seeing how Copper had already returned. None of the coyotes popped back in till someone else was awake, though Edwin and Lucille liked to stay out with everyone as they woke up. Probably for more attention, nuzzling, and rubs from both the humans and other canines as they woke up. They loved the attention, though Edwin would never admit it. Moving to the window, Nat went to say hi to her partner in survival.


    However, when she looked over, she could not raise her voice to disturb Shannon''s focus. She was in the middle of warm up exercises and a light workout, and seemed to be really into it. Knowing that it may be a while, Nat took the time to work on using the energy on her ears to see what effects could be enhanced. While she could have used the rain as a standard, she instead chose to use the sounds of movement and heavy breathing that came from the other tent. In the ten minutes that she spent changing up what parts of the ear got power circulated to them, only one had given her a noticeable change. When she coated her eardrum, it seemed to allow her to pick up on the smaller and less noticeable sounds a lot easier. The feet dragging across the tarp bottom of the tent, drops of sweat hitting either the floor or skin, and even better improved how much of Shannon''s breathing she could hear. Nat theorised that it allowed the eardrum to pick up the more subtle vibrations of the air, but there was not enough conclusive evidence to say for sure. In terms of drain, it felt to be just about as draining as when she had applied the energy to the lens of her eye. When she heard Shannon collapse back onto her mattress, she stopped the practice and called out, "Morning Hun, what do you want me to pull out for breakfast?"


    At this point, Maia and Kali had woken up and were slowly extricating themselves from the comfy nests of blankets that they had made for themselves. Kali''s had actually covered her almost completely, as she had the added dexterity of her hands. Getting Maia to pop in and out with food was easy enough, and Nat and Shan ate in relative quiet, across from each other. Maia got shifted up to her bipedal form when she brought out food for herself, Kali, and Scout. The five of them ate scrambled eggs over top of buttered bread, with a side of sausages. As they did, the sun started to show its dimmed self behind the rain to the east. Upon seeing the sun breach the horizon, Shannon set down her plate, taking the moment to look into Natalie''s eyes. "I know its still raining, but please. We need to head into Calgary as soon as possible. I think I finally had one of those prophetic dreams you told me about, for real this time."


    Huge thanks to my Elder Wolves Selvaria, Viktor, Saganatsu, Eeleater, Lachlan, Adam, John, Nicholas, Jacob, Onean, Hades, Krimson, Neal, Sebastian, Ethan, Sir Hellington, and Kevin for supporting me and my writing! Remember that I keep Patreon ten chapters ahead at all times. Our next goal on Patreon will be getting up to 50 patrons, which I will then spend more time each month writing some side stories and shorts that show other perspectives throughout my stories!


    Feel free to join us all on my Discord! https://discord.gg/b8gRkD4

 Chapter 105

    Shannon went over everything that happened in her dream, leaving no part untouched. She had told Natalie about the dojo she used to live in, but never in so much detail. She felt as though she was given an opportunity to look into her lover''s childhood. However, that chance had to be pushed aside, as she was given a message. The way it sounded seemed very familiar towards the time with the wargs, but also seemed slightly different. How did they save her? Since she was neutral in terms of energy, did that mean she could have been swayed one way or the other? Or was it just symbolic, as they had saved her from an otherwise terrible experience? Too many questions, and with the way these dreams worked, they would continue to remain unanswered while only adding more to the list.


    In the end, everything pointed to the whole gorilla issue being a lot more pressing than they imagined. As soon as they finished eating, they all took down camp as fast as possible. Given that it sat on the north side of Calgary, getting to the zoo was not going to be an easy feat. Chances are, they would not be able to get there today even if they did not slow down to be cautious. When it was down to just getting the last few things stored away, Nat and Shannon left the rest of the clean-up to their companions, focusing on mapping out their route through the city as they spent their last few dry moments in the tent. They wanted the straightest shot through the city, involving passing by the least number of buildings possible, and they would not easily be able to pull a map out to readjust their course. Thankfully, as they had gone to university here, it made it easier for the two of them to navigate. It took some debating however, before they had to go against their instincts. Deerfoot trail was not known for its smooth flow of traffic. In fact, the entire time they had lived in this city, they had never heard of any other road getting nearly as many incidents on it. But now, without cars being a thing, it actually lined up to be the perfect path.


    When they both agreed on a path, they got up to help finish cleaning up, only to notice that three canines were sitting there waiting. Bryden, Shadow, and most surprisingly Scout were sitting by waiting to go, with all of the other ones having returned to the Soulscape. None of them were shifted into their humanoid forms, but today was all about speed and distance. Even Kali and Maia were still not able to run in those forms, and they had been the ones who had been in that form the longest. When Scout was asked for reasoning, he brought forward the fact that they would be moving about in a dense population center, and people were less likely to over react if they saw him first compared to one of the larger canines in the pack. Seeing the logic in his reasoning, both Shannon and Nat agreed. Making sure that their weapons were in hand, the five of them headed north towards the small city of Okotoks.


    Once inside, the town seemed to be just about as desolate as High River was. Realizing that this was likely to be a trend, the five of them headed north on Southridge Drive with Scout taking the point position. Moderate ditches ran along either side of the road, probably in an effort to combat the potential of flooding. They did have some bad floods almost a decade ago, and it was easy to believe that the city did something to prevent large damage in the future. However, right now this meant that the ditches were not usable for travel, due to the rain pooling in them. While the rain left all of them soaked and caused their clothes to adhere to their skin, it also reduced the visibility. This was both a hinderance as well as a help, as monsters would not be able to see them, but would likewise be harder to be spotted. In fact, nothing seemed weird in the town till they reached the point where the main road turned for the first time. At that point a high school sat to the right as the road veered to the left. The weird part, was that between the high school, around the football field, and all the way up to the businesses that lay along the road sat a massive wall. At least, it seemed like a wall in the rain. It was hard to tell if anyone was keeping a watch in this weather, but it was believed to be likely. Not wanting to deal with people at this time, the pack stuck to the western side of the road, keeping as much distance between the barricaded area and themselves as they could while staying on route.


    The rest of their journey through the small city was relatively uneventful. They only ran across a single group of monsters the entire time. It was a dozen goblins all walking around, seemingly on patrol, being absolutely miserable as they walked down Elizabeth Street. Thanks to both the rain as well as Scout''s quick reaction, they managed to have the entire group just walk right past them without notice. Otherwise they managed to make it out the other side of the town in just over an hour after entering. From there it was just a straight walk north along highway 2A that went entirely unimpeded. As they did, they passed by a veterinary emergency clinic. Part of Nat wanted to stop, but she decided not to. The gorillas were probably in danger, and she was not sure if she could take the sight of so many forgotten about dead animals. At this point, there were only two options. Somehow the animals got out of the building, or they passed away inside due to lack of food and/or water. While Nat could hope for one, the sheer likelihood of let-down was too much. Better to focus on getting to the zoo, and to the animals that were supposedly still hanging on. That, and Shannon had a firm grasp on her forearm and dragged her past the building, forcing her to continue the journey northward with haste.


    Huge thanks to my Elder Wolves Selvaria, Viktor, Saganatsu, Eeleater, Lachlan, Adam, John, Nicholas, Jacob, Onean, Hades, Krimson, Jake, Neal, Sebastian, Ethan, Sir Hellington, and Kevin for supporting me and my writing! Remember that I keep Patreon ten chapters ahead at all times. Our next goal on Patreon will be getting up to 50 patrons, which I will then spend more time each month writing some side stories and shorts that show other perspectives throughout my stories!


    Feel free to join us all on my Discord! https://discord.gg/b8gRkD4

 Chapter 106

    The rest of the trip to the big city was completely empty. The only company the pack had as they moved north was the constant spattering of rain smacking into the highway beneath their feet. This was more assuring to Nat and Shannon as they walked up Highway 2 as it turned into Deerfoot trail, as it transitioned at a two-kilometer-wide valley. The fact that there was still fairly heavy rainfall made it so they could not even see the floor of the valley, meaning that unless they came across anything on the road, they were in the clear. As they moved into the city, the rain continued to be a veil for their travel. Deerfoot was wide, with berms going up and over either side of it. It almost felt as though nature itself was shielding them from view, guarding their journey towards the zoo. It was not until late afternoon that the rain let up, but it was more than enough time for the group to make it as far as the overpass that led onto Southland Drive. This was already better time than they had expected. Their original plan was to spend the night at Carburn Park, but they still had a fair amount of daylight left. Agreeing that they could go further, the skirted past the park entirely and followed the river northwards some more.


    They were travelling based on what theories they had come up with for where monsters would frequent. The main one that they followed was that the farther away from civilization they were, the less monsters they would find. Of course, this was just a guess and they were in the middle of a city, but it was an area with the least amount of infrastructure. That was the whole reason they had planned to camp alongside the river for the night. Well, after convincing Shannon that travelling through the night was a poor idea at the best of times. After about an hour more of walking, they finally called it quits for the day. Their camp sat just south of Ogden road, inside a dense bit of brush and plant life that had taken root beside the bridge. Since they were deep into the city, they decided against a fire tonight so as to minimize their presence.


    Camp was set up, and dinner was pulled from the Soulscape. However, all throughout this process, Shannon did not say a word. Her eyes seemed to be both focused and worried at the same time. She finished off her meal quickly, and went straight into exercise and practice. While she was clearly stressed about what was going to happen tomorrow, she was doing her best to relax. For the last hour before the sun set and another two following, she went through the forms and motions repeatedly. Something inside of her felt that tomorrow was not going to go smoothly, and she felt nowhere near ready for the shit to hit the fan.


    Internally, Shannon had the entire moments of the defence against the massive swarm of monsters they had fought. She had barely managed to take any down, and Nat and the canines essentially bailed her out from her mistake. She had alerted the horde to their presence, and had been unable to be overly productive in the fight that ensued. She had only felt that useless once in her life before, and that was when she was a little kid watching on as her family home burnt down. This time was different though, as she should have been able to do something about it. She had achieved medals on the global stage for martial arts, and fought some of the toughest and meanest sons of a gun that she had ever seen. She had enough getting beat up over the fact that monsters were stronger or more numerous than her. She had to step up, to grow stronger so she could finally be able to protect that which was dear to her.


    Meanwhile, in Natalie''s tent, Nat was working on what she had seen in her dream with the giant gorilla. While her total amount of energy had barely grown in the past few days, there was still a noticeable difference in quantity for each passing day. Thus, she decided to try gathering it outside of her body as she had seen the ape do. Her first few tries were draining, and did not give her anywhere near the results she was hoping for. Instead of gathering around her fist as she was wanting it to, instead it just kept shifting her hand every time she tried. Every time she tried something different, either visualizing something different or directing the energy in a different way. Nonetheless, each way came out to be the exact same result. A wonderfully furry and soft hand.


    It was not until Shannon was winding down and doing stretches at the end of her workout that Natalie finally had an idea. She only had enough in her to try one more time, but it may open the door to the whole thing. She sent energy down to her hand, but only pushed a small amount out. This time, she was going to shift her hand first, and maintain that shift, while trying to form the fist of energy. Very quickly, she felt the energy reserves inside of her drop. At the same time however, she began to see something different. Green energy flowed visibly out of her fur and surround her hand, wrapping it as though it was a boxing glove. Sadly, her energy was dropping way to fast, proving that this was horribly inefficient. Ending it all, she collapsed backwards onto her mattress short of breath. "Wow" she heard, coming from the entrance of the tent.


    Tilting her head forward the smallest degree necessary, she saw Shannon standing there wide-eyed on her way back to her tent. "Did you see my hand glowing green?" Nat asked. When Shannon nodded, Nat collapsed her head backwards against the pillows. "Well, that was a horribly inefficient use of it. I''ll still teach it to you though once you get access to it. But now I need to sleep. Have a good night love." Natalie croaked out, exhausted. With that, Shannon wished her a good night as well and retired to her own tent. While Shannon was left with more to think about, Nat almost instantly conked out after that, drifting quietly and quickly off to sleep. It was not until a half hour later that Shannon finally managed to get her brain to rest, following her partners trek into dreamland.


    Huge thanks to my Elder Wolves Selvaria, Viktor, Saganatsu, Eeleater, Lachlan, Adam, John, Nicholas, Jacob, Onean, Hades, Krimson, Jake, Neal, Sebastian, Ethan, Sir Hellington, and Kevin for supporting me and my writing! Remember that I keep Patreon ten chapters ahead at all times. Our next goal on Patreon will be getting up to 50 patrons, which I will then spend more time each month writing some side stories and shorts that show other perspectives throughout my stories!


    Feel free to join us all on my Discord! https://discord.gg/b8gRkD4

 Chapter 107

    Natalie woke to a warm breeze blowing into the tent as the sun rose above the horizon. Stepping out of her tent, there were numerous events that she noticed. Given by the warm wind that flowed along her skin, she first looked up to see if her suspicions were correct. And sure enough, a chinook arch slowly made its way across the sky, promising a warm day for the area. Hopefully. They were right beside the mountains, and that meant that the weather could change in an instant. She had seen it go from sunny and plus twenty all the way to zero and snowing in the span of fifteen minutes, only to revert back within an hour. It was almost completely unpredictable in this location, but the chinook was as good of a sign as any. Looking down, she found that Shannon was going through her morning exercises, and was already part of the way into it. She was not making that guess based on the current moves, but more on the sheen of sweat glistening off the exposed bits of skin. Realizing that her partners start to the day was a good idea, Nat walked over and joined in.


    Nat did not even last ten minutes, trying to follow alongside Shannon in her movements. Her muscles were just not used to the strenuous motions and screamed in defiance due to the strain they were put through. Right as they were in the middle of a city, Natalie was made to open her eyes to the biggest mistake she had made since the whole wave swept over. Sure, she had been walking most days for hours on end, her leg muscles were fantastically toned. However, every other muscle on her body was horribly out of shape. It was a wonder that she had not sprained anything through all of the fighting that they had done. She was glad that Shannon had vast experience as a personal trainer, as her body was now seeming sub-par. The more she peeked at her partners physique, the more that feeling grew. Where she was average and capable of doing some basic exercise, Shannon stood out as an Adonis of beauty and fitness.


    When Shannon finally finished her morning workout, she found food sitting nearby, with Natalie lying on the ground beside it, groaning in pain. Today was just cereal and milk, so since she did not have to worry about her meal going cold Shannon knelt down and started massaging Natalie''s sore limbs. Light screams of protest came up from her beloved, but those slowly morphed into sighs of relaxation and relief. As she finished up relieving the tension in Nat''s limbs, Shannon addressed the newfound elephant in the room. "You don''t seem to be in great shape there hun. While I don''t know how you have survived till now, I feel you need to be a bit more fit to continue living the life we have been." A groan, followed by a grunt of affirmation came up from the prone woman. "Want me to whip you into shape once we are done here in the city?" Another grunt of affirmation came up to her ears. Shannon picked up her bowl of cereal, now at the perfect amount of sogginess in her eyes. Before eating, she said, "All right. And don''t worry, I won''t let up until you are at a point I am satisfied with." And with that, Shannon dug into her breakfast.


    Natalie was finally able to sit up five minutes later, and took the time to eat her food as well. Her movements though were much slower and deliberate than Shannon''s, as her everything hurt. The days ahead looked bleak, as Shannon tended to hold herself up to high standards when it came to exercise, and it seemed that she would do the same for her. Regardless, this was needed. If Nat was not physically fit, while everyone else was, she would end up being the weakest link. She did not want to be the one dragging down her family just because she did not want to push herself. Pushing that aside for now, she focused on what was in front of her. Prepping for their travels today.


    They were going to be pushing straight through the edge of downtown Calgary. This meant that they were likely going to be fighting their way along the streets, going block to block taking down and avoiding monsters. For this, every single male canine, save for Copper and Edwin, were going to be travelling outside along with them. Their hope was that their path would be relatively removed from general travel areas, as they were planning on passing through the train yard. But with these creatures able to pop up basically anywhere, there was no guarantees to their safety. Hopefully, no monsters would show up and they would be able to go up to the 12 Street bridge and cross over to St George''s Island easily. However, they had to plan and prepare for the worst, which included the giant fifteen-foot monsters that had made an appearance inside Nat''s dreams.


    After all of the female canines were convinced not to pop out in case it was an emergency, especially Seeka, Nat felt ready to go. After all, tomorrow was the projected due date for when Seeka would have her and Scout''s pups. While they all knew what happened when one of them died, Nat did not want to take a chance with the pups that Seeka was carrying. Would they be rebuilt with their mother''s body as well, or would it act as a sort of abortion, robbing Seeka and Scout of the new family members they were excited to welcome to the world. In fact, before any of the females could come and help, Maia, Kali, and Lucille''s offspring were considered the first line of reinforcement. While they had not quite gotten to their full adult size, and were still acting like rowdy teenagers, almost all of them were still larger than Scout. Once everyone confirmed they were ready for a long and tough day, they moved together across the train bridge, towards the zoo.


    Huge thanks to my Elder Wolves Selvaria, Viktor, Saganatsu, Eeleater, Lachlan, Adam, John, Nicholas, Jacob, Onean, Hades, Krimson, Jake, Neal, Sebastian, Ethan, Sir Hellington, and Kevin for supporting me and my writing! Remember that I keep Patreon ten chapters ahead at all times. Our next goal on Patreon will be getting up to 50 patrons, which I will then spend more time each month writing some side stories and shorts that show other perspectives throughout my stories!


    Feel free to join us all on my Discord! https://discord.gg/b8gRkD4

 Chapter 108

    As they walked across the train bridge, Scout once again took point position. This was not in case they ran into humans on the way, but purely because he had the smallest stature of the canines currently involved. Behind him walked Natalie and Shannon, who were flanked by Bryden and Sol, with Shadow bringing up the rear. There was one train that was about a dozen cars long stopped across the bridge, which the pack used to cover their southern sightlines. Until they were spotted, they would try and get as far as they could before being spotted. Hopefully it would allow them to go all of the way quietly, but none of them had high expectations. In the gaps between the train cars, they were already seeing monsters milling about on the neighbouring streets. Carefully, they all followed the lead of Scout as he moved car to car, making checks on their surroundings before every move. As they reached the end of that train, the tracks split off into a dozen different runs, some with trains on them and some without. However, due to someone managing where they all stopped, there was a two-hundred-meter gap between the end of this train and the start of the next one. Looking left towards where Ogden Road ran, there was the milling of hobgoblins, with a few orcs. Using the Soulscape now would be like setting off a flare to tell them where they are. They had nothing to cover them, and a flat and open stretch to run.


    First Scout ran across the open track of land. The rest of the group alternated between watching him run and observing the monsters that were the same if not less distance away from them. A grueling fifteen seconds later had Scout stopping and taking a position behind the closest car on that side. Thankfully none of the monsters seemed to notice him running. Bryden followed him right after. He made it in even less time, 12 seconds going by the Mississippi''s. Then Shannon''s turn was up. While Nat was nervous, she agreed that this was a good check. If Shannon was not able to make it undetected, the best option was to have her ride or be carried by Sol across, making sure that everyone was together. When there seemed to be a lull in the number of monsters that were visible, Shannon took off. She did not care on if she was seen or heard, just to make it over as fast as possible. When she finally got behind the car that the two canines were sitting behind, Nat managed to count out twenty-one seconds. Seeing her partner make it over fairly effortlessly, she braced herself, and started running.


    It was all a lie. What about this was done effortlessly? She did not even count the seconds and just pushed her legs forward as fast as they could. When she got over to the other side, she collapsed onto the ground, wheezing for breath. Maybe she was a lot more out of shape than she thought. That was when Shannon walked over to her and whispered in her ear, "Twenty-nine seconds. We are definitely going to work on that time later." Natalie barely held in her groan. Now she had a time metric on how much more in shape Shannon was compared to her. And this meant that was a measurable amount of pain to close that gap. She was both glad and remorseful that her wife had taken it upon herself to train her up. After all, it would be until Shannon was happy with her progress, not herself. She didn''t feel like complaining or trying to back out though. Their survival counted on it, especially if this was anything to go on.


    While Nat tried to gain her breath on the ground, Sol and shadow took their turns crossing. Thankfully, the whole pack got across without any issue. Once they had all gotten their breath, they started moving alongside the trains. There were not any more gaps nearly as large as that first one, but that one was probably so all of the tracks were able to merge onto the bridge. There were around two dozen sets of tracks, and at least three of them had some sort of carriages sitting on top of them. This made it easy for them to move. Shannon even noticed a fitness equipment seller on the way, but was sad that she was not able to stop. She apparently had a giant wish list of gear she wanted to pick up, and that led a chill down Nat''s spine. However, unrelated to that chill, Natalie could not shake this feeling of unease that she felt as they walked alongside the derelict hunks of metal.


    It was as if they were walking around a sleeping bear and its cubs. One step out of line or the smallest noise, and everything would go wrong in a heartbeat. Natalie put it aside for the moment, thinking that she was being paranoid. Together the six of them headed down the tracks, car to car, without any issues. Overall, this was going a lot smoother than they had hoped, but they were glad to take it. They were almost up to 12th Street, and this was where their guard had slipped. As they walked past a warehouse on the right, they heard a grunt of surprise. They all turned their heads in unison to the right. Standing there was a hobgoblin, pointing at them with its mouth hanging wide open. Almost immediately Natalie lifted up her bow, pulled back an arrow, and let it fly straight into the goblin. Sadly, this was not a fatal shot, and landed in the creature''s stomach. It collapsed back, holding onto its stomach. As it fell to the ground, it let out an awful shriek of pain. Which was soon mirrored by hundreds of shrieks around them. All around them, box cars started flying open as Natalie''s gut feeling earlier was proven true. Goblins flowed out of the box cars, and started running towards the pack of wolves. Nat took one look at the growing mob of creatures, before yelling, "Run!" and bolting it towards the street as fast as possible.


    Huge thanks to my Elder Wolves Selvaria, Viktor, Saganatsu, Eeleater, Lachlan, Adam, John, Nicholas, Jacob, Onean, Hades, Krimson, Jake, Neal, Sebastian, Ethan, Sir Hellington, and Kevin for supporting me and my writing! Remember that I keep Patreon ten chapters ahead at all times. Our next goal on Patreon will be getting up to 50 patrons, which I will then spend more time each month writing some side stories and shorts that show other perspectives throughout my stories!


    Feel free to join us all on my Discord! https://discord.gg/b8gRkD4

 Chapter 109

    The pack all started running towards 12 Street, with the monsters grouping up and following them close on their tails. It was way too far to just run the whole way towards the zoo. Sure, the canines could make it, but not her and Shannon. It was still five city blocks and a bridge away, and that was to say that the monsters did not just follow them into the zoo. As she ran down the embankment onto the street, she had a plan relayed mentally to her. At first, she outright refused it, as it was far too dangerous. But as they pleaded their case, Nat realized that it was their best shot out of this predicament. She gave her go ahead as long as caution and safety were prioritized. She already felt that was going to be ignored though.


    Getting down on the street, she directed her group to all hide behind a house. On the opposite side of the road from them, an alley stretched off to the north-west. As no monsters had rounded the bend yet, this was the best chance they had at this plan working. Spirit led the other nine pups out of the Soulscape and in front of the alley. He had actually proposed the plan, and it relied on the fact that goblins and hobgoblins seemed to be inherently idiotic and daft. The pups would act as a diversion group, staying in sight long enough to lead the horde away from the slower group. Once they felt reasonably far, they would break sightlines and circle back, heading back into the Soulscape to recover from the run. It all hinged on whether or not their assumptions about the horde''s mentality was correct.


    Thankfully they did not need to wait long. Seconds after everyone was in position, a flood of monsters came down the embankment. Shrieks and shrills sounded off as they neared closer to the two groups. As they got close, Spirit started off a small howl, which was briefly joined by the other pups'' howls. Then, as they made sure that most of the monsters had seen them, they bolted down the alleyway. Yips and barks came up from them as they ran off into the north, making sure the monsters knew where they were. They were using what they had learned in their group hunting, but right now all of them were the distraction. While they ran off, the six adults stayed motionless. Not a single one moved, fearful of the chance of making a sound and making the pups work count for nothing. However, their faces showed sheer determination. Not one blinked as they watched the pups run off to play their part, only for seconds later to have just a running crowd of monsters block their view.


    Minutes passed before the swarm of gobs finally thinned out and disappeared northwards. Waiting a few extra seconds for stragglers, the group moved when it finally felt clear. Natalie popped around the corner first, bow drawn, looking back the way they had come. One shriek was all that was needed for the group from earlier to split up into two, and then none of them were safe. Seeing none, she released tension in the string and turned around. Seeing her lower her bow, the other five got into motion. Not trying to stay low, they started speed-walking down the street towards the zoo. Time was a valuable commodity right now, and there was no plan to squander what was earned for them through the efforts of the young. Within five minutes, they were coming up to the foot of the bridge, when they heard rustling coming from the bushes to their left. All turned and prepared that way, either showing fangs or pulling back their weapon to strike should a monster come out.


    Spirit burst through the brush with a smile on his face. His tail was wagging, and he seemed to overall be having a good time. Everyone immediately eased up as they saw him come out, but then got confused. Their confusion only increased when the other nine pups came out of the bushes. Every other pup that had played distraction looked utterly exhausted. Slowly, each of them crept back into the Soulscape, each collapsing as soon as they got in due to exhaustion. All of their reactions seemed to be the norm, given how long a full-grown wolf could run for. Given they were barely past the year-old mark, their exhaustion made perfect sense. So why was Spirit perfectly fine and looking like he wanted to run some more?


    Those questions had a time and place, and that was not right now. Once Sprit went back into the Soulscape, Scout led the way across the bridge. The river seemed to be sitting somewhat high, and was flowing rapidly below them. That had been Nat''s final plan to avoid enemies, but it did not look like the safest of options. As a last resort, it would be better than being caught by the monsters, but she was not sure that any of them would have survived jumping off the bridge. However, thanks to the young canines, they did not have to resort to such drastic actions. Natalie resolved to give them all plenty of pampering later, as thanks for their hard work. While she made her plans on how to reward the heroes of the day, they finished crossing the bridge, and came up to the service entrance at the back of the zoo.


    Having been on a work internship here while in university, Nat knew that this was the quickest way they could have gone to get to the gorilla enclosure. Thanks to that knowledge, they were going to able to easily maneuver their way through the park and make the most efficient time that they could. This meant that they would be able to save hopefully as many animals as possible. Knowing that the back lock was electronic, Nat did not even bother trying to open up the gate. Instead, she got the canines to hop into the Soulscape while passing out a ladder. Using it, both her and Shannon dropped into the zoo''s service area. Once the canines came back out, they moved forward towards the TransAlta Rainforest building. It was prime time to save some apes.


    Huge thanks to my Elder Wolves Selvaria, Viktor, Saganatsu, Eeleater, Lachlan, Adam, John, Nicholas, Jacob, Onean, Hades, Krimson, Jake, Neal, Sebastian, Ethan, Sir Hellington, and Kevin for supporting me and my writing! Remember that I keep Patreon ten chapters ahead at all times. Our next goal on Patreon will be getting up to 50 patrons, which I will then spend more time each month writing some side stories and shorts that show other perspectives throughout my stories!


    Feel free to join us all on my Discord! https://discord.gg/b8gRkD4

 Chapter 110

    The service area of the zoo had very few animals back here on any given day. It was mainly used for employee parking and administration, as well as storing tools, supplies, and vehicles. All that Nat had been back here for in her internship was to sign necessary paperwork when she started or messed anything up. They were meticulous about their records, especially since the whole stingray incident years prior. A number of complications adding together created a lot of issues, killing all but two of the rays that were housed inside. There was a lot of bad publicity following the zoo when that happened, and for years afterwards. Everything became meticulous and redundant, if only to prevent a second mass loss of life. Thankfully for Nat, she almost exclusively worked in the Canadian Wilds exhibit, dealing with animals that natively lived in the region. Bears, bighorn sheep, and otters were just some of the ones she worked with through her time there, but she ended up loving working with the wolves the most. That was what pushed her decision to work as a park ranger down in Waterton, where it was sitting just inside the main grey wolf habitat in southern Alberta.


    As they moved through the parking lot, there seemed to be far more cracks in the pavement than Nat remembered. Regardless, it barely took a minute for them to go through the lot and get into the park. It had not been terribly long since the event, but the grass and bushes already started to look rather wild. Some swans and flamingoes still strutted about in the park, without any care. This was despite the actual look of the landscape itself. Dead bodies dotted the lawn, some animal and others human, with black stains in no small number. In fact, one of the swans seemed to have a bit of the black muck as well as blood stains dried onto them and did not care in the slightest. If anything, it displayed the marks as a threat to any other monsters or humans willing to come near. They were vicious birds, but had the strength to back it up. The fact that animals still walked around relieved them a little bit, but not enough to outweigh the dread that came from the scene.


    The group of canines carried on down the path, avoiding the murderous bird. Thankfully, the building that they wanted was right beside them. The TransAlta Rainforest, home to a bunch of primates of varying degrees. Knowing that was where they would most likely find the gorillas, Natalie led them all down the path to the southern entrance of the building. First, they made their way past a bunch of snake exhibits, where all of the current residents seemed to be hibernating. Not able to see them and not help, Nat got out portions of meat that were a good size for each snake held there, before getting the glass panels stored inside the Soulscape. Thankfully snakes could go for months without food or water, but Nat wanted to make sure they had the option at least. Shannon, however, gave the reptiles a wide berth. She never had been good with anything scaly. She let out a great sigh of relief as they moved away from the slowly waking reptiles and deeper into the building.


    As they got closer to the primate area, they found lines of ants making their way there as well. Curious, the group continued on to the enclosure. There, they found all of the ants going through cracks in the stone. While the stone had been fairly new, given the renovations that happened, it looked as if it had been there for decades. Realizing that it was similar to the power station and the monster portal, both Shannon and Nat ran forward to the pen. Looking over, they discovered a great many things. There was a pool of black gunk right below where the cracks in the wall were. As the ants funneled out, they made their way to rotting fruit that lay on the ground. However, handfuls of them were grabbed at a time, leaving only a few to carry back spoils to their nest. The gorillas that scooped them up threw them in their mouths and crunched down on them. And from the look of those apes, that might have been all they have been eating for the past while.


    Since we had run up to the enclosure and were gasping for breath, it was not a surprise that the apes noticed us. What was a surprise was the lack of strength that they seemed to move with. Given that they were on average nine times stronger, the weakness they portrayed was worrying. And that was from the ones that were eating. Seeing the state they were in, Natalie and Shannon realized exactly what the gorillas needed saving from. If nothing changed, they would lose out to starvation in a matter of weeks, if not sooner. Loudly, the two broke into the service passageway, which was held shut by a now defunct electronic lock. The wolves followed them around, but only kept an eye on the surroundings. They made their way to the access door to the gorilla area, where Nat stopped moving. Shannon moved a few more steps before realizing, to turn around and watch as Nat filled up a trolley with a bunch of fruit and nuts from her Soulscape that she had gotten.


    "I cannot help you with this Shannon. You have to win their trust, and get them to agree to join with you." Nat explained, taking a seat down in the keeper station by the door. "Gorillas are smart, so you can just talk to them as normal. But this food is so that they will not starve anytime soon. Please do not use it as a bartering item." Shannon just nodded, understanding what her partner was saying. From here on, it was all on her. Whether or not the gorillas bonded with her was dependent on how she acted when she walked through that door. Taking in a deep breath, she opened the door and wheeled the trolley out towards the malnourished apes.


    Huge thanks to my Elder Wolves Selvaria, Viktor, Saganatsu, Eeleater, Lachlan, Adam, John, Nicholas, Jacob, Onean, Hades, Krimson, Jake, Neal, Sebastian, Ethan, Sir Hellington, and Kevin for supporting me and my writing! Remember that I keep Patreon ten chapters ahead at all times. Our next goal on Patreon will be getting up to 50 patrons, which I will then spend more time each month writing some side stories and shorts that show other perspectives throughout my stories!


    Feel free to join us all on my Discord! https://discord.gg/b8gRkD4

 Chapter 111

    As Shannon walked through the door, she stopped almost immediately. Every single gorilla in the enclosure turned to look at her at once. They had not looked that large from the viewing area above, and they were all scarily skinny due to the lack of food. However, they were still averaging around six feet tall and having arms as thick as her torso. Taking a few deep breaths, she finally took her first steps forward toward the group of gorillas. She was so far out of what she knew, that her mind was spinning circles, not knowing what the first words to say should be. Sadly, she was not given much time to think, as she was already in front of the main group of them before she knew it.


    Still unsure on how to approach the whole situation, Shannon just left the cart full of food and walked a small distance away. There she just sat down and leaned back against the log that had been set up to climb on. There, she just looked at the cart, more worried than anything that the gorillas would not eat any of the food. Now she knew how Nat felt whenever she saw animals being mistreated, as the visual of the malnourished apes caused Shannon to feel pain and sorrow. They always said that when you spend a lot of time with someone, they tend to rub off on you. As she kept her eyes on the cart filled with food, she kept trying to think of what to say.


    While she did, a couple of the gorillas had gotten up and carefully sauntered up to the cart. They made some sniffs of the food on top, and poked the contents a few times with a finger before making some small movements with their hands. One of them shuffled off to the far wall and opened up a door. They came shuffling back, but the door opened up behind them. Coming in from the door was the four-armed ape from her dream, only far more covered in cuts and dried blood. He looked tired, and arguably seemed to be in a far worse condition compared to all of the others. He followed after the one that came to get him, coming up to the cart laden with fruits and nuts. He mirrored what the other two did earlier, sniffing and poking at the contents, before just picking up a grape and eating it. Waiting for a second, he turned to the two who watched him and made some grunts and gestures. All that they did in response was pointing directly at Shannon.


    The entrance of the massive eight-foot tall, four-armed behemoth from her dreams had caused all of her thought processes to stop as she watched in awe. She finally snapped out of it when she saw them pick up the trolley with two of its arms, before approaching her. All that she could do in response was stare as the massive ape came towards her. It set the cart down right in front of her, before coming up and examining her. It sniffed, prodded, and tugged on her clothes lightly while making slight grunts and gestures. Nothing seemed too strong handed or invasive, but completely inquisitive. As if it was wondering where the fruit had come from. All that Shannon could do was stare forward at the gorilla, scared stiff at the size and strength behind the gorilla''s fingers. When the gorilla finally looked at her eyes, it stared into hers for a second, before thumping its chest in front of her.


    Or at least it attempted to, as when it lifted two of its arms to thump, it lost balance and started to collapse. Whether it was due to lack of food or its injuries, Shannon did not know. Regardless, she stood up quickly and attempted to catch the large ape. She was barely able to support the weight of the large animal, but a quickly and carefully as she could, she lowered it to the ground. Once it was down, she grabbed some of the fruit on the cart and offered it to the gorilla that was now laying in front of her. As she did, she thought she saw the gorilla''s eyes light up slightly, as if it had just gotten a bit of hope. The gorilla lifted one of its arms up and clasped his hand around Shannon''s and the fruit. Then he let out a loud grunt, before entering into Shannon, taking the fruit with it. Shannon was left just staring at the spot in front of her where a primate had just disappeared from. She had seen the canines do it with Nat, but experiencing it first hand was entirely different.


    As she looked up, she noticed that six of the other eleven gorillas were coming her way. As they slowly approached her, five of them moved inside. The last one did a lot of the same actions as the four armed one, but instead of attempting to beat its chest, it just huffed loudly, before entering her with the cart of food in tow. At the huff, the other five gorillas started moving towards her. Seeing that they seemed far weaker compared to the seven that had already entered her, Shannon moved closer to each of them to speed up their time of getting into the Soulscape. She was not able to look inside, but she could feel their presences. Each seemed thankful, and seemed to go almost immediately to sleep. Thankfully Nat had already let her know about the accelerated recovery inside, so she was not too worried for the new family members.


    Getting up, she went back and let Natalie know the good news. Then they proceeded to go around both the indoor and outdoor area for the apes, getting Natalie to store each and every item. As all of the gorillas were now sleeping and recovering, Shannon did not want to wake one to start getting stuff stored in her own Soulscape. It was not like she would be readily able to access it anyways. Once everything was packed away, they went back out the way they came, getting back up to the viewing area overseeing the pen. There they continued to move through the building, though that was only due to the fact that the snakes were now visibly moving around, causing Shannon to completely refuse that route.


    Huge thanks to my Elder Wolves Selvaria, Viktor, Saganatsu, Eeleater, Lachlan, Adam, John, Nicholas, Jacob, Onean, Hades, Krimson, Jake, Neal, Sebastian, Ethan, Sir Hellington, and Kevin for supporting me and my writing! Remember that I keep Patreon ten chapters ahead at all times. Our next goal on Patreon will be getting up to 50 patrons, which I will then spend more time each month writing some side stories and shorts that show other perspectives throughout my stories!


    Feel free to join us all on my Discord! https://discord.gg/b8gRkD4

 Chapter 112

    sorry, posted the wrong thing, i fixed it though. hope you all enjoy!


    Moving through, they came across many other animals that had not made it through the time neglected. None of the animals they came across were nearly as well off as the snakes so far. Eventually, they came up to the exit of the building. Here it was both good and bad news. The good news was that it was a glass door that used to slide open that acted as the final barrier. The less fortunate side was that through the glass, they could see a pair of orcs seeming to stroll about down the path. They had makeshift spears, and seemed to be wary and jumpy, showing that something had happened to them earlier. As they watched on, they quickly saw that the poor orcs were not long for the world, and why they were being so jumpy. Behind them, atop the lodge, stalked a pair of lionesses. As soon as the orcs got close enough, the female lions pounced upon them before the orcs even had a chance to make a sound. After the orcs had died, the two lionesses started dragging their kills around the corner and back behind the lodge. After waiting for a few minutes watching where the large cats disappeared, they felt it was finally safe to leave.


    Finally leaving the building, Nat and Shannon noticed that the sun sat almost directly above them, signaling that it was around noon. Not wanting to dally in the city for too long, the pack started moving along the path towards the north while skirting around the far side of the path away from the lodge. After all, the gorillas were in no shape to help them in a fight, and they still had a long way to go should they want to leave the city today. However, there was one last stop that Shannon wanted to make before they left the zoo. After all, there was a small possibility that there were still wolves surviving this long.


    They crossed the walk bridge leading over to the other half of the park, before making an immediate right. There, the path zigged and zagged before going around a couple enclosures. As the group made their way down, the wire mesh in each of the pens seemed aged and broken, and not in small ways. While they could still see some bears inside the exhibits they passed, the holes in the fence were more than large enough to accommodate their girth. And on the ground around the hole, there was a small puddle of black guck. Apparently, surface area was not a concern for spawning in monsters, as it appeared that the fence had been used as a medium. Which also very apparently turned out to be a bad time for the monsters. After all, bears were larger and stronger than the gorillas that they had just rescued. Keeping their distance from the napping giants, Nat could not help but use her energy to look closer at one of the bears that were there. They were bigger than the others, and was starting to grow spines out of their back and limbs. If anything, it made it look even more fearsome.


    Continuing on, every enclosure they passed had a similar hole, all of them surprisingly a similar size. As they passed the mountain lion exhibit, the entire group immediately took cover behind a rock as a portal opened up, just two sections down from another hole. They watched as the metal deteriorated and crumbled down to the ground, until the portal finally collapsed with a single orc standing there. Sadly for the monster, it was not standing there for long. With no weapons or awareness, the unaware orc was immediately brought to the ground by a mountain lion. It was quick and brutal, but the orc could not have been in this world for more than three seconds before his neck was broken in the jaws of the powerful cat. Seemingly satisfied with what it had done, the predator returned back to the rock it had been sun tanning on before.


    Carefully, the group proceeded down the path. The area had been named the Canadian Wilds when the park was open, and it was just living more and more up to its name. Numerous animals that should have been in the enclosures were walking about freely, with almost no care in the world. You could still easily tell where a predator was though, as all you had to do was look for the area that a bunch of animals were avoiding. There group just happened to be one of the dead zones that were travelling around. Occasionally, they would come across a half-eaten corpse, clearly having been a meal for a carnivore sometime recently. When it was an animal whose meat they did not have access to yet, Nat got Maia or Kali to quickly store the carcass, giving them the ability to hunt down the animals inside the Soulscape for more variety.


    And then they approached what was Nat''s main home away from home during her internship. Coming up to the fence, she could see that it had a single hole. However, sitting inside that makeshift entrance was two wolves, closely watching the entrance. Nat did not recognize either of the canines, but figured trying to go straight to them was a bad idea. Wolf packs rarely intermingled closely, usually a fight for dominance came out. She could not see any other wolves inside the enclosure, but she knew that they would be there. Wanting to avoid conflict, she guided her group around to the back of the enclosure, towards where the keeper station was. Inside would be a list of all of the wolfs that were residing inside, as well as an easier access into the other packs area.


    When they got there, the door was not even locked. Nat was not surprised, given that the old keeper that she studied under never bothered locking it while he was there. That was one of the main reasons they had both gotten in trouble, but it only happened a couple of times. While they were never excessively close, they had gotten along quite well as co-workers. Hoping the old fart was alright through all of this, she walked over to the main desk of the small building. Looking through the notes, she was surprised to find out that there were almost a dozen wolves that were supposed to be inside. Even more surprising was that three of them were supposed to have been new born pups born last year. Before she could turn around, Shannon sat down in the chair and gave a knowing smirk her direction. Getting the message, Nat went up to the inner doors, and opened them up.


    Huge thanks to my Elder Wolves Selvaria, Viktor, Saganatsu, Eeleater, Lachlan, Adam, John, Nicholas, Jacob, Onean, Hades, Krimson, Jake, Neal, Sebastian, Ethan, Sir Hellington, and Kevin for supporting me and my writing! Remember that I keep Patreon ten chapters ahead at all times. Our next goal on Patreon will be getting up to 50 patrons, which I will then spend more time each month writing some side stories and shorts that show other perspectives throughout my stories!


    Feel free to join us all on my Discord! https://discord.gg/b8gRkD4

 Chapter 113

    Walking into the enclosure, Nat was greeted by the view of a group of wargs. They all turned to look at her, as the door made a noise, and immediately became hostile. Their hackles rose and their teeth became bared, ready to strike. It was at this point that Maia and Kali jumped out of the Soulscape, while the male canines came out around her sides. Now the sides were seven against four, but it was more even than anything. The other side were all larger and stronger than most of the group, leaving Sol to be the only one that was an even match. Due to this, neither side made a move forwards or back, waiting to see what the other would do. All of the canine''s present felt that if they made the first move, they would lose. This continued for a few minutes with growls back and forth, before the eyes of one of the wargs went wide. It made a confused sounding whine, while at the same time losing all traces of hostility. Looking down at Kali, who was right beside her, she gestured for a translation.


    ''All they said was ''Natalie?'' while being confused.'' Kali responded, seemingly unsure on how to take it. This warg apparently knew her, but how? She had never interacted with a warg before. While the other wargs still maintained a high level of vigilance, they dropped their hostilities after the confused whine came out. Getting her pack to stand down, Nat took a step forward. Seeing her movements, the confused one took mirrored her actions. Step after step, the distance between the two closed to nothing. Carefully, the warg sniffed Natalie, before barking loudly and nuzzling up against her. She was surprised by the wargs actions, but not so much as the fact that the other three wargs started coming up to her. As the first one nuzzled against her, she felt a patch of fur missing from the body of the large canine. Looking down, she ran her hand along what seemed to be a scar mark, that had a vague familiarity. As the memory of the scar came back to her.


    Many years ago, during her internship, there was this one wolf pup that came into the zoo injured. He had been found injured and on his own, having fallen from a cliff. By the amount of blood he lost and the size of the injury, it was a miracle that they were able to save him. It was a gash that ran along most of his body, and caused severe trauma to his spine. It took a lot of time and energy, but he had a long and invasive surgery to try and give the pup a chance at a normal life. While Natalie had only been one of the attendants at the time, not being trained enough to operate, the pup took to her in an instant. Most of her time interning was helping to rehabilitate this one wolf pup and get him capable of moving once more. By the time Natalie was finishing her internship, the pup had already started to be able to walk short distances normally, and it was expected that within a few years he would be able to run again. Due to how well he withstood all of the surgeries and pain from his injury, they had all named him Trooper. He was the little pup who would not give up after all.


    "Trooper, is that you?" Natalie asked, eyes wide with shock. Not only had the little pup she helped treat grown up, but he was now larger than her. But when she had seen him last, he had just been a normal wolf. Before she could think too far on this, Trooper''s eyes lit up, and he jumped at Natalie as he always used too. Because of his new-found size, he ended up tackling her to the ground. Once she was down, he started licking her face over and over. Thankfully, she landed on grass, and only briefly managed to have the air knocked out of her. It took a solid few seconds of warg tongue and fur covering her mouth before she could finally voice out the words, "Trooper, get off of me!"


    As soon as the giant canine moved off of her, she stood back up, only to have the other start sniffing her intently. Slowly they all started nuzzling up against her in unison. She had not been here for that long while interning, so she was surprised that so many of the canines seemed to recognize her. As the four wargs nuzzled up against her, she slowly started picking out telltale signs of which warg was which. Tank still had the scar over his eye, showing where he had been clawed by another wolf in a fight for dominance. Lady still had the same set of spots along her flank, shaped lightly into a heart shape in a couple spots. And finally, there was Sierra, who had the most unique colouring of all of them, since she had been an albino as a wolf. The white fur and pink eyes set her apart from all others. They had all just been pups when she was an intern, and seemed to enjoy her presence the whole time. Seeing them as wargs threw her through a loop or two.


    As she went through the new information, knowing now that wargs did not manifest during the event, but were instead mutated wolves kept Natalie distracted. Trooper went out and left the other three to reconnect with their former keeper. When he came back, nine normal grey wolves were following him. Apparently the wargs had a sort of ruler status here. One by one, they all bonded willingly with Natalie, leaving her standing there still surprised by everything. It took a few minutes until she finally came back down to earth, and by then Shannon had come out and stood beside her. After storing what they could from this enclosure, it was finally time to leave the zoo, and by extension Calgary. As they walked down towards the hole in the fence, Nat filled in Shannon on what she had just learned. After she was done, neither spoke another word until they were safely out of the zoo, trying to wrap their heads around even more madness.


    Huge thanks to my Elder Wolves Selvaria, Viktor, Saganatsu, Eeleater, Lachlan, Adam, John, Nicholas, Jacob, Onean, Hades, Krimson, Jake, Neal, Sebastian, Ethan, Sir Hellington, and Kevin for supporting me and my writing! Remember that I keep Patreon ten chapters ahead at all times. Our next goal on Patreon will be getting up to 50 patrons, which I will then spend more time each month writing some side stories and shorts that show other perspectives throughout my stories!


    Feel free to join us all on my Discord! https://discord.gg/b8gRkD4

 Chapter 114

    The group of six left the park through a service exit on the eastern side. Their group did not expand at all, as the new additions to Natalie''s pack were acquainting themselves with everything in the Soulscape, as well as getting language lessons from the canines already in there. While they were able to speak in English, it was in a broken and difficult manner. The four wargs in particular paid extra attention to these lessons, as they desperately wanted to communicate with Natalie. They had many stories over what had happened since she had left, and they wanted to hear her experiences. They were completely enamoured with her, almost to a point of worship. Thankfully it was just at the point of deep admiration, otherwise Nat was unsure on how she would deal with it. Maia and Kali already started cracking jokes during gaps in their teaching of the new arrivals, saying how they were her two head priestesses and would lead her delegation in her glory. Despite these being clear jokes, Natalie could not help but worry that the four new wargs might actually found a religion around her.


    Putting that out of mind for now, they walked up the embankment that led onto Memorial Drive. From there, the group moved north as they could and eventually took the ramp back down to Deerfoot Trail. Their goals in the city were finished, and there was nothing left that they wanted here. Thus, their plan was to leave the city as quickly and cleanly as possible. They took the turn off onto the Trans-Canada Highway, and proceeded to head east. It was the quickest way out of the city, and the width of the highway made it easy for them to see any monsters approach them. Unlike most other roads, this one had a number of vehicles stopped on the road. However, all of them were Large trucks with trailers being towed behind them. Overnight shippers, whos engines must have stopped working when the event hit, probably had their rides stuck here and were unable to make any deliveries. This was just a wild guess, but it was supported by the number of engine covers that were lifted, giving credence to the fact that none of them understood why their trucks stopped working.


    They only made one stop on the way out of the city, but Natalie dreaded every moment of it. As they headed down the road, they passed by a gym that had franchises everywhere. Shannon had claimed that they needed to grab as much as they could for their future development. Reluctantly, Nat followed and helped store away all the non-electronic training gear that was there. They still left duplicates as always, but every item raised Nat''s worries for the future. After all, every item that they grabbed would just be another tort... workout tool that would be used against her in her training that was coming up. However, the bright smile that was on Shannon''s face was impossible to resist, so they thoroughly swept the building.


    The rest of the journey that day was completely uneventful. They left the city, tired but relieved. They had gone into a city, barely had to deal with any monsters, and got a bunch of new companions for the days ahead. This was probably one of the best days they had gotten for a long time, exploration wise. After they passed a cemetery and a large RV storage lot, they finally made camp at a small farm property. Once again, no one was there, making camping in the yard easy and comfortable. By the time that they had finished setting up, the sun was already kissing the tops of the downtown buildings in the distance. Darkness fell fast, but a bonfire and a celebratory feast ensued for a few hours past that. The gorillas stayed sleeping, but all of the canines, as well as Natalie and Shannon partied and had a good night. The mothers of the pack even came out and joined in, though they were mostly stationary as they were dealing with their still weaning pups. Over all, it was a joyous and happy time for the entire group.


    As it all winded down, and the moon started to rise high in the sky, most of the canines started to retire. The mothers and their pups went first, followed by most of the adults. The coyotes stayed out, but it was due to their role in all of this. Everyone had fought valiantly during the day, so now they had to protect them all through the night. At this point, all of the canines felt like one giant family. Bryden and Shadow competed in a bunch of stupid things as if they were brothers, Kali and Maia teased everyone equally as if they were older sisters to everyone, and so on. Everyone had their duties as a member of this family, but none of them begrudged each other or looked down upon one another because of what duties they took on. They treated each other as equals, working together to make the best of a situation.


    Kali and Maia were the last two to enter the Soulscape. Nat was shocked at first, given how the two had a habit of sleeping with her every night. However, they both looked at Shannon right before they entered, and only did so once they received a nod from her. Looking around, Nat could not help but notice that unlike the previous times they had made camp, something was missing. There was only one tent. As her eyes widened and she turned to stare at her partner, Shannon walked up to her with a blush covering her cheeks. "So, um, if you are ready, I would like to sleep with you tonight. I think I... No, I am ready and tired of waiting. If, you know, that is okay with you." Shannon said, fidgeting with her hands as she looked down towards the ground. Seeing the embarrassment on Shannon''s face and in her actions, Natalie''s dominant side came out. Standing up, she walked over to her partner and slowly grasped the fidgeting hands with one hand using the other hand, she lifted Shannon''s head up by the chin till they looked each other in the eyes. Instead of giving her answer in the form of words, Natalie lightly pecked her lover''s lips with her own, before attempting to draw her head back. However, Shannon felt encouraged by the sudden intimacy, and pushed forward to make out more with Nat, causing both to fall through the open tent door and onto the mattress and pillows inside. Then, until they went to sleep, sounds resounded out from the tent, filled with contentment, passion, and lust.


    Huge thanks to my Elder Wolves Selvaria, Viktor, Saganatsu, Eeleater, John, Jacob, Onean, Neal, Sebastian, Ethan, Sir Hellington, and Kevin for supporting me and my writing! Remember that I keep Patreon ten chapters ahead at all times. Our next goal on Patreon will be getting up to 50 patrons, which I will then spend more time each month writing some side stories and shorts that show other perspectives throughout my stories!


    Feel free to join us all on my Discord! https://discord.gg/b8gRkD4

 Chapter 115

    AN: So I have now been officially terminated from my work. that means that I should have more time to write, but also that Patreon is now my only source of money. Regardless, this is an issue on me, you all just need to do what you can to make through these difficult times in the best shape you can. I hope you all enjoy the chapter!


    Natalie awoke as the sun rose, the light brightening her face from the entrance to the tent. Grumpy by the increasing brightness, she tried to move her head out of the path of the light. However, she stopped short as she felt something warm and firm come into her hands instead of the blankets. Slowly opening her eyes, she tried to make sense of this odd feeling she had never felt before. As she looked upon the contents of her hands, the previous night''s memories flooded back to her. She could feel a blush rising to her cheeks, while leaving her hands exactly where they were. On Shannon''s back.


    Her back felt strong and firm, while still being warm and comfortable. Looking down was hard, as Shannon''s head was nestled in the small area between Natalie''s shoulder and neck. Due to the proximity, every time Nat breathed, some of her lover''s red hair came upwards, tickling the bottom of her nose. Unable to resist the temptation, she started feeling Shannon''s back all over again, working her way down it. It did not take long for Nat to reach the lower half of her sleeping companion, and as her hands ran over mass of muscle, she gave a tender yet loving squeeze. This seemed to do the trick for the sleepy Shannon, as a moan escaped her lips, before nestling harder into Natalie. "Morning love." Nat said, moving one had up to run her fingers through the luscious red locks. A soft grunt came up in response, and they just spent the next ten minutes just lying there, cuddled up as the sun crested over the horizon.


    After spending enough time enjoying the moment, Nat turned her vision inwards to the Soulscape. If her math was right, today should be Seeka''s due date, but it was hard to tell. When she took a look at the future mother, her belly was still swelling to large proportions, but it did not appear that the water had broken yet. The pregnancy could run longer or shorter for a variety of reasons, and there was no need to rush it. The new pups would come out when they were ready. Satisfied that Seeka was alright for the time being, she took a look at the other pups. Their fur was all coming in evenly, and there was clear evidence that they had started walking around. Scraps of regurgitated meat lay around each of the sets of pups, showing clearly that the weaning off of milk had started all around. It would probably still be another week or two for the newborns to be completely off of their mother''s milk, but that was just an average. Realistically, they could be ready in as soon as four days.


    There was one thing that worried Nat about these newborn pups, and that was behavioural traits. Normally, the second and third month were all behavioural stuff, such as how to interact with others, how to approach situations, but most importantly their bite inhibition. This was their time to learn how hard they could bite or nip safely, and with the accelerated growth that was being seen by the Soulscape, there was a chance that it would be completely passed by. It was something to ask the mothers if they were dealing with this properly, but that could wait till they all woke up. She did not want to try to teach others while they were half asleep.


    Returning her vision back to the outside world, she was glad that she could choose which senses went back and forth. The entire time, Shannon''s plentiful assets pressed against her stomach. As much as she wanted to continue to enjoy this feeling, she needed to get up. While attempting to remove her lover''s grasp, she found that it was just as hard to escape, if not harder, than it was to break free from Kali and Maia''s sleeping embrace. It took fifteen minutes of gentle caressing and whispering sweet nothings in Shannon''s ear before the grasp finally weakened. Making use of the opening, Nat quickly got up and out of bed. Looking back down, she noticed that Shannon grasped at thin air for a while, before finally managing to get a hold of Natalie''s pillow, which soon was given the same treatment as Natalie was earlier.


    After getting on the same clothes as the day before, Nat walked outside and sat with the ever-watchful coyotes. However, what was there surprised her, as Copper was sitting there keeping an eye out with one of his pups nestled in between his front legs. Noting that she may have to start a count of puppies each morning, she sat down between him and Edwin, scratching the top of both of their heads. They were the biggest sucks out of the whole pack, and always loved to get petted. Though, that position may get usurped now that the wargs from the zoo had joined in. That discovery had answered quite a few questions that Nat had. The larger and stronger animals were not just spawned in like the monsters were. Instead, the wave seemed to have mutated select portions of each species, making them different while still similar. All the sudden, the mental image of a three-foot-tall chihuahua popped into her mind, and Nat could barely repress the giggle that almost came out.


    After a while, the group all started to wake up. Thanks to the new additions, Nat''s energy capacity seemed to have gone up again, as she was fully able to shift not just Kali, but Maia as well as they came out of the Soulscape. She still felt drained after it, but it was as clear of a sign of growth as any. The new wolves did not come and join Nat right away, still wary of the new person nearby. She could tell that they had only bonded with her because of the four wargs. Nonetheless, she planned to treat them as members of the family and get along with them well. To that end, she had Sol and Bryden show all of the new arrivals the features of the Soulscape, especially the summoning of prey to hunt. Within the next half hour, hunts were going on all over her Soulscape, from waterside to deep in the wooded areas. The only place they kept it away from was the farmland that they had worked together to till and plant. While they were doing that, Shannon had gotten up and came out, likewise dressed in the clothes of yesterday. While they ate breakfast, Nat decided that she had to ask for clarity, "So, what''s the plan now?"


    Huge thanks to my Elder Wolves Selvaria, Viktor, Saganatsu, Eeleater, John, Jacob, Onean, Neal, Sebastian, Ethan, Sir Hellington, Adam, and Kevin for supporting me and my writing! Remember that I keep Patreon ten chapters ahead at all times. Our next goal on Patreon will be getting up to 50 patrons, which I will then spend more time each month writing some side stories and shorts that show other perspectives throughout my stories!


    Feel free to join us all on my Discord! https://discord.gg/b8gRkD4

 Chapter 116

    Shannon paused for a second mid bite, before taking the empty spoon out of her mouth and setting it back into the cereal bowl. She had been so focused on the gorillas these past few days, as well as worrying about surviving that she hadn''t thought about what to do after going in and out of Calgary. It wasn''t even a worry about it later thing, more that the idea of doing something afterwards barely crossed her mind, if at all. Swallowing the chewed-up cereal, she looked up to Nat and said, "I have no idea. The only thoughts that I had towards what to do after was training you up, but that was decided yesterday morning. Otherwise, I have nothing."


    Natalie visibly cringed at the mention of training. While part of her wanted Shannon to forget about the agreement they came to in the train yard, she was glad that her lover had remembered. During that whole time in the fringes of downtown, she felt as though she was just holding back the pack. At least, from a physicality point of view. Despite having walked a quarter of the way across the province, her stamina was poor, and her muscles were not used to the strain put on them from constantly running and fighting. At this point, it would only be a matter of time before she was the reason for someone get badly hurt, or even die. She remembered the pain that Bryden felt when he was wounded outside of Waterton, and his frustration at not being able to help more. Up till now, she had been too complacent to let the canines do the fighting for her.


    Finishing off her breakfast first, Natalie decided to pitch forward an idea. "How about. We travel a little less every day, and spend more time in the evening training? That way we can keep moving forward, while still getting me into a hopefully better shape. As for the direction, how about to check on each of our parents? Get the parents blessings and all that."


    Shannon quietly thought as she finished off her cereal, before replying, "That could work. Get sore right before bed, fall asleep nice and fast due to being tired. I could easily get you up to a passing level within a month or two." Taking a break before continuing her thought, she downed the milk that was left in the bowl. "Add some more sex like last night to that and we would both fall asleep super easily. As for going after our parents, that sounds like a good idea. I''ve barely talked with mine in the past year, only at holidays and birthdays, but they should still be out in the area of Bancroft. Would your parents still be up in High Level?"


    "I doubt it. Knowing those two, they probably wrestled some bears into submission and started moving on their own once all technology stopped. However, they probably would leave a note for me inside their house before they left. Either saying not to bother looking for them, or that they would be heading somewhere and to look for them there should I have need of them."


    "Wrestling a.... Should I be worried to meet my in-laws? They won''t try to eat me, will they? I know that you talk with them and about them all of the time, but each time you say anything about them, it makes me think that they are savages who only respect strength. Oh no, will I have to fight your mother to prove that I am worthy?" Shannon asked, trying to act scared of the idea. However, her true feeling leaked out, showing her desire to test herself against someone strong.


    "You''ll be fine. I doubt that you will have to fight them, but if you wanted, I would not be surprised if they accepted a challenge. They are always wanting to try new things, and experience exciting scenarios. Just goes to show how free-spirited they are. When it comes to them, I am not worried in the slightest. From what I know, my parents are going to be making this apocalypse their bitch, and they will get along with you just fine. If anything, I''m more worried about your folks. I have not heard much about them form you. Or at all, come to think about it"


    "Well, we haven''t talked much since I came out west. Mostly just a dropping out of contact sort of thing. They are very much the opposite of your parents, as I can guarantee that they have not moved from their place out in Ontario. I have no idea on how they would deal with all of... This." Shannon finished, gesturing between the two of them.


    "We can cross that bridge when we get their love." Nat said, placing her hands over top of Shannon''s. "Let us just start small, and work our way north to see if we can meet up with my parents." Feeling a bit more reassured, Shannon just nodded and gripped her lover''s hands tightly. Natalie quickly gave a peck on Shannon''s cheek, before starting to get their campsite taken apart. Shannon just sat there with a blank face, used cereal bowl still sitting in her lap. It did not take long though, for a smile to tug at the corners of her mouth, before she got up and started to help.


    Due to the fact that most of the canines were inside eating various types of meat, most for the first time, cleaning up the area was really easy today. Tents were down and everything was stored away within minutes, so fast that Nat wondered if it was a new speed record for the pack. When they were ready to go, they were joined by Trooper, who seemed to be the winner today as for who would get to travel outside along with them. It took a little longer than they anticipated, mainly due to the over-excited warg wanting to be pet and scratched endlessly by Natalie. It took a while of reminding that they had to worry about travelling first and foremost before he finally managed to stop rubbing up against Natalie. Secretly, she was glad that he stopped when he did. She wasn''t sure if she would have been able to stand upright for much longer. When a small dog rubs against your shin, its adorable. When a warg that is up to your chest does it, you''re worried they might completely bowl you over and break something!


    Huge thanks to my Elder Wolves Selvaria, Viktor, Saganatsu, Eeleater, John, Jacob, Onean, Neal, Sebastian, Ethan, Sir Hellington, Adam, and Kevin for supporting me and my writing! Remember that I keep Patreon ten chapters ahead at all times. Our next goal on Patreon will be getting up to 50 patrons, which I will then spend more time each month writing some side stories and shorts that show other perspectives throughout my stories!


    Feel free to join us all on my Discord! https://discord.gg/b8gRkD4

 Chapter 117

    They started moving to the north, following the road beside their little camp. They had left Calgary behind in the west, and they could already see what looked like a town to the east. According to the map, the name of the town was Chestermere, and it seemed to be surprisingly sizable. With the raucous day they had the day before, none of the pack were looking forward to going through yet another bit of civilization soon. Today, Shannon practiced more at her map reading and navigational skills, while Nat kept her head on a swivel. The proximity of all these towns and cities around them put them on edge. Kali and Maia each covered the rear approach, while Trooper moved forward in the point position.


    As they walked, Shannon asked, "Hey Nat, do you have any more maps stored away." After quickly checking with Luna, she shook her head. "Damn. This one only has stuff shown up until Red Deer. Hopefully we can find another bunch of them by then." She turned back to the map, only glancing up for reference for where they were. They were still operating on the bunch of maps that Nat had gotten from that one campsite down in the south. However, all of them were just for southern Alberta. None of them really showed anything northern, but that was not that much of a surprise. You shouldn''t need a map for the other side of a province from where your campground was. And while a map was not necessarily required, the ability to reference it for routes to go and where towns sat was enough of a help that made it almost invaluable.


    Along the road, they passed by many buildings. Small farms dotted the prairies, and there was even a distribution warehouse sitting out along this back road. Wanting to give it a wide berth, the five of them cut across the field beside them and just moved over to the connecting road that headed east. Thankfully this was where they had wanted to go anyways, but it took until the next intersection for Shannon to verify that. Regardless, the path they took mattered little in the end, and the mountains outline to the west made it easy to have a landmark for what direction to go. Sadly, as they moved more north, they would veer off and disappear beyond the horizon, but the time they were there helped a lot.


    The sun did not even reach its zenith before things took a turn. Scout''s voice spoke hurriedly towards Nat from the Soulscape, "Alpha, help me! I think the pups are coming!" getting the group around her to stop moving for a minute, she turned her view inwards and immediately focused on Seeka. Sure enough, her water had broken and the first pup was already coming out. Thankfully this one was dealt with efficiently, and there was no need to worry too much for the first pup. However, that now put them all on a clock. Every twenty to thirty minutes from now on, one of the pups would come out from Seeka''s belly, and it would be incredibly distracting for Nat. Adding to the madness, was the fact that they never did a check with the energy vision to see how many new pups were inside Seeka''s belly. It could be anywhere from less than half a dozen, to anywhere in the realm of over a dozen. Passing along the info to the group, they all quickly moved toward the property that was ahead. It was agreed that there would probably be no more travelling today. Instead, they would allow Nat to focus all of her energy directly towards Seeka, Scout, and their new family members.


    When they got to the property, it was completely surrounded by foliage, with no signs of anything having moved on or off the property recently. Moving to the middle of the yard, Natalie sat down and focused inwards to the Soulscape, and just in time. The second baby was coming out from Seeka''s womb, and it had a slight issue with its sac not bursting open to let the puppy breathe. Walking Scout through the steps quickly, the puppy started breathing and moving slightly, and in the direction back to their mother''s body. Hours passed by, with Nat not taking her view off of the new mother and her new spawn for a minute. Meanwhile, Kali and Maia started setting up camp with the help of their own spawn. They felt the need for the little ones to get used to it, should anything happen involving any of the older wolves, such as a battle where they are all injured. Shannon kept the ''little'' ones occupied after with some games. In fact, most of Kali and Maia''s children were nearing their full adult size. However, they still had the same inclination as they did weeks ago when they were still barely at knee level. They had a bad tendency to run straight into somebody without slowing down, especially Spirit.


    Five hours later, and all of the pups were finally out of Seeka. It had been an hour since the last one came out, mixed with the fact that Seeka was certain there were none left, meant that she and Scout had a total of ten pups together. Having already given a quick look over each of the newborns and seeing that all were healthy, Nat shifted her view back to the farm land that they had stopped upon. What she came across was a lightly bruised Shannon collapsed on the ground in front of her, with many of the other pups collapsed alongside her. Spirit still bounced around them all, seemingly full of energy. She had a rough idea of what went on, and her suspicions proved true once Kali filled her in on what happened. They had tried to play for the last five hours among them all, but one by one their stamina ran out. Yet, once again, Spirit did not even seem to be that tired. Seriously, what is that fucking pup running on, the power of the sun?


    Huge thanks to my Elder Wolves Selvaria, Viktor, Saganatsu, Eeleater, John, Jacob, Onean, Neal, Sebastian, Ethan, Sir Hellington, Adam, and Kevin for supporting me and my writing! Remember that I keep Patreon ten chapters ahead at all times. Our next goal on Patreon will be getting up to 50 patrons, which I will then spend more time each month writing some side stories and shorts that show other perspectives throughout my stories!


    Feel free to join us all on my Discord! https://discord.gg/b8gRkD4

 Chapter 118

    Had to submit a DMCA takedown notice today. First one ever for me, so that was an experience. Remember, I only post this story on Patreon, RoyalRoad, and Scribble Hub.


    Changing her posture from sitting cross-legged to kneeling, Nat moved to loom over top of her collapsed lover. "So, did you have fun with all of the pups?" All that came back from Shannon was a grunt. There was no way to tell what type of answer that was. Seeing that she had a chance, she leaned in slightly closer to Shannon and asked, "Are you doing ok?" Another grunt came out, though this one felt just as nebulous as the one before. A playful smirk came upon Natalie''s face, as she noticed that Shannon was doing her best not to move. Softly, Nat ran her fingers along Shannon''s arm. Moving closer, she told her lover in as sultry of a tone that she could manage, "Well, I have a little something that may help you feel better." Removing all other contact from Shannon''s body, Natalie quickly lowered herself down and gave a light peck to her lover''s lips. As soon as she came down, she was already heading back up, the teasing mirth glinting playfully in her eyes.


    "Ow, ow, ow." Shannon groaned out as she sat up, chasing after Natalie''s lips. Putting one arm forward, she clasped the back of Nat''s head and dragged her down towards her. Until they came together, Shannon''s visage was just a grimace of pain and soreness. However, once their lips connected, both of their faces melted into a blissful happiness. Kali and Maia both whistled as they saw it, but neither of them cared. If anything, in fact, it spurred them to go at it harder than before, as if they had something to prove.


    When they both finally broke apart to get some air, Shannon collapsed back down into the prone position she had been in. "You know, if it''s going to cause you pain, you probably shouldn''t do it." Natalie quipped, her smirk still blatantly on her face as she eyed her wife groaning on the ground.


    "Worth it," was all that came out of Shannon''s mouth. Natalie struggled to hold back a giggle, and bent down to get one more quick taste of the luscious lips that lay below her. Sitting back down, Nat started working on something that needed to be done. She had put it off yesterday and this morning, but if everyone was exhausted or relaxing, then there was no real better time. Sending a thought towards the six new wolves that joined the pack, she asked if any of them wanted a name. Surprisingly, only one had said that they did. When asked about the reason why the others did not want one, Natalie found their position fair. None of them were sure how long they were going to stick around, and were debating on if they wanted to stay with the pack or move on their own. Getting a name like the rest had would feel like it would tie them down, and act as a shackle should they decide not to stay around. To that, Natalie let them know that they were free to either stay or leave, whichever they felt more suited them. She did not want to force the canines to stay with her, but she was glad to have them around should they accept. As for the one that wanted to stick around for sure, he was given the name Max. He seemed to really like it, due to the fact that he came out of the Soulscape and just started nuzzling against Natalie. This time, she was completely unprepared and was bowled over by the large male wolf pushing against her.


    While Nat was getting piled on by a bunch of canines who saw her getting bowled over as a chance to play around, Shannon was finally able to sit up and move about. Seeing where the sun sat in the sky, she immediately conscripted the help of Bryden, as Scout was otherwise engaged with his and Seeka''s new children. Materials and food supplies were brought out, and she got to work cooking up a bunch of food. She had been keeping up a healthy amount of food for the past few weeks, but now it was time to kick it up a notch. Mass amounts of chicken meat was being cooked up. They were lightly seasoned, but had a fair amount of fruit juices rubbed into the meat. When it was all good and ready, she got the pile of canines to get off of her lover so that she could eat. Once she was finally clear of obstructions, three times as much food as Nat normally ate was placed in front of her. There were barely any greens, and it was mostly just carbs and protein. Looking up, she saw Shannon standing over her with a grin on her face that did not reach the eyes.


    The next few hours turned out to be hell for Natalie, as Shannon started up the physical training right after they finished cleaning up from dinner. The whole reason for the mass amount of food, apparently, was so that she would have more energy to push for longer. Today was apparently just a day for setting the starting point. Shannon had a notepad that had everything from form, amount, and time for each set of exercises. Crunches, sit-ups, push-ups, you name it, Nat was made to do it. She did not do it alone though. Kali and Maia joined in with their shifted forms and worked out alongside her. This was apparently Shannon''s idea, both to help encourage Nat to work out more as well as get those two more used to their shifted forms. As the three of them finally finished her fifth lap around the inside perimeter of the foliage, the sun finally dipped behind the hills and barely visible mountains to the west. At that point, Shannon called it quits for the night. "Ok, that gives me good information with where to work at in the future, as well as a good baseline to measure your growth. How you feeling?" Shannon asked, mirroring the smirk she had gotten earlier.


    Nat did not even grunt in response, instead flopping face first onto the mattress inside the tent, with Maia and Kali mirroring her actions. Everywhere on their bodies felt like it was on fire, and they just wanted to sleep off the newfound pain. While Maia and Kali both passed out instantly, Nat felt Shannon''s hands start working their way up her legs from her calves. Slowly and carefully, Shannon worked her way up Nat''s limp body, massaging each and every sore muscle she could. When she finally got to the neck, she sensually whispered into Nat''s ear, "You did well tonight, so now it is time for your reward." though her body hurt, probably more than Shannon''s did after trying to keep up with Spirit, but this extra round of exercise would not be passed up on. As her lover had so eloquently put it, worth it.


    Huge thanks to my Elder Wolves Selvaria, Viktor, Saganatsu, Eeleater, John, Jacob, Onean, Neal, Sebastian, Ethan, Sir Hellington, Adam, and Kevin for supporting me and my writing! Remember that I keep Patreon ten chapters ahead at all times. Our next goal on Patreon will be getting up to 50 patrons, which I will then spend more time each month writing some side stories and shorts that show other perspectives throughout my stories!


    Feel free to join us all on my Discord! https://discord.gg/b8gRkD4

 Chapter 119

    The following morning was one of the worst Natalie had ever experienced. It ranked right up there with after her first shift and the night she first met Shannon, as her muscles screamed at her in protest for the slightest movement. That in itself wouldn''t be too bad, except she was currently being the big spoon for her lover. This meant that her arms and legs would have to move before Shannon could even get up to help. However, since she was currently the only one awake, Nat decided that staying in bed a bit longer sounded like a fantastic idea. To try and keep herself from moving and causing more pain, she shifted her sight back into the Soulscape. There she found that she was not the first one up, but the other one who was up seemed just as unhappy to be awake as she was. Seeka''s pups were already crawling about and wanting breakfast, causing their mother to be unable to sleep. Seeing that now was a good time, Nat focused in more on Seeka, so much so that it surprised her. Something affected her ability to see into the Soulscape between yesterday and today, as she was able to zoom in farther and with much higher clarity.


    Making use of this zoom, she did a check on the status of the mother canines'' bodies and their milk. From what she could see, there was no swelling, irritation, or decolourization of any parts on the female wolves, though there were a few nibble marks on some of the mothers, mainly Tin. Her pups were already starting to have their teeth grow in and were biting everything they could get in their mouth. The only one who had milk coming out was Seeka, but it was a nice white colour, with no signs of blood or puss coming out with it. Whether this was by chance, or just the nature of the Soulscape had yet to be seen. What was a good sign though was that every single pup was healthy, at a good temperature, and well fed.


    As she was taking some time to just admire the puppies that were sleeping or nursing, Nat suddenly felt sharp pains shoot up her limbs. The suddenness of it caused her to instantly back out of the Soulscape to see Shannon gingerly trying to lift her arm off. A hiss of pain fled out from Natalie''s lips, causing her lover to stop what she was doing entirely. With as little motion as possible, Shannon turned over where she lay to come face to face with Nat. No words were spoken, but the signal of pain etched across Natalie''s face said enough. She may have pushed her wife a bit far when it came to the workout the previous night. Either that, or the sex afterwards had definitely been a bit too much. Either way, tonight she was going to have to ease up with the amount of pushing she did.


    Together they lay there until Maia and Kali awoke. Whether it was the fact that they had already been in pretty decent shape, or just evidence that the intimacy afterwards had been too much, both of the wolfen women reported to only having small blips of soreness flare up whenever they moved. Nothing debilitating, but it was definitely notable. Quick as she could, Shannon got up from bed and started getting Kali and Maia to pull things out of the SoulScape inside Natalie. Ice packs, heat packs, and breakfast supplies flowed out like water. After carefully placing the packs on all the most grievous of sores, Shannon left her lover to go outside and start cooking up some breakfast. As much as she wanted to treat her lover to some comfort food, what was the make or break for workouts was diet. If you did not consistently eat what your body needed, and instead focused on what you wanted to eat, your workouts efforts were doomed to fail.


    It wasn''t until two hours after sunrise that Nat felt able to stand up and brave the pain. Each step still hurt, but she was at least able to go out and sit down with the rest of them. Kali and Maia sat nearby Shannon, and all three of them seemed to be talking, but it was all pretty lighthearted from what Nat could tell. At least, until she got closer and found out they were discussing the exercise plans going forward. While that was worrying, the sudden grumble coming from her stomach was a much more pressing issue. However, this was long after she had smelled Shannon start making food. She was expecting to have to get more food brought out of her Soulscape, but as she sat down beside Shannon, plates of pancakes and sausages came out in front of her. She hadn''t felt any usage of her Soulscape, so she turned to look at her lover. Sure enough, next she knew glasses of juice came out of her Soulscape, on a giant gorilla hand.


    It turned out, that this morning the mutated gorilla that Shannon had first talked to had finally regained consciousness after passing out immediately after bonding. Due to that, she was able to get some things stored inside, and passed along the info she had found out to the gorilla inside. Just like Kali did at first, he was able to speak telepathically, albeit in an extremely broken manner. Thanks to that though, the barrier of communication decreased, and knowledge was passed to and from. Thus, food was being spawned and eaten inside the Soulscape, and a few essentials had been stored away. Happy for Shannon finally being able to store things, Nat started moving to give a hug. However, Shannon stopped her with a finger to the forehead, before pointing at the food with a serious expression. So much so, you would think that she was either a teacher or a mother. All Nat could do was grin sheepishly, before turning towards the plates of food that were set in front of her. Seeing that it matched in quantities to what she had eaten the night before, she suddenly became concerned on whether or not she would make it to the end of the day.


    Huge thanks to my Elder Wolves Selvaria, Viktor, Saganatsu, Eeleater, John, Jacob, Onean, Neal, Sebastian, Ethan, Sir Hellington, Adam, and Kevin for supporting me and my writing! Remember that I keep Patreon ten chapters ahead at all times. Our next goal on Patreon will be getting up to 50 patrons, which I will then spend more time each month writing some side stories and shorts that show other perspectives throughout my stories!


    Feel free to join us all on my Discord! https://discord.gg/b8gRkD4

 Chapter 120

    After they finished eating breakfast, the first thing that they checked was whether or not Nat was able to walk. After all, if she couldn''t, then they would not exactly to be able to continue their trek northwards. After getting the dishes stored, Nat tried to stand up once more, but even that caused pins and needles of pain running through her legs. It was clear that her legs had been pushed well past their limits the day before. Thankfully, her arms still felt good, albeit a little sore. That meant that she could still do things, but not have any sort of mobility. According to Shannon, this was seen fairly regularly in her line of work, and it was simple enough to deal with. Muscles grew stronger through exercise, but in a whole process of breaking and repairing. The soreness was a sign of a good amount of steady growth, but the feeling in her legs were from overexertion. While it could cause issues, that was only if it was improperly managed from here on. As long as she did not push too far and kept right at the edge of where her body was capable, it shouldn''t pose any sort of issue. Thankfully, Shannon knew where to dial back and reduce the amount of strain placed on those legs. It was a slow process, but so was anything really worth doing.


    Since they were unable to travel today, they decided to make the most of the time, especially now that the gorillas had woken up. Since Natalie had next to no experience working with primates in a medical sense, she spent the rest of the morning going over a few textbooks and instructional papers that they had duplicated back in the zoo. However, what probably shocked her most was her reading partner. While she was reading some of the more basic items to work on her vocabulary, Sierra sat beside her in a shifted form. The albino warg seemed to be different from most of the other canines that she had bonded with. None of them had taken an interest in reading, and most were having fun playing around, working out under the supervision of Shannon, or tending to the farm inside the Soulscape.


    While the two of them read, Shannon sat beside her love while critiquing the exercises done by Kali, Maia, and Scout. The three of them wanted to both gain strength and capability in their shifted forms, and they felt that going through Shannon''s training was the best way to do this. As for why Shannon and Natalie sat beside each other, that was due to the work of the pups and gorillas. Now that most of the gorillas had woken up, and finally ate their fill of food, they were starting to get Shannon''s Soulscape up to par. As the pups created and passed things over to the waiting hands of the gorillas, the primates then stored and organized everything inside Shannon''s Soulscape, decorating it as they went. While there were many hands making the work go by fast, there was just an abundance of things that were getting transferred. If it wasn''t for the duplicating everything part of it, one would call Natalie and her pack a bunch of kleptomaniacs. Heck, even with that they might call them hoarders. The sheer number of items was ridiculous. While the gorillas were bored of this quickly, they still did as they knew having access to these items may help in the future. As for the puppies, they had decided to turn it all into a competition. Whoever gave the most items out to the gorillas was the winner, with the referees being the still nursing mothers with nothing else to worry about.


    It wasn''t until later in the afternoon that Natalie put down the book, at the behest of Shannon. Once more, they tried to get her to stand, and all that was there was soreness. No spikes of pain flew through Nat''s body as she stood up and took a few steps. Seeing this, Shannon said it was a good idea for Nat to walk around the place slowly and carefully. While Nat didn''t want to, the insistence of her lover made her cave and start walking. Shannon monitored her the whole time, and they took regular sitting breaks every few mins. Sierra followed them around, but that was mainly to ask for help when she came across a word that was unfamiliar or having difficulty with. What surprised Nat the most was how fast Sierra was picking up the language. It was at a much faster rate compared to Kali when she first bonded. Whether that was due to a bunch of English-speaking wolves around her or the large amount of reading she had been working on was currently unclear, as the other canines from the zoo were picking up the language at a decent pace as well. It was just a matter of seeing the times after all was said and done.


    Having read enough to do a basic check-up, Natalie spent the rest of the hours of sunlight doing a quick and basic physical on the gorillas. Most were in the recovery process from malnutrition, where they would be for a while. It took Scout weeks to get over his, and they had it either similar or worse than he did. The main one that was different was the large six-limbed gorilla. While seeing him for the first time immediately reminded Nat of that dream she had a few days prior, that immediately got put out of mind when she saw what state his body was in. Gashes, claw marks, and bite marks spotted his body, showing a lot of experience in fighting. The tough part about this was that all of the wounds that she came across on the gorilla matched with what she had found to be wounds that came from monsters. None of the other gorillas had any wounds on them, which meant that this one gorilla had taken every hit for the two distinct groups of primates.


    There was not much that Nat could do, except recommend to Shannon that the gorilla get physical therapy. All of the wounds seemed to be sealed and were now scars that decorated his body. While he was still physically capable and strong, the scars themselves may end up causing him some issues when it came to his dexterity and coordination. This was to nip the potential issue in the bud before it was too late, making way for a healthier group dynamic overall. After dinner, which was a lovely roasted pig with potatoes and carrots, Shannon got Nat to do some light and easy arm exercises before they called it a night in their tent. It was a busy, but productive day where they went nowhere. Sometimes though, that is just what is need, to take a break, breathe, and make sure that everything you need to do gets taken care of.


    Huge thanks to my Elder Wolves Selvaria, Viktor, Saganatsu, Eeleater, John, Jacob, Onean, Neal, Sebastian, Ethan, Sir Hellington, Adam, and Kevin for supporting me and my writing! Remember that I keep Patreon ten chapters ahead at all times. Our next goal on Patreon will be getting up to 50 patrons, which I will then spend more time each month writing some side stories and shorts that show other perspectives throughout my stories!


    Feel free to join us all on my Discord! https://discord.gg/b8gRkD4

 Chapter 121

    As Natalie got up the following day, she was pleasantly surprised to find that she was able to get up without issues. Sure, her legs were still a little tender, but she at least felt confident enough to be able to walk around and stand on her own. The inability to do anything without pain had been frustrating to put it mildly. Instantly, she brushed off Shannon''s hand that lay across her chest, and got up and out of the tent. The morning sun washed over her, and she just stood and basked in the warm glow. She stood there for a few minutes, stark naked and basking in the rays of the sun, before she remembered Shannon''s advice for the workout schedule. Slowly with deliberate movements, she started going through some basic stretches.


    It took about fifteen minutes for her to go through all of the stretches that she knew. Now that she felt more limber, Nat turned around to find her lover watching her from the mattress inside the tent. Unsure on how long she had been watched for, Nat just demurely waved. However, Shannon had been apparently watching for a while, as she just licked her lips and beckoned Nat towards her. Feeling conflicted, Nat glanced back and forth between the tent and the coyotes who kept watch once more through the night. She had gotten used to waking up and spending time with the three, while she also enjoyed spending as much time as possible with her love. Would the coyotes be okay for a little longer? Would Shannon understand if she turned away and went to sit naked with the coyotes? As these and other similar questions ran through her mind, she caught movement out of the corner of her eyes. While the other two were keeping a watch on the surroundings, Lucille was giving her a side-eye with a smirk. As she did, the female coyote shooed Nat away with her paw, seemingly doing her best to repress a giggle. Knowing that the coyotes would be fine for a little while longer, Nat went to start her first workout of the day.


    Thirty minutes later, a fully satisfied Shannon left the tent to start preparing breakfast, leaving Natalie as a wet mess on the blankets. While Shannon had gotten all of her cravings completely satisfied, she completely floored Nat with technique. This left Natalie now having problems walking and standing for the second day in a row, but this time she felt far better about it. After all, what kept her from walking was not pain, but bliss and satisfaction. However, the smell of bacon floated through the air and beckoned her to come forth. She struggled for a few minutes, but her legs were too shaky to get up. Thankfully, Scout was wanting to come out for the day, and gave her a shoulder to lean on as they headed towards the morning campfire, following the scrumptious smell. Kali and Maia, who were rudely awakened by the two''s antics, just watched and laughed at Nat who was unable to stand on her own.


    Breakfast today was a bunch of BLT breakfast wraps, which consisted of the usual bacon, lettuce, and tomato while also bringing in eggs while being drizzled in gravy made from the bacon runoff. Natalie ended up eating almost a dozen of the wraps before she even realized how much she was packing away. Shannon had four, while the rest of the canines loved the entire thing. Dozens were devoured, with Ash packing away the most in a surprising twist. Her mate was probably the most surprised one when she ended up devouring an even sixty breakfast wraps. Even Sol was only able to eat thirty-five of them, and he was the largest warg of the pack by far.


    After breakfast was when the coyotes finally retired, having had some of the wraps themselves for dinner. Lucille entered the Soulscape with a grin and a swat of her tail, but Edwin and Copper nuzzled and garnered some attention and head scratches before they felt satisfied enough to go to sleep. Meanwhile, the three active coyote pups were once again bouncing around, playing tag with the rest of the pups. At their size, they spread across the entire yard, as well as snaking through the brush to make it so that they were actually able to get up to speed. Well, most of them anyways. No matter where she looked, Nat could not see Rogue anywhere. She knew that the young wolf had left the Soulscape and joined in the game, but she had not been it yet. Looking over to Maia with a questioning look, she was surprised that not only did Maia know what the look was for, but that she was pointing up. Turning her head, she was absolutely shocked to see that rogue was laying down on top of the roof of the house beside them. Since Maia was not worried at all, she just giggled at the kid''s antics.


    It took another twenty minutes for the pups to finish playing and everything to be cleaned up. The most interesting part was when Artemis finally noticed where the hidden player was. What followed was pure hilarity, as the other pups decided to team up to get rogue tagged. Working together in almost seamless harmony, the group made a canine pyramid that acted as a staircase up to the roof. Seeing that she was caught, Rogue went to the other side of the roof and carefully climbed her way down. Sadly for her, Ares had predicted that she would do this, and tagged Spirit in once she had disappeared from everyone''s view. The fluff of energy became a lightning bolt, shooting straight after his sister. As everyone called it and went back into the Soulscape to continue playing, Rogue was left as the last one it. She had a dark look on her face, and grumbled about how unfair it was, but the rapid swishing of her tail gave her true feelings on the matter away. It had taken all of them working together to get her, and with that she would rub it in their faces. That, and probably find an even harder spot to reach next time.


    While this was all going on, the gorillas just continued to just sleep or eat, still not feeling recovered from the month of having barely any food. There was no hard feelings, seeing the state they had been in during the physical. Scout especially seemed worried for them, but he was the one who could relate to what they had been through the most. As far as the canine pack was concerned, they could take as long as they wanted. Once everything was secured and stored, Nat, Shannon, Kali, Maia, and Shadow all traveled together northwards up the road, moving closer to Red Deer one step at a time.


    Huge thanks to my Elder Wolves Selvaria, Viktor, Saganatsu, Eeleater, John, Jacob, Onean, Neal, Sebastian, Ethan, Sir Hellington, Adam, and Kevin for supporting me and my writing! Remember that I keep Patreon ten chapters ahead at all times. Our next goal on Patreon will be getting up to 50 patrons, which I will then spend more time each month writing some side stories and shorts that show other perspectives throughout my stories!


    Feel free to join us all on my Discord! https://discord.gg/b8gRkD4

 Chapter 122

    The group of five made their way up the last bit of the Range Road, before turning east onto Highway 564. The sky above was clear, showing off the bright sun as it rose slowly towards its zenith. Today, since they were out in the middle of nowhere, all three of the wolves were moving about in their shifted forms. Shadow was markedly better than he had been the previous time, but still looked amateurish compared to Maia and Kali. Whereas his steps were slow and steady, methodically placing one paw in front of the other for a stable stride, Maia and Kali seemed to almost glide smoothly along the ground. Their practice the last few days as well as the new workouts that Shannon had them doing was familiarising themselves with their shifted forms at a remarkable rate. Their tails where swinging properly with each step, helping keep their balance upright, unlike Shadow who was still unused to the swinging of the tail mixing with his newfound verticality. Having seen how effective that just a couple days of working with the bodies had proved useful, she decided to get every wolf to at least do the bare minimum of an exercise routine in their shifted forms.


    However, Nat took the time that they were traveling to once more train her manipulation of the energy internally. She had received a large boost to her reserves thanks to the new bonds that were made at the zoo, so now it was time to see if she could improve her control once more. However, she felt the same resistance as she tried to direct the formation of a veil throughout her body. She could feel the energy wanting to move away from the veil under the edge of her skin every second, reducing her capability to keep a steady form. While she was frustrated with the inability to progress, it did rule out one of her theories on why. It did not turn out to be due to a deficit of energy, resulting in the energy being stretched too thin. No, now it was actually harder to control than before, working together with strength to resist her efforts at manipulation. Now that that was easily taken apart, the next leading theory had to do with technique. There had to be something she was missing, something that she was doing wrong. It was just the next most logical step.


    While they turned off 564 and onto Highway 791 at the Delacour General Store, Nat thought on why the energy was not properly forming a veil. Did it have to be closer to the outer layer of skin? Further tucked away into the core of her being? What if the whole idea of a veil was wrong to begin with. Wait, that might actually be it. She had just come up with the veil idea on her own, there was no supporting evidence to say that it was the best way. While there were many ways to prepare a sandwich, in the end it would all be the same. What if she had been trying the hardest route first, instead of working the easiest way? To get an idea, she focused some of the energy to her eyes, changing her vision to see the energy inside of her canine companions. As she did, she focused on the strands of energy, zooming in her sight to see if the energy inside them was moving in any certain way. What she saw made her feel like the biggest idiot on the planet.


    The energy ran through the wolves'' bodies through their muscles, their veins, even down to their bones. It ran along the natural channels in their bodies to flow smoothly. Just as she was currently doing with her eyes. This energy seemed to be more natural in nature, as she was also able to see it flowing in miniscule amounts through the trees on the roadside. Here she had been, trying to brute force the energy into flowing evenly throughout her body, when her body already had all the channels that were needed built in from the beginning of her life. Taking her vision back in, she slowly started to run her energy out from her heart all throughout her body. Gently, she pushed it outwards, but let her body do all of the guiding work. As the energy flowed along her body, she did not feel the resistance that she had with the veil, instead the energy seemed to race, trying to expand into her whole body as fast as it could. It was as if a flood gate had been opened.


    As it filled her body, she felt many things change at once. Her steps felt lighter, her senses became heightened, and her sore ness just faded away. It left her feeling strong, feeling alive for the first time in a while. What freaked her out most was that she could now clearly hear Shannon''s heartbeat, despite them being meters away from one another. It was as if her ear was pressed directly against her lover''s chest with how clear the sound was. As for the drain from having the energy flood her body, she felt it slowly expending the energy. Definitely less than the veil had taken to run even partially, and this was over her whole body. Focusing on each section, she realized that she could get a general idea on how much energy was being expended in an area. The big take away from this info was that her legs, which were probably the most physically fit part of her body, had the lowest amount of power drain. Was there a correlation between the two? It definitely seemed that way, but there was, as always, a lack of evidence.


    As soon as she canceled the flow of energy, she immediately rushed over to tell Shannon. Strangely enough, after the energy dissipated from her limbs, the soreness did not come back. Did it momentarily enhance her own personal healing? Or did it just do the minor healing needed to get over the strain leftover from the workouts? Either way, Shannon was delighted to hear this information. Natalie, on the other hand, almost immediately regretted sharing this information, as Shannon''s visage turned to one of sadistic glee. After all, she now knew that she could push Natalie harder in the exercises and she would be fine. Better yet, she knew that her lover would follow through with it, if only to check to see if being more fit did make the whole process less draining. If there was a chance for science to benefit from her suffering, she knew that she had Nat by the throat. After all, she just could not resist the temptation of finding out something new.


    Huge thanks to my Elder Wolves Selvaria, Viktor, Saganatsu, Eeleater, John, Jacob, Onean, Neal, Sebastian, Ethan, Sir Hellington, Adam, and Kevin for supporting me and my writing! Remember that I keep Patreon ten chapters ahead at all times. Our next goal on Patreon will be getting up to 50 patrons, which I will then spend more time each month writing some side stories and shorts that show other perspectives throughout my stories!


    Feel free to join us all on my Discord! https://discord.gg/b8gRkD4

 Chapter 123

    As they walked north down the road, and Natalie was writing down in a notebook all of her latest findings, Shannon was working on feeling the energy inside her. According to Nat, there was some energy inside of her body, it was just small in quantity. Nat said not to worry if she could not reach it right away, stating that it took her almost ten days before first using it. And even then, it was due to the sudden rush of energy from Kali to act as a sort of jumpstart before she was even partially cognizant that it existed at all. The fact that there was a small amount did not bother Shannon, as everything has to start somewhere. That, and she had only bonded with the gorillas a few days ago. Such an immediate change was unlikely at best. That did not stop her from trying though.


    While she was glad to hear all of the ideas and theories that came out of the brain of her lover, Shannon had her own ideas on what the energy itself was. As far as she could understand from Nat had told her, the energy was a part of their bodies, and was a dynamic element. From what she knew, that meant it could be classified as a muscle. Ignore it, and it degrades, work on it on a daily basis, and it would grow stronger and stronger. However, unlike the physical human body she had, the energy did not take up any space. Potentially, it had limitless room to grow and expand, leaving it to be a powerhouse that would be a hidden trump card. Based off what she knew and heard, she just needed to find the energy itself.


    It was not until they passed Highway 566 that she first felt an inkling of what the energy might be. On the opposite side of her chest from her heart, she felt a small and warm sensation. Gently, she mentally pushed at the area, not expecting anything to happen. The fact that the energy started to move back and forth surprised her, almost causing her to jump while they were all walking down the road. Thankfully, none of the eyes around her were focused into the middle of the group, so no one noticed. Slowly, she started trying to feed the energy through her body, starting with the lungs and heart. Bit by bit, more of the energy drifted off and flowed through those organs. As it did, Shannon started to feel her heart beat in her chest, as well as her breaths becoming more stable and measured. It was as if they had not only been reinforced, but brought up to peak levels. Sadly, there was not enough energy to dissipate throughout her whole torso, but there was barely any of this drain that Natalie had mentioned. In fact, if Nat had not brought it up before, she wouldn''t have even noticed it, the amount that was being used up was so miniscule that it did not matter in the slightest. Was it because she constantly worked out, and kept her body in as good of shape as possible?


    That raised a whole new line of thinking. To what extent did it boost one''s body? Was there a way to measure the amount of energy? Was the drain increased if one was performing strenuous activities? And did it function like the muscles in their bodies, where if it was used and expended constantly, would it become stronger and larger? Knowing all that she did about the human body, this was her wheelhouse to test. Getting one of the awake gorillas to pass her out a notebook of her own, she started jotting down things she wanted to experiment, as well as test and evaluate. And she had the most adorable guinea pig to help her get a good baseline read for how it all worked.


    Almost instantly, Nat felt a chill down her spine as they made a left turn to continue on the same road they were on. Turning her head to look back, she saw that Shannon had a notebook of her own, and had that same sadistic smile on her face as she wrote stuff down furiously. Something warned her that she was in danger due to her, but she also felt curiosity. After all, they had been together long enough that she knew her lover''s experimental side well. During the period of testing, it was terrible repetition with minor differences each time, but in the end it had always proved worth it. What''s the best mix for vodka? What is the optimal speed at which to rip wax off of a leg? And the most horrendous of memories, how wide was the line between a good and a cringe sounding pun. So many dad jokes were thrown out that Natalie started to run in terror for a month every time it sounded anything like a set up for a pun.


    Looking forward once more, she saw a dust cloud on the road ahead, and it was as if it was moving closer. No, it was definitely moving closer, and at a fast pace as well. "Get in the Soulscape now!" She commanded. Almost instantly each canine fell back into her body. It was easy enough for them to come back out to fight if it was monsters, but she did not want to freak any people out due to humanoid wolves walking around. Shannon even stored away her notebook and came up beside her lover, hands clasped together as they walked slowly towards the dust cloud.


    As it came closer and closer, the forms were far more easily recognized. It appeared to be a few horses with riders on their backs. Seeing this, both of them released the breath that they had unknowingly been holding. As they got closer and closer, Nat fed some energy to her eyes, taking a look at each of the horses and people. After what had happened in Lethbridge, she did not want to take any chances. Thankfully, each person had a noticeable chunk of green energy swirling within them. As the horses rode up on them, and Natalie''s vision returned to normal, the horses broke off and encircled the two women. In near perfect unison, each of the riders brought up a crossbow and aimed it directly at them. As Nat and Shannon moved their hands up in the air, one of the riders called out, "We see you two, now where are the other three of you?"


    Huge thanks to my Elder Wolves Selvaria, Viktor, Saganatsu, Eeleater, John, Jacob, Onean, Neal, Sebastian, Ethan, Sir Hellington, Adam, and Kevin for supporting me and my writing! Remember that I keep Patreon ten chapters ahead at all times. Our next goal on Patreon will be getting up to 50 patrons, which I will then spend more time each month writing some side stories and shorts that show other perspectives throughout my stories!


    Feel free to join us all on my Discord! https://discord.gg/b8gRkD4

 Chapter 124

    "What other three? We are the only two other people out here." Natalie bluffed. She felt a need to take charge of this situation, if only to try and calm down all of the now angry canines in her Soulscape that had the idea to tear these people apart for pointing a weapon towards a pack member. Currently, while they did have weapons pointed at them, it had not escalated to a situation of violence just yet. In this case, it was still a matter of who would make the first move, and in what direction it would be. While the groups eyed one another, one of the people on horseback though made a slight jump in thought.


    "Come on Harv, they are totally in with them monsters. Let''s just end them and be done with this. I want to get back for lunch, since Brenda''s making soup and buns." One of the guys mounted called out, seemingly leaning forward in his saddle. It took everything that Nat and Shannon had to face palm. Not only had the man spoke first, he gave up intel that could be considered sensitive. The fact that they were having multiple meals a day, the names of two people, one of which was the leader apparent of their group. The man clearly was not the most careful or thoughtful of intellects.


    "No need to get all trigger happy there Eugene. We are Canadians, and unlike our southern neighbours we don''t solve our issues by shooting ''em. They may just be reasonable and scared folks like most of the people we have met." One of the other men said. Going by the conversation, this was probably Harv. There weren''t really any defining characteristics between the riders, save for body size, so it was hard to remember if he was the one that had led the group to ride over here. They all wore similar clothes, and had the same hat and facemasks on, showing that it was likely a result of the Soulscape duplication abilities. As far as the people who had talked so far, Eugene had a larger body size, at least compared to everyone else. None of the group were anywhere near obese, and none of the horses seemed to be having an issue. Harv on the other hand was in the middle range as far as size went. He barely stood out, but his eyes seemed to tell that he had the same thoughts as them regarding the man''s impatient outburst. Slowly sighing, he brought his crossbow down, stored the bolt that was on it in his quiver, and slung the crossbow over his shoulder. None of the group mirrored his moves, but the tension seemed to drop from their shoulders. He slowly dismounted the horse, then proceeded to walk up to them offering his hand. "Name''s Harvey. Mind if I ask what you two are doing in these parts?"


    Nat could not help but notice that Eugene''s eyes narrowed in disgust at the action. This man could become a problem, as he seemed to want to just kill things. Vowing to keep an eye out for any moves by him, she turned her attention back to Harvey, "I''d say nice to meet you, but that is difficult to truly feel at bolt-point. We were just passing through, making our way north." As she spoke, she walked forward and clasped his hand in a show of good faith. Almost immediately the entire group of people started storing their weapons and ammunition. Eugene looked around in disbelief, but one grunt from Harvey made him start putting away the weapon, albeit at a slow and drawn out pace.


    "Sorry about him, he has been a bit jumpy since we''ve seen those creatures walking down the trails. They just did not seem natural. That''s why we found it weird when our spotter reported that there were five people walking down the road, and by the time we get out here, there were only the two of you. I''m sure you can understand where we were coming from."


    Nat sighed, "Yeah, I guess, but his actions are definitely far more telling of some underlying issues." she said pointing a finger directly at Eugene. Visibly he got infuriated and started raising his crossbow once more. Before he could get it too high, one of the other riders rode over and put a hand on his arm, stopping the crossbow from getting high enough. Shannon moved forward, lightly smacking Nat in the back of the head. Sure, she had a point, but being openly antagonistic had always been an issue. If only she had learned some subtlety, maybe university would have been a lot smoother of a time for the two of them.


    Harvey did not see the smack, though he definitely heard it, as he was busy burying his face into his hand. "Sorry about that, we have just been busy and stressed these past few days. I''ll take care of it, though I doubt that this means you two want to join us for lunch." He said, gesturing to them. While Shannon had the capability to give a good smack when she needed to, the memories from Lethbridge flared up as she got closer to Harvey. Almost instinctively, she started hiding behind Nat. It was nothing against the man, who had been nothing but upfront and respectful, but one scar can overshadow a hundred good deeds. As Nat finally realized the position and actions of her lover, she just shook her head in response. Thankfully, Harvey seemed to understand that there was more to all of this, but did not ask in the slightest. "Well, then I hope you two have a safe journey." With that, he mounted back up on his horse, and directed the rest to return.


    Inwardly, Nat was proud of herself. She made use of the whole issue that was Eugene to act as a smoke screen for the missing members. Thankfully, she did not have to explain anything, having distracted them from their line of questioning by directing the focus elsewhere. It was not until the entire group of riders had left that she filled in Shannon as to why she did what she did. All that got back was a wide-eyed stare, as Shannon could not believe that her lover had done something like that. In the past, she had bragged about the fact that she knew something others didn''t. If she had not known any better, than she would have thought that Nat was turning more coy-ote.


    Huge thanks to my Elder Wolves Selvaria, Viktor, Saganatsu, Eeleater, John, Jacob, Onean, Neal, Sebastian, Ethan, Sir Hellington, Adam, and Kevin for supporting me and my writing! Remember that I keep Patreon ten chapters ahead at all times. Our next goal on Patreon will be getting up to 50 patrons, which I will then spend more time each month writing some side stories and shorts that show other perspectives throughout my stories!


    Feel free to join us all on my Discord! https://discord.gg/b8gRkD4

 Chapter 125

    As the horses and their riders returned up the road from where they came, Natalie and Shannon followed their path. With the sun sitting at its highest point, the ended up passing by a property on the south side of the road. There, they could see a few tents that were set up, as well as horses, cows, and people all milling about the area. They also saw what had to be Eugene strolling around, looking quite mad. Wondering about this group, and how secure it was, Nat sent energy throughout her eyes to both zoom in and see the energy inside of people. However, all she saw was a field of green, as every person there had appeared to have bonded to an animal of some sorts. Not surprising of a development, given what she saw of the people that had come out to meet them.


    After they passed the property and turned northwards once more, Shannon finally opened her mouth, "So Nat, why did you act that way? They seemed like pretty decent people from what I could see." Shannon just could not wrap her head around what had changed her lover''s approach to people. She had always been about helping people before. She was sure that Nat would have at least gone and talked to find things out if she could.


    "Because I did not feel that it would end up nicely, still might not. I can''t trust them that easily, and nor could they trust us. We would have been outsiders for the time we were there, and possibly be forced to do things to ''earn our keep''. That, and I wasn''t wanting to force you into being around people again." She paused for a minute thinking, then took Shannon''s hand. Looking at her lover''s face, Nat saw that Shannon was trying to make sense of her actions. They were kind and respectful the entire time, save that one asshole. To show where her doubts came from, she asked her girlfriend a pointed question, "As for why I did not want to trust them, look back at Lethbridge. Did the council seem kind, respectful, and trusting to the general populace?"


    That one question hit Shannon like a brick. The group of people that took control in Lethbridge had been organizing defenses and food rationing, and were outwardly doing everything to protect and serve the people. Unknowing to everyone else, they were abducting people and raping them repeatedly. They were showing a mask to everyone they interacted with, so as to get away with doing as they pleased to innocent people. She herself had been grabbed in her sleep, and was stolen away with in the middle of the night by a bunch of their boded monsters. If it wasn''t for Natalie coming in and wrecking everything they set up, she and others would be stuck there unable to do a thing against the council that was hiding them away. So sure, everything here looked great, but that was only on the surface. Everyone had their secrets, and what were the ones sitting underneath all of this.


    The whole reason that Nat had acted that way was to protect her. There was no way to know how they acted inside their compound, and among their friends and family, let alone behind closed doors. As she realized how far into it that Nat had thought ahead, even if it was potentially grossly exaggerated, Shannon felt comfort and safety. Here, right beside her, was a person that would do anything to protect those she cared about, even if it means she cannot save any others along the way. The fact that such a person was watching out for her, filled her with both gratitude and indignation. She was happy that she was being watched over, but she was also upset with herself for having needed the help.


    Nat noticed that Shannon was in thought, and as her lover''s face darkened, realized that she needed to do something. Stopping where they were, Nat quickly pulled Shannon into an embrace. She knew that it wouldn''t be enough to combat whatever she was thinking, but she hoped it would help. After a few minutes of just standing there hugging, they separated and took one look at each other''s faces. While Shannon''s face was still a bit dark, her eyes were incredibly focused. She was burning with a desire for something, and while Nat did not know or need to know what that was, she was glad that her lover was able to continue moving forward. As for Shannon, she saw that Nat''s face was happy, but also full of worry. Was it due to her working past the events that they had overcome? Or was it worry for what path she may travel down? Either way, Shannon pledged to herself to do everything she could to hold this angel close to her, and never let her go. After all, next time she would even the debt, and be the one protecting instead.


    The rest of the day was lackluster, and they made good time down Highway 791, before just going straight down Range Road 280. All three of the canines that they had travelled with before came back out once the compound was out of sight, and talked nothing but smack of Eugene for the first five minutes. The severity of their words caused Nat and Shan to laugh, bringing back a semblance of happiness to both of their faces. As the sun started to drop in the sky, they stopped and started to set up camp at a small farm property. Canines came out and played, while others ate food that Shannon cooked. All the while Kali, Scout, Maia, and Natalie suffered their way through the exercise plan that Shannon had devised. The circulation of energy through her body helped a little, but it mainly just dimmed the burn that Nat felt while she was going through the strenuous motions. The whole time, not one of them realized that they had been followed.


    Huge thanks to my Elder Wolves Selvaria, Viktor, Saganatsu, Eeleater, John, Jacob, Onean, Neal, Sebastian, Ethan, Sir Hellington, Adam, and Kevin for supporting me and my writing! Remember that I keep Patreon ten chapters ahead at all times. Our next goal on Patreon will be getting up to 50 patrons, which I will then spend more time each month writing some side stories and shorts that show other perspectives throughout my stories!


    Feel free to join us all on my Discord! https://discord.gg/b8gRkD4

 Chapter 126

    As the sun hovered slightly over the horizon, the workout finally ended. All four of them felt exhausted, and were wondering where the satisfaction was. There was no noticeable difference between now and when they started, but apparently this was normal. According to Shannon, they shouldn''t even start noticing any improvements for two weeks, and even then, it was more in a how you move sort of way compared to a how you look. Over all, it could take months before there became any additional definition to their body''s muscles. Maia, Scout, and Kali all were bent over, hands on their knees as they breathed heavily, while Nat was flat on the ground, panting as she tried to regain her breath. Shannon had pushed them all hard, and even had Natalie do her best to keep up with the canines. In the end, her body ached and her energy reserves neared empty. The drain turned out to not only be a passive thing, as the more she moved with it flowing through her body only accelerated the use of the resource. It was actively boosting her body and making it perform at superhuman levels. Thanks to this, she was actually close to achieving the same speed as the canines she was training with. In fact, in each exercise the number gap between her and Kali had shrunk remarkably.


    Then, in between the scarfing down of food, she filled in Shannon with how the energy responded to what she was doing. There were once again piles of food ready and waiting for her to crawl over and eat, showing that Shannon had indeed been keeping a close eye on her as she went. The way the energy worked and responded to her actions, how fast it was used up at different points, anything and everything that could be used as a data point was collected in earnest. At this point, Shannon seemed to have a better understanding on how it worked compared to Natalie, but that was not much of a surprise to Nat. None of the canines had been able to manipulate this energy, leaving her to be the only one capable of providing data. And she was not that familiar with human physiology. When it came to the state of the human body, Shannon knew far more, as Natalie''s knowledge was more based upon animal bodies, heavily showing a preference towards the canine form.


    As they were conversing, the coyote lookout team came out and started finding a good spot. At least, they started doing that, as usually they take a walk around the camping area to scope it out and find a spot that allows them the best view to see as many angles as possible. This way they can better keep everyone safe should there be an issue. Tonight however, they started their walk around, only to send a message out to all of the canines and Natalie. ''Act Natural, someone is watching. Chances are they followed from the community from earlier.'' Lucille sent that out to everyone, while keeping the other two in line. Right now, no movements had been made, so they should not alert them to the fact that their presence had been discovered. Most of the group was up on the north side of the driveway, and had been there for the few hours past. No one had really ventured to the south side before the coyotes. Currently, they were currently at the south-west corner, which was a solid two hundred meters away. With the wind coming from the north, all that would have alerted them was sound, but each of the people that were on horseback seemed to have experience hunting. They could have slowly tracked the group while keeping the sound to a minimum.


    There was no way to know how long they were there, but that was another matter entirely. What mattered now was everyone''s safety. While Nat still ate and made small talk with Shannon, the canines started moving. All they knew was that they were around the southwest corner of the property, which was mostly surrounded in a wall of trees, with the west side being auspiciously empty. None of the wargs could head off, as they were far too large and easily noticeable, so Bryden led Shadow and Max backwards through the tree line while the wargs body blocked with some playing around and rough housing. And when there were five large canines playing around and being rough with one another, it definitely attracted attention. Shannon watched the whole thing with one eye raised, but she felt that if it was important, Nat would have told her.


    Nat kept tabs on what was going on every step of the way. The three coyotes continued their rounds of the property before heading up onto the hay bales. Meanwhile, the wargs played around for a bit, before diverging off and doing their own things. Sol went back into the Soulscape to spend time with Luna and their pups, while Trooper took up the spot beside Nat and rested his head on her lap. Sierra had found some signage, and was working on reading it, letter by letter, while Lady and Tank disappeared back behind the hay bales. And they were not quiet in the slightest, but that probably just helped with holding the attention of their perp. Meanwhile, the assault team moved slowly in the tree line, keeping close to the trunks as they moved down the southern side. With there being no start to the farming this year, there was just empty field out there, which was just as advantageous for the wolves as it was detrimental. It did mean that they would not be able to sneak up behind anyone, but it also meant that they would be easily able to see them should they be out there.


    Sure enough, as they neared the corner where the coyotes noticed the interloper, the wolves started barking loudly and aggressively, signaling the rest of the group. Among the first of the group was Tank and Lady, as they had apparently just been acting it out the entire time. While Nat filed their acting as something to keep an eye out for, she had a bigger issue. Shannon was confused as every single adult canine that was not nursing immediately bolted out towards the south-western corner. Since the canines would have the person cornered and under control, Nat took the time to explain what was going on. Thankfully, Shannon understood that not telling her was the wiser move, and actually laughed about how seamlessly the pack had pulled it all off. Hand in hand, the two of them walked over to the rest of the pack. There, they found a man and a horse surrounded by all of the canines, while looking absolutely terrified. Upon seeing who it was, Nat sighed before dismissively asking, "So, what excuse are you going to tell me to explain all of this, Eugene?"


    Huge thanks to my Elder Wolves Selvaria, Viktor, Saganatsu, Eeleater, John, Jacob, Onean, Neal, Sebastian, Ethan, Sir Hellington, Adam, and Kevin for supporting me and my writing! Remember that I keep Patreon ten chapters ahead at all times. Our next goal on Patreon will be getting up to 50 patrons, which I will then spend more time each month writing some side stories and shorts that show other perspectives throughout my stories!


    Feel free to join us all on my Discord! https://discord.gg/b8gRkD4

 Chapter 127

    Eugene was visibly sweating as Nat and Shannon walked up. Whether that was due to them confronting him or the wolves surrounding him was up for debate. As it was, he was shifting his gaze back and forth between the two groups, nervously backing up towards is horse. It was clear that they had bonded, as the occasional glances to another and the changes in body language betrayed the hidden mental communication between them. If it was not for them having bonded with animals and knowing what some of the more basic abilities were, they probably would not have known. As it was, it seemed they were trying to figure their way out of this predicament. Not wanting them to have a chance to create a bullshit alibi, Nat decided to be a bit more confrontational. "I asked, what fucking reason do you have for following us out here Eugene?"


    Eugene visibly jumped at the words, his eyes locking onto Nat before his visage turned into a scowl. "I had a feeling you were hiding something, and sure enough you were! Should have put you down when we had the chance!" after yelling that out, he spat towards Nat, Shannon, and the three canines that had shifted to do workouts. Instantly every canine became more threatening, growling in unison and moving a step closer. All of Eugene''s pomp and fire died out instantly, causing him to once again don a frightened face.


    Shannon kept a solid hold of Nat''s left arm, keeping her from moving both of her hands up to her face. "And why, oh why do you feel as though we need to be ''put down''?" She asked after sighing heavily.


    "Because you have these freaking monsters! Wolves are bad enough, but these mutated versions show how far you have fallen. For the safety of everyone you and your monster loving kind needs to be eliminated!" Eugene almost screamed out. Before she could retort any of what he said, he took an axe off the saddle bag and ran forward at her. Quickly separating herself from Shannon, Nat ran forward to meet him head on. She had no intentions of killing him, seeing as he still showed up as having green energy inside of him. The man was just misinformed, and was acting under a personal bias. Flowing the energy out through her body, she boosted her speed and reaction times as the two neared each other. As he moved to swing wide with the axe, she quickly stepped into the swing, making the reach of the weapon betray him. However, he did not stop the swing once this happened and gave it even more momentum, aiming for her neck. Not wanting to take a chance, she leaned backwards, doing a limbo underneath the weapon as it swung through the space she had just occupied. As it passed where she was, she grabbed the handle of the weapon and yanked back from the way it came. This threw Eugene off balance, landing him on his back and losing his grip on the weapon. Nat just tossed it to the side before gently placing the heel of her boot to his throat.


    "Listen up and listen well, I am no lover of monsters, nor am I a threat to people who mean no harm. I am a vet, first and foremost, and wolves are for the most part misunderstood. Too many people have demonized them over the years, and I am so tired of it. Now, I am going to let you run off back to your friends and family, and you better damn well never show your face around us again. For if you do, I am going to end you with my own claws!" As Natalie delivered her ultimatum, she shifted in front of him. While it was far easier and less intensive than it had been in the past, the drain that shifting took was still massive. While the man had been brave before, when faced with a seven-foot-tall werewolf, he was quite quick to fold. He scrambled backwards before climbing up on his horse and riding it back south, screaming in fear. Nat felt quite satisfied with herself, before her enhanced sense of smell picked up the man''s urine.


    She quickly shifted back, and immediately felt drowsy from the drain. She had barely been in that form for ten seconds before her reserves neared empty. It was definitely a step in the right direction, but it would be a while before she could stay shifted like the canines did. She tried to walk back to where their campsite was back up, but stumbled and almost fell over. Before she could, Shannon and Kali had caught each of her arms, holding her up as they all made their way back to their tent. Meanwhile, the rest of the pack howled, celebrating their Alpha''s victory and strength. As they set her down beside the fire, Kali was dragged away to dance in celebration by Maia, while Shannon just sat down beside her partner. Gratefully, Nat leaned over and rested her head on her lover''s shoulder, enjoying the company.


    That was, until Shannon opened her mouth. "I would give that fight a four out of ten. Sure, you won and laid him out quickly, but if his form had been any better or had he been stronger it would have been you on the ground instead. But don''t worry, fighting skills were already planned for when you got your stamina to an acceptable level." Nat was unwilling to move her head, but she already knew what look Shannon had on her face. The demon trainer was smiling, full of plans on how to better improve her lover''s survivability. While Nat agreed that this would be a good thing, she knew that she would resent every moment of training for the months to come. She had seen Shannon act as a tough as nails instructor for the past few days, and believed that it would not end at any point soon. Regardless, both spent the next couple hours just sitting by the fire, not speaking or moving. They just enjoyed sitting next to one another as they watched the stars come out together before they disappeared off to bed for the night, lulled to sleep by the sounds of celebrating canines.


    Huge thanks to my Elder Wolves Selvaria, Viktor, Saganatsu, Eeleater, John, Jacob, Onean, Neal, Sebastian, Ethan, Sir Hellington, Adam, and Kevin for supporting me and my writing! Remember that I keep Patreon ten chapters ahead at all times. Our next goal on Patreon will be getting up to 50 patrons, which I will then spend more time each month writing some side stories and shorts that show other perspectives throughout my stories!


    Feel free to join us all on my Discord! https://discord.gg/b8gRkD4

 Chapter 128

    The sun shone through the open door of the tent, once more waking up Natalie from her slumber. Her head was nestled inside the cranny between Shannon''s neck and shoulder, as they spent the night cradling one another. Tilting her head up, Nat gave a peck to her lover''s cheek, and then left her gently so as to not rouse her from her sleep. Getting dressed, she left the tent to see quite a scene. Almost every canine had partied till they dropped last night, which was slightly confusing given how small of a thing it was. The area around where the fire had been was littered with the sleeping hounds, making it almost a maze to get through before she could climb on top of the hay bales to join the three coyotes. Together with them, she watched the sun rise gently into the sky. As they watched that and the surroundings, the coyotes filled her in.


    Edwin had followed Eugene last night after he had fled. He had apparently ridden his horse straight back home, not stopping once till he got there. Not needing to see much more, he returned back to the camp knowing that Eugene was not circling around to wait till night fell and he could get revenge later that night. After getting back, he kept his vision mostly on the south, should he manage to rally the people that he was with to come out and hunt them down. He did seem to have quite a dislike for wolves, and he had seen Natalie shift into one after all. Thankfully, there was no movement noticed from the south, either meaning he had been unable to convince them or he had kept it all quiet. Personally, Nat was surprised that Edwin had even went as far as to follow him. After all, the coyote had usually been the one to stay stoic at most cases. Lucille explained though that it was because he was the best at not being noticed unless he wanted to be. After all, not knowing that he had been followed would have caused Eugene to act differently compared to if he had known he had a tail.


    Knowing that he had gone through the extra effort for them all, Nat focused her attention entirely on him. After all, people who go above and beyond what is expected of them deserve to be rewarded. Sure enough, he just ate up all of the attention, enjoying both hands that were administering him a massage. Tin looked on the scene with jealousy in his eyes. Something told Nat that he would be far more interested in putting in extra effort if that was the treatment that awaited him. Meanwhile Lucille kept alternating her gaze between the surroundings and her pampered mate. The mirth in her eyes was extremely noticeable, to the point where she had issues stifling her giggles. After all, Edwin''s face looked like he had lost all thought processes and was just enjoying the moment entirely. How could she not find enjoyment in that?


    After nearly half an hour of massaging Edwin from head to tail, Nat noticed that Shannon finally stumbled out of the tent. As Nat stood back up to hop down from the hay bales, Edwin finally realized what kind of position he was. Quick as he could, he rolled over from his back and up to a sitting and vigilant position. Looking around, he acted as nothing was wrong, even though he could not help but notice his mate''s glee. The look in Lucille''s eyes told him he would get teased about this for at least a few days. Despite the embarrassment he was feeling, he felt that all of it would be worth it, at least, that what he displayed by having his chest puffed out while his tail wagged quite happily. Lucille decided to help him out a bit, and moved over to start help with his fur that was sticking up in some locations. Tin did his best to keep his own watch up, at least until the rest of the camp started to stir.


    As Nat jumped down and strolled over to her still waking lover, Shannon was starting to set up breakfast. While the gorillas were lightly helping out, they still spent most of the time sleeping and eating. From the brief glances she had gotten at them, Nat estimated that it would be two to three weeks of Soulscape accelerated time before they were back up to healthy levels, maybe more. They had all basically been under starvation effects, and normally that would take months of recovery. There was little likelihood of being able to rely on them any time soon if they got into a fight. If anything, the pups would be the first group to fall back on if they needed help. Any awake gorillas would be treated as an absolute last resort, should they be in mortal peril.


    Today''s breakfast was chicken and waffles, however Shannon limited Nat to only one waffle. However, there was a massive pile of chicken in comparison. Regardless, she trusted her wife''s nutritional knowhow and started going to town on the pile of food. Despite that trust, she still could not help but look over at Shannon''s stack of waffles in pure jealousy. Thankfully for her, Kali, Maia, and Scout were joining her in the prescribed diets. None of the complained though, as the meat was all tasty beyond belief. Shannon''s cooking ability had always been good, but it had grown by leaps and bounds over the past few weeks. Probably due to the mass number of mouths that she cooked for each day, as well as the fact that all of them were glad to eat and taste test anything she made.


    After breakfast was done, camp cleanup was fairly easy, save for the fact that Tank was still sleeping. It took a while to rouse the big lug, as he slept like a rock. Lady resolved it though, by slinking up to him and whispering something in his ear. Never before had anyone seen a warg go from sleeping to bouncing on his paws so fast. With that, the group got off the property to hit the road once more. As they left, Nat took one last look south. Upon seeing no dust cloud or people approaching, she shrugged off the thought and turned north, hand in hand with Shannon once more.


    Huge thanks to my Elder Wolves Selvaria, Viktor, Saganatsu, Eeleater, John, Jacob, Onean, Neal, Sebastian, Ethan, Sir Hellington, Adam, and Kevin for supporting me and my writing! Remember that I keep Patreon ten chapters ahead at all times. Our next goal on Patreon will be getting up to 50 patrons, which I will then spend more time each month writing some side stories and shorts that show other perspectives throughout my stories!


    Feel free to join us all on my Discord! https://discord.gg/b8gRkD4

 Chapter 129

    As the group moved towards getting back onto Highway 791, Nat appraised their group that traveled today. Bryden was leading the group, while two of the currently unnamed wolves walked with him. Apparently the five that had doubts of whether or not to join had come to a conclusion after last night''s conflict. Turns out that the main reason that they were unsure of whether or not to follow Nat as their Alpha was due to their lack of knowledge on if she was physically capable enough to lead the pack. The brutal efficiency they had seen last night, as well as the dedication she had to getting stronger had shown them that she was as capable as could be. The two traveling today had gotten the names Edgar and Mike, while the other three were named Stephanie, Ariel, and Steve.


    On the topic of names, Natalie was dreading the future a lot. She had never been good with names, and she had another forty-six pups that were slowly growing up that would need some eventually. After all, she had named a female wolf pup at the zoo Lady. Her names were not necessarily the most original. Hell, Sol and Luna got named because they both looked and acted like a sun and moon together. The thoughts on what to name the massive amount of young canines filled her thoughts and nightmares, worrying that one of the canines might not like the names she came up with. Thankfully, all of the unnamed pups were at the point of either being nursed, or slowly weaned off their mother''s milk. That meant she had time before they gained their own personalities and attributes, but not much. The accelerated growth in the Soulscape seemed to weigh heavier and heavier with each passing day.


    In that regard, did the accelerated time affect the adult wolves in a similar way? There was so much that she still did not know about how it worked, and barely anything standing out as a guiding post. It had been just over a month since the event, which meant that about four months had passed if it stayed at a standard rate of acceleration in the Soulscape. For the adult wolves she bonded with in the beginning, such as Bryden and Maia, it would be hard to notice many signs of aging. While they were adults, Maia was actually the oldest as far as she could tell sitting at about six years of age. They could not be sure, given how little wolves changed between the ages of three and seven, but it seemed accurate. Sure, signs of aging could be seen right now, but they could possibly not show up till she was already at ten years of age. Even with the Soulscape changing time for everyone, it could take over a year before they had any signs or information if there really was aging past getting to their physical prime. If they did not age anymore, then it raised a whole new dilemma. How long would they have to wait to see anything to show up. Waiting five years, with no sign of aging would probably be far enough, but that was all data that would have to be collected in the long term.


    While Natalie was lost in her pondering of the health effects that the Soulscape had on their bonded animals, Shannon was focused on her energy manipulation. She could feel her energy reserves increase each day, and was able to fill more of her system with it. This was probably due to the gorillas recovering slowly but surely inside her, strengthening the bond. She was now able to fill one limb alongside her torso, but she found the immediate use of applying it to her head far more beneficial at the moment. While she was never well versed in the way that the human brain functioned, her eyes, ears, and nose were a far different story. Already she could see far, smell sharply and hear a pin drop from quite a distance. None of it was on the level that Natalie had explained, but that may be due to their bonds more than it was the energy. Gorillas were not nearly able to hear as well as canines, but their smell came quite close to equaling them. Then there was their vision, which was by far superior. Sure, Nat could see far, but it was a difficult endeavor for her, whereas picking things out in the distance came to Shannon quite easily. So easily in fact that she noticed the small buildings they were approaching at the same time as the wolves around them had their ears perk up. That gave her a pretty good vague of distance, as wolves could hear things that were kilometers away.


    As the info was passed to her, Nat snapped out of the mental gymnastics she had been in and stopped in place. "The wolves say they hear movement ahead, and Bryden says it sounds similar to goblins." Nat said, filling Shannon in on what the wolves had heard.


    "Probably, there is a small set of buildings ahead that look like either some small refinery, storage, or power station. It is right on the corner of this road and 791 from the look of it." Nat just stared at her wife in surprise. She could not even see that far, and yet Shannon could. Slowly she came to the same conclusion that Shannon had, as she remembered her book said that gorillas had superb eyesight. That caused her to double take, as it meant that Shannon''s eyes were being reinforced with the energy to see that. How did she gain access to it already?


    Shelving that line of questions, they then discussed how to go through this whole situation. The canines wanted a chance to show off their own abilities, and knowing that the new blood felt a need to prove themselves to a new Alpha, Nat sided with them. Shannon eagerly agreed with the idea of wiping them out, as having goblins behind them was leaving a potential threat open. Having concluded their plans with what to do, Bryden led Max, Stephanie, Steve, Edgar, and Mike forward, while Nat and Shannon followed them from a slight distance behind. Now, the pack was beginning their hunt, and they were out for monster blood.


    Huge thanks to my Elder Wolves Selvaria, Viktor, Saganatsu, Eeleater, John, Jacob, Onean, Neal, Sebastian, Ethan, Sir Hellington, Adam, and Kevin for supporting me and my writing! Remember that I keep Patreon ten chapters ahead at all times. Our next goal on Patreon will be getting up to 50 patrons, which I will then spend more time each month writing some side stories and shorts that show other perspectives throughout my stories!


    Feel free to join us all on my Discord! https://discord.gg/b8gRkD4

 Chapter 130

    Together, the six wolves moved through the ditch towards the source of the sound. Now knowing that there was set of buildings in the distance, they moved quickly through the ditch until it came into sight. It took a bit for Nat and Shannon to catch up, as the hunting pack moved ahead at full speed, but that meant that the two of them were not visible as the group neared in to the buildings. Once they were able to see the wolves once more, they were already slinking up to the front gate, keeping to the ditch and keeping as low of a profile as possible. As they got closer, the small goblin figures that were milling about became clearer. None of them seemed to notice the hunters that were sneaking up to them, but one of the goblins seemed different than the others. All they could tell at this distance was that it had some more clothing on. Circulating her energy back to her eyes, Shannon tried to look closer at the goblin that stood out amongst the group. Startled by what she was seeing, she turned to Nat so she could warn the wolves, but she was a hair too late.


    Shrieks filled the air as the wolves launched out of the ditch towards the unprepared goblins, immediately trying to finish some off. the first four they came across fell easily, the canine teeth ripping through their throats. As the three remaining normal goblins tried to fight back against the larger predators that were attacking them, Max pounced towards the one that looked stood out. Clothes wise, all he had on was a small headpiece made out of wires and bone, but both of his arms were covered in runic tattoos. His eyes had a similar fright that the others did, but his hands moved up in front of him. As they did, black mist started running down his arms, before pooling in his open palms. As Max was about to land on the goblin, the black mist popped out, projecting a round shield right in Max''s path. The shield was only as big as his torso, so his head and paws were stuck over. As he was not able to get any grip or traction on the black construct, he tried reaching out to snap the goblin between his teeth.


    As he did, the goblin seemed to regain some of its sense, but not quite fast enough. All around it, the other goblins were either dying or dead, with the canines tearing them apart. Mike came in from the side and bit down on the tattooed goblin''s neck, before shaking his head back and forth. As he did, the black construct that was holding Max in the air vanished. However, the black mist ran down the goblin''s right arm once more, before taking the form of a dagger. As a last-ditch effort, the goblin stabbed his attacker in the shoulder with the dagger, right before his head was ripped clean off. By now, the entire group had ended the small monsters, with Mike being the only one wounded. As Nat and Shannon reached the group, Mike howled out in pain and collapsed where he stood.


    Natalie rushed over to him to see what the issue was. As she checked his body, she came across the spot where the goblin had stabbed him, and was shocked. Black mist swirled around and was slowly growing in size where the wound was. Trying to pull it out, Nat grasped at the mist. However, this action not only had her fingers move through it as if it was not there, but also caused whines of pain to come out from the jaws of the wounded wolf. As Stephanie came over to see how her fellow wolf was doing, Nat flooded her eyes with the energy so she could see his internal energy. And what she ended up seeing was not pretty.


    The green nature energy that filled him up was slowly dissipating in the wake of the black mist, almost as if it was an infection. Not only that, but the speed with which the energy was darkening was rapid, and did not leave much time. While they did not know how this would affect him, Nat could feel what might happen. As she mentally felt out to him to try and soothe him, she felt the bond itself weakening and dispersing. Panicked, she put her hand over top of where his wound was and did the only thing she could think of that may help, given how she could not physically deal with the mist. She sent her energy out of her palm and flooded the wound itself.


    The whole thing seemed to be quite similar to a battle of cells, but usually the one who won in that scenario was the cell that was either most numerous, or propagated the fastest. However, Nat could not help but notice a few weeks back that while the wolves were filled with the green energy, they themselves did not actually produce any. It was as if they ran on energy batteries that filled up whenever they spent time in her Soulscape. Given that the black mist was currently propagating as it tried to spread through Max''s body, she directly gave him an infusion of energy, as if to supply him with needed antibodies. After all, she could not store and take things out of the Soulscape herself, and Mike was currently unable to think about going in to the nature-energy rich environment inside of Nat.


    As the entire group watched on, Nat poured most of her reserves into Mike before the black mist finally receded. She collapsed on the ground beside him, both of them breathing hard as if they had both just ran a marathon. Looking over, she was glad to see that not only did all remnants of the black mist dissipate, but his face seemed much more at ease. After a few minutes, she stood up and looked at where the wound had been, but was confused to find no mark at all on the wolf. Did her infusion heal him up? Or was the attack itself only on the energy, completely ignoring his physical body? Either way, he was not fit to continue out here today, and would need to rest inside the Soulscape. Right before he lost consciousness, he followed the directive to head inside, and was followed closely by Stephanie. She seemed worried for him, and it was not too big of a deal for her to go in as well. After he went in and passed out, the rest of the group continued on their path northwards, albeit with far more worries to think about.


    Huge thanks to my Elder Wolves Selvaria, Viktor, Saganatsu, Eeleater, John, Jacob, Onean, Neal, Sebastian, Ethan, Sir Hellington, Adam, and Kevin for supporting me and my writing! Remember that I keep Patreon ten chapters ahead at all times. Our next goal on Patreon will be getting up to 50 patrons, which I will then spend more time each month writing some side stories and shorts that show other perspectives throughout my stories!


    Feel free to join us all on my Discord! https://discord.gg/b8gRkD4

 Chapter 131

    As they moved north on the highway, the movements and actions of the tattooed goblin replayed through Nat and Shannon''s heads. Was it some sort of special enemy, that only came up sporadically? Or was it more indicative of a growth in the strength of the monster forces? If this was going to become a commonly occurring foe, then future encounters would need to be planned more seriously. Especially from the side of the wolves, given by the injury that was delivered to Mike. Having to watch out and give special consideration for the enemies that could control the black mist would make their usual pack tactics ineffective, and possibly even dangerous for them. As it was, wolves normally went for a grip and shook their prey back and forth as Mike had done, or nip and wound until the prey had succumbed to the blood loss. Sadly, this left them open to being attacked viciously, especially by monster who would not care if they died.


    With the four wolves keeping an eye out and making sure that there were no enemies approaching them, Shannon felt it was the best time to ask. "So, what happened back there? Not only you, but the rest of the canines seemed pretty worried when Mike was on the ground in pain." She had a worried look on her face, especially given how pale that Nat appeared. While this was normal when she had used up a lot of energy, the current state went a step beyond, as if she felt fear down to her very core.


    Natalie took a deep breath before answering, as the stuff that she felt was transmitted to every other canine she was bonded with. "I could feel what was happening, and that was transmitted to all of them. The wound itself was not bleeding him, but instead devouring him. The energy that filled him was painfully getting devoured and changed to black. On my end, I could feel the bond between us degrading, changing. It left me with very little options, but those options all fill me with dread. I chose to try and repair the bond, but that took most of my energy to wipe out the mist that had already invaded his body, similar to supplying someone with bacteria to fight off invading bacteria. The other two options I had open were far more ghastly, either breaking the bond or following along with the degradation. And there is no telling what would have happened to him, me, or the entire pack should either of those happened."


    Shannon stayed silent for a while, ruminating on the information she had just received. Similar worries that plagued Nat''s mind started to hit at her. Both of them were worried about what path that could lead down, but none of their thoughts had a happy ending. At best, they would lose one of their bonded, who would either die or turn into a monster. Hopefully, they reformed back perfectly fine in the Soulscape like they had when Bryden got fatally wounded back in Claresholm, but there was no guarantee. In fact, it almost seemed as if the chance of them reviving was minimal, in comparison to the chance of dying outright.


    These worried continued in their mind, and light questions back and forth showed that they had similar thoughts. The radical change that they would need was to evolve their whole method of fighting. The energy and mist were now clearly opposed, and the best way forward was to weaponize it if they could. Thankfully, Nat had already started moving in that direction, if slowly. Shifting to a wolfen form, and shifting the canines to more humanoid forms was the next step forward. However, this step was going to take time, energy, and practice. The entire pack would have to get used to moving about in their humanoid forms, as well as fighting in them. Thankfully Shannon knew extensively how to train people, but that did not mean it would be an easy journey. The gorillas would probably have recovered from starvation naturally before the canines would be in a good enough spot to fight skillfully against larger monsters. It would be months until they were both strong enough, as well as adeptly coordinated to be able to move in their shifted forms comfortably.


    Thankfully, Maia, Kali, and Scout were already going through this process, and especially the two female wolves were already fairly adept at moving. They just needed to get better at the complicated and delicate movements, and they would surpass Nat''s current fighting ability on two legs. Now, while this was not admittedly high currently, that was merely due to her current fitness level. The training she had received from her parents when she was younger in regards to hunting already gave her keen insight to moving and flowing through, and the medical knowledge obtained as a veterinarian helped her be aware of where to strike. It was just a matter of uniting the knowledge in her head with the skills of her body. And once the three of them were in a decent shape, training the rest up to par would be made far easier. They started working on a new plan, getting the canines that lounged around in the Soulscape all day to stat undergoing training. Pups and nursing mothers were obviously excluded, but Shannon and Nat both wanted Kali and Maia to start putting all of them through their paces, even the coyote lookouts. No sense leaving them at that point, when they could be stronger and far more capable.


    As the sun started to descend from its zenith in the sky, they came across a collection of buildings and farmland. Some of the land was being worked on by young men, while children either learned from them or played in open grassy areas. Women were milling about, either cleaning or running stuff back and forth. While Shannon and Nat had been too distracted to notice earlier, the wolves had heard them miles away. However, since they did not sound like monsters, the canines did not feel a need to bring it up to the two human women. As they came up to what was clearly a Hutterite colony, a couple of the older men who were working on a building came over to greet them. "Hello there, may we ask what two young women and a bunch of wolves are planning from travelling here?"


    Huge thanks to my Elder Wolves Selvaria, Viktor, Saganatsu, Eeleater, John, Jacob, Onean, Neal, Sebastian, Ethan, Sir Hellington, Adam, and Kevin for supporting me and my writing! Remember that I keep Patreon ten chapters ahead at all times. Our next goal on Patreon will be getting up to 50 patrons, which I will then spend more time each month writing some side stories and shorts that show other perspectives throughout my stories!


    Feel free to join us all on my Discord! https://discord.gg/b8gRkD4

 Chapter 132

    The wolves moved forward and formed a barrier between the two groups as the men approached. The men''s farming tools came up to a defensive posture, but after a few seconds they visibly relaxed when the large canines made no further moves towards them. Still, the men made no further attempts to get close to the group, which Natalie was immensely thankful for. Shannon''s hands were squeezing her own quite fiercely, showing how much fear she had for the approaching men. Was her whole issue mentally just with unknown men? Or would it extend to any stranger they came across. Sure, the wounds may have closed for her, allowing her to be close with Natalie, but some scars ran deep, and would likely never disappear. Though no matter which one it was, Shannon had a partner that would help her continue living. In an effort to keep her hands from being permanently deformed, she tried to move the situation along. "We are just passing through, heading north to meet up with family."


    "Ah, of course. Nothing is more important than family after all." The same man states, lowering his farming tool completely. The other two looked at him skeptically, but followed suit shortly after. In response, some of the wolves sat where they were, not giving up the barrier they formed but relaxing themselves. After all, it was the polite thing to do since the other party lowered their own weapons. "Well, it is just around lunch time, would you two want to join us for some food before continuing on your journey? I know that today is going to be some chili and homemade buns, and let me tell you, my wife makes some amazing buns."


    "We would love to, except we need to get moving. After all, this world has gone crazy, and we are worried about our families." Natalie replies, trying to verbally back away. She tries to keep her voice and face even and neutral, but it was hard given the past that they have had in the past month. Her efforts at hiding her emotions did not go so well though, as the expression on the man''s face changes. Not to something dark or angry, but one filled with sorrow and pity, as if he could tell exactly what the two had been through. Nat could almost swear she saw a tear crop up in the corner of his eye.


    "I see, that confirmed my fears about the greater world. The end of everything they know will bring out a person''s true nature, and there are a lot of temptations to do the wrong thing. You both must have had some hard times on the road so far. If you are ever in the area again, swing by and ask for Joseph. At that point we could have a great feast with laughter and joy to make up for all of the terrible times! I hope the best on your travels and hope that you are able to find your families unharmed and well." Joseph states with a wide smile on his face. As he does, he directs his people back to the buildings. There, they can see some of the women bringing out food and settings for the many picnic tables. The kids gather around, and as the two of them walk down the road, they see everyone start to dig in with smiles on their faces.


    Both Nat and Shannon are surprised at the old man, both his actions and his words. The old man was kind, caring, and unlike many of the other groups, neither of them felt any falsehoods. They could be wrong, but they felt like he was completely honest about just wanting to feed them before they continued travelling. As they walked, they noticed that while the farmland was barely being used, there was still a sizable number of crops being grown. Without any tractors or machines to assist them, the amount that they were working with was still impressive. Remembering the smiles everyone had when they left, all of this was probably due to the strong sense of community that they had probably always had. With the event, the only thing that probably changed for them was the inability to use technology, but the use of farmland, the large amount of livestock, and cooperation of everyone led them to come through with almost no changes to their day to day life. The kids both pitching in and playing around showed that quite clearly.


    While there was a temptation to go back and join in the food, Natalie had already made her decision. That, and Shannon''s grip eased up as they were walking away, showing that she was definitively not comfortable there. Maybe if they kept having encounters that pleasant, the scars would minimalize, but Nat knew they would never truly go away. If dogs could be forever changed by one bad owner, then people had a very rough time of returning to the way that anything used to be after trauma. Thankfully, the rest of the day was peaceful, with empty roads and plenty of sunshine to go around. There were no more people that were found lodging or encamped nearby, and no tracks or signs of any kind that any monsters were in the area.


    Eventually, just before the road had a small westward cut, they decided to call it a day and set up camp for the night. Half a kilometer east off of the highway was a sizable copse of trees, their green leaves just starting to come in and dot the branches. It was just enough for them to be well covered from anyone travelling the road at night, but allowed them fairly easy view of it. The shadows that would inevitably cast by the moon should help them as well, giving them vision while offering possible enemies none. Regardless, brooms and branches were brought out of the Soulscapes and used to obscure any sign of the group moving in for the night. After all, they had already been followed before, and there was no guarantee that they would not be followed once more.


    Huge thanks to my Elder Wolves Selvaria, Viktor, Saganatsu, Eeleater, John, Jacob, Onean, Neal, Sebastian, Ethan, Sir Hellington, Adam, and Kevin for supporting me and my writing! Remember that I keep Patreon ten chapters ahead at all times. Our next goal on Patreon will be getting up to 50 patrons, which I will then spend more time each month writing some side stories and shorts that show other perspectives throughout my stories!


    Feel free to join us all on my Discord! https://discord.gg/b8gRkD4

 Chapter 133

    Setting up camp was delayed, but only because Shannon decided to get her pupils to start their training early. The expanse of trees was a square that was most likely just over a kilometer in diameter. This meant it was really easy to get them running to start off, while the dedicated workout gear was brought out inside the woods by Shannon and her bonded gorillas. One of the female ones happened to be awake and was able to keep a moderate amount of food down. As this was going on, the first generation of pups, who were starting to get a fair way past the one-year mark, came out to play. All in all, the place they had decided to camp became a area filled with bodies running around. Nat was sure that if the gorillas were in better shape, then they would have been made to join in on the physical activity. After all, muscle takes a while to build up, but lack of use causes it to rapidly deteriorate.


    Hours later, as the sun set, the four victims of Shannon''s regiment collapse near the fire pit in the middle of their camp. Heavy breaths are heard all around as they try to regain any form of stability. As they do, platters filled with their dinners are placed beside them. Tonight was burritos, and they were made to be large and in charge. Their average size is close to Nat''s bicep, and close to bursting due to all of the fillings. Sour cream and cheese were in small amounts, but the well flavoured ground beef, crisp lettuce and juicy chunks of tomato fill the sacks of flour to the brim. Despite their size, Nat manages to pack away three of them before feeling full, while her workout buddies each pack away double that. After each of them finish eating, they collapse back down, now ready for wherever the food coma may take them. Great tasting food immediately after exhausting themselves hits them hard, and scout quickly passes out. However, Nat could not allow herself nor Kali or Maia to fall victim to the pleasantness that they were feeling. After all, they had to plan for the future, and these two were the most equipped to carry out what Shannon and Natalie had in mind.


    Together, they both keep the two female wolves awake while they go over their plan together. Thankfully, Nat knew that the two had most likely seen the earlier conflict through Nat''s eyes, and would understand where they were coming from. Since Mike was not awake yet, all they had to go on was what Natalie felt through their bond, but that alone was terrifying enough for most of them. Kali and Maia waited for the two of them to finish explaining before bringing up their thoughts on the matter. Context matters, and right now any miscommunication or lack of understanding meant that they would be playing with their own lives as the stakes. However, as Nat and Shannon finished explaining their thoughts on the matter, Kali immediately interjected. "You both are being blind and idiotic right now, but your hearts are in the right place." Both women get taken aback by the bluntness that Kali hit them with. After all, being blunt and to the point was not usually a human trait. Most people enjoyed dancing around the issue with subtleties and coyness. It gave them a feeling of power and dominance in the conversation.


    After getting gestured to continue, Kali explained her reasoning for the bluntness. "While I and probably all of the others agree that getting stronger and more versatile is needed, I feel as if you are being too lax about it. Sure, the nursing mothers and their children should not be getting put through the motions just yet, but for the already weaned children who are practicing hunting each and every day, it is far better for them to get acquainted with a new way of moving when they are younger. After all, they are still learning at that point, so something additional to learn won''t be nearly as hard compared to trying to change their way of thinking when they get older."


    Maia adds in, pointing her finger directly into Nat''s chest, "You also need to be tougher to make sure that everyone joins in. You are letting everyone do as they want which, while we are safe is fine, we are not. This is a time of danger and severity, and you are letting the pack weaken by not using your authority as the Alpha. Leading by example by starting to workout is a start, but you need to be rougher with everyone. For their own good. For the Pack''s good." At that, the two wolves headed off towards the tent, ready to call it a night themselves.


    Both Nat and Shannon were dumbstruck, as they both had not realized either of these facts. Sure, coddling kids was nice, but learning earlier would make them be stronger and more efficient at using their shifted bodies. If anything, they should be forcing every canine to only be in their shifted bodies, even when asleep. And with Maia''s statement, Nat wondered how much these two had been holding everything together behind the scenes. All because she had been letting down the pack in her efforts to keep getting everyone stronger. The answer was not a question of quantity but quality, especially now that the monsters were starting to do the same. Nat had not even realized before that she was holding everyone back, instead of being a driving force to improve. After all, a pack followed their leader, and she was currently in that seat.


    At that time, the coyotes came out for their night watch, but not until after they had shifted. They even brought out some training weights with them, showing that they very clearly heard and watched the whole encounter. While Edwin and Copper both just went straight to their locations to keep a lookout, Lucille stayed behind if only to ruffle Nat''s hair. As Nat looked up to see her attacker, she saw that Lucille''s face was full of trust, as well as a playful smirk. Knowing that they wanted to tough it out and get stronger alongside her, showed Nat that Maia had been right. She had been too soft on a bunch of predators, and starting tomorrow, she would start bringing out her inner wolf to set them straight.


    Huge thanks to my Elder Wolves Selvaria, Viktor, Saganatsu, Eeleater, John, Jacob, Onean, Neal, Sebastian, Ethan, Sir Hellington, Adam, and Kevin for supporting me and my writing! Remember that I keep Patreon ten chapters ahead at all times. Our next goal on Patreon will be getting up to 50 patrons, which I will then spend more time each month writing some side stories and shorts that show other perspectives throughout my stories!


    Feel free to join us all on my Discord! https://discord.gg/b8gRkD4

 Chapter 134

    The following morning had Nat immediately leaving the tent to check on the coyotes. Right before everyone else had gone to bed, Shannon had run them through a workout schedule for the night to get started on their personal growth. It was tailored so that they could do it while still keeping watch, but had some parts that would be done in a rotating order. This was so that there would always be at least two of the three keeping eyes out and doing their share of the work. After all, it would be bad if they were too engrossed in their exercising to notice anything approaching the camp. As she walked up to the set of trees that the three set up beside, she found that they were all currently taking a rest, though Edwin in particular was panting quite roughly. His rotation must have just finished, meaning that they were most likely done for the day as he was the last one in the rotation. That it perfectly worked out for when she woke up surprised Nat, especially since Shannon always slept like a log and never noticed when she got up. Whether it was planned or not would likely remain a mystery though.


    As she came up to the coyotes, she found that they were in fact just finishing their workout and taking a few minutes to cool down and relax. While Lucille went off, giving a report for the happenings of the night, Edwin leaned his head over towards Nat''s direction, silently asking for head scratches. Even in his shifted form, the man had a love for getting his head scratched. While she was sure that Lucille gave him plenty, she acquiesced to his request, given that all of them had been very thorough in following the training plan laid out by her wife. She did not get this from Lucille''s debrief, but instead the feelings of soreness and satisfaction that drifted through their bond. When comparing the two though, Nat almost missed the feelings of soreness, as the satisfaction to work and move their body was so much more prevalent that it dwarfed any other feelings they had. This just went to show that Maia had been right, and that she had not really been pushing the canines to change in any way. After all, she could not remember ever getting this feeling of satisfaction from any of the canines before.


    It took about an hour worth of waiting and scratching the coyote''s heads before Shannon finally woke up. As she did, she groggily came out of the tent and walked over to where Natalie was. Seeing the coyotes relaxing there, she told them what they needed to eat before snuggling back into Nat. "Good morning. What are you up to love?" Natalie asked as she was being used as a body pillow.


    "I''m charging. Give me five minutes." Hearing this, Nat decided to humour her, slightly. Mentally communicating with Lucille, she got a spring-loaded egg timer to be brought out and set for five minutes. Shannon saw none of this, as her face was nestled in Natalie''s chest, so when the timer went off at the five-minute mark, she visibly jumped, briefly letting go of Nat. As she realized what happened, she narrowed her eyes at Nat. All Nat could do at that point was shrug with a smirk on her face. "What? You said five minutes. You know that time is a precious thing after all." Shannon''s glare continued, but this time with a message for her beloved. ''I''ll get you for this'' was transmitted without issue, and Nat laughed it off, until she remembered that the one in charge of her physical training was none other than the person she had just pranked. As a cold sweat formed on Nat''s back, Shannon separated herself from the soon-to-be victim and got started warming up.


    Taking that as her cue, Nat mentally shouted at every single canine that was going to take part in todays ''festivities''. Instantly, movement could be heard from the two canines inside the tent, as well as shock and confusion coming through the bonds of the ones inside the Soulscape. As they all reeled awake, Nat directed them all mentally to come out and gather. The next part was incredibly draining on her, as she proceeded to get each and every one that came out to shift into their humanoid forms. That was a total of twenty-two canines that got shifted at once. It was a massive drain, so large that even with the reduced cost thanks to the new way of running it through her body, Nat needed help from Shannon to continue standing upright. However, with the barest amount in her left, she managed to get every single canine out and shifted. The sight of all of the one-year old pups trying to stand and walk properly was adorable, but now was not the time to be distracted. After all, every single shifted canine was now looking directly at her, questions floating in their eyes.


    "Listen up, it has been made clear to me that I have been slack in my responsibilities. We live in dangerous times, and that is not when the pack should be relaxing and doing as they please. From here on out, all of you are going to be training alongside me. My mate thankfully is well-versed and quite experienced when it comes to training people. After all, she spent just as long learning how to do it well as I took to learn how to become as skilled medically as I am. It will be hard, it will be exhausting, but in the end, it will make all of us stronger, faster and more versatile as a pack. As a family. As soon as those still nursing or recovering in the Soulscape are in a good enough state, they will be joining us. This way, when we run into the next one of those monster freaks that hurt Mike, we can make sure they pay without them getting another one of us. Are you all with me?"


    Howls came from every canine in response as they lifted their muzzles up to the sky. The sound was so loud, that it felt as if the earth itself shook for a moment. As their heads leveled once more with their Alpha, the fire of determination was searing through their eyes. Some of them had been feeling as if they were lacking in their ability to protect their family, but were not sure how to grow. Others were just happy to be working towards something together. All of the pups were a little lost, but were happy and bouncing with excitement due to the emotions of everyone around. As Nat finally regained enough energy to stand up straight, she passed the baton off to her wife, who was grinning in glee at the work-in-progress bodies in front of her.


    Huge thanks to my Elder Wolves Selvaria, Viktor, Saganatsu, Eeleater, John, Jacob, Onean, Neal, Sebastian, Ethan, Sir Hellington, Adam, and Kevin for supporting me and my writing! Remember that I keep Patreon ten chapters ahead at all times. Our next goal on Patreon will be getting up to 50 patrons, which I will then spend more time each month writing some side stories and shorts that show other perspectives throughout my stories!


    Feel free to join us all on my Discord! https://discord.gg/b8gRkD4

 Chapter 135

    The rest of the day was hard on everyone, as instead of making any forward progress along the road, they had decided to try and get everyone used to their shifted forms. And for those who already were, were already being pushed further and further. Shannon kept them going all day, giving half hour breaks every two hours. The gorillas who were awake in her Soulscape watched with interest, as they heard that the plan was to make everyone stronger. The four-armed gorilla was especially keen, seeing that they were working with their bodies to become stronger with them. On Nat''s side, the day itself seemed to become nothing but Hell on earth. Pain became a shared feeling across the canine bonds, but so was satisfaction and determination. And every single one of their feelings and emotions ran straight through Nat.


    Every sore muscle, shortness of breath and even the many beads of sweat were all passed through the bond unfiltered. After all, the training was tough and intensive, so they did not have the leisure to think about how anyone else was doing. It was all about getting stronger to better protect not just themselves, but one another. This also meant that every bit of satisfaction, determination and pride flowed through as well, serving as motivation for her to continue. After all, she was part of the group getting pushed the hardest right now of the four that were made.


    Shannon felt that getting partners to train beside helped motivate people to not only bond, but compete and try to grow further. The first group was the pups, who were the least used to the entire shift and new forms, as well as having the least amount of strength and stamina. Sure, it was easier than the training anyone else got, but only in terms of scale. Most of the focus was on balance, form, and coordination. Before they could run, they had to be able to crawl after all. Proper form would allow them to grow smoothly and adjust to the forms easier. Balance was needed to maintain that form, let alone perform more intricate motions. Which all needed coordination, to get their limbs to work together. Thankfully, they were seeming to adapt to the change in body far easier than two of the other groups, proving Kali''s advice true.


    Those two were currently working together, but would be separated later. The wargs and the wolves. Their training for the day was far more violent than the pups was, and with good reason. For it was not to teach them new habits, but to break the bad ones. And there were many, as spending most of your life walking on four legs would ill prepare you to walk on two. Everything was harshly cracked down on, but the older members of the pack had an easier time. After all, Shadow and Bryden had spent a fair amount of time getting berated in those forms, and were trying to gently help their fellows in suffering.


    The last group was regarded as special. Shannon did not pay nearly as much attention to them, but still yelled at them if they attempted slacking. Five bodies made this group up, and they were just following the guidelines that had been laid out before them earlier on. Shannon teasingly decided to nickname the group the ''Over-Achievers", filled with those that showed where everyone else could get to if the canines stuck with the harsh training. Nat, Kali, Maia, and Scout all continued working on their growth, but their training regimen was dialed to eleven, the intensity radically higher than even the first day where Nat''s muscles decided that they would not work after. Their fifth member had picked up the new form surprisingly fast, and no one could contend with him in regards to stamina anyways.


    Spirit followed along and did everything with this group, not having any issues manoeuvring his body. His form even got top praise from Shannon, but it was hard to tell if he was happier due to it. After all, his tail was constantly wagging and a smile never left his face. While it was surprising that he managed to keep up with the special group, what scared Natalie was the fact that all she felt through their bond was joy. That it, no pain, no determination, just pure unadulterated happiness at being able to move so much. So much so that during pillow talk that night, she brought up to Shannon that he should be a group all in of itself. After all, he seemed to have enough energy and stamina to be pushed far harder than any of them, possibly even her.


    Lunch was just a rehash of old food, but the steak bites that they had so soon after the event tasted better than anything they had tasted before. It was as if an angel had delivered them on a shining platter. Platters of the chunks of meat disappeared as fast as they were brought out, with every canine and Nat wolf-ing them down as fast as they possibly could. At least, until Shannon cut them off to go back to more progress. Everything was finished off later on after Shannon quickly made up dinner as the sun started to set. Tonight was hamburger hash, a quick and easy meal with just three ingredients that were all dog friendly, to a degree. Ground beef, cooked till brown, then corn and tomato soup were added, cooking all of the juices together to make a lumpy, meaty soup that tasted delicious. That had gone down even faster than the steak bites had.


    The time after dinner was a symphony of groans and whines, as everyone was made to stretch out their muscles from head to toe. Throughout the day, some stood out and above the rest, such as Spirit, who seemed to be ready for much harder exercises. Other, such as Sierra, were not really used to working on their bodies and visibly dragged behind the rest. Sierra was expected, given that she had professed a want to read and learn more, but was still pushed to follow through with the same training as everyone else. After all, their pack was only as strong as their weakest link, and this world was starting to become exceedingly punishing to anyone who attempted not to grow physically at least in some way. However, the tired bodies all agreed that tonight was a good night for an early sleep. As the coyotes started their watch/workout, everyone quickly went to sleep, plenty fine to lay where they were in the grass underneath the starry northern sky.


    Huge thanks to my Elder Wolves Selvaria, Viktor, Saganatsu, Eeleater, John, Jacob, Onean, Neal, Sebastian, Ethan, Sir Hellington, Adam, and Kevin for supporting me and my writing! Remember that I keep Patreon ten chapters ahead at all times. Our next goal on Patreon will be getting up to 50 patrons, which I will then spend more time each month writing some side stories and shorts that show other perspectives throughout my stories!


    Feel free to join us all on my Discord! https://discord.gg/b8gRkD4

 Chapter 136

    The next day saw the entire canine pack feeling the exact same way, tired, sore, but ready to do it all over again. However, they could not stay in one spot for too long. After all, their current goal was to get up north to find Natalie''s parents, and every day had a higher likelihood of them moving further and further away. At this point, Nat was thinking the only way that she would see her parents any time soon would be if they randomly met up somewhere on the road.


    Her parents were very adventurous, to the point where they went stir crazy if they stayed in one place longer than a month. Despite being the pairing of a massive nerd and a hunting fanatic, they both had the similar spirit of enjoying wandering. The amount of times she had been left on her own while her parents went out for an adventure was ridiculous, but she was more than happy to stay behind. After all, the two ran a animal rescue operation, and it was all based in the wilds. It was mainly to deal with issues such as the outbreak that Maia, Bryden and the rest of the group she had been working with prior to the event had suffered through. The two went through the wilds, giving medical help to animals while they were on the go, everything from checking to make sure that rabbits were not breeding out of control, all the way to broken limbs on bears and mountain cougars. However, some of the creatures they helped got quite affectionate and followed them home. The house was always lively because of this, even if they left for months to go through some forest.


    Since she was used to her parent''s antics, she had given Shannon a one-day break to work and get started on getting the training started. Now it was time for them to continue northward, to meet up with the two family members that had the highest flight risk, maybe literally. After all, great horned owls can carry up to three times their body weight. If they had managed to find a group of them, then her parents could already be long gone. There was nothing to worry about with the house, as everything was self-sufficient for years. The more she thought about it, the more Nat was convinced that all they would find at her childhood home would be a note saying that they had left on another journey or adventure.


    That was not a terrible thing though, and Nat would never try to tie the two down to one location. After all, they had never stopped smiling as long as she had known them, and the main reasons that they had fought were for what would be the best things for animals or her. Not once was blame thrown around, nor did it ever feel as if her family would drift apart. As Nat got out of the tent and sat beside the coyotes who were in the process of stretching their muscles after their night, the only thing she truly wondered about with her parents was what kind of animal did they bond with. After all, this event seemed to be perfect for the two of them, who could survive for months in the wilderness before the Soulscape was even a thing.


    Shannon came out of the tent shortly after, groggily walking around the large number of unconscious canines as she made her way over to Nat. When she did, they started having a bunch of scrambled eggs together, while at the same point she had the three coyotes show her their progress. Surprisingly, the three were making good progress, but had a few mistakes that would need correcting. Not nearly as many as the adult wolves had been making the day before, which was neat considering they did not get the assistance of dedicated oversight from the person training them. Shannon had them finish their stretches before sending them off to sleep and for Copper to spend some time with his family. Edwin and Lucille were happy enough seeing their children sleeping with a smile on their face.


    One by one though, the canines slowly woke to the smell of scrambled eggs. This was a batch that had three different kinds of meat mixed in to the eggs, making the smell extremely delectable to the carnivores. Slowly, each and every one woke and shuffled towards the smell. Humouring them, Nat quickly got Lucille to help her get a bunch of eggs out before she went to sleep. As the pack woke and ate, Shannon took a look at the map they had. Judging by their usual distance travelled each day, she guessed that they would be sitting on the outskirts of Red Deer by the end of the day tomorrow. Then it was just a case of either finding a map or sticking to the main highway for the rest of the way north. While that was dangerous in its own right, it may end up being their only option. After all, a clear path to follow would be better in the end compared to hopelessly walking in circles following random back roads that seem correct.


    After everyone had eaten and was ready to go for the day, they started off with some basic warm-ups before the group that was travelling for the day was decided. Usually, some of the canines just joined without Nat saying anything, but from here on she decided to do it differently. She called Kali, Maia and Scout to stand beside her. "I will be travelling with these three for the foreseeable future. The reason is not favoritism, but for survival. After all, these three have the best handle on their shifted forms and will be the greatest help in any fights. Anyone who wants to travel out with us in the future must be in their shifted forms, as well be physically capable to stand toe to toe with her." As she finished her speech, she pointed towards her partner, who just waved with a grin on her face.


    None of the pack threw out any complaints. Instead, you could see them eyeing up their competition. The fire in their eyes as well as the determination sent through the bond showed that most of them wanted to usurp the spot held by the three standing beside their Alpha. But to do that, they would need to be faster, stronger, more capable in the face of hardships. As they disappeared into the Soulscape, they immediately started working, focusing on getting familiar with their shifted forms as well as working on being stronger or faster. Funnily enough, Bryden decided to work on it by farming with hand tools, manually using a hoe to start prepping another field.


    Huge thanks to my Elder Wolves Selvaria, Viktor, Saganatsu, Eeleater, John, Jacob, Onean, Neal, Sebastian, Ethan, Sir Hellington, Adam, and Kevin for supporting me and my writing! Remember that I keep Patreon ten chapters ahead at all times. Our next goal on Patreon will be getting up to 50 patrons, which I will then spend more time each month writing some side stories and shorts that show other perspectives throughout my stories!


    Feel free to join us all on my Discord! https://discord.gg/b8gRkD4

 Chapter 137

    Once they were sure that everyone was along for the journey, the group of five departed north from the copse of trees that they called camp. To get back onto the road, they had to cross a small creek, but that was hardly an issue. From there, it was pretty much a straight shot north until they merged back with the Queen Elizabeth highway, making navigation at this point easy. The only value that Nat saw from the maps at this point in time was to give them an idea on where all of the towns and hamlets that dotted the roads lay. After all, there was a significant lack of monsters outside the boundaries of the towns. The small complex where they fought what they were now referring to as the goblin shaman had been an outlier, but generally they felt safe from monsters out here. No, the real threat, as shown by one dumbass hick named Eugene, turned out to be their fellow man.


    However, since they knew that no other settlements lay between them and Red Deer at this point, Shannon pushed everyone to train as they travelled. It was kept light enough so they would not slack on their vigil, but just barely. She had them do lunges for a while, while holding kettle weights in either hand. After that it was followed by them doing high-knees with every step. Sure, their overall travel time was hindered, but only slightly. As time went on, they kept relatively on track for what they expected to get distance wise even without the exercising. Some of the canines who had been with them longer, such as Shadow and Sol, came out and joined them in these routines. However, just as Shannon had predicted, they were unable to keep pace with everyone while doing this. They had not put the extra time into working on their shifted forms and getting adept at using them, so they were still slightly clumsy. It did not even take half-an-hour for them all to call it quits and go back to their workouts inside the Soulscape.


    Nat was worried on what this would do to their morale and determination, but a simple peek into the Soulscape proved her worries were unnecessary. They were all still working hard, throwing themselves at harder and harder exercises just to get more strain on their bodies. After all, their muscles healed ridiculously fast, which was probably gave Spirit his boundless stamina and endurance. Unlike all of the others he had rarely stopped moving. There were even tales of him running in his sleep, his paws desperately trying to find something to run on as he slept on his back. The fact that he was already at this point because of all of that seemed to inspire the others.


    As they went forward, they had longer breaks from Shannon''s workouts compared to the day before, but they were still expected to keep walking after all. During those longer breaks, Nat worked on her understanding and growth of her energy. She had recently emptied it down to nothing quite a few times, mostly at the behest of her spartan personal trainer/wife, but it had come with unexpected benefits. At least, to her they were unexpected, as Shannon claimed to have believed that it would work that way. She had just kept it secret so as to judge whether or not there was a noticeable difference from Natalie''s side. The energy itself seemed to behave as if it were a muscle. To build up muscle, you had to use it, and it would break and heal over and over. Except every time it healed, it became more and more resilient, causing the person in question to be stronger.


    Finding out that Shannon had been secretly working on improving her energy filled her with mixed feelings. One the one hand, she felt used, as if she was a guinea pig being examined to see if there were any changes. On the other side, she felt amazed at the depth of Shannon''s planning. Not only had she been training her lover physically, but equally all around. If it was a week prior, Nat could not have imagined being able to actually shift all of the canines at once, but now she able to do it, albeit briefly. That itself showed a great deal of personal growth. However, confirming this did have some side effects. Now knowing that her plan was fruitful and helping out, Shannon started to push everyone harder. Of course, this was after a bit of instruction was given to the wolves.


    It turned out that they could manipulate the energy inside their bodies as well, except they did not generate any. Instead, they basically had a battery, and if they wanted more, then it was just as simple as heading in and out of the Soulscape. Their training was enhanced dramatically, and their breaks shortened down. Instead, they would be pushed to their limits before quickly making their way through Nat''s Soulscape, recharging them for more of the work. It was grueling, especially since Nat was having her reserves emptied as fast, if not faster than her compatriots in suffering. However, her reserves were depleted then ignored until they returned to full. Shannon had reason to believe that letting it go back to full each time would be more beneficial than using it as soon as she got it. Regardless, Nat''s brain did not feel like putting up any fight with her partner and just followed what she was told for the moment.


    After another uneventful day of walking and exercising, the sun started setting in the west. However, it was not all sunshine and roses, as now was a massive upper body workout for another hour. This was mainly due to the fact that almost all of the training during the day was either for their lower bodies or their energy reserves. Very little focus was done for their arms and torsos, so the four ''Over-Achievers'' struggled through the last bit with the last reserves of stamina they had left. Meanwhile, all of the other canines came out and were critiqued by Shannon''s scathing gaze. She picked apart what each of them had done, and pointed out where they went right and where they went wrong.


    All in all, the day proved fruitful. For the three canines that were outside with Nat and Shan, their time to use and manipulate energy was lengthened by a couple minutes. When they had issues doing it for more than three minutes when they started, that showed a ridiculous amount of growth. As for the ones training inside the Soulscape, Bryden showed the most personal growth. Physically, he was catching up to where Natalie was, and not at a slow pace either. Figures, the strongest carnivore would be born through tilling a field for plants.


    Huge thanks to my Elder Wolves Selvaria, Viktor, Saganatsu, Eeleater, John, Jacob, Onean, Neal, Sebastian, Ethan, Sir Hellington, Adam, and Kevin for supporting me and my writing! Remember that I keep Patreon ten chapters ahead at all times. Our next goal on Patreon will be getting up to 50 patrons, which I will then spend more time each month writing some side stories and shorts that show other perspectives throughout my stories!


    Feel free to join us all on my Discord! https://discord.gg/b8gRkD4

 Chapter 138

    Once Shannon was done checking to see everyone''s progress, she smiled before starting to prepare dinner. Tonight, the plan was to do something other than red meat for their main course. Most of their meals recently had been beef, and while it was tasty, variety was the spice of life. Thus, she went through and thoroughly prepared a chicken to be roasted in the fire. All it took was getting one cleaned and defeathered before getting it stored once more, before she had two whole lines of birds lined up in the fire, slowly cooking in their aluminum foil shells stuffed with spices and oil. While she was whipping up a very good smelling meal, all of the canines struggled as they went through their evening stretches. So far, most of their muscle fatigue the following day was minor, nothing like the aftermath of Nat''s first day. However, doing those small, methodical movements to limber up and loosen their bodies before they rested was difficult when such a pleasant smell wafted through their noses.


    Sadly for the group stretching, it took two hours for the birds to fully cook, just as the sun started to kiss the horizon. Shannon had told them to stretch until the birds were done, but never said how long they would be. It was not until they were half-an-hour into their stretches that Sierra finally asked how much longer they had to go for. After all, she had just started up a certain series about a mouse and the abbey he defended, and was quite enjoying it. When Shannon''s passive face adopted her now signature sadistic glee, every canine felt cold sweat go down their backs. As she told them that it would take another hour and a half to go through the necessary time to cook the food to perfection, almost every other body in the copse of trees that they set up in groaned audibly. However, none of them stopped their stretching. After all, Nat did not raise a protest for a single minute. After all, she had known how long it would take to cook a chicken with an open fire. She knew how lucky they all were that Shannon picked the faster method.


    Once everyone finally got to eat food, most of them fell asleep right then and there. After all, they were all tired, and wanted nothing more than to relax and recuperate. After all, the training would for sure continue on, and every moment of rest was treasured. Only two stayed awake, but one was more of a pure force of will. Sierra had turned full on book nerd, willing to lose a bit of sleep if it meant she could read one more chapter. It was still difficult for her, but every page came easier and easier. It was meant for older children to younger teens after all. Someone just learning to read would struggle a bit. However, it was full of animals fighting for one another, while standing against those opposing them and those cared for them. It allowed her to feel some connection with the characters of the abbey. The other person who stayed awake was Shannon, who was writing in a journal with one hand while lightly running her other over the arm of her sleeping lover beside her. She was working on the plans of how to get everyone to the best condition they could be, trying to plan around this mysterious energy. As for the three who just woke up, they were already working on their night watch as well as their workouts. They were definitely gaining improvements, but not as fast as everyone else. Seeing this, Shannon made a note to herself to try and think of a way to improve their efficiency while still allowing them to do the job that they signed up for.


    Meanwhile, inside Nat''s head, she was taken once more to the world in her dreams. When she first opened her eyes, it was just pitch dark. She was unable to make anything out as she stared off into the abyss. Squinting to try and make anything out, she almost fell backward when suddenly light erupted out in front of her. It was not a warm and inviting one, but a malevolent and destructive light. The light of fires, dotting buildings and the wrecks of cars down the strip of road she stood in. Looking around to try and get a grasp of where her dream was, she let out a short gasp as a familiar sight filled her vision. Anyone who had been down Gasoline Alley in Red Deer has at least driven by the Donut mill. It was a quaint bakery that was built in the shape of an old windmill, but their pastries were delicious. The sight of it on fire and falling apart was startling to say the least. As she looked around, she recognized more and more of the different spots along, placing her firmly in the city they were heading to.


    As she was staring in shock at the destruction and desolation, a tiny blur passed through the edge of her vision. Turning to get a better look, she barely caught it moving along the buildings and vehicles northwards. Something inside her told her to follow the tiny shadow that ran past. After all, this could be another one of those weird prophetic dreams she had before. While she had an issue with the fact that they only cropped up when she neared a city, she was glad to have them at least some of the time. They had been what guided her to save her now lover after all. Going around the corner, she followed the small traces of the small shadow as it continuously disappeared behind corners.


    Finally, she tracked it up to the only old-school drive-ins along the strip. They were a burger and fries'' kind of place, but was famous for their shakes. Slowly making her way inside, she was surprised by what she came across. A small child, who could not be over the age of six, was crouched there eating a moldy hamburger bun. There was no way to distinguish whether the child was a boy or girl, but what was evident was a hard time. Scrapes, soot and blood covered their form and clothes, with barely any part of them left unscathed. Before she could take another step, Natalie saw the child look up straight into her eyes. The child only asked, "Are you going to help me?" Then, as quickly as the light off the fires came, everything quickly faded back to darkness.


    Huge thanks to my Elder Wolves Selvaria, Viktor, Saganatsu, Eeleater, John, Jacob, Onean, Neal, Sebastian, Ethan, Sir Hellington, Adam, and Kevin for supporting me and my writing! Remember that I keep Patreon ten chapters ahead at all times. Our next goal on Patreon will be getting up to 50 patrons, which I will then spend more time each month writing some side stories and shorts that show other perspectives throughout my stories!


    Feel free to join us all on my Discord! https://discord.gg/b8gRkD4

 Chapter 139

    Natalie shot awake as soon as the fade to black ended, and sat straight up. While the dream itself felt like it took no more than ten minutes, the sun was already rising and shining through the open door of the tent. Every night, she set the tent up with an opening facing east. It was a habit she picked up from her parents, who always rose and slept with the sun. Their whole family treated it as an alarm clock of sorts, and that was a difficult habit to break in university, since she had to wake up before the sun most days in the winter to be able to get to class on time. As she remembered these memories, she was suddenly greatly worried for the child in her dream. If they did exist, then their memories from this event would probably stick with them for the rest of their life. Instead of going and sitting with the coyotes, she sat on a chair that was set up beside the now extinguished fire pit.


    Lucille and Edwin both saw her come out, but were surprised that she did not come straight over to them as she always had. Worried, Edwin started to make his way over before his mate put her hand on his shoulder. Turning his head, he saw that she was shaking her head, implying not to go over. As he took one last look at their Alpha, he noticed that she seemed to be deep in thought and worried, but it was almost entirely undirected. She spent most of the time just staring north, a distant look filling her eyes. Understanding most of what his mate was trying to tell him, he turned back and continued the watch while the three of them worked through their finishing stretches.


    They kept going until Shannon stumbled out of the tent, groggy as ever. She was not a morning person, nor had she gone to sleep early either. This had left the coyotes doing their stretches for almost two hours like the group had done last night. However, the three of them actually planned for that. They saw how Shannon made everyone stretch for that long and that thoroughly, and figured she must have a decent reason as to why. After all, Lucille observed every decision that their Alpha''s mate made, and checked to see whether or not they were helpful. So far, except for the couple times where she was just doing it to tease Nat, everything she had gotten others to do had worked out to their benefit. There was not blind trust though, and probably never will be. But what was there between the two was a willingness to communicate and understand both what the other person was saying and what they were trying to achieve.


    Instead of sitting down beside her lost in thought partner, Shannon instead went over to talk with the coyotes. They first talked about what they did, what they felt was working, what they did not find to be helpful as of yet. Then they started going through and planning the next exercise plan for them to go through. Comparatively to the rest of the pack, the three of them were currently falling behind physically, but it was hard to just dedicate their time to training. After all, there were only the three of them that were currently available to keep watch. Going forward, they were going to try and split the night into shifts, minimizing all of their time keeping vigilant while at the same time maximizing the time that they would spend improving. Edwin would take the first of the three shifts, followed by Copper and then Lucille.


    This plan got shifted though when Tin came out of the Soulscape in her shifted form and embraced her mate. Thanks to the exercising and watch duties, as well as nursing their pups, they had not had much time to spend together. However, last night she had apparently fed them only meat and there were no issues. She had checked with Nat, and they all got a green bill of health, allowing her to move about and help out as she had been. However, like all of the other mothers who had been nursing, she was clumsy and had difficulty walking around. None of them had experienced the shifted forms before, and were only able to pay attention to the exercises and advice only some of the time they were inside the Soulscape. Thus, until she caught up with the other three who kept watch at night, she would be spending the time working out entirely without having to pull a shift herself.


    During this discussion, Nat came over and wrapped her arms around her lover, cuddling up together as they stood and talked. She only butted in when they were talking about what to do with the coyote pups that were now able to walk, roam, and explore. "Train them out here with all of you. As far as teaching and educating young canines, this time period in their growth is when they are the most receptive to outside stimuli, as well as willing to try anything. Get them started now, and they will continue with it easily, though that goes for both good and bad habits." Copper, Tin and Shannon looked at her skeptically, but when Edwin and Lucille backed her up, they all accepted her idea. It just meant that night watch was about to get a hell of a lot more lively compared to how it had been. Trying to teach six coyote pups on how to walk, stand and work out while keeping them on task would not be a pleasant time, but with two sets of adults, one who had already experienced pups, it was an obtainable goal.


    As everyone woke up and breakfast was brought out, today was a carb heavy meal for breakfast. For the past bit, the main focus had been on protein, but there had to be balance. Blueberry pancakes were made over top of the flame, alongside bits of bacon and sausage. It was well received though, and over a hundred flapjacks disappeared into the guts of the pack. As everyone started to clean up and get things packed, Nat pulled Shannon aside. Before she could be asked what was up, Nat blurted out, "I had another one of those dreams. And it involved a kid."


    Huge thanks to my Elder Wolves Selvaria, Viktor, Saganatsu, Eeleater, John, Jacob, Onean, Neal, Sebastian, Ethan, Sir Hellington, Adam, and Kevin for supporting me and my writing! Remember that I keep Patreon ten chapters ahead at all times. Our next goal on Patreon will be getting up to 50 patrons, which I will then spend more time each month writing some side stories and shorts that show other perspectives throughout my stories!


    Feel free to join us all on my Discord! https://discord.gg/b8gRkD4

 Chapter 140

    "A kid? There was a kid in your dream?" Shannon asked, feeling flabbergasted. After all, this world was not a kind one any more, even more so for a child. Shannon was worried that, if it was just like the prophetic dreams that led Nat to her, what this kid might have seen and gone through up till now.


    Natalie then explained what she saw and experienced in the dream. As she did, Shannon''s face became increasingly pale as more was revealed. It definitely felt like the prophetic dream she had before after all, especially with the line asking about help at the very end. After hearing all of it, they both sat there in silence for a good few minutes. Natalie waited as Shannon started to think on this. This must have been what made her not go over to the coyotes first thing this morning. Which was entirely fair, as it was a lot to unpack. However, one thing that they both agreed upon was the fact that if it was true, they did not want to stay idle for too long. Agreeing to revisit the issue while they were travelling, they started to move about and help with cleaning up their camp.


    Thankfully, by the time they started helping get stuff packed away, the shifted canines had already dealt with almost everything. That turned out to be an added benefit of having everyone shift, as setup and cleaning times had drastically been reduced. After all, instead of carrying everything with their jaws, they now had hands and arms. They were able to lift, carry and manipulate more than they ever had before. Now everyone was starting to understand exactly why Kali and Maia stayed in their shifted forms as often as they did. They were just so hand-y.


    Once everything was squared away, all except for the current three that travelled outside with the two women went back into the Soulscape. Scout was willing to give his spot up to Bryden, but the wolf had insisted on staying inside the Soulscape for the time being. Apparently, he had been getting pretty far with farming, and was wanting to do his best to learn how to do it better. He was setting up a bunch of different fields, with different access to different things such as water, shade, light, anything that could perceivably make a difference. He was going to try growing wheat in each one, and see where it both did the best and tasted the best after it was processed. That made Natalie start up a new list, of things that they would need to get for when the canines different projects bore fruit. Or well, in this case grains.


    As the five started heading up the road towards Red Deer, Shannon finally had to ask, "So, what is the plan for the kid?"


    "And what makes you think I have a plan?" Nat responded. None of the usual mirth was there, just an exasperated sigh that showed how exhausted her mind was.


    "You mean to tell me that you spent all of that time thinking about that dream, about that kid, and you still don''t have a plan? Bullshit."


    Nat shook her head and let out another weary sigh. "No, I don''t have a plan. Sure, I have ideas that could be used, but I do not have a plan that will work. After all, everything we would try to do either has to be done with the consent of the kid. Otherwise, we would just be kidnapping them." silence carried on throughout them. Shannon had not thought about that angle after all. If the kid did not cooperate with them or behave in a dignified manner, there was no chance of any plan that they made up working. If they just kidnapped him, they would constantly have to deal with the kid fighting them and trying to escape every step of the way, even if it meant drawing monsters towards them.


    As they walked in silence, everyone still did various exercises like they had the day before. After all, they were proving to be working given by the light soreness that pervaded their bodies. Thanks to the extensive amount of stretching that Shannon had them do, all of their muscles were limber and loose, leading to their muscle fatigue and soreness the next day to be minimal. As long as it was not hindering their motion, the group felt no problem in continuing to do the repetitive but strenuous motions. After all, Kali and Maia wanted to continue being right beside Nat as they traveled. Scout kept up with it for a far different reason. His mate was larger and stronger than he was, so he was working on getting stronger in an effort to be able to keep up with her for once. He only had about another week and a half before she finished nursing and weaning their pups, then she would be joining in the process of working out. He planned to use that time to get as much of an advantage that he could.


    While Nat mindlessly moved her body in the same way that she had the day before, she shifted her attention into the Soulscape. Now that the six coyote pups were weaned and joining in with the physical training, thirty of the other forty pups were soon going to be ready to join in as well. She went through, taking a look at progress, and saw that many were already wandering around, eating small bits of meat, and generally getting more motion into their lives. Seeing this, she remembered the fact that smaller breeds take longer to reach this point, and with coyotes being smaller than wolves and wargs, those other pups caught up to them in no time. Chances are, she would have to shift them all either tonight or tomorrow morning, as they were at a point where they and their mothers would finally be able to join in. Even the three that joined them at the zoo seemed to be at a similar point. Their mother Ariel was one of the canines she had not really interacted with at all, but she seemed as adamant as the rest of the group to get stronger. It might have had something to do with why all of them wanted to become stronger and more capable, to help protect their newfound family.


    Huge thanks to my Elder Wolves Selvaria, Viktor, Saganatsu, Eeleater, John, Jacob, Onean, Neal, Sebastian, Ethan, Sir Hellington, Adam, and Kevin for supporting me and my writing! Remember that I keep Patreon ten chapters ahead at all times. Our next goal on Patreon will be getting up to 50 patrons, which I will then spend more time each month writing some side stories and shorts that show other perspectives throughout my stories!


    Feel free to join us all on my Discord! https://discord.gg/b8gRkD4

 Chapter 141

    The rest of the travelling that day was filled with thinking, planning, and a ridiculous amount of sweat. Everyone in the travelling group was drenched and out of breath by the time they stopped for the day, but only one was smiling. Throughout this entire process of getting everyone into shape, Shannon had been keeping pace with the rest of them. For years she had the mentality that the best way to teach someone and lead them to being better with their body was to instruct them through example. She was doing the most arduous of exercises alongside Nat and the rest of the Special group, but it was barely affecting her. The only other one who was unaffected by the workouts was Spirit, but everyone regarded him as an anomaly anyways.


    They had made good progress, and got about as far as they had expected from the day before. They had gotten back to the main Highway that ran through the province, and without any more encounters of monsters. They made camp at a copse of trees, from where they could barely make out Red Deer on the horizon. As everyone else laid on the ground trying to recover the energy and stamina to move about, Shannon got started on making up some food for supper. With the help of Spirit, she got a pig out and roughly carved some pork chops off the carcass.


    While she was up to that, Nat went through checks in the Soulscape. Doing things this way would mean that she could continue to lay one her back while she went about her duties. One by one, she went through and checked each and every pup and mother to make sure everything was good. After all, teeth grew in quite fast, and that could cause harm to the mother''s teat if she wasn''t careful. That was usually when the first weaning would happen as well, in an effort to get them used to eating and using their jaw to bite and chew for sustenance. She had tried to be diligent about it, but for the past while she had been slacking in her duties as a veterinarian. There was just so much other shit going on that the pups had not registered as a priority. Now with the coyote pups coming out the day before, and the rest showing that they were able to come out already, the matter became far more pressing.


    Thankfully, all thirty of the pups that were now fully weaned off were perfectly healthy. In fact, Natalie found them to be a bit too healthy to be normal. Getting them to get come out and shift once to unlock that form for all of them, she checked through them once more. She was shocked to see that each and every one of them were at a point of physical prime, being the optimal size, weight, and having perfect coats across the board. Was this another hidden benefit of the Soulscape? How many more secrets and tricks did it hide, and how many more dangers?


    Thinking on the dangers, she quickly switched over to take a look at Mike. He had joined in the training today, despite almost everyone else telling him to rest. The only one who didn''t was Nat, but the reasons behind that decision were twofold. Firstly, he had promised to take it easy until he was fully up to healthy. Therefore, he limited it to more small-scale motions and movements, trying to get a handle on the more dexterous side of his shifted form. The other reason was the feelings that he had, which were transmitted through the bond. He had spent the last few days sleeping and recovering, and felt like he was being left behind. It was most likely harder for him than anyone else, as he had been the one injured, the one who caused the massive shift in how the pack was ran. And he was beating himself up for it greatly.


    Nat knew that words would do nothing to help him. Mainly because they would be empty, as his wound had shocked her into changing how she ran things. If only to make sure it did not happen again. He needed to improve, to be the one in that position again and prove that he was capable of doing better. This was entirely mental for him, and words trying to deter him would only push him farther down. The only worry that Nat had was for the future, hoping he would not do anything rash or foolish to try and prove himself capable. Before they got into any fights, she would have to sit down and talk with him, make sure he understood that rushing ahead could do more harm than good, especially for those who trust him to have their backs.


    Dinner was quick, with lightly seasoned pork chops being devoured left, right and center. Everything was called early today, if only to give everyone a nice period of rest. After all, they would be going into a city tomorrow, and those had so far been notoriously filled with monsters. Even Sierra and Shannon both called it early, knowing that they would need to be at the top of their game. Gently, everyone went to sleep in one giant pile, spilling out of the tent and over the ground outside. In the middle of it all, Nat and Shannon lay, with Nat being the big spoon as they drifted off to sleep.


    Nat''s eyes once more opened in the dream world, and she was back in front of the drive-in. There was no fire or movement to be seen this time. Looking around for any clues, she noticed wisps of shadow gently floating up from the ground. Upon looking at them closer, it became clear that they were footprints. Small as they were, Natalie assumed that they belonged to the kid she had seen before. Following them, they led to the gas station in the next lot over. As she got closer and closer, a banging sound picked up, getting louder and louder with each step closer she got to the station. As she came around the front of the building, she was aghast to see that the footprints led into the station bathroom. Which was closed and being battered upon by monsters. As a scream for help resounded through the air, the door started to bend inwards, and Nat''s consciousness instantly kicked her out of her sleep and sitting straight up in the tent, sweating heavily.


    Huge thanks to my Elder Wolves Selvaria, Viktor, Saganatsu, Eeleater, John, Jacob, Onean, Neal, Sebastian, Ethan, Sir Hellington, Adam, and Kevin for supporting me and my writing! Remember that I keep Patreon ten chapters ahead at all times. Our next goal on Patreon will be getting up to 50 patrons, which I will then spend more time each month writing some side stories and shorts that show other perspectives throughout my stories!


    Feel free to join us all on my Discord! https://discord.gg/b8gRkD4

 Chapter 142

    The light of the sun was barely starting to color the sky when Nat ran about shaking everyone in the camp. The coyotes were surprised by her sudden action, but proceeded to join her in getting everyone awake as fast as possible. After being together for over a month, there was more than enough reason to believe that it was something urgent. Natalie never did anything without a reason.


    Shannon on the other hand, was not particularly enthused about the whole thing. "Why the fuck are you waking me up? It isn''t even light out, and we''re not getting attacked." She was barely awake, but her voice was full of scorn, her eyes squinted.


    "I had another one of those dreams. It was about the kid, and he is trapped behind a door by a bunch of monsters. We have to go and help them!" Nat screamed at her, visibly scared and frustrated. At this point, since everyone was in the process of waking up, Nat started getting changed as fast as she could.


    "We have time. After all, the situations are not always an immediate thing to worry about." Shannon replied, before laying back down. She was not a morning person, and she very much wanted to do nothing more than go back to sleep.


    As Shannon started to pull some blankets over her body, Nat continued on, "And usually I would agree with you, but this one kicked me awake instead of letting me finish sleeping."


    Shannon froze, then proceeded to sit back up and look Nat in the eyes. "The dream woke you up? But they have never done that..."


    "That is why I believe this time to be urgent! Let''s get a move on!" Immediately there was a response. Shannon was on her feet and getting changed as fast as she could. When the rest of the canines saw how fast and worried their Alpha and her mate were, they got in gear as well. The camp was taken down in less than a minute, with gorillas and canines working together to get things squared away as fast as possible. Nat wanted to stop the gorillas from exerting themselves too much, but this was too pressing of a concern. Once everything was packed away, everyone went into the Soulscape. After all, they were still a long way from the edge of Red Deer, and they needed to go into it to reach the gas station. Therefore, it was time for two of the wargs to carry the pack ahead as fast as possible.


    Luna and Sierra volunteered for the job. Luna had just finished nursing and weaning her pups, meaning that she was the least adept in her shifted form compared to most of the others, and Sierra was not the first one to step forward and fight. They figured they would run there as fast as they could, and then recover from the exertion as everyone else fought. Sierra dipped inside the Soulscape, but only to get one of the saddles. Luna had helped her get it on while everyone was cleaning, as she had getting hers on hammered down, making it muscle memory at this point. Together, Nat and Shannon each got up on one of the wargs before riding north along the QE2 Highway.


    Sadly, the wargs could not get up to the same speed as cars. What would have taken five minutes by car ended up taking them just over fifteen. The gas station they were going for was halfway up the section of road name Gasoline Alley. Numerous restaurants, stores, and especially gas stations dotted either side of the major highway. It was all commercial buildings here, with the residential sections of the city being tucked away from the highway. This made Nat happy she had the dream and could remember it as vividly as she did. Because of that, she knew exactly where to go.


    Luna and Sierra finally ran out of steam as they came up to the drive-in. Shannon and Nat dismounted, while the two tired wargs switched out with their assault team. Bryden, Kali, Maia, Sol, and Shadow came out, fully shifted and ready to go. Nat did not even have any weapons brought out, whereas Shannon still had the trusty fire axe. Moving quickly, the seven of them approached the gas station and moved around the eastern side to get to the front. And what a visage the front entrance gave off.


    The double doors were smashed inwards, safety glass popped out of the mangled frames and laying on the floor. The shelving inside was either knocked over, thrown against the wall, or just straight out crushed. And in the back corner, under the washroom sign, was a group of monsters. A dozen goblins, five hobs, and two orcs were standing about eager as a third orc used a piece of shelving as a battering ram. Not seeing any real way to get the drop on them, the seven wannabe rescuers just rushed straight in.


    The first step in heralded their approach with a large crunch as Natalie''s boot impacted heavily on the glass. By the time that the back row of monsters turned around, they were already getting torn into. Nat had shifted her arms and started ripping the heads off the tiny goblins. It was still an intensive draw, but with the training they had been doing, she could probably maintain this for about half a minute before she had to recover her energy. Meanwhile, Shannon was whipping the axe around, braining goblins left and right. The four wolves were moving straight through the group towards the hobgoblins, dispatching goblins as easily as Nat was. Sol ran straight through the group of monsters and tackled one of the orcs through a display door and into the freezer behind. However, things were not as easy as before. One of the hobgoblins was sporting the same tattoos as the goblin shaman from before, and he was conjuring up shields made of black mist to support what allies he had left. The wolves had problems getting close enough to deliver a lethal blow to the remaining monsters without opening themselves up to heavy risks. It was making it hard for the group to respond, and they were slowly getting pushed back by the hobgoblins and the remaining two orcs.


    Huge thanks to my Elder Wolves Selvaria, Viktor, Saganatsu, Eeleater, John, Jacob, Onean, Neal, Sebastian, Ethan, Sir Hellington, Adam, and Kevin for supporting me and my writing! Remember that I keep Patreon ten chapters ahead at all times. Our next goal on Patreon will be getting up to 50 patrons, which I will then spend more time each month writing some side stories and shorts that show other perspectives throughout my stories!


    Feel free to join us all on my Discord! https://discord.gg/b8gRkD4

 Chapter 143

    It was currently not a great scenario. The wolves were getting nicked slowly by the claws of the hobgoblins while trying to evade the larger orcs and their swings. Meanwhile, their attacks were being blocked time and time again by the black mist constructs that the shaman had brought up. There were only four of the shields, but they were being moved back and forth along the monsters to be able to safeguard its allies. So far, they had proven to be more than enough though, even with there being only four wolves, plus Nat and Shannon engaging them. Sure, if the six of them charged in to attack, they could probably get two of them, but the cost would be much higher. The four who were saved by their shaman would invariably attack the outstretched people who weren''t blocked, and it would just worse for the pack.


    Nat tried to run through ideas on how to get through this faster as she fended off the assaults of a hobgoblin. After all, none of them were quiet, and there could be many more monsters in the area, closing in on the sounds of distress. They could not just bring out more wolves. There was not enough space for them to maneuver properly nor were her energy reserves going to last much longer as they were. They couldn''t just charge through the line to take out the shaman, as he would undoubtedly move one of the floating shields to block their approach. They had already tried to throw things at him, in an attempt to wound or distract him, but he had moved one of the shields fast enough to block it. As she racked her brains trying to figure out an answer, a forgotten variable changed everything.


    In the dozen or so seconds that the monsters were pushing back the group, they had either forgotten Sol or written him off as dead to the orc that he took back there with him. That had been a mistake, but only found out once the headless corpse of the orc came flying through the opening they had created. It struck straight into the middle of the back of one of the other orcs, causing him to step forward, trying to regain his balance. Which put him within range of Bryden''s claws. As the orc tried to pull back, one of the outstretched claws found their mark, tearing a line on the orc''s throat. It was not a deep wound, but it was still one that caused the monster to raise a hand to block the bleeding instinctively.


    At the same time, the shaman stopped what he was doing and turned around to see where that body came from. This in itself dispelled the black constructs that protected its brethren, causing them to start accruing wounds to the wolves now unobstructed claws. However, turning without moving proved to be a bad choice, as Sol was already by him, a broken piece of pipe in his hands. By the time the hobgoblin saw the giant, shifted warg coming at him, Sol was already mid-swing. Emulating Shannon''s form with the fire axe, he swung the pipe hard at the hobgoblin''s head. As mist started to run down the shaman''s arm, the pipe made contact with the neck of the creature. A loud crunch resounded through the air, followed by the shaman flying through the air and into the wall, bone sticking through the skin of his neck.


    From there on, the fight was more of a joke than anything. Without the support of the shields, the monsters constantly over-extended and got caught out one by one. The cover and support of the shaman had changed the field entirely, and it was clear that going forward, every fight was going to be harder as long as those buggers were still up and kicking. Thankfully, they had a very obvious weakness, shown by how the monster could not move its body too much and control numerous floating shields. They could move their arms and heads, but the second they did anymore it took their focus away from the constructs, leading their shapes to fail. While they knew that wouldn''t last, the pack planned to milk it for what it was worth until the shamans became more proficient.


    The fight ended with Sol taking out the last remaining orc, ripping his head straight off from behind. Together, the entire group moved about the gas station, checking every cranny inside and out before claiming that it was clear of monsters. Once the area was confirmed safe, the canines watched over the entrance as Nat and Shannon headed back towards the washrooms. The door seemed to be on it''s last legs, bent almost at a thirty-degree angle with the frame. Holes dotted its surface while the walls around it looked worse than the way they had left the monsters. Whoever was inside had been lucky that the monsters were unable to read English. It was a group bathroom that did not have a lock on the outer door, just on the stalls inside. The only reason that it hadn''t opened was that it was a pull door, and they tried to break in as if it was a push.


    It took a bit of work, but they were able to pull the mangled door open. Instead of closing automatically, the door stayed open, the mechanism clearly bent from the stress the door had been under. Together, Natalie and Shannon entered the washroom, only to stop just as they turned the corner. At the far end of the room, a child was huddled up in the fetal position underneath the sink counter. Before Shannon could say anything, Nat slowly approached the child, getting on her knees and outstretching a hand. "Hey there, are you ok? All of the monsters are gone now, and we can give you a hand."


    The kid stopped shaking for a moment, before looking up from their arms straight at Natalie. A shrill shriek rang out from their mouth, before they ran to the other side of the room and hid behind Shannon''s legs. It took everything Shannon had not to laugh at the scenario, having expected it to happen. "You should have known that would happen Nat. You have always scared kids, something about the fierceness of your eyes." taking a breath, she bent down to sweep the kid into her arms. "Hey there, my name is Shannon, and I promise to keep you safe." The kid latched onto her clothes, before passing out in her arms. She must have been scared and exhausted from the whole ordeal. With the kid''s head resting on Shannon''s shoulder, they went out of the washroom to meet back up with the rest of the pack.


    Huge thanks to my Elder Wolves Selvaria, Viktor, Saganatsu, Eeleater, John, Jacob, Onean, Neal, Sebastian, Ethan, Sir Hellington, Adam, and Kevin for supporting me and my writing! Remember that I keep Patreon ten chapters ahead at all times. Our next goal on Patreon will be getting up to 50 patrons, which I will then spend more time each month writing some side stories and shorts that show other perspectives throughout my stories!


    Feel free to join us all on my Discord! https://discord.gg/b8gRkD4

 Chapter 144

    As they came out, they saw that the canines were cautiously watching each direction out of the destroyed entrance. Upon hearing that they had seen no movement, Shannon took some time to make sure that the child was properly cradled and supported in her arms. She had worries for how the kid may be doing health wise, but this was not the time or place to check. If anything, the number of patients she now had to watch out for was thirteen, with Nat acting as an advisor for the first twelve. However, this was the first patient she had in a while of the human variety, where her knowledge and speciality were needed the most.


    Meanwhile, Nat started to check over the canines one by one, making sure all of their wounds from the fight were not too damning. The actions of the kid stung, but it was not like she was too surprised. All throughout her life, intrapersonal connections had been a hard part for Natalie. She had been told numerous times that she was hard to approach, that she scared off others who were interested in being friends. Shannon had been an outlier, having fallen for her because of that, rather than in spite of. She couldn''t remember how often that people seemed to be working up the courage to confess to her, before turning away without saying anything. There were always people that seemed to be fine with them though, besides the obvious exception beside her. Her parents, her mentor during her internship, and most recently was Bryden, her former boss down in Waterton. Them, and every animal that had followed her parents back home after being rescued. For some reason, none of them had an issue with her looks, and loved to cuddle up beside her or play games together with her.


    Nat took a bit longer to finish up, seeing how she had five bodies to worry about, rather than one. However, Sol and Bryden were forced to return to the Soulscape to recover. Unlike the other three, they both had wounds which impacted their ability to move, some of which were still lightly bleeding. As a wonderful bonus, none of them had any traces of black energy inside of them. Once that was all good, the five of them, plus their unconscious passenger, headed out of the gas station.


    As they came out, they noticed that the sun had finally started to rise above the horizon, showing how early in the day they had actually started. Normally, this would have been when Natalie would wake up, and everyone else would still be asleep. Collectively, the pack agreed that getting out of the city would be far more important than getting in breakfast. Shannon countered that, getting the wolves inside to get food, before swapping with the three that were outside. Meanwhile, she would eat while on the move, as would Natalie. Since the kid was not awake at the moment, food would have to wait for them.


    Having a basic food plan in place now, they all started walking up the highway, as it would be the fastest way to get north of the city and continue where they wanted to go. Today, the canines had eggs for breakfast, while Natalie and Shannon had some breakfast burritos. They made sure not to eat too much, to make it so their travel for the day would not be uncomfortable. After about fifteen minutes was when they switched out, having the three minorly scraped canines take their time resting and eating back in the Soulscape. The hard part was who would switch out with them. Scout was an obvious choice, given by how he was one of the most coordinated with his shifted form. The question was who else to get out here.


    In the end, they had three others come out in addition to Scout. Emily and Ash were two of them, being surprisingly graceful in their shifted forms despite having barely any time in them. Their mates had given them extensive notes and pointers during the time they were nursing, but even that seemed to little for this much of a change. While Nat was trying to figure it out, a giggle came up from Maia and Kali through the link, before they explained that they had been guiding the two of them through everything since they had first gotten the forms. Knowing they had that amount of teaching, all surprise that was felt was now lost, as those two were thorough in anything they did. The third addition was Spirit, under the agreement that as long as he did not alert anyone to their presence. He still ran around like a squirrel hopped up on caffeine, but he did so in a circle around the group. He even brought up every track that he came across, but it was hard to tell if they belonged to that group they wiped out or not.


    As they walked north on the Queen Elizabeth II Highway, they came across a building, split between a sports hall of fame and Tourism Red Deer. While it was not necessary, they agreed to take a slight detour, just in case the office had some maps. While everyone moved up to the entrance, making sure that they were not going to get ambushed, Spirit went and did a quick lap around the building. By the time he had caught back up, the others were at the front entrance. It was busted up, but not like the gas station had been. There was no bent metal, only smashed panes of glass, implying that the people who broke in were human. Once Spirit reported that he found no monster tracks around the building, they all moved in, a bit more at ease.


    Inside, the whole place was absolutely ransacked. Shelving was tipped over, the registers were clearly busted open, and barely anything was left. Just a couple post cards that said to come visit Red Deer. Everything else was either gone or damaged beyond repair. The map area itself had a couple torn maps, as well as two pools of dried red blood. Clearly, they had not been the only ones wanting maps, and people had been violent in their desire. Seeing that there was nothing worth acquiring, they carried on their path northwards, in hopes of finding Nat''s parents.


    Huge thanks to my Elder Wolves Selvaria, Viktor, Saganatsu, Eeleater, John, Jacob, Onean, Neal, Sebastian, Ethan, Sir Hellington, Adam, and Kevin for supporting me and my writing! Remember that I keep Patreon ten chapters ahead at all times. Our next goal on Patreon will be getting up to 50 patrons, which I will then spend more time each month writing some side stories and shorts that show other perspectives throughout my stories!


    Feel free to join us all on my Discord! https://discord.gg/b8gRkD4

 Chapter 145

    The rest of the day was slow and easy. None of the group outside spared any time to working out, just so they would be ready should another fight break out. There was no point in going looking for them, but they could not run away easily right now should one come to them. Not with the kid that Shannon was carrying. Thankfully, the route that the highway ran through the rest of the city was just like 17 Ave down in Calgary, not many buildings, with a fairly spread out plan. It was just easy walking, with mostly desolate roads. There was the occasional semi that was stalled out along the road, but they did not even bother checking for anything useful. Every single one had a similar look to the tourist center they had left, completely torn apart and gutted. Either the people were not considerate enough to duplicate anything, or more likely they just did not know or possess the ability to do so.


    By the end of the day, they had left Red Deer and passed through Blackfalds without any incidents. Spirit ran around the entire time as a forward set of eyes and an advance guard in case any monsters noticed them. Somehow, by the time they were setting up camp to the west of Lacombe Lake, the pup still had plenty of energy and was still moving. Thankfully, his mortality peaked through, as he had finally started to slow down. His breathing was heavier, and he was not making as good time, but the fact he was able to keep going was mind boggling, especially to Shannon. There was just no way someone normal should be able to run that much and only barely get exhausted. Even when they checked on him using the energy vision, it did not look like he had been using any.


    As they were setting up camp in another grouping of trees, Nat decided to check Spirit once more. She had checked when the sun was at its peak, and she had not been able to notice a drain. However, now that he was starting to feel exhaustion, something may have changed. As she fed energy into her eyes, she did her best to remember what his energy looked like earlier. It turned out to be a completely unnecessary gesture, as one could immediately tell that Spirit''s battery was coming up on empty. Where there had been a large bunch of energy inside of him, just like any other wolf, now sat small wisps. He must have been using energy this entire time to help fuel his desire to run.


    Once she saw this, Nat filled Shannon in on what was happening. Agreeing that tests were necessary, they first asked Spirit if he knew what he was doing. When the pup looked visibly confused by their words, they knew that he had been doing it subconsciously. Then, having got a base line of data, they had him go in and out of the Soulscape to recharge. Not only did he seem to be far more energetic then when he went in, but all of his exhaustion had apparently disappeared. The energy seemed to have similar effects on him that it did to Nat when she was flowing it through her system. Upon watching him as he started to run around, they noticed something that they had forgotten about earlier. He was standing still when they first examined him, which obviously would not have any sort of drain. As he ran, they saw the energy diffuse through his entire body. Not as a veil or through blood vessels, but completely filling up his entire form. As if there was a second version of him there purely made of energy.


    That was it. Lightbulbs went off in both of the observer''s eyes as they realized the implications. Both of them were only applying partial knowledge and theories onto the use of the energy. They were treating it as something foreign, something different. Something that they had to control to be able to use. All it took to debunk everything they thought they knew was to watch a wolf pup run around with a smile on his face. This was not going to be easy for them, as they had to completely change their way of thinking before being able to replicate the effects. They were trying to control the energy, when they just had to let it fill them entirely.


    When this was brought up to the other canines, it took them no time at all to adopt Spirit''s method. They did not have any medical knowledge or pre-existing thoughts on how their bodies worked after all. They just moved their bodies when they felt well, and stayed stationary when there was pain. When this happened in front of their eyes, both Nat and Shan looked at the crowd of shifted canines with jealousy in their eyes. After all, all of them felt fine moving about, and were doing more and more strenuous activities without worry. Sierra, as an example, went from barely able to do fifteen push-ups, to now doing well over fifty and still not having any issues. Until the two women were able to put aside their knowledge, they would now permanently behind any of the canines in stamina or strength.


    Thankfully, they still had the superiority in dexterity. Watching the canines attempt to do delicate motions, such as making a tower out of cards was incredibly cathartic for the two. Years of medical training and experience had finely honed what work they could do with their hands, giving them the temporary advantage. After all, Scout and Mike were both getting better at using their hands quite fast. Sure, they could barely get the first level done without it falling over, but it was far better than anyone else. Maia was visibly frustrated as she tried to get two of them to lean up against one another.


    As everyone else tried to get more coordinated, Shannon started work on dinner. After the day they had, she felt better about where everyone was at, especially after every canine easily picked up what Spirit was doing. Feeling like making some pleasure food, she made up some mac and cheese with hotdogs cut into it. A throwback for her, as it was one of her favourite meals as a kid. As the smell of hotdogs filled the camp, the kid they had rescued finally started to stir. This whole time, their hands held onto Shannon''s clothes. She hadn''t tried to remove them, as she felt it would be better for whenever the kid woke up. As their head tilted up to look Shannon in the eyes, a rumbling was heard from their belly.


    Huge thanks to my Elder Wolves Selvaria, Viktor, Saganatsu, Eeleater, John, Jacob, Onean, Neal, Sebastian, Ethan, Sir Hellington, Adam, and Kevin for supporting me and my writing! Remember that I keep Patreon ten chapters ahead at all times. Our next goal on Patreon will be getting up to 50 patrons, which I will then spend more time each month writing some side stories and shorts that show other perspectives throughout my stories!


    Feel free to join us all on my Discord! https://discord.gg/b8gRkD4

 Chapter 146

    A blush quickly covered the kids face, embarrassed at the sound that came from within. They moved their face deep into the nook between Shannon''s head and shoulder in an attempt to hide. What they had not expected was Shannon reaching up and patting on her back, whispering gently in their ear. "It''s alright, there is nothing wrong with being hungry, especially with the food being cooked right here."


    Slowly, the kid looked up, a blush still covering their face. They first looked upon Shannon''s face, and saw that there was nothing save a gentle smile there, that easily went up to her eyes and beyond. There was no mockery or loathing to be found. Not like the people that the kid had been around before. Because of how small and frail they were, they never got more than scraps while the adults always took more. They were violent, unkind, and selfish, not wanting to share food or supplies with anyone. They apparently needed it more so they could fight for their survival. Whole lot of good that did them. Orc party in the middle of the night took each and every one of those greedy bastards out. Being small had paid off, allowing them to slip out unseen by the horrendous monsters.


    But right now was totally different. The smell of food wafted through the air, and the gentle carrying of Shannon had reminded them of a happier time. Of home, of laughter, and of love. The warmth was so nice, that the kid immediately broke down crying, wondering why they had to go through so much pain and suffering when there was so much warmth to be given. There was a good few minutes crying, with Shannon repeatedly patting the kids back while whispering, "There, there, it''s alright now. Let it all out, we are here for you."


    When the kid finally stopped crying, they looked around their makeshift camp. First, they turned to the direction of the delicious smell. There, they saw a nice warm fire with a metal sheet over top. A couple large pots sat there, macaroni being cooked inside of them. In the open beside them, hot dogs slowly grilled on the sheet of metal, sizzling delightfully. Where all of this came from, the kid had no idea. When they had first been encountered by the pair, they had been carrying any bags. The only thing they had was the one fire axe, but that was nowhere in sight. What was in plain view was a group of bodies all stretching and working out.


    Yoga was the action tonight, as flexibility would help them hopefully do more. That in itself the kid would have found weird, as everything had gone to shit, but people were doing yoga. No, more than that was the forms of the people doing yoga were what the kid could not help but stare at. They moved like people, but looked like dogs. Big, fluffy, and strong looking, they all seemed to dedicate themselves to the motions along with the other person that had been seen earlier. The one who had scary eyes that seemed as if she would eat you. While the kid was staring at the scene with an open mouth, the clanging of dishes could be heard behind her. "Dinner''s ready!" Shannon called out.


    As the kid turned back around, their confusion only skyrocketed. Gone was the sheet of metal, as well as all of the pots that were being used. While the kid had been staring at the canine''s evening workout, Shannon had cut the hot dogs into the macaroni, mixed it all into a giant serving bowl and duplicated it what she hoped was enough times. All the kid saw was the prep table now covered in a dozen serving bowls filled to the brims with macaroni. All throughout the confusion, Shannon set the kid down on a chair, and started making up a decently sized bowl, before handing it to the kid.


    Slowly, everyone got their portions pulled aside, though they did need to pull out another six serving bowls worth of macaroni just to serve everyone. Shannon had gotten so used to the old numbers that she had forgotten to account for all of the pups that were now joining them, as well as the kid. Once they had their meals, everyone sat together and dug in, talking about what had gone wrong and right that day, trying to find more ways to improve. Shannon sat beside the kid, with Nat beside her. In between bites, Shannon introduced herself and her partner, "My name is Shannon, and this is my wife Nat. Can I ask for your name?"


    The question shocked the kid into motion, devouring the food in front of them. It wasn''t until the bowl was cleaned out that the kid responded. "My name is Sophie, and I''m nine." She started licking the bowl, before looking slightly guilty. She looked up at Shannon and asked, "Is there, uh... More food?" Red Deer had gone to shit after the event, as people fought one another so that they could have food. She was just a kid, but she knew that food was a rarity these days. Just the day before she managed to find some slightly moldy buns, and those had been the first food she had in a few days. This right now felt luxurious to her.


    A look of pity crossed Shannon''s face, making Sophie think that there was no more. At least, until Scout came over with a fresh bowl in hand, loaded up with more pasta and wieners. Not wanting to miss out on that at all, Sophie dug right into it with gusto, and another two bowls after that. She never even had to ask for another, as one of the canines always had one ready just as she finished the last one. She had to actually turn one away because she started to feel too full. As she sat back in the chair, enjoying a full stomach for the first time in over a month, Natalie asked her a question that she had not expected. "If you want, you can come with us."


    Huge thanks to my Elder Wolves Viktor, Saganatsu, Eeleater, John, Hades, Onean, Neal, Sebastian, Ethan, Sir Hellington, Adam, and Kevin for supporting me and my writing! Remember that I keep Patreon ten chapters ahead at all times. Our next goal on Patreon will be getting up to 50 patrons, which I will then spend more time each month writing some side stories and shorts that show other perspectives throughout my stories!


    Feel free to join us all on my Discord! https://discord.gg/b8gRkD4

 Chapter 147

    The spoon in Sophie''s hand fell, clattering against the ground as she slowly turned her head towards the pair. She couldn''t believe her ears, not after seeing people kill one another for scraps of jerky in the streets. Not after people were burned out of buildings because they wouldn''t split rations. The whole idea of being welcome with these two was nothing but a pipe dream. Something that she would have wished was real, but never would have the chance to. As her young mind worked to understand, one idea popped up on what they meant. "You mean, you both would become my moms?"


    Her voice was filled with confusion, throwing Shannon and Natalie off. Shannon spoke up quickly, hoping to defuse the situation, "We would never dream of trying to replace your mother. But we would treat you as family."


    "That''s okay, I''ve never had a mom before. All I had were my two dads, before the... Wave." Sophie responded without hesitation. Though as she finished, tears started to well up in her eyes. This was the first time since everything went to shit that she had time to reflect, to think on all of what happened, and most importantly feel. All at once, the dams burst, and she started bawling. Unlike the tears of relief and happiness earlier, these tears were stained with misery and filled with mourning.


    Natalie and Shannon did not need to hear anymore after the waterworks started. They just moved quickly and hugged the sobbing girl. The stuff she had seen would never be unseen, and may haunt her for years to come, if not her whole life. However, what they could do was to move on from the loss. Not to forget it, as to honour the memories of her fathers, but to grow past the loss and sadness, and be able to look back on the times of joy and happiness with fondness. It was a hard road, one they were already experiencing with Shannon, as trauma had a nasty habit of sticking around far longer than anyone wanted. They just needed to be patient and caring, and show that there still is light in this world.


    The feelings of sadness rippled out from the three, causing everyone to stop what they were doing and come join in the huddle. Soon, there were seventy-two bodies all huddled up in a giant, warm hug. The only ones who did not join in were Seeka and her pups, as they were in the middle of feeding. Seeka sent her thoughts out to be with everyone involved though. It was just minutes, where one person was sobbing uncontrollably, while the rest all did their best to provide comfort and support.


    It was almost half-an-hour before Sophie finally came back and regained control of her face. As she did, and looked up from her tear-drenched hands, she felt the warmth of all the bodies around her. She noticed Shan and Nat immediately, as they were on either side of her, and probably hugging the tightest. Beyond them was a wall of fur, impossible to see past. It didn''t feel constricting or claustrophobic, but instead it felt like home. Like when her fathers had held her in a blanket when she had a nightmare. The sadness in her melted slightly, giving way to a small bit of joy as she hugged back the two women just as fiercely as they were hugging her. "If you don''t mind having me, I would be fine having you two as my mothers!" Sophie cried, as tears of joy fell once more. Shannon and Nat just hugged her harder, almost squeezing the air out of her. Sophie did not mind one bit though, as that was the only answer that she needed.


    Slowly, the wolves peeled off the pile one by one, leaving the three in the middle hugging one another. They stayed there, hugging and crying in the arms of one another as another person was added to their family. While it wasn''t the first time that Sophie was adopted, it was the first time she remembered. She had been too young to remember when her fathers had adopted her, but this memory would stick with her. When the whole world went to shit, the people she would see as mothers came by and picked her up, full of care and worry.


    The canines all got back to cleaning up and evening stretches. They did not want to ruin the moment between the three, and they still had plenty of energy to spare now that they were doing the same thing that Spirit had been. They worked through stretches before finally calling it a night, sleeping together with their families. The extra energy meant nothing in the face of mental exhaustion, as the energy only really helped to recover from physical exertion. That was probably one of the few things keeping the canines in the pack from just training all of the time in the Soulscape. Their bodies still had some of the functions that they needed before they bonded, but they didn''t even think that way. They just felt tired and the sun was disappearing behind the horizon, so it was time for most to close their eyes. All that stayed up were the ten coyotes that were taking care of night guard. There were no issues the night before, even if their watch was cut short, so the pups were outside training and helping with the watch, albeit as much as their tiny bodies were able to. The pups were basically toddlers in their shifted forms, and had issues crawling, let alone walking on two legs. It would probably take quite a bit of practice before they were able to stand without assistance.


    As the sun dipped down and the rest of the camp went to sleep, Shannon, Natalie and Sophie all finally stopped hugging. Even if the only reason they did so was to go to sleep. Sophie may not have been awake for long, but the plan was to get her on a similar sleep schedule to majority of the pack, so as to make it easier on everyone. They had so much to teach her about the Soulscape and the energy, not to mention they wanted to take as much time as possible getting to know their new little girl.


    Huge thanks to my Elder Wolves Viktor, Saganatsu, Eeleater, John, Hades, Onean, Neal, Sebastian, Ethan, Sir Hellington, Adam, and Kevin for supporting me and my writing! Remember that I keep Patreon ten chapters ahead at all times. Our next goal on Patreon will be getting up to 50 patrons, which I will then spend more time each month writing some side stories and shorts that show other perspectives throughout my stories!


    Feel free to join us all on my Discord! https://discord.gg/b8gRkD4

 Chapter 148

    Natalie woke up to an unaccustomed weight in bed as the sun rose. Slowly, she rose up to take a look at what it was, before finally remembering the events from the previous day. Sophie lay in between her and Shannon, curled up in the blankets with a small smile on her face. They all went to sleep together last night, cuddling up for warmth and company. Sophie had not wanted to let go quite yet, but everyone was getting sleepy so Nat and Shannon decided to just go to sleep with her nestled in the middle of them.


    Being careful so as not to disturb her two sleeping partners, Nat slipped out of the blankets and tent. As she walked over to where the coyotes had set up for the night, she ran through one of the conversations that they had. They had finally confirmed that kids found her eyes scary, as least, that was the main reason that Sophie had ran from her in the gas station. Shannon started laughing loudly, finding out that her guess from years back proved to be accurate was just too much for her. That did not lessen the amount of salt that poured into Natalie''s wounds due to the revelation, but at least it gave them an answer after so long. It was always confusing when a random kid on the street would suddenly hide behind their parent after all.


    When Nat got to the coyotes, she took a minute to look at the progress the pups had. Or at least, what passed for progress. Copper and Edwin were working with them, trying to help them get used to balancing on two feet, while some of them crawled around investigating the plants and rocks. There was a lot of stumbling and falling over, but it was a start in the right direction. It would be four months till they were at a similar point to the rest of the pups in age, but they would surpass where they are currently in terms of movement and dexterity, possibly even strength. Nat could not help but have her eyes constantly roam towards Edwin though. He always tried to act aloof and uncaring, but he looked like any other doting and over caring parent would while trying to help someone else''s offspring learn. The twinkle in Lucille''s eyes across the way betrayed how much she enjoyed this side of him as well. She never outed him though, and was more than happy just to let him do his thing. Tin sat beside her, having a similar look upon her mate. Both couples seemed happy, and left nothing but warm feelings when one looked at the interplay between the pairs.


    When they finally noticed Nat, there was two different reactions. Lucille and Tin did not change a single thing they were doing, just waving gingerly to her while enjoying the show. The two males however, immediately got flustered. Copper just focused in on the pups, acting as if she wasn''t there to stave off his embarrassment at how he had been acting. Edwin quickly lowered the pup he was helping, before standing straight up and looking around them, as if he had been on watch the entire time. All the while a slight blush crept on his face. Nat barely managed to stifle her giggles and act like she had seen nothing, but Lucille let out a short snort at his behaviour, which he categorically ignored, if only for his dignity.


    Nat just walked past him and sat between the two females, getting the rundown on the events of the night. As she did, she could see Edwin''s shoulders relax, though he did not go back and continue playing around with the pups. Thankfully, nothing seemed to go amiss, and the workouts throughout the night went well. They weren''t heavily exhausted, thanks to learning and using the way that Spirit had been using the energy. Overall, they were more exhausted than that little bugger would have been, even if he was doing more. It was likely that he either used it more efficiently or just had a stronger core from use over time. It was something that had to be checked, but it was at least useful to the other canines to be able to move forward at a more efficient and reliable pace.


    As they were talking, a loud yet petite yawn spread out across the camp. Looking the direction of the sound, the coyotes and Nat saw Sophie stumbling out of the tent, rubbing the sleep out of her right eye. Seeing Nat sitting on the other side of the camp, she slowly made her way over. Stumbling around Copper and Edwin, she came and sat in Natalie''s lap, now rubbing the sleep out her other eye. As she sat there, she slowly woke up, noticing both what she did and where she was. As a slight blush crept up her face, she buried her face in Natalie''s shirt in an attempt to block out her memory of what just happened. Slowly, Nat wrapped one of her arms around her, holding her close. While it seemed nice from the outside, Sophie did jump slightly as Natalie pulled her closer. It seemed to be a natural reaction showing both trust and fear.


    Unknown to Nat, Sophie used to have a similar experience every morning in the past. One of her fathers would always be awake in the morning before her, sitting on the couch watching the news as he ate his breakfast. She would just come out of her room, sit on his lap and watch with him. It happened so often, that he would usually have her breakfast out there with him so she could join him in eating. As he usually finished first, he would pull her in as she was still eating and lean back into the couch, cuddling together a little bit before both had to go about their day. He sometimes had to work late due to the crunch of the theatre industry he worked in, but he treasured that time in the morning. It was their time to just hang out and bond.


    Shannon walked out of the tent as Sophie stifled some tears with Natalie''s shirt. Neither one had to say anything, as both of the women had an idea of what was happening. They just needed to let Sophie move through it at her own pace, just as Nat was giving Shannon space to work things out on her own. Most of the time, someone else butting in would be more of a hinderance than a help, but what would sometimes help one move forward is just knowing that help is there and ready should they need it.


    Huge thanks to my Elder Wolves Viktor, Saganatsu, Eeleater, John, Hades, Onean, Neal, Sebastian, Ethan, Sir Hellington, Adam, and Kevin for supporting me and my writing! Remember that I keep Patreon ten chapters ahead at all times. Our next goal on Patreon will be getting up to 50 patrons, which I will then spend more time each month writing some side stories and shorts that show other perspectives throughout my stories!


    Feel free to join us all on my Discord! https://discord.gg/b8gRkD4

 Chapter 149

    Shannon got to work on Breakfast while Nat was on head pat duty. She still had the one arm behind Sophie''s back, but her other hand was alternating back and forth between Copper and Edwin. The former turned to mush under her care, while the other did his best to remain stoic and unmoving. Which worked out pretty well, except for his tail''s habit of betraying how he actually felt. At this point, Lucille could not help but laugh as hard as she could at the sight. Her mate however, acted as if nothing was wrong as he subtly leaned into Natalie''s hand whenever it came to his head.


    Breakfast was just simple BLT''s, pulled out from storage, but there had to be a great deal pulled out for all of the canines. It gave Nat five minutes to finish up what she was doing before getting up. She did not attempt to get Sophie to get up from her position, instead lifting her as she stood. With one arm now positioned underneath the kid to prop her up, Natalie made her way over to where Shannon was getting everything set up. The coyotes, who were now done with their watch, came over as well to get a bite to eat. Shannon had some of the softest ones she had set aside on a separate plate for all of the pups who came crawling over. They should have been able to eat the tougher sandwiches as well, but they wanted to be careful. After all, just because one could do something, did not mean it was necessarily the best idea.


    As they came up to the impromptu table loaded with toasted sandwiches, the smell finally got to Sophie''s nose. She had not heard the crackling of a fire, nor had she seen anyone make these. Regardless, piping hot BLT''s were now sitting in front of her, looking delicious as all hell. While she threw a confused glance at Shannon, she picked one up and started eating, not making any motions to get down from her spot in Natalie''s embrace. Seeing the confusion, as well as the eating posture, Nat and Shannon both let out a giggle, before digging in themselves.


    The smell of the food wafting through the camp stirred the rest of the canines into rising from their slumber. As a wave moving outwards, the canines rose and dragged their sleepy asses towards the pile of food, before going all in. Sophie had thought that had been a lot of food, but upon seeing many of the canines, specifically Ash pack them away like they were nothing caused her to grab a second sandwich, just so she could have more to eat.


    As they were finishing up breakfast, Shannon turned to look at her new adopted daughter, "Hey Soph, want to see a magic trick?" Sophie''s confusion only escalated at this question. She had never seen or heard of a magician before, but she had heard tales of magic. Mainly in the fairy tales that her fathers would read to her as she went to sleep. As far as she knew, there was no such thing. Hesitant and disbelieving, she gave a short nod.


    The next few minutes had Sophie sitting on Natalie''s lap, wide-eyed and open-mouthed the entire time. Shannon danced around the camp, making everything from the tent to the fire pit disappear before her eyes. All of the canines who saw her reaction did their best to stifle their giggles at her reaction, given that they knew the trick to Shannon''s ''magic''. As they explained what they thought, Natalie did her best to hold in her amusement as well, doing her best to ooh and ah every time Shannon stored an item, trying to build up the show for their daughter. After all, who would guess the secret to this was the presence of three-hundred-pound gorillas. And they were the ones on the lighter end of the scale.


    Natalie''s acting seemed to have helped Shannon''s performance, as after everything was stored and Shannon was doing her bow at the end, the applause from Sophie was fast and loud. Not wanting her to feel alone, everyone else joined in. The smile on her face alone was worth it to them. Sophie had enjoyed it so much, that she jumped off Natalie''s lap and ran over to hug Shannon, asking how she did it. She deflected for a while, stating that a true magician never reveals their tricks. Sophie felt a little bummed out by that, but quickly changed to asking what other tricks she could do. Shannon held back by saying it was a surprise for later, but then caved in at the little girl''s pleading face. She promised to explain everything while they were on the road, as it was only fair for her to know about what the two of them could do.


    While Nat agreed, she had other concerns to worry about at the moment. Sol and Bryden were still banged up from the fight yesterday, so they would be unable to join outside of the Soulscape in travelling once more. Meanwhile, Scout''s children were finally nearing the end of the weaning period, and he wanted to help his mate and pups get used to walking around on two legs personally. Kali and Maia were still willing to travel, but Nat wanted to give them a day off if possible. That left the question of who to bring out travelling with them today. Shadow was the easy pick, as was Spirit. The question was who had the best coordination of everyone left. Knowing that Sierra cared more about reading and learning than physical activity, she got asked if who were making the most headway in the Soulscape. After all, it obviously wasn''t her.


    Her answer allowed two more to get grabbed and brought out. Artemis was apparently the one pup of their generation who could keep up to Spirit for any length of time. Nat guessed she may be attracted to him, but that had yet to be seen. Either way, the energetic pup himself seemed to have no concerns about anything other than being able to run around all day, so he would probably be the densest of the bunch. The other choice was Trooper. This one did not surprise Nat in the slightest, given how attached he was now and as a pup back in the zoo. With the team selected, the group set up along the highway once more, except now it was lesson time for Sophie.


    Huge thanks to my Elder Wolves Viktor, Saganatsu, Eeleater, John, Hades, Onean, Neal, Sebastian, Ethan, Sir Hellington, Adam, and Kevin for supporting me and my writing! Remember that I keep Patreon ten chapters ahead at all times. Our next goal on Patreon will be getting up to 50 patrons, which I will then spend more time each month writing some side stories and shorts that show other perspectives throughout my stories!


    Feel free to join us all on my Discord! https://discord.gg/b8gRkD4

 Chapter 150

    Walking down the road, Shannon held Sophie in her arms while the rest walked on their own. Well, the adults were all walking, while Spirit and Artemis ran around, laughing and having fun playing tag. It was far different from when they were in their four-legged forms, but it looked as if they were having fun. So much, that the other year-old pups came out and joined in the game. None of them saw an issue with it, even as they passed Lacombe. Since it sat off to the side of the road, there was a very low chance that they would encounter any monsters, but the pups kept quiet the entire time. As they played, some of them got tired from doing their best to escape getting tagged, so they all came to a consensus. If you were too tired to run, you went and walked alongside Natalie till you were in a good enough state to play some more. They all played with honor, meaning they never even went for someone who was already walking towards her. The people leaving to join back in though were completely fair game.


    As for Natalie, Shadow and Trooper, they were doing some simple workouts as they walked, trying to keep it easy while they worked on filling their body with energy. Shadow and Trooper were mainly going through the steps, trying to be able to do it subconsciously as Spirit was. The young wolf already had a leg up on everyone as he was using the energy without any thought, and at great efficiency. All that the adults wanted to do was to get to the point where it felt as natural as breathing. Nat was having a harder time, as she tried to not think about it as she let it flow out into her body. The more she let go, the easier it became. Though she kept getting hiccups where she would unintentionally try and change the flow, which would always drastically ramp up the cost. It was a struggle uphill for her, and it would probably be for Shannon as well. After all, one cannot tell you how to just forget all of the medical knowledge you spent years getting pounded into your head and have it magically work out.


    With the whole constantly active idea that Spirit had going on, Nat had her doubts. As time went on, more stuff stood out as potentially dangerous. Firstly, there was the fact that the canines could not regenerate energy themselves, having to go in and out of her Soulscape to get a refill. In the future, she might be able to do it and have it cost less than it took to recharge, but that was a while down the road. That led into the second reason, as when the energy got depleted, the person gradually felt more and more lethargic. Being drained and sloppy could be a death sentence should they be ambushed in that state. Then came the final issue, the ultimate issue that Nat had with the canines using energy constantly. With the emergence of the shaman monsters and their abilities, the danger for the canines was increased. Especially so if they had just exhausted the energy which fought off the black mist. While she still did not know what would happen if the black mist won, Natalie did not have any desire to find out. Everything she had felt from Mike the last time gave her enough worries and as it was.


    As for the other two travelers, one was listening with rapt attention as the other explained everything that they knew. Sophie''s eyes never left Shannon''s face as everything was explained bit by bit. How the Soulscape worked, the ability to duplicate items that you store, how the energy built up from the bonds with animals and possibly plants. There was not a part of the discussion that caused the young girl to lose interest. Even with the wolf pups playing tag all around them, her attention was solely on Shannon. When she heard that you needed a bonded animal to be able to duplicate items, she was downtrodden for a second, before asking who Shannon was bonded to. The shock on her face when she was told that it was gorillas and none of the canines that had surrounded her was priceless. At that point she did look away for a second, but only to stare at Natalie in awe and admiration.


    When the topic came of who would she bond with, Shannon got pensive before explaining what Natalie had told her. How whoever she bonded with would affect who she could bond with in the future. How her soul itself could potentially change, being more like the animal she bonded with. When she gestured to Nat, Sophie started to see canine traits in her actions. Her nose would occasionally scrunch as she sniffed the air, her head would tilt in different directions to get a different feel on sounds that she heard, but mostly how her head stayed almost perfectly in place while her body moved along the road. It was stuff that Nat was not even aware she had been doing, and was more on a subconscious level. When Shannon whispered that those were amplified whenever she went into her shifted form, Sophie could not help but giggle.


    Nat had been too lost in her own world of worries to hear any of that though. She kept running through what had happened and what could happen. Trying to get a clearer picture of what it felt like, she mentally chatted with Mike while he went through small exercises. Apparently, her feelings were far more subdued compared to what he had felt. It had felt as if his body was being eaten from the inside out. From where the shaman had stabbed him, he felt cold seep through his body, followed by a numb feeling of where the mist had passed through. It felt jarring, terrifying, and most of all painful. As if who he was and what he believed were getting corroded away to make space for something else. Though, he also said that when the energy from Nat arrived, he felt it spike throughout his system. Spikes of relief and warmth travelled along the inside of his body, returning his feeling in his extremities as well as pushing away the cold. The pain was still there, but it was more soreness afterwards than it was a cut or gash. They talked a bit back and forth, but Nat had a good mindset of what she wanted for the future. The energy inside of the wolves did indeed act as a barrier, making time for help to get to them. The problem became, would she be able to treat everyone in time with her limited pool of energy?


    Huge thanks to my Elder Wolves Viktor, Saganatsu, Eeleater, John, Hades, Onean, Neal, Sebastian, Ethan, Sir Hellington, Adam, and Kevin for supporting me and my writing! Remember that I keep Patreon ten chapters ahead at all times. Our next goal on Patreon will be getting up to 50 patrons, which I will then spend more time each month writing some side stories and shorts that show other perspectives throughout my stories!


    Feel free to join us all on my Discord! https://discord.gg/b8gRkD4

 Chapter 151

    Wait a minute, she wasn''t the only one with energy. Shannon had some as well, as did every canine she had bonded. Would they be able to treat one another should the worst come to pass? Would they be able to be treated by Shannon? It all depended on whether the energy was tied to a specific, universal form or a more fluid one depending on the shape of the wielder''s soul. And with the way that the conversation was going between the pair beside her, Sophie would likely have energy one day as well. As she walked and did some lunges, she had Sierra give her a hand. In the warg''s attempt to get better at reading, she was also trying to learn to write herself, and just needed practice more than anything. So as to help with that, whenever Nat had an idea of something she wanted to test or find out, she would get Sierra to write it down in a notebook. It would take a bit of time involving slowly walking her through each word, but it was the most efficient way for both of them. This way, Sierra would get experience in what she wanted to learn while Nat could still focus on her workout.


    As the sun passed its zenith, and started to make the journey towards the horizon, Shannon was no longer explaining things as she was answering questions. Most of what they had needed to tell Sophie had been passed on now, and all that was left was a child''s curiosity. Question after question came out of her mouth, pausing only long enough between each to get a response. To her benefit, Shannon was able to keep up with the little munchkin. Either with a quick concise answer or a casual don''t know, she responded to each question honestly and openly. At least, that was the case until one question came up.


    "So, what''s our last name?" Sophie asked, her face full of excitement and curiosity. At this, Shannon just blanked for a solid minute. She kept walking, but just stared off into space as she thought about that answer. After all, neither her nor Natalie had talked about that at all, they just decided they would be together. Did they keep their old ones, hyphen them together, or just ditch one of them for the other? While she thought through all of this, a smile came to her face as she realized that this was the perfect opportunity.


    "Vilkas. Our last name is Vilkas." Shannon said, calmly and resolutely. Then she turned her head towards her partner and called out, "Hey Nat. Doesn''t Sophie Vilkas have a nice sound to it?"


    Hearing her last name, Nat managed to come out of her world of thought just in time to hear the question. It also distracted her long enough to make her stumble and almost trip on flat ground. "Wait, what?" she asked, confused by the sudden turn of events.


    "Since she is now our daughter, it''s only right for her to have our last name, right?" Shannon brought up, with a wink and a slight emphasis on the word our.


    Thankfully, Nat caught on quick. "Of course. I thought that was a given, Hun." she replied. Shannon just discretely nodded, as that was something that they would need to discuss in more detail. Sure, Natalie wasn''t against the idea, but the look in Shannon''s eyes told her that there was a deeper story there. A reason for the sudden unilateral decision. Regardless, that could wait till the munchkin went to sleep. The smile on her face was so bright, that neither wanted to dim it.


    The questions continued shortly after, and this time Natalie even put up some answers of her own. Neither of the two asked any questions though, despite the many that they had on their mind. Sophie had just been through so much, and probably saw things that no child should ever have to. While they did want to know more about her life before, asking about it or trying to gain any knowledge about that was a ticking bomb. All they could reasonably do was wait until she felt ready to share, even if that day never came. In their minds, she deserved a childhood full of laughter and happiness, and not one in this broken world that was literally falling apart.


    As they travelled in the past, they used to search for somewhere to shelter, both from the elements and prying eyes. Usually that would have been a farm house, as there were barely any groups of trees in the southern area of Alberta. As they headed further north however, trees became a more and more common occurrence. This meant that they were no longer stopping whenever they came across a suitable dwelling as the sun descended, but instead going as far they wanted, before just picking a random grouping of trees. Sure, they vetted it out by first checking for any inhabitants or tracks, but most were either empty and devoid of movement, or had tracks so old they were barely distinguishable. None of the places they stayed since Calgary had any prominent signs of life at all. Their only run in at night was also because they were followed, not in the middle of a path.


    Calling camp for the night, they settled just off in the trees by the highway and Township road 425. now that they were a fair distance away from Red Deer and any other civilization, they agreed that a day off of travelling to do some more intensive workouts, as well as give the gorillas new physicals and checks to see how they were recovering. There was a long list of things to do, and that was before they took into account the notebook that Nat and Sierra had made up that day. As Nat and the canines got started on their evening stretches, Shannon had Sophie come over and give her a hand with supper.


    Huge thanks to my Elder Wolves Viktor, Saganatsu, Eeleater, John, Hades, Onean, Neal, Sebastian, Ethan, Sir Hellington, Adam, and Kevin for supporting me and my writing! Remember that I keep Patreon ten chapters ahead at all times. Our next goal on Patreon will be getting up to 50 patrons, which I will then spend more time each month writing some side stories and shorts that show other perspectives throughout my stories!


    Feel free to join us all on my Discord! https://discord.gg/b8gRkD4

 Chapter 152

    Tonight, the meal plan was Shepherd''s Pie, and Shannon planned to make the whole thing from scratch. Since she did not know how versed Sophie was in knife safety, she was given the job of dealing with the potatoes. While Shannon took care of the boiling and peeling side of them, she left Sophie to try her best to mash the potatoes. While it was a little lumpy, the recently boiled taters mixed with butter were mashed fairly well. Instead of picking it up and finishing it for her though, Shannon took the moment to help her learn a bit more in depth about the work that went into food prep while the veggies and meat was saut¨¦ing in a pan. First was grip and how she held the tools. As soon as Sophie tried it herself, she noticed an immediate improvement in the way the tool worked in her hands. Eagerly, she listened as everything else regarding the potatoes was explained, including what she had done right and wrong. It took a few more tries, but Sophie eventually managed to get a passable job done. They both knew that she would need more practice to get better, but Sophie was excited to learn more.


    Then, the big reveal finally came half-an-hour later, when the canines stopped their stretches and gathered for dinner. Sophie watched expectantly to see what their opinions of it were. As she watched as they took the first bite, no words were said. That did not matter though, as it wasn''t even half a second later when they ate the second. Just as usual, none of the canines spared any time, and just wolfed down the food as fast as they could. Sophie was conflicted how to feel about this, until Shannon whispered in her ear, "The best compliment a chef could receive is silence, because that is the sound when everyone is satisfied and content." After hearing that, a silly grin filled the girl''s face, and not even stuffing her own face full of the food could hide the brightness that flowed up to her eyes.


    After supper, the long day finally caught up with the little one, as Sophie yawned loud and hard into the sky. As Natalie took the time to get everything used for supper cleaned up, Shannon took the munchkin over to the tent and tucked her in. Neither could join yet, but promised that they would be joining her in bed shortly. It only took a few seconds from her head hitting the pillow for Sophie to fall asleep where she lay. Carefully, so as to not disturb her, Shannon pulled the blankets over her and crept out of the tent.


    As she went to join Natalie over by the now dwindling fire, she noticed that most of the canines had called it a night in the Soulscape. The only ones that were outside were the usual culprits, with the coyotes off both teaching their pups, working out, and keeping watch while Maia and Kali sat by the fire with her love. As she sat down and leaned against Nat, she let out a sigh before a silence filled the camp, crackling of the fire being the only thing audible for anyone. That was until Natalie finally felt the need to ask, "So, do you want to explain a bit more for me?"


    "About the whole last name thing?" Shannon asked, slightly turning her head to look at her lover. After seeing her nod, Shannon sighed once more, before sitting back upright. "My family were not the most pleasant growing up. They were a very traditional Irish household, which is to say they were very catholic. My dad was in boxing, so much he owned his own school. My three brothers all got taught how to box alongside their schoolwork, and I had always wanted to join them. However, that was never seen as proper to them. It was all how I needed to become a proper lady, and know how to deal with stuff in the house."


    Shannon took a deep breath, and felt her hands ball up as she remembered with a cold distaste. She did relax a bit though when Natalie placed a comforting arm on her back. When she calmed down a little from remembering, she continued, "My desire to join them in fighting was never received kindly. I was expected to be helping in the kitchen, to serve drinks and clean up anything and everything. Of course, I still practiced in secret, but I just was not getting the same practice in that the male side of my family got. My eldest brother actually got a scholarship because of his boxing ability. That was all tough for me, but at least it was manageable. When I found out that I was bi, well that was just the nail in the coffin to my parents. I tried to explain it and be reasonable with them, but they kicked me out of the house. The only way that they said they would let me back in is if I came home with the man who cured me. Cured me, they used those fucking words the last time I saw them. Hearing that, I wanted to just strip off my last name so bad. And well, that led to the chance that I had today. To cast it off entirely, and put that past behind me." She may have gotten angry partway through, but by the end, Shannon had tears streaming down her face as she remembered her parent''s words and actions.


    Seeing her wife like this, Natalie could not help but fully embrace her, gently rubbing her back. Kali and Maia even got up from the other side of the fire and joined in. As they sat there, hugging it out with the sobbing Shannon, suddenly a large amount of arms and weight was felt around the four. Looking up, they saw that the gorillas had come out as well, mirroring the action that the canines had done earlier for Sophie. The feeling of family rocketed through Shannon, as she felt nothing but acceptance and sorrow through her bond with the apes. They stayed like that till the moon was already rising high into the sky, before finally crawling into bed on either side of their daughter and calling it a night.


    Huge thanks to my Elder Wolves Viktor, Saganatsu, Eeleater, John, Hades, Onean, Neal, Sebastian, Ethan, Sir Hellington, Adam, and Kevin for supporting me and my writing! Remember that I keep Patreon ten chapters ahead at all times. Our next goal on Patreon will be getting up to 50 patrons, which I will then spend more time each month writing some side stories and shorts that show other perspectives throughout my stories!


    Feel free to join us all on my Discord! https://discord.gg/b8gRkD4

 Chapter 153

    The following morning, Sophie was actually the first one up instead of Natalie. However, it was not like she could do anything in her current situation. None of her limbs could move freely, with warmth pressing from either side. It turned out that after they had gone to bed, both Shannon and Natalie sought to hold one another. One of them wanted more comfort, while the other was subconsciously trying to give more comfort. Which was all fine and dandy, save for the fact that they went to bed on either side of Sophie. This resulted in them sandwiching the kid between them, effectively trapping her. And while it was warm and cozy, and radiated nothing but happiness, there was a slight issue. Her bladder was currently full.


    She tried to break free of the clutches of her two new parents, but it was futile. Due to the web of limbs that wrapped around her, Sophie was unable to get any leverage to pull or push her way out. As the pressure built up, she started calling out to the two, uncaring on if she woke everyone else up as well. However, all that Shannon and Natalie did was close in and cuddle closer, as if to keep her from getting away from them. While the unconscious gesture made her feel welcome, it did not cause her to be happy in this moment of panic. If anything, she struggled harder to get out of the bonds that held her down in bed.


    Thankfully for Sophie, her calling out for help did rouse one of the others in the tent. Kali may not have been a morning person, but she was still used to waking up at the slightest noise. As she sat up, she turned with a grumpy face at the source of the noise. As she became aware of what the issue was, she started giggling to herself, seeing the whole mess. While she was tempted to see what would happen if she did nothing, she could see the panic clear on Sophie''s face as she tried to get out. Slowly, Kali moved over beside the tangled mess of human bodies and slowly started prying her Alpha and her mate apart. Not something she ever expected having to do, but so far everything this pack had done was completely unexpected. That was partly why she enjoyed being in it so much, as there was always something going on, something new and exciting.


    As Sophie managed to get her arms free, she started using them to pull herself out while Kali slowly worked on her legs. When she did finally pop out, she bolted outside the tent to take care of business. Kali just sat back and watched as Nat and Shannon entangled themselves back together, now getting closer together to fill the void that the missing body once occupied. As she saw this, Kali thought of a funny joke to play on the two. When Sophie came back a little while later, Kali almost immediately shooed her out, sending her to spend some time with the coyotes that were still outside keeping watch. The sun was just starting to rise, and there was not much time if Natalie''s natural clock was anything to go by.


    Sure enough, almost right as the sun peered into the tent, did Natalie start yawning, and going through her process of waking up. As she finished yawning, she pulled Shannon in for a gentle hug, but felt something was missing. As she opened her eyes, trying to figure out what was wrong, she finally noticed the lack of a third body. Sophie was not currently there. Worry set in, before she shook Shannon. "Shan, wake up! Sophie isn''t here!" Natalie''s voice cried out in panic.


    "Huh, wuzzat?" Shannon responded, belligerently. She was the least of a morning person out of everyone, so it took Natalie repeating it a few times until she finally understood what was being said. Her eyes went wide as she looked around the tent for the little munchkin. "Oh crap, where did she go? Did she run off?" she exclaimed, now equally filled with worry as her partner. Neither of them noticed Kali doing her best to hold in her laughter in the entrance of the tent, their vision strictly looking for any sign of Sophie.


    "I don''t think so, her jacket is still over there. Did she disappear into a Soulscape?" Natalie asked, franticly looking around. Though both doubted it was possible, they immediately turned their sight inwards to check to see if anything changed. Seeing nothing was different, they both came out and shared a look. As they did, Kali finally couldn''t take it anymore and burst out laughing. Both Shannon and Natalie''s heads snapped to the laughing wolf, curious on what was so funny in such a situation. As she regained her breath under the icy glares of the two in front of her, Kali explained Sophie''s need to relieve herself, and the ensuing struggle all the way up to her going over to sit with the coyotes.


    While Nat had a pretty good idea that spending time with the coyotes was Kali''s idea, she said nothing. After all, the revelation that they almost were involved in that mess was mellowing. After promising vengeance for the prank, Natalie ad Shannon went out to join both the coyotes and their daughter. Sophie just climbed up into Shannon''s arms and cuddled some more, showing that she would have been fine staying in bed a little longer. Seeing her expression, they decided that a little more cuddling wouldn''t hurt. After all, they had already decided that they wouldn''t be travelling that day, so a bit more time bonding was no issue. As it was their time to wind down, the coyotes came and joined them against the tree. All together, they just sat there and watched the sun rise through the foliage as they waited for the rest of the pack to wake up.


    Huge thanks to my Elder Wolves Viktor, Saganatsu, Eeleater, John, Hades, Onean, Neal, Sebastian, Ethan, Sir Hellington, Adam, and Kevin for supporting me and my writing! Remember that I keep Patreon ten chapters ahead at all times. Our next goal on Patreon will be getting up to 50 patrons, which I will then spend more time each month writing some side stories and shorts that show other perspectives throughout my stories!


    Feel free to join us all on my Discord! https://discord.gg/b8gRkD4

 Chapter 154

    The camp became a bustle of activity as more and more of the pack woke up from their slumber. Noticing that more people were moving around and getting started on morning stretches, Shannon passed off Sophie to Natalie so that she could start work on breakfast. Normally she would have brought her new assistant to help out, but this morning would have a lot of grease. Sausages and bacon were not the friendliest meats to cook, especially if one wasn''t wearing something with long sleeves. Sure, they tasted delicious, but they came with a certain degree of caution needed when preparing due to the splattering of hot grease that came off of them. The omelettes that they were going to be cooked into also took a fair amount of focus and care, and in her tired state Sophie would not be of much help. It just meant that tonight would have to be interactive for her in some regard to make up for it.


    Meanwhile, the coyotes were all just relaxing around Nat and Sophie. This time, it wasn''t Nat who was giving out the scratches on Edwin and Copper''s heads, but their mates instead. It was a rare treat for them, and even Edwin was showing off how happy he was. Unlike whenever it was done by Nat, he crooned sweetly and visibly showed off his glee that Lucille was pampering him. Copper on the other hand, was unabashed from the get go, which ended up making it harder on Tin who was trying to pamper the affectionate father of her pups. She ended up just scratching his back after a minute, as he nuzzled into her hard as he enjoyed her ministrations with her claws. Natalie was fine with this though, as she gently held her own munchkin in her hands as the coyote pups rolled around them. She had fallen back into a state of slumber, since before Shannon had gone to make food. A small drool stain had started on Nat''s shoulder, but that didn''t feel like an issue to her.


    When the omelettes were finally ready, Nat gently roused Sophie as Shannon brought over the food. There was no need to move and sit somewhere else, as they had already gotten comfy there. Shannon just sat back down from where she had gotten up earlier, moving carefully so as to not disturb the three plates that she was carrying. Behind her, she left close to a hundred portions piled up on tables she had set out, but they all knew it wouldn''t be enough. Ash would probably eat half-a-dozen of them herself at a minimum after all. However, it was easy enough for the canines to work around that issue on their own, quickly getting one stored in Nat''s Soulscape before churning out enough for the rest of them.


    Meanwhile, Shannon and Nat got started on their food while Sophie slowly woke up from her nap. That was until she smelled the food nearby, her eyes focusing on the delicious scent that filled her nose. Soon, there was nothing but the sounds of almost a hundred bodies eating, silently enjoying the food that had been made. After all, it had plenty of meat, with a liberal share of red and green peppers cut into it. Add in the chunks of mushroom and the layer of melted cheese on top, it was an instant favourite for all, in hindsight, Shannon admitted that onions probably would have worked really well in it as well, but that was shelved as an idea for next time.


    After breakfast was over, everyone got to what they had planned for the day. For the canines, most switched back and forth between exercising and attempting to project the energy outside themselves. After all, if the monsters could do it with black mist, there was no reason why they should not be able to do it themselves. Meanwhile, Shannon was working on both overseeing what all of the canines were doing, as well as focusing on her new boot camp recruit. Sophie was getting her physical evaluation today, as well as being fitted into a schedule to help develop herself. The plan was not to make it an intensive program, but a lighter one. That way, she could work out in the evenings while she got taught math and other such subjects while they walked. Shannon just had to get a baseline idea of where she was at first.


    As for Natalie, she had patients to check up on. First, she gave a general check over on Mike, before giving him a green light to go join with the rest of the canines. He was mostly healed, but the remaining damage that was lasting was mental in nature, and that was just something that only time could heal. There was just nothing that Nat could do to speed up the process, save what she already was. Then she moved onto the newer pups, as it had been a few days since they had started moving about in their shifted forms. She just wanted to make sure that there were no possible complications or side effects from getting them used to them at an early age. Thankfully, there were none that seemed to have issues, and all actually seemed to be healthier than what was normal for their age.


    Her next set of patients would take a lot longer to go through. It had been just over a week since they had gotten the gorillas out of the zoo, and started taking care of their starvation and malnutrition. As she checked them over, she had to continuously look at references and notes to make sure she was doing an accurate job assessing where they were at. Even then, this was far outside what training she had. She was more used to quadrupeds and animals that naturally populated the Canadian wilds. These lowland gorillas were normally an ocean away, leading to her not having a need to work with any before now. Thankfully, as far as she could tell, they were all making steady recoveries, and they just had to continue to slowly increase their intake of nutrients. As she was on the last patient, and the sun sat high in the sky, showing it was around noon, her current patient let out a low and quiet grunt. Looking to Shannon, she was glad that she immediately translated what the gorilla had said. "Someone approaching. On the road from where we came."


    Huge thanks to my Elder Wolves Viktor, Saganatsu, Eeleater, John, Hades, Onean, Neal, Sebastian, Ethan, Sir Hellington, Adam, and Kevin for supporting me and my writing! Remember that I keep Patreon ten chapters ahead at all times. Our next goal on Patreon will be getting up to 50 patrons, which I will then spend more time each month writing some side stories and shorts that show other perspectives throughout my stories!


    Feel free to join us all on my Discord! https://discord.gg/b8gRkD4

 Chapter 155

    "Everybody get down!" Natalie called out in a quiet yell. From where they set up camp, they had a decent view of the highway, but that also meant that it wouldn''t be to hard too notice them should they look through the trees. While it was enough to make out shapes at this distance, Natalie and Shannon, as well as most of the older canines were able to see quite clearly by cycling energy through their eyes. As the canines and gorillas went to a prone position, Shannon and Natalie looked around camp to make sure they were as hidden as possible. With the fire having been put out hours ago, the only thing that stood out right now was the tent. Thankfully, Nat and Maia were right beside it, allowing them to store it quickly before getting down and watching the road carefully with the rest of the pack.


    Minutes passed before the distinctive sound of a horse was heard, but what some of them saw walk past was downright horrific. Eugene had apparently gotten back on their trail, but he was changed. Black mist floated around him, and his horse. While he looked a bit gaunt, he was in a fair better shape than his partner that he was riding on. The horse had bits of flesh falling off it, with bones showing here and there. It had been zombified, but it was still seemingly bound to Eugene. This brought to light one of Natalie''s worst fears with the Shaman monsters, how the black mist could affect the canines she was bound to.


    She remembered how it felt as the black mist tore apart the insides of Mike, and how it felt like it was preparing to move to her next. How if she had let what was happening to him finish, that she would follow along with him and be changed. Now, that feeling was given form, as she saw no trace of the energy at all when looking at Eugene. It was a disgusting sight, and made her worry for the future. What would happen if she or Shannon were the one who was infected next? Would they be able to fight it off with their own regeneration? Or would they need help as Mike had, before they lose that part of themselves?


    As the group watched and waited in both horror and anticipation of what meant to come, one moved closer and closer towards the road. He had seen the black mist coming off the traveler like the rest had, but he did not feel that it was a good idea to just let this man pass. Because if they did nothing, and he went on to hurt others, they would be at fault for not trying to stop him when they knew. For Mike knew what kind of pain and suffering that black mist could bring. Nobody noticed what he was doing till he was almost at the tree line, at that was only due to Stephanie noticing that he was no longer beside her. But by then, it was already to late too intervene with what he was planning on doing.


    As Eugene and his zombie horse were riding past, Mike stormed out of the bushes and slammed his body into the side of the horse. It may have been taller than him, but in its current feeble state, the legs collapsed from the sheer force of the hit. As the pack started moving forward to assist him, Eugene hit the ground and rolled into the ditch on the opposite side. The horse seemed otherwise unfazed by the hit, swinging its legs at Mike while also trying to bite him. He could have gone around, but he was not about to leave a threat behind him. As it bit at him, he caught the muzzle of the zombie with both of his hands. Then, he started twisting, until the head popped clean off.


    By this time, Eugene had already gotten to his feet, and saw what he was up against. Wide-eyed in terror, he started running away back into the woods heading west. As he scrambled over the roots and through the foliage, he heard the sounds of branches cracking behind him. Looking back as he ran, he screamed with terror as he noticed that the werewolf had finished with his mount and was now chasing after him. In clear desperation to try and keep the wolf from getting closer, he swung his arms backwards, as if to be threatening. This time though, mist ran down his arms as he did, and ended up throwing projectiles each time. In the form of knives, the black mist forms shot towards Mike. At the speed he was going, he was not able to dodge, nor was he able to block them with anything. Trying to stop so he was closer to the pack, he held up his arms in front of his face to protect him from the incoming projectiles.


    However, he did not feel the sting of the black mist biting into his energy. Slowly, he lowered his arms and opened his eyes. Hovering in front of him was a giant hand, made entirely of energy. Bits were scattering off, but as he turned to follow the tendrils of energy that created the shape, he found that they led back to Stephanie. She had her hand out stretched, while being slack-jawed at what had happened. She had seen the mist projectiles flying towards him and reached out, hoping to stop them. Unconsciously, she ended up projecting a barrier in the shape of her hand forward, saving him from the desperate attack.


    As the rest of the pack came up to them, Mike turned back to try and get a trace of the man he had been chasing. However, the scent that he had was obscured and dissipated. He had a feeling the mist had something do with it, but that was not the important side of things. He had gotten away, and would surely cause an issue later. Upset at himself for being so unprepared, he turned around and walked back towards the camp. His entire way back, Natalie and Steph lay into him on how much of an idiot he was, and how worried they were for him when he ran off ahead.


    Huge thanks to my Elder Wolves Viktor, Saganatsu, Eeleater, John, Hades, Onean, Neal, Sebastian, Ethan, Sir Hellington, Adam, and Kevin for supporting me and my writing! Remember that I keep Patreon ten chapters ahead at all times. Our next goal on Patreon will be getting up to 50 patrons, which I will then spend more time each month writing some side stories and shorts that show other perspectives throughout my stories!


    Feel free to join us all on my Discord! https://discord.gg/b8gRkD4

 Chapter 156

    On their way back to camp, they passed by the body of the zombified horse that Mike had taken down earlier. Slowly, Nat went up to it to investigate, see if she could find out how it was able to move in such a state. However, before she could, the body melted into black mist, then shooting off like an arrow into the woods where they just left. It must have been returning to Eugene, just as Bryden had returned to her Soulscape. Mike almost chased after it, were it not for Stephanie''s grasp on his arm. They had to drag him back, as he stared off into the distance, following the mist as far as he could with his eyes before it disappeared between the foliage.


    As they got back to camp, Sophie ran out of Shannon''s arms and embraced Nat hard. When Natalie and the canines had run off after Mike, Shannon had to hold Sophie back from running with them. She had been so worried this whole time, the fear of losing someone else close to her had gripped her fiercely. Being able to hug her and make sure that Nat was safe and sound temporarily placated that fear, but it still lingered in her mind. Those feeling, and that fear were transmitted into the strength of the hug she gave, as well as the tears that rolled down her face. Natalie may not have known much about children, but she could understand what that strong hug had meant, especially with the tears that came with it. Softly, she returned the embrace, and waited until Sophie pulled away first.


    When she finally did let go, Natalie bent down and gave a peck on her forehead, before wiping away the tears that had stained her face. "Don''t worry Soph, we will always be here for you, and promise that nothing bad will happen to either of us, let alone you. Shannon looks about ready to start making up some lunch, and i am positive she would love to have her assistant give her a hand. Why don''t you go over and help while I make sure that no one is hurt?" Sophie just meekly nodded, rubbing her face to try and deal with the remaining tears that lingered, before walking back over to Shannon. She positioned herself right beside Shannon, so as to keep getting the relief of comfort that the two seemed to give to her while she helped lay cheese and meat over top the bread.


    Making sure that Sophie was at least being watched over and supported, Natalie took her time before turning to address the ''danger couple''. Steph had not let go of Mike in the slightest since they caught up with him, nor had he tried to shake her off at all. He had not admitted any wrongdoing in their questioning of his rash actions however, fully in belief that they were the right thing to do. After giving his reasoning on why he believed that, Nat was hesitant to disagree with him as she understood where he was coming from. The black mist was proving more and more dangerous as time went on. The fact that there was a person who could send out constructs like the shamans to infect others with it showed that. If anything, right now she felt slightly ashamed of herself for not trying to pick him off with an arrow beforehand. They had shared the sensation of the mist entering his body, and the thought of that happening to anyone else was nauseating. Regardless, they still did berate him and admonish him for what he did admit what he had done wrong, which was that he ran ahead on his own without any assistance. Stephanie was far angrier about that than anyone else, but it was agreed that she was justifiably so, given her personal feelings.


    When it came to the wolves'' health, Natalie noticed that Mike was entirely fine. He may have expended a little of his energy through enhancing his body as he went on his chase, but otherwise he was in picturesque health. Thankfully, none of the black mist nor the horse seemed to impact him at all. Though, with seeing how hard he slammed his body into them, there may be a bruise later to show for his efforts. Steph was in a similar position, save the fact that she was running almost empty on her energy reserves. That, and she was very unlikely to develop a bruise. Thankfully, it did not seem as if the mist had run through the connection back to her when she blocked it, showing that it was possible to stop the mist in its tracks just as it was able to stop them. This led to her being the center of attention, as everyone tried to understand how to project the energy outwards. Sadly for them, she had done it completely by accident, and had no idea how to recreate it.


    Thus, after a very hearty and delicious lunch of cold cut sandwiches, most of the canines attempted to project energy. They ended up just burning through their reserves at a rapid pace, unable to create anything. While Nat was done with her check-ups that she needed to do that day, she still had to make progress in her personal growth. Natalie was relegated however, to just working out for the afternoon, as her energy was constantly being drawn upon by her bonded as they attempted to grow in their energy manipulation. She was left empty and exhausted, but according to Shannon it should have been great practice. After all, she would not always be able to move at her best, so functioning at her worst should prepare her for the more harrowing of moments. It made sense to her, and just fueled her distaste for those words even more.


    As for the gorillas, they finally joined everybody, but only did some light exercises. They still were not at their physical prime, but in terms of weight lifting they already surpassed what the canines were capable of. It was expected, given their size and mass, but it was still surprising to see in action. Sophie was working out alongside them, now seeming to have moved past the fear that had gripped her earlier. But if any of the pack had been able to see inside the little girl, they would see that she was just keeping that fear there, using it to fuel her desire to grow stronger.


    Huge thanks to my Elder Wolves Viktor, Saganatsu, Eeleater, John, Hades, Onean, Neal, Sebastian, Ethan, Sir Hellington, Adam, and Kevin for supporting me and my writing! Remember that I keep Patreon ten chapters ahead at all times. Our next goal on Patreon will be getting up to 50 patrons, which I will then spend more time each month writing some side stories and shorts that show other perspectives throughout my stories!


    Feel free to join us all on my Discord! https://discord.gg/b8gRkD4

 Chapter 157

    The rest of the afternoon passed by uneventfully. The only thing that could measurably change inside was the amount of sweat that had poured off of the inhabitants, and that was almost needed to be done by the litre. After a few hours of trying, most of the canines had given up on trying to replicate the effects that Steph had created with her energy usage. Instead, they started back on their exercises, trying to get to a top physical state. This way, they could feel the burn, and therefore had an idea of the progress based on what they were feeling. In the end, there were only three that continued to try and project energy outwards into an object. Stephanie, as she was the one who originally got it to occur. She had experienced it first hand, and had a pretty good feeling that she should be able to recreate what she did with time. Mike was dragged into doing it, but he wasn''t upset about that at all. At least, that was judging by his tail as Steph held him closely with one of her arms while practicing herself. He used his free arm to practice as well, making it turn into a couple activity for the two of them.


    The final person still continuing with them was Sierra. She had never been a huge fan of the physical workouts, but she followed along so as to not drag her pack down. She just saw it as a necessary evil so she could continue to read and learn. Seeing the shamans in action, as well as knowing it was possible after Steph did it, she saw that as her preferred path forward. If she could perform with a similar expertise to the shamans, it would level a battlefield far more evenly. It could even slant it in their favour should she outperform her opponents, causing the fight to be advantageous for those she protected. Secretly, Natalie believed that while Steph got the first success, Sierra would be the first to repeatedly succeed in the endeavour. Partially because Sierra was more mentally inclined than the other canines, but mainly because she had more info to draw upon than everyone else. The shapes and objects from the books she read could potentially be used as building blocks for projecting the energy out into a form.


    Sophie was not making much progress comparatively. She hadn''t eaten properly in the month following the event, keeping fed but malnourished. She had already had the early signs of scurvy when they first found her, and she was still recovering from that. However, since she was still in the recovery period, most of her workout was not doing much for getting stronger. It was mainly contributing to helping her blood flow back around her body, redistributing the vitamin C that Shannon was getting back into her. It was a good thing for her that she had run into the two of them, as the early signs she had were mainly weakness, unexplained exhaustion, and aching legs. Thankfully she still had her appetite, as that made the intake of more food easier. Shannon had originally been surprised by what she first saw, not believing her own diagnosis. After all, before the event, scurvy was incredibly rare for anyone to get. The fact that it started to rear its ugly head when the supply chains of food had all but stopped should not have come as a surprise.


    While all of this went on, Shannon was hard at work planning out a new set of routines. The gorillas she had bonded to wanted to work out, just as the canines were. In fact, they had wanted to do more, but Natalie gave a hard no on that until they had each fully recovered from the medical issues they currently had. So, she worked on a simple one, that barely had any weight lifting whatsoever. As she observed their motions while they went through the check-up with Nat, Shannon saw that strength wise they were already far and above where anyone else was in their group. The part that they lacked the most was in dexterity and agility. They were not quick at moving, nor were they able to do small nimble motions with their hands easily. Before the event, this would have been fine, as they were slow but powerful, not much able to take them head on in a fight and come out on top. Since everything changed however, they were now just large targets, that would be easily taken care of should they go up against a shaman or human with black mist. Hell, even against other bonded they would fall prey to advanced tactics and motions, the simple responses they had used against predators in the past failing to keep up with the new levels of aggression.


    It wasn''t until the sky started to change colors that Shannon finished getting it ready and explaining it to her bonded apes. Thankfully, none of them had an issue with her plan, but it was met with wariness. As far as she could tell, they were treating this as a sort of test. To see if she was fit to guide them forward. Shannon was okay with this idea, but she did have her reservations on how effective her plan for them would work. Just like Natalie, she had no idea on what gorilla biology and physiology was like, so she had no idea what the effectiveness of the routine she gave them would have. It could do nothing, it could hamper them, or it could propel them further ahead. Regardless, she accepted their test before getting supper ready for everyone else. With all of the excitement, she had decided that today would just be a day of leftovers, but everyone was fine with that, save Sophie. She had after all wanted to help with dinner, but she was coaxed to be fine with it by being able to sit on the laps of both of her new mothers.


    They hadn''t been together long, but they had bonded in a sort already. After all, she got two new mothers, but that would never replace her two fathers who had first adopted her. She knew that they had loved her, and while she wasn''t completely sure, she could feel that love from these two. It would take time before she could fully open up to them, but right now, she felt safe and cared for. Even after dinner, the three sat there, cuddled up and watching as the sun set and the stars came out. Those moments together helped dull the fear she had before, letting her bright smile come back upon her face. Eventually, they all retired for the night, with Sophie swinging between Nat and Shannon on their way to the tent, hand in hand in hand.


    Huge thanks to my Elder Wolves Viktor, Saganatsu, Eeleater, John, Hades, Onean, Neal, Sebastian, Ethan, Sir Hellington, Adam, and Kevin for supporting me and my writing! Remember that I keep Patreon ten chapters ahead at all times. Our next goal on Patreon will be getting up to 50 patrons, which I will then spend more time each month writing some side stories and shorts that show other perspectives throughout my stories!


    Feel free to join us all on my Discord! https://discord.gg/b8gRkD4

 Chapter 158

    Natalie woke in the middle of the night to a disturbance. At first, she thought it was one of the coyotes trying to wake her up, but the direction of the noise and movement didn''t make sense. They were coming from in front of her body, where the coyotes would always come by to her back first. Not for any special reason, just that she was always embracing her lover in the night, and no had Sophie in between them. Opening her eyes, Natalie saw that Shannon was still fast asleep. She had always been a heavy sleeper, being near impossible to rouse if she slept in. It only caused a few issues at university, but it surely caused plenty more over the years since. She had been late to so many classes just because she was unable to wake up in time, and nothing would work in waking her, save for her own biological clock. But she was clearly not the source of noise and movement that had woken up Nat.


    Looking down in between her and her lover, Nat finally noticed that it was Sophie. She was moving about in her sleep, not seeming to be comfortable in the slightest with a face of pain and anguish. At first, Nat thought that it was too tight between them for her, but then she heard the words that she was saying in her sleep. "No Daddy. Please, don''t go. Don''t leave me alone again. Daddy!" she repeated, over and over as she continued to toss and turn. She was having a nightmare, of possibly one of the last memories of either one or both of her fathers. It was clearly unpleasant, but that may be due to her memory of what may have happened afterwards.


    While Nat was wholly unused to this situation, she did the only thing she could think that may help. Gradually, she pulled Shannon in closer to herself, thereby sandwiching Sophie in a hug between the two. As she did, Natalie felt Sophie''s two little arms squeeze tighter on her. At the same time, her face relaxed, and the movement stopped. As this was happening, Nat kept the large hug going, not afraid to put pressure on Shannon''s back as she knew that she would not wake up from that. Finally, when Sophie''s mumbling stopped, and her breathing stabilized, did Natalie slowly release the pressure she had going on. It had been ten minutes of holding that, and she felt the need to go back to sleep. As she did, she heard Sophie mutter quietly, "Love you...", but she fell back asleep before she could hear the rest of the sentence.


    Hours later, Nat came back out of her sleep to the sun shining into the tent entrance once more. This time, there was no missing munchkin as she was still fast asleep in the middle of them. Her face had no trace of the anguish that was present during the night, easing Natalie''s worries. However, now she had a decision to make. Did she talk about it, and bring forth the memories that caused this for Sophie? Or did she just leave it be, waiting until Sophie brought it up first? She knew that if it was Shannon, she would just leave it be till she brought it up, but would that be the right thing to do for a nine-year-old kid? This was why Nat had always preferred animals over people. They were far less complicated, at least to her, and it was fairly easy to know what to do just from their body language. Sure, she would mess up from time to time, but not to the same extent when it came to caring for a person, and worrying about how they may respond to certain phrases. Like how some people just can''t stand the word moist, for example.


    While she lay there debating on how she should approach this, Sophie started stirring herself. Noticing this, Nat pulled her left arm back from and gently rubbed Soph''s head. "Good morning, munchkin." she said as she gently ran her fingers through the kid''s hair. Sophie just ended up burying her face into Nat, hugging her a bit harder. Given this amount of body language, Nat finally came to a decision on how to approach the nightmare. "Did you have a bad dream hun?" she asked, not stopping with the small sign of affection. When she got a small grunt of affirmation as well as feeling her head nod, Nat continued, "Want to talk about it?". This time the response was just the shaking of her head. Well, the attempt to shake her head, as it was still firmly pressed against Nat''s chest. Noticing the reluctance, Nat decided to at least keep the door open, "Well, if you ever do want to talk about it, we are here for you. And we will not judge you at all, as nightmares suck for anyone." Sophie just hugged a little tighter at that, showing that she clearly heard the message, but was definitively not ready to step back into those memories.


    They stayed hugging for a while longer, with Nat gently massaging Sophie''s scalp the entire time. Eventually though, nature called and Sophie had to go running out of the tent to deal with it. When she did, Nat got Hera to pass her out some paper and a pencil. Shannon was not awake yet, but Nat felt that she needed to be in the know on the whole situation. Plus, she would know what to do a bit more to help. Hopefully. Either way, they were in this together and would need to be there for Sophie when she was ready to talk. There was no guarantee that she would come to Natalie, or talk when both were there. They needed to make sure to keep the other in the loop so that they were both capable of helping their little girl when she was ready. Once she finished writing down everything she needed to pass on to Shannon, she stored the paper in her pocket, before getting up to meet the day head on.


    Huge thanks to my Elder Wolves Viktor, Saganatsu, Eeleater, John, Hades, Onean, Neal, Sebastian, Sir Hellington, Adam, and Kevin for supporting me and my writing! Remember that I keep Patreon ten chapters ahead at all times. Our next goal on Patreon will be getting up to 50 patrons, which I will then spend more time each month writing some side stories and shorts that show other perspectives throughout my stories!


    Feel free to join us all on my Discord! https://discord.gg/b8gRkD4

 Chapter 159

    Walking out of the tent, she noticed that Sophie was over with the coyotes. She wasn''t petting them or anything, just spending time with them, watching as they interacted as one massive family. She didn''t have a look of jealousy in her eyes, but that was most likely due to the fact that Lucille was sitting beside her. She was keeping the little girl company, while maintaining her usual lack of speech. Despite the quiet that surrounded the two, neither seemed uncomfortable or distressed. If anything, it was like two sisters who were just relaxing nearby one another, just enjoying the other''s presence. As Natalie walked up to them, Sophie held her arms out to be picked up. Deciding to humour her, Nat picked her up before sitting in the exact same spot she had been. Only once she had seated, Nat lowered Sophie down so that she was now seated in her lap. It was still quite early in the morning, so Shannon would not wake for a while yet. They then spent the next while just enjoying the sight of the other three mature coyotes go around trying to teach the pups how to stand and walk around while in the shifted forms.


    It took a while longer for Shannon to finally get up, enough time for Sophie to start to nod off in comfort. She did however, wake up immediately upon seeing Shannon up and moving about. After all, she was in charge of food decisions for the day, so no one had breakfast until she rose. Of course they could have just pulled food out of Natalie''s Soulscape, as all meals were stored there as well. However, it was more of a thing of respect that was observed more than anything. That, and if she was in the mood to make something new, it was always delicious. None of the pack wanted to miss out on that. Today did not happen to be one of those days though. She just had eggs, sausage and bacon taken out of the Soulscapes of her and her partner to feed all of the slowly waking canines around the camp. They may have had numbers over fifty when it came to the bodies in the pack, but the only one other than Nat who would wake up easily first thing in the morning seemed to be Sophie. Everyone else had a severe case of not being a morning person.


    Breakfast went by pretty quickly, and nothing of interest really happened. The only thing that the group thought as notable was the fact that Ash yet again scarfed down food and did not choke on any of it. The speed and quantity she had was just ridiculous, almost as much as the fact that she did not put on any of the weight either. That meant that either she was burning a ridiculous amount of calories, using energy to keep her fit form, or food did not affect the physicality of the bonded. That last idea stuck itself into Nat''s mind, and it seemed to have a number of supporting theories. The fast regeneration of their wounds was one thing, as they regenerated at a rate that should have depleted their bodies natural stores much faster. They might have kept eating at first due to habit, but continued because it all tasted good. Then the question remained, why would some get stuffed and be unable to eat anymore sooner than others?


    Leaving that question for later, Nat started going through the camp getting things cleaned up. She dragged Sophie in to help her, while discretely passing the paper off to Shannon. She did her best to keep Sophie distracted while Shannon read up on what had happened overnight. After all, Shannon would be the one looking after Sophie today while Nat worked out on their trek northwards. The info could prove to help her dodge around any potential issues, or confront them head on depending on the situation. Neither of them had dealt with a kid before, especially not in this fashion. Not only had they adopted a daughter basically out in the middle of an apocalypse, but they were doing so right after trauma were her previous parents had clearly not made it out. Despite how much they wanted to help, they knew that trying to force her to work through it would only have the adverse effects to what they were wanting. Shannon knew this more clearly, given how she was still working through her own, and probably would be for months, if not years.


    Thankfully, cleaning the area they camped took a bit longer than it did for Shannon to finish reading the note and store it away in her Soulscape. She could have used pockets, but there was a chance that Sophie may come across it while they walked today. She did not feel what they were doing was the wrong course of action, but she was worried about what would occur should she realize that the two new people in her life were talking about her behind her back. Even if it was for her sake, and so they could potentially be better equipped to help her, those reasons may not even make sense, nor stick. What would was the fact that they were secretly talking about her. Shannon was glad that Nat didn''t seem to be blunt and crass this time, and actually seemed to be sensitive towards others. She loved the idea of paper notes back and forth, especially due to the nature of their life and the proximity that Sophie would always have to the two of them. It was probably the only way for them to communicate back and forth on their own for the foreseeable future.


    Thankfully, Sophie did not notice that Shannon had not assisted in the clean-up, but that might have been because Natalie was doing her best to keep her involved in the whole ordeal. Passing items to the canines that were going in and out of Nat, she was running all over the place. So much, that all of the pups able to run joined her. Eventually, it was a race to see who could get the most items in the camp. Spirit would have been the easy contender, except for the small fact that he ended up forgetting to grab something half the time, enjoying the running too much and getting lost in it. Thanks to that, Artemis easily beat everyone, thanks to the tally that the adults had done. Sophie got an impressive third, which when going against the more fit wolves was impressive. Apparently, they didn''t even go easy on her. The looks the pups gave her caused her to puff her chest out in pride. Once everything was stored and people were good to go, the pack hit the road, continuing their trip up to Edmonton and beyond.


    Huge thanks to my Elder Wolves Viktor, Saganatsu, Eeleater, John, Hades, Onean, Neal, Sebastian, Sir Hellington, Adam, and Kevin for supporting me and my writing! Remember that I keep Patreon ten chapters ahead at all times. Our next goal on Patreon will be getting up to 50 patrons, which I will then spend more time each month writing some side stories and shorts that show other perspectives throughout my stories!


    Feel free to join us all on my Discord! https://discord.gg/b8gRkD4

 Chapter 160

    They decided to just continue down the main highway, given that they had no maps of the area. It led straight to where they wanted to go after all, so there was no need to take the chance of getting lost using back roads. They had even got off to a bit of a late start for the day, meaning that they would either have to cut down on the time spent walking or the time spent working out. As a group, they decided to make that decision later, seeing where the group was at. They wanted to make the most of the day, regardless of how it went. After all, their decision to stop could be affected by so many things that could happen during the day. Did they have an encounter with anyone else, and want to make distance from them, was there conflict with monsters, or maybe someone became injured due to some hazard. People in the area seemed to enjoy the use of barbed wire, and that was to go without saying anything about the sizable number of gophers that populated the area. A foot in one of those holes and they were out of commission for the next few days, easily.


    As they moved along the road, the gang got up to their usual tricks. It was the same group as the day before last, due to Sol and Bryden still needing to recover inside the Soulscape, while Kali and Maia seemed to quite enjoy the time spent relaxing inside. That, and the capability to do more exerting workouts so that they could attempt to outpace everyone. That meant that Artemis and Spirit were running around once more, taking in as much of the outdoors as they could. They were warned to be careful, as there was a lot of brush and trees to either side of the road, obscuring their sightlines significantly. They did their best to keep in view of the adults, but they were in the teenage years of being a puppy by this point. Their adventurous and rebellious mindsets made them constantly test the edge of that boundary. All this did was give additional mental strain to Nat, as she did her best to keep the two in line since their mothers weren''t out here.


    Meanwhile, Trooper, Shadow, and Nat all worked together during the trek. Everyone was progressing, and making decent headway in becoming far more capable physically. In an effort to not fall behind, the three of them pushed themselves and each other to keep up some sort of progress on their end. It was hard on them, especially with the fact that they needed to continue going at a steady pace along the road, but they could feel the exercises they had been doing starting to take effect. Well, the canines did. Nat was still struggling without feeling much different, or noticing any improvements in her capabilities. Shannon had told her this was normal, and that it was most likely for her to finally notice subtle changes at three weeks of constant exercise, and that was just the earliest expectation. It could easily be up to six before Natalie was able to discern a difference from how she was physically now compared to her state before. While her current exhaustion and soreness pervaded her entire form, the reassurances that it would all be worth it in the end helped push Nat to continue. That, and Shannon admitting how much she wanted to do things that would require a bit more strength. Some of her ideas were kinky as all hell, and Nat could not wait to do them as well.


    Shannon did only light workouts most of the time, but she had decided since picking up Sophie that she was going to just do heavier workouts in the evenings so she could focus on the kid. After all, yesterday was just to get an idea where her body was at, to get a starting baseline so that Sophie wouldn''t be in the same boat as Natalie at her age. Nat had taken offence to that at first, but a look from Shannon got her to admit just how little she had been taking care of her body. So, Shannon had Sophie do bits of exercise, spread out with plenty of breaks. Her body was still exhausted from her lack of proper meals, so she didn''t want to push her too far. Instead, it had become Sophie''s worst nightmare. Well, at least the worst one she was currently willing to admit to, and lamented it coming true with every free breath.


    She had thought that, since the world had stopped functioning, that she would be free of schoolwork and be able to live a more exhilarating life now that she was around so many animals and fighting monsters. However, both of her new mothers had instantly agreed that her schoolwork needed to continue. Stuff that was deemed unnecessary was cut out, but that still left a lot of work. English, math, history and the sciences were gone over in blocks, each separated by a healthy amount of physical activity. Shannon had stepped up, and took full responsibility of her education. Not because she had a dream to be a teacher before or anything of a similar vein. She just remembered the horror stories that Nat had told her about trying to teach younger people in her program at university when they were having issues. The image those gave off was not one of confidence and learning, to say the least. Nat was perfectly fine with that, glad that she did not have to try and remember anything from history or English class. Oh, how she hated English with a passion was widely known, especially to her previous educators.


    The group was not necessarily quiet during their travels, with Sophie''s groans at the material being the loudest of them all. However, the trees around them dampened the sound so much that they were still convinced that they would smell or see any others before they were heard. After all, the wind was blowing southward, carrying all of the scents from ahead straight down into the snouts of the canines. It was a reassuring thing, when they felt that they had that level of security added on. Due to that, the three exercise buddies may have decided to pay a little less attention to their surroundings to focus more on their movements. Shannon had noticed though, but wasn''t worried in the slightest. After all, the two teenage lovewolves were still running back and forth, looking high and low to see as much as they could all around them.


    Huge thanks to my Elder Wolves Viktor, Saganatsu, Eeleater, John, Hades, Onean, Neal, Sebastian, Sir Hellington, Adam, and Kevin for supporting me and my writing! Remember that I keep Patreon ten chapters ahead at all times. Our next goal on Patreon will be getting up to 50 patrons, which I will then spend more time each month writing some side stories and shorts that show other perspectives throughout my stories!


    Feel free to join us all on my Discord! https://discord.gg/b8gRkD4

 Chapter 161

    Their entire time travelling that day was basically uneventful. The only town that they passed by was Ponoka early on, but it was hardly close by. The only reason that they even knew they passed it was due to the signs that were all over the highway. Otherwise, the town was entirely obscured from their vision. It was as if it did not even exist. Other than that, the closest they came to another settlement or town was three times as far away. They didn''t find this out till later, but the lack of signs or landmarks helped give that idea some traction.


    It wasn''t until after they had passed Bearhills Lake that they decided to call it a day. They had been walking for just under eight hours at that point, but it was a nice small cluster of trees just off the highway beside a smaller pond. This pond ended up being the main reason that the group decided to call it. After all, none of the three humans had been able to clean themselves in a while. The stink they were raising was disorientating to some of the wolves, and especially the wargs. Turns out the higher amounts of energy inside of them increased the sensitivity of their senses. It was one way to find out, but not the way any of them wanted to. Trooper could be seen trying his best to ignore the smell to be close with Nat, but it was an uphill battle. And he was losing ground hard.


    That meant that before any food was prepared, Natalie and Shannon dragged Sophie with them to have a bath in the lake. She had not gotten properly cleaned since the event, which with her malnutrition was not doing her any favors health wise. However, getting her into the water was more of a task then they expected. Sure, it was late in the day, and the sun had been shining on it for hours by now, but the water was still cold to the touch. As soon as her foot touched the water, Sophie attempted to scramble back and away from the edge of the water. She would have been successful too if it wasn''t for the grip that her mothers had on each of her arms. After a bit of a struggle, the two of them finally came up with a plan.


    They couldn''t just throw her in after all, neither of them had checked to see if she knew how to swim. Nor could they tell how deep the pond actually was. Together, they lifted the squirming and struggling girl up into the air, before running straight into the water themselves. It may have been cold and deterring, but both women were more than used to the feel of cold water on the skin. They carried Sophie straight into the water, which ended up going up to their stomachs by the time they stopped. As Sophie was struggling to keep in an elevated position, they lowered her down into the water. Though, lowering may be putting it kindly, as the pace that she descended at was much closer to falling than a controlled lowering of their arms.


    Sophie was unable to stop her fall at all, plunging down into the pond, straight to the muddy bottom. As quickly as she got there, she pushed herself upwards and back into the air above. As she breached the surface of the pool, the air prickled her skin lightly, reminding her of how cold she found the water. Sophie all the sudden got confused, as it was no longer the water that seemed cold to her, but the air above it. She lowered her body back into the water, it enveloping her like a thin blanket. It did not make her warm, just protected her from the air above that now seemed to be hostile to her skin.


    Shannon and Natalie could not help but break out into laughter at the scene. They had known this would happen, and decided to help Sophie realize the best way to go swimming in nature. As soon as they got their laughter in control, which ended up taking a while due to Sophie glaring at the two of them, they got to work getting their bodies clean from all the grime that had accumulated. While they did that, the two women stirred up some topical conversation with their daughter. In it, they found that not only had Sophie never been swimming out in a lake or pond, but she had never camped before the event either. She was wholly unused to their current lifestyle, and was just trying to follow them along as they went. Upon hearing that, they both agreed that Nat would have to help teach as well, but not for anything school related. Survival tricks, navigation, and how to approach and interact with wild animals was added to Sophie''s curriculum, along with many other things that she may need to survive. Seeing that it was difficult to split up the time in a day to get around to all of it, they just decided to alternate the days for who was giving the lesson. Which meant that tomorrow, it was Natalie''s first day teaching Sophie about how to live in the wild.


    Part of Shannon was worried, knowing how tough it was to learn anything from her partner, but she had to back down on this one. While she knew a few things about being outdoors for extended periods of time, Nat could practically live outdoors for her entire life without issue. She had a much more comprehensive knowledge thanks to her childhood, that she was just the far better choice for an instructor, even if she had issues imparting information.


    As they came out of the pond, towels were thrown out of Shannon''s Soulscape. The group dried off plenty, before they threw on some clothes they had set aside before. Which had reminded the group of a current issue that would need to be rectified in Edmonton. Sophie currently had an extremely limited wardrobe, as in the same type of clothes that she had when they rescued her. They had been copied and cleaned in Nat''s Soulscape, but there were still tears and holes all over the sundress that she wore. She could not be walking around in that same dress for the foreseeable future, though they would not throw it out. Maybe, if they found Nat''s folks, her dad could patch it for her, his new granddaughter.


    Huge thanks to my Elder Wolves Viktor, Saganatsu, Eeleater, John, Hades, Onean, Neal, Sebastian, Sir Hellington, Adam, and Kevin for supporting me and my writing! Remember that I keep Patreon ten chapters ahead at all times. Our next goal on Patreon will be getting up to 50 patrons, which I will then spend more time each month writing some side stories and shorts that show other perspectives throughout my stories!


    Feel free to join us all on my Discord! https://discord.gg/b8gRkD4

 Chapter 162

    Coming back into the campsite, the three of them were swarmed by the canines. Apparently, the only thing holding them back from nuzzling up against them had been the smell for the past while. As they ended up in the middle of a massive dog pile, warmth and love was felt among all. Though the weight made it difficult for anyone on the bottom to even move a finger. Not that they cared, as they were inside of a giant pile of fluff full of family members. Trooper, Kali, and Maia were by far the strongest competitors among the canines, as they tried to be the closest to Nat the entire time. No one judged them though, as they had all been competing hard since Trooper had been picked up at the Calgary Zoo.


    It took a half hour before the canines started breaking off to give them space. Shannon was the first to stand up, quickly brushing herself off before getting ready to start on dinner. Tonight''s plan was to have grilled cheese, with varying types of meat and cheese baked into the sandwiches. Sophie, her valuable assistant, took a bit longer to get up. She was freed at the same time as Shannon, but she had gone into a bit of shock when they were suddenly swarmed. The follow up actions by the canines just had confused her even more, leaving her unable to process what had happened. To make the most use of this time, Shannon just got straight to cutting cheese and meat, preparing for when Sophie would come over to help. While she did, the fire slowly got started up by Sierra. The young warg had wanted to take into practice some of the information she was getting through reading a survival guide. She was still spotty on a few words, but her vocabulary and knowledge was increasing by the day.


    Nat on the other hand had the most issues getting up. Kali and Maia had settled for a second place, latching onto each of her sides in an embrace, while Trooper laid on top of her, hugging her torso. At this point, she was not able to shake any of the much heavier and stronger canines off, even if there had been only one. She still had quite a distance to go when it came to getting into her top physical condition. That, and with how fast their tails wagged, she just did not have the heart to try and extricate herself from the entanglement. She vowed right then and there to try and take far more regular baths from now on, if only to keep this from happening in masse once more. After all, she still had to do her evening stretches before dinner.


    Eventually, Sophie regained her sense of self, and shot upwards. With a light teasing tone, Shannon asked her, "If you are done lying there and staring at the sky, do you want to come give me a hand with dinner?" Sophie immediately got up and went over to help out. There, Shannon walked her through everything she needed to do to make grilled cheese. From the buttering of the bread, to how they layered it onto the sheet of metal they were cooking upon. She followed the instructions as best she could, and even got to try flipping some of the sandwiches. Sure, the first few attempts were total flops, but she did not lose her determination. If anything, Sophie just got more fired up in the cooking, focusing to get it right. It took a few more tries, but finally on the eighth sandwich, it landed in a stack on its opposite face. Sure, it was the leaning tower of cheese-a, with the top piece of bread as well as the cheese being half-off the now bottom of the stack, but it was still a successful flip. At least, compared to the other ones. The second one she had done flew across the camp and landed on top of Ash after all. She didn''t care though, glad to have an early snack before dinner.


    It took a bit of time, but eventually the sandwiches were all finished. There were even a couple that were usable that Sophie had flipped as well, which she was quite proud of. After getting the piping hot sandwiches duplicated, everyone took the time to eat them. Everyone enjoyed it, but a single issue coming up from Nat had Shannon realizing she made a mistake. She was so focused on helping Sophie get used to the process of cooking grilled cheese that she forgot to make some soup to go with it. This would the first time in weeks that she had not made a fully balanced meal for the pack. However, Sophie did not seem to hear Nat, as shown by her proud smile as she watched everyone enjoy the grilled cheese. They decided not to ruin her success, nor the feelings she got from it. It just meant that next time was going to be a lesson in how to make some delicious soup, perfect for dunking the grilled cheese in.


    After dinner, Shannon leaned hard onto everyone at the camp. She decided, that if the smell before had been such an issue, then everyone had to take part in taking care of themselves. Thus, she made everyone who hadn''t taken a bath before to go take one, as well as getting everyone to brush their teeth and floss. When some of the canines tried to protest this, she basically held Sophie in front of them. If they wanted her to be strong and healthy, then they all had to set a good example for her to learn from. Begrudgingly, everyone acquiesced to her demands after that. Though, the parents seemed to be satisfied immensely by seeing their own children follow in what they did. After all, most of them did it with far less complaints then some of the adults did. After that, the camp seemed to settle down, with everyone getting to bed earlier. For the first time in weeks, Maia and Kali came in and cuddled in the pile with the three humans, making it a warm but comfy group. As Nat was fading away into sleep, she thought she saw a sliver of green energy going into Sophie.


    Huge thanks to my Elder Wolves Viktor, Saganatsu, Eeleater, John, Hades, Onean, Neal, Sebastian, Sir Hellington, Adam, and Kevin for supporting me and my writing! Remember that I keep Patreon ten chapters ahead at all times. Our next goal on Patreon will be getting up to 50 patrons, which I will then spend more time each month writing some side stories and shorts that show other perspectives throughout my stories!


    Feel free to join us all on my Discord! https://discord.gg/b8gRkD4

 Chapter 163

    Sophie opened her eyes to an unfamiliar sight. Fog surrounded her everywhere, with dirt stretching out beneath her feet. Looking around, she saw nothing that could even resemble a landmark of any kind. There were no trees, shrubberies, or rocks of any kind, just an undulating mist that blocked her view entirely in every direction. The lack of anything around her gave rise to feelings of worry and abandonment. She had no idea where she was, nor anyone else.


    "Mom? Mom, are you out there?" she called out, desperate for any kind of a response. What she got in response scared her stiff. It was as if someone who had been smoking was calling out ''whoa'', in a very deep voice, followed by a fairly higher pitched, almost shrieking mix between laughing and snorting. It was hard for her to even imagine what they sounded like, as the sound itself was entirely alien to her. Stranger yet, it seemed to be resonating out from all around her. Not wanting to stay around the sound, she turned and started running.


    As she did, the sound itself kept getting louder and louder, as if it was trying to deafen her with the sheer level of the shrieks. She tried running in many directions, even the one she came in, but it continued to get louder and louder. Soon, she was just running with her head down and covering her ears, making sure she kept putting one foot in front of the other. Not that covering her ears helped, as the sound felt like it was being sent straight into her brain. But all of a sudden, the sound stopped coming out, and silence once again filled the foggy void. This coincided exactly with Sophie running into something headfirst, causing her to fall back on her ass.


    "Ow, ow, ow." she groaned out, rubbing her head first. While she had landed on her ass, she felt as though she had just run her head into a brick wall. Slowly, she looked up to see what she had run into. Looking up, it seemed to be a very tall man, but the closer she looked, the more she tried to scurry backwards. The colour of its skin, the bulging muscles, and the horrible face that marred her nightmares was standing far above her. The orc she had run into turned around, grinning as it lay its eyes upon her fallen form. It started to slowly walk after her, a new prize in sight. Sophie tried to scurry away faster, to stand up and run, anything to get away from this hulking monster of death and devastation. No matter what she tried though, her body could not respond how she wanted it to. As the orc got closer to her, it reached out its arm to grab her. Feeling unable to get away, she tried to will her eyes shut so she would not have to see the barbarity, but they as well would not respond. She could only watch on in horror as the orc got closer and closer.


    And then one more of the loud and deep sounds rang out through the fog, before the orc was taken out of her view. It was not swallowed by the fog, nor had it decided to just leave. No, a white blur flashed across her vision, slamming into the side of the orc''s head. One second was all she saw of it as it not only impacted into the monster, but carried it with it, down to the ground. Looking over to where the orc now lay, she saw what had hit it, or rather who. A blob of white sat atop the cranium of the monster, staring directly at her. Black blood oozed from the wound, as well as a bit of grey, showing that the seven-foot-tall monster had clearly been brought down and eliminated by the animal that could be no taller than two feet. Sophie could not help but match its eyes, dueling their sight lines, at least until it let out one last call. A loud and deep whoa mirroring all the others she had heard before, but not on the same scale. If anything, it was louder, loud enough to cause her to fall back in shock, once again embracing the void of sleep.


    As the sun shone in on the tent in the morning, Sophie groggily arose. Nat had already headed out of the tent, as was shown by the hole in the sleeping pattern between her and Kali. Slowly, she got up and extracted herself from Shannon''s grasp, being careful not to wake any of the other occupants of the tent. She was not too worried about waking up Shannon, but Kali and Maia were another story. She knew for a fact that neither of them were morning wolves, and did not want to end up on the wrong side of that. Once she was free, she walked out of the tent and towards the spot where the coyotes were set up, planning on finding Natalie there.


    Sure enough, Nat was there, alongside Edwin today as Lucille and Tin were working with the pups down below. Copper was still keeping up the watch, but Edwin was just sitting beside Nat. He was once again trying to remain stoic and proud, but the way his tail moved betrayed how he felt like always though, that was most likely due to Nat''s careful ministrations when she was massaging his back with one of her hands. Knowing that it would be fine to bring up, Sophie went up, sat in Natalie''s lap, and hugged her. "Mom, I had a weird dream last night." She said, still slightly shaking due to the memories of the orc approaching her in her dream vividly.


    Almost instantly, she felt both of Nat''s arms wrap around her, as well as a third hand resting itself upon her shoulder. Looking up, she saw that it belonged to Edwin. He still said nothing, but he gave a light smile, which somehow made her feel more secure. Nat loosened the hug up slightly, only to ask, "Do you want to talk about it hun?"


    Huge thanks to my Elder Wolves Viktor, Saganatsu, Eeleater, John, Hades, Onean, Neal, Sebastian, Sir Hellington, Adam, and Kevin for supporting me and my writing! Remember that I keep Patreon ten chapters ahead at all times. Our next goal on Patreon will be getting up to 50 patrons, which I will then spend more time each month writing some side stories and shorts that show other perspectives throughout my stories!


    Feel free to join us all on my Discord! https://discord.gg/b8gRkD4

 Chapter 164

    Natalie was surprised when Sophie came up to talk to her about a dream. After all, she had only seen the whole nightmare going on the night before last, and they had not even been together with her for a week. However, that did not phase her. If her new daughter was willing to open up about what was ailing her this early, she would be ready and take it head on. She would prove that she was capable of a mother, as well as a person who could be confided in for anything that may bother her. However, when Sophie started to explain her dream, Nat realized that it was not like the nightmare she had before.


    "So, I woke up, but not really, in this weird foggy place." she explained, doing her best to remember what had happened. Immediately, Natalie went stiff upon hearing that Sophie''s dream was one of the weird prophetic ones that she and Shannon had. Last night, she thought she had seen a bit of energy enter her, but she had dismissed it as nothing. Now it was clear that she had not been seeing things, but that she had actually observed the start of one of those dreams. Carefully, she listened to every single word that Sophie said as she attempted to describe the whole event. She said nothing when the orc came up, or when it was taken down. Calmly she just waited until Sophie was finished explaining everything she saw. Then, as she finished up, Nat asked her to once more recreate the sounds that she heard from the white creature.


    Once she heard the sounds that were mimicked by her daughter, Nat had a pretty good idea of what the white blur had been. However, the behaviour seemed weird to her, until she realized that they were nearing breeding time for the birds. After all, that was the only time year-round when snowy owls ever made noises without anyone being near their nest. Or attacked anything larger than themselves. Otherwise, they were silent predators who hunted down smaller creatures, usually lemmings and field mice. They came through the area every now and then, but not in an active manner. However, they were far more common back where she grew up. Their sound was quite distinctive, as well as the fact that they were one of the most visually distinctive types of owls in the world. They were large, proud, and very fluffy. The thick down they sported, as well as their larger size had them rivaling some small dogs in terms of softness, if not outright beating them. "Sophie, was the blur you saw possibly an owl?" Nat asked, curiously.


    "No, it couldn''t have been. Owls go ''who'', not ''Whoa'', everyone knows that mom." Sophie replied, eyeing her mother with skepticism. At least, until Nat replicated the sound of a snowy owl perfectly. Sophie couldn''t help but stare wide-eyed at her mother, for that was the exact sound that had appeared in her dream.


    "That, my dear, was the call of a snowy owl. I grew up with some being around every now and then. Plus, I did work as a wildlife officer before the whole event. There were a couple injured ones that came through that I helped get strong enough to fly once more." Nat said, smugly. Sophie went silent at that, knowing now how well her mother knew exactly what she had seen. All she could do was stare slack-jawed at the woman, impressed and flabbergasted that she had known.


    Later, when Shannon finally woke up and came out of the tent, Sophie had devolved down into question mode. Everything and anything about owls, she wanted to know and hear about. From how there were over two hundred different species in the world, to what sounds each one made that Nat was able to replicate. Of course, the first one that Nat had done was the signature who that most people stereotyped as the sound of an owl. Specifically, it was the sound of an eagle owl, which lived over in Eurasia. It had just been one assumption that had carried over with colonists hundreds of years ago, which had survived to this day. The one that Shannon walked out to was one of the barn owl. That one sounded just like a banshee shrieking, if not quieter and for a shorter duration. When Shannon gave a look as to what they were up to, Nat just signaled to her later.


    Knowing she wouldn''t get an answer immediately, she just started on breakfast. Today was just going to be a simple day of toast, covered in peanut butter and jam. It wasn''t hard to set up, nor was Sophie needed to come help. She didn''t mind though, as she was having fun hearing all the different sounds of owls that Nat knew. Neither of them left where they were seated until Shannon called them over, saying that the food was ready.


    When they all gathered for food, Nat brought up the fact about Sophie''s dream. Sophie looked at her, both questioning and fearful, until Nat explained that Shannon had experienced them as well. As had she herself. The entire breakfast talk had become them explaining to Sophie what the prophetic dreams they had before were like, and how they seemed to work, at least to their knowledge. All of this was to give context as to what her dream might mean, as well as what she could do about it. After all, would she need to help out some owls? Or would they be there to save her at the last minute? Was that what the energy wanted her to bond with? Or just an option put forward? Nothing was currently set in stone, especially with the vague nature of that dream. Throughout the whole discussion, Sophie just sat there and listened while eating her slices of toast. This was a lot of info at once, and she was doing her best to try and understand as much as she could.


    Huge thanks to my Elder Wolves Viktor, Saganatsu, Eeleater, John, Hades, Onean, Neal, Sebastian, Sir Hellington, Adam, and Kevin for supporting me and my writing! Remember that I keep Patreon ten chapters ahead at all times. Our next goal on Patreon will be getting up to 50 patrons, which I will then spend more time each month writing some side stories and shorts that show other perspectives throughout my stories!


    Feel free to join us all on my Discord! https://discord.gg/b8gRkD4

 Chapter 165

    As they started clean-up of the camp after breakfast, Sophie had remained quiet and contemplative. After all, she was still trying to process everything that Shannon and Nat had told her. They had unloaded so much information, especially with the fact that they have had weird dreams like that as well. She was trying her best to wrap her head around everything, while also trying to figure out which direction she wanted to go.


    When she had first heard of being able to bond with animals, she imagined herself riding large and imposing creatures, riding off into the sunset. Or big fluffy ones, that would be comfy to cuddle with. Not a single time had she imagined herself with owls, or any other kind of bird. Did she want that? To bond with owls, who at their largest were only two feet tall? She wouldn''t be able to ride them off into the sunset, or into battle against her enemies. As it was, even with the whole series of questions she had asked Natalie, there was still so much that she did not know about them as a whole. Sure. She now knew what some of them sounded like, but left her wondering so many other things like how fast could one fly, what did they even eat, or what their habits and behaviour was like.


    When everything was done and they were all ready to go, Sophie went down the road hand in hand with Nat. After all, today would be the first time that she would start learning about how to survive in nature, and what she could need to know. As they got on the road though, and traveled up the highway, Nat did not go into stuff like how to start a fire or find directions. Instead, she went into a full-on lecture mode, talking all that she knew of owls. She dedicated her time to the ones that she knew could be found in the area. All in all, sixteen different breeds called Canada home, which was just under one percent of all types in the world. With being a wildlife conservation officer, Nat had been trained to deal with all of them, and the few that occasionally came over the border to the south. However, that was info that took a long ass time for her to learn, and most would not be practical for Sophie to learn for if she wanted to bond with owls.


    She went over subjects such as their favourite types of food, to their usual habitats, all the way to how they defecate. As it turned out, owls did not function at all like most other animals. For one, they lacked any body cavities in the slightest. This meant they did not have a circulatory system, respiratory system, or even any form of guts. As far as bodies go, they had to be one of the most solidly packed animals in existence. Just a gathering of feathers, claws and a beak. Due to this, they did not excrete waste through a hole on the lower half of their body. Instead, whatever they ate would be compacted inside their stomachs, turning them into pellets that they would regurgitate. This process would take up to ten hours, but as soon as the pellet came out, they would once more be able to eat. Owls weren''t the only ones that did this, but they were regarded as unique among all that did. That was because their stomach acid was far tamer compared to the others that did, causing everything but the nutrients that were eaten to come back up. This includes the bones, fur, and feathers that had been on their meal.


    When she went over all of this, Sophie was not grossed out by what she heard. Instead, she was intrigued, in how it functioned to be the most efficient for the owl who was eating. After all, the pellet only came out once all the nutrients that they could use were digested out of their meal. As Natalie put out fact after fact, the other members could immediately notice that Sophie was becoming far more interested in the avian species. And by the time they had decided to make camp, Sophie had been sold on the owls, now wanting to have a bond connecting herself to the spectacular birds.


    They only travelled for six hours today, but they did so for good reason. On the horizon, they could already see Leduc, which was one of the small towns that sat just outside of the Albertan capital. However, it sat so close, that there was almost no line between where the town ended and Edmonton began. Thus, they stopped for the day just outside the city limits. They found what appeared to had been a tree farm that had plenty of open space and seemed to be abandoned. That, or they did not usually come out here at this time. Other than vehicles marked as being part of that business, there were no others around. Which was just fine to Nat and Shannon. After all, outside of the city would have far less of a chance of monsters, and the real danger of other people had no signs of being here in the past month. After all, what the monsters would do was very predictable. What another person would do varied so much, that any plan was destined for disaster.


    Regardless of the fact that they stopped, Natalie continued going on with the days lesson on the silent predator of the skies. Only this time, it was time for review to see how much her little student had retained from the lecture of the day. She wanted to make sure that this teaching method worked for her after all. If Sophie was unable to grasp and remember the info from being told it in a lecture style, then she would have to change it up. Thankfully, it seemed to hold pretty well. The only stuff that Sophie did seem have an issue with was the stuff covered at the beginning of the day. But that worked for Natalie all right. It meant that it was an effective way for her to learn, and that was the only half of the equation that she could contribute when it came to a learning environment. The other half had to come from the student, where they had to have a willingness to learn and be taught.


    Huge thanks to my Elder Wolves Viktor, Saganatsu, Eeleater, John, Hades, Onean, Neal, Sebastian, Sir Hellington, Adam, and Kevin for supporting me and my writing! Remember that I keep Patreon ten chapters ahead at all times. Our next goal on Patreon will be getting up to 50 patrons, which I will then spend more time each month writing some side stories and shorts that show other perspectives throughout my stories!


    Feel free to join us all on my Discord! https://discord.gg/b8gRkD4

 Chapter 166

    After finishing up the short quiz of what they had gone over, Nat and Sophie were both put through a rigorous pattern of exercises all the way until dinner time. After all, neither of them did much other than walking for the day. In order to keep on the schedule of physical activity and growth, Shannon had them make up for what work they had missed while Nat was teaching. Especially given that tomorrow they were planning on delving into Edmonton''s city center. They would not be able to exercise in peace for the next day or two, since they would have to be watching every corner as they moved through the city.


    Once they had all gone through that, and had a set of stretching to limber up and relax from the exhaustive movements, did they move to other needs. Natalie went through and gave another brief check-up on the gorillas. When it was all said and done, most of the gorillas were cleared to be doing full workouts, as she gauged that they had recovered enough from their starvation state in the past twelve days to be fit for duty. Normally, the average time to recover from starvation was two months, so she was expecting at least another two days before they would be in that sort of shape. That was accounting for the accelerated healing that the Soulscape seemed to give to the bonded animals. There were only two that had not fully recovered yet, but they were not far behind the rest of them. The timing for this was fantastic, as that meant they had a higher amount of fighting strength for their trek inside the city.


    Sophie on the other hand, went over to help Shannon with making dinner. Tonight, they were making a tomato soup to dunk the grilled cheese in. First thing they did was chop up a bunch of tomatoes and celery into as fine of a cut as they were able to. Though, since Sophie still was not that adept at using a knife in the kitchen, Shannon first cut them into larger sized strips, and then had Sophie carefully dice them. This way, she did not have to have her hand anywhere near the blade, reducing the risk of her cutting herself immensely. She just had one hand on the handle, with her other one on the top surface of the knife. Like this, she was able to learn how to dice things easily while keeping it steady. It took a bit of work before she got used to it, but once she did her confidence got a massive boost. Anyone who was watching would see that, as her hand was slowly going faster and faster. Shannon let it go on for a little while, before getting her to slow down. It was good to get in the practice, but it was far better for her to learn how to properly do it, instead of how she imagined was the right way to do it. Slowly, Shannon explained how it was better to be slower and methodical when cutting, to make sure that every time the knife descended was purposeful and effective. There was no need to go fast, and it would actually be worse in the end, as it may give her a need to repeat it more often to get the sizing of whatever she was cutting down to the size that was needed. The only other issue Sophie had the whole time was that this was the first time that she had cut celery. It being a vegetable with high levels of plant fibres in it made her first few cuts to be quite rough. Though with Shannon carefully guiding her, she became used to it quickly, and her cuts came out far cleaner.


    That was all done while Shannon was getting the rest of the soup ready to go. First, she melted butter inside of the pot, making sure to keep the temperature from the fire lower than she usually did. This just meant it was keeping it further away from the actual fire than when she usually cooked food. Then, once the celery was finely minced, she had Sophie carefully deposit it into the pot. There, they were slowly saut¨¦ed for the next couple minutes to quickly brown. Once they reached a suitable point, flour was mixed in with them, coating the celery. Then they gradually added water and milk in equal parts, stirring it constantly to make sure it mixed properly. That continued until they felt it thicken a noticeable degree, marking the time to mix in the rest of the ingredients. With how big the pot they were working with was, due to the quantity they were making, it was quite a sight to behold. Sophie was being held up in the air by Shannon, looking like a witch stirring her cauldron.


    It did not take much longer for them to finish the cooking of the soup. The only problem they encountered was that they did not have a blender available to cook with. Thus, the tomato soup was closer to a mushy stew, but it still looked and smelled delicious. Together with everyone, grilled cheese was brought out and they partook in the food. Even the gorillas joined in this time, enticed by the smell of the soup. All in all, it was quite well received by all. While that may have been due to none of the others knowing what tomato soup was supposed to look like, Natalie still found the creation delicious. Of course, Shannon told her apprentice nothing, and let the little witch enjoy the moment of successfully making a tasty soup.


    After food was done and cleaned up, everyone felt ready to call it a night. Tomorrow was looking to be a long and dangerous day, so they wanted to take precautions where they could. Getting a long and restful sleep was the easiest choice to make, at least as one step of getting ready. As the coyotes came out for watch, everyone else settled down, and went immediately to sleep. And a certain munchkin passed off into the void of sleep, wishing with all her might to have another dream of owls.


    Huge thanks to my Elder Wolves Viktor, Saganatsu, Eeleater, John, Hades, Onean, Neal, Sebastian, Sir Hellington, Adam, and Kevin for supporting me and my writing! Remember that I keep Patreon ten chapters ahead at all times. Our next goal on Patreon will be getting up to 50 patrons, which I will then spend more time each month writing some side stories and shorts that show other perspectives throughout my stories!


    Feel free to join us all on my Discord! https://discord.gg/b8gRkD4

 Chapter 167

    Sophie''s eyes opened once more to the world of fog. Upon seeing where she was, she became extremely giddy with delight. She wasted no time calling out, "Hello? Mister owl? Are you out there?" When silence was all that greeted her back, she called out a few more times. However, all that greeted her was more silence and the undulating movement of the fog around her. As time passed, and she stared off into the fog, Sophie got more and more anxious. That was, until she remembered what Nat had told her. The fact that owls were regarded as the silent predator of the skies, and would rarely make a noise. Once that came to mind, most of her anxiety disappeared. Thus, she felt safe and confident to just go out exploring.


    Of course, she had forgotten most of what her two new mothers had told her about the dreamscape. After all, they had only explained it to her once, but in what could only be described as a word vomit. There was so much said that Sophie did not even catch a quarter of it. Thus, she started walking through with no worries. After all, the owl had come through to save her last time, why wouldn''t it do so again?


    As she walked more and more, the land around her slowly changed. The fog fell back to reveal carpet, desks and chairs all around her. As she walked more, she came across windows, stretching all along the walls. There was no view to even talk of, as the fog sat ever present just outside of them, but it was clear she was in some sort of big business building. She couldn''t even tell how high up she was, just that she was very clearly not on the first floor. A door was marked that stairs were behind it, right beside an elevator. Weirdly enough, neither had a mark or sign saying what floor she was currently on. Not that she noticed that, as there were so many shiny and interesting things sitting around that she had not seen before. Various types of ferns were situated around the space, different office tools spread across the desks, and plenty of chairs to roll around on. As she was but a little girl, she could not help but start playing around, using one of the chairs like a giant scooter and riding all over the office.


    Just as she was riding past the washrooms, she stopped abruptly. Not due to anything she did, but because there was the first sound that did not originate from her. The sound of a toilet flushing echoed out of the bathroom, the sound cascading into her ears. At first, she was excited when she thought someone else was there. But when the sound of water running in the sink did not follow, she started to get nervous. Her father had always made sure that hygiene was the top of her priority list when she was young, causing her to brush her teeth three times a day, minimum. Thanks to that, she thought that it was common sense and decency for everyone to wash their hands and make sure that all possible germs were cleaned off. However, that nervousness quickly became fear when a goblin walked out of the bathroom, toilet paper stuck to the bottom of their feet. As the goblin lazily scratched their ass as it walked out, Sophie could not help but have her breath hitch out of fright. Slowly, the goblin looked up directly at her. As their eyes widened, the goblin let out a shriek. One that sounded worryingly of joy and enthusiasm.


    The shriek broke Sophie out of her stupor, and she immediately ran down the hallway of cubicles. She ran towards the only place that she could think of to either get out of there to safety. Coming up to the elevator, she tried mashing the button, hoping that it would open before the goblin caught up to her. Turning to look back from whence she came, she saw that it was no longer just the one monster. An assortment of goblins and hobs had come out of the bathroom, with more still following them. Seeing the horde of monsters running towards her, she ditched all hopes of the elevator arriving in time. She couldn''t even hear the motor running or any other sound that it was even working.


    She turned away from the big metal doors and burst through the door beside them that led to the stairwell. As she came up to the stairs that led downwards to the lower floor, she stopped, turned and started running up. As on the landing below her, she could see three orcs slowly making their way up the steps. That all changed though with the burst of noise both from her slamming the door open as well as the shrieks that followed behind her. Eventually, she ran all the way up to the roof, bursting out the door that gave access to the open sky. She ran to the far side of the roof, only to see no way off the perilously high ledge. Turning around, she froze immediately where she stood. Monsters started slowly filing out of the door, taking their time to approach her as if they had already got her. Having seen monsters rip the limbs off people and torture them until they died, among other things, Sophie figured that death to these monsters would be far more horrible than whatever was over the ledge. And so, she turned back around and jumped off the building.


    As she did, the shrieks behind her quieted down into nothing, but there was no quiet for her. Over top of the sound of wind rushing past her ears as she descended towards the fog below, a multitude of sounds rang out around her. But these did not fill her with more fear, instead they removed her fear entirely. Varying calls of owls, ones she had heard Natalie reproduce while they were waiting for Shannon to wake up came from every direction. Then, to her delight, over a dozen owls of varying sizes came out of the fog, and flew around her. One by one, they latched onto her limbs, slowing her descent, until the last one grabbed hold of her ankle. Then, they started ascending, flying off into the sky together. As Sophie enjoyed the moment of flight, the light around her brightened, until she passed back into deep, dreamless sleep.


    Huge thanks to my Elder Wolves Viktor, Saganatsu, Eeleater, John, Hades, Onean, Neal, Sebastian, Sir Hellington, Adam, and Kevin for supporting me and my writing! Remember that I keep Patreon ten chapters ahead at all times. Our next goal on Patreon will be getting up to 50 patrons, which I will then spend more time each month writing some side stories and shorts that show other perspectives throughout my stories!


    Feel free to join us all on my Discord! https://discord.gg/b8gRkD4

 Chapter 168

    When Natalie awoke the following morning, she noticed that Sophie had a grin on her face. Seeing she was still asleep, she was glad that she was at least having some good dreams now and then. Lately Natalie''s were just weird, and nothing like when she went to the dreamscape. Elephant on a unicycle playing a saxophone kind of weird. She just had no idea how to process them some mornings, so most times she just tried to forget them. As she looked over at her lover, she was saddened to see that the grin was not shared by both of them. This had been a fairly regular trend since Lethbridge, but most nights would bring back memories of the incident in nightmare form to Shannon. It had been a good thing that Sophie was groggy most mornings, otherwise she would have noticed days ago. While hoping that the nightmares would at least become less frequent soon, Nat left the tent after placing a peckish kiss on both of their foreheads.


    Coming out, she went to get the update on what happened during the night from the coyotes, as well as check on all of the pups. Over the night they had payed extra attention towards the north, watching the edge of Leduc carefully. Their days in the wilderness have had a clear trend of lacking any spawned monsters, the few they came across due to sizable buildings or those bonded with them. This supported the idea they had that monsters would only show up in areas with a high density of man-made structures in place. It even gave credence to the idea that they only spawned at man-made structures or facilities. But that was just theories they had running. There was no way to test them, after all.


    Today, they had actually broken up into couples, but that was due to both Copper and Tin wanting to spend time with their young. And man were those pups getting large. Already they were able to walk around on two legs, albeit quite shakily. That, and they had already started attacking small prey. Though they were field mice, it was still a catch regardless, showing that they had an aptitude for not only hunting down prey, but doing it in the dead of night. When they grew up, they would be a force to be reckoned with for sure, as long as they kept that up. That would just take them probably six or seven more months of them getting used to these forms and their abilities that came with them. Let alone their natural four-legged forms.


    This had left Edwin and Lucille in charge of the watch during the night. According to Lucille, they had traded back and forth while continuing to hold to the workout plan, while keeping a steady sightline maintained to the city''s edge. Hearing that, Nat was unsure whether to feel happy or not that they had seen not motion at all, in any direction. On the one hand, that meant that they had been safe while they slept. On the other, it probably meant that all of the monsters were more packed together in the middle of the urban area. While that meant getting into the city would be easier, getting through it was likely to be a lot more troubling. Add that in with the fact that it was looking to be a sunny and clear day, it was looking to be a lot more trouble than Calgary was.


    While Nat was talking strategy with the two coyotes, Sophie came out of the tent, groggy and rubbing her eyes as she attempted to wake up in the bright morning light. Slowly she stumbled over to where Nat was currently seated, before crawling into her lap. Subconsciously, Nat wrapped her arms around the munchkin while continuing to hatch a plan for the cities that they were needing to go through. Originally, she was planning to skirt around the outskirts and avoid it all together. However, with Sophie starting to get dreams that had the same way of working as hers and Shannon''s, she felt that they needed to shift their course. Edmonton had a zoo; which Natalie knew for a fact that it had owls. The downside for them, was that it was located close to the downtown core of the city itself. Thankfully, it was in the corner closest to them, but they would still have to travel inside the city for hours before getting there, let alone getting out. The part that made it all worse, was that unlike Calgary the berms on the side of the roads were far smaller, even to the point of non-existent in some of the main roads. Going through the city unseen like they had before was a dream within a dream.


    So, when Shannon finally came out and started working on breakfast, Nat got to work doing some prep work herself. Firstly, she needed to check on Sol and Bryden, and see how their wounds were doing from the last fight they had been in. Thankfully, they were back in business, and ready to kick more monster ass. This fact in itself gave Nat a huge boost in confidence in being able to pull the whole thing off. After all, Bryden was probably one of the most experienced fighters in the group, and Sol wasn''t far behind him. It just mattered how well they all proceeded, and if everyone managed to keep an eye out, both for enemies and for one another.


    As the entire pack roused and got eating the high energy breakfast of scrambled eggs and bacon that Shannon made, Natalie explained what was going on today. Sophie''s eyes got wider as she heard the heavy tones that Natalie used, but it was far different for the canines and gorillas. There was a light in their eyes, and the sleepiness that was first in them was slowly but surely replaced by a fierce determination and drive. After all, the canines had a good idea of what the middle of a city would be like, and the gorillas were right there with them. There was going be a good chance today would get bloody, and they would make sure to spill plenty of theirs first before they let their own fall.


    Huge thanks to my Elder Wolves Viktor, Saganatsu, Eeleater, John, Hades, Onean, Neal, Sebastian, Sir Hellington, Adam, and Kevin for supporting me and my writing! Remember that I keep Patreon ten chapters ahead at all times. Our next goal on Patreon will be getting up to 50 patrons, which I will then spend more time each month writing some side stories and shorts that show other perspectives throughout my stories!


    Feel free to join us all on my Discord! https://discord.gg/b8gRkD4

 Chapter 169

    I am taking a week off! feeling burnout, needing to storyboard for where i want to go, and it will be my birthday! so many things to do, and so little time to do it in. so im just going to take a sabatical to get myself back up in place to do more bigger and better things!


    The sun had barely rose above the eastern horizon by the time that Nat finished explaining what was going on today. It was going to be a long day, and it was going to be tough. As she finished off the food that was left on her plate before starting to help take down their campsite, the one who it would probably be toughest on walked up to her. "Mom, are we going to be okay?" Sophie asked, worry carrying clearly through her voice.


    Swallowing the last bite off her plate, Natalie set it to the side before picking up Sophie and setting her in her lap. "We will be fine honey. But while we go through the city it will be extremely dangerous. I am going to need you to stay close to either me or Shannon, alright?" Natalie asked her, hugging the munchkin in close. Even with her eyes closed, Nat could still feel the nodding of her head, as well as Sophie embracing her back strongly. Whatever had happened to her fathers still worried her immensely, and that worry must have shifted onto her and Shannon. All that did was just fuel Nat''s desire to make it through this in one piece.


    They sat there for a while hugging one another, before Nat let go first. As Sophie looked up at her with worry still in her eyes, Nat gave another quick peck to her forehead. Sophie buried herself in Nat once more, hugging for all she was worth, before letting go and helping out with camp clean-up. She decided to talk to Shannon once more before they left, making sure that the two of them were on the same page when it came to Sophie and what she knew. "Hey Shan, I think we should tell her about what happened with Bryden."


    Shannon turned and looked at Natalie like she had three heads. "You want to explain to that little girl that it''s alright for the bonded animals to die, because they can just come back?"


    "Maybe not so blunt and blas¨¦ about it, but I think that talking to her about it before hand is the right thing to do. Would you rather try to explain it to her when she potentially sees one of the canines or gorillas fall in combat? Cause with the shit show that Edmonton is sure to be, there is a high likelihood of that happening."


    Shannon stood there for a minute, clearly mulling over the thought. She would be lying if she dismissed that outright, both to herself and to everyone else here. All of the canines knew it was a possibility, and they were willing to jump into the fire so that she and her family wouldn''t have to. To discredit that would be disrespectful, at a minimum, to their dedication and bravery for the pack. "Fine, but I am the one explaining it to her, and I want Bryden there with me when I do. So she can hear from his first-hand experience with it." She relented. She knew that talking about it now was the smarter choice, especially given how the tyke was having issues with loss, and nightmares focused around it. If they waited until after it had happened and tried to calm her down, it would have a high chance of backfiring. All in all, she knew that they would have to bring this up now, for fear of larger damage should they put it off. The nine-year-old girl''s mentality was just in a far too fragile place to deal with it otherwise. Hell, it may even be in a bad place to deal with it being explained ahead of time.


    As they finished up with taking down the camp, they started walking down the highway north towards Leduc. At this point, there were only four bodies walking down the road together. In case they ran into monsters and had to fight their way out, all of the gorillas and majority of the canines were on standby inside the Soulscapes. That way, they were not consuming either their stamina or energy needlessly or by accident while travelling out in the world. The only one that was not human outside walking was Bryden, helping Shannon explain to Sophie what happened when an animal who was bonded died outside. At least, when one died and was not affected by the black mist in any way. After all, she had gotten enough of an idea to stay away from it by the fact that monsters were the ones who used it, let alone what Nat and mike had told her in snippets. Neither of them wanted to scar or traumatize the child with what could happen after all.


    By the time they got to the city limits of Leduc, they had finished explaining everything they knew and felt in regards to the death, as well as had answered any and all questions that Sophie could think of. She said she understand clear enough, but her grasp on both Shannon and Bryden''s hands told them otherwise. The idea of any of the people she had just gotten close to dying was not one that she wanted to entertain, and her face mirrored that feeling. They all knew that it was going to be hard to take, and none of them even liked the idea in the first place. But they had seen what happened to the monsters that were bonded with people back in Lethbridge when their host died. And they were willing to bet that it worked a similar way to how natural energy worked. Though, they would be more than happy to never figure out the answer to that question.


    Once all questions had been answered, they kept low and quiet, making sure not to make any excess noise. It proved difficult, with the entrance to the city being very similar to Gasoline Alley back in Red Deer. Buildings were in shambles, and cars were torn apart on the road. Metal parts and pools of various colours of blood covered every visible surface, providing a smattering of variety to break up the look of the asphalt road. The thing that stood out the most to Nat and Shannon though, was the disturbing lack of corpses. It heralded one of the biggest worries they had entering the area, for very little had terrified them as much as thousands of zombies rushing them in High River had.


    Huge thanks to my Elder Wolves Viktor, Saganatsu, Eeleater, John, Hades, Onean, Neal, Sebastian, Sir Hellington, Adam, and Kevin for supporting me and my writing! Remember that I keep Patreon ten chapters ahead at all times. Our next goal on Patreon will be getting up to 50 patrons, which I will then spend more time each month writing some side stories and shorts that show other perspectives throughout my stories!


    Feel free to join us all on my Discord! https://discord.gg/b8gRkD4

 Chapter 170

    I''m back! The main reason I needed this break was to storyboard the start of the second arc, as the current one ''ends'' in chapter 179. hopefully, you all enjoy the way I have decided to take this story, and stick with me as we continue to explore things. Hope you all enjoy the chapter!


    With their steps full of caution and their heads on a swivel, they made their way down the road. They were prepared to call out any sign of motion happening at a moment''s notice, and then start running. Dealing with slow moving zombies as soon as you saw one was far easier than dealing with an enraged horde after all. The entire plan was not to hurt a single one, unless it was in a life or death scenario. The fear that they had back then was not something they wanted Sophie to experience. Nor was an angry horde of thousands something they would want to fight. There weren''t even a hundred of them after all, and that count included all of the recent newborns. They just did not have the numbers to take on even ten percent of the previous population, which was a hopeful guess of how many zombies there were, of these two cities, let alone the monsters that would be on top.


    They moved along the western side of the highway, trying to keep in what small ditch there was. This was only due to the fact that there was a wider green space between the road and the buildings there, as well as the fact that majority of Leduc was concentrated on the eastern side. This way, they hoped that they would not run into a zombie or monster without having seen it at a distance first. Their initial choice proved dividends shortly after they went into the city, having them walking beside a reservoir and a few baseball diamonds. The wide amount of open space gave all four of the people walking a sense of security and safety, at least in the form of knowing that they should have time to react to anything that showed up.


    Sophie was the jumpiest of the bunch, the sound of wind whistling through the buildings and trees causing her to jump slightly every few minutes. She travelled in the middle of the four, alongside Shannon. She kept one hand holding Sophie''s, as a form of support, while her other had a firm grip on the fire axe. She may not have any aptitude for ranged weapons, but she was confident that her strength and stamina had returned to a point that would make the weapon quite effective should the worst come to pass. Bryden seemed to be the most measured and calm of the group as he walked out in front. He just continued forward, not missing a step as he took the point position. His head was constantly on a slow swivel back and forth, his ears tilting as needed so he could pick up every sound from all around them. Finally, Natalie was bringing up the rear, making sure to check behind them regularly. Due to them planning to get into numerous fights in the day, she was moving about with her bow out, and an arrow nocked. In case they saw a goblin on their own, or were rushed by a group of them, she wanted to reduce any incoming threats as much as possible before they got close. Though if an orc or anything larger came at them, she would discard the bow entirely. She did not have faith in its ability to even hamper or slow the larger monsters, instead preparing to shift her arms into claws to tear at the creature''s throat.


    As they ended up passing by Exit 517 that led into Leduc''s city center, the buildings on their left cut off abruptly, signaling the start of the airport''s land for take-offs and arrivals. They could make out the control tower in the distance, but that was it. Otherwise, the highway curved slightly into the east, coming up right alongside the residential sector there. Thankfully, the ditch had started to deepen as well, as Bryden suddenly dropped low in the front. Mimicking him, the three women dropped down to a crouch as well. Curious on what he had seen, Nat peered up and over the slight rise to take a look at the houses on the opposite side of the road. Milling in and out of the broken fence line were numerous zombies. With the low sitting sun, they had blended into the shadow, barely being noticeable. After waiting for a few seconds to make sure they had not been seen, Nat gestured for the group to keep moving forward, staying low while keeping up as steady of a pace as they could.


    Of course, this plan could only last so far. As the ditch slowly became more level with where the road sat, they came up to a point where there was a massive shopping complex sitting beside the road on the western side. Worst enough, they could see goblins milling about in the parking lot as they approached. Thanks to the event having happened at night, the entire lot was almost empty, save for a car here and there. This was both a good and bad thing, as while it allowed them easy sightlines on all the monsters, it sadly meant that they all had excellent sight lines on one another. Sneaking past would be tricky, but they could do it. And with where the zombies were in comparison, they couldn''t even backtrack to cross over to the other side of the road. If they did, then being spotted was not and if, but more of a when. As the monsters were walking around in small groups of three to five, they decided to push their luck, and continued crouch-walking up the ditch.


    They managed to make it most of the way as well, until Bryden walked straight into a small pool of water that hadn''t dissipated. He was far too focused on the goblins beside him that he wasn''t paying attention to where he was walking. The large splash of his feet going straight to the bottom of the pool caused the group to freeze and look. As they did, only the closest group of creatures had turned to see what that was. As quick as she could, Nat took out the three that were there with three consecutive arrows, each burrowing halfway into the goblins. Two had landed inside the goblins heads and one got lodged inside the last''s windpipe. As far as shots from that distance went, Nat was pretty happy with her placement, but she did not have time to appreciate that. As a silence descended upon the entire area as the three corpses feel to the ground.


    Huge thanks to my Elder Wolves Viktor, Saganatsu, Eeleater, John, Hades, Onean, Sebastian, Adam, and Kevin for supporting me and my writing! Remember that I keep Patreon ten chapters ahead at all times. Our next goal on Patreon will be getting up to 50 patrons, which I will then spend more time each month writing some side stories and shorts that show other perspectives throughout my stories!


    Feel free to join us all on my Discord! https://discord.gg/b8gRkD4

 Chapter 171

    While the corpses of the unlucky goblins fell to the ground, the four of them did not sit idle. As they kept an eye on the nearest monsters, they slowly moved down the ditch while avoiding the pool of water. As the longer grass partially clung to Bryden''s leg, they made their way northward, careful not to make sudden movements to attract any attention their way. Thankfully, the dead goblins were not discovered until they were nearing the end of the parking lot for the mall, and only by another group literally tripping on their bodies. Apparently, goblins did not have the inclination to either look down or watch where they were walking. In fact, one of them had managed to impale and kill itself, landing on the protruding arrow head when it fell. It was more disturbing than comforting, especially when the other goblins in the group just started pointing and making sounds that almost sounded like laughter mixed with nails on a chalk board.


    Once they made it under the overpass, the four of them started moving faster along the road. The area surrounding them as they moved had opened up greatly, and they would be glad to put that mall behind them. Especially when they saw more and more goblins gathering to the noise of the group laughing. After all, the new members did nothing else but join in laughing, making the sound resonate through the air like a horribly out of tune and key orchestra. With the volume only increasing as more of them joined in. If the noise itself hadn''t been enough, Nat also noticed that the zombies were starting to cross the road, attracted to the noise. Between both of those, none of them wanted to be even in the vicinity of the area, let alone in between the two groups.


    They actually broke out into a light jog, all the way up until they reached the outer border of Edmonton. They kept an eye on the industrial sector far across the road, but it was so far away they had problems making out anything there. Thus, they judged it as not a threat, and focused on making sure they were putting one foot in front of the other, with regular checks on their surroundings. After all, that was one of the few spots for today that they felt safe trying to save some time with a bit of faster movement.


    Sure enough, as soon as the highway turned into Gateway Blvd., buildings started becoming more numerous and closed in on either side of the road. It had turned into neither side having much space to even maneuver, let alone see. Therefore, they started moving up in the middle of both the north and south bound lanes of travel. That way, they could hopefully have a few second of warning as long as they were vigilant.


    After they passed the Anthony Henday Drive, they saw the weirdest thing beside them. They were passing down beside the South Edmonton Commons, a commercial district with numerous stores and theatres throughout, when they discovered that monsters slept as well. Sprawled out on either the pavement and cars were a bunch of orcs and trolls, snoring their asses off. Goblins were milling about like children, while the hobs seemed to be groggy teenagers who haven''t had their coffee yet. Up until this point, none of them had seen monsters that slept or had any other bodily functions that was normal to the rest of them. Was this a new development? Or had they always done this? It was hard to tell, but it seemed that their sleep schedule was influenced by their size. From this look anyways.


    However, the amount of sleeping forms was staggering. There had to have been hundreds laying there resting. None of them made a noise, and paid very close attention to where their feet went. It was not a number that they wanted to fight against, even if all of them were fully grown and in top condition. However, as they went, they noticed something that put a chill down their spines. In the middle of the parking lot, coming out of one of the restaurants, was another group of people. They seemed to be carrying supplies, that they must have grabbed from the area, and were carefully weaving their way through the bodies and cars littered about. All that Natalie''s group felt comfortable doing was hoping the best for them, and not making a noise. Especially since they seemed to be moving to the eastern side of the area.


    While this had helped with the knowledge that monsters sleeping had been happening for a while, they were surprised that there were people willing to take the risk to go back and forth, looting while evading conflict. How many other groups were out there, doing similar things to keep alive, instead of travelling out in the world to reach their families and loved ones that they were separated from? And was it out of a hope that the military would ride in and fix everything? There was so much unknown, and barely anything they could do to help. After all, they had witnessed monsters pouring out of portals, fresh and ready to fight and destroy.


    Moving down the road, they passed by a few more parking lots, filled with varying amount of sleeping and waking monsters. If this kept up, they may make it to Whitemud Drive before any of the monsters noticed them here in the city. It sat lower into the ground, between large berms on either side. This meant that they could use it as a hopefully fast and easy route to getting up into downtown where the zoo sat. However, as Shannon was thinking that this was lucky, did disaster finally strike. Out of an aptly named mini golf store just past Thirty-Fourth Avenue, a goblin came walking out, before freezing in place when it saw the group. Before Natalie could even lift her bow up to take it out, it opened up its mouth, and started shrieking.


    Huge thanks to my Elder Wolves Viktor, Saganatsu, Eeleater, John, Hades, Onean, Sebastian, Adam, and Kevin for supporting me and my writing! Remember that I keep Patreon ten chapters ahead at all times. Our next goal on Patreon will be getting up to 50 patrons, which I will then spend more time each month writing some side stories and shorts that show other perspectives throughout my stories!


    Feel free to join us all on my Discord! https://discord.gg/b8gRkD4

 Chapter 172

    Natalie fired an arrow at the goblin as fast as she could, but the damage was already done. All around them, monsters roused from their slumber, looking around to see what may have been the cause. And all of their gazes locked immediately on the four people standing in the middle of the road. By the time that the goblin''s body fell to the ground dead, the other monsters were raising calls of their own. It had barely been five seconds, but the four of them had already turned to start running north.


    There was no running back the way they came. The sun had already passed through its zenith, marking that they had already been moving for hours on the road, despite it feeling like nothing. They had just been putting all of their awareness on their surroundings, and not on how fast the sun moved above them. And with the horde getting up, they needed to switch to the more active part of their plan. They never thought they would get through undetected, they just wished to do so for as long as possible. Now that they were detected, albeit in a large way, they decided to ramp up in response.


    The ten older pups formed a loose perimeter around the three women, moving together in pairs so as to be able to catch any stragglers that may slip through the bigger canines. Almost all of the adults rotated out in three different sets, going out to strike at the monsters before returning. This way, they were hitting fast, hard, and could resupply their energy through Nat when needed. The only one that did not participate in that was Sierra, who was the least physically capable of the wolves. She stayed as basically a part of the last line of defence, along with the gorillas that sat in wait inside Shannon''s Soulscape. The entire plan had been devised by Nat and Shannon with a single thing in mind. The wolves and wargs were able to move a hell of a lot faster than they could.


    The amount of practice all of them had gotten in with their shifted forms was substantial, and the work payed off. They had faster running times and quicker reflex''s than most world class athletes had. And that was before they circulated any energy through their bodies. They moved about the area like lightning, hitting and taking out a handful of monsters in the way, before pulling back to let the next group open access. To the monsters and canines, it looked and felt like a crawling advance, just at the pace of canines moving with top speed and ferocity. For the three humans in the middle of it all, they were just running straight and hard.


    They knew that the weakest part of their pack was themselves. After all, if they died, then so did everyone else. Add that to the fact that they were also physically weaker and slower, they would inevitably weigh down the rest when it came to running. To their minds, this and one other option came to mind, but this one seemed the most viable. Especially since the wolves had become far more deadly since gaining an anthropomorphic form, let alone the larger wargs. The other option was to ride upon the wargs in a rotation to get ahead of the monsters, but they would tire out fast, and would take far too long to recover. Thus, they decided that cutting a path through to somewhere they could evade their pursuers would be a far better plan. Orcs and hobgoblins fell easily, with goblins being barely even a hinderance. The small cuts they left on the bodies of the shifted predators were hardly noticed as claws tore through them in masse. As for the larger trolls and ogres, they lumbered behind, but did not have the speed to be a worry as of yet.


    The problem came in to the fact that they were still blocks away from where they needed to turn, and almost all of the surrounding area was empty and monster filled. As they passed the fourth block, the wheezing of two of the women was very easy to make out. However, neither Sophie nor Natalie called it quits, and just kept moving forward. Their entire plan had started working quite well, taking the monsters by surprise. But the small wounds that kept coming were accumulating, and were visibly starting to wear down the wolves. Blood ran down their limbs, some of which was clearly their own, and yet they kept up the pressure, taking out monsters that were both in the way and catching up. A few goblins had come close, but Ares and Rogue both took out a leading majority of them, with the others taking out a few themselves.


    It was then, that a light appeared at the end of the tunnel, as it were. The flood of monsters coming from the front dwindled as they finished running the distance of the fifth block. So much so that the adult canines only had one or two going out to clear the front of their six-wolf groups. The rest were doing their best to pick off their pursuers and try to widen the gap. Seeing her chance, Shannon led them through a passage between a bank and a larger hub. As they did, Sol and Tank lugged out a giant log with them, tossing it backwards to try and eat up their pursuers time. They did not expect it to do more than buy them all a few seconds, but those could help immensely. Shannon led them along the side of the bank north, moving up the hidden away side as fast as they could while directing the canines to all fall back into Nat''s Soulscape. This was their one chance to lose this group soon, otherwise, they would most likely be run down after becoming fully exhausted, and unable to fight back. Jumping over the barriers, they quickly helped Sophie up and over before dipping underneath the bridge that crossed the gap between the two sides of the Whitemud. Collectively, the three of them held their breath and hoped that Shannon''s ploy worked.


    Huge thanks to my Elder Wolves Viktor, Saganatsu, Eeleater, John, Hades, Onean, Sebastian, Adam, and Kevin for supporting me and my writing! Remember that I keep Patreon ten chapters ahead at all times. Our next goal on Patreon will be getting up to 50 patrons, which I will then spend more time each month writing some side stories and shorts that show other perspectives throughout my stories!


    Feel free to join us all on my Discord! https://discord.gg/b8gRkD4

 Chapter 173

    It was quiet for the first few minutes, but then they felt the ground start to shake. The footfalls of the horde of monsters sounding closer and closer with each passing moment. The three of them did not dare to move a muscle, and instead watched on either side of the bridge, seeing if their ruse would be uncovered. Time felt as if to almost stand still, save for the dust that came off the bridge supports around them.


    Breaking them out of that trance, was the shaking of the bridge as what sounded like hundreds of monsters running across it, as well as more stampeding past the sides, down onto the road right past them. The monsters ran meters away from where the three hid, trying to take up as small of a space as possible. Sophie had her head tucked into Shannon''s torso, unable to watch due to the thought that if she saw as many as she was hearing, she could not help but scream out. Meanwhile, Nat and Shan watched in speechless terror, hoping that none of the many monsters running by stopped and looked around. All it would take was one for them to be overwhelmed in an instant. They had no idea that the screams of that one goblin would cause such a large ripple.


    As they watched the monsters running down the slopes and across the road, they heard a loud crashing sound come up from behind them. Monsters were only trickling past them at this point, majority of them on the bridge or already down at the road. At least, all of the small monsters were. They no longer felt the thunder of constant running by a large group. Now they more of bounced to large and heavy thuds that resonated out behind them. As they turned their heads to follow the sound, they saw a dozen ogres running down the hill after the smaller monsters, followed by one larger monster. It was the same one that Nat had seen in her dream a while back, before they had entered the city of Calgary. However, seeing it up close in real-life was far more terrifying than it had been in the dream. After all, the thing''s foot was larger than she was. As it ran down the embankment with the ogres ahead of it, they could not help but notice the sign of the bank they had skirted past hanging off the monster''s neck.


    When they could not see nor hear any monsters any more, they finally moved out from underneath the bridge. Her curiosity over-bearing, Nat went back up and took a peek at the bank. Or rather, where the bank used to be. On a diagonal angle, walls stood up on either side, with a massive furrow running down in the middle. The giant monster must not have cared in the slightest as it ran after its monster brethren, going straight through the middle of the building like it was a sand castle. As one of the side walls fell to the ground in a heap, Nat slowly turned around to see if she could spot the massive troll. She was just in time to see its lumbering form disappear down a street behind some of the buildings.


    Shuddering at the sheer size and strength of the lumbering beast, Nat went back and moved west alongside Shannon and Sophie. There was no dawdling or moving slowly, as they quickly vacated the area. They hadn''t even considered the ecology or behaviour of monsters before. Did they return to a set area after a certain amount of time? Did they just go free range? It was hard to know what they did, given that the only time they had spent long around them was when they were being attacked or attacking the hostile creatures. They didn''t really have time to sit back and watch what the monsters did, nor did they have a want at the moment. Neither Shannon nor Natalie had any idea on how their parents were doing through this whole thing, or if they were even alive. They also had to worry about Sophie, and making sure that she grew up with as much safety and care as they could afford. Hanging around monsters for weeks and writing down everything they did was a clear way to botch that. Especially when they just saw evidence of one having walked through a goddamn building.


    Thankfully, the rest of their walk down Whitemud Drive was relatively peaceful. Large berms, with fences on top of them ran for the first half, blocking all view in and out of the residential areas on either side. Then when they came through the second half, it was almost all green space, and more berms and trees giving protection from being spotted. Honestly, if it wasn''t in an apocalypse, they would have found the entire thing scenic and beautiful to drive down. The bridges themselves gave a wonderful view of the area, with it mostly being a sea of trees with some open green spaces and a large river running through it. It was a space that they were entirely not expecting to find in the middle of a city on the prairies, as it almost felt like a place they would find in the interior of British Columbia. The only thing reminding them they were still in Alberta was how dry it was here, the air lacking any noticeable sign of humidity.


    After they crossed the second bridge, they followed along the waterside through Sir Wilfrid Laurier Park. The trails seemed almost entirely untouched, with the grass growing long and free on the sides of the pathway. The sound of the river running and the leaves through the trees was a nice background music to the abundance of animal noises that came from the north. They could see a fence, and assumed that it was the zoo given by the types of sounds that they heard. However, none of them wanted to break through it, just in case it helped act as a barrier against the monsters coming in. As they rounded the corner to come out in front of the entrance, they saw a person bandaging up a dog''s leg in a splint. Before either Sophie or Shannon could ask what they were doing, the sound of Nat''s bow falling to the ground entered their ears. "Dad?"


    Huge thanks to my Elder Wolves Viktor, Saganatsu, Eeleater, John, Hades, Onean, Sebastian, Adam, and Kevin for supporting me and my writing! Remember that I keep Patreon ten chapters ahead at all times. Our next goal on Patreon will be getting up to 50 patrons, which I will then spend more time each month writing some side stories and shorts that show other perspectives throughout my stories!


    Feel free to join us all on my Discord! https://discord.gg/b8gRkD4

 Chapter 174

    "Dad?"


    As Natalie and the man stared directly at one another, Sophie and Shannon''s heads whipped back and forth between the two of them. On Shannon''s side, this was her first meeting with her new father-in-law. She was nowhere near mentally prepared for this, having expected to only find them up in High Level if at all. With how much Nat had talked about her parents moving about all the time, she really should have been ready to run into them at any time. Shannon just froze in place, trying to figure out what the chances were that they would meet up here. Did the energy bring them together, by using Sophie''s dreams to influence her mother''s choice of route?


    Sophie on the other hand, was still trying to compute what Nat just said. Dad? Did that mean that the man in front of her was her grandfather? What even was a grandfather? As far as she was aware, other kids had grandparents, but she didn''t, and apparently never did. Every time that she went up to her dads and asked them about them, they very quickly got uneasy faces before diverting the conversation. After a while, she just figured that it was something she would never have and stopped bringing it up. Now that there was one in front of her though, her mind went blank. Together with Shannon, the two of them froze up like statues, unsure how to even breach the subject of being family with the man in front of them.


    As for the two family members, the man slowly stood up while maintaining eye contact the entire time. Not once did they drift to the two other people, the bow hitting the ground, or the direction of any other sounds around him. "Natalie? Is that really you?" he asked, thinking that he was seeing things. After all, he knew that his daughter had been working in the deep south of the province. Plus, they were in the middle of a city that was filled with monsters and scavengers. The sight of his daughter showing up in front of him was surreal, causing him to doubt his eyes. However, when Nat''s face adopted a goofy smile, with tears running down it as she nodded in response, everything burst through.


    While both were speechless, they both ran forward and hugged one another deeply. Tears ran down both of their face as they embraced, happy to see their family once more. There, they stood for a few minutes, just bawling and hugging as if to confirm that the other was really there. Shannon and Sophie just watched on, feeling like they shouldn''t jump into the hug. Neither them nor the animals that were around bothered to interrupt them, just letting them enjoy the moment. However, there was one that interrupted them.


    "Matis, what''s taking you so long you big..... Oaf......" hearing the noise, everyone turned to look at the voice. As a woman walked around the corner, she stopped talking and dropped the walking stick she was holding as well. Instantly she ran forward, joining in the embrace in front of her with tears already flowing down her face. More minutes passed, with the scene in front of them just repeating with another body. They had not seen each other since Christmas, but with the apocalypse happening it felt like far longer. None of them had even been sure they would see each other again. When they all finally broke apart, the woman broke the silence, "Come in, come in. We have a lot to talk about, and it would be better to sit down as well with some food." She also Gestured to Sophie and Shannon to follow her, leading them all into the zoo.


    Their camp was a little of the way into the facility, inside of a copse of trees, and its looks mimicked several aspects of their own. In fact, it was remarkably similar, that you would think it was almost a direct copy. The main difference was that the tent was actually suspended, sitting a few feet off the ground. That, and the creatures sitting around the area were entirely different. Instead of canines and gorillas, cougars and bears lounged about in total harmony. As they all took to sitting in different spots around the fire, Nat''s mom instead moved towards the fire, putting out a metal sheet and starting to cook. The atmosphere became as if they had just gone home for dinner, and she was just starting to make dinner for everyone.


    As she cooked up the food, Nat got down to talking and explaining everything that happened. She introduced Shannon and Sophie as family, and talked a bit about what happened, but left out more sensitive parts. Some of the content of their trip was not her story to talk about, and they would only talk when they were ready. She went over how she had started the event down in Waterton, how she met with all the different members of her pack, and what they had seen and done across the southern half of the province. All throughout, Matis asked questions, but only for the sake of clarity. Otherwise, him and his wife just left her to speak and share her piece. When she got to the points of rescuing both her new wife and daughter, each got hugged in turn by both of the family members.


    When she finished, canines and gorillas slowly came out of her Soulscape, interacting with the other animals around the camp. The entire thing devolved into what seemed to be a giant family gathering. Laughing was prevalent, as well as challenges of strength and speed. Smiles were had and it was a good time all around. Shannon and Sophie even got up to help Nat''s mom, who they found out was named Charlene, with making up dinner and getting everything ready. She had told them in no uncertain terms that Shannon was to call her by her name or mom, while Sophie was only allowed to call her grandma. Both of them felt quite happy with that, and easily started doing it. The call for food, being the one thing that quieted everyone down and had them all congregate to the fire. After all, the smell of the food had been flooding out for a while, and no one wanted to miss out on whatever produced this delicious scent.


    Huge thanks to my Elder Wolves Viktor, Saganatsu, Eeleater, John, Hades, Sir Hellington, Onean, Sebastian, Adam, and Kevin for supporting me and my writing! Remember that I keep Patreon ten chapters ahead at all times. Our next goal on Patreon will be getting up to 50 patrons, which I will then spend more time each month writing some side stories and shorts that show other perspectives throughout my stories!


    Feel free to join us all on my Discord! https://discord.gg/b8gRkD4

 Chapter 175

    Sitting around the fire, everyone was excited for the food. As she was done telling her end of what had happened, she finally took the time to look around the camp that her parents had set up. Natalie hadn''t noticed before, being completely absorbed in reuniting with her parents and the story of how they made it here, but every single animal in the immediate area was in a bipedal form. Grizzly and polar bears looked as if they gained an increase in size, just due to standing up straight. If they hadn''t been able to look like they could rip you in half before, they definitely did now. Cougars stretched out either on the ground or up in the tree branches above them, lazing about in the late afternoon sun that poked through the openings between the leaves. It turned out that her parents were already aware of the strength of shifted animals, and had them stay shifted when they could. The question came to mind, did she know more or did they?


    Before she could voice her thoughts, the chefs and their helpers all went around to bring the food to everyone. Shannon carried two while Sophie carried one excitedly. She walked forward and placed in front of Natalie, proud of what she had helped with, before taking her own plate from Shannon and sitting down on the bench between her two mothers. When it was set in front of her, the visual filled Natalie with nostalgia. So much so that she had one of the canines quickly store it and bring it out so she would be able to have it whenever. After all, it was only on special occasions that her mother made cepelinai. It was a recipe that her family had brought over from Lithuania years ago, and it was currently regarded as the national dish of the country itself. They were incredibly labour intensive, due to the combination of cooked and raw potato being made to house meat in the middle of a large dumpling. Once they were done cooking, a combination of sour cream and diced bacon doused them. It was named due to the similarities that it held shape wise with the zeppelins of old, though these ones had lasted the trials and tribulations of time far better.


    As Nat took her first bite, she felt a mental return to simpler times. Christmas dinner at home, not four months ago, had been a time of just sitting around and enjoying good food and great company. That was the only time in the whole year she had been able to have them before, not having the time nor energy to put into making the fist-sized dumplings any time recently. And as she savored every bite, she took a glance over at Sophie. When she saw her adopted daughter enjoying them with the same expression she had, a warmth flooded her body from her core.


    All around the camp, many others were relishing the food just as much as they were. Plates were getting devoured, and an eating contest arose from the insanity. None of the gorillas joined in, not feeling up to it with how their stomachs were still recovering from their previous lack of food. However, Ash faced off against one of the cougars and a grizzly bear, destroying plate after plate. There were only two rules, decided by the people around them with the nods of approval coming from all three. They couldn''t stop eating, and whoever has the most plates finished wins. It became a pseudo sporting event, with each group cheering on their competitor fiercely. Though, the gorillas joined in the cheering for Ash. After all, they had seen just how much food she could pack away inside her gut.


    It went on for almost thirty minutes before the first one had to back out. And surprisingly enough, it was the female bear who had to back out. She just could not stomach the pressure that her competition was putting her under. When she threw in the towel, the bears groaned in disappointment, before being good sports about it all and joining the cougars in cheering for their candidate. It then became a battle between the two groups, all fielded by their spur of the moment representatives. Neither side felt that theirs would lose, and it took another twenty minutes to finally see an end to the madness. They both called it at the same time, but no one had kept track of how many plates had been finished off. After a very careful count by numerous parties, Ash was forced to settle with second place, as she had finished off two less plates than her opponent. They were good sports about it though, and he even said that it was a good challenge. Though neither of them moved from their spots to try and give a handshake or a hug, their stomachs filled to the brim with cepelinai.


    At that point, the sun was dipping down to the horizon, and with the long day, everyone agreed that it was time for bed. While Nat was curious as to how her parents had ended up here, they promised that they would tell the story tomorrow. Apparently, it would take far more time than they had, especially with Sophie already nodding off while trying to stay awake. She just hung like a koala off Shannon as everyone else talked and winded down. It was a nice relaxing time, just sitting there and watching the starry night sky with family nearby. They called it off quickly though, when Sophie started snoring. Neither Nat nor Shannon wanted to bring up the nightmares she had been having before they approached the city, so they quickly filed off to their tent. After all, it was not their tale to tell, and they had only found out about it through happenstance. Softly, and comfortably, the three of them drifted off to sleep, all the while being cuddled by dozens of canine bodies inside the tent.


    Huge thanks to my Elder Wolves Viktor, Saganatsu, Eeleater, John, Hades, Sir Hellington, Onean, Sebastian, Adam, and Kevin for supporting me and my writing! Remember that I keep Patreon ten chapters ahead at all times. Our next goal on Patreon will be getting up to 50 patrons, which I will then spend more time each month writing some side stories and shorts that show other perspectives throughout my stories!


    Feel free to join us all on my Discord! https://discord.gg/b8gRkD4

 Chapter 176

    The night passed by completely uneventfully, with no one experiencing any of the interactive dreams. There were still some weird dreams to be had, at least by three of the people. Natalie and her parents each had ones that just felt weird and out there, each unique enough to film a movie on. As for Sophie and Shannon, they both had the usual nightmare that they had become sadly accustomed to over the past month. Natalie only knew as she woke up twice the middle of the night, once due to each of them. All she did was hold them a little tighter and gave a quick peck on their forehead before slowing drifting back off to sleep herself. She didn''t want to wake them up, and disrupt her sleep. She just felt that what she was doing was the most help she could give right now, as neither had fully opened up about what had happened yet. Even with Shannon, it was never talked about, but something that both of them clearly knew about. Nat was just trying to give them their time and space until they were ready to go into the dark and depraved details of their nightmares. Till they were stable enough to deal with the flood of emotions that may come from doing so.


    As she woke up to the morning sun shining into the tent, Nat realized just how delicate of a position she was in. When so many canines came in to sleep together, it all just became a web of limbs and bodies. It took her a frustrating amount of time trying to leave the tent without stepping on any tails, but that was due to how tightly everyone packed in there. If she didn''t know any better, Nat would have thought that this was all an elaborate plan by Kali or Maia to mess with her. After all, the two had picked up and tossed trooper to the side when he tried to sleep cuddled up to Nat. They were quite possessive of that spot, and trying to orchestrate that without her knowing would be a giant pain in the ass.


    When she finally got out, she noticed that her coyotes had not done the night watch alone. Nor was she the first one up for once. Beside Lucille and tin sat a couple of snow leopards, who Nat guessed were female as well. Mainly due to the fact that a couple larger ones were down with Copper and Edwin playing with all of the kids and trying to get them used to walking about on two legs. There were even four cubs that had joined in with the coyote pups, though they were arguably doing far worse in their walking around on two legs.


    What really surprised Nat though was her mother sitting beside Lucille, with a cougar sitting beside her. Nat did not even have to ask who that cougar was, as it had to be Sheera. The nock in her ear, as well as the different colour of four around her right arm gave all the tell-tale signs she needed to recognize the female cougar. Last she saw at Christmas, she had been nearing on eleven-years-old, which was a fairly long age for a cougar. She had been staying by and helping out Charlene for years, ever since she had been rescued from a forgotten trap. She had been unable to move the heavy metal implement, and was on the verge of starving in the middle of the wilderness. She had been moving more sluggishly last she had saw her, but now it was as if she was looking at a completely different cougar. The fur was tight against her, and all symbolizing a healthy and young cat. Was this an effect of the Soulscape? Or of the energy that manifested it?


    For the first time since she arrived, Nat cast a critical eye towards her mother, trying to recall how she moved and acted during the holidays. If something about the event and bonding had reduced the affect aging had on Sheera, surely it would have a similar reaction to her mother. The problem was, that her mother had taken good care of herself over the years. Not many injuries were causing her issues, and she was still physically fit enough to run about the wilderness helping animals in need. Upon a first glance, she couldn''t notice anything different immediately. After all, she still looked the same as far as she could tell. Either there were no noticeable differences, or she was just so used to seeing her mother over the years that a younger look still felt normal, Nat was unsure which it was.


    Walking up to her mother, Nat saw as the group of predators watched a group of zebra trot past along the pathway. Given that her parents were here, Natalie had already expected this to be a norm. After all, if all of technology stopped, and animals in the zoo were left on their own, they would free them just as she had freed the snakes back in Calgary. The whole thing was to do as much good as they could, with the tools they were given. That always had been their family motto. Food, water, and medical supplies would all have been duplicated time and time again if it meant that the animals were able to live as they should have. The question was how far had her parents gotten in weaning the animals off of the mindset of being fed by humans here in the city core?


    As Nat sat down, Charlene passed her a cup of tea, still steaming hot. Together, they just watched the sun rise in the east, as well as the men''s attempt to teach their children. The problem for them was the age of their young, as they were quite easily distracted by literally everything. One of them farted, and immediately all of them started moving towards the sound, trying to figure out what it was. Seeing them get close, only to try and get away again was extremely cute and funny. What only added to the chaos was another one farting, causing the entire scene to repeat itself. All in all, it made for a very enjoyable and relaxing start to the day.


    Huge thanks to my Elder Wolves Viktor, Saganatsu, Eeleater, John, Hades, Sir Hellington, Onean, Sebastian, Adam, and Kevin for supporting me and my writing! Remember that I keep Patreon ten chapters ahead at all times. Our next goal on Patreon will be getting up to 50 patrons, which I will then spend more time each month writing some side stories and shorts that show other perspectives throughout my stories!


    Feel free to join us all on my Discord! https://discord.gg/b8gRkD4

 Chapter 177

    Time flew by as they watched the scene in front of them, and before they knew it the camp was coming alive behind them. They had moved quietly, out of benefit for those still sleeping. No one wanted to be the reason everyone missed out on sleep after all, that could be over a hundred angry bodies coming at them. The two Vilkas women where so focused in their own slice of the world, that they did not even notice Shannon and Sophie working away on breakfast behind them. The sign that gave them away was the curious young ones in front of them who had tired of smelling each other''s farts. When they smelled something delicious, they immediately started making a move in the direction of the scent. This had caused all of the adults to turn around and see what had occupied their current attention, only to see the two toiling away making a large thing of scrambled eggs with bacon and toast.


    Seeing that the food was nearing completion anyways, they shared a look before walking over and joining them. There was just morning small talk, that all but Sophie joined in on. She was far more focused on the food and making sure not to hurt herself while she helped out. After a few minutes more of this, Nat started peering over at her parent''s tent. After all, her father was an early riser, just like the rest of the family was. The fact that he wasn''t up and about yet was really surprising to her. As soon as she got a glimpse inside the hanging tent however, the entire scenario made far more sense.


    There, she saw her father trying his best to struggle his way out of the fully laden tent. For he was on the bottom of a pile of large and shifted bears, all of which were still asleep. There were only five of them, but it was easy to see that the hanging tent was straining under the weight inside. The scene itself was so surprising to her, that she couldn''t help but start laughing her ass off. Her laughter caused everyone to laugh and join in with her, save for her mother. "Oh Honey, did you not learn from the last few times? Do I have to help you out from underneath again?" The words that came out only exacerbated the laughter that flowed out, imagining this happening multiple times. The glare that came from him did not help his situation in the slightest, but neither did it worsen it. After all, his daughter, daughter-in-law, and granddaughter were already on the ground without breath from laughing as hard as they could.


    Sheera did not hold herself back though, seemingly already used to this situation and what was needed to be done. As she neared the tent, Matis'' expression changed from a glare to one filled with worry in an instant. He begged and pleaded to have a bit longer to get out himself, though Sheera paid attention to none of it. She just extended one of her claws as she walked up, causing Matis to curl into a ball as best he could, bracing for what would happen shortly. Her claws were razor sharp, and cut through the thick rope holding up one of the corners of the tent in a second. As she did, she took a leap backwards, allowing the entire thing to play out in slow motion.


    The tent had only three pickup points, as it was in the shape of a triangle. This meant that when one of the supporting points was introduced to slack, the entire setup spun that way. It used the axis of the other two spots as the center, turning the entire tent on its side. Now, that did free Matis, having him now on the side of the pile rather than on the bottom. However, it also meant that the bears on top of him fell to the side as well. Thuds sounded out as the bear who was at the top was now on the side, and the bears who were on the side were now on the bottom. The way they acted showed that they barely felt the impact, showing that it seemed to feel more like they got tapped awake then dropped from a few feet up. Seeing his opening, Matis quickly got out of the tent and joined the rest of his family for breakfast.


    Breakfast was delicious, though the teasing towards Matis continued. How he kept getting in that mess, how they were impressed with how he could bear that amount of weight, and the occasional compliment to Sheera to how sharp her claws were. It was all taken in good stride though, and some of the bears even gave some of the best zingers. Eventually he just shut up and ate the food, his only words were those praising his wife for another job well done. It would have been better for him to completely put a sock in it, as everything only escalated when it was revealed that she had no part in the cooking whatsoever. He had been so focused on getting out from the tent after all, he hadn''t noticed anything that had gone on that morning in the camp. He didn''t even look up from the plate after that, embarrassed at how badly he had fuddled that up.


    They did ease up on him though, as they felt he had probably had enough teasing. At least for the morning anyways, the rest of the day would be fair game if he exposed any openings, just as it was for everyone else here. While Natalie had originally wanted to hear the tale of her parent''s journey since the event happened, there were other things that she and Shannon found to be more important. And when they filled in the older Vilkas couple, they immediately agreed with their plan. The story could wait until this afternoon. For now, they had to go to the birds of prey area, and see if there were any owls still hanging about that wanted to share a bond with Sophie!


    Huge thanks to my Elder Wolves Viktor, Saganatsu, Eeleater, John, Hades, Sir Hellington, Onean, Sebastian, Adam, and Kevin for supporting me and my writing! Remember that I keep Patreon ten chapters ahead at all times. Our next goal on Patreon will be getting up to 50 patrons, which I will then spend more time each month writing some side stories and shorts that show other perspectives throughout my stories!


    Feel free to join us all on my Discord! https://discord.gg/b8gRkD4

 Chapter 178

    As soon as Sophie found out where they were going after breakfast, she wolfed down her food as fast as she could. She needed to be reminded to breathe, and that the owls could wait a few extra minutes. Her actions became almost as funny and entertaining as Matis'' incident earlier. Almost. They kept reminding him subtly, claiming that her actions were the second most hilarious event so far today. He started just owning the whole thing, laughing with them. All in all, smiles were held by everyone who was there, even the extended family that were all shifted animals.


    After everyone was done eating, they cleaned up the mess from breakfast. They left the rest of the campsite up though, as they were planning to return to it later on to hear the tale of the Vilkas'' couples'' journey here. After all, there was no need to take it down if they were just going to set it right back up anyways. It was just a there and back sort of trip here inside the zoo. Sure, there was the chance of monsters coming in, but with how many animals were here and how much of a distaste they had for monsters, safety was not an issue they were worried about. Due to that, majority of the bonded stayed back at camp. Whether it was reading some books, exercising and trying to build up their bodies, or trying to rest and recover from the ridiculous amount of fighting from the day before, the ones who hung back were plenty satisfied with what they were doing. Especially the young who were recently born in the past few months. They were able to run around so much, and with so many new things to see they were having a great time. Though that kept their parents quite busy trying to keep watch over them all.


    There were only five in total that stuck with the group as they headed deeper into the zoo. Sheera just never left Charlene''s side the entire time, though that was just her way of life at this point. They had been that way for the past ten years, and neither Nat nor Matis believed for a second that would change in the slightest now. One of the bears had joined in, but the entire time kept positioned behind and to the side of Matis. It was as if he had this really large and furry bodyguard shadowing him the entire time. He tried to act it off and take it in stride, but his face clearly betrayed how embarrassed he was. He probably had tried to convince the grizzly to act normal and not follow him like that, but they clearly went and did it anyways. Their face was stoic, so it was hard to tell, but their eyes were smiling and full of mirth. Kali and Maia also tagged along, as they had become accustomed to throughout the past month and a half. They just seemed to enjoy being in Natalie''s company immensely.


    The final tag-along was actually dragged there by Sophie. It seemed that over the past couple days she had gotten along with Bryden really well, so much so that she was dragging him along as emotional support for this. He had wanted to go back to farming inside the Soulscape, but was quickly stopped by Sophie grabbing his hand. He had been in the process of going back in, but his hand got stuck at the point where it connected to Sophie. It seemed that as long as they were connected, he could not fully go into the Soulscape. He then thought about trying to talk to her and convince her that she would be fine and wouldn''t need him there, but he felt the pressure at which she was squeezing his paw. As he looked upon the munchkin''s face, he noticed how it was filled with nervousness and anxiety. She was worried about this whole thing, and was scared on how it could possibly go. When he saw that, he quickly scooped her up and walked with them as they went up to the exhibits that had held the owls to see which ones had stuck around.


    When they got there, birds fluttered to and from between the different exhibits that dotted the sides. However, that all stopped when they walked in. Each and every bird took a perch and stared at the group that entered their domain. Based entirely on a gut feeling, Bryden set Sophie down and pushed her forward a little bit. She immediately turned back and clutched his leg, as the gaze of so many avian species was intimidating her. It took a little bit of persuading, but she eventually was able to walk out on her own, albeit she kept within leaping distance of Bryden and the rest of the group at all times. As she looked back and forth between all of the birds in the trees, a flutter of wings coming up from the ground went straight towards her. In shock, all she could do was close her eyes and hold her arms up to keep it from hitting her.


    When she felt the grasp of an owl perching upon her arm however, she opened her eyes slowly. Standing on the top of her arm was an owl that was about the size of a book, staring at her. It slowly tilted its head back and forth getting a good look at her. Slowly, she lifted her other arm and started scratching at the back of the owl''s head. Almost instantly it started preening as she had apparently found a good spot to scratch the small bird. This kept up for a few minutes, until the owl shook out all of their feathers from their head to their tail. Then it let out a short call, before launching straight into Sophie''s chest. She felt no impact, as the burrowing owl went into her instead of hitting her. As she stood there dumbfounded at the new feeling, more of the owls around them took flight from their perches, carrying with them either some mice that they had caught or berries they had scavenged. The sudden rush had surprised everyone, especially given what had triggered it. So much, that no one moved as twenty-five owls all descended towards the little girl, before all disappearing inside of her.


    Huge thanks to my Elder Wolves Viktor, Saganatsu, Eeleater, John, Hades, Sir Hellington, Onean, Sebastian, Adam, and Kevin for supporting me and my writing! Remember that I keep Patreon ten chapters ahead at all times. Our next goal on Patreon will be getting up to 50 patrons, which I will then spend more time each month writing some side stories and shorts that show other perspectives throughout my stories!


    Feel free to join us all on my Discord! https://discord.gg/b8gRkD4

 Chapter 179

    Welcome to the end of the first arc! The two-week break I had before was planning for where this would continue on and how, and I think I have the best plan in place for what I want to do. Hope you enjoy both this chapter and everything that will come after it!


    They stayed in that area for the next thirty minutes, giving the owls that bonded with Sophie the opportunity to grab what they wanted from the area. This all happened while the adults were standing there dumbfounded, still trying to process the events that happened. Did the animals around have an instinctive knowledge of what the Soulscape was? They were having an issue processing or understanding why a single hoot from a burrowing owl caused every owl in the area to come and bond with Sophie. That, or how all of them were awake and willing to move right now. Were they now acting on a diurnal schedule, due to living in the zoo for an extended period of time?


    When she finally recovered mentally, Nat started taking stock of what breeds that Sophie had bonded with. She observed five different species, and four of them were native to Canada. She had a whole colony of burrowing owls, a couple of which just spent the time perched upon her shoulders. There were four barn and barred owls, which were in two mated pairs each. There were even two eagle owls, whos natural habitat was all the way over in Eurasia. The final one stood out to her as surprising, as there were seven snowy owls, a species known to be solitary except for times of mating. They lived on their own, and usually lived in areas of about ten kilometers squared, due to food availability in the tundra. The fact that so many were both here and willing to bond with Sophie was beyond surprising. When she relayed the numbers and types of species she had bonded with to the rest of the group, her parents were just as shocked as she was. Shannon and Sophie did not quite understand, at least until it was explained to them by the three wildlife veterinarians.


    There was one display area that was completely empty, but it wasn''t a surprising one. The spectacled owls that had been here were southern owls, generally living down closer to the equator. They probably found the climate here to either be too dry or chilly to be to their liking, and probably started flying south as soon as their enclosure was opened up. Thanks to that, Sophie and her flock took a few more things from there that interested them. Once she got the feeling that they had everything they wanted from the area, the group started moving back south. The owls however, still flew in and out of the Soulscape, grabbing everything that interested them or their new bonded partner. As a result, more than a few rodent corpses were brought in to her, though it was questionable whether or not she noticed. They generally returned to her back, while flying out of her chest.


    They did not go straight back to camp though. Instead, Charlene and Matis led them through the wide open space that was the zebra enclosure towards the southern side of the zoo. They didn''t explain anything, and just repeatedly told the group to trust them. Shannon and Natalie just followed along, more than happy to watch Sophie spend some time getting a number of items from the surroundings that the owls seemed to like. Surprisingly, there was a very small amount of trees that they found amenable. More than anything, it was large rocks that they seemed to gravitate towards the most. Given that majority of her bonded owls either lived underground or within rocky outcroppings in the barren tundra, it made sense as those were what they were more used to and enjoyed having around.


    As they got the area that the two older Vilkas'' were leading them too, it started to make a little more sense to the group. The area was called the arctic shore, and had a lot of features meant to replicate the tundra environment. The snowy owls went to town, duplicating everything they could get their talons on. Nat and Shan looked over in understanding towards the elder pair, but became confused when they still had smug looks covering their faces. It wasn''t until they got a bit deeper into the area that they realized that this was not an excursion for Sophie to obtain items for her Soulscape. They were being led to the enclosure that held the arctic wolves.


    When they got there, it was a scene that Natalie was very familiar with. There were two sets of mated wolves, both with their own sets of newborns. One with three pups while the other had four, and they were still in the stage of nursing. It seemed as if they had been born extremely recently, and had probably been born in the last couple weeks. Kali and Maia took the initiative, and went over to talk first. Bryden had already long disappeared back into the Soulscape to do more farming work, as the crops were making some decent progress. As the two went over to talk about what was going on, the rest watched with baited breaths. At first they were greeted with hostility, having been seen as a threat to their young. That slowly faded away to apprehension, before changing to the two female wolves having the full attention of every single adult. At that point, it was just selling it up before they beckoned Nat over to let them into the Soulscape. After all, the pups were not in a state where they could move freely.


    After that, they made the slow progress back towards the camp. This time, it wasn''t just Sophie being dragged around by her new bonded. The arctic wolves that Nat bonded with had a much different taste as to what they found comforting then the rest of her group, but she didn''t see that as an issue. The sun was just reaching its zenith, showing that they had plenty of daylight left. When they got back, nothing seemed to have changed much, save for the fact that the gorillas and bears were having an arm wrestling competition. They got back in time to see the second last competition, between the non-mutated gorilla and a polar bear. The final after that was the largest grizzly Nat had ever seen versus the four armed gorilla. It was a good go between while Shannon got started on lunch, which was just BLT''s. When the competition had ended and everyone was grabbing some sandwiches, Charlene decided to start it off. "So, where do we begin?"


    Huge thanks to my Elder Wolves Viktor, Saganatsu, Eeleater, John, Hades, Sir Hellington, Onean, Sebastian, Adam, and Kevin for supporting me and my writing! Remember that I keep Patreon ten chapters ahead at all times. Our next goal on Patreon will be getting up to 50 patrons, which I will then spend more time each month writing some side stories and shorts that show other perspectives throughout my stories!


    Feel free to join us all on my Discord! https://discord.gg/b8gRkD4

 Chapter 180

    March 13th - Day before the Event


    4:00 PM


    "You are one noisy bugger, you know that?" Matis Vilkas commented as he worked. He was in a situation that he had found himself in time and time again ever since starting up this job with his wife. He was used to being a hunter, taking down wild animals for food. However, he also had training as a vet to make sure that the animals he had hunted would not suffer in agony. That was at least his original reason. Along the way he had met his wonderful and caring wife Charlene, and now they travelled the wilderness taking care of animals that would be fine if they had minimum help. Such as the pregnant caribou underneath him with a dislocated knee on their front leg.


    This one was one that Matis could not leave well enough alone, nor could his wife who was helping to keep the animal stationary. After all, getting a dislocated leg back into place was risky enough as it was, with the chance to pinch nerves and blood vessels when putting the limb back into its socket. The entire situation would only become worse if the patient was moving about and struggling, aggravating the issue. Thankfully, the caribou below them was just crying out, in a mix of fear and agony. They were big and strong, but they knew when it would be disadvantageous to move. However, that was not so much because of the pain that it felt or the humans on top of her. No, she had tried to run on that bad leg, albeit not getting far at all. What kept her in place was the paw of the third member of the Vilkas group that was lightly pressing down on the side of the caribou''s head, keeping it placed against the dirt and roots beneath it.


    The mountain lion named Sheera calmly kept her front paw in place, keeping her eyes locked with those of the soon-to-be mother on the ground in front of her. To the poor animal, she must have thought this was the end, and was basically calling out her last will and testament. After all, it was hard to explain that Sheera had no interest in eating any of their patients, especially with how their taste compared to the cooking she had been getting spoiled with for the last nine years. She knew what the two Vilkas'' did with their time, given that she was on the receiving end of their care when she was but a cub. With no one else to turn to, and feeling lost, she had joined up with them and had been inseparable ever since.


    All in all, the help of the two strong women on either side of him made Matis'' job a lot easier than it would have been if he was on his own. He wanted it to be put back in place before they left the poor animal on its own. After all, a dislocation could take weeks to heal on its own, and the resulting muscle atrophy would be dooming up here in the north. Whether a pack of grey or arctic wolves came across them, neither the mother nor its offspring would be able to live long. There would be no ability to run away to safety, with a limited ability to go and get food and water in plentiful enough quantities to support two.


    After making sure that none of the ligaments were torn, and all the supplies he would need for the follow up were ready and waiting beside him, he carefully and quickly relocated the caribou''s knee cap. It must not have been pleasant at all, due to the large bleat the animal made out in response to the sudden change of positioning of their bone. Matis did not let any time waste though, taking a biodegradable bandage and wrapping up the knee snugly in a splint with two branches. The bandage would only last a week before it would start to fall apart from both the use the caribou would get out of it, as well as just the wear and tear of the elements, but that was more than enough time to make sure that the bone would set in place properly. Once he was done and satisfied with how the injury was treated, he called out in a calm voice, "Clear!"


    All at once, the three of them backed away from the caribou quickly and gave it some space. Which turned out to be a great move on their part, as once Sheera''s paw came off their head, the caribou bolted upright and made off as fast as it could, as the splint was hampering their ability to move expediently. Quickly, Matis and Charlene went around, cleaning up what they could from the area to make it as if they were never there. Sheera just passed the time watching out, should a bear or pack of wolves come through the trees. It wouldn''t have been the first time, and by now, they were all getting quite used to something big and/or angry coming upon them. Once the two were satisfied with how they were leaving the area, they started walking back to their car, hand in hand. With Sheera walking alongside Charlene, they just enjoyed the sounds of nature as they were glad of another job well done.


    They had driven a good ten minutes into the bush before their vehicle was unable to continue, and then had walked out a couple hours in a circle from where they parked. Thus, it took them a few hours to get back to the car. It was right where they had left it, albeit with a heron perched on top. When they saw no signs showcasing the start of a nest, they gave Sheera the ok to go and scare it off. Thankfully it flew off without a fight, giving them easy access to the car. Seeing where the sun was at, Matis looked over at his wife, "Want to just camp here for the night? Drive back home in the morning?"


    "Sure, that works for me." Charlene replied. "It will be good to spend one last day enjoying the outdoors before driving to the other side of the province for our little girl''s birthday." Smiles were had between the two of them, before they each went about their tasks. Matis started getting the tent set up, with a helping hand from Sheera. It hung off the ground to make the mornings more pleasant, but it required just a little bit more work than a standing one. Meanwhile, Charlene started setting up a firepit, so as to start working on supper.


    Huge thanks to my Elder Wolves Viktor, Saganatsu, Eeleater, John, Hades, Sir Hellington, Onean, Sebastian, Adam, and Kevin for supporting me and my writing! Remember that I keep Patreon ten chapters ahead at all times. Our next goal on Patreon will be getting up to 50 patrons, which I will then spend more time each month writing some side stories and shorts that show other perspectives throughout my stories!


    Feel free to join us all on my Discord! https://discord.gg/b8gRkD4

 Chapter 181

    Lying around the camp was plenty of sticks and timber that had fallen during the winter, dry due to the lack of snow this year. It had been a dry season with very little snow in comparison to what would usually fall in the region. Thus, making it so Charlene did not even have to leave their little makeshift campsite to collect enough to get a decent fire going. That did not stop her from going around and collecting more than she would need for supper. Mainly because she loved curling up next to her sweetie beside a fire underneath the starry night sky. It was just something about the way that they all blended together that made it feel oh so right to her.


    Meanwhile, Matis was having his own issues. Sheera was trying to help, and was doing everything in the proper order. She just happened to forget the first step, so she was constantly trying to help while being one step ahead. It took a few minutes to fix, but it had caused them to need to take everything down and start from scratch. The hardest part for Matis was figuring out whether the missed step was truly because Sheera had forgotten it, or if she was in a playful mood and had decided to mess with him for a bit. He could never tell with the large feline, as she had gotten the hang of acting years prior. Charlene had kept telling him that she had some obvious tells, but he just could never see them. It ended up taking them another fifteen minutes to finally get the hanging tent they had set up and ready for the night.


    By the time they wrapped up, Charlene had finished getting the fire up to size and had already started grilling over top. Having thought that this was a possibility to happen, she had packed away food that could be cooked up for dinner inside a portable cooler. If they did end up heading home, she could have just thrown them either back in the fridge or straight onto the grill when they got back. After all, she had packed homemade burgers along with all the condiments they could want. The smell from them had wafted throughout the area, enticing Matis and Sheera to gather around her as the meat cooked above the fire. She just let the two do as they please while focusing on the food, though she did smack any limbs that were reaching for the food early. When she judged that the burgers would finish shortly, she popped the buns on top of the grill to toast them.


    Once they were all finished, Charlene and Matis plated up the burgers and topped them. They of course took care of setting it up for Sheera as well, using only half a bun for each of the burgers and limiting the topping to barbeque sauce. This was purely out of a desire for her to stay healthy and not have any issues. They had her try cheese when she was younger in a small quantity, but like most felines she was lactose intolerant. They couldn''t even get her to go anywhere near cattle-based dairy after that. Which that in itself was a good thing, as it meant that they would not have to deal with a sick and potentially vomiting sixty-kilogram cat. That would have been an issue all in itself.


    As they sat down beside the still crackling fire and started to eat, Charlene decided to break the silence that had descended on the camp once Matis and Sheera finally got onto the same page. "So, what''s the plan for the next week?"


    Matis finished chewing what was in his mouth and swallowed before bothering to reply. "Well, tomorrow we will drive home and get everything we could need for a couple weeks of living on the road. Then the day after that, I was thinking of starting the drive down and stopping in Edmonton for a few days. Both to visit with friends and make sure that the animals that we brought there are in a better spot."


    "Fair enough, we did end up rushing quite a few down in critical condition. It would be nice to see them and make sure that they are healing properly. The people there have a bad habit of not letting us know how the animals we have brought are doing after all."


    "My thoughts exactly Dear. After that, drive down and arrive in Waterton on the twenty-first so that we are there for our little girl for her entire birthday. Maybe even go on a hike up Bertha or Carthew for the day."


    "Then what about the return trip? Are there any plans for how that will go?" Charlene asked, after having just finished her burger. As such, she just pulled herself into Matis'' side and just enjoyed being beside him


    Matis just started laughing in response. "Plan? For the return trip? What do you take me for, I was planning just to see where the wind took us!" It took him a minute afterwards before he could stop laughing enough to start on his second burger. Charlene just giggled in response, already knowing that was the most likely plan he would come up with. They had not been married for twenty-eight years for nothing after all. Sheera just focused on eating the four massive burgers set in front of her, ignoring the conversation beside her as she devoured the food in front of her. After all the food was done, the three just cuddled beside the fire and watched as the stars came out above, causing Charlene to sigh in contentment. It did not take long though for them to feel exhaustion seep into their bones, causing them to climb into the hanging tent. With Charlene being sandwiched between the two fonts of heat, the three of them happily drifted off to sleep, with both Charlene and Matis dreaming of the surprise on their daughter''s face when they arrived.


    Huge thanks to my Elder Wolves Viktor, Saganatsu, Eeleater, John, Hades, Sir Hellington, Onean, Sebastian, Adam, and Kevin for supporting me and my writing! Remember that I keep Patreon ten chapters ahead at all times. Our next goal on Patreon will be getting up to 50 patrons, which I will then spend more time each month writing some side stories and shorts that show other perspectives throughout my stories!


    Feel free to join us all on my Discord! https://discord.gg/b8gRkD4

 Chapter 182

    Sheera was the first one to wake up the following morning. Well, it was technically morning as it was at some point after midnight going by where the moon sat in the sky. Normally she was one to get up at the same time or shortly after Charlene, but a full bladder in the middle of the night tends to mess that whole thing up. As softly as she could, Sheera hopped out of the entrance to the tent back down to the ground below. She slowly stalked over towards the bushes on the edge of the clearing so as to not wake the other two people in the tent. Once she felt she was far enough away so as to not mess anything up, Sheera relieved herself as quick as was possible. After all, the spot where she was cuddled up against Charlene was really comfortable and she could not wait to get back. However, as she was making her way back to the tent, a giant green wave came flying through the trees, passing right through her and continuing on westwards. As it did, it felt as if something clicked in her mind, clearing up the world around her. Confused by the recent change, she headed back to the hanging tent and nimbly jumped up in a way that reduced any swaying to a minimum. However, as she went to lay down back in the spot beside Charlene, Sheera''s eyes drifted over towards a spot she had not seen before. It looked far comfier than where she had been resting before, regardless of whether or not that was possible. Deciding that it was worth it to try, she climbed into Charlene before going back to sleep.


    Hours later, Charlene finally woke up when the morning sun cresting up in the east hit her face. Matis had always been of the mindset of setting the door of the tent to face the east, as it helped him regulate waking up in the wild with sunrise. He always wanted to maximize his use of the daylight hours. And sure enough, she heard him stirring beside her. She did notice that it was feeling a little drafty on the other side of her. Looking over, she finally realized that Sheera was not currently laying own in her usual spot. It must have been one of the few times that she woke up early and was most likely just walking around outside. Not terribly worried, she got changed into a new set of clothes that she had packed before hopping down from what had been her bed to start getting breakfast ready.


    Starting back up the fire from the ashes required more wood, but that was not an issue. There was still plenty left over from her excessive gathering the night prior. Charlene tried to get it lit at first with their barbeque lighter, but for some reason it didn''t want to ignite at all. Figuring something broke when they used it last night, she just went and used some flint and steel. Once she got it all stoked and lit, her attention then turned to the side once it was starting to grow. Opening up the same cooler that had the food for burgers the previous night packed up, she pulled out some bacon, bread, lettuce, and tomatoes. The grill they had was grated, and as such she did not pack away any eggs. They would have just fallen through without a proper implement such as a frying pan that she did not feel like lugging along into the car. Tossing the bacon on top of the grill, she started slicing up the lettuce and tomato thinly. Too thick and it wouldn''t work for the BLT''s that she was making. The sizzle of the bacon signaled when she had to turn them over, while also being cautious of the grease that was dripping off them. If anything, it was all helping the fire get larger and hotter as they were cooked, which was exactly what she wanted. Nothing quite like crispy bacon worked deliciously in a sandwich.


    Matis stumbled out of the tent and made towards the bushes as Char worked on the food. He felt a need to relieve himself as well, and while he was on board with the idea of poop packing, he still liked his privacy while he did the deed. As he went out into the bush, he narrowly avoided the pile of dung that had been from Sheera. He recalled that he had not seen her next to Charlene while she was cooking, but he guessed that they had just missed each other going in different directions. It wouldn''t have been the first time she tried to make him think he was seeing things after all. He did not even question where she got that playfulness though, having also had similar pranks played on him over the years by his loving wife. After finishing, he zipped back up his jeans and went back to their camp, storing the excrement in a very clearly marked container that they had installed on the back of their vehicle. They did not want that stinking up the inside they had to ride in after all.


    As he came back up to the makeshift fire pit, Charlene was just putting the bread over top of the fire to toast it quickly before getting the sandwiches made for breakfast. Matis was surprised to still not see Sheera anywhere around. Maybe she was making rounds around the camp to make sure that the smell of food had not attracted any unwanted attention? Deciding not to think too much on it, he walked up behind his wife and gently pulled her into a hug. She turned her head to give him a quick peck, before turning back to the fire in front of her. Once she was satisfied with how toasty the bread was, she quickly plated up the food for the three of them. Everyone got two sandwiches, but while hers and Matis'' were fairly well balanced, majority of the bacon went on Sheera''s sandwich. She was a predator after all, and meat was the best option she could have food wise. Once it was all done, Charlene called out, "Sheera! Breakfast is ready!" However, neither of the two Vilkas were ready for the moment that Sheera seemed to have leapt out from inside Charlene!


    Huge thanks to my Elder Wolves Viktor, Saganatsu, Eeleater, John, Hades, Sir Hellington, Onean, Sebastian, Adam, and Kevin for supporting me and my writing! Remember that I keep Patreon ten chapters ahead at all times. Our next goal on Patreon will be getting up to 50 patrons, which I will then spend more time each month writing some side stories and shorts that show other perspectives throughout my stories!


    Feel free to join us all on my Discord! https://discord.gg/b8gRkD4

 Chapter 183

    Sheera acted as if nothing was wrong, going straight for the meat laden sandwiches immediately. Matis and Charlene just stood there frozen, trying to process what had just happened in front of them. After all, Sheera, who was a mountain lion that was comparable in size to Charlene, had just jumped out of her chest. They just stared in surprise and fascination as Sheera went forward to her meal and picked it up as usual. Usually, she would pick up her food and go to her favorite spot beside Charlene to eat. However, she had found that the spot she was in for the second half of her sleep was far comfier to her. So with the plate being carefully held in her mouth, Sheera went and crawled back into Charlene to dig into her breakfast.


    The act of the cougar climbing back into Char like she was a comfy cat bed knocked both her and Matis out of their stupor. Almost immediately, she started stripping off her top, trying to see if there was a mark or orifice of any sort there. However, no matter how much they looked and examined to find any answer, they were left dumbfounded with nothing to explain it. Eventually Char just put on their clothes, the issue being tabled for after they had some food. Were they just really hungry and was that causing them to see things? Doubtful, otherwise Sheera''s plate would still be sitting there. Could they have been delusional for years, just imagining the cat''s existence? It was rare after all for a cougar to live so peacefully with others for so long, so much that it was basically unheard of before their case. But that also had a slim chance of being the case, given how blunt and direct their daughter was. If they were making up the fact that they had a pet cougar, she would have told them they were crazy to their face and ask the two of them to go in for professional help. Especially with all the years that they had spent visiting one another.


    All the thoughts that they were crazy were instantly both muted and amplified when Sheera came back out with an empty plate halfway through their sandwiches. She went and placed it from where she had picked it up before turning and looking straight into Charlene''s eyes. ''Tasty.'' reverberated through Charlene''s head as she was stared down by the large feline.


    The word coming up in her head startled Char, almost causing her to choke on the piece of tomato that was currently inside her throat. It was a voice that was clearly not her own, yet felt familiar. Looking to her side, she saw that Matis had clearly heard nothing as he continued to eat with a look of intense thought on his face. Looking back to Sheera, she felt like the most likely source of the sound. Before she could ask if the cougar did in fact talk to her in her head, Sheera disappeared back inside of her, purring contently as she entered.


    It took the two another five minutes to finish of their BLT''s and got to thinking about what had just happened. Once their mouths were clear of food and their teeth brushed, they shot ideas back and forth consisting of what they thought was happening. No idea was laughed off as too out there or cracked, as what they had seen had never been recorded before. Added with the way that Sheera seemed to be content entering Charlene, they had to take this as a recent development. Otherwise, why would she not have done that years ago should she have possessed the ability. Did their family member get abducted and replaced by aliens? Unlikely since she still acted the same, but not entirely ruled out. Parasite that infected her last night? Ruled out because she was acting exactly the same. Secret government test that had gone on without them knowing? Seen as the least credible, due to a lack of tracks around them or on the dirt roads nearby.


    As they shot ideas back and forth, the creature at the center of the discussion came back out again. Only, she came out with the exact same plate that she had come out with earlier. At first, they both thought that they were being messed with by the cat, not having been the first nor last time that would happen. However, when they saw her set it next to the three others that were sitting out and air drying, their back and forth of ideas dried up immediately. They only ever travelled with three plates, they had no need to pack more and as such used the space more appropriately. The fact that there were now four plates sitting there implied that one was created inside of Charlene. She did not feel any different, nor did the fourth plate appear to be any different than the three that were there. In fact, it matched one so perfectly that it had chips in the porcelain in the exact same spots.


    "Alright, this is all just weird now." Matis spoke up, "We should just get back home, and get in contact with some colleagues to see if any of them are experiencing similar happenings on their end." Charlene could only nod in response, still not able to wrap her head around the fact that a plate was created inside of her, which was an exact replica of the one that had come before. Quickly, they finished packing up the impromptu campsite and reverting it back as much as they could before climbing into the car. However, when Matis tried to turn the key, nothing happened. Not even the sound of the vehicle attempting to turn over was heard. This couldn''t be a coincidence, as they had recently had it serviced with both new oil and a new battery, as well as topping up before they came out. There should be no reason or it to be dead, unless whatever gave Sheera the ability to enter Charlene had also changed their vehicle.


    Huge thanks to my Elder Wolves Viktor, Saganatsu, Eeleater, John, Hades, Sir Hellington, Onean, Sebastian, Adam, and Kevin for supporting me and my writing! Remember that I keep Patreon ten chapters ahead at all times. Our next goal on Patreon will be getting up to 50 patrons, which I will then spend more time each month writing some side stories and shorts that show other perspectives throughout my stories!


    Feel free to join us all on my Discord! https://discord.gg/b8gRkD4

 Chapter 184

    Matis got out of the car and popped the hood to be able to take a look at the guts of the machine. There was a chance that something had crawled into the engine block during the night and caused enough damage to cause the car to not start. Walking around the front, he lifted up the hood and took an inquisitive look inside. Much to his dismay, everything appeared to be in great shape. There was no evidence of even a temporary nester hanging out inside the vehicle during part of the night, not even a paw print on the ground underneath. Slamming the hood back down, he walked over and sat back down in the driver''s seat. "So, was there anything wrong with the engine?" Charlene asks, not having left the passenger seat this entire time.


    "No. Not that I could tell anyways. It''s as if it just died overnight. Then again, I''m not a mechanic so I could be missing something." Matis shrugged. He had no idea what was going on, not even a guess as to a reason for all that was happening. He just wished he had some sort of lead as to what had happened, as he was feeling so lost and confused. As he sat in the driver seat, he realized that he had been glossing over something that he could check and experiment with. Sheera entering Charlene and the duplicating plate.


    What if the plate had not been the only thing to be duplicated? What if the food that was brought in with it had been duplicated as well? Was there a limit to how many times or to the size of the item? Could she bring him in to see what was going on inside? Turning to look at his wife, he noticed that she was looking at him with an eyebrow crooked. He must have been making that face yet again. The one where he is deep in thought, yet getting more and more excited the more he thinks about doing something. Without missing a beat, he started going into what he was thinking about and wanting to experiment with. As he went, he could see the excitement in his wife''s face growing to match his. After all, it was something new and unprecedented that they had access to explore right away. How could they not get all excited? Slowly, they turned to look at the cougar who was stretched out and relaxing in the back seat of the car soaking up some sun. By the time Sheera noticed both of them looking at her, their faces were covered with a shit eating grin as the ideas of the hoops they would have the cougar jump through ran amok in their minds.


    What happened next, Sheera could only think of as rigorous and menial torture. Time and time again she was made to bring things in and out of Charlene, all the while being made to hold a conversation with a language she was just getting the hang of. Thankfully she had heard the Vilkas family speak it so much she was familiar with the words, the problem was just learning how to form them herself. However, the lengths that she was brought to were ridiculous. At one point, there were fifty copies of the family car all sitting piled one atop another before the two were satisfied that they could be duplicated endlessly. Then it was seeing how easy it was to clean up, and discovering that there was a limit of how many could be inside at the same time of the exact same thing. Cleanup therefore took a lot of work, but only for Sheera. By the time the sun was starting to descend from its highest point in the sky, she was already glaring permanently at Matis for bringing up the idea of testing where it could go.


    Noticing how much time had passed from them doing experiments, Charlene called it to a halt once everything was cleaned up. "We need to at least make our way down to Chateh today dear. After all, I only packed enough food for dinner and breakfast. Unless of course you want to eat the pile of bacon for dinner and breakfast that Sheera had stored ahead of time?" Sheera took advantage of the break to leap back into Charlene, hiding from Matis and his experimenting ways. This wasn''t the first time it had happened, but it was the first time that Charlene did not take any actions to prevent it from going too far. As such, she was just exhausted and took the chance to relax on one of the few patches of grass that she had brought in.


    Matis took a minute to think back at the ''sandwich'' that had been made for Sheera. It wasn''t really much different from her usual, however he had never even considered the option of eating it. "You know, that''s a good idea. I like my heart functioning as it does." Charlene just chuckled at that, before taking his hand in hers. Together they walked out to Range Road 45A to make their way to the small town just south of them. It had been just a ten-minute drive outside of town to their parking lot, but that translated to an almost two-hour walk. That gave them plenty of time to shoot back and forth ideas about what may have happened to cause all of this. There were a few things that Char had gotten from Sheera in their conversations, but Sheera was still getting used to the language. There was a large green wave of some sorts that had passed over and through them while they were sleeping apparently. With that being the only hint they had however, that left their knowledge lacking. Ideas were brought up back and forth, but they both agreed on one simple fact. It came from the east, meaning that if they wanted to ever get a clear idea of what had caused all of this, they would have to travel in that direction. As they were coming up to the town, they immediately went on high alert and started having their heads on a swivel. Sounds of combat entered their ears, as well as the screams of people and shrieks of something entirely alien, yet eerily familiar.


    Huge thanks to my Elder Wolves Viktor, Saganatsu, Eeleater, John, Hades, Sir Hellington, Onean, Sebastian, Adam, and Kevin for supporting me and my writing! Remember that I keep Patreon ten chapters ahead at all times. Our next goal on Patreon will be getting up to 50 patrons, which I will then spend more time each month writing some side stories and shorts that show other perspectives throughout my stories!


    Feel free to join us all on my Discord! https://discord.gg/b8gRkD4

 Chapter 185

    Slowly, the Vilkas family made their way towards the edge of the small town. It was hard to see what was going on, as there were trees surrounding them in thick numbers even after they got into the town proper. The only places that were really cleared had either cultural or societal reasons to the people who lived there. After all, this town was upon the grounds that were given to a first nation group known as the Dene Th''a that had been a nomadic group for majority of their history. Due to this being land reserved for them, not many other people came up and visited the area, but the Vilkas'' had spent time and grown familiar with them and their way of a life. After all, other than them, the nearest person with veterinarian knowledge and experience was all the way over in Fort Vermilion. Due to that, they had seen one another many times over the years on both emergencies and general checkups.


    The people here have been hunters for generations, using horses and dogs to go out and both track down moose, as well as set up traps for the smaller prey. They were always incredibly resourceful with the bodies of those they hunted, making sure to use every part of the animals that they had slain. It was with them that Matis actually learned how to make better use of his hunts, as well as be more effective when he was in the bush. Some of what he had learned from them had even helped him understand a bit more when it came to caring for animals on a medical level. In recent years, there had been a drop in their population that actively hunted, but the tradition and training they had to do so still continued. It was a part of who they were, and was seen in all of their day to day life. After all, they had only stopped being nomadic back in the nineteen-fifties, choosing to settle down for a multitude of reasons.


    Those roots were clear as day when the two of them walked out of the trees and out to the Chateh Band Office. Kids were being escorted by groups of adults towards the center building of the community. The crazy thing to Matis and Charlene were the fact that all of the adults were armed with either spears, bows, or guns. As they carefully moved towards the building, a shriek rang out in the tree line beside them. Turning to look, they saw a small and green humanoid dangling from a rope upside down. As they stood there in shock, one of the Dene came over with a spear. As he noticed the two, he waved to them, before quickly returning his attention to the creature caught in the trap. With brutal efficiency he ended the weird creature in front of them, spilling its viscous black blood all over the ground and himself. He quickly reset the trap, wiped the bits of liquid that had splattered onto him, and then made his way over to the still stunned couple. "Matis, Charlene, it''s good to know you two are safe."


    "Ethan, what is going on? What was that?" Charlene asked immediately after snapping out of her state of shock. The entire scene felt surreal to her, as if it was pulled out from her child hood. ''That looked like a goblin!'' she thought to herself.


    "Come see the Chief and the council, they should be able to give you the clearest description of what we know." Ethan replied. Silently, the two followed him towards the large building that everyone was congregating to. The whole walk over, they looked for more info all around as they tried to make sense of the situation. Pools of black liquid doted the landscape here and there, showing that the creatures had been all over the place. Most of them however were nearby where buildings were, with cracks and deterioration being there that weren''t before. The part that broke their hearts the most though were the bodies that were left behind. Some kids and adults that they had at least met in passing over the years now were being prepared for a burial. A good number of others were injured, waiting for those with more serious issues to be dealt with by the doctors first. The one thing that they found weird was that there were far less animals sitting around than usual. The only ones they saw were the horses that some people were riding around while doing patrols around the area.


    As they made their way into the building, a group of elders turned to see who entered. When they saw who it was, smiles could be seen from their faces. "Charlene and Matis, it is good to see you both well. Especially with all that has been going on." the man in the center called out to them. The gap between them closed quickly allowing the two parties to exchange hugs. As they were hugged, the two Vilkas could feel the compassion and relief being transmitted.


    "It is good to see you too Chief Ahnassay, though we are both confused and worried about all that is going on. Ethan said you could possibly shed a light on what is going on for us." Matis explained. They heard the door close behind them, only to notice Ethan heading back out.


    They turned their attention back as Chief Ahnassay started to talk once more. "Of course, I will share what we know with you, just as we hope that you share what you know with us. After all, I am assuming that the reason I do not see Sheera with you two is due to her residing inside one of you two?" As if on que, Sheera popped out of Charlene and snuggled up beside her. Sitting down together, the Vilkas felt as if they had a blanket on, due to Sheera lounging out across their laps. As everyone else was already used to this scene, they just continued on with the conversation. "We as a council and as a people have agreed that what is happening is a sign. One to go back to the old ways of travelling nomadically and not rely on the modern way that we currently have. As from these modern buildings that have been put in place over the last few decades seem to be the source of the disturbances you no doubt noticed on your way in. Monsters spawn from the buildings, threatening the people, animals and land around them. Therefore, we plan to leave this settlement, and continue travelling around as we did in my youth." the Chief explained.


    Huge thanks to my Elder Wolves Viktor, Saganatsu, Eeleater, John, Hades, Sir Hellington, Onean, Sebastian, Adam, and Kevin for supporting me and my writing! Remember that I keep Patreon ten chapters ahead at all times. Our next goal on Patreon will be getting up to 50 patrons, which I will then spend more time each month writing some side stories and shorts that show other perspectives throughout my stories!


    Feel free to join us all on my Discord! https://discord.gg/b8gRkD4

 Chapter 186

    Disclaimer: I have only second hand knowledge and resources of the Dene Th''a and their ways of life. I mean no disrespect, and have tried to make it as close as possible to what is real. If I have gotten anything wrong or you feel there is something that could be changed and are part of the Dene, please let me know! I would be more than happy to make revisions to more accurately represent your people and culture!


    "That is an ambitious plan Chief, especially when it comes to six hundred people turning from a sedentary life and becoming nomadic. You might face some push back from the younger generation." Charlene brought up. She loved the idea, as that was basically the life she and Matis were currently living, roaming around an area. The only difference is that they had a home base just outside of High Level. The Council here had decided to become fully nomadic, not having a single place that would have built buildings. It would be a severe change for those who had grown up in that environment.


    "If you had seen those monsters pop out of the walls like we have, then you would understand that the push back would be diminished greatly. That, and most of the people we lost are sadly from the group in question. They were usually found in their beds or going through their morning routines." The feeling of loss was clear on Chief Ahnassay''s face when he responded. Unknown to the Vilkas, one of the ones lost had been his grandson, but he did not feel that was important to share with them. He could see in their reaction that they already felt pain for his people over their loss.


    "My condolences, I had no idea that those were the ones you lost." Charlene replied. Revisiting the topic that happened to be the greatest loss for their community would still be quite a fresh wound.


    "I understand where you are coming from, however it also makes sense for neither of you to have seen the threat that we..." as the Chief was talking, he froze mid-sentence and looked at the wall behind the Vilkas couple. Turning around, they saw a black portal open up on the wall. As a gangly green creature not unlike the one they saw earlier stepped out, the Cultural/Traditional Chair of the Council was already in motion. In one motion he picked up the spear that sat beside him and lunged at the creature. It was impaled through the torso within seconds of it leaving the black portal, but the spear ran through him incredibly easily. Before the man could back off, his leading arm was raked by the monster''s claws. With a cry that was a mixture of pain and determination, he yanked his spear out of the dying monster before stabbing once more, going through the head. Its limbs dropped as if it just had its strings cut, slumping down to the ground with the spear still imbedded.


    As he came and sat back down with the group, Matis moved over and started to apply first aid. After all, the wound was open and bleeding all over the place. They had already seen enough loss for the day, that he felt it best to try and help where he could. Before the conversation continued, both Matis and Charlene took one look at the wall. Where it had been perfectly fine before, it looked to have aged almost fifty years in the span of a minute. Cracks ran through the concrete wall, with it crumbling in numerous spots. The paint that had been on it only having specks of it left, and all of them were peeling. As they turned their attention back to the Council, the Chief spoke up once more, "As you can see, they are fairly violent and can come from anywhere that uses modern practices, possibly even the paved roads that snake all over the place."


    The information made Charlene and Matis think deeply while they both kept their hands busy. Monsters were coming out, and they looked to be a modern variation of the monsters in question. As that had looked an awful lot like the creatures portrayed in manga, especially that one where the main character never removed his helmet and had a permanent hate on for the species in question. If they were truly those ones, Charlene shuddered at what could be happening everywhere, as what those buggers did was notoriously horrible. Matis however, had far less context than she did, his only foray into the nerdy and geeky stuff either watching stuff with his wife, over her shoulder, or the odd tabletop game that he had been dragged into. They were fun, just not something he would actively go out to do. As he checked his wife''s face however, he realized that this situation was not the same as a violent dog. She recognized them, and it would have probably still acted the same regardless of it had been ran through first. Or possibly try and do worse before it was stopped.


    Charlene was the first to break the silence that surrounded them. "Now I feel as if we have a better idea of the danger, having seen that from up close. Of course, the thought pops in my head that if these monsters can come through from wherever they are, does that mean larger and more dangerous ones can come through as well?"


    The Council Chair of Justice was the first to respond. "Those fears and thoughts are the exact reason we have come to this decision, and likely the reason that the rest of the people here have agreed so readily to the change. For while all we have seen are these small monsters than can be dispatched easily, that does not guarantee larger and tougher monsters do not exist."


    "Everything makes a great deal more sense now." Matis responded, having just finished with the first aid. "But with the new changes that have come forward, it should make your change back to the nomadic lifestyle much easier. Have you all discovered that your bonded can store and duplicate items inside you as well as themselves.?" Blank stares met his words, the jaws of all the council members around them dropping. Reading the room, Sheera got up from her position and temporarily disappeared into Charlene. When she came back out, she brought with her the plate and sandwiches that she had for breakfast that morning. As if to reinforce what Matis had said, she went in and out another three time, each time bringing out a set of piping hot bacon sandwiches on the exact same plate.


    Huge thanks to my Elder Wolves Viktor, Saganatsu, Eeleater, John, Hades, Sir Hellington, Onean, Sebastian, Adam, and Kevin for supporting me and my writing! Remember that I keep Patreon ten chapters ahead at all times. Our next goal on Patreon will be getting up to 50 patrons, which I will then spend more time each month writing some side stories and shorts that show other perspectives throughout my stories!


    Feel free to join us all on my Discord! https://discord.gg/b8gRkD4

 Chapter 187

    so, Im not going to be able to maintain such a steady schedule going forward. I have a new job that I am starting, with hours all over the place, so i will try to keep posting one chapter each weekday. they will just be at irregular times going forward. hope you all enjoy the chapter!


    As the Council stared on, bewildered at the scene before them and what had just happened, Sheera just started eating up the food she had brought out. After all, it was tasty at breakfast and still tasty now. Why wouldn''t she eat it. Although she did get chided for how much she was eating by Charlene, causing her to put all but three of the sets back inside first. More than before, Sheera actually understood the reasoning on why Charlene wanted her to hold back on eating so much. And while she did not question it, Charlene certainly noticed. Normally it was more of a fight to get the cougar to eat less food when there was a lot accessible. When she gave up easily and quickly put back the plates, Charlene made a mental note to check with why in the future.


    Thinking upon that reminded her of that possibility. "Also, from what we have been able to figure out, not only does Sheera understand what we all are saying, but she can also communicate with me telepathically. That''s the only reason we have been able to discover stuff such as what we believe to have been the cause of this massive change." Charlene added, which only seemed to both add to the confusion of the Council as well as fill them with curiosity. "She seems to be speaking to me in English as far as I can tell, but that is probably due to it being my Native language."


    "Sure, that sounds interesting and could help quite a bit in the future. But I feel that I speak for all of us when I say that we are far more interested in what had caused all of this. What changed everything that we know. Why the technology we had been using yesterday no longer functions." The Chief replied. His words were full of curiosity and wonder, but laced with undertones of worry and apprehension. Which made perfect sense, as if something came by and changed everything once, what was to say that it wouldn''t happen again. It would be a rough time for everyone if they got used to this way of life, with how everything changed, only to have it change on them in a flash all over again.


    "From what we have been able to piece together, a wave of green energy washed over the entire area from the east, potentially the entire world. No idea on whether or not the source of it was even on this continent to be honest. That''s all we have sadly, not enough to be able to figure out anything else." Matis responded. Collectively, a massive sigh came up from all of the Council members. Their curiosity had been peaked, but the answer left them wanting. They had been hoping for something more dramatic, a more telling tale of events. Instead, all that they got was just one more piece of a puzzle. And it wasn''t even an edge piece.


    "Well, thank you for all of the info nonetheless. If you three would be so inclined, perhaps you would want to stay the night here with us? The cars don''t work after all, and three more mouths to feed now that we shouldn''t have any issues for supplies will be no issue at all." As the Chief said this, the rest of the Council members nodded in agreement. Of course, to them the whole reasoning was superficial to them. They saw the Vilkas family as part of their own, and were more than happy to have them around for a bit longer. Of course, the three of them readily agreed, Sheera seeming more excited due to the mention of more food.


    The next few hours before night fall were incredibly busy. Word was spread out about the ability to store items and food inside with the help of bonded animals. Matis went around, helping people who needed medical attention and setting up their tent in a nearby grove of trees. People were happy to see and talk with them, and even gave a hand when he was trying to set up. Unsurprisingly, it went far smoother than when he was attempting to get help from Sheera before. All that did was cement the idea that she had been doing it just to mess with him. Sheera spent the time walking around with Charlene. Together they did much of the same as Matis did, with the exception of duplicating any supplies that they found. They built up their stocks, while sharing their medical supplies with the people who had bonded to either their pets or livestock. No one asked for more or less, as it was just an equal sharing of goods to help one another.


    The meal turned out to be one that was far more traditional to the Dene Th''a. People had gone out hunting a few days prior and had come back with a hearty catch. Added to the ability to duplicate food, and there became a feast of hare, fish and caribou. Drinks were passed around, laughs were shared, and tales of those they had lost were told. Instead of falling into sadness and grief, the people tried to honour the memory of their family and friends. The tales were exaggerated to a degree, and filled with heroism and bravery. They did their best to remember them for who they were, as there would be plenty of time to miss their presence in the days to come. As the festivities wound down and people started to settle for the night, watches were set up and organized. Knowing that they would be watched over as well, the Vilkas'' tried to join in on the rotation. However, the people would not have it. They were guests, and as such had to rest. It wasn''t even just the Council that told them this, but majority of the people around joined in on the movement. Realizing that they had no choice of winning, they bid everyone a good night, before crawling into their tent.


    Huge thanks to my Elder Wolves Viktor, Saganatsu, Eeleater, John, Hades, Sir Hellington, Onean, Sebastian, Adam, and Kevin for supporting me and my writing! Remember that I keep Patreon ten chapters ahead at all times. Our next goal on Patreon will be getting up to 50 patrons, which I will then spend more time each month writing some side stories and shorts that show other perspectives throughout my stories!


    Feel free to join us all on my Discord! https://discord.gg/b8gRkD4

 Chapter 188

    Waking up the following morning was difficult for many. The celebrations had plenty of alcohol shared around, and it had such a wonderful effect on the mood of the celebrations. Though it turned out to have a conversely negative effect the morning after. As the sun shone in through the entrance of the tent, groans could be heard from the two people inside. The brightness of the sun did not help with the headaches that they woke up to. They never had dealt well with hangovers, so they rarely drank as heavily. Last night however, was a special time for them. Some of the people that had passed on had been fairly close to their family, and so they partook in the celebrations more than they originally planned. And while they did not regret their choices the night before, they did wish they would have been a bit more held back and had moderated their drinking.


    After spending an hour trying to ignore the bright sun that shone on their face, the two people slowly crawled out of their tent to get ready for the day. They did not bother changing their clothes from the previous day, but that was entirely due to the fact that they just didn''t have any more of their clothes available. They had only brought enough for a single change, not expecting all cars to stop working overnight. Moving to a giant area of shade, they tried to rest their now sensitive eyes while getting some food inside of them. Despite the fact that they wanted nothing more than eggs, they were unable to have them right now. If only due to a lack of eggs and the lack motivation to build a fire. Thus, they stuck with some of the cereal that had been shared with them the day before. However, that involved getting Sheera to help, and she was far too peppy this morning for them. After all, one cannot get a hangover if they don''t drink. She had the same amount of energy as usual, just felt as unbearable only due to the context of the situation at hand.


    As they leaned against a tree and dealt with a cuddly and enthusiastic cougar, the rest of the field by them started to wake as well. Groans could be heard from all the adults as the hangovers hit them as well. Only instead of having to deal with a cuddly cougar who liked to purr first thing in the morning, they had the fun of dealing with kids. Within minutes of them getting up, they were already running around and playing tag, repeatedly being shushed by the adults around them. Not that the shushing helped any, it either being too soft to be heard by the loud kids or they just ignored it. Regardless, they were basically a bunch of annoying alarm clocks that would not be a good idea to hit in frustration.


    Slowly, everyone got up and ready for the day. Chomping down food, getting changed and cleaning up where they slept the day before. A lot of the younger generation struggled with this, but were carefully guided by their elders. For if they were going back to a nomadic lifestyle, cleaning up after themselves and respecting the nature around them was going to be far more important than it had been for them before. By now, the Vilkas family had already cleaned up their area, stored everything away inside Charlene. Right now, they were watching the entire event in front of them while on the last legs of recovering from their hangover. In light voices, they debated back and forth names to use for what to call the space that was formed inside Charlene. Sheera occasionally joined in the discussion, though you could tell exactly when she came up with and shared one of her ideas. As neither were used to the mental communication they had, Charlene noticeably winced every time Sheera said something. Neither of them knew how to control the volume of what was being transmitted back and forth, so they just dealt with it for now. Though it was added to the list of things to work on immediately.


    Animal Space, Spirit Dwelling, and The Interior were just some of the ideas thrown out. If it hadn''t been for how alien sounding it was, they totally would have gone with The Interior as well. Something about it just felt wrong whenever they said it. They were debating between a couple wordy ones when Chief Ahnassay walked up to them. In a soft voice, he jumped in, "I couldn''t help but overhear what you were talking about. Why not simply call it your Core?" Discussion between the three of them stopped as they took in his words. It was short, to the point, and yet accurately described everything they knew about the space. It was much easier on the mouth compared to Extra-Dimensional-Unlimited-Storage-Space. Even when Matis tried to argue in favour of just using the abbreviation EDUSS.


    Agreeing to the easy to use term was almost instantaneous between the three. Turning towards the Chief, Matis responded, "Thank you Chief, I believe we will use that term. After all, it seems to fit well with what we know.so are you guys almost ready to head out?"


    "I believe that we are getting close. I just wanted to let you both know where we would be travelling before everyone started moving. Our current plan is to head north, and veer off to the west after passing the lakes. To an area that is far away from any man-made structures. There we could be safe, as well as flourish and grow in strength."


    "Well, we wish you the best of luck. Just in the interest of sharing with all of you, we plan to first head back home to collect our things and supplies, before we head south in search of our daughter. It will likely be a long while before you see either of us again after this." The last words out of Matis mouth was the start of a long series of farewells. When all of it was finally said and done, the two groups of people went their separate ways, moving in the direction that they felt called to them.


    Huge thanks to my Elder Wolves Viktor, Saganatsu, Eeleater, John, Hades, Sir Hellington, Onean, Sebastian, Adam, and Kevin for supporting me and my writing! Remember that I keep Patreon ten chapters ahead at all times. Our next goal on Patreon will be getting up to 50 patrons, which I will then spend more time each month writing some side stories and shorts that show other perspectives throughout my stories!


    Feel free to join us all on my Discord! https://discord.gg/b8gRkD4

 Chapter 189

    Their path south took them through the rest of Chateh, and the wasteland it had become. Buildings appeared to be in shambles, both from the monsters arriving as well as everyone grabbing all of their possessions and taking them with. By no means did the Dene Th''a pack light for their journey, but they were not exactly planning on coming back anyways. Therefore, even items that had been nailed down were travelling with them, reminders of when they had tried a more stationary life before the world went to shit. Bits of blood pooled in spots all over the place, a mix of both red and black. However, their eyes were not looking upon the barren scenery around them.


    As they were going through the rest of the town that had multiple buildings, the biggest threat to them were the goblins that could still spawn. They had Sheera come out of Charlene''s Core, and together the three of them had their heads on a swivel, watching out for anything that could approach them. With how sparse the buildings were in places, as well as the large number of trees in every direction, there were many vectors that the monsters could approach them from. Slowly they moved down the main road carrying spears, trying not to make any excess noise. They had seen that the weapons were at least effective against the monsters, if only they were careful not to over extend.


    The south entrance to town was marked by the police station, now sitting there as a barren husk of what it once was. By the time they reached it, four goblins had received spears through the head, and another two had their head crushed by Sheera''s powerful jaws. As they came up to the now desolate building, Matis and Charlene both looked back upon the town of Chateh. They felt that this would be the last time they would ever see it, or at least what it would look like with buildings still here. With the way that monsters spawned and how it destroyed the buildings piece by piece, they felt that this would be the last they would see of Chateh unless they came back in a few months. And with their plan to head south to meet up with Natalie, that felt unlikely at best. Bidding their goodbyes to the town, they headed down the Range Road towards the highway that led them back home.


    The rest of their journey was pretty lack luster. There was a single hill along the whole road, but that amounted to the largest change in their travels. Not a single monster or animal was seen along either road they traveled. It was just trees, road, and a single river that they crossed. They didn''t feel that was a bad thing though, as they were able to cover a large amount of ground thanks to that. It wasn''t until they travelled about an hour and a half past the river that they had to set up camp, but that was due to the sun nearing the horizon behind them. As a group, they all agreed to call it for the night and set up camp.


    The tent went up fast, but that was most likely because today was Matis turn to set up the fire pit area. Charlene and Sheera got the entire thing ready to go in record time. When Matis saw this, he just glared at the giant feline. Sheera seemed to just smile back at him, seeming to ask ''yea, so what?'' Matis just turned away and did his best to calm down, trying not to blow up at the cougar for the teasing and messing with him. The sound of a high five between a hand and paw behind him did not help the situation. He should have known that they were in on this together, just to mess with him. It was a constant back and forth between him and his wife, just doing what they feel like and teasing one another. But they had a great and happy life together because of it. Every day was different and exciting, with the constant wonder of if the other would try to tease that day and how. This was actually the first time that Sheera had joined in to mess with him, at least as far as the setup of camp was concerned, and it was so well done he did not expect it to be his wife''s idea instead of an accident.


    Understanding how well they had got him, he mentally started planning how to get back while starting the fire.it would be far harder right now, due to her having all of their supplies carried inside her Core, and him without a bonded companion to do the same. Maybe his revenge teasing would have to wait until he got one of his own, but that was a future worry. For now, he was content just making sure that this fire grew to a decent size, while also keeping it from spreading. The last thing that they needed right now was a forest fire. That could turn into a complete destruction of the northern wilds if no cars worked and monsters spawned. The firefighters would not be able to do anything save watch as the world before them burned to the ground.


    Dinner was a simple affair tonight. They just had more of the same that they had the night prior, due to neither in the mood to cook after walking for almost nine hours. There were no complaints though, as all of the food was delicious and seasoned wonderfully. Sheera was particularly fond of the roasted caribou, given how much of it she pulled out to eat with her family. Sitting together around the fire, the three of them ate in a happy silence as they watched the sky open up above to reveal the stars dancing across it. They watched the stars dance until the fire burned down to nothing, before extinguishing it and calling it a night inside their tent.


    Huge thanks to my Elder Wolves Viktor, Saganatsu, Eeleater, John, Hades, Sir Hellington, Onean, Sebastian, Adam, and Kevin for supporting me and my writing! Remember that I keep Patreon ten chapters ahead at all times. Our next goal on Patreon will be getting up to 50 patrons, which I will then spend more time each month writing some side stories and shorts that show other perspectives throughout my stories!


    Feel free to join us all on my Discord! https://discord.gg/b8gRkD4

 Chapter 190

    Charlene woke up to a bad case of a dry mouth. In her groggy state, she couldn''t place what had caused this. After all, she did not smoke at all the night before, nor did she forget to keep hydrated. As she moved her tongue around to try and moisten her mouth, she felt as if her mouth was full of hair. Opening her eyes slowly so as to shield them from the light of the morning sun, she found that Sheera was sprawled across her and Matis, with the cougar''s tail ending up inside her mouth. She spit it out as fast as she could once she noticed, rubbing her mouth to clear out the fur that remained there. Though no matter what she did, she could still feel the lingering sensation of the fur rubbing all along her cheeks and tongue. She knew that she would have to drink a fair amount of water or tea before the feeling would go away. And that would currently require waking the culprit.


    That was easily worth the risk to her, the large feline waking up as soon as she tried to maneuver herself out from underneath. That was entirely due to how normal of an occurrence it was. Sheera had always woken up with the slightest bit of movement, not seeming to want to miss a single moment of when Charlene was awake. Not that she minded, as that meant she got giant cat cuddles while waiting for Matis to finally acknowledge the sun''s presence. Most days he tried to ignore it and stay in bed. Something about how warm, comfy, and inviting it felt. She didn''t understand what he meant by that, but those were generally the words he used when defending himself from the light teasing.


    Charlene nimbly climbed down from the hanging tent, followed closely by Sheera. They went around getting ready for the day in tandem, getting their shit either together or out. A quick morning fire was set up, only due to Char''s desire for toast this morning. They had some homemade rhubarb jam that some of the people of the Dene Th''a had made and gifted them, and she was feeling a massive craving for it. Sure, she could have used the bread that was toasted from Sheera''s bacon sandwich, but she did not feel in the mood for the residual taste and grease that the bacon would bring with it.


    Meanwhile, the crackling and smell of the fire got Matis to finally rouse from bed. He had woken up when Sheera had started moving, but he tried to get a few more minutes of comfort. He was not able to get back to sleep though, not before his wife started up the fire to get breakfast going. He clawed his way out of bed and got changed, before hopping back down to earth. He saw that Charlene was just starting on the food, so he knew he would have a few minutes before it was time to eat. Quickly relieving himself of the overnight pressure in a bush, Matis came back and instantly started working on the tent. They still had a fair amount of distance to travel today, and wanted to make full use of the daylight they would have. Since as far as he could tell, they didn''t even make it halfway back home. Though they had taken their time moving through Chateh, but that was entirely due to the fact that monsters were a now present danger. Not something he would hear his wife geeking out about after a series had a new installment, either written or visual.


    As he took down the camp, he thought on the killing of the goblins in Chateh. Sure, he had gotten one of them with a spear thrust, but his wife and Sheera had taken care of most of them. His wife was fascinated by everything fantasy and medieval, which had led to her training with a variety of weapons in her free time. It kept her in wonderful shape, but the manner that she kept in shape both terrified him and turned him on massively. She was very used to the spear, as that was one of the many weapons that she had sitting at home in their arsenal. In fact, as far as he could remember, the spear they had was one of the first weapons she had bought and practiced with. He knew that he hadn''t been much help in the fighting, as he was not familiar with the movements or stances that went with controlling such a weapon, but he had tried nonetheless.


    All of that had caused him to miss his favourite implements, all of which sat at home. They had a room in their house dedicated to the weapons they owned. While hers were all spears, swords, and other martial style weapons, his were all about keeping distance between him and his opponent. Throwing knives, bows, and guns lined his half of the room, among other similar items. Just as she had always practiced with hers, he had kept up maintenance and practice with his. They would spend the same amount of time training each day, almost as if they were training together, yet apart. Though his preferred type of practice did not have him move around nearly as much, causing his frame to be a fair bit stockier than hers, not that he ever heard any complaints. He couldn''t wait to get home, as once he got his tools, he would be able to provide far more help then he had been. At least when it came to any conflict they came across. He didn''t want to leave all the fighting to his wife, capable as she may be.


    As he was thinking through all of this, the tent came down and was dragged over to his wife. Just in time for the toast to finish. Together they put their choice of spreads over top the hot bread before digging in. They missed the taste of peanut butter, there not having been any back in town. Regardless, they enjoyed the jam and margarine covered toast, eating with relish. Sheera just brought back out her bacon sandwich, curling up next to her partner while she dug into the meaty mess.


    Huge thanks to my Elder Wolves Viktor, Saganatsu, Eeleater, John, Hades, Sir Hellington, Onean, Sebastian, Adam, and Kevin for supporting me and my writing! Remember that I keep Patreon ten chapters ahead at all times. Our next goal on Patreon will be getting up to 50 patrons, which I will then spend more time each month writing some side stories and shorts that show other perspectives throughout my stories!


    Feel free to join us all on my Discord! https://discord.gg/b8gRkD4

 Chapter 191

    Breakfast went by fast, though that was entirely by design. Toast was something they could eat quickly after all, and it was easy to prep. Sure, they could have been faster with wither cereal or using the premade food that was stored in Char''s Core. However, food was always worth the time, at least in their mind. Time could always be made or set aside for the reason of food. After all, proper food was what gave them the energy to do all of the things they enjoyed, as well as tasting so good that it put them on a cloud. Though fast, it was a filling breakfast, and one meant to give them plenty of energy. Just in case they needed more energy later on though, Charlene did get it stored in her core before they started eating, spreads all over top of them. Better to have it available than not after all.


    Clean-up was quick and easy after that. Since Matis had already taken care of the tent and brought it over to Charlene to store, all that was left was the fire pit that had been used for breakfast. That was easy to deal with, as they just dumped a bunch of dirt on it. There wasn''t even a need for shovels, as they just had Sheera pop a bunch out from inside the Core. After making sure that all the embers were out and there was no risk of starting a forest fire, the two humans started down the road towards home. Sheera had decided to stay inside the Core for the day, at least as long as nothing serious came up.


    The walk today was long and boring, at least for the first half. Thanks to the area being either on or near the reserve, not many people came and tried to live out here in the woods. If one accidentally tried to live somewhere that was part of their land, the locals would take it to them legally. And it was highly unlikely for them to lose the case. Still, a few birds fluttered overhead from time to time, but nothing major. It was mostly larger birds that lived this far north, as the smaller varieties generally weren''t built to resist the cold.


    As the sun started dipping towards the west, buildings started becoming an odd occurrence. Though it wasn''t like there were any chances of people showing up. All of the buildings they passed were drills and pumps made to retrieve oil from underground. Since the people usually drove out to check them from High Level, they felt the chance of running into other people was extremely unlikely. Regardless of that, they kept a close watch on those areas. After all, they were buildings that could be used as monster spawns. They did not want to be caught off guard, as they already had enough scars to prove how much of a bad time that was. There were a couple goblins that came out, but every encounter was very straight forward. The monsters made no attempt to sneak up on them or ambush them, just mindlessly ran at them. Very easy to deal with, but neither Matis nor Charlene got too proud of their success. After all, if there were more goblins than them, it would not turn out well.


    As the sun began to sink below the horizon, they passed the five-kilometer mark for High Level. They judged that it wasn''t too far, so they pressed forwards. They could stop and set up camp, but the promise of sleeping in their own bed was just too alluring. So they pushed forward, as the sun continued to fall. Within fifteen minutes, the sun dipped below the horizon completely, causing the stars to shine through above. They moved a bit slower, making sure to keep a watch on their surroundings. It was difficult, as the only light was the stars and moon above. It didn''t help that the moon was waxing, leaving most of it in shadow.


    After another forty minutes, they finally made it to the edge of town. They lived just outside, so as to not disturb any of the residents. Sure, they practiced a lot with firearms and weapons, but that was fairly normal up here. It was mainly due to the wildlife that seemed to congregate around their place. Not many people would appreciate it if their neighbour had a large predatorial animal on their property as it was recovering from medical care after all. Still being intensely vigilant, they turned onto the back road that led to their house. Just to prevent any issues, the road was so unnoticeable, that one wouldn''t even think it was a road unless they knew better. The only thing that gave away the location at all in the batch of trees was the mailbox that sat out on the edge of the property. Everyone who was local knew who they were and what they did, and were therefore quite cautious about visiting or dropping things off. All it had taken were one or two times when someone had accidentally stumbled into a large, hurt, and angry animal to cause word to spread among everyone that their veterinarians were just a little bit out there.


    As they approached their house in the dark, they passed by a number of animals and formations in the ground. Some boulders, a bunch of trees, the usual things around them. They just went past and opened their front door, getting in and taking off their shoes. The entire place was dark, as if there was something hiding behind every corner. Remembering what had happened in Chateh, they moved around the place together, checking every room and alcove for any signs of monsters having been there. Not having found any, they set the spears they had in hand beside their bed. Now they were home, and now they had time to relax and prepare for what the future would have in store for them. Though, that could wait till later. For now, they crawled into their bed, cuddled together, and drifted off to sleep.


    Huge thanks to my Elder Wolves Viktor, Saganatsu, Eeleater, John, Hades, Sir Hellington, Onean, Sebastian, Adam, and Kevin for supporting me and my writing! Remember that I keep Patreon ten chapters ahead at all times. Our next goal on Patreon will be getting up to 50 patrons, which I will then spend more time each month writing some side stories and shorts that show other perspectives throughout my stories!


    Feel free to join us all on my Discord! https://discord.gg/b8gRkD4

 Chapter 192

    With no sun to wake them the following morning, Matis was the first to rise out of their bed. Swinging his legs over the side of the frame, he stretched his back in a greeting to the new day. Looking back, he saw that his wife was still asleep, laying there looking as peaceful and beautiful as ever. Though just past her lay Sheera, whose head rose above the sleeping figure between them, looking to see what was going on. Matis just gave her the sign that all was good, as he knew that right now it was fine for his wife to sleep in a little bit. She generally didn''t get much sleep whenever they were out using their tent as it was. As soon as there was any kind of light, she tended to get up and start her day, whether or not she had enough sleep to function.


    Getting up, he got himself changed into his exercise clothing before leaving the bedroom. Doors appeared to be open in the entire house. Was that due to them not remembering to close them as they came home? Still a little groggy, he went to the front door to see that it was wide open, with a third set of tracks leading in from outdoors. They were just splotches of mud, so it was hard to tell what exactly had traveled across the hardwood. Slowly and quietly, he followed them in and to his office in the corner. It was one of the few rooms here in the house that didn''t have any windows. Grabbing one of the knives from the kitchen, he slowly approached the doorway, before turning the corner, knife raised to face whoever was in there.


    As he did, he froze and stared at the boulder that had somehow found its way in through the small doorway he stood in. Rubbing the sleep from his eyes, he took one more look at the large intrusion, only to notice that it was covered in fur. Realizing what it was that had crawled into his office, he immediately set down the knife on a nearby surface. After all, what good would a kitchen knife be against a grizzly bear. However, he did not set the knife down as well as he had hoped. As he kept his eyes glued to the back of the grizzly bear that lay before him, he only set the knife halfway on the side table beside him. As a result, it fell and clattered along the ground back towards the center of the living room. He froze in place where he stood, waiting to see if the bear had noticed his presence.


    It felt as if minutes passed by, in the seconds of waiting to see what would happen. After seeing no movement for a little bit, Matis let out a sigh of relief and slowly started backing up away from the room. Only for the floorboard to loudly creak as he took a single step backwards. A low rumble came from in front of him, as the bear started to rise. Through the legs, he could see a few more prone bundles laying behind the beast. If there was anything worse than disturbing a bear''s rest, it was disturbing the rest of one who had cubs with them. They are an extremely defensive species, and were likely to tear anyone who threatens their young to shreds. And here one was, staring straight into his face with their young still huddled in sleeping mounds behind it.


    Matis stayed perfectly still, doing his best not to look her in the eyes. As for how he knew that it was female, that was because the young only ever hung around their mother. Right now, he had to do his best not to move or make large noises, as to not antagonize her. He had been in similar situation before, but never this close starting off. His previous encounters had been from meters away, and he had his usual tools and gear for when he came up to them. Which included exceeding helpful items such as bear spray. All he could do now was wait and see what the grizzly would do. Following the steps, he had to wait until the bear got physical first, then lay face down on the ground as still as possible, not making a single sound. Sheera may have heard what was going on, but most likely dismissed it as him having a clumsy morning. It was now just a waiting game, for the bear to strike and then walk away with her cubs in tow.


    However, the bear did not act as he thought it would. Slowly, she approached him while sniffing inquisitively. As her head came up to his chest, she poked his chest with her nose cautiously. Sniffing all over his chest, she seemed to be checking for something. That, or something drew her near. Dumbfounded, Matis did not even react as the large bear nudged his chest with her snout, slightly knocking him off balance. Instead of falling over, he reflexively regained his balance and stood back upright in front of the bear. She then let out a huff that sounded of satisfaction, before turning back to her young. She gently roused them from their slumber, before guiding them towards him. As she did, Matis could not help but notice that one of the cubs seemed to have a broken limb. Before he could do anything, the three cubs were in front of him, sniffing with a similar feeling of curiosity that their mother had. Then before he knew it, they seemed to stumble into him, entering his Core just as Sheera had entered Charlene. He looked down at his chest, then back up to the mother bear that was still in front of him. Just as she was entering into his Core as well, he could swear he saw a smirk cross her face. After seeing that look upon her face, he had to wonder how exactly to word the explanation to his wife.


    Huge thanks to my Elder Wolves Viktor, Saganatsu, Eeleater, Hades, Sir Hellington, Onean, Sebastian, Adam, and Kevin for supporting me and my writing! Remember that I keep Patreon ten chapters ahead at all times. Our next goal on Patreon will be getting up to 50 patrons, which I will then spend more time each month writing some side stories and shorts that show other perspectives throughout my stories!


    Feel free to join us all on my Discord! https://discord.gg/b8gRkD4

 Chapter 193

    While processing the events that had just happened in the doorway of his office, Matis moved about automatically. In the 10 minutes following the bears entering his Core, he cleaned off the knife and left it in the drying rack, sweeping and mopping up the tracks that went all across the hardwood floor, and reorganize the furniture that had been thrown to the side due to being in the path of the bears. He wasn''t even fully conscious of what he was doing until he finally came to terms with what had happened in that room. It just so happened to be as he was attempting to right the desk that had been knocked on its side, though he stopped trying as soon as he was clear headed once more. After all, the desk had two broken legs, which made standing it up nigh impossible. Looking around, all the furniture he had tried to right while in a daze had fallen back over, broken in some way or form.


    With his clarity returning, he remembered the state that one of the cubs was in. Remembering that, he threw on his shoes and went out to their separated garage. They had turned the building into a workspace, for any animals that were either brought to them by the public to look at, or the wild animals that required more extensive work that could not be done without a sanitized work area. It also doubled as the most well lit area available, save the outdoors. Years prior, they had replaced the roof to make it a massive window, allowing sun to come in and their patients the ability to look outside. Due to that, thy had both saved immensely on electricity bills while also having their patients become far calmer. The benefits of saving on electricity were secondary to the family, as comfort of their patients made the entire process easier. Especially if it was an animal that was not used to or fearful of humankind. Getting those ones to calm down during an examination was worth any price to them. It wouldn''t be good for the animal to hurt itself further while they were trying to help it and treat the original issue after all.


    With the help of the mother bear, he went about duplicating everything he could on his way. From the dirt and grass that was around, all the way to each and every piece of medical gear that they had. Well, almost every piece. He left anything that required electricity alone, not believing that any of it would be of use. After all, what good was a light that would never turn on? Or a drill that would never rotate on its own. Thankfully there were hand tool counterparts to most of the things he needed, though some of them less precise or very liable to being broken. Though with his Core now accessible and having a bonded animal partner to help duplicate items, that worry became null and void. Once he was satisfied that everything he would feel he could need from the workshop was duplicated, he asked the bear cub with a broken leg to come out.


    As he did, both the bear cub as well as its mother came out of his Core, with the cub coming out onto the table and the mother beside him. It seemed that while they were bonded, she did not fully trust him around her young quite yet. He felt it was fairly understandable, given that they had just met. They hadn''t had the time to build up that rapport like Sheera had with his wife, but that was something that would take time. His actions would speak to both her and her cubs on whether or not he could be trusted, and so he verbally explained everything that he was doing as he conducted his examination. He wasn''t sure if the mother bear was able to understand what he was saying, but she seemed to at least understand the intent of his words. Slowly, he checked all over the cub to make sure nothing else was wrong, before starting on the leg. He kept a steady eye on both the cub''s reaction as well as its mothers when he started feeling about the injured limb. He felt glad when she did not just lash out at him when her cub started whimpering when pressure was applied at certain spots. She did however, have a nervous twitch that seemed like she had at least thought about it, which had Matis maintain his caution as well as continue describing things in general. Then he finally came to the spot that caused the cub to squeal.


    The mother bear rose on her hind legs, looking down upon Matis, wondering what he had done to her cub. "Woah, I did not do anything yet. I have only located the problem, and am now thinking about what I may need to do to resolve it." he explained, holding his hands up in an attempt to appease the large grizzly. Slowly she lowered back down to the ground, before moving herself closer to get a look. Seeing this, Matis went back and pointed it out to her, "See this thing sticking out of their leg? It''s a large piece of shale that seemed to have went into the leg as it was broken. Which makes me guess that he broke it at the same time, from tumbling down onto a rock. The best thing I could do right now would be to remove it, which would require me to carve it out as the skin around it has already started to heal around it. I will put them under, though they will be a bit loopy afterwards, as they try to regain the sense of time that was lost. If it is left there, it could cause complications down the road."


    He explained as best as he could, not knowing how the mother would respond. Hell, he didn''t even know if she would understand any of what he had just said. However, the intent of what he was saying seemed to shine through. She slowly walked around to the other side of the table, before lightly setting one of her paws overtop her cub to hold them in place. Taking that as a sign to go ahead, he quickly got the sedative ready. Moving slowly, he injected the cub with it, and started counting down from ten. By the time he hit four, light snores could be heard from the cub. As the mother took her paw off her now sleeping cub, Matis got to work extracting the rock that was embedded inside the limb. All the while under constant scrutiny from the large bear beside him.


    Huge thanks to my Elder Wolves Viktor, Saganatsu, Eeleater, Hades, Sir Hellington, Onean, Sebastian, Adam, and Kevin for supporting me and my writing! Remember that I keep Patreon ten chapters ahead at all times. Our next goal on Patreon will be getting up to 50 patrons, which I will then spend more time each month writing some side stories and shorts that show other perspectives throughout my stories!


    Feel free to join us all on my Discord! https://discord.gg/b8gRkD4

 Chapter 194

    While Matis was in the workshop dealing with his new bonded companions, Charlene finally started to stir from her sleep. Feeling warmth on her back, she turned over expecting to see the face of Matis in bed, still sleeping soundly. When she was granted with the waking face of Sheera, she felt conflicted on how to feel. She had been expecting the love of her life, not her partner for the last decade to be laying there. As her eyes focused back in, she realized that they were back in their house, with the blinds drawn and the door closed. She must have slept in well past sunrise, while Matis had probably already gotten a number of things done around the place. Rubbing her cuddling partner on the head a little bit, she slowly clawed her way out of bed and got changed, before making the bed behind her. After all, if she was going to have the bed stored to be able to be brought out again and again, it might as well be in a state where they could just climb into it.


    Once she had stored and duplicated every item in their room, Charlene opened the door to the rest of the house. As she did, she noticed that the floors had a shine to them. Matis must have mopped, but she had no idea why he would. They were mopped just before they left so they would come back to a clean house, and none of them tracked in any dirt when they came home last night. Looking around for anything else that felt off, she noticed that there was a large open space between the kitchen and the living room, leading towards Matis'' cave of an office. Following the trail, her curiosity led her to take a peek inside his office, to see if he was trying to read anything in the windowless room. As she did, she noticed that all of the furniture was in pieces, with papers and books all over the place. It was almost as if a tornado had hit that room and thrown everything around.


    Frantically, Charlene ran all over the house, wanting to make sure Matis was alright. Room after room, she went without any sign of his presence, save for the main hallway was cleaned up, with furniture roughly back in the same spot. Every other room seemed to be untouched. When she had gone through every room, she started to panic. Sensing her partner''s mental state, Sheera quickly brought up one word. ''Workshop?'' After all, it had been the one spot that the two of them had not been to yet. Moving to the front entrance, Char threw on her shoes and jacket before heading out to the workshop.


    As she entered into the room, she was greeted by two sets of eyes and three bodies. On the table was a bear cub, who seemed to have been put under. On the far side of the table, her husband stood there with a bit of blood covering him. His hands seemed to be on one of the legs of the cub in question. Beside him though was where the real fright came in for her. An adult grizzly bear, her head right beside her husband as if it was the most natural thing. As they registered her presence, the bear made her way around the table and approached her. Before anything happened, Matis called out, "She''s my mate! There is nothing to worry about!" Instantly, the large bear stopped approaching her, looking at him curiously. Turning back to focus on Charlene, she stalked forward slowly. At this point, Sheera made her presence known by walking up and standing beside her partner. The grizzly only gave her a passing glance and a grunt, before walking straight up to Char. As it came right up to her, the bear started sniffing her all over, seeming to be wanting to get a sense of who she was. After a minute of this, the bear let out a huff of air, before turning around and taking her position right beside Matis once more.


    Charlene was dumbfounded at the whole thing, not only did Matis raise his voice and yell at a grizzly bear, but it seemed to listen to what he said and had an understanding of the context. That, and she had never had a bear just come up to her and sniff her before. Looking at her husband, she saw his focus was already back on the cub in front of him, not even sparing a glance to the bear beside him. In fact, he was speaking to the bear, talking about what he was doing and why. She must have been the cub''s mother, but that made even less sense to her. The entire situation seemed alien, as if it should never happen. That was just not how bears interacted with others, especially not a mother grizzly with its young being cut open in front of her. Walking around to the other side of her husband, she wanted to see what was going on that was the reason for all of this.


    As she came beside him, she saw the piece of shale that had become embedded into the cub''s leg. It did not look like it was a recent thing, showing signs that it had been in there for at least a few months as the flesh of the leg had grown around it. Her husband had been working carefully to extract it with as little damage as possible, though the cub would need to get stitches to have that heal cleanly. Turning around, she got out some latex gloves, and started getting everything ready to stitch the wound back together. She could hear Matis talk about what she was doing and how she was going to help make this better for the cub in front of him. Time seemed to fly in the workshop, as both focused on taking care of the cub that was in front of them.


    Huge thanks to my Elder Wolves Viktor, Saganatsu, Eeleater, Hades, Sir Hellington, Onean, Sebastian, Adam, and Kevin for supporting me and my writing! Remember that I keep Patreon ten chapters ahead at all times. Our next goal on Patreon will be getting up to 50 patrons, which I will then spend more time each month writing some side stories and shorts that show other perspectives throughout my stories!


    Feel free to join us all on my Discord! https://discord.gg/b8gRkD4

 Chapter 195

    The process was bloody, with a few rocky moments here and there. The slate itself had fragmented inside the wound, making the process take far longer than they originally thought. They did not want to leave around bits of rock underneath the bear''s skin, as that could lead to discomfort in the future in the best case scenario. The issues could go all the way up to causing an infection, or even rupturing something inside and causing a massive amount of internal bleeding. Thus, they did their best to get out every piece they could find. Which was incredibly hard given that the shale was both dark in colour and not magnetic. Added into the fact that they could not shine any direct light into the opening to look around, it was all either lucky glances or feeling around for anything inside. They couldn''t poke around too much, as that may lead to other issues, but the Vilkas couple did their best to do a thorough search of the cavity that was the bear cubs wound. When they felt they were unlikely to find any more, Charlene started suturing up the cub as Matis cleaned up the area and kept everything in place and steady.


    By the time that the operation was all said and done, the sun was already nearing its highest point in the sky. As Matis disconnected the IV that slowly dripped in the anesthesia into the bear cub, Charlene went around and started duplicating some of the tools and materials that were sitting around. The mother bear just spent her time examining her cub''s leg, before laying out beside the table. With everything that he needed to do done, Matis slumped down and leaned upon the large bear''s torso, using it as a backrest. While she had been the biggest source of stress throughout this whole operation, he felt so relieved right now that he couldn''t care less. Her fur and body heat were the comfiest thing in the room, and he didn''t seem to mind him laying against her form. At least going by her lack of reaction to his slump.


    As he sat there, Sheera laid down across from them against the wall. Charlene laid against her chest just as he did to the bear, mirroring his position. She had felt the stress from the whole procedure as well, a mother bear watching each and every one of their moves as they worked on treating her child. However, most of the stress she felt was from when they were pulling slivers of rock out of the wound. Not having access to proper lighting or tools to look for the pieces meant that they had definitely missed some, at least the smaller ones for sure. But that was not possible, not with the current state of the world. So she tried to focus on what she could do and learn right now, "Hey Matis, you going to explain to me what''s up with the bear?"


    Matis looked up at her, confused for a second. He thought he had given an explanation the second she walked in here? Then he realized that he only had explained to the bear that she was his wife, and had said nothing over the past few hours to Charlene on how they got into that position. She had just jumped into work mode once she saw he was treating an injured animal, not caring about the reasons at the time. Now they had time to sit down and talk, without someone being under. Especially since the anesthesia would take another thirty minutes at the minimum to wear off so the cub could wake up and crawl back into his Core to rest and recover in peace. "So, given the way you burst in here, I would be correct to assume you had seen my office?" He waited until he saw a nod come back before continuing, "When I woke up this morning, I walked out of the room to find all of the doors open, and a trail of indistinct prints leading through the house into my office. Following them, I had originally thought it might have been a burglar, so I had grabbed the closest implement I could which happened to be a knife from the kitchen. Walking into the office, i was greeted by her sleeping form, which I accidentally awoke nd discovered there was not one but four bears there. After acting as We know is proper when encountering a grizzly, she didn''t get physical or try to take me out to remove a threat from her young. Instead she pushed her young to me and they all entered my Core. I was so shocked by this, that my mind went blank. Next thing I know, I''m trying to stand up the broken desk in my office with everything behind me having been cleaned up. Then I remembered that one of her cubs had limped up to me, and the rest should be pretty straightforward."


    Charlene just stared at Matis, her jaw slack. He had followed tracks, into a room in their house, and did not feel the need to wake her up? He had even closed the door to their room, meaning that even if he had called for help, Sheera would have had to wait until she had gotten up and opened the door? She really did love the man, but sometimes he was as dense as a brick wall. From the look on his face, she could tell that he hadn''t even thought of that for a second, and was just living in the moment as he usually did. She had tried to reason him out of it so many times, she felt that it was just who he was, and put it off to the side. The part of all of that which interested her the most was the fact that he had bonded to not one, but four individual bears. Was that true across the board? Was it possible that she could bond with more animals should they deem it acceptable?


    Huge thanks to my Elder Wolves Viktor, Saganatsu, Eeleater, Hades, Sir Hellington, Onean, Sebastian, Adam, and Kevin for supporting me and my writing! Remember that I keep Patreon ten chapters ahead at all times. Our next goal on Patreon will be getting up to 50 patrons, which I will then spend more time each month writing some side stories and shorts that show other perspectives throughout my stories!


    Feel free to join us all on my Discord! https://discord.gg/b8gRkD4